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Nathan Lyon backed James Pattinson, who, on the umpire’s review, had overstepped when Brendon McCullum was caught brilliantly by Mitchell Marsh on 39

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch20-Feb-20161:38

‘Unfortunately no-balls are part of our game’ – Lyon

Twice in one innings at the MCG in December, James Pattinson appeared to have dismissed West Indies batsman Carlos Brathwaite, only to have the umpires retrospectively call him for no-balls. Brathwaite scored a fifty, but Pattinson’s errors did not prove too costly in the match. His latest transgression cost far more runs, and could yet be a significant moment in determining the outcome of this Test.Brendon McCullum was on 39 when he cut hard at Pattinson and was brilliantly caught by Mitchell Marsh at gully, but umpire Richard Kettleborough told McCullum to wait while the no-ball was checked. Replays confirmed Pattinson had failed to get his heel behind the crease, McCullum went on to break the record for the fastest Test hundred and finished with 145, and New Zealand posted 370 on a pitch that should have helped the fast bowlers.”No-balls are a part of the game, we all know that,” Australian spinner Nathan Lyon said. “I know it’s easy for you guys to sit here and say get your foot behind the front line, but you’ve got to play in front of a full crowd, there’s a lot of adrenaline going. James Pattinson was just trying to do his best for his country. We’re going to be right behind James and he has got a big role to do for us in the second innings.”The reprieve for McCullum was the stroke of luck that New Zealand seemed due after they were wrongly denied the wicket of Adam Voges on the first day in Wellington, when he was bowled by a Doug Bracewell no-ball that should not have been called. It took Australia more than 15 overs after that to break the partnership between McCullum and Corey Anderson – and those overs cost more than 150 runs.”I don’t think our heads dropped, I think a lot of momentum swung their way,” Lyon said. “And credit to Corey and Brendon, they ran with it. They played a lot of shots and as I keep saying, they rode their luck – both of them. But as I said before, I think we actually toiled quite hard and stuck with it.”One of the more surprising statistics about McCullum’s innings was that it was almost entirely against pace bowlers – he crunched 54 from 22 balls off Josh Hazlewood, and punished Marsh with 37 off 18, while also scoring freely against Jackson Bird and Pattinson. But McCullum faced only one ball from Lyon, who was not introduced by Steven Smith until the 35th over, when McCullum was already into the 80s.”When someone is on like that, you want to challenge yourself, especially as a spinner,” Lyon said. “You want to challenge yourself against the best strikers in the business. It would have been a great challenge. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance there. He was on today. Hopefully I’ll get the chance in the second dig to take his wicket.”Pretty good striking, pretty amazing striking really. He has been a credit to the game of cricket the way he has conducted himself for New Zealand for a long period of time, so to see him come out there, that was pretty amazing. He rode his luck and that’s the way he has played cricket. I’m pretty sure it’s the way that he’d want to go down in his career: a person that took the game on.”

Manchester United youngster Kobbie Mainoo scored his first goal for the club in a 4-2 win over Newport County.

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Mainoo scores first goal for Man UtdRed Devils win 4-2 over Newport CountyTeammates congratulate youngsterWHAT HAPPENED?

Mainoo has been one of the key revelations for Erik Ten Hag this season, and the 18-year-old has gotten his goal-scoring account for the club opened. The goal was an important one for the Red Devils as they struggled against the third-tier side despite a 4-2 win. Mainoo received messages from his teammates post-match as they congratulated him for his goal on Instagram.

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Despite the rather underwhelming performance on the night, second-half goals from Antony and Rasmus Hojlund helped the Red Devils break pull away after Newport made it 2-2 early in the second half. They will play either Bristol City or Nottingham Forest after the sides drew 0-0 and will play in the fourth-round replay on Wednesday, January 31.

Getty ImagesDID YOU KNOW?

Mainoo's goal in the 13th minute of the game was the second goal of the game and as per OptaJoe, it was the first time Manchester United went two up in an FA Cup match since their 6-0 win over Tranmere Rovers in 2020.

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WHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD?

Mainoo is unlikely to start in Ten Hag's side's next match which will be on February 1 against Wolves at Molineaux Stadium. The youngster could, however, feature for the side at some point in the game.

The Sweden international has become a slightly-forgotten figure in recent weeks, but she was the hero against the Cityzens on Sunday

Alessia Russo might've been Arsenal's star signing this summer but it was Stina Blackstenius, the centre forward whose place the England star has taken, who was the Gunners' timely match-winner in a huge clash with title rivals Manchester City on Sunday. Introduced at the expense of Russo with 75 minutes on the clock, there were just three minutes of normal time remaining when Blackstenius capitalised on a costly defensive error to roll the ball into an empty net, securing a 2-1 win that will be a massive confidence boost for a team whose start to the new season has bordered on disaster.

Elimination in the first round of Women's Champions League qualifying was followed up by a shock opening weekend defeat to Liverpool, with Arsenal six points off table-topping Chelsea coming into this fixture. It proved to be a topsy-turvy afternoon. The Gunners started poorly but City didn't punish them, with Steph Catley instead giving the hosts an early lead through a wonderful strike. That could've been doubled with only 20 minutes on the clock but Khiara Keating stepped up to save Kim Little's penalty brilliantly instead.

City continued to look the side more in control of affairs and it meant that the only surprising thing about their equaliser in the second half, through in-form England winger Chloe Kelly, was that it didn't come sooner. They looked to have the bit between their teeth from then on, until Keating made a devastating mistake. The teenager misjudged Katie McCabe's long ball forward and her headed clearance had plenty of height but no distance, allowing Blackstenius to pick it up with ease and put it into the back of the net.

It was a crushing blow for Keating and City, with the young goalkeeper in tears at full-time as she replayed the incident over and over in her mind. There will be plenty of chances for her and her team to make up the ground lost in the title race by this defeat, there's no doubt about that, but it's a result that offers Arsenal a way back into the battle at the top, one that was certainly not expected to open up for them based on the opening stages in Borehamwood.

GOAL runs through the winners and losers from a chaotic afternoon at Meadow Park…

Getty ImagesWINNER: Stina Blackstenius

When will Blackstenius get the credit she deserves? Arsenal's Swedish striker has come up with so many big goals for the club since her arrival last January but it often feels like praise is hard to come by.

So far this season, head coach Jonas Eidevall has opted for Russo ahead of Blackstenius in a system with a lone striker in every WSL game except the draw at Manchester United in which the pair started together.

It could be argued that the latter game brought with it the Gunners' best performance of the season, with the qualities of each complementing the other and making the attack look more dynamic.

The strength of the case to start Russo and Blackstenius together only increased on Sunday. Russo was isolated throughout the game, with team-mate Victoria Pelova the only starter on either team to have fewer touches, and Blackstenius hardly got a look in either until Keating's error.

But, after scoring the opener against Man Utd last month, she was there in the right place at the right time again to give Arsenal a huge win. There is a lot that Blackstenius can bring to the Gunners and that shouldn't be forgotten.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Khiara Keating

Keating has been outstanding in the first few weeks of this new season. She's asserted herself as City's first-choice goalkeeper ahead of two senior internationals, she has come up big to help her team make a fantastic start to the campaign and she earned her first senior England call-up as a result of all of that last month, too. But Sunday was a day for her to forget.

The teenager didn't make a great clearance in the build-up to Arsenal's first goal and then, after a poor back pass from Esme Morgan, she brought down Cloe Lacasse to give the Gunners a penalty. There, though, Keating came up big – huge, even – making a remarkable save to deny Little, the hosts' usually clinical captain.

Confident and commanding in collecting crosses and strong in her distribution from then on, it appeared the young shot-stopper had made a decisively-positive contribution in what was looking more and more likely to be a City win.

But it all changed in an instant. McCabe's long ball was misread by Keating, her ineffective attempt at a clearance allowed Blackstenius in and the Gunners were 2-1 up. The City 'keeper was devastated as she pondered what might've been. It was a tough day for her but she is young and she will absolutely learn from it. There is still so much to be excited about when it comes to her potential and her future.

GettyWINNER: Lotte Wubben-Moy

If there is one area of Arsenal's that has looked particularly weak this season it has been in central defence. Eidevall's side have constantly looked suspect to mistakes, failed to deal with crosses effectively and made costly errors, regardless of the personnel chosen or whether they are playing as a back four or a back three.

On Sunday, though, after surviving some difficult early moments, the Gunners looked much better and that was largely thanks to the performance of Lotte Wubben-Moy. The England international dealt brilliantly with the imposing threat of City striker Bunny Shaw, she was reliable in her passing and she constantly got in the way to block and clear any danger.

Despite being a regular in squads and an ever-present for Arsenal, it's not been easy for Wubben-Moy to force herself into Sarina Wiegman's thinking when it comes to the Lionesses' starting XI. This performance won't have done her chances of changing that any harm, though.

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Getty ImagesLOSER: Man City's defence

Alex Greenwood's head injury on England duty was a massive blow to the Lionesses in a game that they would go on to lose to Belgium, taking their UEFA Women's Nations League and Olympic fates out of their own hands. But Sunday highlighted, bright and bold, just how big a loss she was for her club, too.

Usually so composed with the ball at the back, Man City looked all at sea at times without the player that excels at that the most. They were far from convincing in playing out, with mistakes in doing so leading to Arsenal's opening goal and to the penalty incident, and they missed Greenwood's ability to start attacks with her excellent passing range, too.

If anyone needed a perfect example of how important the England star is to her club team, then this performance was exactly that.

The first round of fixtures of the ICC Intercontinental Cup for eight Associate Nations was announced on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2015First-round fixtures of the Intercontinental Cup

10-13 May – Namibia v Hong Kong in Windhoek
2-5 June – Ireland v UAE in Malahide
2-5 June – Scotland v Afghanistan in Stirling
16-19 June – Netherlands v Papua New Guinea in Amsterdam

The first round of fixtures of the ICC Intercontinental Cup for eight Associate Nations was announced on Tuesday. The winner of this first-class competition will get the chance to play Test cricket in 2018 in an ICC Test Challenge against the lowest-ranked Test team at the time.The tournament begins on May 10 and will be spread out over two years. Ireland are the defending champions, winning the competition four out of six times since its inception.First-round fixtures of the ICC World Cricket League

15 May – Namibia v Hong Kong in Windhoek
17 May – Namibia v Hong Kong, Windhoek
22 June – Netherlands v Papua New Guinea, Amsterdam
24 June – Netherlands v Papua New Guinea, Amsterdam
25 June – Kenya v UAE, tbc
27 June – Kenya v UAE, tbc
25 July – Scotland v Nepal, tbc
27 July – Scotland v Nepal, tbc

“The ICC Intercontinental Cup is now the platform for emerging nations to fulfil their ambitions of playing Test cricket,” ICC chief executive David Richardson said. “It will therefore be fantastic to see the strongest Associates face off in an exciting competition, with great context, that will showcase world cricket’s growing pool of talent.”Namibia and Hong Kong begin the tournament on May 10, with the other three matches of the first round featuring Ireland, Afghanistan, UAE, Scotland, Netherlands and Papua New Guinea scheduled to be played in June.The line-up for the first round of the ICC World Cricket League, a one-day tournament for the Associates that takes place along with the Intercontinental Cup, was also released. Kenya and Nepal have been included among the eight participating teams in place of Afghanistan and Ireland, who have earned one-day status and are now part of the Future Tours Programme.

Folarin Balogun looked like being the match-winner for Monaco after coming off the bench and scoring but Lorient hit back in stoppage time.

Balogun started on benchCame on in second halfScored within minutes of arrivalGettyWHAT HAPPENED?

Balogun again started on the bench for Monaco but arrived in the 65th minute as a substitute for Wissam Ben Yedder with the game level at 1-1. The USMNT star wasted little time making an impact as he fired Monaco ahead just three minutes after his introduction. Balogun received the ball in the penalty area, turned smartly and fired a powerful left-footed shot past goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo at his near post. The strike looked like being the winner for Monaco until Romain Favre made it 2-2 in the last seconds of stoppage time.

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The goal is Balogun's first since he moved to Monaco from Arsenal in the summer transfer window, and he will be hoping he can now kick on and replicate last season's impressive goalscoring form in Ligue 1 with Reims. It's Balogun's second in two games as he was also on target over the international break in a 4-0 friendly win over Oman with the United States.

Getty/GOALUSMNT IMPACT

USMNT boss Gregg Berhalter will no doubt be thrilled to see Balogun open his Monaco account. Berhalter has already described his decision to join the Ligue 1 club as a "fabulous move" as the forward is so familiar with the French top flight. Balogun's goal comes on a weekend when USMNT strike partner Ricardo Pepi was also on target. Pepi scored a penalty in a 4-0 win over PSV over NEC in the Eredivisie.

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GOAL'S RATING

Folarin Balogun (7/10):

Made an instant impact by scoring just minutes after coming off the bench. Looked razor sharp when he picked up possession and showed his striker's instinct by going straight for goal. You suspect Lorient won't be too happy to see their goalkeeper concede at his near post but the power on Balogun's shot saw the ball fly past Mvogo. Also had the ball in the net again late on but saw his effort ruled out for offside.

A committee tasked with undertaking a comprehensive review of South Africa’s domestic cricket structures will not look into the Ram Slam T20 competition, which will undergo a separate analysis in the hope of increasing its commercial appeal

Firdose Moonda18-Apr-2016A committee tasked with undertaking a comprehensive review of South Africa’s domestic cricket structures will not look into the Ram Slam T20 competition, which will undergo a separate analysis in the hope of increasing its commercial appeal. The committee’s focus, therefore, will be more intensely trained on the second-tier provincial semi-professional competitions, which are believed to have been neglected in recent seasons.South Africa’s domestic structure is split into two sections: the professional franchise structure which consists of six teams and a semi-professional tournament which includes 13 provincial teams and Namibia. Both divisions play a first-class, List A and 20-over competition although the franchise’s first-class fixtures are held over four days and the provincial teams play over three.”This is something that has been a serious concern for people involved in management, because we lose a lot of players who don’t want to play in the semi-professional structures,” an insider told ESPNcricinfo. “From the time players finish school to the time they get franchise contracts, they can be in limbo. We want to look at how we can incorporate those players.”Both sections will be reviewed by a different team to the one that has been appointed to conduct an investigation into the national sides which is much smaller. While the national teams committee is a four-person panel, the domestic review team includes 14 people, headed by the director of strategy at auditing firm EY, Michael Lalor. It includes CSA’s national academy coach, Shukri Conrad, two franchise coaches, Warriors’ Malibongwe Maketa and Titans’ Rob Walter, two national selectors Ashwell Prince and Hussein Manack, one franchise captain Omphile Ramela, a selection of commentators and a journalist.”Nobody really knows how they came up with this group, but we are all waiting to see what they come up with,” the source said. While CSA has not put a time frame on the review, the panel are expected to reveal their findings by mid-year and it is expected to focus heavily on the provincial structures.”One idea that has already come up is that the provinces play less 50-over cricket and more T20s. There is also some talk of increasing the number of teams and the number of contracted semi-professional players,” the insider said.Currently, the provincial sides play 10 first-class, six 50-over matches a season and four T20s a season and the imbalance could be corrected with this review. Provincial teams contract seven players but the number could increase to 10.A franchise expansion from six to eight teams has also been mooted although if that was to be approved it would only happen in the 2017-18 season and not next summer. Kimberley, East London and Potchefstroom are believed to be in the running as franchise bases.Instead, next season will be the one in which CSA hopes to increase the impact of their T20 tournament, which lags behind some of the other global leagues. The Ram Slam has routinely struggled to attract big names both because of the weakening Rand and the scheduling – it often clashes with South Africa’s own international fixtures.Next season, CSA will make national players available for the tournament and have moved a home Test against Sri Lanka from December to January to accommodate for this. They are also looking to sign several international stars and “find ways to commercialise the competition, because it can’t be done in any other format.”

Gabriel Martinelli refused to take credit for Arsenal's 1-0 win against Manchester City on Sunday, despite scoring the decisive goal.

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Martinelli came on at half-timeScored decisive goal as Arsenal wonReluctant to accept praise for strikeWHAT HAPPENED?

Martinelli came off the bench at half-time to mark his return after weeks out of action through injury and netted the game's only goal after 86 minutes. The Brazilian winger had an immediate impact for the Gunners, getting their first shot on target just five minutes into the second half, before smashing in the goal late on.

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The game looked set to fizzle out to a goalless draw before Martinelli's moment of magic, which secured Arsenal's first Premier League win against City in eight years and moved them up to second in the table – second to Tottenham only on goals scored.

WHAT THEY SAID

Martinelli was reluctant to accept the praise for netting the important strike, as he told : "I am not the man. I think everyone has a part in this victory. I scored the goal but it was the whole team and the staff and everyone. I am happy and the team is too."

He added: "It gives more confidence [to us]. We know our potential and how tough it is to play against them. Today we beat them and it gives us more confidence to kick on."

Manager Mikel Arteta also hailed the winger's willingness to play despite him being injured, saying: "Another player with big ones too. The physios weren't having it and he said 'I am ready to go'. Leo (Leandro Trossard) got injured and I looked to him and he was already ready to go."

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GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

After the international fixtures over the next two weeks, Arsenal will face Chelsea in the Premier League on October 22.

Barcelona have confirmed that Gavi has suffered an ACL injury, with the teenage midfielder preparing to undergo surgery.

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Teenager forced off in tearsWill require an operationSeason likely to be overWHAT HAPPENED?

The 19-year-old was forced from the field in tears on Sunday when representing Spain in their Euro 2024 qualifier with Georgia. It quickly became apparent that serious damage had been done, with the Barca starlet now facing a long road to recovery.

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There is every chance that Gavi’s 2023-24 campaign has been brought to a close after being forced onto the sidelines and under the knife. Barca have not put a timescale on his recovery as yet, but he will be missing for several months.

WHAT THEY SAID

Barcelona have said in a statement on the club’s : “Tests carried out on Monday morning on the first team player Gavi have shown that he has a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and an associated injury to the lateral meniscus. The player will have surgery in the coming days after which a new medical update will be released. Gavi was injured on international duty for Spain in the final game of the team's European Championship qualifying group against Georgia. The Barca midfielder was forced off after just 26 minutes of the encounter.”

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

Gavi has taken in 111 appearances for Barcelona since stepping out of their famed La Masia academy system. He has seven senior goals to his name at club level, along with 27 international caps, and is tied to a contract through to 2026 that includes a €1 billion (£876m/$1.bn) release clause.

Forty of Pakistan’s top cricketers will participate in a month-long fitness camp at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore

Umar Farooq06-May-2014Temperatures in Lahore are expected soar past 45 C in the next one month, during which 40 of Pakistan’s top cricketers will undergo fitness training at the National Cricket Academy. Mohammad Akram, the NCA coach, hopes to “make the players sweat” and ensure a talent pool that is “fully attuned to survive” at the international level.The players underwent a preliminary examination to plot their current fitness level. The first 18 days of the camp will be concentrated on physical conditioning, while remaining 12 will be spent on honing all three disciplines followed by match simulations.”We have been looking for a window in which we could obtain a thorough insight of our players’ fitness level,” Akram said at the Gaddafi Stadium. “It might have been a talking point but we don’t have proper record on our players’ actual levels of fitness. Now players will be reassessed every four months to make them realise how important this aspect is.”The weather might tough for the camp but we deliberately planned for it. We could have taken this camp to relatively cooler places like Abbottabad or Murree but that won’t work. We actually wanted our players to work hard and sweat so that eventually he will be attuned for top level. I can’t claim that player will be super fit within this month but it definitely will create a significant difference.”Though fitness is one of the three criteria (performance and integrity clearance being the others) that define a player’s prospects of making the Pakistan side, it has not been given as much priority until now.”Being a professional, a player must maintain his fitness on his own but unfortunately in our culture it’s difficult,” Akram said. Additionally, there was much debate over psychological assessments of the players being included in the programme. Pakistan are known for frequent batting collapses, with players crumbling under pressure despite their evident talent. Former coach Geoff Lawson had hinted at the need of a sports psychologist for Pakistan.”It is a need but most of our players are very strong-minded and despite off-field issues they bounced back really well,” Akram said. “But yes we have already engaged a psychologist who will be delivering lectures every week.”Apart from batsman Azhar Ali, 39 players have undergone a screening test. Azhar has been ruled out of the camp due to a stress fracture in his right ankle and needs a month of rehabilitation.”It isn’t a serious injury but he still needs a four-week rest,” Akram said. “He is residing in the NCA and will be doing his rehabilitation on the sidelines of the camp. Mohammad Irfan is up and running and will be in action during the camp.”

Cricket Australia has come up with a novel plan to improve the team’s performance on Indian soil: import some of their own

Brydon Coverdale04-Jun-2014Cricket Australia has come up with a novel plan to improve the team’s performance on Indian soil: import some of their own. Their 4-0 thrashing in India last year continued a recent trend of failures in sub-continental conditions and since they last toured Bangladesh in 2006, Australia have played 13 Tests in Asia for only one win, when they defeated Sri Lanka in Galle in 2011.Their home clean-sweep in the Ashes helped propel Michael Clarke’s men back up to No.1 in the Test rankings but staying there will require finding ways to win away from home. To that end, Cricket Australia intends to import soil from India and install Asian-style practice pitches at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane, perhaps in the middle of a greyhound track nearby.Australia’s next Test series is in the UAE against Pakistan later this year and against an attack likely to include challenging spinners such as Saeed Ajmal, the batsmen will hardly have an easy time of it. Their struggles in turning conditions in Bangladesh for the World T20 earlier this year only highlighted the issue of handling quality spin.”Our toughest challenge the last few years has been having success away from home,” Clarke told reporters in Brisbane, where the Australians are at a training camp ahead of their tours of Zimbabwe and the UAE later this year. “We didn’t play well in India. I don’t know, but I am guessing the wickets in Dubai will be similar.”I am guessing they will prepare wickets that spin and they will have two or three spinners in those teams. We have to find a way to get better. That is one of our great challenges as a Test team.”The Indian-style pitches in Brisbane will not be installed in time to prepare Clarke’s men for their series against Pakistan, but Cricket Australia’s general manager of team performance Pat Howard hoped they would be ready by the end of the coming summer. An indoor spinning surface is already part of the setup at the National Cricket Centre, but such outdoor pitches would provide a unique opportunity for batsmen ahead of subcontinental tours.”A third of all our matches are in the subcontinent, so you’ve got to be able to deal with it,” Howard said. “While we do practise here against spin … we know it’s not as real as being there. We’re never going to make it exactly the same, but we’re going to try to get as close as we can.”The subcontinent [pitch] idea has been around for a long time and we’re very much trying to make this a place where in the middle of winter guys can get themselves ready and prepared. Some players in our system are fantastic at using their feet and playing against spin, but our collective experience has got to get better.”