In a bid to intensify the Premier League title race, the penultimate matches for Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City have been rescheduled.
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After the disaster at Abu Dhabi, nothing short of exemplary would lift Pakistan’s spirits this series. The man to fit that adjective was Yasir Shah, who finished with the second best figures by a Pakistan bowler in Test history, his 14th wicket in the match securing parity in a series against New Zealand. It took under seven overs and 30 minutes after tea to see the New Zealand tail off, ensuring Pakistan wouldn’t have to bat again as they triumphed by an innings and 16 runs.Yasir had four when New Zealand came out to bat after tea seven down. After Hasan Ali cleaned up Henry Nicholls – a beauty that ripped through the bat-pad gap and smashed into off stump, Yasir took centre stage again. He toyed with Neil Wagner in an over where he did everything but dismiss him, and came to finish the job next over. Wagner and Boult fell within three balls of each other, and Pakistan had their win.New Zealand had come into the fourth day with the foundation of a good partnership behind them. But they would have known that decent, good, or even big partnerships weren’t going to be enough to get them out of this predicament; they needed gargantuan contributions built over several hours of sweat and toil. To that end, they failed almost instantly; with just 15 added to Monday’s score, Latham was adjudged to have nicked behind to Sarfraz Ahmed the very ball after he brought up his half-century. There was, arguably, some misfortune to his dismissal, with several feeling his bat had hit pad rather than ball before it fizzed through to the keeper. It was telling how close the call was: Paul Reiffel, the on-field umpire, went upstairs to double-check. Even that second opinion, however, didn’t quite guarantee the correct decision.It wasn’t the most exciting session. Both sides were playing solid, if somewhat pragmatic, cricket. Taylor and Henry Nicholls batted with the knowledge of a pair who knew the wicket was easier than it had been yesterday, while Pakistan rotated the bowlers around to break up any rhythm, trusting a wicket was around the corner. There weren’t too many chances created, but every so often, Bilal or Yasir would produce vicious side spinners, to which the batsman could only stick out their bats and hope it didn’t clip the edge of the stump.It wasn’t to be, though. A deep square leg positioned by Sarfraz to guard against Taylor’s impetuous sweeping found himself in the game. Bilal Asif had tossed one in that looked too short to sweep, and when Taylor went for it anyway, it carried straight to the man, another hammer blow to his side’s chances of survival.Yasir made his first impact in the afternoon session when he broke yet another resilient New Zealand partnership, trapping BJ Watling in front to take his first wicket of the day. Until then, the pair had frustrated Pakistan in much the same way as Latham and Taylor had earlier. But just like the partnerships that came before, this one, too, was broken well before it could make the sort of impact that would threaten Pakistan’s dominance here, and New Zealand were suddenly down to allrounders and tailenders.Colin de Grandhomme’s absence of a solid defensive technique against Hasan was exposed pretty quickly, as he swung across the line to a straight ball that clattered into off stump. Ish Sodhi’s resistance didn’t last, either, and with half an hour still to go before tea, it appeared Pakistan could wrap this up in time to make this the final session of play.But Nicholls, who was instrumental to New Zealand’s win in Abu Dhabi for the partnership he struck with BJ Watling, was up for the fight again. Before this series, he had only two half-centuries against sub-continental teams – both against Bangladesh – but there is enough evidence of a strong character to suggest a stomach for this format. He was cleaned up for 77, and there, the last safety catch against a Pakistan win had been unloosened.It was only right for Yasir to have the last laugh. Few men have dominated consecutive days in Test cricket as Yasir did here in Dubai, ripping through New Zealand as records tumbled in his wake. No Pakistan bowler has ever better the 14 wickets he took in this match, with only one person to keep him company on that figure. That man? Imran Khan. It’s hardly shabby company.
Stina Blackstenius' dramatic extra-time goal won Arsenal the Continental Cup and denied Chelsea the chance of a quadruple in Emma Hayes' final season.
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Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 in Conti Cup finalBlackstenius scored only goal in extra-timeChelsea's quadruple dream over for another yearGettyTELL ME MORE
Chelsea thought they'd taken the lead midway through the first half when Mayra Ramirez beat Manuela Zinsberger with a fine strike from range, but VAR intervened and ruled it out for a handball in the build-up by Erin Cuthbert. It was the closest the game got to a goal in a first half peppered with half-chances, with Arsenal's best opening in normal time coming after the break when Cloe Lacasse was unable to beat Hannah Hampton one-on-one.
Lauren James had a great opportunity to open the scoring as the potential of extra-time loomed, put through on goal by Guro Reiten's clever scooped pass, but the angle closed as she waited to take the shot and that worked in Zinsberger's favour, who made herself big to thwart the England star.
To extra-time we went, then, but not before some really horrible scenes as Arsenal midfielder Frida Maanum went down off the ball and was in need of serious medical attention before being stretchered off.
The Arsenal fans did all they could to fire up their team as the game understandably fell flat in light of a really worrying situation, and it was the Gunners who created the best chance in extra-time, as Blackstenius blasted a golden chance over the bar after Alessia Russo cleverly put her through on goal.
That miss wouldn't come back to haunt the Swede, though, as it was she who scored the only goal of the game with just four minutes of extra-time remaining, her shot too powerful for Hampton to stop as Arsenal retained their Conti Cup title.
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Arsenal are the only English team to have won the quadruple, doing so back in 2007, and so there will be a little extra satisfaction for the Gunners with this triumph as it means they have denied Chelsea the chance to match that feat this year. The Blues are still fighting for three trophies though, in the league, the FA Cup and the Champions League.
Getty ImagesTHE MVP
It wasn't Blackstenius' best game and she missed a huge chance before eventually breaking the deadlock, but it's hard to deny her the feat of MVP after she scored the goal that decided this final. The Swede ran hard as she always does, stretched the Chelsea defence and came up with the match-winning moment to ensure Arsenal's season doesn't end without silverware.
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GettyTHE BIG LOSER
In a tight and even contest which became more a war of attrition, there were no outstandingly bad performers, but it was Ramirez on the end of some bad luck when she had a wonderful strike ruled out through no fault of her own. There was no disputing the decision to disallow her superb goal, as it was a clear handball by Cuthbert, but she will have been frustrated all the same.
The CoA has lifted the suspensions on the two cricketers ‘with immediate effect’, pending the appointment and adjudication of the BCCI’s ombudsman
Nagraj Gollapudi24-Jan-2019
Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul were banned for their controversial comments in a TV programme•Getty Images
Hardik Pandya will join India’s limited-overs squad in New Zealand and KL Rahul the India A squad that is currently playing a 50-overs series against England Lions in Thiruvananthapuram, after the BCCI lifted their suspensions on Thursday.Pandya will fly out to New Zealand “at the earliest”, according to a BCCI release, while Rahul will join his India A team-mates for the last three matches of the series, on January 27, 29 and 31. Given that India play their second ODI against New Zealand on Saturday, the third ODI in Mount Maunganui on Monday, January 28, appears to be the earliest possible opportunity for Pandya to return to action.Rahul and Pandya had been suspended for their controversial comments on a TV show, but became available for selection as soon as the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators lifted the ban on the pair, pending the appointment and adjudication of the board’s ombudsman.The CoA banned Pandya and Rahul on January 11 for their controversial comments on a TV chat show. However, the fate of the two players since then had been in limbo because of the split in the two-member CoA over what the next step should be.CoA chairman Vinod Rai was in favour of placing a two-match suspension and allowing the players to return pending an inquiry by an ad-hoc ombudsman. However, former India woman’s captain Diana Edulji, the other half of the CoA, disagreed, saying either the office bearers and the COA carry out the inquiry or it be done by an ombudsman. Two of the three BCCI office bearers had then pointed out that the ombudsman could only be appointed by the BCCI.It was then decided that the CoA would wait for the Supreme Court to take call on the appointment of the ombudsman, considering the BCCI had failed to fill the position lying vacant since late 2016. At a hearing last week, the court deferred its decision saying it would have a say only after amicus curiae PS Narasimha took charge.It is understood that Edulji was not keen to change her stance, but Narasimha is learned to have intervened and said the interim suspensions over the players be lifted subject to the ombudsman’s adjudication, once appointed.Accordingly, the BCCI issued a statement, stating the CoA had lifted the “interim suspension” on both Pandya and Rahul with immediate effect. “The above matter and decision has been taken with the concurrence of the amicus curiae, Mr PS Narasimha. In view of the above, the suspension orders dated 11.01.2019 is immediately lifted pending appointment and adjudication of the allegations by the BCCI ombudsman,” the board said.
Both Test series between Bangladesh and West Indies this year panned out similarly, with the home team dominating. The ODI series, however, have been closer contests. After Bangladesh won the first ODI convincingly in Dhaka, West Indies bounced back with a tight win to level the series. The teams were in a similar situation in July this year, and it was Bangladesh who prevailed then, winning the final ODI to clinch the series 2-1. While hopes of an encore are alive for the hosts, the visitors, buoyed by the series-leveling win, would for their part hope to keep the trend of the away team winning the ODIs going.While West Indies were not entirely convincing in the second game, their first win on the tour sure was a much-needed boost. Shai Hope displayed guts to take them through in a difficult chase on a challenging pitch in Dhaka. He found little support at the other end but the starts that Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels got are little things the visitors can build on.Like many of them, stand-in captain Rovman Powell too is due runs, particularly quick ones, if West Indies are to impose themselves on the Bangladesh bowlers. Keemo Paul batted well in the first two games but his batting position suggests that his contributions are at this stage seen as a bonus. Overall, West Indies need all-round discipline in their bowling, and a bit more patience from their batsmen.Bangladesh would be wary of slip-ups in the decider. Losing wickets in clusters after a big partnership has been a long-term problem, and both seniors and newcomers have been afflicted with it. It might be slightly easier for batsmen to get going from the start in Sylhet, but guarding against a collapse has to be quite high on their priority list.Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan would all be disappointed with their fifties given how they were well set at the crease for bigger things. Mahmudullah would also not have been too pleased getting out in the 41st over, usually the time when he is at his destructive best.But Bangladesh also have to look beyond these four and Mashrafe Mortaza when looking for performers. Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar are due some runs, while Imrul Kayes may be fighting for his place in the side despite scoring 349 runs in Bangladesh’s previous ODI series, against Zimbabwe. If the trio can step up in this crunch game, it will ease the pressure off the big guns.
Bangladesh LWWWW (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies WLLLW
Analysts have already started to discuss Oshane Thomas‘ pace, which despite being wayward at times, has had somewhat of an impact on the Bangladesh batting. He has so far taken four wickets at an average of 22.00 in the series.Mustafizur Rahman has the best economy rate, 5.30, among bowlers who have bowled in the last five overs of an ODI on at least ten occasions since his debut. Therefore, he should treat his 16-run penultimate over in the second ODI as a one-off.
As it usually does after one or two low scores, a question mark will hang over Imrul Kayes’ place in the top order with Mohammad Mithun a likely replacement; in that case, Soumya Sarkar will bat at No 3. Rubel Hossain may well have staved off the vultures too, after a decent showing in the second game.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Liton Das, 3 Imrul Kayes, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Soumya Sarkar, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Mustafizur RahmanWest Indies may not want to tinker with their winning combination, which means Chandrapaul Hemraj gets another go.West Indies (probable): 1 Chandrapaul Hemraj, 2 Shai Hope (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Rovman Powell (capt), 8 Keemo Paul, 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Oshane Thomas
Sylhet offers an altogether different pitch than Dhaka, with hope for truer bounce and a bit more pace on the ball. There’s usually dew around early evening. Weather is set to be clear.
“We have come here to win the games. We came here to fight and make sure we finish the series 2-1.”
Pandya returns to action, Milind Kumar breaches 1000-run mark, Dhapola continues to sizzle and more
Shashank Kishore14-Dec-2018Shreyas Iyer shreds jetlag in style
Less than 24 hours after landing from New Zealand, Shreyas Iyer showed what Mumbai missed for the first half of a dismal campaign – they’re at the bottom of Group A, with only Chhattisgarh below them. Iyer struck his 12th first-class century – a bruising 139-ball 178 – courtesy 17 fours and 11 sixes against Baroda at Wankhede Stadium. His 283-run third-wicket stand with Siddesh Lad, the captain, came off just 271 balls. Mumbai blasted 439 for 8 by stumps. Lad helped himself to a slightly mellow, but no-less effective 130.How did comeback man Hardik Pandya do?
Among those made to toil was Hardik Pandya. Returning to top-flight cricket for the first time since injuring his lower back at the Asia Cup in September, Pandya, given the new ball, removed openers Aditya Tare and Vikrant Auti in his first spell. He returned later in the day to dismiss the dangerous Shivam Dube. In all, his figures read a respectable 15-0-74-3.What about the other India A boys?
India A’s highest run-getter during the 3-0 one-day series win in New Zealand, Vijay Shankar’s journey to Mohali was more eventful. His route read something like this: Mount Maunganui-Auckland-Singapore-Mumbai-Delhi and then a six-hour road trip to Chandigarh. This meant he reached the venue close to midnight on Thursday and was amid the thick of things in the second session, reviving a floundering Tamil Nadu innings. Walking in at 73 for 4, he struck a 122-ball 71 to take them to 213 for 9 at stumps against Punjab. Vijay was the seventh batsman dismissed, after which TN lost two more.ALSO READ: Record-breaking Rohera relives magical debutIshan Kishan, meanwhile, struck a counter-attacking 42-ball 54 to put Jharkhand back on track after they were reduced to 59 for 4 in the first session by a fired up Uttar Pradesh attack. That they finished at a relatively strong 278 for 6 was courtesy Kishan’s Jharkhand mentor and senior batsman Ishank Jaggi, who was 76 not out at stumps. Jaggi battled for 176 deliveries, hitting eight fours. His unbroken seventh-wicket stand with Shahbaz Nadeem, who was also with India A for the four-day fixtures in New Zealand not too long ago, was worth 121. Nadeem was unbeaten on 70, possibly eyeing a maiden first-class century on Saturday.AFP
Panchal’s form continues, Milind breaches 1000 barrier
Leading Gujarat, champions of 2016-17 in Parthiv Patel’s absence, opener Priyank Panchal struck his eighth score of fifty or more this season – he’s converted three of those into hundreds – but Gujarat failed to capitalise. Smarting from a defeat to Saurashtra on a rank turner, Karnataka roared back to dismiss Gujarat for 216, and finished on 45 for the loss of Mayank Agarwal and D Nischal in reply.Panchal’s 741 runs, including Friday’s 74, is the most by a batsman from the Elite group so far. Overall, it’s second-best to Milind Kumar’s 1017. The Delhi-based Sikkim professional breached the 1000-run barrier during the course of his fourth century of the season – two of those have been double tons. He struck 139 to put Sikkim in a commanding position at 321 for 9 against Mizoram in the Plate Group where bowlers dominated proceedings elsewhere.There also seems to be no stopping Deepak Dhapola, the Uttarakhand fast bowler, who picked up his sixth five-wicket haul of the season to take his wicket tally to 42 in his sixth game, the most in the season so far. It helped bowl Nagaland out for 207, before Uttarakhand finished on 73 for 2. With five wins in five matches, they’re all but through to the knockouts.Meanwhile in Goalpara, as many as 22 wickets fell on a manic day where Puducherry took control despite being shot out for 136 in the first innings. Fabid Ahmed picked 6 for 29 to shoot Arunachal out for 82. At stumps, Puducherry lost two more in the second innings, but had extended their lead to 82.Brief scores:
Groups A & B
Group C
Plate Group
India’s captain said he might have played four quicks in the Perth Test even if R Ashwin had been fit
Sidharth Monga in Perth18-Dec-20184:09
‘We were totally convinced about this combination’ – Kohli
India might have gone into the Perth Test without a spinner even if R Ashwin had been fit, their captain Virat Kohli has said.Ashwin was ruled out of the game with a side strain, and India, rather than replacing him with Ravindra Jadeja, the other spinner in their 13-man squad for the Test, went ahead with a four-man pace attack. Australia stuck with their 3-1 combination and their spinner Nathan Lyon won the Man-of-the-Match award for his eight wickets.These events were somewhat similar to those of the Adelaide Test on the 2014-15 tour – Kohli’s first Test as captain – when India had played the rookie legspinner Karn Sharma, who leaked runs with little success, and Lyon had taken 12 wickets.India’s selection came in for sharp criticism, but Kohli defended it, saying the pitch had played exactly how the team management had expected it to.”Yes, we could have considered that (playing four quicks),” Kohli said, when asked if Ashwin would have played had he been fit. “If you see, the rough didn’t have much assistance. It was just the pace on the ball that Lyon bowled that he got the wickets that he got.”We as a team didn’t want to think that we definitely wanted to consider a spinning option on this pitch, especially having a look at the pitch on day one and how we thought it would play on the first three days, and exactly played out that way. We thought a fast bowler is going to be more productive and more helpful for us as a team.”The choice of the fourth fast bowler was also contentious, with Umesh Yadav getting a go ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is usually considered an automatic pick on well-grassed pitches. Kohli said Bhuvneshwar lost out because he had not played much four-day cricket of late.”Bhuvi hasn’t played a lot of four-day cricket recently, and Umesh took 10 wickets in his last Test (against West Indies in Hyderabad), and was in good bowling rhythm. So that was the reason behind picking Umesh over Bhuvi.”Bhuvneshwar’s last first-class match was in Johannesburg, nearly 11 months ago. In England, he aggravated a lower-back injury during the ODI series, and was ruled out of the Test series in the same country, where conditions are considered to be ideal for him to bowl in. He was then rested for the home Tests against West Indies.Umesh Yadav gets to his run up•Associated PressOne of the reasons Bhuvneshwar was missed was his batting. Even in Johannesburg, on a pitch that just escaped being labelled dangerous, he scored 30 and 33 out of India’s totals of 187 and 247. India have often spoken of lower-order runs as one of the major contributing factors to their Test success, and this was the case just last week in Adelaide, where Ashwin scored 25 in a crucial 62-run stand for the seventh wicket. In Perth, India’s Nos. 8 to 11 only contributed 11 runs between them across both innings.”You obviously have two situations that you can think of,” Kohli said. “When you pick another fast bowler, obviously Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja have more ability with the bat, we all know that. It’s a very tricky decision to make, what kind of a bowling option you want to go with or you want to think that that guy can contribute with the bat as well.”So eventually you come to one decision, and we back that decision and went ahead with it. Whether it comes off or not, that’s a different thing, but we were totally convinced in the team that that was our best combination to go with, and the batsmen have to take responsibility. There are lots of variables that can happen during the course of a cricket match but before that, you need to have clarity as to what you want to do. And as a side, we were totally clear that this was the combination we wanted to go with.”The preferred option, Umesh, ended the match with figures of 2 for 139 from 37 overs and consolidated his reputation as a bowler much better suited to Indian conditions where he has reverse-swing to work with. Umesh’s economy rate of 3.75 had two knock-on effects: the part-time spinners bowled 29 overs, and the other three quicks had to keep coming back for spells when they may not have been at their freshest.Kohli was, however, happy with the fast bowlers’ performance overall.”Especially yesterday, the first session, giving away only 56-odd runs without getting a wicket,” Kohli said, when asked if he was satisfied with the control he had on the game, in the absence of a spinner. “I think it was outstanding bowling, and obviously [Mohammed] Shami did what he did in the next session with the ball (he took six wickets in the second innings), which was again wonderful to see. So, yeah. I think they executed their plans to 95% of what we expected.”I think you definitely can be happy with that. In the past when we have played four quicks, we definitely haven’t been as consistent as we were in this game. So, I think they were pretty accurate, pretty consistent, and as I said we were pretty convinced about going in with four fast bowlers looking at the conditions. I think they did pretty well.”
Chelsea have extended the contracts of Enzo Fernandez and Mukhailo Mudryk that will keep them at the club into their thirties.
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Juventus' Serie A struggles continued on Saturday as Weston McKennie and his teammates were unable to get the better of Torino.
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McKennie starts and plays full 90 minutesJuve held by Torino as forwards misfireSerie A title is way out of reach for Allegri's menGettyWHAT HAPPENED?
It was another frustrating day for Juventus, who squandered several opportunities to take the lead in the first half.
Dusan Vlahovic was the main culprit, with the striker unable to find the back of the net. The Serbian blasted a point-blank chance off the post in just the seventh minute and was also thwarted several times by Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, with one particularly fine save in the 31st minute.
Kenan Yildiz had Juve's best chance of the second half, but Torino had the clearest opportunity to win the game late. Valentino Lazaro's header in stoppage time went just over the bar, sparing Juventus from what would have been an embarrassing defeat against their rivals as the game ended 0-0.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE
The draw continues a frustrating run of form for Juventus, who have been struggling for some time. The Old Lady have won just two matches in the league since January 27, claiming 11 points from as many games during that period.
As a result, Juve remain in third, with the club continuing to fall further away from the top two. McKennie and his teammates are now five points behind second-placed Milan, who have a game in hand. They're also just five points ahead of fourth-placed Bologna, who also have one more game to play.
GettyUSMNT IMPACT
It was a solid but not spectacular performance from McKennie, who was unable to prevent Juve from continuing their slide. That's no fault of his, though, as the visitors would have won this match easily if anyone on the team could finish.
Statistically, McKennie's passing was a bit poor and there were several moments where he could have done better on the ball. Off the ball, he was effective, contributing defensively in the moments Torino got forward.
It wasn't a vintage performance by any stretch, and McKennie has had a few this season. It was decent enough to help Juve control the midfield, though, and the American midfielder remains virtually irreplaceable in this team, even if he alone wasn't able to make the difference.
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Weston McKennie (6/10):
A special day as he made his 100th Serie A appearance. It wasn't a memorable game, though, as McKennie and Juve struggled. His passing will need to be better, but the draw was far from his fault.
Co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have been set a transfer challenge as manager Phil Parkinson draws up recruitment plans at Wrexham.
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