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Plays of the day from the opening match of Group A between Australia and England

George Dobell at the MCG14-Feb-2015Dismissal of the day
James Taylor suffered an agonising end to his innings. Poised on the brink of an excellent maiden international century, but left with only the No. 11, James Anderson, for company, he was given out leg before to Josh Hazlewood for 98. While he reviewed the decision successfully – Hawk-Eye suggested the ball would have missed leg stump – it was all to no avail: more replays showed that Anderson, backing up desperately, did not reach the striker’s end before Glenn Maxwell threw down the stumps with a direct hit. So Taylor had been given out, reprieved and left stranded all from the same delivery. Afterwards, the ICC confirmed that the dismissal should not have stood, with the ball considered dead after Aleem Dar’s original decision was made.Change of the day
It appeared that England had a settled line-up. It appeared that, through the tri-series and the warm-up games ahead of this tournament, they were going to play Ravi Bopara at No. 6 as a batsman who finishes and a bowler who can contribute if required. It appeared they had invested in allowing players to familiarise themselves with their specific positions and roles. But, at the last minute, they had a change of plan and Bopara made way for Gary Ballance, who had not played a List A game since September 2 and was not in the ODI tour party when England toured Sri Lanka just before Christmas. And, as England decided to bat Ballance at No. 3 it meant moving James Taylor. In 10 of his 11 ODI innings he had batted at No. 3 (the other was at No. 5) but now, in perhaps the biggest game of his career to date, he was asked to fulfil the finishing role.Celebration of the day
The moment Aaron Finch flicked the ball to the leg-side boundary to bring up his century, he punched the air and gave an enormous leap of pure joy. This century clearly meant a great deal to him. As well it might: not only was he playing on his home ground, but it made him the fourth Australian to score a century on World Cup debut. Trevor Chappell, Geoff Marsh (whose son, Mitchell, also took a World Cup debut five-for in this game) and Andrew Symonds are the others.Finn-ish of the day
With 2 for 71 from 9.3 overs, it seemed Steven Finn was destined to leave the MCG with unremarkable figures. That changed in his last three deliveries – also the last deliveries of the Australia innings – when he claimed an unusual hat-trick and finished with the second five-wicket haul of his ODI career. They were hardly taken in the style traditional for a fast bowler, though. Two were due to outstanding boundary catches, one by Stuart Broad at third man and the other Joe Root at long-off, while the third came when Mitchell Johnson thrashed a slower ball to mid-off. The damage had long been done, though, and it may be a haul Finn recalls with little pleasure.Drop of the day
England were desperate for early wickets. They knew that the best way to contain a batting line-up with a man at No. 10 – Mitchell Starc – who has scored 99 in a Test, was to strike with the new ball and force Australia into a more cautious approach. So when Finch mistimed the fifth ball of the match, deceived by Anderson’s inswing, and offered a catch to midwicket it seemed England had made the perfect start. But Chris Woakes, nerves having made his limbs stiff and his hands hard, was slow to move to the ball and instead of claiming the catch, let the ball burst through his hands. The ball was above his head and hit reasonably hard but, by international standards, it was not an especially difficult catch. It was a mistake that Finch punished severely.Miss of the day
Beating Australia at the MCG is always tough. But if you drop both openers within the first five overs, it becomes desperately tough. The second drop – and in truth, Moeen Ali hardly laid a hand on the chance – came when David Warner drove ferociously at Anderson, but was unable to keep the ball on the ground. Moeen, diving to his left at mid-off, seemed slow to react and barely made contact as the ball sped to the boundary. Anderson, who could have had both openers out inside his first three overs, had the look of a man who could drink hot blood.Catch of the day
Australia’s fielding effort was not without its blemishes, with Finch dropping Taylor on 20, but they also took some very smart catches to back up their superiority with the bat. Brad Haddin’s diving effort to claim a toe-end edge of Eoin Morgan was notable but the pick of the lot was Steven Smith’s screamer to send Jos Buttler back. Mitchell Marsh had pitched the ball up outside off and Buttler struck a powerful drive that was on the rise as it went to Smith’s left, standing at extra cover. Smith seemed to have anticipated the stroke, however. and leapt to take the catch with both hands. Australia were not letting this one go.

It may be the first of many England versus Australia clashes over the next few months but both teams have their eyes on the initial prize at Edgbaston

George Dobell07-Jun-2013And so it begins. Not just the Champions Trophy campaigns of England and Australia, but a saga that will see these two sides play up to 66 days of cricket against one another across 26 matches within the next 34 weeks. It may well prove, in time, that such exploitation of this fixture damages “the brand” but, for now, Edgbaston is a 25,000 capacity sell-out and this event has the high profile it required to capture the public imagination.This will be the 100th international match – including women’s games – at Edgbaston. If it lives up to some of the previous encounters involving Australia – the World Cup semi-final of 1999 and the Ashes Test of 2005, for example – then it will prove to be quite an occasion.It says much for how the balance of power has changed between these two nations that England go into Saturday’s game as favourites. Despite Australia having won both the two previous Champions Trophies and despite England having just lost an ODI series against New Zealand, England are still expected to prevail. It was no doubt a slip of the tongue when Alastair Cook delivered the faint praise that his side would have to play “close to their potential” to win, but there may also be some truth in that.While Australia make-do without their captain and finest batsman, Michael Clarke, all 15 of England’s squad are fit for selection. And while there is a doubt over Tim Bresnan’s availability due to his wife’s impending labour – she was due last Monday – both Steven Finn and Stuart Broad have returned to something like full fitness and are highly likely to play. The final selection decision will almost certainly come down to a choice between Ravi Bopara and Bresnan.Bearing in mind the fine weather and excellent batting surface expected for this match, then Bopara has a decent chance of playing. England have based many of their plans around the idea that two new balls in English conditions will aid the seamers and require technically correct top-order batsmen. That may still prove to be true but in an attempt to cover their options, Bopara may well come into the side in order to not just strengthen the batting, but provide a little more freedom to Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler. Besides, Bopara is a much-improved bowler over the last 18 months and has an ability to work on the ball and help his colleagues gain reverse swing.Certainly Cook admitted that the white ball might not provide as much help to bowlers in such fine conditions and agreed that England may alter the balance of the side to reflect that.KP’s comeback

Kevin Pietersen may take the next step on his return to cricket in a second XI county game where he would be allowed to bat but not have to field.
He trained with England at Edgbaston on Thursday and could still play for Surrey against Sussex at Arundel on June 12.
Pietersen is reluctant to hurry back too soon and may well wait for Surrey’s trip to Headingley on June 21. That would leave him with only one further first-class match, for England against Essex, before the first Ashes Test on July 10.

“Last year we played some one-day cricket when there was some rain around and the ball did a lot for a long time,” he said. “But thankfully we’ve got some good weather and in England that normally determines what the ball does.”We are thinking about the balance of the team. I think it’s a good position to be in. It’s nice that the option of having three seamers and one spinner, with the fifth bowler being Ravi and Joe Root, has worked well. So it gives us the option. We can change the way we play, which we probably haven’t been able to do in the past. It gives us a selection headache in one way, but a good one.”It will not be helpful for either side to look too far ahead. While there may be some truth in the suggestion that previous limited-overs encounters – the Champions Trophy semi-final encounter at this ground in 2004, for example, or the T20 match at the Ageas Bowl in 2005 – have proved important blows in establishing dominance in subsequent Ashes series, this event deserves to be treated as important in its own right.England are the only side in this tournament who have never won a global 50-over event. They know that the habit of defining success by the results against just one other side has led to underperformance in limited-overs competitions for decades. The Ashes may have tradition and a marketing industry all of its own, but in terms of global appeal, the Champions Trophy could arguably be defined as more important. Indeed, you could argue that England’s obsession with the Ashes was unhealthy for a long time.”The Champions Trophy is such an important event in itself,” Cook agreed. “Clearly everyone is going to talk about us playing Australia with the Ashes coming up. But I think both sides will be seeing it just as a game they need to win to get the tournament off to a good start rather than anything else.”We’ve spoken about trying to win a 50-over tournament. This is an opportunity to do that. Alongside the World Cup in 2015, it’s a very important tournament. We know what we can do. It’s about us delivering it in these two weeks.”Cook also dismissed the relevance of the warm-up match against India in which Australia were bowled out for just 65.”Those warm-up games are irrelevant,” he said. “You’re not going to be remembered for what happened in the warm up games. You’re going to be remembered for what happened in the actual tournament. Just like what happened to us against New Zealand. In the ideal world, we’d have beaten New Zealand in that series. We didn’t play as well as we could have done, but that will count for nothing when we start this game.”

A perfectly paced one-day innings set up Sri Lanka’s victory and opening could now be Jayawardene’s role for a while

Andrew McGlashan at Headingley01-Jul-2011Before the second one-day international, Mahela Jayawardene said he had sympathy for Alastair Cook as he tries to find his feet as England’s captain. However, there was none of that sentiment on show at Headingley as Jayawardene ensured Cook was pushed to his limits in the field by a majestic career-best 144. It is a mark of the longevity of his career that Jayawardene set a new high 11 years after his previous best made in 2000.And he could go on for a while longer yet. At 34 – a spring chicken compared to the now-retired Sanath Jayasuriya – he could carry on batting for at least another four years if the hunger remains and 10,000 runs in both formats is within touching distance. If he carries on as long as Jayasuirya a whole mountain of milestones are still his for the taking, but in a volatile set-up such as Sri Lanka it’s always possible that a player may decide to quit sooner than expected. Jayawardene must be savoured while he’s around.He struggled during the Test series, which was a surprise because, with a pair of Lord’s hundreds in 2002 and 2006, he was the one Sri Lanka batsman to arrive with an impressive record in England. However, since the change to one-day cricket he has looked much like his normal self. Either side of being lbw to James Anderson for 5 at The Oval, which has happened to many batsmen, he has toyed with the English bowling in the Twenty20 at Bristol and now at Headingley.”We all had a chat after The Oval about what our roles were and our plans,” Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, said, “We said one of either myself, Sanga or Mahela had to bat a long time and Mahela did a great job. That’s why we got 300.”Being on the end of a Sri Lankan hundred in Leeds is not a new feeling for England. In 2006 their whitewash was completed when Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga added 286 for the first wicket. Three England players survived from that day – Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Tim Bresnan – and yesterday Bresnan was asked about his memories of his two overs for 29. He played down the impact, of course, but the home side probably wouldn’t mind not having a one-dayer here next time Sri Lanka visit.On that occasion the damage to England’s bowlers was done largely by brute force, but it was difficult to remember anything approaching violence from Jayawardene in his innings. Yet the results were just as impressive for Sri Lanka. It was much the same story with his elegant hundred in the World Cup final which, purely as an innings, didn’t deserve to finish on the losing side. In fact, the most anger he showed at any point was a momentary confrontation with Jade Dernbach who, Jayawardene felt, had tried to get in his way.Jayawardene’s final score of 144 actually sits behind Jayasuriya’s 152 on this ground in 2006 and Viv Richards’ 189 at Old Trafford as the third-highest score against England on their home soil. As he has shown many times in one-day – and Twenty20 – cricket there is more than one way to build a limited-overs innings. He had his luck by being dropped at slip by Graeme Swann on 7 but was experienced enough to allow the opening bowlers a few tight overs before opening up as the innings progressed.It was only the seventh time in his 343-match career that Jayawardene had opened the batting but he now has three hundreds in that position. In this series Upul Tharanga is absent due to serving a doping ban and Jayasuriya has now retired after the opening match. However, as Jayawardene has shown in Twenty20 cricket, it’s a position that fits well with his natural game of building an innings and he is likely to get the job on a more full-time capacity.”We are looking to have Mahela open for us on a permanent basis,” Dilshan said. “But he wants to play for another three or four years so may need to be rested for some matches which means we’ll need to rotate players. We have about four openers who we can rotate which will allow us to give other people a chance.”Jayawardene hit 14 boundaries but didn’t clear the ropes, a clear sign of how progressing at a run-a-ball can be achieved by manipulating the field. Cook, who is trying to develop as a one-day opener, should keep a copy of this innings as reassurance of how traditional batting still has an important role to play. At the moment, though, the England captain will be hoping he doesn’t get another first-hand example in this series.

As South Africa balance workload and World Cup planning, Ottneil Baartman’s spell in New Chandigarh stood out in a tour where bench strength has been thrust to the forefront

Firdose Moonda13-Dec-2025Discussing South Africa’s T20 World Cup bowling options in the time of Kagiso Rabada’s absence seems futile because much will depend on him and his availability. But it’s a conversation that must be had if only to prepare for a worst-case scenario. South Africa have been without Rabada for the entire India tour as he recovers from a rib injury but have coped better than expected. Marco Jansen has dazzled in both aggression and wicket-taking terms while Lungi Ngidi has led the T20I attack with skill, but these are players we would expect to see step up.What about the bench strength? Nandre Burger made a promising start to the ODI series before he hurt his hamstring, and now Ottneil Baartman has come in from the cold with a solid performance in the series-levelling second T20I in New Chandigarh. Baartman took 4 for 24 and served a reminder of what he can offer after last taking a four-for at the 2024 T20 World Cup against Netherlands.There, Baartman was South Africa’s new kid on the block, picked for the national side after leading the bowling charts for most of the SA20 before he was overtaken by his team-mate Jansen in the final, and with just one international to his name when the World Cup began. His control, ability to move the ball off the seam and to execute both a pinpoint yorker and a good bouncer made him a perfect pick for the drop-in pitch in Nassau County, where he had most of his success. But he was benched by the time South Africa got to the business end. Since then, his appearances have been limited both because of South Africa’s problem of plenty and a knee injury.Related

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Post the 2024 T20 World Cup, Baartman has only played in nine of South Africa’s 29 T20Is and has not had the opportunity to make much of a case for himself under Shukri Conrad. Until New Chandigarh.Picked in the XI to try and level the series against an India side that left South Africa in pieces after game one, Baartman was given the ball in the eighth over when significant damage had already been done. India were 65 for 3 chasing 214, but had Axar Patel and Tilak Verma at the crease, with Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube to come. It took Baartman three balls to make an impact. He delivered it full and angling away from the left-handed Axar, who tried to smash it over the covers but mishit to the fielder, Reeza Hendricks. While the dismissal will be remembered for Hendricks taking a good low catch, it was also Baartman’s line, length and seam movement that created the breakthrough.His first spell lasted just one over and he was then brought back for the 12th, with India 89 for 4 and barely hanging on. With a required run-rate of 13.88, Baartman conceded only five runs in his second over, varying his lengths from short to the yorker and maintaining a stump-to-stump line.Then, he was brought back for the death, which is the role he thrived in in his breakout SA20 and should have had a wicket with the second ball of his over. Jitesh tried to hit a 136kph length delivery over midwicket and was early through the stroke. The ball clipped the bail and caused it to spin but did not dislodge it. To make matters worse for Baartman, Jitesh hit the next ball for six.In the 19th over, with Jitesh dismissed, Baartman was at his best when he cleaned up the tail. He bowled Dube with a seam-up delivery that was over 140kph and skidded past him to send the stumps flying, had Arshdeep Singh caught off a short ball at backward point, and then had Varun Chakravarthy caught at long-on trying to go big. That over consisted of four runs and three wickets, and though South Africa had all but won the game before it, it ensured the result was emphatic. Baartman had demonstrated the full range of what he could do.Ottneil Baartman has played six ODIs and 15 T20Is so far•Getty ImagesBeing a man of few words, Baartman explained in a post-match TV interview that his role was informed by what had happened earlier on, when “the swing bowlers [Ngidi primarily, and Jansen and Lutho Sipamla to a lesser extent] did their thing and then we just tried to use the wobble and cross seam and went shorter rather than fuller.”Just under half of Baartman’s deliveries (11 out of 24) were back of a length or shorter and it was the decisions he made when choosing which ball to deliver. Whether it earns him a spot in the next match is yet to be seen as South Africa continue to rotate their squad in this series, as hinted at by captain Aiden Markram. “It’s never easy. As a player, you just want to get given three of four games to build some momentum but it’s also just about how busy our schedule is with the World Cup, SA20 and this series,” Markram said. “Hopefully by the time the SA20 is done, everyone has some good game time.”That’s instructional because it was also the SA20 that helped then-coach Rob Walter decide on his squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Though South Africa have more international fixtures this time around than last – they played no T20Is between December and May before the June tournament but will play eight across this series and the home matches against West Indies – the domestic franchise competition holds huge sway.No one will be more pleased to hear that than Baartman, who will play for Paarl Royals in season four after spending three summers with Sunrisers Eastern Cape. He has been among the top-ten wicket-takers in all three editions of the SA20 and another strong performance could see him play a second successive T20 World Cup.

England captain recalls being asked if she did “the ironing for the men” in her team as a youngster

Valkerie Baynes30-Jun-2023

Heather Knight says she is not surprised by the findings of a damning report into inequality in cricket, recounting her own experience of sexism in the sport.Responding to the report and recommendations of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) released this week, Knight, the England Women’s captain, said that while much progress had been made, there was still a “long way to go”. She also recalled how she had been asked if she did “the ironing for the men” when she played men’s cricket as a youngster.”It’s been really sad to hear about anyone that’s not felt welcome in our game – nobody should be made to feel unwelcome in our sport,” Knight said on the eve of England’s first T20I against Australia in the Women’s Ashes at Edgbaston, where more than 19,000 tickets have been sold.”This is a really important step for cricket, and cricket – having done this report – can really lead the way in terms of being more equitable, more diverse and more inclusive,” Knight said. “It’s really important for me to say as a woman in cricket it’s not at all surprising, the recommendations that have come out of the report – but it’s really important to say cricket has come a hell of a long way since I was a kid.”I started out playing men’s club cricket and being asked ‘do you do the ironing for the men when you finish playing?’. Tomorrow I’ll lead my side out in front of a near full-house with 85,000 tickets sold for the whole series.”Cricket has come very far but it’s also got a long way to go. As a group of England women cricketers we feel really strongly about this. We want to be a key part of that in pushing the game forward.”Related

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The ICEC report found that racism, sexism, elitism and class-based discrimination have existed and still exist within the game.Knight, who was among 4000 people to give evidence to the commission for its 317-page report titled “Holding Up a Mirror to Cricket”, is only aged 32, so her experience is by no means ‘historical’ and she said such behaviour was still going on. But she said she was encouraged by changing attitudes and would encourage young girls to take up the sport.”There still are instances where this goes on but I think it has changed a lot,” Knight said. “I went to watch a friend, a female in an [otherwise] male team recently, and she got quite a hostile reaction because she was female from one player in the other team. But I think the reaction of the people on the field was really important and I don’t think that probably would have happened previously.”Everyone can be an ally of anyone in the sport and make people feel welcome. So if you’re younger and want to get into cricket, I’d say, do it, there’s no better time. I wish I was a youngster getting into cricket now. There’s no better time to be a female playing cricket so yeah, come and join in and hopefully you feel welcome.”Among the report’s 44 recommendations was a call for equal pay between women and men at domestic level by 2029 and international level by 2030. The report also said ICEC was “alarmed” by the “truly appalling” fact that England Women have never played a Test at Lord’s, saying: “The ‘home of cricket’ is still a home principally for men.”The third ODI against India at Lord’s last year was the first time England Women had played a match at Lord’s since they won the 2017 World Cup final there, although they are due to play their third T20I against Australia at the venue on July 8. And Richard Thompson, the ECB chair, has said England Women will host a Lord’s Test in 2026, acknowledging that it should have happened sooner.”I’d love to play a Test match at Lord’s and it’s very nice to see Richard Thompson say the other day that there’ll be a Test match there in the next few years, that’s brilliant,” Knight said. “We’ve actually got a game at Lord’s later in the week, I’m really excited to play that, it’s a place that’s very special. We’ve obviously won a World Cup there as well which makes it even more special for the girls that were involved in that.”I’m also involved with the MCC Foundation, which is a charity that do a hell of a lot of work with state school children in this country and a hell of a lot of work overseas as well. So, yeah, it would be nice to play a Test match there in the future and that sounds like it’s going to happen.”As ticket sales for this Women’s Ashes series hit record levels, Knight paid tribute to the pioneering work of players like Rachael Heyhoe Flint, who in 1976 became the first woman cricketer to set foot – in a playing capacity – on the main ground at Lord’s when she captained England in an ODI against Australia. She was also central to the campaign to allow women to become members of MCC in 1998, becoming one of the first female members of the club the following year. A gate named after her was unveiled at Lord’s last year.”The crowds seem pretty good actually for The Oval and Lord’s which is great to see and just thinking about people that weren’t allowed in at certain places in cricket previously and how they fought to get a seat at the table and have their voices heard, I think is really important,” Knight said.”Rachael Heyhoe Flint at Lord’s [is] probably the most obvious in terms of that so those sort of pioneers we’re very thankful for and hopefully that change can really accelerate and move on.”

MatériaMais Notícias

O Palmeiras desistiu de contratar o jovem Andrey Santos, junto ao Chelsea, depois de o clube inglês mudar várias vezes os termos do contrato de empréstimo. A atitude do Verdão foi correta ao não aceitar uma contratação em que não levaria vantagem. No entanto, é preciso ponderar também como tem sido a postura alviverde no mercado e como é estranha a demora em reforçar o elenco.

> Veja classificação e simulador do Paulistão-2023 clicando aqui

Vale destacar que tudo corria bem nas conversas para trazer o volante, que é uma das melhores promessas brasileiras da atualidade e havia acabado de “barbarizar” no Sul-Americano sub-20 com a Seleção Brasileira. Era o substituto ideal de Danilo, viria de graça e jogaria praticamente uma temporada inteira. Foi nessa condição que o jogador viajou ao Brasil para assinar com o Alviverde.

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Mas chegando aqui, os termos acordados com o Chelsea começaram a mudar radicalmente. O empréstimo não seria mais de graça, não seria mais até dezembro (e sim até julho) e havia a obrigação de liberar Andrey para o Mundial sub-20. O Palmeiras até deu o OK para algumas exigências, mas na medida em que elas iam aumentando, o negócio ficava menos vantajoso. Até que, corretamente, o Verdão colocou um ponto final nas conversas e agiu com a grandeza que tem.

>Palmeiras desiste da contratação de Andrey Santos, do Chelsea

Há quem critique a desistência palmeirense, por ser uma peça necessária e por se tratar de um nome certeiro, que muito dificilmente daria errado. Mas de que adiantaria ficar com o jogador por menos de quatro meses, pagando salários e uma compensação pelo empréstimo? Seria apenas uma barriga de aluguel dando vantagem somente para o Chelsea, que sairia rindo à toa do acordo.

Isso, porém, não tira os problemas que fizeram o Palmeiras chegar até aqui com mais uma tentativa que não deu certo. É verdade que, segundo apurou o LANCE!, o caso que mais se aprofundou foi o de Andrey Santos, uma vez que as outras ficaram em estágios mais preliminares e não avançaram dali. A questão é que estamos no fim de fevereiro e nenhum reforço foi contratado até aqui.

>Próximos jogos do Palmeiras: confira datas, horários e onde assistir

Danilo, por exemplo, deixou o clube há mais de um mês e sua saída não foi reposta. Lembrando que se trata de um jogador extraclasse, que era titular absoluto e peça fundamental no esquema de Abel Ferreira. Em qualquer clube, estruturado ou não, um reforço já teria sido contratado. Ou melhor, para um gigante do nível do Verdão, isso já teria sido mapeado e negociado desde o ano passado.

A impressão que se passa é de que o Palmeiras não se preparou para a saída de Danilo e hoje não tem armas para ir ao mercado para contratar um jogador do mesmo nível e que esteja pronto. Há fatores como a condição financeira, que não é das melhores, há também a questão da supervalorização de atletas quando o interessado é o Alviverde, há a exigência de não poder “errar o tiro” como aconteceu com os reforços do ano passado, e há o sarrafo alto que o clube colocou.

Nós, como jornalistas, não podemos julgar a qualidade daqueles que são responsáveis pelas contratações no Verdão. Não estamos lá dentro, não sabemos as reais condições e não fazemos parte da discussão do planejamento. Não dá para saber quem está certo ou quem está errado. Mas fato é que isso tudo provoca estranhamento tanto na torcida, que tem cobrado eficiência no mercado, quanto na mídia. Como um clube dessa magnitude tem tanta dificuldade para contratar?

> Veja as principais transferências no Mercado da Bola do LANCE!

Agora os dirigentes alviverdes precisarão voltar ao mercado para achar outro nome que se encaixe nas exigências da comissão técnica, nas condições do mercado e na realidade financeira do clube. Enquanto isso, a aposta é pesada na qualidade de Abel Ferreira, que “achou” um meio-campo com Zé Rafael e Gabriel Menino. A alternativa tem dado certo, pelo menos por enquanto, mas leigo ou não no assunto, tem ficado claro que a necessidade de reforçar o elenco é bastante considerável.

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India’s dominance continued in Sylhet as they went 4-0 up in the five-match series

Srinidhi Ramanujam06-May-2024Harmanpreet Kaur and India’s spinners combined to hand the visitors a comfortable 56-run win against Bangladesh in the rain-hit fourth T20I. India’s dominance continued in Sylhet as they went 4-0 ahead in the five-match series.Harmanpreet, playing her 300th international game, top-scored with a brisk 39 to lift the visitors to a competitive 122 for 6 in 14 overs after being asked to bat on a cloudy day. Chasing a revised DLS target of 125, Bangladesh lost a flurry of wickets to post 66 for 7. S Asha – India’s oldest debutant in women’s T20Is at 33 – and Deepti Sharma starred with two wickets each.Bangladesh made three changes from the XI that played the third game, but were never in the chase on a sluggish surface. After Deepti handed the first breakthrough for India with the wicket of Murshida Khatun in the fourth over, she went on to dismiss Dilhara Akter (21 off 25). Rubya Haider (13 off 17) was also run out after a mix-up with captain Nigar Sultana in the eighth over.Asha’s maiden wicket was the prized scalp of Sultana, who couldn’t read a googly on the stumps and ended up being trapped lbw. The legspinner added one more wicket when she dismissed Shorna Akter, having the batter mistime a slog-sweep only to be caught by Richa Ghosh off a leading edge. Asha finished her quota of three overs with figures of 2 for 18.Bangladesh’s batting collapse continued to haunt them in the series as they slid from 38 for 1 to 47 for 6 to lose the plot and the game.India lost Shafali Verma early for a four-ball 2 in the second over. D Hemalatha played a cameo of 22 off 14, hitting two fours and as many sixes, which included two powerful lofted drives over extra cover. However, her stay was cut short by the young fast bowler Marufa Akther who trapped her lbw with an inswinger. India reached 48 for 2 in 5.5 overs before rain halted the game for an hour.Once the play resumed, Smriti Mandhana got going to make an 18-ball 22 but was bowled by Rabeya Khan. But India did not slow down, thanks to Harmanpreet and Richa Ghosh.The duo put on 44 runs off just 28 balls for the fourth wicket. Harmanpreet picked up pace after Mandhana’s dismissal as she went from 10 off 8 to 39 off 26 balls, hitting five fours. Ghosh played a 15-ball 24 and hit three fours and a six as India accumulated 52 runs in the last five overs. Though several shots were coming off edges, India scored quickly to put up a solid target in 14 overs.India will be eying a series sweep when they take on the field for the final game on May 9.

Raheem Sterling is all set to leave Chelsea this summer and make a fresh start abroad with a Champions League club after a failed loan spell at Arsenal in the 2024-25 campaign. The English winger did not score a single Premier League goal and made only seven starts in the English top-flight for the Gunners. He returned to Stamford Bridge at the end of his loan spell, but was not picked in the Blues' Club World Cup squad.

Sterling set to leave ChelseaWinger attracting interest from UCL clubCould move abroadFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Sterling is all set to end his stay in English football after attracting interest from a Champions League club abroad, according to . The 30-year-old began his pre-season training with Chelsea last week but could now leave his homeland to make a fresh start.

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Since leaving Manchester City in 2022, Sterling has not enjoyed much success in club football, as well as internationally. He has not featured for the England national team since the 2022 World Cup and was shipped off on a loan deal to Arsenal last summer, once Enzo Maresca took charge of the Blues. The former Liverpool star still has two years left on his Chelsea contract, but claims that they will accept an offer of just £20 million ($27m) for the winger.

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Chelsea will also look to offload a few more of their out-of-favour stars as they are keen on signing Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig before the summer transfer window closes.

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The Club World Cup winners will play a couple of pre-season friendly matches against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan at home next month before kicking off their 2025-26 Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace on August 17.

Georgia Stanway insists she is "fed up of talking" as England prepare to play the Netherlands in a do-or-die European Championship group clash.

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England must win to keep qualification in own handsLionesses lost to France in opening gameFace another tricky test Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Stanway insists the Lionesses are ready to "put things right on the pitch" against the Netherlands after a disappointing defeat to France in their opening game of the European Championship. That defeat means that Sarina Wiegman's side must win to keep their qualification hopes in their own hands, but they face a tricky test against a Dutch team who thumped Wales 3-0 in their opener.

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England are, of course, reigning champions, and also reached the 2023 World Cup final, and Stanway insists that she and her team-mates are ready to show exactly what they are made of in what has turned into a do-or-die fixture.

WHAT STANWAY SAID

Stanway told reporters: "What we want going forward is to make actions and stop talking. I didn't want to do the press conference today because I'm fed up of talking now.

"It's time that we focus and we want to put things right on the pitch in order for us to be able to talk. We want to create action from what happened on Saturday and the only way to do that is the game."

She added: "We want the game to come around as quick as possible. We want to make change.

"We've spoken about wanting to be 'proper England' and going back to what we're good at and our traditional style of football — tough tackles and remembering why we're here. Sometimes it's about blocking out the noise and getting on the pitch and getting stuck in.

"I had a message from someone I know that said: 'It is just like a bad night out and you want to forget it as much as possible. Move onto the next one. That's exactly what we're going to do."

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England face the Netherlands at 5pm on Wednesday. Defeat is not an option if the champions want to retain their title.

Attacking fifties from the top four, backed up by Glenn Maxwell’s frugal four-for on return helped Australia avoid a clean sweep as they got the better of India by 66 runs in the third and final ODI in Rajkot. India still took the series 2-1 having won the opening two games convincingly.Both sides made a host of changes – Australia five and India six – from the second ODI. Batting first on what looked like a placid Rajkot surface, Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith and David Warner all scored fifties to propel Australia to 352 for 7.Related

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In reply, Rohit Sharma bashed a 57-ball 81 while Virat Kohli scored a more sedate fifty, but the lower middle order failed to get going as India were bowled out for 286 in 49.4 overs.Australia, playing a near full-strength side, took charged up from the get-go. They raced to 90 for 1, with India conceding 11 fours and five sixes in the first ten overs. And it was Jasprit Bumrah they targeted, who had a game of two halves. He conceded 0 for 51 off his first five overs and 3 for 30 off his last five but seemed off the boil with his lengths overall.Marsh creamed the first ball he received from the fast bowler through covers before pummeling him for two fours and six in his second over. Warner took 16 runs off Mohammed Siraj’s second over before thumping Prasidh Krishna was for 19 off his first as Australia galloped to 50 in 6.1 overs.Warner soon notched up a half-century of his own, his third of the series, off 32 balls but failed to carry on. Trying to be a bit too adventurous, Warner pre-meditated a scoop to a Prasidh length ball on the stumps but could only get a bit of a glove and a top edge through to the wicketkeeper.Smith, coming on the back of a duck, was in his elements right away. He started off with a typical across-the-line wristy clip before dishing out a stunning cover drive against Prasidh.David Warner and Mitchell Marsh show some glove-love after giving Australia a rollicking start•BCCI

Spin was introduced in the tenth over but did not make much of a difference with both Marsh and Smith collecting boundaries at regular intervals. Marsh brought up his fifty off 45 balls before the heat started to take its toll even as Australia breached the 150-mark in the 22nd over.Bumrah’s second spell also proved expensive with Marsh laying into him. He hoicked the quick over deep backward square leg before crashing him for three successive fours. Smith and Marsh added 137 off 119 balls for the second wicket and when Australia screamed past 200 in 26.2 overs, 400 was on the cards.But India managed to pull things back well. Marsh, absolutely knackered by the heat, patted a Kuldeep wrong’un to cover to fall for 96. Soon after, Siraj pinned Smith right in front with a length ball that skidded through and missed his attempted flick. Bumrah returned to deceive Alex Carey with a slower offcutter and then rattled Maxwell’s off pole with a pinpoint yorker. And, when Cameron Green holed out to long-on, Australia had lost four wickets for 57 in 11 overs between the 32nd and 43rd.Labuschagne, however, kept his composure to keep Australia going. He smashed 72 off 58 balls with nine fours as Australia crossed 350 in the final over. Despite the tall score, India did manage to pull things back in the last part, conceding 122 runs in the last 20 overs and just 66 off the last ten.Rohit had a new opening partner in Washington Sundar and India’s chase got off to a flying start largely due to Rohit. The duo added 74 for the opening wicket in 65 balls, with Rohit’s contribution being 55 off 35.The pull worked the magic for the India captain on the day with the shot earning him 35 runs off just ten balls. Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were all dispatched to various locations over the on-side boundaries while the extra cover fence was also peppered more than once.Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli added 70 for the second wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Rohit raced to his fifty off 31 balls with the help of three fours and five sixes. Ironically, it was a mistimed pull that got him to the landmark. Green purchased some extra bounce outside off with Rohit managing a top edge on a pull that ballooned straight up. But Starc running back from short third, failed to latch on to a tough catch.Washington was dismissed for a 30-ball 18 with Labuschagne taking a wonderful catch at wide long-off. Kohli then joined forces with Rohit and the duo added 70 off 61 balls to keep the chase on track.A stunning piece of reflex catch, however, sent Rohit back and Australia applied the choke thereafter. Rohit absolutely slapped a quickish length ball by backing away towards the bowler, who tried to take evasive action but also held out his right hand with the ball sticking.Post Rohit’s dismissal in the 21st over, Australia conceded just two fours and a six in the next ten overs. Kohli reached his 65th half-century in the format, but became Maxwell’s third victim when he top-edged a short-of-a-length ball to Smith at midwicket.Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul failed to find the boundaries as the required rate continued to creep up. Rahul was sent back by Starc while Suryakumar Yadav failed to repeat his second ODI heroics. And when Iyer was castled by Maxwell, the end was nigh.Ravindra Jadeja managed to get some batting practice enroute a 36-ball 35 before Green ended proceedings by taking out Siraj off the penultimate ball of the game. For Australia, each of the six bowlers picked up a wicket.