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An update has emerged on Oleksandr Zinchenko amid interest from Newcastle United heading into the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

According to The Athletic, the Magpies and Everton have both been touted as possible destinations for the Manchester City full-back ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

The report claims that his future at the Etihad Stadium is up in the air this summer, although there is no mention of how much money it would take to snap him up from the Premier League champions.

The player is currently valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt.

Forget Matt Targett

Eddie Howe and Dan Ashworth must forget Targett after his loan spell on Tyneside and instead secure a deal for the Ukraine international.

They can get St James’ Park rocking with excitement by striking a move for the City defender, who is a proven, top-quality Premier League performer who knows exactly what it takes to win trophies.

He has won four league titles since joining the Cityzens in 2017 and racked up 128 appearances for the club in that time, scoring two goals and providing 12 assists.

Pep Guardiola previously heaped praise on the full-back’s understanding of the game, saying: “He knows how to play football. He’s playing at a good level, his consistency especially and he is always tactically smart and defensively, he is so, so smart he doesn’t make mistakes. He knows what he has to do to help the central defenders.”

The City manager added: “For our build up he is fundamental in the way we play. He understands the game perfectly.”

These comments show that the 25-year-old would surely be able to adapt to Howe’s tactical setups, and his ability in the build-up will be crucial in developing an attacking style of play.

In the 2021/22 campaign, Zinchenko averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.07 in the Premier League as he provided four assists from left-back and created 1.1 chances per game.

He has also been outstanding for his country in their World Cup qualifying campaign, averaging a SofaScore rating of 7.48 across five games. In those matches, he scored one goal and produced one assist as he made 2.4 key passes per match.

With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that Aston Villa reporter Gregg Evans dubbed him a “frightening” player earlier this season.

Meanwhile, Targett averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.96 in the top flight for Newcastle and Villa combined this season, with one goal and one assist in 33 games. Whilst these are solid statistics from the English full-back, Zinchenko’s ability on the ball can elevate the attack with his build-up play and chance creation.

This is why Magpies fans would be excited by the Ukrainian dynamo’s prospective arrival, so Howe must now secure a deal to sign him from Manchester City.

AND in other news, PIF plotting NUFC bid for “tremendous” £30m “champion of the world”, he’s Ben Arfa 2.0… 

Crystal Palace officials watched FC Porto in action on Saturday, including one summer transfer target, according to a report from Portuguese newspaper O Jogo (via Sport Witness).

The lowdown

Palace spent £31.14million in the transfer window just gone, bringing in four new faces – midfielder Cheick Doucoure, defender Chris Richards, goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and winger Malcolm Ebiowei.

Only Leicester City and Bournemouth recorded lower expenditures in the summer market, and only the Foxes made fewer additions.

Palace haven’t signed a player from the Portuguese top flight since the winter of 2018, when they brought in midfielder Erdal Rakip on loan from Benfica.

The latest

The report states that Palace sent scouts to watch Porto take on Gil Vicente at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.

The reigning Primeira Liga champions would run out 2-0 winners thanks to quick-fire goals from Medhi Taremi and Galeno shortly before half time.

The verdict

Who was the object of Palace’s attention? Well, the likeliest candidate is probably the winger Pepe.

A Bola previously reported that the Eagles had ‘collected information’ about the player and were keen on signing him.

Palace were said to be willing to pay a record fee of £43m to secure the deal, though Porto were asking for £51m and the player’s release clause is even higher at £60m.

The 25-year-old, who has 14 G/A in 48 games for Porto, is predominantly a left winger, and so may be viewed as a potential successor to the out-of-contract Wilfried Zaha.

However, he was deployed as a right-back for just the sixth time in his professional career on Saturday.

He turned in a decent performance across 83 minutes on the pitch, completing two out of three dribbles and creating a chance (via SofaScore).

Porto open their Champions League campaign against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, and Palace might have one eye on them again.

He’s been a specialist No.6 for much of his career, but Shafiq’s half-century at No.4 was a glimpse of post-MisYou stability

Melinda Farrell at Malahide12-May-2018Asad Shafiq, Pakistan’s No. 4, walked across the outfield towards the middle after two early wickets had fallen. In his customary quiet and neat manner, he marked his crease, took guard and defended the first ball to the off-side.Four hours later, he fell into a trap, pulling a short ball straight to short midwicket. But he’d made a century that would help Pakistan secure a stunning win.The time was August 2016; the venue, The Oval. Shafiq’s first-innings partnership with Younis Khan paved the way for a ten-wicket victory over England that levelled the series and elevated Pakistan to gloriously giddy heights at the top of the Test rankings.That Test was the first time in more than five years that Shafiq had batted at No.4 for Pakistan. With Younis and Misbah-al-haq batting above him, Shafiq had quietly risen to No. 13 in the Test batting rankings and, in the process, become almost a specialist No. 6. A celebrated one, no less. He currently holds the record for the most Test centuries scored in that position. He had made an art of batting with the tail, hurting sides with lower-order runs and instilling confidence in the bowlers when they were batting at the other end. But he desperately wanted to be a No. 4.***In a frustrating period since his last tour to the British Isles, Shafiq has shown many glimpses of the potential he has not quite fulfilled. It’s been a lean couple of years punctuated by two magnificent centuries: in a heroic chase against Australia at the Gabba and again in a losing cause facing Sri Lanka in Dubai.In the 14 Tests Shafiq has played since his Oval century, he averages just 32.20. What’s more, his shelf-life as a No.6 seems to have expired – in his eight most recent innings in that position, he’s made 137 runs at an average of 17.12, as if making the point that he needs to influence innings these days, not merely react to them.His overall average fell below 40 a year ago and when he fell to Boyd Rankin – succumbing to the opposition captain’s plan and pulling a short ball as he did at The Oval – it remained just under that mark. He is now No. 25 in the Test batting rankings.It can hardly have helped that Shafiq has batted in every position from 3 to 7 in the past two years, as Pakistan mused over the jigsaw pieces after the retirements of Younis and Misbah. He has also had to overcome a recent lack of top-level cricket: his last Test was seven months ago and, as a red-ball-only player, he has been restricted to domestic cricket and net practice.However, an innings of 62 in conditions favourable to swing suggests rustiness isn’t an issue and to see him cutting with confidence and fluency, as he did here, is always a good sign. While several of his teammates appeared to waver between playing forward or back to the swinging ball in the hands of Tim Murtagh, in particular, Shafiq was more decisive. He had his share of luck, with edges landing safely, and he rode it well. But Shafiq’s technical proficiency means he rarely looks bad, he just somehow manages to lose his wicket at an inopportune time.Post the #MisYou era, Shafiq’s importance has naturally grown, along with the burden of leadership. Coming into this match, debutant Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail and Babar Azam had just 13 Tests between them: in the top five only Azhar Ali and Shafiq have any significant experience.But Pakistan’s top-order wobbles go back further. In the past five years Pakistan have lost three wickets before reaching 100 in 60 percent of their innings. Only three teams have lost their first three wickets at a higher rate: Zimbabwe, West Indies and – perhaps encouragingly for Pakistan’s next engagement – England, at 60.34 percent.Faheem Ashraf and Shadab Khan were the batsmen who formed the rearguard in Malahide in the same way Shafiq did so often batting at No. 6.But Shafiq is now a No. 4. And he knows the expectations are bigger.”I always wanted to bat up the order, like three or four, and so did the coach, Mickey Arthur and Sarfraz [Ahmed], especially after the retirements of Misbah and Younis so it’s now my responsibility to take that No.4 position,” said Shafiq at the close of play.”Now the responsibility is with me, Azhar Ali and Sarfraz, the guys who have played 40-50-odd matches. It’s now our job to play more responsible innings.”There is no doubting Shafiq’s talent and temperament. His selflessness in batting wherever Pakistan have needed him is admirable. But he now has the position he has always coveted and the chance to fulfil his promise as one of the senior players in the side.Even so, for a batsman who has so often played a supporting role in the wings, it was somehow fitting that he should top-score in his new role as a senior batsman, and still be overshadowed by the close of play.

South Africa outdid Australia in the fast bowling department, the lower middle-order contributions and the number of centuries scored

S Rajesh28-Nov-201621.64 The bowling average for South Africa’s fast bowlers in the series, compared to 29.77 for Australia’s pace attack. Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott and Vernon Philander accounted for 40 of those 42 wickets, at 20.30. Australia’s pace attack had a combined average of 29.77. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, Australia’s leading fast bowlers, had a combined tally of 31 wickets at 25.71. Each team’s spinners took seven wickets collectively, at 50-plus averages (52.42 for Australia, and 58.14 for South Africa). Fast bowlers accounted for more than 85% of the total wickets for each team.82 Total wickets taken by the fast bowlers in the series. There have been only three three-Test series in Australia in which fast bowlers have taken more wickets, and all of them were between 1979 and 1982; two of those featured West Indies.

Most wkts for fast bowlers in a three-Test series in Aus

Series Wickets Average Strike rate 5WIWI in Aus, 1979-80 89 27.41 56.2 2Eng in Aus, 1979-80 88 22.25 58.4 5WI in Aus, 1981-82 85 27.12 60.8 6SA in Aus, 2016-17 82 25.60 50.4 4NZ in Aus, 1980-81 80 21.61 53.1 5SA in Aus, 2008-09 80 35.55 68.8 45 Hundreds for South Africa, out of the six in the series. Australia’s only centurion was Usman Khawaja, while five batsmen got hundreds for South Africa – Dean Elgar, JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and Stephen Cook. (Click here for South Africa’s batting and bowling stats, and here for Australia’s.)

Series stats for South Africa and Australia

Team Runs scored Bat ave Run rate 100sSouth Africa 1617 34.40 3.32 5Australia 1361 25.67 3.06 141.25 The average partnership for South Africa’s fifth to eighth wickets; for Australia, the average for those wickets was only 17.15. In 20 partnerships for these wickets, South Africa’s batsmen scored 825 runs, with de Kock being the key contributor: he scored 281 from five innings, and received fine support from Temba Bavuma and Philander in these middle and lower-order partnerships. In contrast, Australia managed only 343 runs in 20 such partnerships. The difference in these partnership numbers was a key reason for South Africa’s series triumph; for the first four wickets Australia had a marginally higher average – 37.82, to South Africa’s 34.05.

Partnership stats for each wkt for South Africa and Australia

South AfricaAustraliaWicketRunsAverage100/50 standsRunsAverage100/50 stands1st9118.200/ 029549.161/ 22nd12124.200/ 110617.660/ 13rd32464.801/ 034757.831/ 34th14529.000/ 112224.400/ 15th18537.000/ 16813.600/ 16th25751.401/ 110120.200/ 17th17434.801/ 08917.800/ 08th20941.800/ 28517.000/ 09th287.000/ 09919.800/ 110th8327.660/ 0499.800/ 0100% Success rate for Richard Kettleborough with DRS appeals made against his decisions in Hobart and Adelaide, the two Tests in which he was the on-field umpire in the series. In all, 11 of his decisions were challenged, but none of his calls were overturned. In contrast, the success rate was only 50% for Aleem Dar (six out of 12), and 68.75% for Nigel Llong (11 out of 16).5 Number of times Hazlewood dismissed Hashim Amla in this series, the most times a bowler got a batsman out. The next highest was Starc’s four dismissals of Cook, conceding only 43 from 134 balls. Elgar struggled against Starc as well. There were five instances of a bowler dismissing a batsman three or more times in the series, and they were all by Starc or Hazlewood.97 Runs scored by de Kock against Nathan Lyon, the most by any batsman against a bowler in the series. Lyon didn’t dismiss de Kock even once, though he had him in some trouble in Adelaide. There were only two other instances of a batsman scoring 50-plus runs against a bowler without being dismissed – Warner against Rabada, and Bavuma against Starc.

Key head-to-head numbers from the series

Batsman Bowler Runs Balls Dismissals Average Hashim Amla Josh Hazlewood 29 52 5 5.80Stephen Cook Mitchell Starc 43 134 4 10.75Dean Elgar Mitchell Starc 38 97 3 12.66Quinton de Kock Josh Hazlewood 60 99 3 20.00Faf du Plessis Mitchell Starc 87 106 3 29.00JP Duminy Josh Hazlewood 61 105 1 61.00JP Duminy Mitchell Starc 52 67 1 52.00Usman Khawaja Kyle Abbott 48 116 1 48.00Usman Khawaja Kagiso Rabada 57 126 1 57.00Steven Smith Kyle Abbott 55 77 1 55.00David Warner Vernon Philander 63 105 1 63.00Temba Bavuma Mitchell Starc 63 106 0 -Quinton de Kock Nathan Lyon 97 115 0 -Quinton de Kock Mitchell Starc 40 72 0 -David Warner Kagiso Rabada 67 60 0 –

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the opening one-day international between England and Australia

George Dobell03-Sep-2015Run out of the dayShane Watson will surely not reflect on this tour with much joy. After losing his place in the Test team after the Cardiff Test he is enjoying no more luck in the limited-overs games. After a comical dismissal in the T201 – he was bowled off an inside edge after he missed with his attempt to kick the ball away from his stumps – here he was run out by yards after being called for a most unlikely single from Matthew Wade. Despite playing the ball straight to cover – Ben Stokes of all people, probably the best fielder in the England side – Wade set off for the run immediately. Watson would have been justified in turning his partner down but, seeing him committed, did his best to answer the call. Stokes’ accurate throw – and Jos Buttler’s efficient removal of the bails – did the rest. Not for the first time this summer, Watson returned to the pavilion with laughter ringing in his ears. It can be a cruel game.Decision of the dayAll too often, umpires only seem to warrant attention when they make an error. So it seems only fair to recognise a fine decision by Joel Wilson – the fourth umpire in the game between these sides at the MCG when James Taylor was incorrectly given out – that ended Glenn Maxwell’s promising innings. The ball from Mark Wood would probably have been called a leg side wide had Maxwell, attempting to flick it to fine leg, not gained a thin edge. But while Buttler, who took an excellent tumbling, low catch, hardly appealed, Wilson had heard the nick and was quick to give the decision. Maxwell briefly looked as if he would utilise the DRS but, had he done so, it would have done him no good. Replays suggested there was no pad involved and snicko suggested contact with the bat.Shot of the dayJason Roy has earned his reputation – probably unfairly – as a big of a slugger. But here he provided evidence that he is far more than that. While there were a couple of gorgeous drives and powerful pulls, many top-order batsmen can play such strokes. It was a back-foot clip off the hip – a perfectly timed clip that sent the ball scurrying in front of square to the midwicket boundary – that really showed his class. It was not, perhaps, the best stroke of the match – a back foot drive through extra cover for four by Maxwell was a thing of rare beauty – but it was evidence that Roy is a better player than he is sometimes credited with being.Selection of the dayAustralia had a tricky decision to make ahead of this game. On a surface which, in county cricket at least, tends to favour spin bowlers, they had to decide whether to include a specialist spinner, in Ashton Agar, who the seam-bowling all-rounder in Mitchell Marsh. While England’s two spinners were probably the pick of their bowlers, Marsh’s performance vindicated the Australian decision. Marsh scored an important unbeaten 40 and helped Wade post a match-winning 112-run stand in 13 overs for the seventh-wicket.Near miss of the dayEoin Morgan had scored just 5 when, poking at another fast, full delivery from the impressively quick – if not especially accurate – Pat Cummins he was only able to make contact via a thin inside edge. The ball flew to the fine leg boundary for four but replays suggested that it might have brushed the off stump on its way. England’s captain can rarely have enjoyed such a near miss, though he was unable to fully capitalise on the fortune.

Stats highlights after the end of the fifth day’s play between Sri Lanka and England at Headingley

Bishen Jeswant24-Jun-2014

• Sri Lanka, with this win, have now won seven Test matches outside the subcontinent, excluding Tests in Zimbabwe. The margin of victory in this Test – 100 runs – is the narrowest in terms of runs for Sri Lanka in these countries. They have won five Tests by larger margins and another by 10 wickets. Three of these seven wins have come in England, two in New Zealand and one each in South Africa and West Indies. These seven wins have come in 57 Tests, which makes their win percentage 12.3%. India and Pakistan, the other subcontinental giants, have win percentages of 12.4% (22 wins in 177 Tests) and 21.4% (31 wins in 145 Tests) respectively in these conditions. The overall records of India and Sri Lanka, in terms of win percentages, are now quite similar.
• Sri Lanka’s performance in this series was largely due to Kumar Sangakkara, who scored 342 runs over the two Tests, and became the first Sri Lankan batsman to score 300-plus Test runs during a tour of England. This is not for a lack of opportunity, because Sri Lanka’s last three tours to England have included three Tests. Sangakkara also overtook Saurav Ganguly to score the most runs by an overseas batsman in a two-match series (or who played only two matches in a longer series) in England.
• Mahela Jayawardene contributed 174 runs as well, including a couple of half-centuries. Jayawardene and Sangakkara have now scored exactly 11493 runs each and are joint sixth on the all-time list of highest run-scorers in Tests. During the second Test, Sangakkara overtook Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was previously seventh on the list. It is also worth noting that Alistair Cook moved past Geoffrey Boycott to go fifth on the list of leading run scorers in Tests for England.
• Jayawardene was the only Sri Lanka captain to have scored a hundred in an away Test victory, in a country other than Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Angelo Mathews has now become the second man to have achieved this feat and also the first Sri Lanka captain to have scored a hundred and taken more than one wicket in a Test win, whether at home or away.
• Sangakkara came into this series on the back of three consecutive 50-plus scores against Bangladesh. That sequence has now been extended to seven consecutive scores. Sangakkara’s batting average of 90.50 since the start of 2013, is the highest for any batsman in this period. He has scored 1448 runs in 17 innings during this phase, which is second only to David Warner who has scored 1484 runs, but in 32 innings.
• Rangana Herath has bowled 263.3 overs in Tests starting this year, the most by any bowler. Shaminda Eranga has bowled the second-highest number of overs, 217.5. No other player has bowled more than 160 overs in Test cricket in 2014. This is partly due to the fact that Sri Lanka have played six Tests in 2014, while no other team has played more than four. This in itself is noteworthy, because Sri Lanka have played only 56 Tests in the period from 2007 to 2013. Only Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Pakistan (who have had hardly any home Tests in that period) have played fewer Tests in that period.
• Jayawardene took two catches in this match and thus went past Ricky Ponting on the all-time list of outfield players who have taken the most catches in Test cricket. Jayawardene has now taken 197 catches in Test cricket, going past Ponting who had taken 196. Jayawardene is all set to join an elite two-man list of fielders who have taken more than 200 catches in Test cricket, namely Rahul Dravid (210) and Jacques Kallis (200).
• Jayawardene bowled six overs in the fourth innings of this Test. This is the most number of overs that Jayawardene has bowled in a Test outside the subcontinent. He had bowled six overs in an innings on one previous occasion as well, against New Zealand at Wellington in April 2005. Since 22 August 2009, Jayawardene had bowled only one over in Test cricket.
• Dhammika Prasad’s five wicket haul was the 31st by a Sri Lanka pace bowler in away Tests. This is only the second instance of a Sri Lanka seamer taking five wickets in an innings in England, the fourth instance of taking a five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of an away Test.

Irfan Pathan has made the most of his latest comeback – now the challenge is to display the same kind of form in Indian conditions

Abhishek Purohit in Pallekele08-Aug-2012Irfan Pathan is back. Again. With consecutive Man-of-the-Match awards. With a role in four of the five Indian wins on this tour. His previous comeback arrived after nearly three years, and lasted eight ODIs and one Twenty20 international before he was left out of the squad for this trip, despite very reasonable figures. Irfan was looking for a county deal; then Vinay Kumar got injured, and Irfan got a lifeline. And boy, he has grabbed it.The highest wicket-taker in the ODI series. The most economical Indian fast bowler in the ODI series, ahead of even Zaheer Khan. Plus, two calm and decisive knocks with the bat when the team was in trouble. And a whole-hearted effort in the field. Twist the package any way you want, you will struggle to call it anything but all-round.Before the series started, people were wondering how many games Irfan would get. The precedent was the way he had been treated in the ODI tri-series in Australia. He played half the number of games Ravindra Jadeja did and took twice as many wickets, and made almost as many runs. Irfan batted at No.9, Jadeja at No.7.Fortunately for Irfan, Jadeja did not make this trip. But Irfan had to earn the team management’s confidence, especially after MS Dhoni spoke about Jadeja’s importance as a bowler before the first match. A first spell of 6-1-20-1 with the new ball in Hambantota set the tone for the series.Irfan swung the ball regularly into the right-handers. His pace was steady, in the mid-to-late 120s, but he got the ball to bounce and zip off the pitch, which he has said creates opportunities for him. Importantly, he did not fall apart at the death. He was involved in two match-winning partnerships with Suresh Raina and Dhoni, sensibly rotating the strike during both stands.Three games, he played as the allrounder, batting at No.7 with four specialist bowlers to follow. In the next three games, the team management developed enough confidence in Irfan’s bowling to play an extra batsman in Manoj Tiwary.Irfan was delighted to be back, and desperate to perform. He had gone through a phase where his back had troubled him so much that he had started to worry more about his body than his career. His action had been through so many ups and downs he had no clue where the Irfan of 2003-04 had disappeared.He had bowled for hours in the nets and local games in his hometown Vadodara to try to get some of the shape back. People didn’t believe him when he said he was prepared for a comeback. He returned to the side, did not get many opportunities, and was dropped again, but destiny probably owed him another chance.Irfan wasn’t going to let it go through want of preparation. Almost every game, he would walk to the side pitches before the start and bowl and bowl. He worked on his delivery stride and on his use of the crease. He did not face the best bowling in the nets as most of the India bowlers would be done by the time his turn came to bat, but he practiced his strokes against what was on offer. He stayed back on occasions after the rest had left to bat against throwdowns.Despite his showing, he is still on trial, in a way. Duncan Fletcher, the India coach, said after the ODI series that Irfan had done a good job “at the moment”. “I think he has got the potential,” Fletcher had said. “We just have got to see him progress from here and see how he bowls in India and bats in India.”He will surely be tested in Indian conditions, and Jadeja could return into the equation as well. But for the moment, India can savour the return of someone who is the closest they have currently to a fast-bowling allrounder.

It is now impossible to see the West Indies recovering the spirit and confidence needed to challenge these South Africans in the remaining two ODIs and three Tests

Tony Cozier30-May-2010As West Indies head coach, the latest in the wheel from which eight have spun off in the past 14 years, Ottis Gibson is more intimately involved with the players on a day to day basis than anyone else.In the post for three months, he would have already come to appreciate the depressingly candid points made during a panel discussion in Barbados last week by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive Ernest Hilaire on the state of our cricket and the attitude of those who represent it on the field. No doubt he had heard about them from others even before his appointment that, as Hilaire put it, “the whole notion of being a West Indian and for what they are playing has no meaning at all” to the players and that money and “instant gratification is all that matters”.Perhaps he was challenged to prove Hilaire wrong on his warning to fans to prepare for at least three more years of embarrassment, but he has certainly not been encouraged by the results so far. Prior to Friday’s third ODI against South Africa in Dominica, Gibson said that the team had not “thought through well enough”.He used as an example Dwayne Bravo’s dismissal in the defeat in the second match in Antigua. The allrounder batted superbly for 70 yet Gibson regarded his loss as the turning point in the game. “Bravo got out to the last ball of an over that had conceded 13 runs and it was the last ball of a bowler’s (Dale Steyn) spell,” he noted. “Those little things we need to get better at.”There was no improvement in Friday’s match. If anything, it was worse.It was a spirited effort to limit South Africa to 224, securing the last five wickets for 18, the last seven for 71. Against determined, mentally tough opponents strong in bowling, the target was not straight-forward but certainly within range. This is where the relevance of Gibson’s pre-match comment became clear. “Talent-wise we’re not far behind South Africa, thinking-wise, we’re showing that we’re very far behind,” he had said.Suddenly, as West Indies responded, wickets were falling to unnecessary shots, not least the two most crucial. Captain Chris Gayle launched one ball for six, slashed wildly at the next and edged to slip. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, seduced by the absence of slips, aimed to steer the energised Jacques Kallis to third man only to deflect to the keeper.When the revved-up Steyn, generating more than 90 mph every ball, despatched Bravo to a bouncer that stirred memories of the heyday of West Indies fast bowling and Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy followed, 118 for 7 meant certain defeat.Or so Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn and Ravi Rampaul conceded. Another 106 were required but 20.2 overs remained. The required run-rate was still just five runs an over. Denesh Ramdin was still in. Anything can happen in this game, as Sammy had demonstrated with his stunning 20-ball 50 in Antigua in the second match and as the West Indies had shown in similar situations in the past.In the first round of the first World Cup in 1975, they were 203 for 9 against Pakistan, with wicketkeeper Deryck Murray batting and Andy Roberts, then a genuine rabbit, as the last man. With another 64 to win, Murray and Roberts never gave up, as the current tailenders did on Friday, calmly seeing them home with two balls to spare.Even if that was too far back for the modern players to remember, the final of the 2004 Champions Trophy at The Oval in London should still be fresh enough in their minds for them to appreciate that no cause is ever completely lost. At 147 for 8 with the light fast closing in, the West Indies required another 71 to beat England and claim their first trophy since the 1979 World Cup. Another 16.2 overs remained and Courtney Browne (a wicketkeeper again) and Ian Bradshaw with level-headed common sense and without a six, and even an attempt at one, gathered the runs with seven balls to spare without the mindless running of Taylor or the slogging that Benn and Rampaul indulged in at Windsor Park on Friday.Taylor should be a key component of this team, especially in the absence of Fidel Edwards but, at present, he seems either injured or uninterested or both. His bowling is well short of his best and he has been slack in the field. There was no reason for him to push the ball to mid-on and chase for the run that he didn’t make. The selectors must soon make a decision on his place.Benn might argue that he has already put in his effort. He had dismissed two key batsmen, Hashim Amla and Kallis, in his ten overs and run out another, AB deVilliers, with a direct hit from the deep. But he is in the team as a professional cricketer, expected to contribute in every department. Too often, not least with his batting and fielding, he sells himself and his team short. His wild swings on Friday spoke of his conviction that the match was already lost, not that, even in such a predicament, it would still be won.It is now impossible to see the West Indies recovering the spirit and confidence needed to challenge these South Africans in the remaining two ODIs and three Tests. Just as Sammy’s blitz temporarily lifted them and the rejoicing supporters at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in the second match, so did the defeat, and the manner of it, at Windsor Park three days later deepen the despair and give credence to Hilaire’s dire forecast. But, as with Murray and Roberts in 1975 and Browne and Bradshaw in 2004, there must always be a sliver of hope.

How Shane Warne bamboozled England’s batting at Lord’s

On the ball with S Rajesh and Arun Gopalakrishnan24-Jul-2005A combination of the legbreak, topspinner and the zooter, all bowled with pinpoint accuracy, meant that England’s batsmen had few answers to the complex questions that Shane Warne threw up in their second innings. The graphic below offers a fair indication of the way they struggled – the batsmen were beaten, rapped on the pads, or they edged him 20% of the time, that’s once every five deliveries.Amid all the shambles that was the England batting line-up, one batsman shone in both innings, and contributed 36% of the total runs they scored in the match. Kevin Pietersen came into the match after controversially displacing Graham Thorpe, and delivered a performance that completely lived up to the hype.The most convincing aspect of his display was the manner in which he handled Australia’s leading bowlers: in the first innings, Glenn McGrath was in irresistible form, and Pietersen slammed him for 22 from as many balls; in the second, Warne was running rings around England’s batsmen, and Pietersen hit him to the tune of 39 from 41 balls. Over both innings, Pietersen scored 121 runs from 168 balls, and it took an extraordinary catch to dismiss him in the only innings in which he got out. Now, if only someone would teach Pietersen how to hang on to a catch.

Shoriful Islam has made a comeback, while Afif Hossain, Tanvir Islam and Rejaur Rahman Raja have been dropped

Mohammad Isam22-Mar-2023The uncapped pair of Rishad Hossain and Jaker Ali have earned national call-ups for the first time, for Bangladesh’s T20I series against Ireland – the three-match series starts on March 27. Shoriful Islam has come back, making it three changes from the side that beat England 3-0 earlier this month. Afif Hossain, Tanvir Islam and Rejaur Rahman Raja have been left out.Getty ImagesThe inclusion of legspinner Rishad is the most interesting call. He has been around the senior setup for the last few years but has hardly had any opportunities – even in the domestic circuit, like many legspinners in the country. The last time he played regularly in a domestic tournament was nearly two years ago in the Dhaka Premier League T20s. This season, Rishad has only bowled 5.1 overs in the first-class competition.It’s likely that Chandika Hathurusingha, the head coach, wanted to have a look at him in competitive cricket. During his first stint as Bangladesh coach, too, Hathurusingha had drafted in legspinner Jubair Hossain after seeing him bowl in the Bangladesh nets in 2014.Bangladesh T20I squad changes

IN: Rishad Hossain, Jaker Ali, Shoriful Islam
OUT: Afif Hossain, Tanvir Islam, Rejaur Rahman Raja

Jaker is an in-form batter, who scored three consecutive centuries in the Bangladesh Cricket League – he was the top-scorer in the tournament with 492 runs from six innings. He was also part of Comilla Victorians’ BPL triumph this season.Shoriful came back in place of Rejaur, who hasn’t played an international match despite being in several Bangladesh squads since late 2021.Afif’s exclusion counts as a major setback for the young left-hand batter. His unbroken string of 61 T20I appearances ended when he was dropped for the third T20I against England, and till recently a shoo-in for both white-ball formats, Afif now finds himself on the sidelines.The three T20Is will be played in Chattogram on March 27, 29 and 31.Bangladesh T20I squad for Ireland series: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Litton Das (wk), Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Jaker Ali