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Defending champions ease past Derbyshire target with more than 25 overs to spare

ECB Reporters Network02-Aug-2022Glamorgan began their defence of the Royal London One-Day Cup with an emphatic eight wicket victory over Derbyshire in the opening Group B match at Derby.Timm van der Gugten took 4 for 41 and Jamie McIlroy 2 for 13 as Derbyshire were bowled out for 110 after Glamorgan won the toss in a game reduced to 47 overs by rain with Mattie McKiernan’s 43 off 56 balls the only innings of substance.Glamorgan slipped to 28 for 2 but skipper Kiran Carlson’s unbeaten 54 off 53 balls and Colin Ingram with 30 not out took the visitors to 112 for 2 with 25 overs to spare.Derbyshire never recovered from losing three wickets in the first four overs on a humid and breezy morning. McIlroy and van der Gugten got the ball to swing in good bowling conditions and Derbyshire’s chances of setting a competitive total were all but over after the first powerplay.”I couldn’t have asked for much more really,” Carlson said. “The way we bowled at the start was exceptional, we didn’t really give them much, we took our chances and the big guys up top, Jamie and Timm really set the stall out.”The wicket was tough, there was a bit more in it than both teams thought but we bowled first just because of the overheads.”It was nipping a bit and swinging and it was really tough at the start when it was doing quite a lot. It flattened out a little bit as the ball got older but when we had them 6 for 3 it must have been tough for them because we were bowling so well.”Billy Godleman went in the second over when his attempt to turn van der Gugten through midwicket ended in the hands of mid-on and Luis Reece quickly followed, edging a loose drive behind.Harry Came was lbw half-forward and although Tom Wood drove van der Gugten over cover for the first boundary in the sixth over, he was brilliantly caught by Chris Cooke diving to his right when he cut hard at the same bowler.After a short rain delay, Brooke Guest drove a return catch back to McIlroy leaving Derbyshire’s hopes of respectability resting with Anuj Dal and McKiernan. The pair almost doubled the score but Dal swatted Joe Cooke to cover and when Mark Watt was bowled by David Llloyd, Derbyshire were sinking fast at 62 for 7.Ben Aitchison clipped Lloyd to long leg where Joe Cooke took a well judged catch just inside the rope leaving Sam Conners to help McKiernan get Derbyshire into three figures.McKiernan pulled Dan Douthwaite for four and drove van der Gugten for another boundary but he fell short of what would have been a first one-day fifty when he drove Douthwaite to cover.The innings ended when Conners edged a drive at van der Gugten which left Glamorgan to chase down what looked like a straightforward target.They got there in relative comfort but only after losing Lloyd and Sam Northeast inside the first 10 overs. Lloyd got a leading edge to Aitchison and was caught at point before Northeast, who scored a quadruple-century just over a week ago, drove at Conners and was well caught by Wood diving across at second slip.Another wicket then might have sowed some seeds of doubt in the Glamorgan camp but Ingram and Carlson restored order before accelerating towards an impressive victory.Derbyshire were well beaten and McKiernan admitted: “We’ve got to draw a line under that and move on to the game on Friday. It’s a disappointing start to the campaign but it doesn’t mean we can’t bounce back. There was a little bit in the wicket early on but I think we’re disappointed as a batting group not to get a competitive score.”

تتزايد الأنباء بشأن مستقبل النجم البرتغالي كريستيانو رونالدو، والذي أثار تكهنات واسعة حول مصيره، بعد رسالته عبر وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي.

وينتهي عقد رونالدو مع النصر في شهر يونيو القادم، ولم يتم الإعلان عن التوصل لاتفاق لتمديد العقد.

ونشر رونالدو رسالة عبر حسابه على منصة “إكس” أمس الإثنين كتب خلالها: “انتهى هذا الفصل، القصة؟ لا تزال قيد الكتابة، شكرًا للجميع”.

الأمر الذي زاد التكهنات حول مستقبله، وأفاد صديقه الصحفي إيدو أجويري أنه لا يوجد شيء مستبعد فيما يتعلق بمستقبل النجم البرتغالي.

وبحسب الصحفي سانتي أونا، من “فوت ميركاتو”، فإن كريستيانو رونالدو لديه حاليًا خيارين جديين وهو يدرسهما.

طالع ترتيب هدافي الدوري السعودي 2024-2025

العرض الأول هو تمديد المغامرة عقده مع النصر الذي قدم له عرضاً يكاد يكون الطرفان متفقين عليه.

العرض الثاني من الهلال السعودي، والذي يشارك في كأس العالم للأندية 2025، ويبحث عن تعزيز لصفوفه بعد رحيل البرازيلي نيمار.

وسيتعين على رونالدو الاختيار بين ناديه الحالي النصر، وبين الهلال السعودي وإغراء المشاركة في مونديال الأندية.

سجل رونالدو 35 هدفًا وقدم 4 تمريرات حاسمة في 41 مباراة في كل المسابقات مع النصر هذا الموسم.

وفشل رونالدو في الفوز بالدوري السعودي للمحترفين، وهو ما زاد من التكهنات حول رحيله في ظل حرصه على التتويج بالألقاب.

Twenty wickets go down on lively first day at Trent Bridge

ECB Reporters Network05-Sep-2022Nottinghamshire 201 (Montgomery 43, Wright 3-26) and 15 for 0 vs Leicestershire 93 (Evans 50, Fletcher 4-23) by 123 runsDivision Two leaders Nottinghamshire are in a strong position with a lead of 123 after 20 wickets fell on the opening day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match with bottom-of-the-table Leicestershire.On a difficult batting surface, Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 201, losing their last eight wickets for 118 as they collapsed from 83 for two just after lunch, Chris Wright and Ed Barnes taking three wickets each. But Leicestershire found conditions no more to their liking, dismissed for just 93 in reply. Nottinghamshire are 15 without loss in their second innings.Luke Fletcher took 4 for 23 with opener Sam Evans carrying his bat for exactly 50 as the only Foxes batter to make double figures as Nottinghamshire made light of the absence of their Australian quick James Pattinson, who was granted an early release from his contract last week.Matthew Montgomery, in for Ben Duckett after the left-hander was added to England’s third Test squad, top scored for the home side with 43 after being dropped on 1 – one of three slip catches put down in the innings, all by Rishi Patel, who held two others.Leicestershire were without key allrounder Wiaan Mulder – picked as cover for England’s opponents South Africa – and England under-19 legspinner Rehan Ahmed, who is injured. They also left out allrounder Ben Mike after his decision to join Yorkshire at the end of the season in favour of 26-year-old left-arm seamer Michael Finan – signed on a two-year contract last month despite never having played a senior match.Wright dismissed both Nottinghamshire openers in his first five overs. Haseeb Hameed, having got off the mark with a beautiful drive to the extra cover boundary, edged to first slip before the left-handed Ben Slater was bowled not offering a shot.With the ball doing plenty, it was tough going for Nottinghamshire, who would have been 26 for 3 had Patel not dropped Montgomery off Barnes at first slip.Joe Clarke, for whom form has been elusive much of the season, took 32 balls to get off the mark but he and Montgomery guided Nottinghamshire to 82 for 2 at lunch. Yet after appearing to have weathered the storm, Nottinghamshire found themselves back in its grip from the start of the afternoon session.Barnes brought one back sharply to have Clarke leg before, picked up a second wicket as Montgomery played a loose shot to backward point and Lyndon James, missed at first slip on 4, edged Wright low to second slip.Roman Walker struck twice as Tom Moores was taken at third slip and Liam Patterson-White – dropped on 15 – offered a low return catch. Steve Mullaney was leg before to a full, swinging ball from Barnes.Brett Hutton nicked to the keeper off Callum Parkinson’s left-arm spin and Dane Paterson lasted just long enough to claim Nottinghamshire a batting point before he holed out to deep midwicket to give Finan a wicket on his first-class debut.It was Nottinghamshire’s lowest first-innings total of the season, yet it looked handsome indeed as Fletcher tore through the Leicestershire top order.After Hassan Azad was caught behind off one that left him late, Fletcher sent Louis Kimber’s off stump cartwheeling, had Colin Ackermann caught at third slip and swung one back into Patel’s pads as the visitors reeled at 32 for 4, which quickly became 33 for 5 as Harry Swindells was trapped in front by Paterson.Hutton made his mark as Barnes was leg before trying to work one off his pads and dismissed Walker via a fine catch by James at third slip. Parkinson nicked Paterson behind – the South African’s 100th first-class wicket for Nottinghamshire in just 22 matches – before Wright chipped Hutton to mid-on.Finan survived just long enough for Evans to complete his half-century – a remarkable effort in the circumstances – off 71 balls, but was bowled shouldering arms to Patterson-White four balls later.

Mujeeb and Rashid were stars with the ball, before Najibullah and Ibrahim stunned Bangladesh in the chase

Hemant Brar30-Aug-20222:21

Jaffer: Najubullah Zadran was spectacular

Afghanistan became the first team to qualify for the Super 4 round of the Asia Cup after winning a tense chase against Bangladesh in Sharjah.The victory was set up by spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan, who picked up three wickets each to reduce Bangladesh to 89 for 6 in the 16th over. Mosaddek Hossain’s unbeaten 48 off 31 balls lifted them to 127 for 7 but it was still far from a competitive total.Afghanistan, though, struggled in the chase. They were 48 for 2 after ten overs, and then needed 61 off 33 balls. But Najibullah Zadran changed the game with a flurry of sixes, and his unbroken partnership of 69 off 5.3 overs with Ibrahim Zadran took Afghanistan home with nine balls to spare.Mujeeb hits Bangladesh hard in the powerplay
Mujeeb rocked Bangladesh’s top order by taking a wicket in each of his first three overs. He hit Mohammad Naim’s leg stump with a carrom ball that zipped through a huge bat-pad gap, and then rapped Anamul Haque on his back leg as he tried to play a shot that was somewhere between a sweep and a pull.Shakib Al Hasan tried to counter attack, hitting Naveen-ul-Haq for back to back fours, but lost his stumps to another carrom ball while trying to go after Mujeeb in the last over of the powerplay.Rashid picks up three too
Mushfiqur Rahim found himself saddled with one of the toughest jobs in T20 cricket – facing Rashid with your side 28 for 3 in six overs. It took Rashid just two balls to trap him lbw with a googly.Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah tried to stabilise the innings, adding 25 at a run a ball before Rashid struck again. Afif went back to another googly and was late in bringing his bat down as the ball thudded into his front pad. And Mahmudullah holed out trying to play a slog sweep to become Rashid’s third victim.Mujeeb Ur Rahman took a wicket in each of his first three overs in the powerplay•Getty Images

Mosaddek’s lone hand
After coming in at 53 for 5, Mosaddek led a fightback to give Bangladesh a chance, after surviving a close call. He had charged Mohammad Nabi to launch him back over his head. Azmatullah Omarzai ran to his right from long-off, caught the ball and lobbed it to Rashid, who was coming in from long-on. The replays showed Omarzai’s foot just brushing the boundary cushion when he was still in possession of the ball – Mosaddek had struck Bangladesh’s first six in the 12th over of the game.Mosaddek took his chances whenever the Afghanistan bowlers erred in their lines or lengths. Naveen and Rashid were glanced to the fine-leg boundary. When Farooqi failed to land his yorker, Mosaddek opened the face of the bat to find the gap between backward point and short third. He and Mahedi Hasan added 38 off 24 balls for the seventh wicket to give Bangladesh a total of 127 for 7.Afghanistan start poorly
Just like they did against Sri Lanka, Afghanistan’s openers – Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hazratullah Zazai – tried to attack but could not succeed on this Sharjah pitch. Gurbaz did hit Mustafizur Rahman over his head in the second over but was lucky that Mahmudullah put down a catch when he tried to do the same against Shakib in the next over.In the fifth over, Gurbaz once again charged at Shakib but the bowler shortened his length. The ball kept low as well and went under Gurbaz’s bat, leaving Mushfiqur with plenty of time to complete the stumping.Hazratullah hit a couple of powerful fours off the back foot but he too struggled for timing and was lbw to Mosaddek for 23 off 26 balls. Nabi promoted himself to No. 4 but could manage only 8 off 9 balls before Mohammad Saifuddin had him lbw.Najibullah unleashes a storm of sixes
With 63 required from the last six overs, it felt as though Bangladesh were favourites on this pitch, but Najibullah changed the game with his scintillating six-hitting.Ibrahim first released the pressure with back-to-back fours off Taskin Ahmed before Najibullah took over. He swatted Mahedi over deep midwicket, and then launched Mustafizur over deep midwicket and long-off for two more sixes. That brought the equation down to 26 off 18 balls.Ibrahim hit Saifuddin’s first ball of the 18th over for a four before Najibullah smashed one more four and two sixes to make it 22 runs off the over. With just three needed off ten balls, Najibullah hit Mosaddek into the sightscreen to seal the game.

Allrounder agrees three-year deal, will join on loan for Royal London Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2022

Joey Evison, Nottinghamshire’s former England Under-19 allrounder, has signed a three-year contract with Kent. He will also join the club on loan for this year’s Royal London Cup.Evison, 20, debuted for Notts in 2019 and has since made 10 first-class appearances, alongside five in List A and one T20. He recorded his maiden first-class hundred earlier this season but has seen opportunities limited by the development of fellow seam-bowling allrounder Lyndon James.Evison currently averages 27.13 with the bat in first class cricket, and 30.19 with the ball, having taken a maiden five-wicket haul against Durham last summer.”I couldn’t be more excited about joining Kent Cricket,” Evison said. “I recognise that I’m still young but I’m hungry for first team cricket and very much hope I’ll be able to achieve this at Canterbury, as well as helping the team to success in the coming years.”The signing could be the start of a rebuilding process at Kent, who saw seamer Matt Milnes agree terms with Yorkshire on Friday and have to start preparing for life after Darren Stevens, with the 46-year-old allrounder having only made seven first-team appearances this year.Kent’s director of cricket, Paul Downton, said: “I’m delighted that Joey has chosen to join Kent. He’s an exciting talent with the potential to bat in the top order and also be a threat with the ball. He’s a really hard worker and we’re convinced that he will be a quick learner too, as opportunities come his way.”We’re also really pleased to have Joey available for us in this season’s Royal London Cup, and he strengthens our 50-over squad ahead of the tournament.”This is a signing with both the present and the future in mind. We can’t wait to see Joey blossom and make a positive impact both on and off the field for Kent.”

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has been left impressed by one particular member of his squad in Cobham training, who is pulling out all the stops to turn his head and become a fixture in this new-look Blues team.

Chelsea record second win of the season against Bournemouth

Maresca’s side were made to battle hard at the Vitality Stadium in Saturday’s late kick-off, with the Cherries causing real problems on more than one occasion.

Chelsea given West Ham injury boost as "shining star" returns to training

Enzo Maresca could have him to call upon against the Hammers.

By
Emilio Galantini

Sep 17, 2024

Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was even forced to deny a penalty from Evanilson, coming after the shot-stopper was booked for fouling him inside the penalty area, with the former making a fantastic diving save to his left as the score remained level.

It was a tough evening for Chelsea, who were made to be resolute on an afternoon where the south coast side really threatened to inflict misery on Maresca. The weakened Blues, who were minus a natural right-back with Malo Gusto and Reece James injured, answered question after question – and were ultimately rewarded for their efforts just minutes from added time.

Christopher Nkunku wriggled into the area, feeding off a pass from summer signing Jadon Sancho, before excellently finding his way through a host of Bournemouth bodies to fire an acute finish into the bottom corner past Mark Travers.

While Pedro Neto was criticised for his Bournemouth performance on the south coast, fellow new arrival Sancho helped to spare Maresca’s blushes with his assist for Nkunku – securing Chelsea their second Premier League win of the season.

Chelsea now prepare to take on West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday, with midfielder Romeo Lavia returning to training alongside the likes of Gusto after his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Jadon Sancho impressing Maresca in Chelsea training

At Cobham, it appears Sancho is making quite an impression on Maresca and his coaching staff, with supporters potentially shown a glimpse of what is to come through his Bournemouth assist.

According to GiveMeSport, it is believed Sancho has impressed Maresca in Chelsea training, mainly due to his effort in showing up early, displaying a faultless attitude and even making the effort to introduce himself to Cobham staff.

This will go a long way in the eyes of club chiefs and fans, who are eager to see the winger become a success following his loan move from Man United, which will be made permanent for around £25 million next summer.

The England international was left in the wilderness by Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford, but Maresca may now grant him a new lease of life down south.

“I think we start second half much better and Jadon helped us a lot,” said Maresca on Sancho’s Chelsea debut against Bouremouth. “What he did tonight is exactly what we expected from him,” Maresca said. “As I said, I know Jadon very good because I watched him many, many times in the past and I know what he can give us.”

Zimbabwe have endured win-less tours before, but wouldn’t have expected to slip to that level against the team they are to be competitive against

Firdose Moonda02-Dec-2014Cricket tours are often long enough to reach the point where a visiting side wants nothing more than to return home. For Zimbabwe, that day probably came sooner than it should have in Bangladesh, where they lost all eight internationals they played.As far as returns go, this is among Zimbabwe’s more embarrassing. It is the second three-Test series they have been blanked in, after last playing in a rubber of that length a decade ago. Although they have been on the receiving end of more ODI series whitewashes before – 3-0 to South Africa this year and 5-0 to India last year are the most recent examples – and have also been guilty of losing every match on a tour – West Indies in 2013, New Zealand in 2012 – to have slipped to that level against the team they are to be competitive against has taken Zimbabwe to a new low.It has laid bare issues of inconsistency and instability and, with the World Cup looming, has left them more insecure than they usually are. To sum it up in a sentence, what Zimbabwe demonstrated in Bangladesh was that they are unable to stay in a game – any game – long enough to challenge for victory.Like many teams in the lower tier of cricket’s rankings, Zimbabwe’s troubles begin at the top, where they have unable to find an opening combination that works. They tried four different combinations in the eight matches but could not manage anything more substantial than a first-wicket stand of 19 in the Tests and 48 in the ODIs. A glaring common denominator is Vusi Sibanda, whose future must now be examined. .Sibanda is a stalwart of the Zimbabwe game whose career has stretched for more than a decade but he has yet to score a Test century. He has not managed a fifty in 17 innings and more than three years, and has gone 10 matches and 15 months without reaching the milestone in an ODI. He was put on notice earlier in the year when he was dropped against both Afghanistan and South Africa and the 104 runs he managed in six innings on this tour may have been the end of his rope.Zimbabwe might be better served at the World Cup with Sikandar Raza and Hamilton Masakadza opening but will need a leap of faith to invest in someone else at No.3. They will also need more from Raza, who showed promise with three fifties in the Test series but could not transfer that form to the ODIs.Masakadza did not have that problem. After a career-best 158 in the second Test, he was the second-highest run-scorer for Zimbabwe in the ODIs. He prefers to bat at one-drop but would likely be so keen to play in a World Cup after missing out on the last two that he would gladly open.The temptation would be to persist with Sibanda at No.3, if only for the reassurance he provides as a regular, but Zimbabwe should have learnt the dangers of over-reliance from this trip. Their usual run-getter Brendan Taylor had a torrid Test series, with 135 runs in six innings, and Zimbabwe desperately needed more from him. They got that in the ODIs, where he scored two fifties and was their most successful batsman, but by then they should have had others contributing as well.Between Taylor and Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwe remain shaky. They have rotated through the likes of Craig Ervine, Richmond Mutumbami, Solomon Mire, Regis Chakabva and Malcolm Waller, but none of them have done enough or been given long enough to make a spot their own. Effectively, that means Zimbabwe always find themselves doing similar things when they bat. They have to recover from shaky starts and just as they find steady ground, they stumble again. For evidence, there is this tour. In six Test innings, they scored over 300 just twice and they could not get to 250 in any of the ODIs.Then there are other problems like their techniques, which need sharpening against spin, particularly left-arm spin, and their temperaments, which falter because of a lack of regular game time. In the second Test, 16 of their 20 wickets went to the left-arm spinners. Zimbabwe have only played four Tests in the last 13 months, not nearly enough to learn how to bat for long periods.The result is that Zimbabwe’s attack seldom has anything substantial to work with but Tinashe Panyangara tries. He was their standout bowler of the tour, with 14 scalps at 20.28 in the Tests and nine wickets at 24.44 in the ODIs, but he lacks support. Natsai M’shangwe, the legspinner, was the next most incisive Test bowler but his seven wickets cost 435 runs, at 62.14 apiece. Malcolm Waller took six wickets but their other seamers struggled.Tendai Chatara would have been a particular concern, with just three wickets in two Tests. He had a better ODI series with six wickets at 31.50 and will still be an important part of the long-term plans but Zimbabwe still need more. Chigumbura will provide will be one of the seamers who will carry a greater load at the World Cup. Zimbabwe’s spin cupboard remains their best-stocked resource. Even without Prosper Utseya, they have choices that range from John Nyumbu to Tafadzwa Kamungozi and even when they are not taking wickers, they do a decent containing job.That is one of the few positives Zimbabwe can pull out of a trip otherwise steeped in disappointment. Masakadza’s maturity, Chakabva’s coming of age with his maiden century and Taylor’s return to form are other highlights. But on the whole, the Bangladesh visit would have dented Zimbabwe’s already fragile confidence and left them with more questions than answers. They won’t have much opportunity to confront all of them because they play no international cricket until next year’s World Cup but what they will know is that when they get there, they not want to feel like they should have one foot in the boarding tunnel midway through the trip.

The first edition is scheduled to be played in January 2023, immediately after South Africa’s tour to Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2022Cricket South Africa, in association with SuperSport, has announced the launch of a new franchise-based T20 tournament. The first edition of the competition will be played in January 2023, immediately after South Africa’s tour to Australia. For subsequent editions, January has been marked as a dedicated window.According to a CSA release, the tournament will feature overseas players as well, with a player auction to take place at a later date. Each team will be allowed to have up to four overseas players in the XI.A new company formed by CSA and SuperSport will manage the tournament. “The company is looking at a very attractive player salary bill per team that will rival other leagues around the world outside of the IPL,” the release said.The tournament will feature six privately-owned teams, who will play each other twice in a round-robin stage before the top three proceed to the playoffs. In all, 33 matches will be played over three to four weeks.”We are excited by the formation of something this fresh and invigorating, which also offers the opportunity for private investment into the franchises,” CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki said. “CSA has already received interest from a number of potential local and international investors.”Marc Jury, the CEO of SuperSport, said: “We are delighted to invest in a product that will change the face of South African cricket. There is an early-year gap in the calendar, so the timing is ideal.”SuperSport’s support for the league is crucial to getting it going, as they are CSA’s domestic broadcast partner. Without their buy-in, CSA was unable to launch the Global T20 League in 2017 and was forced to shelve plans for a franchise T20 competition.SuperSport had argued that they were entitled to screen the Global T20 League as per their contractual agreement to show all cricket played in South Africa, but CSA disagreed and said the tournament constituted new business. They were unable to secure another broadcaster for it, which ultimately resulted in the tournament never taking place.CSA then launched the Mzansi Super League in 2018 and gave the broadcast rights to the SABC for a minimal fee. The MSL featured eight teams and ran for two years, with CSA footing the entire bill, which amounted to over R100 million per edition. It was not played in 2020, 2021 or 2022, ostensibly because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also because CSA could no longer afford it. With SuperSport’s buy-in, they can now launch a T20 league.The competition is expected to inject more funds into cricket in South Africa, thereby helping the game grow in the country.

Yuvraj Singh was hardly convincing to begin with against Delhi, but a big dose of crowd support and a helping of poor bowling meant he had the opportunity to hint at a possible return to form

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Sharjah18-Apr-2014″I’ve got a feeling,” sang the PA system at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, not long after Yuvraj Singh had walked in to bat. Before the song could proceed any further, and declare that Thursday night was going to be a good night, the DJ stopped it abruptly. He or she was a Yuvraj fan, perhaps, and didn’t want to put a jinx on him.This was Yuvraj’s first innings since that 21-ball 11 in the World T20 final, and his first innings since a group of fans had reacted unreasonably to that 21-ball 11. It was also his first innings for Bangalore, who had paid a not untidy sum of money to buy him at the auction, despite the fact that he hadn’t made a half-century in his last 19 IPL innings.The man at the other end, meanwhile, was Virat Kohli, whom he had denied the strike during that 21-ball 11. Kohli, Bangalore’s captain, had played a persuasive role in signing him.This, then, wasn’t just another innings.Yuvraj couldn’t have chosen a more congenial setting in which to begin such an innings. He had the crowd’s sympathy, yes, but he would have had that at any stadium; only a tiny fraction of sports fans, surely, are mean enough to revel in a player’s house reportedly getting stoned. Sharjah, though, was also showing itself to be a stronghold of Bangalore fans.In India, it’s often hard to get an accurate picture of the extent of home support at the league’s venues. At most stadiums, someone has placed a home-team flag on your seat well before you’ve parked your car. Most emcees, meanwhile, only ask the crowd to cheer for the home team. If you support the other team, you seldom get a chance to voice it. Here, given equal opportunity to cheer for either side, the Sharjah crowd voted with their vocal cords.Granted, for the most part, the spectators did or chanted whatever the emcee asked them to, no matter how ridiculous it made them look or sound. What they didn’t do, though, was chant “Delhiiiiiiiii, Delhi!” Each time the emcee tried to get them to follow his lead, they drowned him out with shouts of “R-C-B! R-C-B!”It was as much a show of approval for Bangalore as it was a sign of Delhi’s lack of appeal. They haven’t tasted too much success in past seasons, and, perhaps because of that, haven’t retained an easily identifiable core group of star players. For Bangalore, on the other hand, the signing of Yuvraj added yet another highly marketable name to an already swollen roster. It cost them a lot of money to sign him and that may well have caused gaps to form in other areas of their squad, but Sharjah didn’t seem too concerned. As soon as Yuvraj had swung Rahul Sharma over long-on for his first six, a bearded man in a red T-shirt held up a hand-drawn banner. “More risk = More profit,” it said. “Great bid Mr Mallya.”There is no doubt Bangalore and Yuvraj had all the support they could possibly hope for. It is far too early to say with any certainty, though, that Yuvraj has turned a corner with his unbeaten 52.At the start of his innings, he was late on a couple of short balls from Mohammed Shami, both of which went whistling off his top edge. Right after that over, Dinesh Karthik, Delhi’s captain, took Shami off when he still had an over left. Having survived those few discomfiting deliveries, life became much easier for Yuvraj, with Jimmy Neesham serving up length balls and Rahul Sharma dropping his legbreaks right into his hitting zone.Sometimes, though, you want bowlers to feed Yuvraj’s strengths, just to marvel at the way he strikes the ball. One pick-up shot off Neesham left you missing your TV, left you wanting to watch slow-motion replays from 15 different angles. Since that wasn’t possible in the West Stand at Sharjah, you wanted the DJ to at least play the rest of that song.

Chelsea failed to secure their primary striker target, Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen, after the deal went down to deadline day. Chelsea failed to agree terms in the final hours of the transfer window, ending the summer without a striker addition.

Osimhen has instead sealed a move to Galatasaray on loan, with other factors included in the deal, such as a lower release clause being inserted into his Napoli contract, and Galatasaray having no buy option.

Osimhen made 32 appearances in all competitions for Napoli last season, scoring 17 goals, providing four assists, and totalling 2,476 minutes played. As it happens, he'll now be joining a certain Hakim Ziyech in Turkey.

Ziyech's time at Chelsea

Ziyech was bought to Chelsea during Frank Lampard's reign, for a fee of £33.3m, signed during February, but joined the club in the summer of 2020.

Making 107 appearances for the club, Ziyech managed just 14 goals and 13 assists, a shadow of his Ajax form, where he delivered 49 goals and 81 assists in 165 games played.

This wasn't helped by his early injury issues in 2020 under Lampard, missing 14 matches with knee and hip injuries, at a time he was considered a starter under the English coach.

Some of the Moroccans' best performances for the Blues came in the Champions League, scoring two goals in the infamous Champions League run under both Lampard and Thomas Tuchel, where Chelsea lifted the trophy in 2021.

But things have been going downhill for Ziyech since the 2022/23 season, where he only managed 24 appearances, totalling 943 minutes for Chelsea, spelling the end of his time at Stamford Bridge, and moving to Turkey to continue his career with Galatasaray, now alongside the aforementioned Osimhen.

Ziyech's time at Galatasaray so far

In his first season for the club where he was on loan, Ziyech made 23 appearances in the 2023/24 campaign across all competitions, scoring eight goals, providing four assists, and featuring for 1,334 minutes played.

Ziyech actually finished the season in relatively good form, scoring four goals and providing one assist in the final six Süper Lig games.

Stats

Ziyech

Goals

0

Assists

0

Touches

34

Key Passes

1

Accurate Passes

18/20

Possession Lost

7

Ground Duels Won

1/6

Successful Dribbles

0/3

Dribbled Past

2

Since this performance, Ziyech was an unused substitute against Adana DS in the Süper Lig, as the likes of Kerem Akturkoglu, and Baris Alper Yilmaz have been preferred to the Moroccan.

Now a permanent figure at the Turkish club, signing in a paltry £2.5m deal this summer, the 2024/25 campaign has seen a torrid start with the 31-year-old making four appearances and providing no goal involvements in his 237 minutes. He has also now been an unused sub in two Süper Lig games, out of a possible three.

Coming towards the back end of his career, Ziyech faces the challenge of getting back into the Galatasaray starting XI, and the signing of Osimhen could actually be his route back in.

Widely known for his passing ability, the Moroccan could provide the creation needed in order for Osimhen to thrive in the box, receiving crosses from all angles, box entry passes, and shot-creating actions.

Osimhen could just be the saviour for Ziyech at Galatasaray, and a way back into the starting XI based on the attributes he can offer the team, especially in a duo with their new talisman.

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