Leggie Danish Kaneria limited the Bangladesh-A team to 210 in their first innings on the second day of the three-day match at BKSP. At the close the Pakistanis were 57 without loss in their 2nd innings. Earlier Bangladesh made a solid start through Mehrab Hossain and Hannan Sarkar, as the pair added 70 runs for the first wicket. The right-hander notched up 29 in his 136-minute stay before Waqar finally got him. At the other end his partner Mehrab was dealing with the Pakistani bowlers calmly. Nafiz joined him after Hannan’s fall and added more 40 runs.The Pakistani skipper struck again when he eliminated Mehrab caught by Shahdab Kabir. Bangladesh were 110 for 2 at that stage. Mehrab top scored 57 in a good innings that included six boundaries.At 134 the hosts lost their third wicket, Nafiz Iqbal, who made the fourth highest score (29). Waqar contributed to this wicket too as he grabbed the catch when Nafiz tried to lift Kaneria.Wickets then fell in quick succession as the Bangladeshi bats had no answer to Kaneria’s wiles. The hosts lost their next five wickets adding only 43 runs. Only left-handed Enamul Haque put up some resistance through his unbeaten 35 with 7 fours. Kaneria, Pakistan’s hero in Multan, captured 7 wickets in his relentless spell of 25 overs. Waqar well assisted him by taking 2 for 17 in his 15-over spell.The Pakistanis had a 102-run first innings lead. Shahdab Kabir and Taufiq Umar, both less than successful in the first innings, came to the crease. They remained unbeaten in the 19 overs Bangladesh A bowled and extended the lead to 159 runs.
Rain was the inevitable victor in this PPP county championship match, when it halted play with 21 overs remaining. Before play started on the final day 115.3 overs in the first three days had been lost to rain.Yorkshire resumed their innings on 216 for seven with the not out batsmen Lehmann and Middlebrook. The pair rarely looked in trouble as they put on 114 for the eighth wicket. This was the highest eighth wicket partnership by Yorkshire against Derbyshire. The previous highest was made in 1976 by Geoff Cope and Graham Stevenson. James Middlebrook brought up the 50 partnership with a cover drive which went for four of Kevin Dean. In the same over Lehmann square cut him for two fours which took him to 80. However Lehmann did have a life on 94 when he was dropped by Cassar at mid-on of Lacey’s bowling.The 100 partnership was brought up by a square cut four by Middlebrook. The stand was broken when Middlebrook was leg before sweeping Rob Bailey on his highest first class score of 45. Lehman then found solid support from Hoggard and and debutante Ramsden to take the score 349. Lehmann now begun to take more chances, his hundred came up in 209 balls and included 10 fours.Hoggard was out when he top edged a slog to Krikken of Cassar. Lehmann and Ramsden took Yorkshire to lunch but the innings was only to last seven balls after lunch. Lehmann negotiated the first five ball of the first over but he was out to the first ball of the second. He was caught round the corner by Cork of the bowling of Cassar. Cassar’s bowling figures of six for 76 are the best of his first class career.Derbyshire took advantage of some wayward bowling from the deleted Yorkshire attack with four after four. They reached 209 for one after only forty overs. Stephen Stubbings made his highest championship score with 84. Michael Di Venuto scored 81 as the pair added 203 for the second wicket. Derbyshire’s only victim was opener Mathew Dowman who scored 20 before he was caught by Ramsden of Middlebrook.
Adam Forshaw could fix two of Marcelo Bielsa’s biggest issues at Leeds United right now.
The Yorkshire giants tasted another hammering defeat to a big side in the Premier League at the weekend, losing 4-2 to old rivals Manchester United to add to the list alongside Arsenal (4-1) and Manchester City (7-0) in recent months.
In fact, the Whites have leaked a whopping 28 goals since Kalvin Phillips fell to a hamstring injury against Brentford on December 5th.
Problem One: Kalvin Phillips
Indeed, Leeds have sorely missed the presence of their defensive lynchpin, who offers so much stability in front of the backline. They have not kept a single clean sheet in the nine games he has missed, conceding an average of 3.1 goals per game.
Shocking.
The England international isn’t expected to be back this week, with worrying fixtures against more top dogs in Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur on the horizon and that’s a big concern.
“It’s a big problem and something they’ve got to look at and try and improve, and possibly Phillips could be a part of that. You can’t keep conceding all these goals and expect to win games,” claimed ex-Villa star Alan Hutton to Football Insider this week.
It’s easy to see why Leeds miss the 26-year-old so much as he averages 2.3 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per outing in the top-flight this season, via WhoScored. Only a few players better that rate and that’s only because they have played way more or way fewer games.
However, despite defeat in Sunday’s six-goal thriller, Forshaw put up remarkable numbers similar to that of Phillips.
He attempted the most tackles (ten) in the match and was successful in 50% of these, which also saw him top the charts in that regard, as per LeedsLive journalist Joe Donnohue.
Forshaw also registered two interceptions.
Problem Two: Final third play
Another one of the biggest issues facing Bielsa is his side’s influence in the attacking third – whilst they may leak plenty of goals, they aren’t scoring many either.
Hardly a surprise with Patrick Bamford joining his fellow countryman Phillips on the treatment table at Thorp Arch.
Only eight teams have scored fewer goals than Leeds this season, and only three of those are above them in the table.
Bamford has missed 18 league games after finishing as their top goalscorer on 17 goals last season.
Although, it’s not as if there is much creativity or drive in the final third as no player has registered more than two assists with Raphinha leading the way on two key chances created per game, via WhoScored.
But again, this is where Forshaw could provide a solution as his relentless work rate and energy often sees him drive forward. Against United, he also led the statistics for pressures attempted (33) and successful pressures (16).
The majority (12) of those 33 attempts were in United’s half.
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Forshaw is also capable of playing that diagonal long ball that Phillips is ever so good at, having averaged 2.1 successful attempts per league outing this campaign, which is only 1.4 behind the Three Lions star.
“Forshaw is a player who, when he has played, he is always between the better players of the team,” once claimed Bielsa. “He has a feature that is very difficult to get. He defends similar to Kalvin, he attacks similar to [Mateusz] Klich.”
Indeed, the former Boro star is the man capable of bringing the ball forward to help the Whites generate more goalscoring opportunities with his energy and evident ball-playing ability.
Therefore, the £60k-per-week machine could well hold the keys to solving two of Leeds’ biggest problems right now. He really ought to be the first name on the teamsheet at Anfield on Wednesday.
AND in other news, Fewer touches than Meslier: “Absolutely shocking” Leeds dud badly failed Bielsa vs Man Utd…
Michael Clarke returned to the scene of his triumphant Test debut and finessed another magnificent century, but rain then played spoilsport in the opening match of the Future Cup. Australia recovered from a Sreesanth-induced wobbly spell to post an imposing 307 for 7 and Mitchell Johnson then sent Sachin Tendulkar packing for a blob before the heavensopened and the prospect of a gripping contest was washed away.After Australia slumped to 90 for 4, Brad Haddin played the support role perfectly, adding 144 with Clarke. As the afternoon wore on and the boundary count grew, India encountered a reality check after the euphoria of the ICC World Twenty20 win. Clarke got going with some delightful clips off the pads against Zaheer Khan, adding 60 with Matthew Hayden for thethird wicket after both Indian new-ball bowlers had struck early.After Sreesanth had left the innings rocking, it was Clarke and Haddin that rebuilt it, patiently at first and then with considerable flair and aggression. After taking 68 balls for his 50, Clarke cruised to three figures in just another 40 deliveries, playing some gorgeous shots off hispads in the process.There was a stunning glance-on-the-walk against Irfan Pathan, and a peachy on drive off Zaheer before a dismal full toss from Ramesh Powar was swatted over the square-leg rope. Haddin’s dismissal, stumped trying to give Yuvraj Singh the mow, didn’t stem the Clarke tide either, and another full toss from Powar was dismissed over midwicket to herald his patentedhelmet-badge-kissing celebration.The new rules that allowed for a ball change after 34 overs made little difference as Australia turned it on. Haddin was no less effective, hitting down the ground and through the covers with power and timing, and picking off the leg-side gaps effortlessly each time the bowlers erred.The pair ran the singles easily too against an Indian side that was again less than electric in the field.Towards the end, even Sreesanth went for plenty as James Hopes came in and hinted at his all-round potential with a punishing 37-run cameo. With Clarke eyeing the straight boundary, India wilted as 87 came from the final 10 overs. Clarke was run out for 130 off the final ball, but by then, his heroics had almost banished any memory of Australia’s initial vulnerability.The pitch may have been placid, but Sreesanth certainly wasn’t early on. Sensibly though, he let the ball do the talking. Prior to the game, he had spoken of how much contests against Australia meant to the players, and how he himself feared no one. Talk is essentially cheap, butSreesanth backed it up with some fiery bowling, clocking 147kph at one stage.Neither he nor India had started well though. After a chorus of boos had greeted the batsmen, Adam Gilchrist started with his usual panache, jabbing through cover and then glancing for fours, and it took a stupendous catch from Yuvraj to give India some respite. Zaheeroffered some width, Gilchrist tore into it, and most eyes were already on the backward-point rope when Yuvraj threw himself to his right to take it with both hands.Both Sreesanth and Zaheer were erratic with their line, and the batsmen couldn’t settle, and after a couple of scattergun wides, it was Sreesanth who struck with a superb delivery to Brad Hodge that swung in to the pad.That brought Clarke to the crease, and Sreesanth wasn’t too shy to have some words when he played a couple of streaky shots. But with Clarke clipping Zaheer beautifully through midwicket and Hayden emerging from a circumspect start to muscle them away, the runs quicklymounted.Rudra Pratap Singh, India’s Twenty20 hero, came on, but was treated disdainfully by Hayden, who cover-drove and pulled him for fours before a miscued pull went down to fine leg for six.
By the first drinks break, Australia were cruising, but as so often happens, the break in play upset a batsman’s concentration. Sreesanth came round the wicket and angled one in, and Hayden’s scything attempt connected only with air. The stands erupted, but better was to follow forthose of an Indian persuasion as Sreesanth struck again.This time, the victim was Andrew Symonds, big-hitting dangerman utterly deceived by the change of pace. The slow loopy delivery appeared to take an eternity to reach him, and he played all around it. When the appeal was upheld, Sreesanth thumped the turf in delirious celebration.With the crowd chanting Sreesanth’s name, Haddin was greeted with a fast beamer – an apology duly followed – and the momentum was certainly with India as the Powerplays ended. Powar nearly had Haddin with a splendid loopy offspinner, but it missed both the stumps and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s gloves. Haddin was on seven then, and it would prove a costly miss.Clarke also enjoyed a reprieve when on 31 after a vociferous leg-before appeal from Pathan was turned down. Clarke had wandered out of the crease, and Dhoni’s underarm throw missed the stumps much to Australia’s relief. Both batsmen cashed in too, coming down the crease to Powar and giving him something to think about. Clarke thumped him down to the sightscreen forfour and Haddin then cleared the rope, and Australia had once again transformed a crisis into a cruise. Even they couldn’t do anything about the rain though.
ScorecardThe final day’s play between Kenya and Bermuda at the Nairobi Gymkhana was abandoned after an inspection by the umpires at 1pm local time. Although there had been no rain since the early hours, the ground was saturated and it was apparent from the off that there was little chance of play.With this, Kenya lost an opportunity to finish Bermuda off. Bermuda had needed 53 runs to make Kenya bat again, with eight wickets in hand and two days to go, when rain rendered any further play impossible.The result means that Bermuda have to beat Netherlands to have any chance of qualifying for the last four.
Mathew Sinclair played a lone hand for New Zealand A with a fighting unbeaten 110 to help them to 192 for 5 at close of play on the second day of their four-day match at Kandy. With the Sri Lankans being bowled out for 284 earlier in the day, the match hung in the balance.Sinclair came in to bat after the New Zealanders had lost two early wickets, and the situation became even more dire when Jamie How was dismissed soon after as the team slumped to 22 for 3, with all three wickets being taken by Gayan Wijekoon, the left-arm medium-fast bowler. Sinclair then strung together a couple of useful partnerships, the more significant of which was a 95-run undefeated stand for the sixth wicket with Gareth Hopkins, who was unbeaten on 24, the second-highest score in the innings.Earlier, Sri Lanka A stretched their first innings to 284 after resuming at 225 for 6. Chris Martin, who had taken four middle-order wickets on the first day, added the scalp of Malinga Bandara to finish with excellent figures of 5 for 64.
India have announced their one-day squad for the seven-match series against Australia which starts on 11 December.Monica Sumra and Varsha Raffel, who both play for Railways, are in line to make their international debuts.India are currently training in Mysore which is the venue for the firsttwo games. It will be the first time an international has been played at the ground.The series will act as a warm-up for the forthcoming World Cup in South Africawhich commences in March 2005.India Mamatha Maben (capt), Mithali Raj, Anju Jain, Anjum Chopra, Jaya Sharma, Hemalata Kala, Jhulan Goswami, Amita Sharma, Arundhati Kirkire, Varsha Raffel, Deepa Kulkarni, Neetu David, Nooshin Al-Khadeer, Monica Sumra.
Pakistan have sought the aid of the International Cricket Council to force South Africa to honour their commitment to tour their country. If South Africa won’t, Pakistan have said they have no other option but to enforce their right to take the matter, and a $US7million claim for damages, to the ICC’s disputes-resolution committee.Lt-Gen. Tauqir Zia, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), made the written request today. South Africa cancelled the tour on Saturday, on the eve of their side leaving for the tour. What Pakistan have called an “isolated” bomb exploded in Karachi on Friday, about five miles (8km) away from the National Stadium where South Africa were due to play their opening tour game, a one-day warm-up match, on Wednesday. The first one-day international was also scheduled to be played there, on Friday.Pakistan have given the South Africans a deadline – this evening – to make their final decision. Zia said the bomb incident, in which there were no casualties, occurred because of a feud between two factions, and was not a terrorist act.Zia has written to the ICC president Ehsan Mani and warned that if the ICC did not intervene, Pakistan would be forced to refuse to honour its own commitments to those countries who decline to visit them.”The ICC must keep in mind the loss Pakistan cricket will suffer due to this act of the United Cricket Board of South Africa. We have already suffered at the hands of the Indian government’s reluctance to allow the Indian team to play with Pakistan. The loss is to the tune of $US30million. If other teams also do not visit Pakistan then the loss to Pakistan cricket will be unbearable.”It is not only the loss because of the South African visit but also the reluctance of the subsequent teams. Pakistan cricket will lose around $US7m from the South African tour and $US3m from New Zealand’s tour. And if India chooses not to send its team to Pakistan in February, the loss will be $US11m.”Zia also made the point that while the cancellation affected revenue, there were also costs to the promotion and development of cricket, the cost in terms of the public being deprived of their chance to watch sport, the loss to Pakistan television which would not be able to generate advertising on the back of the cricket, and also cost involved in maintaining huge stadia that were not being used.”Such losses are unacceptable to Pakistan cricket,” he said. “We have already written to the UCBSA suggesting postponement by a week, and excluding Karachi as a venue. We expect the UCBSA to cooperate with us as we have done with everyone including touring countries where the threat to the security of players was far more serious.”We expect the ICC to intervene and instruct the UCBSA to take the tour as planned. We would hate to end up in a situation whereby we are forced not to honour our commitments to those countries who decline to visitPakistan.”Bangladesh played the fifth ODI of their series in Karachi without any security concerns,” said Zia, who then added: “Furthermore, the ICC match referee Mike Procter, who is from South Africa, also does not support the decision of the UCBSA.”Zia said he had spoken twice with the South African high commissioner in Pakistan and that he also did not support the UCBSA decision. According to him, Pakistan was a safe place, particularly for South African nationals.Zia also reminded the ICC president of the 1998 incident in which the PCB was under pressure from some Pakistan team members to cancel their tour of South Africa after the mugging incident in which two of their players were injured. “The crime rate in Johannesburg is far greater than anywhere else but teams visit South Africa regularly. On the contrary, Pakistan government has assured security to visiting teams of the level given to the VVIPs.”Zia said that the UCBSA had taken a unilateral decision without consulting the PCB, the ICC or their High Commission in Pakistan. “They had initially expressed reservations on playing at two venues, Karachi and Peshawar, but later agreed to go ahead with the tour after their security personnel visited Pakistan. These personnel were fully satisfied with the security aspects and on the basis of their assessment, UCBSA allowed the tour to proceed as scheduled.”In a separate letter, Zia enlisted the support of the Asian Cricket Council through its president Mohammad Asghar Ali, and requested a united front be put forward as resolved at the ACC special general meeting in Sharjah last year.That resolution was: “…It was further decided that in case of failure by any country within or outside Asia for reasons not beyond the control of the cricket boards and force majeure, the four Test-playing countries of Asia would automatically refuse either to visit or host that particular country.”Zia asked Asghar Ali to consult with other members and request both the ICC or the UCBSA to ensure the tour goes ahead, and that the matter be given top priority.
Hampshire Over-50s returned tired, exhausted but boasting an unblemished five-match winning record from their 17-day Malaysian tour.The county veterans found the standard of Malay opposition generally disappointing, but the searing heat and intense energy-sapping humidity was hardly in their favour.
Hampshire Over 50s
Several players to leave the field suffering from exhaustion in matches which seldom exceeded 35-overs duration due to the heat.Hursley Park’s John Harris and Alan Wright (Liphook & Ripsley) batted consistently, with Calmore’s sprightly all-rounder Billy Sims twice producing match-winning performances with the ball.
Tour results –Royal Selangor Club 88 (Westbrook 3-22, Azor 2-13) Hampshire 89-1 (Harris 45*, Wright 33). Hampshire won by 9 wickets.Hampshire 148-9 (Harris 54, Swain 45) Kelewar District 103 (Sims 4-26, Allum 3-18, Azor 2-19). Hampshire won by 45 runs.Hampshire 141-3 (Azor 41, Swain 31, Wright 25) Silver State 117 (Sims 5-12, Prouton 2-12). Hampshire won by 24 runs.Hampshire 143-4 (Harris 64, Owen 39) Penang Sports Club 98 (Smallbone 2-4, Westbrook 2-5). Hampshire won by 45 runs.Hampshire 132-6 (Wright 45, Owen 22) RAAF Butterworth 75 (Allum 2-4, Wharton 2-4). Hampshire won by 57 runs.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEd Cowan and Steven Smith matched each other shot for shot in an unbeaten stand of 165•Getty Images
South Australia did well to get this far. New South Wales did better to get their hands on the Matador Cup. In what proved to be a lopsided conclusion to the tournament, the Blues brushed the Redbacks aside with nine wickets and more than 20 overs to spare, vindicating the captain Steven Smith’s decision to send the visitors in to bat on a pleasant day at North Sydney Oval.Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Sean Abbott all contributed with the ball in an even display by the Blues, which underlined the team’s intimidating depth of talent, while also exposing how a few members of the Redbacks XI still have much to learn about performing under pressure for their state. The loss of South Australia’s last seven wickets for 30 will haunt numerous members of the XI, for at 3 for 191 they had looked well placed to set a target near enough to 300.Left with a far more modest tally to chase, Nic Maddinson provided a supercharged start for the Blues before Ed Cowan and Smith matched each other shot for shot in a rollicking stand of 165 to close out the contest. Smith’s performance rounded out a strong tournament for Australia’s captain, even if it emerged that he has been carrying a sore knee for much of this year.The Redbacks had excelled in defending mid-sized targets during the competition, notably doing so twice against Victoria to knock out the far more seasoned Bushrangers’ collective. But a dropped chance in the second over, when an airy cover drive from Maddinson burst through the hands of Adam Zampa, proved to be an opportunity South Australia could not afford to spurn.As he has done all tournament, Starc made a vital early incision by bowling Travis Head with a ball nearly identical to that with which he did the very same to the young captain in the qualifying match between these teams. Hazlewood followed up with the wicket of Tim Ludeman and it took a hardy stand by Tom Cooper and Callum Ferguson to steady the Redbacks innings.Their union put South Australia in decent shape heading towards the final 10 overs, but the Blues recovered ground with remarkable ease once Cooper had reached his eighth limited-overs hundred. The very next ball had Alex Ross chipping a return catch to Abbott, and from there the innings melted away.Starc and Hazlewood came back to add another two wickets apiece, meaning the former had ripped out 26 wickets in this tournament, with no fewer than 20 of them being lbw or bowled.Maddinson, Cowan and Smith took progressively more liberties against the Redbacks bowlers in the afternoon, meaning Head could never create the sorts of pressured scenarios that allowed his young side to corral Victoria.As Smith hoisted a final six to finish things before he was embraced by Cowan, it was difficult to escape the following conclusion: this had been a tournament of progress for the Redbacks, but for a powerful Blues line-up bolstered by players available due to the postponed Bangladesh tour, the lifting of the trophy was nothing less than they had expected.