A round-up of the fourth day’s play of the second round of the RBS Pentangular Cup
Cricinfo staff10-Jan-2010 Scorecard Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) completed an easy nine-wicket win over Karachi Blues at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex. Karachi were battling at the end of the third day to save the match, at 172 for 6, but lost their last four wickets for 25 runs. Seamer Imran Ali took all four this morning to finish with 5 for 34. SNGPL then knocked off the remaining 70 runs within ten overs and were on top at the end of the points table. Scorecard The two Khans – Junaid and Tabish – shared seven wickets between them to bundle out Sialkot for 164 and bag a 207-run win on the final day at the National Stadium. The Rest had declared to set a target of 372 and needed less than 50 overs to bundle out Sialkot. The Rest resumed with their overnight lead of 302 and declared after the fall of the ninth wicket. Sialkot had progressed steadily to 84 for 2, with Majid Jahangir leading the way with 54, but then collapsed. Two wickets fell for no run and Junaid continued to make inroads to the top order. Zulfiqar Babar chipped in with two wickets while Tabish took three lower order wickets to finish off the game.
Plays of the day from the third day of the Perth Test between Australia and West Indies
Brydon Coverdale in Perth18-Dec-2009Captain courageous Barely an hour after Cricket Australia released a statement confirming that Ricky Ponting would not bat again in this match unless desperately required, he was, ah, desperately required. Ponting suffered a tendon injury just above his left elbow when struck by Kemar Roach in the first innings and had planned to rest it for the remainder of the game, but when Australia slipped to 7 for 125 in their second innings, Ponting made his way to the crease. It wasn’t quite a spine-tingling Graeme Smith moment but it was an impressive show of character from a captain hoping to finish the series on a high.Slippage spillage Michael Clarke doesn’t field at first slip to Australia’s fast bowlers but he does move to that position as a specialist catcher for the spinners. Nathan Hauritz was starting to wonder why, after Clarke put down two gettable chances off his bowling. On the second day, Clarke put down Chris Gayle on 81 and on the third day he spilled what should have been taken when Brendan Nash was on 34. But Clarke eventually showed why he is installed in the cordon to slow bowlers when Nash edged again on 44 and Clarke took what was by far the hardest of his three chances, low and one-handed, diving to his left.Benny boo It was always going to be an interesting moment when Sulieman Benn came to the crease after the second-day fracas with Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin that led to Benn being suspended for two ODIs. The WACA crowd was certainly up to date with the previous day’s proceedings, booing Benn as he came to the crease. Haddin thought he had the last laugh when he caught Benn for 3 but the spinner didn’t back down when Australia batted, regularly chatting to the Australian batsmen in between overs as he walked from end to end. In the end it was Benn who went out smiling, when he had Haddin caught.That’s what gloves are for Denesh Ramdin wears gloves all day in the field and when he’s batting, so it’s understandable that he might want to take them off when he’s not on strike. He might reconsider that habit after he carried his gloves while running two for his partner Benn. Doug Bollinger’s throw from the outfield came to the non-striker’s end and struck Ramdin on the unprotected fingers as he made his ground, sending his gloves flying out of his hands.Billy idle The umpire Billy Bowden suffered some criticism on the second day for not stepping in earlier to prevent the physical confrontation between Sulieman Benn and Mitchell Johnson. That was a split-second judgment call, but Bowden should at least be able to count the correct number of balls in an over. On the third day he seemingly forgot he’d called a no-ball and let an over go by with five legal deliveries – the second time in the match he had called a five-ball over.A comedy of errors Barely anyone looked good when there was a horrible mix-up between Clarke and Shane Watson. Clarke nudged a ball into the covers and took off for a single, but Watson stayed firmly planted at the non-striker’s end. However, Dwayne Bravo’s fielding effort was even worse as he fumbled, fell and finally threw the ball well wide of the stumps at the striker’s end. It allowed Watson to get through for a single but there was more to come: a lazy piece of backing up allowed the batsmen back for an overthrow as well.
Flocking to Twitter, many Manchester City supporters have been left worried following an injury update on midfield star Phil Foden ahead of their weekend clash with Wolves.
Pep Guardiola’s side ended their Champions League Group A campaign top of the pile, albeit closing the curtain with an underwhelming 2-1 defeat away to RB Leipzig, but the biggest cause for concern was arguably Foden and defender Nathan Ake’s withdrawals.
[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/man-city-latest-updates-2/” title=”Man City latest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]
Ake was taken off a few minutes from full time with back problems while Guardiola replaced Foden at half time in a safety move following issues with his ankle (The Mail).
The 21-year-old, a majorly key player for the Sky Blues last season, only just returned from the same injury last week and The Daily Mail have now provided an update.
As per their information, despite Guardiola saying he withdrew Foden as a precaution, City are ‘left sweating over the fitness of Foden’ amid his ‘latest setback’.
City fans livid…
City’s boss is due to provide an update on both men during his Friday lunch time press conference and but it’s safe to say Sky Blues are concerned about Foden’s condition.
The England starlet, picking up a nomination for the 2021 senior men’s Ballon d’Or, was a revelation under Guardiola and for City over last campaign – playing a major role in their run to the 2021 Champions League final.
As Guardiola’s has had to cope with player ’emergencies’ recently, the last thing fans want is yet more time on the sidelines for their fan favourite.
Here’s how Citizens reacted to the Mail’s claim down below:
“Returned too early probably, really should stop rushing him back like this”
Credit: @jdp433
“Kompany, Aguero and now Foden. All world class players being ruined by Manchester City because they pick up an injury and this club is too impatient to let them fully recover. They re-aggravate it again and again until it becomes permanent.”
Credit: @mcfcleo_
“The coach must take the blame. Still can’t understand why he started all those players when we have already topped the group. Why didn’t he play the kids?”
Credit: @Muhd_Shafie02
“Oh come on man”
Credit: @Dvdsm3
“Absolutely livid ngl”
Credit: @BernardoTouch
“I’m done”
Credit: @lg_h99
“NOOOOOOOO”
Credit: @izmcfc
“oh you have to be kidding me”
Credit: @EklavyaChawla16
In other news: ‘Oh my days’, ‘I love this club’…Man City fans buzzing over ‘best news’ out of Eastlands, find out more here.
Friday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was the machinery-oiling day. On the second day of their pre-season conditioning camp in Bangalore, India’s ODI players went through a thorough welcome back after their seven-week break – their tired faces and panting bodies on a pleasant Bangalore day suggested as much. There was not much out of the ordinary – just a good old-fashioned workout on their physical strength, fielding, batting and bowling.It will be easy in the current climate to read too much into the tennis serves that coach Gary Kirsten made all the batsmen bat against. The recent and much-recorded trouble of the batsmen against short bowling notwithstanding, this has been a regular exercise at India camps. Last year, before the home series against Australia, and also in the camp leading into the New Zealand tour, Kirsten employed the exercise. He literally serves – from about 18 yards – a ball that looks like a tennis ball but harder. Only recently, in the World Twenty20, the batsmen were found wanting against the short stuff.The ball either bounces awkwardly into the ribs or – if there is some slice put to it – swings away from a right-hand batsman prodigiously. Those sliced serves were not very frequent today. On an adjoining concrete track at the National Cricket Academy, Robin Singh, the fielding coach, waited with throwdowns, all rising into the ribs and higher. Today was also the first time in close to two years that Rahul Dravid trained with the Indian ODI team.Kirsten had, before the start of this camp, spoken about short-pitched bowling: “In terms of our gameplans, our training, our structures, we try and cover every base that we need to make sure we give ourselves best chance of success. That might be one of it, but there might be a whole lot others.”That was the theme of the camp today, albeit with a slightly sharpened focus on the shorter stuff. Apart from that, there were two tracks that the batsmen batted on: one a spicy pitch that helped the net bowlers turn the ball a long way, and the other, a friendlier surface where the India bowlers bowled.The nets, though, started in the afternoon, after a two-hour fielding-cum-fitness session in the morning, at the main ground. After warm-ups and football games, the team was divided into the groups of five as Kirsten, Robin and Paddy Upton, the mental conditioning coach, worked on various aspects of their fielding. The work on physical strength included games of badminton, which some of them played after finishing nets.The camp will go on for two more days, before they disperse to play for their respective companies in the BCCI’s Corporate Trophy.
Tottenham Hotspur’s ‘second XI’ put in another pathetic display as they were beaten by Dutch outfit Vitesse in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday evening.
Nuno Santo left the bulk of his first-team stars back in north London but it is now a decision that looks rather questionable in hindsight as Spurs slipped to third in Group G.
The home side’s Maximillian Wittek converted from the edge of the box in the 78th minute to condemn the Lilywhites to their first defeat in the competition.
Whilst the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Tanguy Ndombele rested, the Portuguese head coach still had some senior professionals in the starting line-up, including Dele Alli, Harry Winks and Giovani Lo Celso.
The latter took plenty of pelters on social media for his performance but at least he was one of the more influential members of the lineup, having recorded the most touches (108) and key passes (one).
Alli, however, was disappointing yet again. It’s no wonder he has been dropped from Nuno’s Premier League starting XI ever since that opening 45 minutes against Arsenal in their north London derby defeat.
As per SofaScore, the Englishman was Spurs’ lowest-rated player (5.8), a stark comparison from the Argentine (7.0), who was their second-best player on the night.
The 25-year-old midfielder won just one of his nine battles (11%) in the engine room, whilst he was also dribbled past twice and he lost possession 14 times.
This suggests that he was far from an influence in the middle and if anything, he was lightweight and one of the reasons why Vitesse fired off over double the number of shots at goal than Tottenham.
Alli was certainly lacklustre in the attack, having failed to record a successful dribble from two attempts, nor did he have a shot on target or create a key chance.
‘Dele Alli disappears’ is how the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick described the display from the £27m-rated star. ‘Back at no.10 but hard to remember a meaningful contribution in the attacking third until a late run and shot, which deflected into the goalkeeper’s arms,’ he also wrote.
On the above evidence, Alli badly failed his manager yet again and it could be quite some time before we see him back in the starting XI, and that would certainly be very justified going by that performance.
AND in other news, “Matter of time”: Gold drops big claim on “underrated” Spurs gem, fans will be buzzing…
Andrew Miller previews the opening match of the ICC World Twenty20
The Preview by Andrew Miller04-Jun-2009
Adil Rashid and Robert Key flank England’s man of the moment, Ravi Bopara•Getty Images
Match factsFriday June 5 Start time 17.30 (16.30GMT)Big PictureThe floodlights are in place, the snoozing MCC members have been piled up in a quiet corner, and after a soporific start to the summer, we are all set to get England’s biggest-ever season of international cricket properly underway. The endless encounters with West Indies may have been a drain on the patience of even the game’s most stalwart fans, but the prospect of a major global tournament on home soil will lift the spirits as much as the glorious sunshine of the week just past.The Netherlands are not the most formidable opponents that England will face this summer, but as Scotland demonstrated in a feisty friendly at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, 20-over contests play into the hands of ambitious underdogs. A couple of big performances are all that any team needs, and the Dutch have a squad with two kingpins in Dirk Nannes and Ryan ten Doeschate, as well as a glut of senior players with experience of two (and in one case, three) World Cups. They are no strangers to the big-match atmosphere.England for their part just need a solid start. They come into the contest with a run of six victories in a row in all matches since the Lord’s Test in May, but need to maintain that momentum if they are to outdo their efforts in the 2007 event, when they bombed out of the contest with four defeats in a row.Form guideEngland LWWWL Netherlands NWLWWatch out for…Chopping and changing between formats holds no fears for Ravi Bopara. From the IPL to the Test arena, through a one-day series against West Indies and now back to Twenty20 cricket, he has shown that a run of good form can be sustained with a positive attitude and barrow-loads of confidence. Back at Lord’s, where he scored the second of his three consecutive Test hundreds, and reunited with the format in which he bashed 84 from 59 for King’s XI Punjab, he can be guaranteed to open England’s tournament with cultured aggression.Associate nations cannot usually call upon express pacemen to aid their ambitions, but Dirk Nannes is a player with the skills to uproot a few early wickets. He knows the Lord’s wicket well, having played here for Middlesex in 2008, and his speedy late-swinging left-armers will doubtless be exacerbated by the slope. With only four overs to make an impact, England would be wise to treat him with caution. But if he can create pressure from one end, his colleagues have the wherewithal to capitalise at the other.Team newsEngland are set to use their 12th opening partnership in 16 Twenty20s when Luke Wright teams up with Bopara at the top of the order, having cemented his place with a matchwinning 75 not out against West Indies on Wednesday. Adil Rashid played in both warm-ups but is likely to miss out as the second spinner, as is Dimitri Mascarenhas who had been used as a new-ball option at Trent Bridge.England (probable) 1 Luke Wright, 2 Ravi Bopara, 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Owais Shah, 5 Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 James Foster (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Ryan Sidebottom, 11 James AndersonThe hard-hitting Darron Reekers is likely to open up with Alex Kervezee, whose 62 from 59 balls saw off Scotland earlier in the week. Daan van Bunge, famous as the man who was hit for six sixes in an over by Herschelle Gibbs, slots in in the middle order. ten Doeschate, the Essex allrounder, is the kingpin of the middle order.Netherlands (probable) 1 Darron Reekers, 2 Alexei Kervezee, 3 Bas Zuiderent, 4 Ryan ten Doeschate, 5 Daan van Bunge, 6 Jeroen Smits (capt), 7 Tom de Groothe, 8 Mudassar Bukhari, 9 Dirk Nannes, 10 Edgar Schiferli, 11 Pieter SeelaarPitch and conditionsThe weather, so glorious all week, is set to give way to light showers, which will test the teams under the new Lord’s floodlights. The legendary outfield, however, won’t have any trouble coping if there is a downpour. The pitch has been slow for recent encounters, but expect another decent batting surface.Stats and TriviaEngland have faced Netherlands in two previous ICC tournaments, firstly in Peshawar, where they won by 49 runs at the 1996 World Cup, and then in East London in 2003, when the margin was six wickets. Five players in the current squads featured in the 2003 fixture. One from England (James Anderson, who claimed 4 for 25) and four from Netherlands – Jeroen Smits, Edgar Schiferli and van Bunge, as well as Bas Zuiderent, who even played in the Peshawar match, scoring 54 to keep the run-chase alive.Quotes”It is a big commitment but we love the game, we don’t make a living out of it. Maybe if we do well in these kind of tournaments we will.”
“We believe we can win it. I’m not saying we will win it because I don’t want to put pressure on the boys by saying we’ll win it.” Paul Collingwood doesn’t quite hedge his bets.
Lee Ryder has now revealed what sources close to Mike Ashley have said would get Steve Bruce sacked at Newcastle United.
The Lowdown: Poor start
The St. James’ Park faithful have made a poor start to the Premier League season, picking up no wins and a mere two points from there opening five matches, leaving them in 19th place in the table (Premier League).
Bruce will feel under pressure to pick up some results sooner rather than later, and if he has any hope of getting the Toon Army off his back that turnaround will have to start soon.
The Latest: Ryder on Bruce
Writing in his latest piece for The Chronicle, Ryder has now revealed what it would take for Bruce to be sacked.
According to close sources to Ashley, it would take the North East club to be left a ‘fair distance’ behind those in the bottom half of the league for their to be a change of manager while he is still the owner.
Otherwise, the intention is to leave the choice of manager to the prospective new owners should the proposed takeover by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium go through.
The Verdict: Worrying
The Magpies need to pick up results fast, otherwise it is very likely that they will leave themselves in yet another relegation battle.
Given that some players have been critical of his training methods, perhaps sacking Bruce and bringing in somebody else for a new manager bounce would not be a bad idea, and may propel them up the table before any new owners even arrive.
Nonetheless, Ashley cannot afford to leave a decision too late or rely on the takeover going through, whatever he decides to do.
In other news, find out when Ashley has said the takeover will be completed by here!
Fabrizio Romano believes Tottenham Hotspur are very much still interested in Dusan Vlahovic, despite sporting director Fabio Paratici claiming otherwise…
What’s the word?
Earlier this week, the Italian supremo poured cold water on Spurs’ mooted interest in the Fiorentina talisman, claiming to Festival dello Sport (via Romano): “Dusan Vlahovic is appreciated by many clubs, it’s normal – he’s not in our plans, for now.”
However, the transfer guru has dropped a fresh claim during a recent episode of the ‘Here We Go’ podcast that seems to refute such comments.
“Vlahovic is a bit different. The feeling I have because what he [Paratici] said is that ‘he is not in our plans for now’ and in Paratici language that means he is pursuing the player,” revealed the Italian journalist.
“We know about it because last summer, Tottenham were really interested in Vlahovic. They were looking at him as [a] potential Harry Kane backup, not [a] replacement.
“Tottenham are still following this boy, as are Atletico Madrid and other English clubs, and Italian clubs, so there will be a big fight for Vlahovic. Let’s see if it’ll be January or next summer but he is leaving Fiorentina.”
Sneaky Paratici
This latest development should leave much of the Lilywhites faithful on the edge of their seats and whilst it may come as a surprise, it is well-known Paratici operates in this manner.
Harry Kane has struggled for goals in the Premier League so far this campaign, failing to find the net in five starts, but he still does not have a viable senior backup behind him, with Nuno Santo sometimes turning to 17-year-old gem Dane Scarlett in other competitions.
Vlahovic is a firm contender to fill such a void and it would certainly give the Portuguese coach another valuable option to either start alongside the England talisman or to replace him from the bench.
The 21-year-old scored a whopping 21 goals in 37 appearances in the Serie A side last season and has continued such form into the new campaign, where he has found the net a further six times in just eight matches, as per Transfermarkt.
La Viola’s goal machine has been compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which is hardly a surprise given his 6 foot 3 slender frame, whilst former Italy international Christian Vieri believes he’s the strongest young forward in Europe, behind Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
Dubbed a “complete number nine” by Italian football expert Conor Clancy to This is Futbol, Vlahovic could well be in Spurs’ sights despite Paratici trying to throw off the scent and that ultimately should leave many supporters thrilled.
AND in other news, Nuno may have his own Varane in “talented” 18 y/o gem who can help Spurs save millions…
O presidente do Corinthians, Roberto de Andrade, tem uma reunião na tarde desta sexta-feira com o prefeito de São Paulo, João Dória Júnior. Entre outros assuntos, como a presença do mundo corporativo no futebol e a geração de negócios pelo esporte, o presidente do Corinthians pretende falar, analisar e solicitar a liberação da venda de cerveja nos estádios da cidade.
Além do encontro com Dória, o presidente do Corinthians também se reuniu na última terça-feira com pessoas ligadas ao esporte para debater o momento do futebol e discutir novas possibilidades de negócios e fontes de receita para a modalidade. No fim, o prefeito de passou no local.
O encontro teve as presenças de: Mauro Guardabassi, vice-presidente do Grupo Outback e do Fleming’s; Paulo Ricardo, presidente da Topper; Rodolfo Kussarev, ex-presidente do Red Bull; Roque Jr., Edmilson, Gilmar Rinaldi, Milton Cruz, Dario Pereyra, Oscar e Paulo Francês, ex-jogadores que seguem atuando no mercado do futebol.
O Corinthians oficializou na última segunda-feira a criação do GCCor (Grupo de Comunicação do Corinthians), que reúne 19 empresários, presidentes e diretores de empresas multinacionais e líderes de segmento de mercado. O foco da iniciativa é aproximar o clube de parceiros comerciais com vistas de ampliar receitas, já que o clube não conta com patrocínio master desde abril e sofre para captar receitas inclusive na Arena Corinthians.
continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasCorinthiansDesmanche? Só que não! Mais de um time sai, e Corinthians tem estratégiaCorinthians06/07/2017CorinthiansMarciel interrompe ano de afirmação no Corinthians: veja motivos e prazosCorinthians06/07/2017
Tottenham Hotspur stalwart Moussa Sissoko completed his move to newly promoted divisional rivals Watford on Friday evening [Sky Sports].
The Lowdown: Nuno means business
With the new era at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium well underway, Lilywhites boss Nuno Espirito Santo has wasted no time in re-shaping his roster as he bids to restore his sides’ place amongst the elite in English football this campaign.
Holding no place for sentimentality, the ex-Porto coach has cut loose experienced figures at the club this summer such as Toby Alderweireld, Joe Hart and Danny Rose [Transfermarkt].
Now, another casualty has been added to his list after news of Sissoko’s next move was confirmed ahead of the weekend’s top flight fixtures.
The Latest: Sissoko completes move to Watford
Sissoko has swapped North London for Hertfordshire to join Watford on a deal worth just £2.5 million [Sky Sports].
Despite having two years left to run on his contract at Spurs, he was not deemed to be part of the management team’s plans this season, prompting them to cash in on the France international.
The former Newcastle United anchor man brings the curtain down on five years at Tottenham, following a £30 million move from the North-East in 2016 [BBC].
The Verdict: Best scenario for player and club
Unlikely to be a regular fixture in Nuno’s line-up in 2021/22, recuperating some form of income for 6 foot 2 Sissoko may prove to be a wise move by Spurs chiefs as they seek to blood a younger squad – all of their outfield arrivals this summer are 23 or younger.
Over the course of his time at the club, the 32-year-old was a reliable figure despite his lack of end product – he managed to add 21 goal contributions in 202 games for the club; five goals and 16 assists [Transfermarkt].
Last term Sissoko was particularly efficient from a defensive standpoint, managing to obtain a tackle success rate of 73%, something Tottenham will miss in the forthcoming months [Premier League].
Once labelled as ‘fantastic’ by Mauricio Pochettino, his impact during his five years will be appreciated by supporters after plenty of ups and downs [SB Nation].
Having seemingly already replaced his energy and endeavour by signing FC Metz midfielder Pape Matar Sarr, Spurs look to be adopting a long-term vision of success.
Sarr will remain on loan with Ligue 1 outfit FC Metz in 2021/22 however, signifying that Tottenham may need to add another midfielder to their ranks before Tuesday’s deadline.
In other news, Tottenham Hotspur have received a huge boost in a transfer chase. Find out more here.