Category Uncategorized

The Cobras registered an amazing come-from-behind victory over the Lions as the Potchefstroom pitch made a remarkable recovery from its ill-form on the first two days. JP Duminy, the left-hander who is widely regarded as one of South Africa’s brightest batting talents, converted his immense promise into tangible destruction as his century saw the Cobras chase down 355 to beat the Lions by five wickets.The Cobras’ second innings of 358 for 5, built on Duminy’s elegant 115 and 96 from Henry Davids (the competition’s leading run-scorer), was all the more impressive after were skittled for just 80 in their first innings.The Cobras won the toss and sent the Lions in to bat first on a saucy pitch, thanks to a cold front that had swathed neighbouring Gauteng in rain for three days. After an opening stand of fifty between Blake Snijman and Alviro Petersen, Monde Zondeki made excellent use of the conditions, swinging the ball wildly to take 5 for 55 – his fifth five-for of the tournament – and the Lions were bowled out for 181.The Cobras’ reply lasted a mere 22.5 overs though, with Friedel de Wet (3 for 23), Garnett Kruger (4 for 27) and Heinrich le Roux (3 for 7) sharing the wickets in a fine bowling display. Vernon Philander top-scored for the Cobras with 23 not out, but he was to play an even bigger role when he took the new ball for the Lions’ second innings. Swinging the ball beautifully, Philander took 7 for 64 as the Lions were bowled out for 253, setting the stage for Duminy’s majestic, match-winning century.Although the Cobras were celebrating their second successive win, the Eagles are still the undisputed kings of the competition, enjoying a 20-point lead over second-placed Dolphins. The Eagles had the better of their match against the Warriors in Port Elizabeth, which was ruined by the arrival of rain on the final day. The Warriors batted first and posted a fairly adequate 279, thanks to Zander de Bruyn’s 111 and Davey Jacobs’ 61. A hesitant batting display by the Eagles saw them slip to 245 all out, with Dean Elgar scoring 63 and Boeta Dippenaar and Ryan Bailey falling just short of half-centuries. Juan Theron, the fast bowler, was the most took 3 for 41.The Eagles then took control, however, when the Warriors slumped to 195 all out in their second innings. Johan Botha was the only top-order batsman to shine, scoring 51, a score which Mario Olivier matched in the tail. Olivier, of course, is the bowler who came to prominence by taking all 10 wickets in an innings against the Eagles in Bloemfontein at the start of last month. It left the Eagles with a target of 230 to win and a full day in which to get it, but they could only reach 42 without loss before rain washed out play.The Titans and the Dolphins were also forced into a draw as rain washed out the first two days of their match in Benoni and only 190.4 overs were possible overall.The Dolphins, sent in to bat, crashed to 45 for 6 but Daryn Smit, the wicketkeeper, and 17-year-old Khayelihle Zondo were not numbed by the crisis and added 64 as the Dolphins eventually reached 190.Smit tore into the Titans bowlers in his unbeaten 89, while Zondo’s debut was a big plus as he scored a gutsy 25 against the defending champions in two-and-a-half hours at the crease.The Titans enjoyed batting practice in their innings, but Farhaan Behardien and Albie Morkel answered the match’s dying request with some excitement, scoring fluent unbeaten half-centuries as they added 117 runs in 31 overs to take them to 299 for 6 at the close.The most important thing to come out of the match was that Morne Morkel, eyeing a return to international action after a stress fracture of the foot, was able to get through 16 overs, taking 2 for 48.Player of the week
JP Duminy has enjoyed the occasional insert into international action this summer, appearing in five one-day internationals, without doing anything wrong. But the 23-year-old has yet to have any chance in Tests as other batsmen like Ashwell Prince, Hashim Amla and Neil McKenzie have been ahead of him in the queue.But he ensured his name will still be on the national selectors’ lips with a match-winning century over the weekend for the Cobras. The selectors will be especially impressed because his 115 not out, a 265-minute innings of immense willpower and class, took the Cobras to a daunting victory target of 355 after they had been dismissed for just 80 in their first innings.The run-chase will be remembered for a long time by local supporters, but pundits have predicted that Duminy will enjoy a long and successful career in the international limelight. The left-hander has a classic technique with the touch of a surgeon. The cover drive is the stroke he plays most elegantly, but the short ball holds few terrors for him either.

Day two

A century from skipper Hasan Raza accompanied by some fine seam bowling from Rajesh Ramesh and Imran Javed enabled Karachi Urban to take full control of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold League final against defending champions Sialkot at Multan Cricket Stadium. Raza’s hundred, the 28th of his first-class career, saw Karachi to 403, before Sialkot were reduced to 93 for five by day’s end.Honours began almost even on the second day, Karachi six wickets down with 249 on the board. But Raza, on a painstaking 56 not out overnight, switched gears early on. Though Karachi lost two early wickets, with less than 300 scored, Raza found a useful partner in Tanvir Ahmed. The two put on 97 for the ninth wicket, Ahmed’s share a not insubstantial 36.By the end, Raza had moved to an unbeaten 161, with as many as seven sixes and thirteen fours, a stark contrast to his go-slow yesterday. Sarfraz Ahmed took two of the four remaining wickets to finish with an admirable six-wicket haul.The momentum though had shifted by then and Sialkot, once hoping to face a total of under 300, were now left with a mini-mountain to overcome. They got off to the worst possible start, Ramesh dismissing Majid Jahangir and highly-rated Shahid Yousuf in successive balls when Sialkot were only on 14.Thereafter, it didn’t get much better; Tariq Mahmood, former Pakistan U-19 World Cup winner and offspinner with the Murali action, was promoted up the order and crawled to a 44-ball, 76-minute two. Javed eventually sent him back, as well as Atiq-ur-Rehman who provided solitary, futile resistance. When Ayub Dogar also fell, Sialkot were tottering at 71 for five. Ijaz Ahmed, captain and former Pakistan one-down legend, came out firing and was unbeaten on 19 as the day drew to a close.He will need to roll back the years if Sialkot are to have any chance of preventing Karachi from adding to their record Quaid haul of 17 wins.

Phil Tufnell has got under the skin of Australia’s cricketers with jibes about them losing the Ashes to England. Facing accusations of being too precious after dining out on English sporting misery for more than a decade, the Australians took exception to Tufnell’s teasing during a filmed segment of last night’s Allan Border Medal awards ceremony in Melbourne.The film was intended as a bit of harmless fun, by showing Tufnell perched at a bar having a shot at Australia’s costly blunders against England during last year’s Ashes series. But the move drew an angry reaction from the Australian team, with their captain, Ricky Ponting, warning: “Quite a few guys at my table were pretty fired up at that.”Tufnell was shocked at the reaction of a skit done “for a bit of fun”. “Good gosh … how on earth has it come to this? I thought Australians had a sense of humour,” he said in . “I’m sorry if I caused any offence … My advice to Ricky and the boys would be to enjoy life before it’s all gone.”Tufnell highlighted Ponting’s decision to bowl first in the second Test at Edgbaston despite having just lost their strike bowler, Glenn McGrath, to an ankle injury in the pre-match warm-up, and a crucial dropped catch by Shane Warne during the final Test at The Oval.Ponting, however, rejected claims he and his team were too thin-skinned in their reaction to Tufnell’s sledging. After being named Australian Cricketer of the Year for the second time, and becoming the first multiple winner of the medal, Ponting told the audience at Melbourne’s Crown Casino that Tufnell’s jibes would motivate him and his team against England in the Ashes series in Australia later this year.Ponting was still fuming on Tuesday morning, despite having a night to sleep on the words of Tufnell, who averaged 2.73 with the bat and 38.14 with the ball in 12 Tests against Australia. “Disappointment is probably the right word,” Ponting told reporters. “I’m not so concerned or angry over what he had to say. Looking back at a week or two’s time it will probably be quite funny, but on our night – the Australian cricket team’s night of nights for the whole year – I didn’t think the timing was that good.”He rejected any suggestion that he and his players lacked a sense of humour. “There’s no doubt that the Ashes loss cut pretty deep with all the players, but in saying that, we haven’t thought about it for a long time,” Ponting said. “We’ve been pretty focused and pretty positive on what we’ve been trying to achieve over the last few weeks, and to have it all re-hashed and brought up again probably touched a note with some of the guys.”But I don’t think that means we’re precious or anything like that,” he added. “It’s just we’re there to enjoy the night for what it is and we had to sit down and go through all of that sort of stuff.” Tufnell lampooned Warne for spilling a straightforward slips chance early in Kevin Pietersen’s innings in the final Test, allowing the England batsman to go on to score a century, save the match and secure a 2-1 Ashes win for his team.”Warney … just because you’re a mate of Kevin Pietersen’s, it didn’t mean on that last day at The Oval you had to drop him,” Tufnell teased. “Do you wake up in the middle of the night thinking you might have dropped the Ashes? I have got Herschelle Gibbs’ phone number here if you want some counseling.”Steve Waugh, Ponting’s predecessor as Australian captain, once famously sledged Gibbs for dropping him during the 1999 World Cup which gave Australia a lifeline on their way to winning the tournament. Warne said he was itching for another chance at England and shrugged off Tufnell’s remarks. “It didn’t really worry me whatsoever what he was saying,” he said. “You can take yourself too seriously, take it for a bit of fun.”Cos Cardone, Nine’s Melbourne director of sport, told no offence was intended and there was no need for the station to apologise. “We just tried to immerse a bit of comedy in the night,” he said. “Last year we had Hale and Pace. If we win the Ashes back next season we will fly Phil over and get him to the Crown Casino and Australia can get their own back.”

Gerald de Kock, Cricket South Africa’s media manager for the past two-and-a-half years, has resigned in order to return to broadcasting. His post will be taken up by Cricket South Africa’s communications officer, Moabi Litheko, a former SABC sports journalist.De Kock said it had been a difficult decision because he enjoyed working for South African cricket, and especially the national team. “But in the end,” he said in a statement, “I decided to take up an offer to return to broadcasting, my first love, and to spend more time with my family.”Cricket South Africa’s CEO, Gerald Majola, said de Kock’s resignation was a great loss as he had set extremely high professional standards. “However, in Moabi Litheko we have an outstanding replacement whose background is communicating to millions of South Africans on sport, and who has proved an asset as our communications officer.”

Close West Indies 232 for 8 (Drakes 40*, Sanford 13*) v South Africa
Scoreboard

Brian Lara produced a vital half-century to mark his 100th Test appearance, and Ridley Jacobs and Vasbert Drakes chipped in with invaluable contributions of their own, as West Indies recovered from a dreadful start to reach the close of the first day’s play at Durban on 232 for 8.It wasn’t a great score, but after slumping to 50 for 5 inside the first 20 overs of the match, it was riches indeed. Lara’s contribution was an easy-paced 72, as he and Jacobs added 98 for the sixth wicket to ease the momentum of the match away from the South Africans.Lara came to the crease in the type of situation that he has known only too well in recent years – a crisis. After Graeme Smith had won a useful toss and opted to bowl first, West Indies lost two wickets to Shaun Pollock in the first three overs of the innings, and were in disarray when Jacobs emerged from the pavilion to help piece together the innings.The rot began with the sixth ball of the match. Pollock, on his home turf, had Wavell Hinds caught behind for a duck, before Ramnaresh Sarwan became Pollock’s second wicket, as Jacques Kallis pouched a fine offcutter at second slip. When Ntini whistled in with the scalps of Daren Ganga and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in consecutive overs, West Indies were 17 for 4 and in desperate trouble.Carlton Baugh, the reserve wicketkeeper, had been selected to play as a specialist batsman after hamstring injuries had ruled out Chris Gayle and Corey Collymore, and he provided some temporary relief with a belligerent 21. But Andre Nel struck in the penultimate over before lunch, and South Africa were one wicket away from exposing a lengthy tail.After lunch, however, Lara and Jacobs came into their own. They needed some luck, and Jacobs in particular rode his, as a sharp chance off Ntini flew past the outstretched hand of second slip, before Boucher dropped him in front of first. But he was unashamedly attacking, and cracked Kallis for three fours in succession, including a pair of hooked bouncers.But Jacobs’s luck could not hold, and Nel eventually nailed him lbw for 58 (148 for 6). Although Lara looked set to carry on the good fight, even he couldn’t defy South Africa’s momentum forever, and on 72, Ntini suckered him with a fast bouncer that flew comfortably to Pollock in the slips (172 for 7). Ntini then followed up by spreadeagling Merv Dillon’s stumps with a fast yorker (191 for 8).But Adam Sanford thumped Pollock on the up through the covers as West Indies hauled their total past 200, and by the close he and Drakes were still undefeated, having added 41 for the ninth wicket. If they can eke the total towards the 250 mark tomorrow, their fast bowlers will fancy their chances on a seamer-friendly wicket.South Africa 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Gary Kirsten, 6 Neil McKenzie, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Andrew Hall, 9 Shaun Pollock, 10 Andre Nel, 11 Paul Adams.West Indies 1 Wavell Hinds, 2 Daren Ganga, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Carlton Baugh, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Vasbert Drakes, 9 Merv Dillon, 10 Adam Sanford, 11 Fidel Edwards.

SHARJAH-Relentless in their pursuit of another win to secure the second successive whitewash against the West Indies at home, Pakistan didn’t really have to over-exert themselves to march off with an emphatic 244-run triumph, and in four days to boot.Desperately seeking to improve their ranking, this series win would definitely help them not only in moving up the ladder but also add to the morale for the tougher challenges in the months to come. More than the victory over a hapless West Indies, a mere shadow of their glorious past, the most remarkable thing about this Pakistan team is the hunger, intensity and consistency.It was their sixth Test win on the trot, and also the sixth time that they scored well over 400 runs in the first innings of a match. Signs that this Pakistan team is getting its act together.Skipper Waqar Younis has reason to be proud of this winning streak; he indeed has led from the front and this shows, grabbing 4 for 44 to hasten the Windies demise. With a wicket at the top of the order which could easily have been two had the normally safe Shahid Afridi not floored a catch at third slip, he came back to mop up the tail, getting the last two wickets in the first over of the half-hour extension he had requested. Before that he broke the rather effervescent 47 run stand for the sixth wicket between an enterprising Ryan Hinds (topscorer with 46, 55 deliveries, 7 fours) and an adventurous Ridley Jacobs by removing Hinds, leg before for his 350th wicket. It is the third best aggregate by a Pakistani, behind only Wasim Akram (414) and Imran Khan (362).Another indicator that things are moving in the right direction for Pakistan was the fact that three relatively junior members of the side walked away with Man of the Match and Man of the Series Awards in the two test series, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan and Abdur Razzaq respectively.Waqar’s decision to bat again when he could have enforced the follow-on had perplexed many. With the wisdom of hindsight, one can safely say that he didn’t need to put his batsmen back in to make the effort of putting 225 for 5. The West Indies were blasted off for 189, again failing to reach 200 in the second innings to hurry up to their fifth consecutive defeat.The day didn’t start all that badly for the West Indies, as they had three Pakistani wickets down and restricted them to only 74 in the first session. But it only got worse after that.Dillon struck twice in two overs to account for Younis Khan, holing out to mid-off with Darren Ganga bringing off a good catch for the West Indies finally, and Taufeeq Umar was given out after an extended appeal by the bowler that seemingly made umpire Shakeel Khan change his mind and raise the finger. The replays showed that the umpire’s change in verdict – on a delivery that landed marginally outside leg and was headed outside off – was another of several mistakes made by umpires in this series. There was more to come.An out of sorts Inzamam hung in there before perishing to an airy-fairy shot, and Pakistan declared soon after lunch, once Youhana got his 50. There was nothing sporting about the declaration, for in their present form the West Indies had as little a chance of surviving the remaining five sessions as a snowball in Sharjah.On a pitch that again didn’t have much to offer the bowlers by way of support, the Pakistani attack showed its class. Waqar had Chris Gayle plumb in front, and almost had Wavell Hinds who prospered to 34 before he was smartly snapped up by stand-in ‘keeper Taufeeq off Saqlain Mushtaq. In between, Shoaib Akhtar had struck another blow, getting an ever-improving Darren Ganga, amazingly Darrel Hair ruling in the bowler’s favour when the direction was certainly down the leg side.Carl Hooper, whose defiant 84 in the first innings had taken the West Indies to the verge of avoiding the follow-on, fell leg before to Saqlain, another marginal decision. Razzaq accounted for Chanderpaul, and it seemed all over. But Hinds and Jacobs took the fight to the Pakistani bowlers, especially Hinds driving beautifully both to Waqar and Razzaq. But once Waqar sent Hinds back, it was all over bar the shouting. Ridley Jacobs remained not out for 35, but Waqar had once again blown the tail away.The West Indies definitely have to do a lot of soul-searching to survive the Pakistani onslaught in the one-dayers too, but that is a different ball game altogether, and the Pakistanis are known to give in to complacency. The other key area that the West Indies and Pakistan both need to look at is fielding and holding their catches. If indeed, the West Indies had held many of the catches dropped, this series may not have been so one-sided.Hooper and his young team, so far without much hope, must surely be hoping for better fortune in the 3 ODIs to follow.

In the North Zone League Under-22 played at DhruvPandove Stadium, Patiala, Punjab took on HimachalPradesh. Sanjay Dhull’s potent off spin bowlingwas the difference between the two teams as Punjabbeat Himachal by an innings and 11 runs on Friday.On Wednesday Himachal won the toss and elected tobat and were bowled out for 151 in 50.4 overs.Opener Hitesh Angrish made 53 and there were noother significant contributions to the Himachalinnings. Off Spinner Sanjay Dhull excelled withthe ball, picking up 5/31. Punjab innings waspeppered with four half centuries as they declaredat 359/9 in 88.1 overs. Sachin Rana (83), AmitKakriya (73), Munish Sharma (51) and Ankur Sondhi(50 notout) were the batting stars for Punjab.Shavinder Pal was the best of Himachal bowlerswith the figures of 6/117. Himachal Pradesh werebowled out for 197 in their second innings. Punjabbowler Sanjay Dhull again picked up five wickets(5/81) to finish with a match haul of 10/112.Digvijay Singh (55) was the only player to get tohis half century in the Himachal second innings.Punjab took all eight points to Himachal’s none.

Manchester United will be without Edinson Cavani for this evening’s visit of Leicester City to Old Trafford.

What’s the latest?

Ahead of the clash against Brendan Rodgers’ side, the Red Devils interim boss was giving team news updates as the Premier League resumes following the latest international break.

Speaking in the press conference at Carrington, Rangnick said that his international players “all seem to be fit” but then declared that “the only player who is injured, unfortunately again, is Edinson Cavani.”

Cavani was injured on international duty with Uruguay and was forced off with calf problem in the first half of his country’s recent clash against Chile.

On the extent of the 35-year-old’s injury, Rangnick said: “According to the doctor, he will be out for a couple of weeks, four weeks, maybe even five weeks. So we will have to wait and see. That’s obviously bad news to have another striker missing out. Apart from that, all the others seem to be fit.”

Rangnick will be raging

With just nine games to go, United are up against it in the race for Champions League qualification, trailing fourth-placed Arsenal by four points having played one match more.

Although Leicester’s defence has been rather porous this term and Cavani has rarely started in the top flight, Rangnick would have ideally liked to have the Uruguayan at his disposal this evening.

Since joining United, the veteran striker has had a big impact. In total, he has scored 19 goals for the Red Devils, and whilst that is impressive for a 35-year-old who is past his prime, it’s his effect on United’s pressing ability which has truly made him stand out.

With around five pressures per game, his work rate is second to none at Old Trafford, although it’s his successful pressure percentage per 90 of 36.7% which makes him one of the best in this metric, with the Uruguayan ranked within the 99th percentile among positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Cavani is not just an industrious workhorse in the final third, either. Red Devils legend Paul Scholes has hailed the veteran’s “perfect first touch” and drawn comparisons with another lethal marksman of old in these parts in Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Therefore, with such a crucial fixture coming up this evening, Rangnick will be raging that the Uruguay marksman was struck with injury in midweek and has duly been ruled out for the visit of Leicester, who have won their last three meetings against United in all competitions.

In other news – Man Utd facing disaster over “phenomenal” £31.5m-rated star, supporters will be fuming