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Sunderland maintained their spot in the play-offs with a 1-1 draw at home to Rotherham in League One on Tuesday night.

The Black Cats are fifth in the table and one point ahead of seventh, as it stands, and know that a win on the final day of the season against Morecambe, who are battling against the drop, will seal their place in the top six.

It was an eventful night for Michael Ihiekwe at the Stadium of Light as he went from hero to zero for The Millers. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute before turning the ball into his own net in the 88th minute to gift Alex Neil’s team a point.

Sunderland did not register a single shot on target in the match as they struggled to break Paul Warne’s well-structured side down.

The home side were, therefore, a tad lucky to come away from the game with a point to show for their efforts as they did not trouble the opposition goalkeeper at all. Neil’s attackers struggled on the night and one player, in particular, who let the head coach down was centre-forward Nathan Broadhead.

Off the ball, he was a lightweight. As per SofaScore, he lost four of his six (66.6%) individual battles and this shows that he was dominated from a physical standpoint. He made one tackle in the match whilst failing to make a single interception, clearance, or block as he failed to help the defence out when Rotherham had the ball.

On the flip side of the game, he offered no attacking quality. As per SofaScore, he did not register a single key pass or shot on goal, whilst also failing to complete a single dribble. He only had 19 touches of the ball, with goalkeeper Anthony Patterson having 32, and completed just nine passes.

Broadhead struggled to get into the game in the final third as he let Neil down on and off the ball throughout the match. The Everton loanee has been sublime this season, with nine goals in 14 starts, but this was a performance to forget from the Welshman.

He must now dust himself down and work hard in training ahead of the crunchtime clash with Morecambe on Saturday. Neil will need the striker at his clinical best to ensure that the Black Cats are competing for a spot in the Championship via the play-offs next month.

AND in other news, Speakman howler: SAFC may now be on the verge of repeating brutal Hugill disasterclass…

A round-up of the final day’s play of the fifth-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Super League 2009-10

Cricinfo staff04-Dec-2009Group A
Scorecard
Railways got a much-needed boost to their campaign as they demolished Gujarat in Valsad. Beginning the day on 139 for 2, still 161 adrift of an innings defeat, Niraj Patel and Parthiv Patel continued the good work for Gujarat from the previous day as the third-wicket partnership yielded 99. But once Parthiv fell to Murali Kartik, things went downhill for the hosts. Niraj painstakingly reached his century but couldn’t keep out Railways. Right-arm seamer Suresh Saxena accounted for three batsmen, including Niraj, but it was Kartik who led from the front. The Railways captain fittingly picked up the last wicket of Mehul Patel, his fourth of the innings, as victory was sealed in the 79th over of the day.
Scorecard
A sparkling century from captain Dinesh Karthik was the highlight on the final day of the clash between table-toppers Tamil Nadu and Orissa in Sambalpur. Tamil Nadu batted out the final day, content with first-innings points, with Karthik smashing 17 fours and two sixes during his 157-ball innings. Left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh (3 for 122) gave Orissa an early breakthrough, getting overnight batsmen Arun Karthik caught behind. But fellow-opener Srikkanth Anirudha continued strongly to reach his fifty. The stage was set for Dinesh who rallied his partners to take the lead past the 400-mark. He played the lead role in three half-century partnerships as Tamil Nadu continued their dominance in the group, with a quarter-final spot well in sight.

Teams Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts Quotient For Against

Tamil Nadu 52 0 0 3 0 201.355 2625/63 2337/76 Punjab 52 1 0 2 0 151.039 2301/78 2130/75 Mumbai 51 0 0 4 0 151.831 2149/42 2263/81 Railways 51 0 0 4 0 101.252 2118/60 1353/48 Gujarat 51 2 0 2 0 90.919 2413/80 1904/58 Orissa 50 1 0 4 0 60.801 1633/57 2325/65 Hyderabad (India) 50 0 0 5 0 50.647 2148/82 2590/64 Himachal Pradesh 50 3 0 2 0 40.743 1843/82 2328/77 Group B
Scorecard
A stellar effort from the bowlers coupled with a dazzling half-century from Virat Kohli helped Delhi improve their chances of a quarter-final berth with a win against Saurashtra at the Roshanara Club Ground. Railways lost their last three wickets for 33 runs inside 14 overs after resuming on 181 for 7. Left-arm Pawan Suyal finished as Delhi’s top bowler with four wickets. With 160 needed for victory, Delhi weren’t in real trouble, even though they lost opener Aditya Jain early. But Kohli was at his aggressive best, smashing 12 fours and two sixes during his 86-ball stay. He first teamed up with Ankur Julka to add 78 for the second wicket and then sealed victory with an unbeaten 53-run third-wicket stand with Mithun Manhas.”It feels good when you win your first game as captain and also get to contribute,” said Kohli.Delhi’s coach, Vijay Dahiya, singled out the innings. “He is a fine batsman and his captainship is an addition,” he said. “A win against a team like Saurashtra has given us confidence and we’ll look to do better from here.”
Scorecard
A classy hundred from Parvinder Singh along with Piyush Chawla’s composed fifty failed to hand Uttar Pradesh the full points against Maharashtra at the Pune Club Ground. Needing 382 to win with all wickets intact on the final day, UP perhaps could have made a better effort, especially having surrendered first-innings points. The Maharashtra bowlers were no less up for the challenge, as they looked to vacate the bottom spot on the points table. UP’s opening stand led the way, putting on 89, but the regular loss of wickets meant they finished 31 short. Parvinder hit 13 fours and a six and starred in two key partnerships – 67 with Shivakant Shukla and 103 with Chawla. Chawla remained unbeaten with eight fours and three sixes, as UP, currently in second position, failed to put daylight between themselves and the rest in the battle for a final eight spot.

Teams Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts Quotient For Against

Karnataka 53 0 0 2 0 232.048 2689/54 2310/95 Uttar Pradesh 51 1 0 3 0 131.015 2457/74 2847/87 Delhi 41 1 0 2 0 90.966 2080/60 2046/57 Bengal 41 0 0 3 0 80.883 1921/50 2436/56 Saurashtra 40 1 0 3 0 71.229 2158/47 2129/57 Baroda 40 1 0 3 0 50.811 2275/71 1620/41 Maharashtra 40 2 0 2 0 40.456 2004/74 2196/37

At Adelaide on Monday, Chris Gayle became the first captain since Mark Taylor in 1998 to carry his bat through an innings

Sahil Dutta09-Dec-2009At Adelaide on Monday, Chris Gayle became the first captain since Mark Taylor in 1998 to carry his bat through an innings, when his second-innings unbeaten 165, from 285 deliveries, restored much-needed pride in West Indian cricket and offered redemption to an embattled leader.Criticism was flung from all corners at Gayle following his pair of casual dismissals and his side’s capitulation in the first Test at the Gabba. Yet this magnificent response in Adelaide was enough to silence dissenting voices and earn the acclaim of the former West Indian captain Courtney Walsh.Walsh grew up watching a united and gifted West Indies side dominate world cricket. When he made his debut in 1984 the islands were littered with talent and had, in Clive Lloyd, a leader who epitomised the pride and self-respect needed to succeed at the highest level. “When I was younger we were a well-disciplined West Indian team,” Walsh told Cricinfo. “We have to bring the team together like that again.”There were many that doubted Gayle’s ability to do that. He had made disparaging remarks about Test cricket when West Indies toured England in May, and had overseen a strike by his players that resulted in a second-string West Indies team losing a series to Bangladesh at home.As the contract dispute was still rumbling on, Darren Ganga had unexpectedly led a young Trinidad and Tobago side to the semi-final of the Champions League Twenty20. A hallmark of his leadership was his ability to instil discipline into his players and many felt he was the credible alternative.Yet it was these precise faculties, so often missing from West Indian cricket recently, that Gayle displayed so admirably in his Adelaide knock and Walsh is confident that Gayle is now the right man to unite the team.”He has made a few mistakes in the past and I think all of us go through a similar period but I think all he wants to do is focus on his cricket now. We need someone who people will follow and someone who can pull the team together and I think he is the best man for the job.”After a Test career spanning 17 years, Walsh has a new priority for the sport. In a programme started by his charity, the Courtney Walsh Foundation, he hopes to take cricket into young-offenders institutions in Jamaica, as part of an initiative to help young people on the road to recovery.”It’s about the discipline of sport,” he said. “We want to give these guys something to do, something to get involved with and something that can take their mind away from the state that got them into trouble in the first place.”A fellow Jamaican looking to return after a difficult period is Marlon Samuels. Earlier this month, Cricinfo revealed Samuels’s plans to resurrect his international career following a two-year suspension. The sentence will be lifted next year and Walsh believes Samuels can come back stronger, perhaps even as inspiration to those he seeks to help.”He was very disappointed to get suspended and we hope that he will come back and, not necessarily walk straight back into the West Indies team, but play for Jamaica and gradually makes his way back to international cricket. He’s a very talented cricketer.”To build on the encouraging signs of the second Test, the West Indies need to rediscover the flair and passion that was once so prevalent in the Test side. They could seek inspiration from Gayle’s last innings, or even Walsh’s entire career.

With Ange Postecoglou having endured something of an injury crisis during the early stages of his managerial career at Celtic, the 56-year-old manager will undoubtedly be delighted that a number of his first-team squad are finally returning to full fitness at Parkhead.

Indeed, Mikey Johnston, Josip Juranovic, Georgios Giakoumakis and James McCarthy were all available for selection against St. Johnstone on Saturday after varying lengths of spells spent on the sidelines due to injury, while Christopher Jullien and James Forrest are set to return to first-team training in the coming weeks.

Postecoglou himself recently commented on his excitement regarding the return of Johnston, stating after Saturday’s 2-0 win: “I was really pleased to see Mikey back because he looked really good in pre-season. I know how talented he is but the key for him was to get his body healthy and to be really patient with him.

“He’s a talented player and he’s now getting more game time. The way we play I know he can have a huge impact for us, he just needs to stay healthy and keep improving his game.”

It is easy to see why the 56-year-old appears so happy with the return of the 22-year-old, as, over his brief 8-minute cameo against Ferencvarosi in midweek, the £900k-rated man highly impressed, managing 13 touches of the ball, making one key pass, completing both of his attempted dribbles, creating one big chance and hitting the target with his only shot at goal.

These metrics saw the £9k-per-week forward earn a SofaScore match rating of 7.7, ranking him as the third-best player to feature in the match.

As such, while it is true that Johnston has failed to ever really cement a starting spot in the Celtic side after breaking through into the first team, with his highest number of league appearances in one season being 14 back in 2018/19, Postecoglou simply must unleash the 22-year-old in the coming weeks, as now would finally appear to be the time when the winger can have a real impact within the Bhoys side.

In other news: Conroy drops key update on “priceless” £15k-p/w dynamo that’ll delight Celtic fans

Wolves could reportedly face competition from Serie A giants AC Milan for the signing of Lille and Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches.

The Lowdown: Wolves linked with Sanches move

The Portugal international was linked with a move to Elland Road earlier in the year but a transfer failed to come to fruition.

Instead, Sanches stayed put at reigning Ligue 1 champions Lille, where he has made five Ligue 1 appearances so far this season, starting three times.

The £27million-rated midfielder’s current deal expires in 2023 and it could be that Lille look to receive a fee for him before he can leave for free.

The Latest: New rumour emerges

A fresh update has now emerged regarding Sanches’ future, with Calciomercato confirming Wolves’ interest but also mentioning Milan as potential suitors.

He has been compared (Bundesliga – official) to Netherlands legend Clarence Seedorf in the past, which highlights his potential as an all-action midfield general.

The Verdict: A risk worth taking?

Sanches’ talent is undeniable – he was superb at Euro 2020 for Portugal, for example, completing 91.6% of his passes – but the one main question mark against him is injuries.

The Portuguese has been plagued by fitness issues throughout his career and he was limited to just 14 league starts for Lille in their title-winning season.

Wolves could be wise to take a punt on Sanches, given his ability, but they would do it knowing that there is a risk element behind it.

In other news, some Wolves fans are fuming after a revelation emerged regarding one player. Read more here.

A round-up from the latest County Championship matches

Cricinfo staff31-Aug-2009Stuart Meaker’s unbeaten 64 helped Surrey put on a much stronger fourth-day performance, but it still wasn’t enough to avoid a six-wicket defeat to Kent at Canterbury. Resuming on 148 for 5, and without Mark Ramprakash to call upon, Surrey steadily built a lead with Meaker dropping anchor in his 200-ball innings which spanned over four hours. He was given solid support from Tim Linley (36) but Amjad Khan wrapped things up with two quick wickets as Surrey were bowled out for 293. This set Kent 200 to win and Rob Key set off in a hurry, blazing 50 from 55 while Geraint Jones, centurion from the first innings, cracked a run-a-ball 45. Darren Stevens was there at the end, unbeaten on 35, as Kent skipped home by six wickets, and the win puts Kent 28 points clear at the top of Division Two.

Teams Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts

Kent 12 7 2 0 3 0 174 Essex 13 4 3 0 6 0 146 Derbyshire 13 2 2 0 9 0 140 Northamptonshire 12 4 3 0 5 0 137 Glamorgan 12 2 2 0 8 0 134 Gloucestershire 13 4 6 0 3 0 132 Surrey 13 1 3 0 9 0 126 Middlesex 13 2 5 0 6 0 121 Leicestershire 13 2 2 0 9 0 119

The SLC will hold an important interim committee meeting on Thursday to decide on the future of ICL-contracted players

Sa'adi Thawfeeq09-May-2009The SLC will hold an important interim committee meeting on Thursday to decide on the future of ICL-contracted players, including former captain Marvan Atapattu.Nishantha Ranatunga , the interim committee chairman, said that chairman DS de Silva was keen on lifting the ban and allowing past cricketers to be involved in the game, and it was likely that a positive decision would be reached.With the BCCI allowing all its cricketers associated with ICL to return to official cricket if they cut all ties with the unofficial private league by the end of May, other boards are likely to follow on the same lines.Ranatunga said that SLC was also exploring the possibility of hiring another former great Aravinda de Silva as a full-time consultant coach. SLC have already appointed another former Sri Lanka cricketer Romesh Kaluwitharana as temporary coach of the Sri Lanka A team after Chandika Hathurusingha, another former Sri Lanka cricketer was promoted to become the shadow assistant coach of the senior team.Ranatunga stated that SLC has advertised for permanent coaches for the Sri Lanka A team, Development Squad and the Academy Squad. “After we close applications an independent committee will evaluate the prospective candidates for interviews,” Ranatunga said.SLC will also look at hiring a full-time manager for the senior team. At present former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon Kuruppu has been appointed to the post on a tour-by-tour basis. Ranatunga said that SLC was keen to have Kuruppu involved in the capacity of a national selector or a coach, but they would speak to him before making the appointment.Ranatunga also said that they had received about 40 applications for the post of media manager. “We will be shortlisting them very soon for interviews,” he said.

Sreesanth has confirmed he is joining Warwickshire this season and expects to participate in the club’s last seven games in the County Championship

Cricinfo staff27-Jul-2009Sreesanth has confirmed he is joining Warwickshire this season and expects to participate in the club’s last seven games in the County Championship after August 7. The fast bowler, who’s played 14 Tests and 41 ODIs, made himself available after he wasn’t picked for India’s 30-man provisional squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.”The contract has been signed and I am just waiting for the visa. The other details will be confirmed only after I reach there,” Sreesanth told . He said that he was looking forward to the opportunity of training under Allan Donald, Warwickshire’s bowling coach. “Allan Donald is my bowling idol and hopefully I will further improve my bowling,” Sreesanth said.Sreesanth said his commitment with Warwickshire was not going to clash with the Ranji Trophy season scheduled in November, as he is due to return home on September 27. He also hoped the experience of playing county cricket would help him make a comeback to the national squad. “God willing, I will be back in team India,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for me to play in a county club and I hope to make a comeback into the side.”Sreesanth sustained a back injury in March this year and was not included in the Indian team for the ICC World Twenty20. He played in the IPL, representing Kings XI Punjab. He last made an international appearance in an ODI against Australia in March 2008.

As Liverpool’s top two goalscorers in the Premier League so far this season, it’s safe to say that Sadio Mane (7) and Mohamed Salah (11) have been two of the Merseyside club’s most important players in this campaign.

Unfortunately for the Reds, the prolific duo will be unavailable to play in January when they join their respective countries to play in the upcoming AFCON tournament.

While this definitely will be a big problem for Jurgen Klopp’s side, they have one player at the Merseyside club that could well be a suitable temporary replacement for the star wingers when January comes around.

17-year-old winger Kaide Gordon joined Liverpool back in February from Championship side Derby County.

Since then, the teenager, who is currently valued at £900k according to Transfermarkt, has made eight appearances for Liverpool’s U18 side, racking up six goals and providing three assists in that time.

The attacker, who has been described as having a “bit of magic in him” by fellow Liverpool youngster Tom Clayton, has also made four appearances for Liverpool’s U23 side, scoring three times and supplying one assist in the process, highlighting his attacking prowess at such a young age.

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Gordon made his senior debut for the Reds in their 3-0 win over Norwich City in the Carabao Cup where he played the full 90 minutes before being included on the substitutes bench in their recent 4-0 victory over Arsenal in the Premier League.

Taking all of this into account and the fact that Liverpool will be without Mane and Salah for a period in January, Klopp should definitely consider giving Gordon the chance to shine in the Premier League. Should he impress, then he will be more than suitable to fill in for the senior duo over the winter.

If Gordon does get the chance to play regularly at some point this season and manages to demonstrate what an attacking talent he is, the teen could well prove to be a valuable asset for Liverpool as they bid to keep themselves in the title race.

In other news: Big blow: Klopp dealt injury setback that is sure to leave Liverpool fans gutted – opinion

The Trinidad and Tobago Development XI won the Twenty20 phase of the ICC Americas Women’s Championship with a 23-run victory over Canada in the final

Cricinfo staff21-May-2009Argentina emerged as the surprise package in the 2nd ICC Americas Women’s Championship in Florida, beating Bermuda and hosts USA, but it was the Trinidad and Tobago Development XI who won the Twenty20 phase of the competition with a 23-run victory over Canada in the final.On a rain-hit last day, T&T made 111 for 2, and Canada had reached 31 for 2 in 10.4 overs when the weather, which included bouts of lightning, sent the players from the field.A very young Argentina side, who had already disposed of Bermuda on the opening day, defeated USA by nine wickets with two balls to spare in the third/fourth-place play-off. Chasing the USA’s 90 for 2, Argentina reached 34 for 1 when the threat of lightning halted play, It was calculated that under Duckworth-Lewis, that meant the game was tied. The players returned for two deliveries before again being forced off, and again the D-l calculation showed the teams tied. They managed to get back for two more overs, and Argentina scored the 12 needed to win.The fifth/sixth-place play-off between Bermuda and Brazil was abandoned without a ball being bowled.