Irresponsible batting on the third day Friday left Islamabadfacing defeat against Rawalpindi in their Quaid TrophyGrade-I match at the KRL Stadium.Rawalpindi, thanks to a 50-run eighth wicket stand betweenYasir Arafat and Nadeem Abbasi, hit up 221 in their secondinnings to leave Islamabad with a difficult target of 294for victory. They had resumed at the overnight score of 179for seven. But Islamabad batsmen instead of battingpatiently just threw away their wickets and were aprecarious 140 for seven at the close.Ali Naqvi (6) Bilal Asad (43) and Azhar Mahmood (34) werethe culprits and fell to reckless strokes as Rawalpindiprepared to celebrate victory early Saturday, the last dayof the game.The damage was done by Test discard Mohammad Zahid whocaptured four for 46 while Naeem Akhtar had two for 17.In the Rawalpindi innings Yasir excelled with the bat as hedid with the ball and struck 49 before being dismissed bySaad Janjua.
The Indian goose is as good as cooked and South Africa, wanting itwell done, batted throughout the third day of the second Test at theChinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Saturday. In scoring 472 for eightby stumps and obtaining a first innings lead of 314 runs, the visitorshave certainly sharpened the nails. After all, that’s all South Africaneed to do now. Put the lid on the coffin and slam the nails home.Resuming with a lead of almost a hundred, South Africa made steadyprogress. Daryll Cullinan showed his aggressive intent yesterday andtoday he continued in the same vein. After getting to his halfcentury, Cullinan lost his wicket. The fall of Cullinan’s wicket wascompletely against the grain of play. Just when things were lookinggood for the Gauteng batsman, he was undone by a Kumble delivery. Asis becoming customary on tracks like these, the ball bobbled off thebat to the fielder standing close, Wasim Jaffer in thiscase. Cullinan’s 53 included five boundaries and that unforgettablestraight six off Kumble.Lance Klusener, who has not looked at ease with the bat all tour camein next. Indian bowling ‘attacks’ have a habit of bringing strugglingbatsmen back to form. Today was no exception. Klusener got a goodmeasure of the Indian bowling on a wicket that was slow andlow. Though the ball was turning, it was along predictable lines andKlusener had no difficulty in picking his spots and scoring fluently.At the other end, Kallis brought up his half century with a bigsix. Kallis has played the sheet anchor role to perfection on thistour.Having waited all day for Klusener and Kallis to reach theircenturies, and following that the South African declaration,spectators had more waiting to do. In tragic fashion, both Klusenerand Kallis fell short of the mark.Having done all the hard work, both batsmen fell to thespinners. Klusener was the first to go, driving a ball from Kartikstraight to Tendulkar at mid off. In the end it was a soft dismissal,after what had been a fighting innings from a man who struggled withthe bat in recent innings. Klusener’s 97 came off 169 balls.Kallis was easily the more solid of the pair that put on a 164 runpartnership for the fifth wicket. However, his caution might just havedeprived him of a Test century on Indian soil. Dabbing at a ball fromKumble, that perhaps did a little more than he expected, Kallispresented Jaffer with a simple catch under the helmet. Kallis felljust five runs short of his hundred.After the two well set batsmen were dismissed, the wickets fell inquick succession. Having bowled long spells without reward, Kumble andKartik finally got their names on the scoreboard for the rightreasons. Having done the lion’s share of the bowling, Kumble ended theday with figures of 67-15-136-5. Kartik was less successful and49-10-123-2 would have hardly been the returns he hoped for.An overnight declaration is inevitable. This will mean India have toscore 314 to avoid innings defeat. With such a massive lead, it wassurprising that the South Africans even batted as long as theydid. However, one thing emerges strongly from this exercise: theIndians, with three spinners, on a spinning track, will have toproduce a batting miracle to save this match. All is not well withIndian cricket.
Rangers had recruited well enough over the last few years to bring a decade of hurt to a climax at Ibrox with the Glaswegian giants finally ending their trophy drought last term.
The good times were brought back and the challenge now is for Giovanni van Bronckhorst to replicate that with his current Gers side.
In Aaron Ramsey, they have a simply world-class player and who once fit, could ultimately prove to be the difference between winning the Premiership title or not.
Truth be told, Rangers have plenty of difference makers in their squad, namely the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent, but did they lose an influential name far too early? Quite possibly.
Hindsight, of course, is a wonderful thing but if Steven Gerrard did get anything wrong in Scotland, it was arguably his handling of a certain Umar Sadiq.
Simply hearing the Nigerian’s name will do enough to send shivers through even the most staunch of Rangers fans, but after leaving the club for absolutely nothing at the conclusion of his loan spell, they will surely regret not trying to do more to bring him back to Ibrox.
After all, this is a player now linked with Europe’s elite after shining like a diamond in Spain.
The Nigerian has gone from a player who Gerrard had a significant falling out with, to a centre-forward who is proving everybody in Scottish football wrong.
His stint with the Gers was far from profitable, failing to find the net during any of his four appearances.
Sadiq’s mentality was questioned and quite rightly so. He was once fined £20k for liking an Instagram post, was not allowed to use the first-team dressing room, and was even banned from even parking his car inside the training ground.
For all parties, a parting of ways seemed mutually beneficial but had they taken a risk and kept him around, he may now be lighting up the Premiership.
Described as “electric” by FOX reporter James Dodd, the Nigeria international has set LaLiga 2 alight with Almeria, scoring 36 goals and registering 16 assists in just 70 games after joining them from Partizan Belgrade.
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What has followed is much acclaim. The 25-year-old received a call-up to Nigeria’s AFCON squad and he has now been linked with moves to the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Barcelona and the mega-rich Newcastle United.
However, if he does move, his release clause of a mighty €60m (£50m) may have to be paid. That’s a far cry from the mere £1.6m he was rated at back in 2018 with Rangers.
His spell under Gerrard was a torturous one but he has come out of the side looking like a “top player” in the words of Andy Halliday. If only Rangers could have nurtured his impressive eye for goal.
AND in other news, GVB must axe “permanently benched” Rangers dud with swoop for “unbelievable” 24y/o gem…
The Quaid Trophy match between Sheikhupura and Lahore Blues ended in a draw after no play was possible on the fourth and final day due to fog at the Sheikhupura Stadium on Thursday, according to a message received here.Umpires Salim Badar and Kamal Merchant waited until an hour after the scheduled tea interval before finally calling off the match.Sheikhupura, who earned a vital one-run lead on the firstinnings, claimed three points.
Sussex youngsters Chris Nash and Andrew Hodd, who played significant roles in retaining the Championship title, have agreed new two-year deals with the club.Nash, in his first full season at Hove, scored 785 runs at 30 in the Championship and has been given a two-year extension to his deal, taking his contract through to 2010. With Richard Montgomerie retired, Nash now has the chance to forge a career in the top order.”I’ve played for Sussex since I was nine years-old and to play a key role in winning the Championship this season was a dream come true,” said Nash. “I hope that I can build on a successful first full year in the first team and continue to improve my game in order to fulfill my ambitions to play at the highest level.”Hodd has agreed a new deal after solid performances with the bat and gloves as a stand-in for Matt Prior who was on England duty. He averaged 33 in the Championship and held 18 catches alongside six stumpings.Mark Robinson, Sussex’s director of cricket, said: “[Andrew] came into the team at a time when we had lost two games by an innings. He played with his own style, in his own way and helped transform the season by playing with a brightness and the talent we always knew he had.”
Scorecard Moises Henriques returned outstanding figures of 5 for 17 in only his second first-class match as New South Wales managed a slender first-innings lead of 16 on the second day of their Pura Cup match against Queensland. Despite a 108-run seventh wicket stand between James Hopes (72) and Chris Hartley (67), the Bulls only managed 307, while New South Wales finished the day on 1 for 39, an overall lead of 55.Henriques got into the act when he dismissed Jimmy Maher, the Bulls’ captain, for 41. That was the third wicket of the innings, and Brendan Nash and Clinton Perren fell soon after as Queensland, resuming the day on 0 for 29, slumped to 5 for 107.Hopes and Hartley then got together in a crucial partnership to ensure Queensland got close to the Blues’ total. Hopes lashed ten fours and needed just 79 balls for his knock, while Hartley was more patient, playing out 113 deliveries. Henriques returned to nail Hartley, and though the lower order made useful contributions, the Bulls still fell short of New South Wales’ total.The Blues lost Jaques for a duck in their second innings, but Greg Mail and Ed Cowan ensured against further setbacks.
The selectors have appointed Rahul Dravid as the captain of the Indian side for the two forthcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka and South Africa, a total of 12 ODIs starting on October 25. Dravid was put in charge of the side until November 28, when India will play South Africa in the final match of the five-match series at Mumbai.The announcement was made by SK Nair, the secretary of the Indian board, in Mohali today. He clarified that the selectors’ decision to appoint Dravid for two series, as opposed to the conventional system of naming a captain for just one series, was because they were being played back to back. The selectors, he revealed, felt Dravid deserved a longer run. Nair added that it was a unanimous decision by the selection committee.One can only speculate about the selectors’ future plans and whether this is another stop-gap arrangement where Dravid will be filling in for Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly, who was advised to rest his elbow till October 17, may not find a place in the squad for the opening two games of the series. His performance in East Zone’s opening Duleep Trophy match, beginning on October 20, might hence be vital for his return for the rest of the one-day series.This is the third time that Dravid has been appointed captain, apart from instances where he had to take over at short notice. In his last 17 games as captain of the one-day side Dravid has won seven and lost nine while averaging 30.2 when in charge. He has been in charge for two tri-series – the TVS Cup in 2003-04 and the Indian Oil Cup earlier this year – but has ended up losing the finals on both occasions.The squad for the first two games of the Sri Lanka series is scheduled to be picked tomorrow but it is unlikely that Dravid will be part of the selection meeting (even through tele-conference) as he will be playing in the Super Series Test at Sydney which starts on Friday.
Encouraged by the popularity of twenty-over cricket in England and South Africa last season, the Adelaide Turf Cricket Association (ATCA) has announced South Australia’s first such tournament, which will be held on Sunday, December 5. Thirty community-based sides will battle it out in eight locations around Adelaide in a tournament which has been termed the Turf Twenties.In a media release, Andrew Ramsay, the ATCA’s general manager, looked forward to the tournament: “We’re really pleased with the response from our clubs to the Turf Twenties competition. This is something new for all of us and to have 30 teams register in its first year is just fantastic. Apart from being new and fun, twenty-over cricket doesn’t take up the whole day and this is something that our members are attracted to.”We don’t see twenty-over cricket replacing our Saturday formats, but it is a great option for our Sunday tournament. Looking to the future, we hope to open up the tournament to teams from other community associations so that we can all get together, have some fun and build the camaraderie between our organisations.”Responding to the criticism that this format would trivialise the game, Ramsay argued that it could, in fact, help develop certain aspects of batting, bowling and fielding. “There is no doubt that twenty-over cricket will encourage some questionable shot selections, but it will force batsmen to bat positively, to look for runs everywhere and to develop their running between wickets. For the bowlers, they will have to bowl a really tight line and length and the fielding will have to be first rate.”
Alton are within 10 points of the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 3 championship after a comfortable six-wicket win over Rowledge, which clinches promotion for the North Hampshire club.Their task was simplified by Trojans’ 14-run win at second-placed Ventnor, who must win their last two matches against Leckford and Southsea to finish runners-up.Alton, who have spent the past three seasons in SPL3 after being relegated in 2000, will surely wrap up the title formalities at Portsmouth next Saturday.They will return to Division 2 with the nucleus of that relegated side."But we will be back much wiser and with a lot more experience under our belts," predicts captain Julian Ballinger, whose 5-29 return against Rowledge confirmed the Alton off-spinner as this season’s current Division 3 leading wicket-taker.Ballinger and New Zealander Ben Jansen certainly called the tune against Rowledge who, despite starting the day in third place, are not as strong as the side which reached last season’s National Village Championship semi-finals."We’re probably about three or four players missing from that side and, Simon Bonser apart, it’s fair to say we’ve not been able to replace them," confirmed skipper Dave Booton.Rowledge, who have steadily climbed the Hampshire recreational pyramid since 1986, never really imposed themselves at Alton’s plesaant tree-fringed Jubilee Ground, nestled beneath the Watercress railway line.They were on the back foot directly Jeremy Pang-Kessler (2-21) removed Cardiff UCCE all-rounder Chris Yates and teenager Chris Brinsden in consecutive deliveries at 16-2.Nick Morant (18), struggling hard to recapture last season’s batting form, got his head down, leaving run-rich Queenslander Justin Larrescy to accelerate the score.Predictably, the Australian’s sweet timing and clean hitting caught the eye,.He hit several crisp straight drives, but twice rode his luck – once when he mis-pulled only to be dropped at mid-on and shortly afterwards when he spooned a return catch off a `no-ball’ to Ballinger.Morant departed at 76-3 – the first of eight wickets to fall to the Jansen-Ballinger spin combination.Larrescy (52) and David Lloyd took the total on to 113 but when the Beenleigh-Logan Grade batsman picked out Bruce Oliphant at deep backward square-leg, Rowledge completely lost their way.The last six wickets fell for 28 runs, with Jansen finishing with 3-27 and Ballinger his 34th wicket of the season.Alton, now within sight of a 14-match winning clean sweep, suffered two early setbacks against the pacey Chris Yates (2-39).Richie Morgan (25) took the total on to 49-3 as Alton gradually extracted the venom out of the Rowledge attack.Howard Gadsby, relishing up-order responsibility, hit a fine 41 and set the stage for the slightly unorthodox Huw Ross (31 not out) and Oliphant (36 not out) to clinch a pretty comprehensive win.It was Alton’s 12th successive victory.One more will clinch the championship – but, if Alton are to compete and survive at the higher level, they may have to equip themselves with stronger pace bowling options than they currently possess.
Cameron White, Rob Bartlett and Shane Harwood have all been named for their ING Cup debuts, in the Bushrangers one-day clash with Tasmania this Sunday. Making way for the three from the Bushrangers last ING Cup match are the injured Damien Fleming, Shane Warne who is being rested, with Shawn Craig omitted.Victorian Chairman of Selectors, Shaun Graf said the absence of Warne and Fleming provided selectors with an opportunity to look at new players. “Obviously we would love to have Warney and Flem available, but on the positive side Cam, Rob and Shane have earned their spots and we expect all three to give a good account of themselves”.18 year-old leg-spinner White, has played three Pura Cup matches for the Bushrangers and will be used as a bowling option, providing extra batting depth. Melbourne fast-bowler Harwood hails from Ballarat and is a former Victorian and Australian Country XI member, whilst Fitzroy-Doncaster opening batsman Bartlett, leads all run scorers in Victorian Premier Cricket this season.MATCH DETAILS: BUSHRANGERS v TIGERS: Sunday, December 9, Bellerive Oval, HobartBUSHRANGERSMatthew Elliott (c), Brad Hodge (vc), Rob Bartlett, Darren Berry, Simon Dart, Ian Harvey, Shane Harwood, Ian Hewett, Michael Klinger, Michael Lewis, Jon Moss, Cameron White