Holder shines again, Titans go to IPL summit

Jason Holder's dream Indian Premier League (IPL) season continued today, as the lanky Barbados allrounder grabbed figures of three for 20 in Gujarat Titans' emphatic 82-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In the process, Gujarat moved to the top of the IPL table with 16 points from their 12 matches, with today's result being their fifth straight win in the 2026 season. 

Batting first, Gujarat made a modest 168 for five, with Sai Sudharsan (61 off 44 balls) and Washington Sundar (50 off 33) both hitting half-centuries. Holder made 11 not out at the back end, but it's with the ball where he and the Titans flexed their muscles as the Sunrisers were bowled out for just 86 in 14.5 overs. 

First, the pair of Kagiso Rabada (three for 28) and Mohammed Siraj (one for 11) rattled the Sunrisers in the power play as they slipped to 32 for four by the sixth over as the dangerous trio of Travis Head (duck), Abhishek Sharma (six) and Ishan Kishan (11) were all dismissed cheaply. 

Jason Holder (L) and his Gujarat Titans teammates celebrate a wicket in their IPL clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 12. Photo courtesy the IPL's Facebook page 

Holder joined the party in the 11th over with the key scalp of South African Heinrich Klassen (14) before having Nitish Reddy (two) caught by Sundar just three balss later. In his next over, Holder had Shivang Kumar (four) caught behind as the Sunrisers slid to 72 for eight. Ace Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan put the Sunrisers out of their misery when he had Praful Hinge (three) stumped by Jos Buttler.  

Holder's three-wicket burst has taken him up to 13 wickets from just six matches in this year's IPL campaign. 

Summarised Scores: 

GUJARAT TITANS: 168/5 from 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 61, Washington Sundar 50, Nishant Sindhu 22; Praful Hinge 2/17, Sakib Hussain 2/37) vs SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: 86 from 14.5 overs (Pat Cummins 19, Salil Arora 16; Jason Holder 3/20, Kagiso Rabada 3/28). Titans won by 82 runs. 

TKR start CPL title defence vs Patriots on August 8

Reigning Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) champs Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) will start their 2026 title defence with a clash against 2021 champions St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at the Arnos Vale Stadium, St Vincent and the Grenadines on August 8. 

The fixtures for the 2026 season were released earlier today, with the five-time winners TKR set to play three away games before beginning their five-match home leg against St Lucia Kings on August 26. TKR's other home matches will be played against Barbados Royals (August 28), Guyana Amazon Warriors (August 29), new franchise Jamaica Kingsmen (August 31) and the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons (September 2). 

For the first time in the tournament's 14-year history, seven teams will feature in a single edition, with the Kingsmen franchise expected to add to the spectacle. The Kingsmen will be thrown straight into the fire for CPL 2026, as they will play the tournament's opening match against the Falcons in SVG on August 7. 

TKR coach Dwayne Bravo speaks to the media during his team's welcome reception at the Piarco International Airport in September 2025. 

Of their ten league matches this season, TKR will play the following teams twice: the Amazon Warriors; the Falcons; the Kingsmen, and the Royals. TKR will only play the Patriots and the Kings once. The CPL playoffs will be held from September 16-20, with the final to be staged at the iconic Kensington Oval venue for the first time. 

Last year, for the first time in the tournament's history, none of the matches in Trinidad were played at the Queen's Park Oval, with TKR instead playing all their home matches at the Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba. When asked if any matches will be played at the Queen's Park Oval this year, CPL's head of PR and Communications, Peter Miller, said the Trinidad venues are still to be confirmed. 

A look at TKR's matches for the 2026 CPL season. Photo courtesy TKR

In Last year's CPL final in Guyana, TKR defeated their rivals the Amazon Warriors by three wickets in a low-scoring affair to cop an unprecedented fifth title. 

Hope wants more ruthless approach from Windies batsmen

West Indies skipper Shai Hope would like to see a more purposeful approach from his batsmen as they move into the Super 8 phase of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup from February 23. 

The Windies finished atop group C with a perfect record after defeating newcomers Italy by 42 runs in their final group match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on February 19. Speaking at the post-match ceremony after the victory over the Italians, Hope said the bowlers have got their execution down to a T thus far in the tourney, but reckoned there’s still room for improvement in the batting department. 

“It's a fine margin. Yes, we know we have batting depth, but batting smarts still need to be applied, especially when you're coming up against opposition – it's international cricket – that can get you on any day,” Hope said, when asked about the team’s ability to recover from the loss of early wickets. 

“You've still got to be clinical and ruthless with the way you go about your strokeplay. As much depth as we have, we still have to make sure we capitalise on those deliveries. Regardless of who's out there in the middle, we've got to make sure we do it for the team.” 

The Windies captain top-scored with a typically fluent 75 off 46 balls against Italy. However, the rest of the batsmen weren’t flowing as smoothly against the Europeans as the West Indies eventually got to a modest score of 165 for six after being asked to bat first. Both Roston Chase and Sherfane Rutherford made 24, while Matthew Forde chipped in at the back end with 16 not out off eight balls. 

West Indies captain Shai Hope (L) and Roston Chase run between the wickets at the 2026 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's T20 World Cup. Photo courtesy ICC

Hope spoke to his team’s unfamiliarity with the majority of Italy’s bowlers, but said his charges must improve if they are faced with similar challenges going forward. 

“I felt we could have put a little more impetus into the innings, especially in the middle. But again, all learnings to take from it,” he said. “If we're ever faced with that situation again, we have to find ways to be a bit more enforceful, especially when you've got better opposition to play. Not putting anything against Italy, but when crunch time comes, you've got to ensure you're capitalising on more deliveries.” 

For the third time in four matches, the Windies bowled out their opponents as the Italians only got up to 123 from 18 overs. Shamar Joseph cleaned up the tail and finished with career-best T20 figures of four for 30, while Forde set the tone again in the power play and took three for 19 in his four overs. Left-arm spinners Gudakesh Motie (two for 24) and Akeal Hosein (one for 25) were also among the wickets. 

“I'm very proud of the bowling group. They're just executing really well. And not only from this tour, but even from a few series ago. We're just hitting the straps where we need to. I just feel as though the confidence and clarity we find in our bowlers gives us a lot clearer execution,” he said. 

“In this situation, it's about doing it over and over and doing it all the way through until we can get as far in the competition as we can get.” 

The Men in Maroon face surprise package and group B winners Zimbabwe in their first Super 8 match in Mumbai on February 23, before playing group D winners South Africa on February 26 and reigning champs India on March 1. The top two teams in each of the Super 8 groups will advance to the semis which will be played on March 4 and 5, respectively. The final will be played on March 8.