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Royal Challengers Bangalore are still far behind Kings XI Punjab on the points table, but they have mounted something of a salvation job after starting the season with six defeats, winning three of their last four matches. That sequence of losses had ended against Kings XI in their earlier fixture. Moreover, they are coming into this game after a heart-stopping one-run win against Chennai Super Kings, which would have done their morale a lot of good, while Kings XI are coming in on the back of a loss against Delhi Capitals.

Form guide

Kings XI Punjab: Lost to Delhi Capitals by five wickets, beat Rajasthan Royals by 12 runs, lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight wickets
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Beat Chennai Super Kings by one run, beat Kolkata Knight Riders by ten runs, lost to Mumbai Indians by five wickets

Royal Challengers still have issues to sort, but the addition of Dale Steyn has revitalised their bowling attack, and given them an edge they didn’t have earlier. The rest of the pacers seem to have rallied around Steyn, which has lifted the whole team.Kings XI have had an inconsistent season, which their record of five wins and five losses encapsulates. They haven’t gone on a dominant winning run, but have had enough in the bank to not sink to the kind of loss sequence Royal Challengers did. As a sub-plot to the game, it will be a sort of homecoming for Kings XI, who have a squad filled with ex-Royal Challengers players, starting from Chris Gayle and KL Rahul at the top, to Mandeep Singh and Sarfaraz Khan in the middle, and even the likes of Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair.

In the news

• Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s fitness status is still uncertain. He is being constantly monitored by the Kings XI physiotherapist, and a call on his availability will be taken on the afternoon of the match.

Dale Steyn struck in his first over of the season•BCCI

Previous meeting

For nostalgic Royal Challengers fans, it was the perfect game. Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers all got runs, and their team ended up winning. Of course, Gayle’s runs came for the opposite side, and he finished on a poetic 99 not out against his old franchise. But a Kohli-de Villiers partnership set the platform for an eventually successful chase as Royal Challengers got their first points of the season.

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Akshdeep Nath, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Umesh Yadav, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalKings XI Punjab: 1 KL Rahul (wk), 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 David Miller, 5 Mandeep Singh, 6 Sarfaraz Khan, 7 R Ashwin (capt), 8 Hardus Viljoen, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 M AshwinR Ashwin and Virat Kohli at the toss•BCCI

Strategy punt

• It might end up back-firing, but Kings XI should try to use spin against de Villiers, especially early on. De Villiers has been among Royal Challengers’ best batsmen, as always, but his numbers against spin in IPL 2019 are shockingly mediocre: an average of 19.6 and a strike rate that’s only 115.3. The combination of R Ashwin, M Ashwin and Mujeeb could exploit that, which makes Mujeeb’s participation even more crucial. Additionally, even Parthiv Patel and Marcus Stoinis haven’t been too hot against spin this IPL, with strike rates marginally above 100.
• This is not so much a strategy punt as an obvious point: Royal Challengers need to get Moeen Ali higher up the order. This is the last game for which he will be available too, and neither his batting, nor his bowling have been used very effectively so far. It’s with the bat, though, that the difference is stark. In the middle overs, Moeen has been striking at 165. The next best in the team is de Villiers, who is considerably lower at 138. Royal Challengers have been losing momentum in the middle overs, and a somewhat strange insistence on maintaining a right-left combination cannot compensate for the runs Moeen is likely to score, much quicker than anyone else at that.
• Mohammed Shami has been having a good IPL 2019, continuing his white-ball resurgence. The one thing he might want to consider is cutting down on the slower balls and sticking to his natural strengths. He hasn’t tried too many slower balls – only 11.1% of all his deliveries have been below 130 kph – but when he has gone slow, his economy rate has been over 13. When bowling quicker, his economy rate is 8.5.

Stats that matter

• Before Steyn joined Royal Challengers, their bowling average in the Powerplay across eight matches was 140.3. Since he’s come on, for the last two games, that figure is 9.9.
• Navdeep Saini has the best dot-ball percentage in the death overs this season, with 45.8% of his deliveries between overs 17 and 20 not scored off. He’s ahead of the likes of Jaspit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga and Kagiso Rabada.
• Historically, both teams have been pretty evenly matched, with Kings XI having 12 wins to Royal Challengers’ 11. But Royal Challengers have won the last three meetings between the two sides.
  

Wolverhampton Wanderers are reportedly keen on a player they showed interest in this summer as Gary O'Neil looks to build on his solid start to life at Molineux.

Wolves cast eye to January…

In the Premier League, Wolves have shown some commendable steel under the stewardship of O'Neil to put themselves in a comfortable spot in and around mid-table; nevertheless, bringing in quality and shipping out excess players in January will be important to help balance their squad at Molineux.

Regarding outgoings, the Old Gold look to have found a new home for out-of-favour striker Fabio Silva, who looks set to travel north of the border to join Scottish Premiership side Rangers on loan for the remainder of the campaign on a straight loan deal with no option to buy.

Journalist Christopher Michel has also indicated that his fellow striker, Sasa Kaladjzic, could be set to depart on a similar basis next month after failing to receive regular minutes at Molineux. Taking to social media platform X, the SPORT1 reporter claimed that the Austria international has interest from clubs in both the Premier League and Bundesliga for his signature, which would potentially leave Matheus Cunha and Hwang-hee Chan to fight it out for game time in the final third.

In light of this, Wolves may need another attacking option to enter the fold in the West Midlands and a new report has suggested that they could well be in the market for one in January.

Wolverhampton Wanderers receive Boulaye Dia reply…

According to reports in Italy via Sport Witness, Wolves are keen on Salernitana striker Boulaye Dia once again after previously seeing a loan-to-buy offer rejected in the summer that would've guaranteed the Serie A side gain €12 million; however, they turned down advances from the Old Gold for the Senegal international.

Similar players to Boulaye Dia (FBRef)

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Ausburg

The outlet state that Wolves have now come forward with another offer containing a €12 million "right of redemption" to buy the 27-year-old, though Salernitana have once again turned them down. If O'Neil's side can raise their bid by €8 million, though, they could be successful in their pursuit of the attacker.

In 2023/24, the France-born forward, who journalist Jonas Adnan Giæver described as an “absolute monster”, has made 14 appearances in all competitions for his current employers, registering four goals in the process (Dia statistics – Transfermarkt).

Newcastle United are also believed to be tracking the progress of the experienced frontman, which may mean Wolves will need to be quick if they are to try and tempt Dia to come to Molineux once the market re-opens for business.

He also made it clear India won’t compromise on their bowling attack just to give World Cup aspirants game time

Deivarayan Muthu in Hyderabad01-Mar-20197:43

IPL won’t impact World Cup selection – Kohli

Virat Kohli made this much very clear ahead of the first ODI in Hyderabad: The IPL will not impact World Cup selection.”I don’t see IPL having any influence on World Cup selection,” he said. “I think that will be a very radical sort of analysis. We need to have a solid team. Before we head into the IPL, we need be absolutely clear of what team we want for the World Cup.”I don’t see anything changing despite how the IPL goes for any of the players. If one or two players don’t have a good IPL season, it doesn’t mean that they are out of the picture for the World Cup. Those things are not going to matter.”ALSO READ: Finch has a ‘balancing act’ on his handsHe also made it clear India won’t compromise on their bowling attack just to give World Cup aspirants enough game time. As such, India’s squad has a settled look with just one or two spots up for grabs. Among them are Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar, a batting allrounder who is now in the mix following Hardik Pandya’s back injury.Vijay’s bowling was tested in the second T20I in Bengaluru, where he returned figures of 2 for 38. Bowling four overs in a T20I is one thing, completing 10 in an ODI another. India’s captain insisted that going with one fewer genuine bowler will not be a wise move.”We will have to think about the combinations, I don’t think playing a bowler less is a good idea,” Kohli said. “Because with the extra fielder in till the 40th over, it becomes very difficult to sort of get few guys to chip in with a few overs here and there. We will have to work out the batting combination to try and give game-time to the guys we want to. But, I don’t see the bowling combination changing.”India had rejigged their combination both in New Zealand and in the two T20Is against Australia at home, but Kohli stressed that they have prioritised winning this ODI series over experimentation.AFP”We are playing to win the series, else I’ll leave the ball to hit the stumps,” he said. “As I said earlier, if we want to see how a few guys play in a certain situation, we’ll make play them again in that situation.”It’s not like if a guy is not playing in a certain situation, he doesn’t have the ability. We could not win the T20 series because in the first match we didn’t play good cricket and in the second match, Australia played better than us.”I think it’s important you understand why we lost. From outside, it’s easy to say, they don’t have the heart to play. We always want to win games for India. If we only had to experiment, we would have got out for 50 as everybody would have got out trying to hit sixes.”Kohli was particularly buoyed by KL Rahul’s return to form following a horrid time of late. He was troubled by inswingers and eventually lost his place in the Test squad in Australia last year. Then, he was suspended for his controversial comments on an Indian chat show.However, he worked his way back into international cricket by finding form with the India A side. Against Australia in the T20Is, he unfurled some sparkling shots, including the lofted drive that he mastered during his stellar run in IPL 2018.”It [Rahul’s return to form] augurs really well,” Kohli said. “When he plays well, KL is operating at a different level, I feel, and we’ve seen him do that in the IPL last year and in patches over the last season we played as a team. Hopefully, he can keep batting like that. It’s very difficult to find a consistent player who can find good cricketing shots and still win you games and strike at over 140 or 150.”He has all the shots and has a solid game as well. Hopefully, he can build on it and get as many games under his belt, playing as much cricket as possible. And then it will be interesting to see what happens in the final World Cup squad. Definitely, he has made a strong case for himself.”Since the start of the Champions Trophy India have tried out as many as nine players at No.4, with Ambati Rayudu getting the most chances there. He has made 431 runs in 11 innings at an average of 53.87 and strike-rate of 89.23. Kohli hasn’t batted at No.4 in this period, but is ready to move down from No.3 if the management wants him to.”If that [batting at No.4] is the requirement of the team at a particular stage in the game or before a particular game, I’m more than happy to do it,” he said. “I’ve batted a lot of times at No 4, so I don’t necessarily need to try it out because I’ve done that a lot of times in the past.”My game doesn’t change from No. 3 to No. 4 because template is quite similar. In any given situation, I back myself to play the game that I know. If the team wants it at any stage, I’m more than happy to do it.”

Despite the positive strides that have been made at Tottenham Hotspur under new boss Ange Postecoglou, the Greek-Aussie is seemingly aware that further reinforcements will be required in the new year if that momentum is to be maintained.

The former Celtic head coach only recently admitted that a new centre-back will be required amid the lack of depth behind the likes of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, with long-serving stalwart Eric Dier seemingly not considered a suitable option.

It is not just at the back, however, where improvements could well be made in the winter window, with further additions to help bolster the front line also required, following the loss of Harry Kane over the summer.

Related Centre-back transfer "more likely" in "good solution" for Spurs and Levy

He wants a move to England.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini Dec 14, 2023

With that in mind – and amid the prior success of landing Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Serie A – the north Londoners could look the way of Italy again in order to snap up Genoa sensation, Albert Gudmundsson.

Spurs transfer news – Albert Gudmundsson

Reports back in early November indicated that Spurs were among the clubs showing an interest in the Icelandic talent, with former Lilywhites boss Jose Mourinho also said to be keeping tabs on the player at AS Roma.

The 26-year-old made the move to Italy back in the summer of 2022 and still has just under three years left to run on his existing deal, ensuring that Postecoglou and co may have to fork out a sizeable fee to secure his signature.

Currently valued at just €15m (£13m), however, according to CIES Football Observatory, there could be a case for the Premier League outfit to strike a real bargain next month, if they can reach an agreement for anywhere close to that figure.

Albert Gudmundsson's style of play

The former AZ Alkmaar man may not be the high-profile addition that some of a Spurs persuasion will be craving, yet the 5 foot 10 whiz has proven himself to be a real standout performer for his current side of late.

Typically operating through the middle or on the flanks, the in-demand talent has scored eight goals in just 16 games in all competitions this season, taking his total tally to 23 goals and six assists in 66 games for Genoa to date.

Such explosive form in Italy has even seen Gudmundsson likened to a certain Mohamed Salah by teammate Kevin Strootman, with the latter man previously having played alongside Salah at Roma, prior to the Egyptian's exploits at Liverpool.

While suggesting that Gudmundsson can still be somewhat inconsistent, like Salah was in Rome, Strootman hinted that his colleague could well follow in the Anfield hero's footsteps by exploding in the years to come:

“If he keeps improving, he won’t stay at Genoa for long. He reminds me of Salah when he was at Roma, in that every now and then he disappears. Much like Salah then, he would have four or five chances per match and only score at most one.

“They used to say that if Salah was more clinical, he would be playing for Liverpool, and that is exactly what happened. All joking aside, Gudmundsson is a devastating player and also an exemplary professional.”

Salah – who bagged 34 goals in 83 games at the Stadio Olimpico prior to moving to England – has been a phenomenon on Merseyside over the last six years or so, having only recently reached a landmark of 200 goals for the club.

If Gudmundsson can get anywhere close to such feats, then Spurs could have a real superstar on their hands.

How Gudmundsson compares to Richarlison

If the 35-cap international is to arrive through the door in 2024, it could well spell bad news for one of Postecoglou's current forwards, Richarlison, with the Brazilian still dividing opinion at N17 having scored just five league goals since the start of last season.

By contrast, while Gudmundsson was playing in Serie B last term – Italy's second tier – he does now boast 17 league goals since the start of 2022/23, having mirrored the Tottenham man's flexibility after featuring all across the front line.

Not only evidently more clinical in front of goal, the Genoa ace also has the creative prowess to match, as he ranks in the top 10% among his fellow forwards in Europe's top five leagues for progressive passes, as well as in the top 17% for progressive carries per 90.

Richarlison, by contrast, ranks in just the top 33% and the top 21% for those same two metrics, respectively, as a forward, while he is even seemingly outworked by his potential replacement, with Gudmundsson ranking in the top 1% for interceptions per 90, while the former Toffees man ranks in just the top 5% in that regard.

Not only a possible Salah 2.0 but also an upgrade on Richarlison in attack, Gudmundsson could represent an ideal, left-field acquisition for Postecoglou next month.

The opener has aggravated the knee injury that he picked up in October during the T20s against Australia

Umar Farooq30-Nov-2018

Pakistan suffered a major blow ahead of their tour of South Africa in December with Fakhar Zaman aggravating a knee injury he sustained last month. According to the PCB, the 28-year old opener is expected to be out for “three to five” weeks, which means he will almost certainly miss the first of the three Tests that begins on Boxing Day in Centurion.It is learnt that Fakhar had complained about pain in his right knee after pulling off a spectacular run-out during the second T20I against Australia in October. He had rushed in from mid-on, tumbled to the ground while collecting the ball, and despite not having a clear view of the stumps, still hit them direct to dismiss Ben McDermott. The next morning, however, Fakhar told the physiotherapist that he had a problem and together they worked to try and manage it.Fakhar played a further five limited-overs games with the injury before it was decided that he needed to take time off for rehabilitation. That is why he was not picked in the squad for the ongoing Tests against New Zealand. He will join the PCB’s medical team at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore on Tuesday, where a plan for his recovery will be charted out.It is understood that the selectors have begun to shortlist players for the South Africa tour, where they play three Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is. The PCB has already obtained visas for 25 of them. The Test squad is likely to be similar to the one currently playing against New Zealand, although fast bowler Mohammad Amir is expected to return in place of offspinner Bilal Asif.Fakhar made his Test debut in October and was an instant hit, making 94 and 68 as Pakistan beat Australia by 373 runs. Pakistan have other options to use at the top of the order, such as Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez. Azhar Ali has also opened the batting in the past and Shan Masood, who made a hundred in each innings against New Zealand A recently, may also come into the mix.

Sam Whiteman, the Western Australia wicketkeeper-batsman, will lead the Cricket Australia XI that will take on India in a four-day tour match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.The match, scheduled from November 28 to December 1, will serve as a warm-up for the Indian team before the first Test in Adelaide that starts from December 6.D’Arcy Short is the only player with international experience in the twelve named, with the squad comprised mostly of younger players, including four members of the Under-19 team that finished runners up in the World Cup earlier this year. Only eight of the players selected have played first-class cricket previously.The team selected could also change, with Cricket Australia adding a rider that “The team is subject to players earning state selection for Round 5 of the JLT Sheffield Shield competition, commencing on 27 November.”Graeme Hick, the batting coach of the senior team, will be the head coach of this side with Sridharan Sriram, the national team’s spin consultant, appointed the assistant coach.Greg Chappell, the chairman of the Youth Selection Panel and the national talent manager, said the squad was one that offered plenty of options.”This is an excellent opportunity for these talented players to test themselves against India, the number one Test team in the world,” Chappell said. “It’s a versatile squad, with a number of players capable of contributing with bat and ball. D’Arcy Short and Param Uppal both offer valuable spin bowling, alongside their batting, with Aaron Hardie and Jonathan Merlo both capable middle-order batsmen who offer a seam-bowling option.”Many of the players in this squad have previously played in a Cricket Australia XI during their career, and eight have played Sheffield Shield cricket. We know this is a chance for our emerging players to display their skills against a world-class opponent, and we look forward to seeing what they can do against India.”Cricket Australia XI squad: Sam Whiteman (capt), Max Bryant, Jake Carder, Jackson Coleman, Harry Conway, Daniel Fallins, David Grant, Aaron Hardie, Jonathan Merlo, Harry Nielsen (wk), D’Arcy Short, Param Uppal

The home team’s pace trio shared nine wickets between them to knock New Zealand A over for 65

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2018Umaid Asif picked four wickets in two overs•PSLPace trio Waqas Maqsood, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Umaid Asif took nine wickets between them to skittle New Zealand A for 65, before the batsmen shrugged off the paltry target with more than seven overs to spare, as Pakistan A romped to an eight-wicket win in the first unofficial T20I in Dubai.New Zealand lost three early wickets to the opening combination of Maqsood and Afridi, finding themselves at 11 for 3, with the latter on a hat-trick at one stage. First-change Asif then tightened the noose, snaffling five in quick time to finish as the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 20, his best T20 figures. Only captain Corey Anderson and wicketkeeper Tim Seifert offered a modicum of resistance. But once they were separated by Asif, with a slower ball that Anderson dragged on to his stumps, the innings went into a steep nosedive again. Despite Seifert’s 26, which included five fours, the visitors folded up inside 13 overs.In response Pakistan lost their openers early, Sahibzada Farhan run out for 1 and Umar Amir hit wicket for 20 off Kyle Jamieson. But there were no hiccups thereafter as the third-wicket pair of Iftikhar Ahmed and Hussain Tallat stitched together a partnership of 44 off 51 balls to see the hosts home.

After failing to “cross the line” in the series opener, the India captain said greater application in the first 30 balls could turn the tide for India’s frontline batsmen

Nagraj Gollapudi at Lord's08-Aug-20181:16

‘Tempting thought to play two spinners’ – Kohli

How do India cross the line? How do they emerge victorious?Virat Kohli’s India have come close to crossing line in overseas Tests twice in a matter of eight months. In the first Test of the South Africa tour, set 208 to win, India lost by 72 runs in Cape Town. Last Saturday, at Edgbaston, needing 194 to take a 1-0 lead, India fell short by 31 runs.At Edgbaston, Kohli was the only Indian batsman to succeed, the only batsman on either team to score a century, followed by a fifty in the second innings. Despite those honours, it must have hurt him to still end on the losing side. Kohli admits it did – not because his batsmen failed, but because India lost.”It is unfortunate that we haven’t been able to cross the line after being so close,” Kohli said ahead of second Test. “That is the only thing we are looking at as a side: how we cross the line. It doesn’t matter whether I get runs or Jinks [Ajinkya Rahane] does or [M] Vijay does or KL [Rahul] does or whoever in the batting order. As long as we cross the line, that is the only thing that matters.”None of those batsmen Kohli named nor Shikhar Dhawan, who are the frontline batsmen in the line-up, managed to survive long enough in either innings to make a difference. In both innings, Kohli played the anchor as well as the shepherd to the lower order to impart a semblance of respect to the Indian batting.Still, Kohli pointed out it would be unfair to judge his fellow batsmen for their failure so quickly. Asked if the batsmen failed to show mental discipline or the heart to fight or lacked anything on the technical front, Kohli said there was no such “pattern”.Kohli, however, admitted that the Indian batsmen ought to be mentally stronger, especially facing the first 30-odd deliveries. That, he said, would be key to starting and building an innings.”It is not so much about the technical, but more about the mental aspect,” he explained. “How you think about the situations, about the first 20, 25, 30 balls, after the fall of a wicket, matters a lot. You must have a clear plan about what to do in those 30 balls, and, more often than not, that plan should not involve aggression. We need to focus on composure, which as a batting unit we have discussed.”The fact that Kohli touched upon aggression was revealing. Batsmen like Dhawan and Rahul played with hard hands and away from the body, attempting to score early on in their innings, which proved fatal. Without pointing fingers, Kohli presented his own example from the past when he would get distracted with stray thoughts while preparing to play the ball instead of playing it on merit.But now, Kohli said, he backed his ability to extend his stay at the crease. “It is just about going out and being positive about every situation that you are in and not thinking too much about what is going to happen. It is about looking at the ball and reacting according to the ball. Sometimes, as a batsman, where I have faltered in the past is I have thought maybe I will get a good ball somewhere and lose sight of what I need to do at that particular time.”That is something that has pulled me back. But now I am in a zone where I have to respect a good ball and just back my ability and play for as long as I can. It is not that you can’t get out in sport and in cricket. You just have to try and delay that eventuality as much as possible which as batsman we all try and achieve.”

With 85 needed off 30 balls, the duo launched an unsparing assault on the Stars bowlers to help Knight Riders raze the target down with a ball to spare

The Report by Peter Della Penna17-Aug-2018Getty ImagesAfter a dim start to the season, marked by three winless matches on the road, St Lucia Stars’ season had begun to look brighter on Thursday night, after a trio of half-centurions boosted them to a franchise record total. But in the end, history repeated itself, as Trinbago Knight Riders maintained their impressive record over the Stars, who crashed to a stunning five-wicket defeat at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet.David Warner, Rahkeem Cornwall and Kieron Pollard all crossed 50, each in contrasting styles, to take the home side to 212 for 2. And yet, it was far from enough, as Darren Bravo and Brendon McCullum launched a stunning late onslaught with a 137-run fourth-wicket stand. Requiring 85 runs off the last five overs, Knight Riders crossed the line with a ball to spare. The result also meant the Stars’ winless streak has been stretched to 15 games.Family feastThe end of Warner’s horrid run with the bat coincided with the arrival of his wife and younger daughter at St Lucia. With his two favourite girls watching from the stands, Warner looked at ease while compiling an unbeaten 72 off 55 balls. Most of his damage was done in the first 10 overs, beginning with an uppercut off Ali Khan in the third over for the first of his three sixes. Once Andre Fletcher got out in the sixth over, caught at backward point to a mistimed cut off Shannon Gabriel, Warner was content to ride in the slipstream of his subsequent partners.CornwallopAfter sitting out the previous match, Cornwall made an imperious return to the Stars lineup at No. 3. In the very first match of the season, Fawad Ahmed had struck on his first ball after entering in the seventh over. On this occasion, however, he was swatted with disdain over midwicket for six by Cornwall. The big man began the eighth over in the same fashion against Gabriel, swatting him back over his head for a maximum, before dragging him flat through the wind for six over square leg a few balls later.Cornwall clattered his fifth six over long-on to start the 12th over against Dwayne Bravo, at which stage he overtook Warner on the scorecard, and simultaneously brought up the fifty of their partnership, as well as the Stars 100. Cornwall eventually brought up his half-century off 25 balls, before running out of steam in the 15th over, edging behind as he tried to swing a wide delivery from Javon Searles to the leg side. That ended the partnership at 79 but the innings was hardly about to lose any steam.Pollard goes wildAt 130 for 2 in 15 overs, Tom Moody called out on the TV commentary that Stars should target 12 an over for the rest of the way to get to 190. For a team that has struggled to score runs and was bowled out for just 95 when these two sides met in the opening match of the season, the suggestion may have seemed optimistic. But by the end of the innings, hindsight showed Moody’s prediction was actually quite conservative.The Stars third-wicket pair of Warner and Kieron Pollard added 84 unbeaten runs off the final 32 balls of the innings. More than three-quarters of those came off the bat of Pollard, who sped away to the joint-fastest half-century in CPL history, getting there in just 18 balls. He stroked seven sixes in his 65 not out off 23 balls, the brunt of his damage absorbed by Dwayne Bravo, whose wretched form with the ball continued. The Knight Riders captain was once again his team’s most expensive bowler on the night, conceding 50 from four wicketless overs.Bravo leaked 20 to Pollard in the 18th, including two sixes over the leg side. Ali Khan came into the match as the CPL’s leading wicket-taker but with the exception of a searing yorker to Pollard that just missed his off stump in the 17th, the American lacked his usual bite and was clubbed for three more sixes by Pollard in the 19th over that went for 23 runs. Pollard then bludgeoned Bravo for two more maximums in the final over that brought 17 runs and catapulted the Stars to well over 200. And yet, it wasn’t close to being enough.Riders on the stormKnight Riders’ woes during a two-match losing skid were mainly down to a leaky bowling attack, but on this occasion their batsmen managed to bail them out. Cornwall backed up his impressive batting display by striking twice in the Powerplay with his offspin that claimed Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn, to dent the visitors chase early. But Knight Riders clawed back behind a 51-run stand between McCullum and Colin Munro to reach 74 for 3 after 10 overs, just 14 runs behind where Stars were at the same stage.It was at this point that Darren Bravo almost singlehandedly snuffed out the Stars, and how. Entering at the fall of Munro in the 10th over at 71 for 3, the younger Bravo dwarfed Pollard’s finishing kick. At 128 for 3 after 15, having just brought up a fifty partnership with McCullum. Darren channeled his inner Garry Sobers in the 16th by hoisting four consecutive sixes off Pollard to start the over. A two off the fifth ball was followed by another six off the final delivery to complete the most expensive over in CPL history.From there, Darren could not be stopped, romping his way to 94 unbeaten runs off 36 balls, including six fours and ten sixes. Even a brief stutter during an excellent 19th over from Mitchell McClenaghan, who snared two wickets and gave away just two runs, wasn’t enough to shake Darren, who ensured the Stars’ woeful record remained in tact. Denesh Ramdin hammered the final nail with a six – 34th of the match – off the penultimate ball that not only sealed the win but also equalled the record for most sixes in a Twenty20 match.

MatériaMais Notícias

O atacante Mateus Gonçalves, de 26 anos, irá reencontrar o Sport nesse domingo pelo Campeonato Brasileiro. Esta será a terceira vez que o camisa 7 enfrenta seu antigo clube, curiosamente todas as partidas foram nesta temporada de 2020, mas até o momento, o retrospecto está empatado com uma vitória e uma derrota.

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‘Será um grande jogo e temos totais condições de conquistar um resultado positivo jogando na nossa casa. No primeiro turno fui feliz com a assistência, não foi o suficiente para a vitória, mas em casa podemos fazer diferente. O Ceará tem uma equipe muito forte, qualquer um que estiver em campo vai dar o melhor pelo clube, estamos unidos e a classificação com muita garra veio para mostrar isso. Estamos concentrados e focados em atingir nossos objetivos na temporada’, disse o atacante.

Desempenho

Na atual temporada, Mateus vem sendo importante nos momentos decisivos do Vozão, somando três gols e uma assistência. Raio do Nordeste, apelido que ganhou força no Sport quando o atleta atingiu velocidade de 36,6km/h pela equipe, se destaca em dribles pela Vozão, sendo o terceiro do time que mais acertou no quesito com 15 corretos, além de oito passes distribuídos para finalização neste período.