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Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach believes that Warner’s fearless mindset will get bring him back to his best

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-20232:50

Tait: Warner seemed ‘pretty frustrated’

Shane Watson, Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach, has said he will be “blown away” if David Warner, the franchise’s under-fire captain, doesn’t “set the IPL alight” in the rest of the season after struggling for rhythm in the first four games.Warner is the second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2023 and has hit three half-centuries in four games, but has scored at a sluggish strike rate of 114.83 and is yet to hit a single six this season.Warner punched his bat in frustration upon reaching a 43-ball half-century during Delhi’s loss to Mumbai Indians on Monday night, their fourth defeat out of four this season. But Watson stressed that he had shown a “more fearless mindset” during that innings, and said that he was “so close” to recapturing his best form.Related

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“The other night, Dave [Warner] definitely had a [much] more fearless mindset with the way he was batting,” Watson said on the podcast. “He was taking the game on… yes, he missed a few balls that in the past he would have hit for four or six, he’s mis-hit a couple of balls, but that’s all part of Dave just working through the technical side of his game.”That’s also part of my role as well, as a coach. Because I know Dave so well from batting with him and playing with him, there’s one or two little things that I know he’ll get right over the next couple of days and I’ll be blown away if he doesn’t – yes, he’s been scoring runs, but from a scoring perspective – if he doesn’t set the IPL alight from now on, knowing that he’s so close.”He’s batting very nicely. He’s just mis-hitting some balls that he’d normally hit for four or six. Once you do that, once you start really finding the middle of your bat, then your scoring rate just goes through the roof.”Warner became the fastest man to reach 6,000 runs in his IPL career during Delhi’s defeat to Rajasthan Royals, and Watson said that his stellar record in the competition underlined his ability. “His strike rate across his career in the IPL is nearly 140,” he said. “He’s been a great player in the IPL for a long period of time.”He added that Warner had been “working through” a “challenging inner battle” in the first three games of the season, grappling with whether or not to take risks as wickets fell at the other end. “It goes against a lot of the things that you’re taught as a kid growing up,” Watson said. “You lose a wicket, you’ve got to establish a partnership – even in T20 cricket – for five or six balls.”But then, if you do that and you keep losing wickets after five or six balls, before you know it, you’re three overs down and you’ve just been rotating ones to try and build a partnership. Dave was just working through that himself in the first few games.”Delhi play their next game away against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday afternoon, and will have Mitchell Marsh available again after he missed their last two games due to his wedding back home in Australia.”It’s never perfect when you lose your first four games,” Watson said, “but that is the beauty of having someone with the skill of Ricky Ponting as a coach, and just his understanding of people. That’s the beauty of being a coach, to be able to help the guys where they need it.”These are the times when you really see the true colours of people and coaches, when things aren’t going well. It’s a true sign of character: how you can work through the little things that are not going how we want them to, to turn them around and be more consistent.”

The visitors, who made five changes heading into the Test, were bowled out for 157 on the first evening

Ashish Pant02-Jan-2025

It had taken Zimbabwe 197 overs and over two days to take ten Afghanistan wickets in the opening Test. A few days later, at the same venue, Zimbabwe required just 44.3 overs and less than two sessions to bowl Afghanistan out for 157, and take early control of the second Test in Bulawayo.Newman Nyamhuri and Sikandar Raza picked three wickets apiece while Blessing Muzarabani got two as none of the Afghanistan batters managed to build on starts. In reply, the Zimbabwe openers Ben Curran and Joylord Gumbie had a tricky three overs to face which they eventually survived.The conditions were very different at the start of the opening day, with persistent rain greeting the two teams, and the toss delayed by close to four hours.When the conditions improved, Craig Ervine had no hesitation in bowling first on what his opposite number Hashmatullah Shahidi described as a “spicy pitch”. Zimbabwe made two changes to their playing XI from the first Test, bringing in Richard Ngarava and Raza, while Afghanistan made five changes to their side. That included them handing Test debuts to Fareed Ahmad, Riaz Hassan and Ismat Alam.The Bulawayo pitch had a green tinge to it, but Muzarabani and Ngarava failed to extract much movement largely due to them being on the shorter side. The Afghanistan openers Abdul Malik and Riaz largely looked unhurried, and managed just 25 runs in the first ten overs.Blessing Muzarabani got two wickets•Zimbabwe Cricket

But a moment of brilliance in the field gave the hosts the opening. Riaz pushed a full delivery from Ngarava to the right of point, and set off for a single, only to be sent back by Malik quite late. Riaz, who was almost halfway down the pitch, scurried back, but Bennett sprinted to his right, picked up the ball with one hand, and in one swift motion smashed the stumps at the striker’s end to catch the batter short.In the next over, Nyamhuri got a short-of-a-length ball to rear up sharply, thus catching Malik’s gloves through to the wicketkeeper.Shahidi and Rahmat Shah, who had stitched a record stand in the opening Test, then looked to arrest the slide. Shahidi began with a fierce cut off Muzarabani over backward point while Rahmat also got off the mark with a four, albeit a streaky one past the wicketkeeper’s left.Rahmat then struck two more fours off Muzarabani, but got a reprieve when he got a thick outside edge off Ngarava to Dion Myers, who spilled a relatively comfortable catch at gully. Thus, Shahidi and Rahmat moved to lunch unbeaten.But it did not take Zimbabwe long to strike after the break, with 18-year-old Nyamhuri once again getting into the act by squaring Shahidi up, and trapping him bang in front of the stumps for 13. Afsar Zazai, another centurion from the first Test, then came in and immediately found his bearings.But it was Raza’s introduction into the attack which brought about Afghanistan’s downfall. He varied his pace brilliantly, bowled wicket-to-wicket lines, and had both Rahmat and Zazai second-guessing. Nyamhuri also stuck to a plan, and induced multiple outside edges before Raza orchestrated a collapse.Ben Curran and Joylord Gumbie survived a tricky 20-minute burst before stumps•Zimbabwe Cricket

Rahmat, unable to get Raza away, tried to unsettle him by trying a cheeky lap sweep. But Raza fired the ball in on middle, and Rahmat missed it to see his leg stump pegged back. Ngarava then got rid of Zazai with a snorter before Raza cleaned debutant Alam up with a yorker as Afghanistan slipped from 81 for 3 to 84 for 6 in the space of ten balls.Rashid Khan unfurled a number of strokes as soon as he walked in by spanking Raza for three back-to-back cover drives. Shahidullah also got his first boundary away via a wristy flick. Muzarabani, who was wayward all day, finally got the ball to land on a channel outside off and induced a thin edge off Shahidullah’s blade through to the wicketkeeper. Rashid then failed to keep a short and wide delivery off Muzarabani down, with deep point taking an easy catch.When Raza cleaned Yamin Ahmadzai up for his third wicket, the end was nigh for the visitors. But Zia-ur-Rehman and Fareed added a run-a-ball 27 for the final wicket, with debutant Fareed smashing a four and a six in his 19-ball 17 to take Afghanistan past 150.The Zimbabwe openers survived a tricky 20-minute burst from Afghanistan, and will want to wipe off the deficit early on day two. Rain and a wet outfield allowed only 47.3 overs to be bowled on the opening day, but the Test has already moved on at a rapid pace.

Arsenal are ready to spend big this summer and could now gain the upper hand on Chelsea in pursuit of a talented star plying his trade at the Club World Cup, according to a report.

Arsenal ready to make statement signings

The Gunners hope to establish themselves as a frontrunner in the race for the Premier League title and Mikel Arteta is set to be backed this window as high-profile targets are identified at the Emirates Stadium.

In an honest assessment of his former side’s hunt for a striker, Arsenal icon Theo Walcott has pointed out that the club need to pursue someone in Liam Delap’s mould as they search for a new source of goals.

Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres are Arsenal’s two main striking targets, and the latter has given his priority to Arteta’s side following an excellent campaign at Sporting.

That development comes in spite of interest from Manchester United, which will undoubtedly provoke optimism among a support desperate to see the final piece of the jigsaw added over the coming months.

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The Gunners are making “real moves” for him.

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However, it has to be taken into account that signing a forward isn’t the only requirement to exceed their rivals’ points tally next season; you also need an effective foil to maximise attacking output across the board.

With that in mind, Arsenal now have a winger on their radar that they could steal from under the nose of rivals Chelsea, according to reports.

Arsenal prepare bid to sign Borussia Dortmund star Jamie Gittens

According to reports in Spain, Arsenal are preparing a bid to sign Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens, and he is viewed internally as someone who would fit their philosophy to develop talent over the long-term.

Berta and company are ready to put forward an offer that could amount to roughly £42.5 million, while Chelsea have also been heavily linked with Gittens and came close to signing him before the Club World Cup registration window closed. There have even been claims the Blues still want him and could make a new bid in days.

Jamie Gittens in 2024/25 – Bundesliga (FBRef)

Shot-creating actions

73

Goals-creating actions

10

Progressive carries per 90

5.53

Touches in opposition penalty area per 90

5.53

Successful take-ons per 90

3.57

Labelled “fantastic” by Nuri Sahin, the England Under-21 international registered 12 goals and five assists as Borussia Dortmund left it late to secure Champions League qualification.

Bukayo Saka’s injury issues throughout the campaign demonstrated that additional depth is needed for the Gunners to juggle domestic and European endeavours. Taking that into consideration, what better way for Arsenal to secure another talented outlet out wide than to beat Chelsea to Gittens’ signature.

Celtic are active on the market and Brendan Rodgers is reportedly closing in on a bargain deal to strengthen his backline, according to a report.

Celtic begin to motor in summer transfer window

The official opening of the window for Celtic will take place next week, but they are already moving down the line with several deals as scaling up becomes the mantra at Parkhead.

Recent interest in Brondby forward Mathias Kvistgaarden and Telstar’s Youssef El Kachati has cooled. However, supporters would have been delighted to see Kieran Tierney officially announced, following months of waiting for his signature to be confirmed.

Looking forward to working with a player who delivered so much during his first spell in charge, Brendan Rodgers believes his ‘elite’ qualities will bring an element of stardust as Celtic chase more success domestically and on the continent.

The Irishman stated: “We are so pleased to bring such an elite player back to the club and I look forward to working with him again and the rest of the squad, as we face the many challenges ahead at home and in Europe.”

Not to be deterred there, Celtic have identified Michel-Ange Balikwisha as a top summer target, amid holding a concrete interest in his services over the past year.

The latest names on Celtic’s summer transfer wishlist

Ross Doohan

Aberdeen – deal near completion

Harley Mills

Peterborough United

Lennon Miller

Motherwell

Demir Tiknaz

Rio Ave (on loan from Besiktas – buy option)

Callum Osmand

Fulham – deal near completion

As mentioned above, a compensation package for Fulham striker Callum Osmand is on the verge of going through to solidify Rodgers’ striking options, representing smart business as the Hoops aim to find value for money in the market.

Now, a young defender is also set to join the Parkhead ranks in a similar agreement, even if he won’t be thrust into the first team straight away.

Celtic set to sign prospect Isaac English

According to The Scottish Sun, Celtic are on the verge of signing defender Isaac English from Greenock Morton and are set to agree a bargain fee of £50,000 with the Scottish Championship side ahead of his proposed move.

Scouts were alerted to his potential off the back of his displays in the second-tier outfit’s Club Academy Scotland Performance League title win at Under-18 level.

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Celtic are eyeing up a deal for a winger who could be their next Scott Sinclair.

ByDan Emery Jun 10, 2025

Admittedly, not much is known about English in the public domain. The 17-year-old hasn’t made a senior appearance at Cappielow Park, though he has trained within Dougie Imrie’s senior set-up and looks to be one for the future.

After losing youngsters such as Daniel Cummings, Rocco Vata and Daniel Kelly in recent times, news that Celtic have a prodigious star ready to walk through the Lennoxtown entrance will be a welcome boost in their mission to stockpile emerging talent.

The Rajasthan Royals’ director of cricket on the making of Jos Buttler’s purple patch this IPL season and the reason he’s found success where other batters haven’t

Interview by Andrew Fidel Fernando05-May-2022A little over halfway in the IPL, Jos Buttler is by a distance the most prolific batter in the competition, having made 588 runs at a strike rate of 151. Rajasthan Royals’ director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara talks about the season his team’s star batter is having.Jos Buttler is no stranger to success at the IPL, but this season he’s been far and away the best of the batters so far. Why do you think that is?
He’s been given a very clear role as an opener, without having to think about batting No. 4 or 3, or his role being questioned in terms of how the team might benefit from his position being changed.The franchise has also recognised that he’s been the best T20 opener in the world for the past few years. We’ve done our data and analytics for seven months. We had a separate analytics team that looked at player valuation quite differently and went into granular detail, and that helped us in terms of retention and in terms of auction strategy, and giving players clarity in their roles, and that’s helped Jos.Related

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In terms of his technique, he’s done a lot of work in identifying what his best hitting position is, and how he changes from the first two to three overs in the powerplay to that power-hitting position the moment he feels he’s got rhythm. That’s been really good.He tends to start somewhat slow…
Jos has realised that his strike rate right throughout the innings gets better and better, so he knows not to get fazed when the ball is swinging or seaming – to fight through those periods and give himself the best chance of success. If he’s batting in the 14th or 15th over, he’s well on the way to scoring a hundred. Last season the Sunrisers game was an example. He was about 35 runs off 35 balls and ended up scoring a hundred off 56 deliveries I think. He’s great at understanding what the game is telling him to do and the pitch is telling him to do. And giving himself the best chance of taking his innings deep and scoring the runs for the side. He’s got amazing skills, amazing hands and bat speed, so that does the rest of the job.Against Sunrisers Hyderabad last season, Buttler began with a run-a-ball 35 before accelerating to 50 off 39, then 100 off 56, and finishing with 124 off 64 balls•BCCI/IPLThen he explodes in the next ten balls to the point where balls ten to 20 are one of his most productive periods. Is this a game plan he has?
For him it depends on feel. If you take the first Mumbai game – Bumrah bowled a really good over, Daniel Sams not such a good over, and then Basil Thampi comes on and suddenly, I think he felt that was an over where he could really take him down. I think he took 26 or something in that over. When he gets that feeling, how he arranges his feet in terms of his ready position is really important for him to have that maximum output.He starts off in the normal fashion but changes into his power-hitting position when the moment comes along. When there’s another tough period, he changes back. He’s brilliant at reading the game. He knows how to switch back and forth. That’s been a hallmark of why he’s been so successful this season.No type of bowler seems to have had an advantage over him this season. What’s given him that unique edge?
He’s good against spin and pace, which is not always the case with even the great players. He also has a very good shot repertoire that he’s comfortable with. He paddles, sweeps, reverse sweeps. And he’s got great hand speed and a lot of power. He’s a very, very strong guy. You can see that even off a back-foot punch, how he clears the line. So when you have those shots and that strength in your armoury and those quick hands – it gives you a huge amount of confidence.When I was playing, I had to calculate a six, and reverse sweeps were not something I did naturally. I had certain ways of scoring. But Jos is exceptional because of his range of scoring. He’s all around the wicket. He paddles pace, he hits down the ground, and he hits over extra cover. There’s no real weakness, when he gets going [for you] to tie him down. The only thing that can affect him a little bit is sticky or slow wickets. But then when he fights through those periods, those attributes that he has really help him.He looks at his T20 innings as a long innings. He’s not a guy who’s just satisfied batting in the powerplay. He’ll take it to the 12th, 14th, 15th over, which really helps the side do well. That overall game arrangement that he has makes it tough for bowlers to tie him down.”He is exceptional because of his range of scoring – he paddles pace, he hits down the ground, and he hits over extra cover”•BCCI/IPLAs good as he has been against pace, he’s prospering even more against the spinners – he has faced 103 balls of spin in the tournament, been out just once, and scored at 9.9 runs an over against them, with almost a quarter of the balls he’s faced being boundaries. Could you break down his technique against spin?
It’s risk and reward, and he understands that very well. He will use his feet against certain spinners. He understands which spinners he’s struggling against, so he’s more than happy to take a couple of singles and give the strike over to the other guy. He hits off the back foot really well now over cover, and straight down the ground really well. In the first KKR game, he back-foot-punched Varun Chakravarthy into the sightscreen. The moment they go full, he hits down the ground off the front foot. There’s very little margin in terms of spin unless there’s a lot of purchase on the pitch. As a bowler, when your margins decrease, there’s a lot of pressure to be almost perfect, which, again, can lead to a lot of mistakes, and that again is an advantage to Jos.Spinners – except for a Rashid Khan or a [Sunil] Narine to an extent – have been able to bowl good balls at him, but they’ve not been able to tie him down or get him out. Sometimes we get carried away with the boundaries only, but the way he’s rotated the strike, minimised risk, and really taken down bowlers when he knows he can – that’s the kind of back-and-forth in his batting that’s really helped him against spin.He very famously once had “f**k it” written on the top of his bat handle. As a director of cricket, for you is he the kind of player that you just leave alone to prepare their own way?
Jos is someone who thinks about his technique and his batting quite a lot – much more than I expected he would. He’s always ready to learn. He talks about his batting with a lot of knowledge and authority. He has a very set way of training and keeping his body position. He works very hard at training.My job is really to show him what the results are and why that is happening. And to convince him to keep doing the same thing – not any less or any more. Just to build that tempo into his innings and understand that each day it’ll be different. That tempo could come at different times. It could be the second ten balls, or it could be from balls 30 to 40. Just to fight through the tough parts and give himself the best chance to be impactful for the side. There’s been times when he’s struggled through with a very average strike rate, and ended up with a 150 or 160 strike rate. Sometimes it’s over 200. My job is to get him comfortable in that and give him ownership.The medium is the message: is Buttler’s “f*** it” philosophy the secret to his purple patch?•Getty ImagesAre you finding that because he’s having such an incandescent season, the oppositions’ tendency to prioritise the match-ups against him, or use different bowlers while he’s at the crease, is having knock-on effects for the rest of your batters?
With the new balls they’ll always try to get him out with set ways, which he knows about. There’s yorkers, there’s change of pace, or two fielders on the leg side to stop him from using his paddle against pace. He knows what’s coming at him and he gets prepared for that. When you’re hitting a six, you don’t really care where the field is. You’re just trying to clear the field anyway. He’s got that really clear mindset.With a lot of the sides, if he’s going well, they will have to try and bring their best bowlers back on to try and get him out or to try and get someone else out. And that gives the rest of the batters a little bit of an easier time, facing bowlers that they might manoeuvre or find to their liking or take down. It’s had a positive effect on the side. The others have been able to bat in situations and positions that suit them because Jos has been so effective.Which of his innings have been the most important this season, for you?
That RCB game, he struggled through and managed to accelerate at one particular point. For me that reinforces his actual strength and shows him very clearly that if he fights through periods that are tough, he accelerates so quickly, he gets us to positions from where we should win. Those kinds of innings show him his real ability rather than scoring a hundred at a canter. He organises his game and his mindset in a way that benefits the side when the pressure is on. Innings like that are really crucial.He also hit a fantastic century against KKR, against a very good attack featuring Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and Umesh Yadav. Could you break that knock down for us?
We all know his ability against pace – he plays so straight and his commitment to his boundary-hitting. I think the significance was that back-foot punch for six against Chakravarthy. That really put the KKR bowlers under threat, because Chakravarthy, whom we’d spoken so much about, was nullified. And then all the batters started taking runs off him, and Jos was leading that. That particular shot gave not just Jos but everyone else confidence as well.It’s not easy to get to 100 in T20 cricket. You can get to 50 or 60 and feel like you’ve done your job. But Jos is not like that. He’ll push through.

“I was conflicted in my own mind. I knew they were expecting the slower ball, but I didn’t know when to bowl it”

Matt Roller17-Jul-2022It is hard to comprehend the contrasting emotions that Hampshire’s players experienced at 9.48pm on Saturday night in Birmingham. Nathan Ellis yorked Richard Gleeson and charged towards the Hollies stand, roaring “COME ON!” as he peeled away in celebration. His team-mates sprinted over and engulfed him, and the Edgbaston events staff set off the fireworks to mark Hampshire’s record-levelling third T20 title.And then, umpire Graham Lloyd held his arm out and called them back from the deep-point boundary: Paul Baldwin, the TV umpire, had spotted that Ellis had over-stepped. James Fuller sank to his knees. Chris Wood flung the stump he had pulled out as a commemorative souvenir back towards the pitch. “My heart sank,” Ellis said. “All I could think about was the fact that we’d just carried on like that, and I’d carried on celebrating for the last 30 seconds. And now we were in trouble of losing the game.”Related

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Ellis keeps his cool – twice – to seal one-run thriller for Hampshire

The equation had shifted into Lancashire’s favour. With two runs awarded for a no-ball in English domestic cricket, they needed only two runs off the last ball to lift the trophy by virtue of a higher powerplay score. After James Vince, Hampshire’s captain, delivered a team talk, Ellis stood at the top of his mark and tried desperately to clear his mind enough to make a decision as to what he should bowl.”I hadn’t bowled a slower ball to him [Gleeson],” he explained. “My thought process was: ‘what’s the best way to try and get a play-and-miss?’ That was it. Once I’d made that decision, it was just try and execute.” His back-of-a-length, back-of-the-hand slower ball flew past Gleeson’s outside edge, bounced over the top of the stumps and through to wicketkeeper Ben McDermott on the half-volley.Despite Lancashire’s protestations, Hampshire celebrated for a second time. Ellis finished wicketless but his spell, conceding 23 runs from his four overs, must rank among the best none-fors in T20 history. Even before closing out the win (at the second attempt) he had conceded only nine runs across the 15th and 17th overs as Lancashire froze in their chase; all told, he bowled 10 dot balls and conceded a single boundary, which came during the powerplay.Ellis’ strategy at the death was a microcosm of the planning behind modern T20 cricket, and illustrated the unique challenges of the Blast’s Finals Day. After winning their own semi-final at the start of the day, Lancashire had watched Hampshire beat Somerset immediately before the final; Ellis realised that they would have seen how many slower balls he had bowled during his spell of 3 for 30.Ellis – “My role in T20 cricket has never been as a wicket-taker”•Getty Images”It was a little bit of cat-and-mouse,” he said. “I was conflicted in my own mind. I’d bowled three on-pace attempted yorkers and I knew they were expecting the slower ball, but I didn’t know when to bowl it. I was fully aware that I’d bowled a lot of slower balls in the semi-final earlier in the day, and aware that they [Lancashire] were probably watching.”Ellis is shorter than most fast bowlers and has a whippy action, bowling at good pace from tight to the stumps. His back-of-the-hand slower ball, honed playing Sydney club cricket for St George, is difficult to pick since the seam stays upright throughout and he has been a revelation for Hampshire, conceding just 6.87 runs per over across the season.He was only their fifth-highest wicket-taker, with 15, but his death-over economy rate (6.61) was the best in the competition by a distance. “My role I’ve played in T20 cricket has never been as a wicket-taker,” he said. “It’s not something I even think about or look at: it’s probably more damage control or defend. Those moments to me are way bigger than wicket tallies or anything like that. If we get the win, I couldn’t care less.””The way he regrouped and then his confidence to go to that slower ball in that situation… he’s executed so well at the death so a lot of credit has to go to Nelly,” James Vince, Hampshire’s captain, said. “All the other guys were there spectating on the off-chance it came to them but for him to re-group and have the ball in hand and be as calm as that was outstanding. He’s played a bit for Australia, but I’m sure he’ll play a lot more.”ESPNcricinfo LtdAlong with McDermott, his Hobart Hurricanes team-mate, Ellis was signed on the back of his BBL form which Vince has experienced as an opponent, playing for Sydney Sixers. “We’ve got a good relationship with George Bailey, the Australian selector, from when he played at Hampshire,” Vince said. “Although there was [Australia] A cricket and other squads going on, we had good confidence that we’d have him for the whole competition. That makes a big difference.”Ellis was a travelling reserve when Australia won the T20 World Cup in the UAE last year and will now come into consideration as a squad option for their title defence in October – particularly if he can secure a replacement deal in the Hundred and continues to impress in that competition.But those thoughts can wait. Finals are not about the future, but the unfiltered emotion of the present. And as Ellis, still in his full kit and wearing a Hampshire bucket hat, sat in the dressing room with his team-mates deep into the small hours on Sunday morning, he was left to reflect on the surreality of a final that he won twice

How skewed are the numbers in favour of win-toss-and-bowl this tournament? What about the old adage of “runs on the board in pressure games”?

Sampath Bandarupalli13-Nov-2021The impact of the toss, and bowling firstThe influence of the toss on the match result has been a talking point during the Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. A high number of matches have been won by the teams winning the toss – 29 out of 44 (65.9%). Ten of the 12 games hosted in Dubai, the venue for the final, have been won by the side winning the toss.Between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, 21 of the 27 games have been won by the chasing teams. Under lights, Dubai has heavily favoured the chasing team – they have won all nine games played here in the night.The teams batting first have either lost early wickets or struggled to time their acceleration, and have ended up with below-par totals. To add to it, the dew and the lack of movement later on at night has meant the margin for error when bowling under lights is minimal – bowling sides have not been able to defend even 12 an over at the death. The seamers have taken only eight wickets in nine games when bowling second under lights, and conceded almost 10 runs an over.The only team that consistently went against the win-toss-and-bowl trend in this tournament was Afghanistan – they won the toss in all five of their matches, and elected to bowl only against India in Abu Dhabi under lights. If England is known to swear by the bowl-first mantra – they have chosen to bowl the last 24 times they have won T20I tosses – Afghanistan is their mirror image: they have won 28 T20I tosses since the start of 2016 and chosen to bowl only five times.ESPNcricinfo LtdFinch leading Williamson on the toss countLooking at the toss results of the two finalists, it is clear that Australia have had more luck with the coin so far: they have won five tosses and won all five of those matches. At the same time, they got a thumping from England after being put in to bat.New Zealand have won only two tosses, but they were in their two most important matches so far – against India in Super 12s and against England in the semi-finals. They batted first in day games against Scotland and Namibia, while Afghanistan’s penchant for batting first played into their hands.Toss and title winners – trivia from the pastIf the toss winners end up as champions on Sunday, it will not be for the first time. Five of the previous six editions of the Men’s T20 World Cup were won by the team winning the toss in the final – the only exception was Pakistan in 2009. West Indies won the toss in all six matches in 2016 on the way to their second title. They elected to bowl in all six games and only lost to Afghanistan in a day game.ESPNcricinfo LtdThey also had a good record with the toss in 2012, winning the toss in six of their seven matches. That tournament, hosted by Sri Lanka, offered a big advantage to teams batting first in the business end of the competition. West Indies won the toss in their semi-final and final, and defended their totals quite comfortably.Inaugural champions India won five tosses in the 2007 edition, including in all three Super 8s games and twice in the knockouts. The 2014 winners, Sri Lanka, won all four matches in which they won the toss, including two in knockouts.

Indian allrounders Krunal Pandya and Nitish Rana were sought after by RCB and RR

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-20242:04

Moody: Curran poses a left-hand conundrum with bat for CSK

Bhuvneshwar Kumar emerged as the most expensive player sold in the early bidding on day two of the IPL 2025 auction in Jeddah, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) buying him for INR 10.75 crore (US$ 1.28 million approx.).Fast bowlers were in high demand with Deepak Chahar going to Mumbai Indians (MI) for INR 9.25 crore ($1.10 million approx.), Akash Deep to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for INR 8 crore ($0.95 million approx.), Mukesh Kumar to Delhi Capitals (DC) for INR 8 crore ($0.95 million approx.), pace-bowling allrounder Marco Jansen to Punjab Kings (PBKS) for INR 7 crore ($0.83 million approx.), and Tushar Deshpande to Rajasthan Royals (RR) for INR 6.50 crore ($0.77 million approx.).RCB and RR also went up against each other for Indian spin allrounders, with RCB snapping up Krunal Pandya for INR 5.75 crore ($0.68 million approx.)and RR getting Nitish Rana for INR 4.20 crore ($0.50 million approx.).Related

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A large number of players were unsold in the early bidding, including established IPL names like Shardul Thakur, Kane Williamson and Ajinkya Rahane. There were no takers for Prithvi Shaw either, despite his base price being only INR 75 lakh. On day one, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow were among the high-profile players to go unsold.Records were broken on day one of the IPL 2025 auction in Jeddah, when PBKS first bought Shreyas Iyer for INR 26.75 crore and then LSG bought Rishabh Pant for INR 27 crore, making them the most expensive players in the history of the league.

Newcastle United’s pursuit of Bryan Mbeumo seems to be completely off the cards now. The Magpies were strongly linked with the Brentford winger at the end of May, with The Telegraph claiming they would ‘be in pole position’ for the Cameroon star if they acted fast.

However, they didn’t act fast enough, with Manchester United nipping in before the Magpies and seemingly reading the race for Mbeumo now. Ruben Amorim’s side ‘are expected to continue prioritising the signing’ according to the Manchester Evening News, suggesting there is little to no chance the Magpies will sign their first-choice attacker now.

With that in mind, Eddie Howe’s side need to find an alternative attacker. They may well have another Premier League star linked to a summer move up North.

Newcastle’s search for a winger

There is no doubt that losing out on Mbeumo has put a real dent in the summer transfer plans at St James’ Park. However, with Champions League football returning to the club, the alternative option has bags of experience in the competition.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

It seems as though Jack Grealish is destined to leave Manchester City this summer, after a tough few months and his omission from the Club World Cup squad. Well, Football Insider suggest that the Magpies ‘are leading the race to sign’ the England international this summer.

However, they will not be the only side trying to sign Grealish this summer. Fellow Premier League outfit Everton are also at the front of the queue, whilst there will be interest from abroad.

Grealish is valued at £41m by Football Transfers, but a loan deal is the ‘most likely’ outcome.

Why Grealish would be a good signing

Make no mistake about it, the 2024/25 campaign was not an easy one for Grealish. He only played 32 times for the Citizens across all competitions, with just 20 of those games coming in the Premier League.

2025 so far has seen the England international play just seven Premier League games, featuring for just 144 minutes. He scored in that spell, too, with his goal coming against Leicester City.

It was a strike which meant a lot to the player on a personal level.

Yet, let’s not forget the quality the former Aston Villa star has. It was on show both at his boyhood club, for whom he scored 32 times and grabbed 43 assists in 213 games, and at the Etihad Stadium.

In fact, City content creator Steven Mcinerney described him as “immense” back in 2023.

One thing that Grealish can bring to the Magpies’ squad is experience in the Champions League. He was a treble winner with City in 2022/23, playing 90 minutes in all but one of the knockout games in their successful European campaign.

He managed 16 goal involvements in 50 games in that successful season for City.

That European pedigree is one reason why he makes an excellent alternative to Mbeumo, who, in his own right, would have been an excellent signing.

The Bees star managed 28 goal involvements in 38 top-flight games last term, and certainly would have added dynamism to their attack.

Yet, he seems to be off the table, and the maverick that is Grealish might be St James’ Park bound, instead. To get an idea of how suitable an alternative Grealish is, one can compare their stats from their most productive Premier League seasons, which for the City star was 2020/21, when he managed 16 goals and assists in just 26 games.

The stats on FBref stack up against each other well. That season, Grealish averaged 3.33 key passes and 7.08 progressive carries per 90 minutes, compared to 1.85 key passes and 3.43 progressive carries each game from Mbeumo this term.

Goals and assists

0.66

0.71

Key passes

3.33

1.85

Shot-creating actions

6.96

3.8

Goal-creating actions

0.82

0.53

Progressive carries

7.08

3.43

If Howe can help get Grealish back to his very best, like we saw four years ago, then he will have a sensational player on his hands. Not only will he bring flair on the ball and creative nous, but plenty of experience in the Champions League.

Losing out on Mbeumo was disappointing, but signing Grealish could be a huge catalyst for the Magpies to kick on in the 2025/26 campaign.

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1 ByAngus Sinclair Jun 11, 2025

The half-centuries from Kamindu and Asalanka ended up as mere footnotes in the game as WI won with five balls to spare

Andrew Fidel Fernando13-Oct-2024West Indies 180 for 5 (King 63, Lewis 50, Pathirana 2-27) beat Sri Lanka 179 for 7 (Asalanka 59, Kamindu 51, Shepherd 2-39) by five wicketsBrandon King and Evin Lewis crashed 107 off 55 balls at the top of the order, to set West Indies beautifully on course to their target of 180, in the first T20I against Sri Lanka. Although the hosts’ middle-overs bowlers slowed West Indies’ progress, they were never in serious trouble.They had plenty of batting to see the chase through, and Sherfane Rutherford finished it off with a four off the first ball of the final over.Shamar Joseph was the most economical of West Indies’ bowlers, conceding only 27 from his four overs. Though King and Lewis later outshone them, Sri Lanka had two half-centurions too, in Kamindu Mendis and Charith Asalanka, whose 82-run stand was the most substantial of the innings.

King, Lewis blast the powerplay

Lewis struck the first boundaries, launching Chamindu Wickramasinghe for a six and four at the end of the first over, but it was King who made the greatest impression while the fielding restrictions were in play. King’s standard move was to run at the bowlers and blast them down the ground. So good was his hand-eye coordination, that he did it twice against seamer Asitha Fernando in the second over, before taking aim at the spin of Maheesh Theekshana in the third over.By the end of the powerplay, King had eight fours (some of them edged, to be fair), and 39 runs off 20 balls. Lewis, who had blasted boundaries off Wickramasinghe almost exclusively, had 31 off 16 balls. And West Indies had 74 off the first six.They kept swinging, and by the end, Lewis made 50 off 28, and King 63 off 33. The requirement was fairly simple after their onslaught.Shamar Springer celebrates his maiden T20I wicket•AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala

WI quicks strike early

By contrast, Sri Lanka’s top order had failed to prosper on a helpful surface, thanks in part to sharp bowling from West Indies’ quicks. Romario Shepherd caught the edge of Pathum Nissanka’s bat three times, conceded fours behind the wicket and then had him caught by the keeper on the third occasion, to make West Indies’ first breakthrough. Kusal Perera was then bowled by Shamar Joseph early in the following over.When Kusal Mendis was also bowled by an excellent quicker delivery from Gudakesh Motie, leaving Sri Lanka at 58 for 3, it felt as if West Indies were about to carve open the game.

Kamindu may be good at cricket

But then perhaps it’s time to admit that Kamindu appears to know what he is doing on a cricket field. Having recently become the fastest batter since 1950 to 1000 Test runs, he produced 50 off 41 here in the shortest format, outdone in his team only by Asalanka who clubbed 59 off 35, Kamindu would also bowl two overs for 14, switching arms when necessary. He took the wicket of the opposition’s top scorer, King, with his left-arm spin, and collected figures of 1 for 14.