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India first, Australia second. No, that wasn’t an early prediction for the finals, just simply Sri Lanka’s first two matches at this World Cup. It should only get easier from here but for a Sri Lankan outfit that, despite having played 31 ODIs between the 2022 World Cup and this one, has been crying out for consistent, high-level competition, this upcoming game will lay the most accurate marker yet on their upward trajectory over the past couple of years.Having challenged the hosts India in the tournament opener, they fell short at key moments in that game, perhaps succumbing to the pressure of the occasion. And that pressure will only be cranked up against an imposing Australian outfit, one with so many avenues to hurt you, it’s hard to pinpoint any single weak point that opponents could potentially prey on.For Sri Lanka’s captain Chamari Athapaththu both these matches have come at the right time – at the start of the tournament – and she hopes they will serve as a building block for her side’s ambitions.Related

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“Yes, we’re playing against the two best teams in the first two games, but that’s really good for us,” Athapaththu said ahead of Saturday’s match against Australia in Colombo.”Because then we have some games against teams – like South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan Bangladesh – that we have beaten during the last 12-15 months. So it’s good to start with best teams so that we can prepare well and learn from our mistakes and bounce back.”That resilience to bounce back from setbacks is what has driven this Sri Lankan team over the past couple of years. Between October 2019 and June 2022, they didn’t play a single ODI. Since then, they’ve surged forward, culminating in their T20 Asia Cup title in 2024.Game time has helped, even if parity with the men’s team remains distant. Sri Lanka played 31 WODIs and 61 WT20Is between the 2022 and 2025 World Cups. Still, matches against elite sides like Australia remain rare. Before this tournament, Sri Lanka hadn’t played an international for four months; they prepared with domestic fixtures and games against youth teams.”Everyone knows the Australians are the best team and they have a very experienced side,” Athapaththu said. “In 2019 we played a series against them and I scored a century in Brisbane. After that we never played against Australia because of Covid and some other various reasons. So we missed playing against Australia.”We know we haven’t played international games during the past few months, but we played some domestic cricket. There are things that I cannot control as a captain but I’ll control my bat and ball. Our preparation is good, because we played some games against national youth teams.”Australia’s preparation, meanwhile, has been ideal. They won a hard-fought series in India in September and several of their players have gained exposure to Indian conditions through the WPL. They arrived in Colombo on Thursday afternoon, well in time to recover and prepare for Saturday.”It’s been good, positive vibes,” said opener Phoebe Litchfield when asked about the team’s mood following their journey from Indore. “Woke up this morning, hit the gym, got to the ground and hopefully have some food and get started into training. The commute was fine. It was pretty stock standard but the bodies feel great all around so we’re keen to play tomorrow.”Litchfield struck a 31-ball 45 against New Zealand to set the tone for Australia’s innings in Indore, but with conditions in Colombo unlikely to be as conducive to batting, she knows a more considered approach might be required.”I think we’ll see when we get out there,” Litchfield said. “I’m not going to swing from the limbs first ball. Going to assess conditions, see how it’s playing. And if we think it’s a 300 wicket, it’s a 300 wicket and we’ll play our way. But also know that we might have to adapt depending on the conditions that we face.Litchfield has played just the solitary match against Sri Lanka – a WT20I last year – but Australia know what to expect for the most part.”Their opening bowlers pose a threat but their spin attack is where their work gets done. They’ve got four spinners that are completely different to each other. That’ll probably be the biggest threat to us.”

India have never been swept in a bilateral ODI series against Australia as they aim to bounce back in Sydney

Tristan Lavalette24-Oct-2025

Xavier Bartlett dismissed Virat Kohli for a duck•Getty Images

Big Picture – Can India avert a clean sweep?In an anti-climax, considering the rivalry and general fanfare, the third ODI at the SCG will be a dead rubber after Australia clinched the series with a two-wicket victory in Adelaide.The final result probably flattered India, who fought to the end but were mostly up against it through the game. While valid excuses could be made for the truncated rain-affected opener in Perth, India were generally outplayed in the second ODI and could never quite recover from the early wickets of captain Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, who bagged a second consecutive duck for the first time in his legendary ODI career.India’s top-order has been completely pinned down by Josh Hazlewood, the standout quick across the two games as England watch on ahead of the Ashes. The much-hyped returns of Kohli and Rohit Sharma have not quite gone to plan, although Rohit top-scored with 73 in Adelaide, and there remains an unknown over their futures with some pushing for Yashasvi Jaiswal to freshen up the top-order.Related

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Short, Connolly, Zampa guide Australia to series victory in Adelaide

Without Hardik Pandya, India have looked unbalanced and they trotted out the same XI across the two games to no avail. There are clearly teething problems for Gill as he looks to start moulding his preferred line-up.In a notable contrast, Australia feel rejuvenated especially with fringe players Matt Short, Cooper Connolly, Mitch Owen and Matthew Renshaw making valuable contributions in their successful run chase in Adelaide.Their performances would have pleased Australia’s hierarchy as they look to bed down a batting-order after the ODI retirements of Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell.Australia have never swept India in a bilateral ODI series, providing further motivation for a group that is currently in good spirits after a patchy run in 50-over cricket.Like in the previous two games, a pro-India crowd is expected amid a sold-out SCG.Form guide(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWLL
India LLWWWShubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir talk during a training session•AFP/Getty ImagesIn the spotlight: Matt Renshaw and Shubman GillHaving waited nine years into his international career to play ODIs, Renshaw has fitted in seamlessly after finishing the job in Perth with an unbeaten 21 off 24 followed by a run a ball 30 in Adelaide. He has publicly spoken about shutting out the external noise and exuded composure after coming to the crease in Adelaide with Australia wobbling at 54 for 2. Renshaw helped change the momentum with a brisk 55-run partnership with Matt Short, but would have been annoyed to not make a big score after being knocked over by a looping delivery from left-arm spinner Axar Patel having attempted to launch over mid-off. Renshaw is set to get another chance in Sydney as competition hots up in this transitioning batting-order. There is also the Ashes hovering, with Renshaw considered an outside chance of being in the selection mix.There has been a lot of attention on the returns of Kohli and Rohit, which has somewhat deflected the slow start to Gill’s ODI captaincy. Gill has been unable to set the tone like he spectacularly did in Test cricket. He has made just 10 and 9 although hasn’t been helped by Rohit holding up an end early in the innings, putting pressure on Gill to counterattack. He will face some heat early in his captaincy reign if India succumb to just a sixth ODI series whitewash in their proud history, underlining the importance of this game.Team news: Hazlewood/Starc may opt for restAustralia (possible): 1 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 2 Travis Head, 3 Matt Short, 4 Matthew Renshaw, 5 Alex Carey (wk), 6 Cooper Connolly, 7 Mitch Owen, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Mitchell Starc/Jack Edwards, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Nathan Ellis/Josh HazlewoodWith the match a dead rubber, Australia might be tempted to rest Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc with there being just one day of rest between games two and three. Nathan Ellis, who performed well in game one, might be recalled while allrounder Jack Edwards has been named in the squad on the back of strong form on Australia A’s tour of India. Left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann has also returned to the squad after an impressive effort in the first ODI but two spinners in the XI seems unlikely.Josh Inglis has joined the squad in Sydney after missing the first two but is unlikely to play as he continues to recover from a calf strain, which means the top seven will likely remain the same.Josh Hazlewood could be rested•CA/Getty ImagesIndia (possible): 1 Shubman Gill [capt], 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Axar Patel, 6 KL Rahul (wk), 7 Washington Sundar/Kuldeep Yadav, 8 Nitish Reddy, 9 Harshit Rana/Prasidh Krishna, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed SirajIndia decided to stick with the same XI in Adelaide but it did not do the trick and changes are almost certain. There has been a lot of debate over whether left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav should be in the side with the attack lacking some bite so far in the series. India have preferred the more conservative option of allrounder Washington Sundar, who has taken three wickets in the series but failed with the bat. Seamer Prasidh Krishna could be in the frame to replace Harshit Rana, who has been expensive in the series. It is also interesting to see if they find a way to give a game to Yashasvi Jaiswal.Pitch and conditionsClear and pleasant conditions are expected in Sydney on Saturday. While turn has not been as notable at the SCG in recent times compared to previous decades, spinners have still played a vital role on flat surfaces. Australia’s batters have feasted in the conditions, piling on huge scores during their current six-game winning streak in ODIs at the ground.Stats and triviaKohli still needs 54 runs to move past Kumar Sangakkara and into second place on the ODI runs list.India have lost the toss a record 17 times in a row in ODIs dating back to the 2023 World Cup final. India have not lost three consecutive ODIs since a four-game skid to Sri Lanka and South Africa in 2021-22 Australia have a commanding 16-2 (1 no result) record over India at the SCG. India’s only victories were six-wicket wins in 2008 and 2016.Quotes”We’ve got a lot of depth in Australian cricket. With Smudge [Smith] and Maxi [Maxwell] retiring from one-day cricket earlier in the year, there’s room for some younger guys to come through.”
“It definitely hurts [to lose the series]. I personally feel the way Australian bowlers bowl on such wickets, they have a fair bit of an advantage at the start and they utilised it pretty well.”

كشفت تقارير صحفية الأسباب التي منعت برشلونة من التعاقد مع نيكو ويليامز، نجم الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي أتلتيك بلباو خلال فترة الانتقالات الصيفية الماضية.

كان برشلونة يرغب في الحصول على خدمات نيكو ويليامز الصيف قبل الماضي، ولكن الصفقة لم تتم بسبب تراجع لاعب أتلتيك بلباو خوفًا من عدم تمكن النادي الكتالوني من تسجيله، إلى جانب مطالبه المالية.

بعد ذلك، عرض نيكو ويليامز نفسه على برشلونة الصيف الماضي، من خلال وكيل أعماله، وكان على مقربة من إتمام الصفقة قبل أن يتخذ قرارًا مفاجئًا بتوقيعه على عقد جديد مع أتلتيك بلباو.

وجدد نيكو ويليامز عقده مع أتلتيك بلباو بعقد طويل الأمد لمدة عشر سنوات إذ ينتهي في عام 2035.

وكشفت صحيفة “سبورت” الإسبانية تفاصيل جديدة حول أسباب عدم انتقال ويليامز إلى برشلونة في الصيف الماضي.

اقرأ أيضًا | نيكو ويليامز يستفز برشلونة بتصريح جديد: هناك سبب وجيه لبقائي مع أتلتيك بلباو

وقالت الصحيفة الإسبانية إن اجتماع ديكو مع وكلاء اللاعب الإسباني لم يبدأ من نقطة الصفر بسبب الاتفاقات المبدئية التي توصلوا إليها في صيف 2024 وكان هذا جانبًا إيجابيًا.

وأكملت أنه مع مرور الأيام بشكل طبيعي، تفاجأ برشلونة بوجود تغيرًا في سلوك وكيل المهاجم الذي طلب فجأة المزيد من الضمانات، حيث فاجأ موقفه لجنة الرياضة في برشلونة كثيرًا إذ لم يفهموا تمامًا لماذا انتظر طويلًا ليعبر عن طلبه بدلًا من توضيحه في الاجتماع الأول، حتى قال أحد أعضاء مجلس إدارة برشلونة لصيحفة “سبورت”: “لو كان الأمر واضحًا في البداية لكان كل شيء أسهل”.

في نهاية ذلك الأسبوع، بدأت إدارة برشلونة تخشى من السيناريو الأسوأ وهو دفع 60 مليون يورو من أجل التعاقد مع اللاعب ثم يرحل مجانًا بعد ذلك، وبالفعل لم يمضِ سوى 12 ساعة، حتى أعلن نادي أتلتيك بلباو تجديد عقد نيكو ويليامز رسميًا حتى عام 2035 مع شرط جزائي 100 مليون يورو.

واختتمت أنه في ذلك الوقت كان الغضب في مكاتب برشلونة هائلًا، لأنه بلا شك واحدة من أقصر وأكثر حركات الشطرنج القوية في الصيف الماضي، فهل هي خيانة برشلونة أم ولاء لأتلتيك بلباو؟، مشيرة إلى أن الزمن سوف يجيب على هذا.

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank has praised one Spurs player who he’s barely used so far this season, highlighting his excellent displays in training ahead of their Premier League return against Aston Villa this weekend.

Spurs braced for Premier League return against Villa

Both Spurs and Villa enter Sunday’s contest on a good run of form.

The Lilywhites, despite some near-misses, haven’t lost a single game in all competitions since their 1-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth — displaying a real grit and resilience to battle through testing scenarios and come through unscathed.

Over their last three games, Tottenham nicked a dramatic 1-1 draw at home to Wolves by the skin of their teeth, courtesy of an expertly taken last-gasp equaliser from Joao Palhinha, with Spurs then stealing another draw away to Norwegian minnows Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League.

History threatened to repeat itself nearly a fortnight ago when Noah Okafor equalised for Leeds at Elland Road.

Matches

11

Wins

5

Draws

3

Losses

2

Points

18

Points per game

1.91

However, man of the match Mohammed Kudus was on hand to both end the Yorkshire side’s year-long unbeaten run at home in the league and break Tottenham’s pre-international break curse, as Frank’s side travelled back south with a 2-1 victory.

Spurs have proved they can grind out results under their new manager, and their newly-found defensive prowess was largely missing from Ange Postecoglou’s Europa League-winning squad of last season.

Villa, by contrast, endured a torrid start to 25/26, and it took five Premier League games for Unai Emery’s men to score their first top flight goal of the campaign.

That being said, Matty Cash’s wonder strike against Sunderland opened the floodgates for Villa, who’ve since won their last four games in all competitions and come into this clash against Tottenham with renewed confidence.

Frank has some very key decisions to make before the weekend, like whether to stick with Mathys Tel as the starting striker in place of Richarlison, amid doubts surrounding the latter and Dominic Solanke’s gradual return to fitness.

The latter has been on the pitch this week, according to Frank, but it remains to be seen whether he’s ready to start a full match or even be included against Villa.

In a big boost for Frank, though, summer signing Randal Kolo Muani is poised to return very soon after recovering from a dead leg which has kept him out of action.

Thomas Frank praises Randal Kolo Muani in Tottenham training

The Dane, speaking to reporters on Friday, claimed that the France international has been getting “better and better” in training with Kolo Muani now in contention to play against Villa.

The 26-year-old has played just 13 minutes since joining Spurs on loan from PSG, mainly due to his injury, but Kolo Muani’s imminent return comes as a real boost for Frank.

The versatile attacker, who bagged 23 goals and 17 assists for Eintracht Frankfurt during a phenomenal 2022/2023 campaign, showcased flashes of his best form on loan at Juventus last season and Frank could now be set to benefit.

Kolo Muani was ex-chair Daniel Levy’s last parting gift to Tottenham, and some believe that he may even become the club’s best striker ahead of Solanke.

West Ham put in one of the worst home performances you’re ever likely to see at the London Stadium on Monday evening, with Brentford easing to a 2-0 win almost completely unchallenged.

West Ham suffer humbling Premier League defeat to Brentford at home

In what was Nuno Espírito Santo’s first home game in charge, the Portuguese was greeted with swathes of empty seats as a host of West Ham supporters boycotted the match in protest of David Sullivan, Karren Brady and the ownership.

For the supporters who did show up to welcome Nuno to east London, they weren’t exactly rewarded for their faith.

Sunderland 3-0 West Ham

West Ham 1-5 Chelsea

Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham

West Ham 0-3 Tottenham

West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace

Everton 1-1 West Ham

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

West Ham 0-2 Brentford

Keith Andrews’ Brentford absolutely dominated proceedings, having a seismic 17 shots on goal compared to West Ham’s seven, with the home side only managing to test Caoimhin Kelleher once all evening through Jarrod Bowen.

By contrast, it looked like target practice for Brentford at times, who will consider themselves very unfortunate not to come away from West Ham with a much bigger winning margin.

Alphonse Areola made some superb saves on the night, with both Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade hitting the crossbar, while the former also had a goal chalked off by VAR just before half-time.

Nuno’s starting line-up against the Bees was an interesting one to say the least, with Oliver Scarles and Kyle Walker-Peters starting in very different full-back roles on their opposing sides.

Amid West Ham’s current striker crisis, Nuno also elected to play Lucas Paqueta as the number nine — an experiment which largely failed as the Brazilian failed to impress and lost possession 23 times.

As opposed to a more dynamic pairing of Soungoutou Magassa and Freddie Potts, Nuno instead went with Tomas Soucek and Andy Irving as West Ham’s holding midfielders in a 4-2-3-1, with the Hammers’ engine room absolutely dominated by a more energetic and free-flowing Brentford side.

Nuno raised plenty of eyebrows with his bizarre team selection, and that certainly didn’t help West Ham, who set a very unwanted record.

After the defeat to Brentford, West Ham have now lost their first four home games of the season for the first time in the club’s history, and relegation is looking more and more like a major possibility as the weeks go on.

While the players have to take massive responsibility for what was a dismal home performance, Nuno is facing the wrath of critics.

Tony Cottee sends "message to Nuno" after "awful" West Ham decision

Taking to X, West Ham legend Tony Cottee sent a message to Nuno over his starting line-up, branding his player selection “awful” and calling for action.

Paqueta looked disconnected and bereft of support, leaving West Ham’s attack blunt and predictable.

Meanwhile, the midfield pairing of Soucek and Irving also fell short. The former struggled to influence the game creatively, while Irving appeared out of his depth in a demanding Premier League clash.

Their lack of cohesion and creativity in midfield allowed Brentford to dominate possession and control the tempo, with Nuno’s defence also suffering.

The decision to use Walker-Peters and Scarles as on their opposite sides just didn’t work at all, as they struggled to contain Brentford’s wide threats or contribute anything of note going forward.

Jean-Clair Todibo, who came straight back into the starting eleven after being left out of Nuno’s first two matchday squads, didn’t cover himself in glory either, with Max Kilman having a nightmare alongside the Frenchman.

In the aftermath of their loss, Nuno refused to blame his selection, but it undoubtedly contributed towards a real night to forget for West Ham.

Harare Metropolitan Cricket Association suspends the coach in question, says “we will want to investigate this as quickly as possible”

Mohammad Isam08-Jun-2025Sikandar Raza has lodged a complaint with the Harare Metropolitan Cricket Association (HMCA), accusing a local coach – Blessing Mafuwa – of racial abuse during a Vigne Cup game on June 1.Raza was playing for Old Hararians against Rainbow Cricket Club at the Old Hararians Sports Club when the alleged incident took place. ESPNcricinfo has seen the complaint Raza has filed. He alleged that Mafuwa made derogatory comments towards him when he was walking off the field.While Raza didn’t name Mafuwa, HMCA chairperson Tafadzwa Madoro did*.Responding to a query on the matter from ESPNcricinfo, Madoro said on late Sunday night, “We received a report of racial abuse that our T20 captain [Raza] suffered, last week. We are in the process of investigating. Blessing Mafuwa will attend a hearing this coming Tuesday. He will answer charges from the report. In the interim, he is suspended from all activities in the HMCA.”We don’t take racism allegations lightly. We don’t condone any racial abuse in HMCA. We will want to investigate this as quickly as possible.”Speaking to ESPNcricinfo on Sunday evening, Raza had said he expected “a full investigation” of the incident. “If found guilty, an example should be made out of him so that stuff like this never happens again to this and future generations,” Raza said.During the match, Raza struck 78 off 56 balls as his club made 402 for 9 in 50 overs. In reply, Rainbow made 225 for 8 in 39 overs, losing the game by 142 runs via the DLS method.Raza recently won the PSL 2025 title with Lahore Qalandars, hitting the winning runs in a dramatic final in Lahore. This was Raza’s second T20 franchise trophy in 2025 after the ILT20.

“I will have to give some time to my body and my bowling to get those speeds back,” the LSG quick said

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-20251:48

Rayudu: ‘Maybe Mayank Yadav isn’t ready yet’

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fast bowler Mayank Yadav feels that the drop in his speeds after returning from a long injury layoff “is normal”, asserting that he needs to give his body time to return to the same match intensity and fitness standards.Mayank, who returned to professional cricket only late last month after a gap of close to six months due to multiple injuries, is far from the tearaway speedster that he was in his breakthrough IPL 2024 season. He consistently clocked speeds in excess of 150kph last year, touching a high of 156.7kph. This season, though, his pace has mostly been in the 130kph range, occasionally breaching the 140kph barrier. Mayank, however, is not bothered.”This is normal,” he said ahead of LSG’s crucial league game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Lucknow on Friday. “I had a major injury because of which I was out of cricket for five to six months. The body will adapt and take its own time. I will have to give some time to my body and my bowling to get those speeds back. There have been no changes in my bowling technique.”Related

Mayank Yadav returns from injury a slower bowler

Zaheer: 'Mayank's speeds are going to get better as he plays more'

Mayank was one of the three players retained by LSG ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. He even made his India debut against Bangladesh in October last year, but has missed a chunk of IPL after missing the entire domestic season in 2024-25 with a back injury. His return was later pushed back by a toe injury.”There is no drastic change in my strategy,” Mayank, 22, said. “I will continue to do what I used to. My body is taking a little time. I have not seen the intensity, [and] the match pressure for a while now. So it is very normal that the body is responding a little differently after a major injury. I don’t have a different mindset or intent. That remains the same. But I need to read the wickets and the batsmen quicker.”Mayank has had a lukewarm time in the two games so far this season, picking 2 for 40 against Mumbai Indians, followed by 0 for 60 against Punjab Kings. He has also relied a lot on change of pace and slower balls, which he says is a part of the plan. Despite the slow start, Mayank also wants to be seen as LSG’s “strike bowler” and a “wicket-taking bowler”.”I have been doing this right from the start, the variations, the slower ones,” Mayank said. “I didn’t need it last season. The few matches that I played in the main demand was to bowl quick and hard length deliveries. This time the wickets, wherever I have played using variations have been important.1:30

Mayank Yadav’s variations impress Anil Kumble

“My mindset is to contribute as much as possible for the team. In the last match, my spell was a bit expensive. Whenever I bowl, the team should feel that I am a strike bowler and a wicket-taking bowler. I just try to be positive for my team.”Mayank accepted that LSG have made mistakes in the tournament so far, and find themselves in a must-win situation against RCB. It has not helped that their captain Rishabh Pant has had a poor tournament, where he has managed only 128 runs in 11 innings, and is averaging a mere 12.80. Mayank, however, is backing his captain to bounce back, and is also positive about his team’s playoffs chances.”I have known Rishabh for a while now because we play for the same club in Delhi,” he said. “Whenever I have spoken to him, I have not felt that he is under pressure. He is confidently talking to me about the game, about the situation, [and] about the opposition batsmen.””We have been a little late in assessing the grounds and the wickets. We have made mistakes there; I’ll accept that. But we have three matches, and if we win that, there might be a chance we can make the playoffs.”

PBKS were off to another quick start, reaching 39 for 0 in 3.1 overs, but it unravelled quickly thereon

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2025

Harshit Rana dismissed the PBKS top three•Associated Press

After restricting Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to 103 for 9 in their last match, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowled out Punjab Kings (PBKS) for 111 in Mullanpur.A power-packed batting unit, PBKS were coming off a score of 245 in their last match and raced away to 39 for 0 in 3.1 overs. However, Harshit Rana led KKR’s comeback with incisive short-pitched bowling and three wickets, KKR debutant Anrich Nortje chipped in with one, and their two big spinners took two wickets each to consign PBKS to ignominy.Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh got off to another excellent start when KKR looked for early swing through Vaibhav Arora. Once they saw the openers take the pitched-up deliveries for boundaries, the KKR fast bowlers made sure almost nothing was pitched in the batters’ half.All of Rana’s three wickets came off the short ball. He handcuffed Arya with one in the ribs, getting him caught at backward square leg. A short and wide ball to Shreyas Iyer resulted in a vicious cut straight to deep point for a duck. Prabhsimran kept the intent up but ended up getting caught at point off the last ball of the powerplay.KKR had added pace to their line-up possibly because PBKS’ Indian batters have been doing well. You could say the Indian batters ended up picking out deep fielders, but the non-Indian batters disappointed PBKS more. Neither Josh Inglis nor Glenn Maxwell picked Varun Chakravarthy from the hand. Both were bowled, Inglis on the slog-sweep and Maxwell when defending.PBKS even called in an SOS batting substitute in Suryansh Shedge, which meant Maxwell would have to bowl four overs. The wickets still kept falling. Sunil Narine took two out in the 11th over, Shedge with one that turned away and Marco Jansen with the other one that turned in.Vaibhav Arora, almost as if feeling FOMO, came back to take out Shashank Singh, the final piece of batting in PBKS.

Victoria looked well-placed to push for victory but not for the first time of late they let a strong position slip

Alex Malcolm09-Mar-2025

Jake Lehmann’s century guided a superb South Australia chase•Getty Images

An inspirational unbeaten century from Jake Lehmann in combination with a career-best 83 from Liam Scott secured South Australia their first home Sheffield Shield final since 2016 after they chased down 300 with four wickets to spare to defeat Victoria at the Junction Oval.Lehmann and Scott shared a match-defining 148-run stand to break the back of the chase having come together at 108 for 4. Henry Hunt also made a valuable early contribution of 66 and shared a 54-run stand with Lehmann. The trio withstood some brilliant spells from Scott Boland who took two late wickets to threaten to steal the game but ultimately Victoria could not sustain enough pressure with the ball.Related

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McSweeney open to possibilities in bid to earn Test recall

Queensland revive final hopes with thumping victory

South Australia are now guaranteed a home final while Victoria can still made the decider if they beat Western Australia next week and other results go their way despite losing four matches in a row.Lehmann described his 12th first-class century as one of the best of his career after also going past 5000 first-class runs.”I feel like anytime you get a hundred and it’s in a winning team, and fourth innings is probably the hardest time to make hundreds these days, so yes, definitely up there,” Lehmann told ESPNcricinfo post match. “But it’s just probably on the vibe of the boys and the way we’ve played our cricket, and the belief in the team that we were always going to be able to chase them if we got into that last couple hours of the day.”South Australia coach Ryan Harris was full of praise for both Lehmann and Scott after the match. He was particularly proud of Scott’s efforts after backing up his 4 for 49 on day three with the ball with a match-winning 83.”I think his niche is probably No. 6 in this current set-up,” Harris told ESPNcricinfo. “And his overs, my communication with him is he’s probably a holder and now he’s a wicket-taker. And he’s done that because of having game time and learning his role and progressing as a player and as a person, learning the game. That only comes with game time and he’s done it beautifully. So he’s a huge player now.”Victoria coach Chris Rogers was left to lament how his side had lost a fourth game in a row after they had a lead of 163 with eight wickets in hand midway through day three and also had South Australia four down with 192 runs to defend on the final day.”We’re just missing something a little bit at the moment,” Rogers told ESPNcricinfo. “I just said to the group there were moments in this game where I think if we’d been able to get the upper hand we would have won this game against the side that’s on top of the table.”We feel like all the games we’re right in the contest, but then we just can’t get over the line. And that probably is the biggest frustration, and we’ve got to keep asking ourselves those questions, why aren’t we winning those moments?”The game was poised on a knife’s edge in the morning session when South Australia slumped to 54 for 3. Fergus O’Neill struck twice in three balls, pinning South Australia captain Nathan McSweeney lbw with a brilliant delivery that nipped in off the seam before taking the outside edge of Jason Sangha two balls later with one that straightened the other way.Lehmann and Hunt steadied with a 54-run stand but it was full of nervy moments. Hunt passed 50 but could have been out twice to Todd Murphy in one over, scoring a boundary off the outside edge while an offbreak beat his inside edge and went over the stumps past keeper Sam Harper for four byes.Lehmann also nearly fell to Murphy with Harper unable to hold a challenging catch down the leg side. Lehmann gave another life when he sliced a thick edge low to Xavier Crone’s left in the gully off O’Neill.Victoria still appeared firmly in the game when Hunt holed out to deep square for 66 off Sam Elliott. But Lehmann and Scott thoroughly dominated the middle session as Victoria fell flat.Boland bowled a very loose spell by his standards post lunch. He dropped short on several occasions and conceded four boundaries in three overs. Murphy gave up two at the other end as Lehmann and Scott set the tone for what was about to follow.The pair scored 104 runs from 30 overs in the middle session and scarcely looked troubled. Scott stood tall and drove powerfully through the off side against both spin and pace.Lehmann rotated the strike superbly without taking any undue risks and sweated on anything short and wide. Victoria spread the field to try and slow the scoring rate before the second new ball was due. But in the last 15 overs of the session Scott and Lehmann picked off 51 runs, including 16 off two overs of part-time spin from Campbell Kellaway and Harry Dixon.The trend looked set to continue against the second new ball as Scott raced past his previous highest first-class score while Boland struggled to get his line right in his first two overs after tea.But his international class shone through to force a late twist in the game. With 44 to win, Scott edged Boland to slip to give the hosts life. He then extracted another edge from Harry Nielsen shortly after to leave South Australia still needing 42 with just four wickets in hand. But Lehmann and Ben Manenti held their nerve.Lehmann survived another chance on 80 when he smashed Murphy straight to short cover but Kellaway could not hold the hot offer. Thereafter he latched on anything fractionally short to guide his side home, reaching his century and winning the game with three consecutive boundaries.

Newcastle United have submitted a new bid for Brentford’s Yoane Wissa worth £40 million. The offer is said to be comprised of a £35 million transfer fee and £5 million in “difficult to achieve” add-ons.

Brentford brought Wissa to the Premier League from FC Lorient in 2021 for £8.5 million, meaning that the current bid would more than quadruple their initial investment. However, David Ornstein has since reported that this bid has been rejected.

Ornstein writes that sources close to Brentford do not know the club’s current valuation of Wissa, as they have not shared that information with any of the striker’s suitors at this point.

Whilst the Magpies move has been shut down for now, there is positive news for Newcastle in that both Fabrizio Romano and Ornstein are reporting that Wissa wants the deal to happen, with Romano posting that Wissa “hopes for green light to join NUFC project” and has sent a clear message on Wednesday.

Over the last few weeks, a number of clubs have been embroiled in transfer sagas that undoubtedly seemed connected. Newcastle’s need to bring in a player like Wissa has only been added to by the seemingly impending exit of Alexander Isak, who is pushing for a move more than ever.

Newcastle were previously reported to be waiting until Brentford signed Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara to make an offer, as he is seen as potentially being a replacement for Wissa. Now that Brentford have their man, they may be willing to allow Wissa to move to Newcastle if a satisfactory bid is received, especially given Wissa’s desire to see the deal happen.

Once Wissa joins Newcastle, the club may be more willing to entertain bids from Liverpool for Isak, as they, too, will have their replacement striker. Liverpool have already spent heavily this window; they have moved on a number of players for big fees, and players like Harvey Elliott could also be exiting soon, allowing them to have the finances to place a bid that matches Newcastle’s valuation of Isak.

Wissa has big shoes to fill

If Wissa is indeed to be the replacement for Isak, then he has big shoes to fill, but if anyone can do it, he can. Last season, Isak registered 23 goals and 6 assists, whereas Wissa registered 19 goals and 4 assists, only marginally behind the Swedish striker.

One positive way in which the two strikers are similar is that they both outperformed their expected goals last season. This means in the same way that Isak was scoring goals that most strikers wouldn’t, Wissa will be able to join the side and impress in the same way.

While Isak had better numbers, he was doing it in a better team, a team that managed to qualify for the Champions League, whereas Brentford only finished in 10th place. With the addition of Anthony Elanga to the squad and pre-existing players like Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy supporting him, Wissa will likely boost his numbers once he makes a move to the North East.