Tag Futebol

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard, who can do former club Liverpool a favour in the race for the Premier League title, has been dealt a huge blow after an injury update from today’s opponents Manchester City.

The Lowdown: Top half finish still possible

Villa could only manage a draw against Burnley on Thursday, leaving them on 45 points in 14th place heading into the final day. However, Gerrard’s side still have an outside chance of finishing in the top 10.

The Villans travel to the Etihad Stadium knowing that a win could take them above Crystal Palace, Brentford, Newcastle and Brighton. A victory would also help out Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, but Villa’s task appears to have been made harder following news on John Stones and Kyle Walker.

The Latest: Stones and Walker set to feature?

Pep Guardiola admitted just two weeks ago that both Stones and Walker would be out for the rest of the season alongside Ruben Dias.

However, the England internationals have now returned to training just days before the visit of Gerrard’s side, with Guardiola revealing on Friday afternoon that the pair may feature today.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/aston-villa-latest-news/” title=”Aston Villa latest news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Not ideal

City struggled defensively last time out against West Ham, with Fernandinho lining out as a centre-back. The league leaders have the best defensive record in the top flight, so another makeshift back four would have been a boost for Gerrard.

However, it looks as if two of their main defenders could make a shock return at a crucial time, possibly making things even more difficult for Villa.

Gerrard did start with both Philippe Coutinho and Danny Ings on the bench on Thursday, so he may need the former Liverpool duo at the top of their game for Villa to pose a threat if they are to spoil the party at the Etihad.

In other news: ‘Excellent’ Aston Villa player set to leave as contact now made over move. 

Rangers fell at the final hurdle as they looked to secure the Europa League title by beating Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville last night.

After getting through extra time with a 1-1 scoreline, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side ultimately lost on penalties after midfielder Aaron Ramsey failed to covert his attempt.

As well as this major disappointment, the Ibrox side were also dealt another blow which not only impacted their penalty shootout on the day but could also impact their upcoming Scottish Cup final clash against Hearts on Saturday.

What’s the news?

Shortly before the end of extra time, Rangers left-back Borna Barisic went off with an injury. This not only forced Van Bronckhorst to bring Kemar Roofe on in the full-back’s place but it also made him rejig his order for penalty takers according to the Daily Record.

With 43 appearances under his belt across all competitions this season, the Croatian is definitely an important figure for his side and Van Bronckhorst, who will surely be worrying over his fitness now.

In their Europa League campaign, the 29-year-old had appeared in all but one of their 15 matches, showing that the Dutchman certainly trusted him to deliver on the big stage.

To further highlight how significant the defender has been for his side in the SPFL this season, he ended their recent campaign with the joint-highest average of tackles per game (2.1) out of players to start more than one league game.

He also racked up the second highest number of crosses (158) in Rangers’ squad behind James Tavernier (398), showing how useful he can be in defence and attack.

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to say that it would be a big blow for Rangers to potentially not have their left-back available to play at the weekend.

With Saturday’s clash being the club’s final attempt at being able to win some silverware this season, there’s no doubt that everyone connected with the Gers will want to see them win the trophy and put Wednesday’s disappointment in Seville behind them.

Moving forward, there will surely be many fingers crossed at Ibrox that Barisic will be able to be fit enough to play in Saturday’s final and that the team can end the season on a positive note with another trophy in their cabinet.

In other news: Fewer touches than McGregor: Rangers dud who won just 33% duels let GvB down yesterday

The young Bangladesh pacemen will rarely get to bowl in conditions like in New Zealand, making survival at the highest level that much tougher for them

Mohammad Isam in Wellington11-Mar-2019When Shadman Islam dropped Ross Taylor at second slip on the fourth day of the Wellington Test, Abu Jayed took a look at what had happened, and just turned around and walked back to his run-up. His expression was deadpan, bar a slight raising of an eyebrow.He had already seen captain Mahmudullah drop one at cover earlier in the over, bowled two fine deliveries outside Taylor’s off stump after that, and then seen another one go down.Jayed finished the over by nearly getting Taylor to inside-edge one on to his stumps. He took the cap from the umpire and walked back to his fielding position in the deep. He hid his disappointment well.***The 25-year-old paceman, who picked up two wickets early on to leave New Zealand at 8 for 2 on his way to returns of 3 for 94, should play the third Test in Christchurch, and if he does get a decent haul of wickets, may even be an outside chance of making the World Cup squad.ALSO READ: Walsh urges patience with Bangladesh fast bowlersMashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman and Mohammad Saifuddin are pretty much assured of being in the pace contingent, while Taskin Ahmed, after getting fit, is a prime candidate too.How does Jayed edge his way past the others then?Ross Taylor was dropped twice in one Abu Jayed over•Getty ImagesAfter the New Zealand series, he has to go back to domestic cricket, where he is the leading wicket-taker among pace bowlers in the last decade. On mostly slow and low pitches, Sylhet Division and East Zone are likely to use him sparingly in the two first-class competitions, and it’s unlikely he will always bowl his quota of overs in the shorter formats.So, if he – as well as Ebadot Hossain, Khaled Ahmed and Mustafizur – does take anything back home in terms of experience from New Zealand, Jayed has to put it all in a bottle and store it away. It won’t come in handy any time soon, because Bangladesh’s next Test in not-familiar conditions is scheduled for Ireland in June 2020. Before that, they tour India and Pakistan, in the UAE – no greentops expected there.The next tour of New Zealand is not till February 2021, but that will be a limited-overs series. If they don’t do enough in ODIs and T20Is by then, it’s hard to imagine that any of them will remain in contention for the Zimbabwe tour in June 2021 or for the December 2021 New Zealand tour, which has two Tests.Jayed & Co. could realistically look ahead to the period between March and July in 2022, when Bangladesh are scheduled to play Tests in South Africa, the West Indies and Zimbabwe. But looking at the frequency with which the team management loses patience with pace bowlers, it will be a major achievement if even one of the current lot of youngsters survive till then.***The focus for Bangladesh has been to win at home, and priority has been given to spinners. It is a logical move to give maximum advantage to their big strength, but it has left many pacers in the lurch.Ebadot Hossain in his delivery stride•Getty ImagesOn the fourth day in Wellington, therefore, Jayed, Mustafizur and Ebadot were only expected to go through the motions. Jayed did more than that in his first spell, which asked plenty of questions of Taylor and an injured Kane Williamson. But, apart from that, and a couple of edges that went past the slips off Mustafizur, there wasn’t much more to write home about.Tamim Iqbal, who mostly stood at mid-on when the three pacers were operating, said after the day’s play that they had bowled well in patches but it was harsh to expect anything more from them at such an early stage of their careers.”They were on and off,” Tamim said. “They bowled extremely well for a few overs, and then there were overs when they didn’t do what they had to do. But it comes through experience. We have to remember that these three are very new. We are playing against two bowlers [Tim Southee and Trent Boult] who have nearly 250 wickets each. I would hope that they can learn from this experience.”Tamim felt that the period in which Taylor was dropped twice was also the time that Jayed and Ebadot were bowling at their best. “It was sad that we dropped catches of someone twice in the same over, who went to hit a double-hundred. If we got him out at that point, and the way our bowlers were during that spell, we probably would have batted less today.”***Jayed was off-colour in Hamilton where Ebadot perhaps bowled better. Khaled can consider himself unlucky to be dropped after the first Test, but would he have bowled better than Mustafizur?If the BCB stick to these four bowlers for at least the next two seasons, then there’s a chance of a decent fast-bowling attack taking shape. Jayed has become a domestic mainstay among pace bowlers. Khaled and Ebadot, playing for the same divisional team, have also impressed in the 2018-19 season. Mustafizur is a short-format star, but in four years of international cricket, this was only his third Test outside the sub-continent.They have to make best use of what they get in New Zealand. Once they are done here, it might be a long wait before they get a chance to show off their wares again, in conditions that make them look good and give them a fair chance.

Pakistan’s most defeats in a Test year, Starc collects an MCG record, and other stats highlights from the fifth day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan in Melbourne

Bharath Seervi30-Dec-20165 Instances of a team scoring over 400 batting first, and losing by an innings. Three of those have come in this month, with England losing twice, at Wankhede and Chepauk, and now Pakistan at MCG. Before this, there were only two such defeats in Test history, for England in 1930 and Sri Lanka in 2011.5 Number of consecutive Tests lost by Pakistan – one against West Indies, two to New Zealand and now two to Australia. This is their joint-longest losing streak ever. They had lost five in 1999-00 as well when a 3-0 whitewash in Australia was followed by two losses to Sri Lanka at home.2 Occasions of a team losing by an innings after declaring any of their innings. Australia, under Michael Clarke, lost after declaring on 237 for 9 in Hyderabad in 2012-13, and now, Pakistan after declaring on 443 for 9. Overall, this is the 21st instance of a team losing after declaring their first innings. Four of those have been at the MCG. apart from Adelaide (2), no other venue has had more than one instance. The previous such instance at the MCG also involved Pakistan when they lost after declaring on 574 for 8 in 1972-73.1 Out of the 43 double-centuries scored by Pakistan batsmen, Azhar Ali’s is the first one to have ended in defeat. The previous highest score in a defeat for Pakistan was Mohammad Hafeez’s 197 against New Zealand in Sharjah in 2014-15. Overall, this is the 17th double-century to have come in a losing cause, and only the fourth by an opener. However, only one other double-century has come in an innings defeat, by Len Hutton against West Indies at The Oval in 1950.7 Tests lost by Pakistan this year – their most in any calendar year. They won four of their first six Tests, but ended up losing the next five. Their previous most was six defeats, in 1995 and 2010.Australia put up a record team total at the MCG•ESPNcricinfo Ltd8 for 624 declared The highest total at the MCG in Test cricket. Australia beat their own record of 604 runs that was scored in the 1936-37 Ashes. This is also Australia’s highest total against Pakistan surpassing the 617 in Faisalabad in 1979-80.5.64 Australia’s run rate in the first session on fifth day of this Test; they made 159 runs in 28.1 overs. Steven Smith added 65 to his overnight tally in only 78 balls, while Starc smashed 84 off 91 balls.369* Runs scored by Smith in his last three innings at the MCG without being dismissed. He scored 134* and 70* in last year’s Boxing Day Test against West Indies and has followed it with 165* in this Test. Smith averages 127.60 in five matches at the MCG, the second highest by any player with five or more innings, behind Don Bradman’s 128.53.154 Runs added by Smith and Mitchell Starc – the third highest for the seventh wicket at the MCG. Greg Matthews and Graham Yallop had added 185 against Pakistan in 1983-84, which is the highest. This was Australia’s second 150-plus stand of the innings and both came at run rate of more than five – David Warner and Usman Khawaja had shared 198 at 5.55 per over and Smith and Starc at 5.37.7 Sixes hit by Starc in his 91-ball 84 – the most in an individual innings at the MCG. He bettered Andrew Symonds’ six sixes against South Africa in 2005 Boxing Day Test. This was Starc’s eight fifty of his Test career. For Australia only Mitchell Johnson (12) and Shane Warne (11) have made more fifty-plus scores batting at No. 8 or lower. 14 sixes have been hit in the first two innings of this Test, already the joint most in any MCG Test.60.63 Smith’s average in Tests after his 165 not out – the highest in his career so far. This is the second time his average has passed 60, at the end of a match. The first was in his 41st Test in Christchurch earlier in this year after he made 138 and 53 not out. His average is now the fifth highest among all batsmen who made 2000-plus runs.207 Runs conceded by Yasir Shah from his 41 overs – the second most by any bowler in an innings in Australia. His economy rate of 5.04 is the worst by any bowler to have bowled 25 or more overs at the MCG.

Waves and waves of cricket fans wound the clock back to the 1990s and early 2000s and cheered on players who had meant so much to them in their impressionable years

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan08-Nov-2015There was a time, back in the 17th and 18th century, when nostalgia was considered a mental disease. Some physicians treated it on par with paranoia and one French doctor recommended that it be treated with inciting pain and terror. Over time medical science has moved on. And these days nostalgia is sometimes even considered a virtue, a means of clinging on to an age long gone.For a few hours on Saturday, New York’s Citi Field was soaked in nostalgia. Waves and waves of cricket fans (large numbers wearing Indian and Pakistani jerseys) wound the clock back to the 1990s and early 2000s and cheered on players who had meant so much to them in their impressionable years. For those between 20 and 30, this was a return to their childhood, watching players who they had imitated in their backyards with their first cricket kit. For those between 30 and 40, it was a return to their adolescence, a time when they had sought out heroes and aspired to world dominance.They weren’t alone. A tiny fraction watched their first cricket match; a group of fans had flown in from Trinidad just for this game; there were a smattering of Australian, English and South African expatriates; men waving Sri Lankan flags; a bunch of middle-aged men in fancy dress attire (with fake blond wigs); a couple of dozen fans wearing Guyana Amazon Warriors jerseys; and a group of young men and women in Jamaican hats. The entire mass of human bodies combined in Mexican waves and high-decibel roars. The team announcements before the game was met with delirium.Virender Sehwag, Brian Lara, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar: mad cheers. Sachin Tendulkar: the stadium shook.The final result, in case you were wondering: Warne’s Warriors beat Sachin’s Blasters by six wickets. The stadium was small, the setting intimate – Ricky Ponting admitted that it was the first time in his life that a fan had clicked a selfie with him when he was fielding at the boundary. Most of the former fast bowlers used short run-ups and were mostly military medium (though Shoaib cranked it up for a few overs, getting Kumar Sangakkara and Matthew Hayden with short ones, and hurrying Jonty Rhodes with a sharp bouncer). Had Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh faced their own bowling, they might have fancied getting half-centuries. And Allan Donald has not only halved his run-up but also his pace.But all that was not the point. Through the game there were moments when the mind took a journey back in time. When Tendulkar and Sehwag walked in to open (with Sehwag, as expected, taking strike); when Akram, running his hands through his hair in that classical I-have-such-sleek-hair-that-I-can-crush-your-toes-and-burn-your-stumps-while-whistling-my-favourite-Nusrat-tune, ran in to bowl to Tendulkar (the memories! gosh, the memories!); when Warne set his field to bowl to Tendulkar (nightmares, here we come); when VVS Laxman came down to Warne (exactly like in Kolkata in 2001) and tried to slog him, cross-batted through midwicket (exactly not like Kolkata in 2001) to be stumped; when Muralitharan, eyes aglow, his hair in Jheri curls, a Colgate grin plastered on his face, appealed by wiggling his index finger at the umpire.These may have been retired cricketers having a bit of fun in the park but seeing them in action put spectators in a time-capsule. When Lara strolled in, as if he was on a beach; the mind could do little but pop up a string of numbers: 277, 375, 501, 213, 153, 400, 221…For some fans in the stadium watching these cricketers and the individual contests transported them to a phase of life when cricket was all-pervading. When coursework took a backseat, when the match scorecard was more important than mid-term report cards. Yes, fans remember Tendulkar hammering Warne in Sharjah – but many also remember where they were and what they were doing. Sure, they recall the scores and stats but they are intimately in tune with how upbeat those innings made them feel, how deeply connected they felt with both the man and the game as a whole.And each time they picked up on some action that triggered a new memory, the chants got louder, the flags waved faster, and the mood was filled with a sense of gusto. It is not far-fetched to assume that those who attended the game – especially those between 20 and 40 – were filled with a sense of gratitude: thanking the cricketers for being there when cricket meant the most.

Bangladesh lost heavily to West Indies, but showed signs of turning the corner, particularly with their selections and the performance of some of their bowlers. They will need to make these gains count against India

Mohammad Isam27-Mar-2014Losing teams cling on to morsels of confidence, and Bangladesh is one cricket team which has, in the not too distant past, made meals out of crumbs. The defeats to Hong Kong and West Indies in the World T20 have been debilitating, but they still have something to fight with against India on Friday.It is quite obvious that there are, first and foremost, several areas to improve on. Most of the batsmen have not made a substantial contribution for a number of games, the ground fielding has been awful and catching overall has been poor too. Mushfiqur Rahim’s captaincy has lacked flexibility on various occasions, and his batting and wicketkeeping have been below-par.In the game against the West Indies, particularly after the chastening defeat to Hong Kong in their first round game in Chittagong, there were signs that the team was starting to turn the corner, but they still left a few gaps in their decision-making and productivity.It started with the four changes they enforced. Particularly by dropping Abdur Razzak and Nasir Hossain, a message had been delivered to the team, finally, that there was no room for niceties.Having decided to field first, Mushfiqur bowled Mashrafe Mortaza and Sohag Gazi out inside the first ten overs. It was a risk as well, but seeing how Mashrafe had tied down Chris Gayle, giving away just four runs off ten balls, and Gazi had bowled two good overs (his second and third), he decided to take the chance. Mushfiqur hasn’t taken too many chances of late but this was interesting, and it worked mostly, until Gazi gave away four boundaries in his fourth over.Throughout the West Indies innings, Bangladesh showed patience. It could also be that they were waiting for the batsmen to start taking the aerial route but it was good bowling that tied down Gayle and co.Small things, like thinking on their feet, had deserted this team for more two months now, but there were glimpses that all was not lost. Al-Amin Hossain called for a catch from short fine-leg and held on to it. Tamim Iqbal took two great catches, the first of which was exceptional, going by Bangladesh’s high-catching standards. He took the catch on the edge of the boundary, tossed it up and held on again after stepping over and back in from the boundary rope. The second catch was a spectacular diving effort at short third man; Tamim looked a little shy as his teammates gathered around him.At the same time, though, Mahmudullah dropped two sitters at long-off and Anamul Haque fumbled a straightforward stop when Gayle had smashed one in his direction. Mushfiqur gave away eight byes in two balls.Tamim, Shakib, Mushfiqur and the rest struggled with the bat, particularly against the spinners. They might face a similar test against India, particularly Amit Mishra who had been India’s man of the match in both their games so far. Generally due to the lack of legspinners in the country, Bangladeshi batsmen are not used to facing them with confidence.Bangladesh were meek against India last month in the Asia Cup, despite making a decent total. They must improve on that performance on Friday, mostly for the sake of making sense of their own progress as a team and as individuals in the last two years. Bangladesh are a Full Member side and shouldn’t be bracketing themselves with an Associate, but having seen fellow qualifiers Netherlands give South Africa a massive scare on Thursday, they will want to match that performance at the very least.

On the opening day of the Colombo Test, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson struck up exactly the right tempo for New Zealand, and worked the bowlers and the field like they had been in form for weeks

Andrew Fernando at the P Sara25-Nov-2012When Sojourner Truth said the “night was often darkest before the dawn”, New Zealand’s Test travails were not the subject of her commentary. But on the first day of the second Test, the endeavours of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson appeared to give sporting credence to her words, though they have much left to achieve yet.Five days ago in Galle, New Zealand’s batsmen played Rangana Herath like he was bowling grenades at them while they were being waterboarded. Seemingly clueless on how to defuse good spin bowling, the visitors poked, parried and stumbled their way to their lowest Test score in an already distressing year. At the P Sara, suddenly they were transformed. When the evening rains arrived to force an early close of play, Williamson and Taylor were batting on what is by far New Zealand’s biggest partnership this year, and their best stand against a top-eight side since March 2009.What was most striking about New Zealand was the sudden swell of steel in their demeanour. At the toss, Ross Taylor said his side needed “to show the public that we can fight”, and his decision to bat first after their woes in Galle suggested he intended to walk the talk. It would have been easy for him to leave that mountain for another day. It had rained overnight and the P Sara pitch has historically been good for fast bowling, and though some would have questioned his judgement if he had opted to bowl first, that decision would be far from unjustifiable. Moreover, New Zealand’s opening bowlers had built into some fearsome form through the limited-overs series, and were perhaps only one wicket away on the second morning from changing the outcome of the first Test. Still, Taylor chose instead to lay the gauntlet down for his batsmen. It was a track full of runs, and through his decision, he implored the batsmen to pull their weight.New Zealand’s desperation was also manifested in Brendon McCullum’s ire at being wrongly given out lbw. In Galle’s second innings, he punched his bat on his exit out of frustration for having played an unnecessary shot, but in Colombo his mood was closer to fury. He had been playing tightly, and when the umpire raised his finger, he scowled at the official, and cursed and spat his way to the dressing room, where his wrath probably took an even more palpable turn.It is often said of batsmen who defy difficult conditions that they appeared to be playing on a different pitch from their peers, but the temperament and tone of Taylor’s partnership with Williamson was New Zealand batting from a different universe from their incompetence in Galle. There, New Zealand had spoken of being positive, yet batted so dourly in some parts that Sri Lanka were not under any pressure in the field, and attacked so unwisely in others that they gifted away their wicket. Yet somehow in Colombo, Taylor and Williamson struck up exactly the right tempo, one which New Zealand should not stray far from, and worked the bowlers and the field like they had been in form for weeks.Taylor should perhaps be especially pleased with his day’s work, having played perhaps his most mature innings to date. When he reached triple figures off a respectable 189 deliveries, he had only hit eight boundaries in his innings – the fewest he had hit in any innings in which he had made a hundred. His wagon wheel shows only one boundary to midwicket, and even that was on on-drive on which he rolled his wrists. His favourite slog sweep, along with most of the power-strokes that characterise his batting, were shelved during this innings, and singles and twos were preferred instead. He had spoken of being positive against spin bowling ahead of the series – a feat he achieved today, yet he hit no fours off the spinners, not even off the part-timer Tillakaratne Dilshan. It is a statistic that betrays the will of a man who wishes to make a break from the bleak past.Williamson’s natural game is more adapted to handling spin, and perhaps his calm presence at the other end helped Taylor stave away the hankerings to hit out. Off the back foot, Williamson was impeccable, allowing him to pinpoint gaps almost casually despite Mahela Jayawardene’s persistence with aggressive fields throughout the day. Unlike Taylor, who had to battle through a nervy period at the start of his innings, Williamson’s knock was almost chanceless. He picked the lengths early and used his feet effectively to blunt the spinners. His steady hand and a technique built around defence is often a refreshing change in a side in which those qualities seem undervalued, but today, Taylor chose Williamson’s approach and their partnership flourished as a result.New Zealand are still a long way from avoiding a record sixth consecutive loss, and they will know all their success today came on a pitch that gave very little to bowlers of every ilk. It is not only a batting performance that must be extended on day two, it is one that must be emulated in the months to come, if New Zealand are to scramble out of their rut. But Taylor and Williamson have given the visitors a better start to the second Test than anyone would have imagined in the days leading up to the Test, and perhaps the side has left rock bottom behind.

There is an air of casualness about Virender Sehwag, so casual that it feels eerie, as seen again at Motera

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2010You associate attacking batsmen with their aggressive aura, the bossiness of their body language. It wasn’t just how they batted but how they moved around in the middle that said much about them. Viv Richards would swagger and Matthew Hayden would snarl, Adam Gilchrist was restless, Michael Slater was possessed by a nervous energy and Shahid Afridi brims with adrenaline. Virender Sehwag remains calm.His batsmanship might hint at insolence but his body language doesn’t. There is an air of casualness about him – so casual that it feels eerie – as seen again today at Motera. He doesn’t look intense nor try acting cool; he doesn’t draw from verbals with bowlers, nor does he try to avoid them. He just bats. And he chats – with the umpire, his partner, even a friendly opposition player. He also hums tunes, as he explained at length in the post-match pitchside interview. He puts in a lot in a hostile, demanding environment?If you weren’t closely watching today, you’d probably have been deceived by his relaxed composure and thought there was no contest. Wrong. There was no hard-fought battle but there were several interesting moments. Some involved Daniel Vettori, who spent much of the day trying to get him lbw with the deliveries that swerved in and straightened. A couple of times, very early on, Sehwag edged his defensive pushes to pad. He adjusted very quickly, though, by shifting his guard towards leg. The feet were aligned on the leg stump line with the bat placed in the middle and not once did he push his front leg across after that. Not once.He stayed so true to that intent that it eventually led to his dismissal. By then he was also tired, he’d hurt his knee and had a runner. The front leg should have come across a bit then but it didn’t. Neither did he lean forward, allowing the arm-ball to move past the casual waft, hit the back pad and fall on the stumps.There were a couple of moments against Jeetan Patel too. Sehwag tried to impose himself first ball with an aggressive shot and ended up slashing high over point. Patel then floated it well outside off; Sehwag hit one through covers and was beaten immediately trying to play a weak defensive prod. His immediate response was to practice a crashing drive. Soon, he blasted one aerially past short extra cover and hit another through cover point.Patel gave up and went round the stumps with a deep point in place. No respite, though. Sehwag pressed back, collapsed his arms and carved the deliveries very late and well to the left of that deep point. Vettori knew moving that fielder finer wouldn’t help as Sehwag would have then kept playing the shot more square. And so Sehwag kept carving and cutting it late wide of that fielder – and not once did it seem risky.During one of Martin’s later spells, the bowler started without a third man; his first ball was a length delivery that homed in on the off stump but Sehwag stood motionless. The ball kept moving towards the stump and there was still no response from Sehwag. At the very last instant, he stirred: he bent his knees, collapsed his arms, and steered it very late to the unmanned third man boundary.All through there were the usual fun Sehwag moments. When Martin banged in a bouncer, Sehwag had to arch back a long way to avoid it; Martin looked across at Sehwag, signalling a rare win for the bowler. Sehwag’s response: he practiced his upper cut over backward point and Martin turned and walked back quietly.After the day’s play, he showed no effects of those hours in the sun and heat. Asked whether he kept track of the score while batting, he said, with a straight face: “. (I have to. Scorers can make mistakes!)” It didn’t seem arrogant, it didn’t seem flippant or serious. It was Sehwag: great skills, great fun.

Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga made good use of an excellent batting pitch, putting West Indies in a strong position after the first day

On the Ball with S Rajesh22-Jun-2006Brian Lara won an important toss, and his openers didn’t let him down: Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga put together their fourth century stand, and by close of play West Indies were in a position of immense strength.The pitch was an excellent one for batting, but both batsmen, especially Gayle, were still patient enough to first gauge the pace and bounce before going for the shots. The first seven overs fetched only seven runs, but by then Gayle was comfortable enough to launch into his strokes, after which the Indians couldn’t do much to curb him. Gayle was especially severe on Harbhajan Singh, whose return to the Test side was anything but impressive – his 12 overs leaked 57, of which Gayle’s contribution was 30 from 22 balls. A feature of Gayle’s batting was his driving down the ground in the V between mid-off and mid-on – 36 of his 83 runs came in that region.At the other end, Ganga was solidity personified, especially against Anil Kumble, who had dismissed him twice in the two earlier Tests and was again India’s best bowler. Ganga had an in-control factor of 92% against Kumble, who was desperately unlucky not to have won one of several close lbw shouts against Ramnaresh Sarwan. Sarwan finished on an unbeaten 44, but had an in-control factor of just 71% against Kumble.

Australia recovered from a difficult loss in Delhi to win in Indore and draw in Ahmedabad

Andrew McGlashan13-Mar-20232:22

Chappell: Australia didn’t learn a lot about their play in this series

The anguish of knowing their chances of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Indian soil were potentially scuppered by one horrific session of batting will continue to linger for Australia, but they were able to finish the series with a ringing endorsement of their spin attack which was termed the best to visit the country in a decade.Australia knew coming to the ground in Ahmedabad for the final day of the series that their best hope was to survive and keep the margin at 2-1, something they achieved with ease through Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne on a surface that though it started to turn had not done it nearly early enough.The second half of the series was in stark contrast to the first where Australia’s limp batting in three out of the four innings cost them, most dramatically when they lost 8 for 28 on the third morning in Delhi having been well placed on a tricky pitch.”We really hurt after that game in Delhi,” Steven Smith said. “Guys were pretty upset with the way we went away from our methods in that game, it was disappointing, but obviously at that point we knew there was plenty to still play for in the series and guys responded really well and as a group we are proud of the way we bounced back and played some good cricket in the last couple of Test matches. You take the hour of madness away and things could certainly have been different.”Related

India take series 2-1 after tedious draw on lifeless Ahmedabad pitch

Murphy's maturity, Khawaja's redemption, Head's promise among Australia's takeaways

India, Australia brace for the unknowns at the WTC final

However, even in the opening defeats, the performances of Todd Murphy (seven wickets on debut in Nagpur) and Nathan Lyon (a five-wicket haul in Delhi) stood out and they then combined with left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann during just his second Test in Indore to secure a famous victory.India’s coach, Rahul Dravid, revealed that the quality of Australia’s spin attack had been noted by the home side with some of their batters who could recall rating it the best since they had faced Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar when they earned England a 2-1 series win in 2012-13.”A lot of times you see with overseas teams they have one good spinner but tend to leak runs at the other end and you can control the game from the other end,” Dravid told . “But credit to the two young spinners, they maintained that pressure, [and] they took wickets. A lot of the guys… were full of praise for the quality of spin they had to play which made the series win all that much more sweeter.”Some of the guys were saying since probably Panesar and Swann they’ve not played over the last decade a couple of spinners of this kind of quality or this quality of spells. They’ve played individual spinners who have been brilliant over the last 10 years, including someone like Nathan Lyon, but to have the quality of spin attack, probably since Panesar and Swann it’s been the best quality of spin we’ve played over the last 10 years in these conditions.”The collective average for Australia’s spinners of 26.28 places it second in that time period, behind the 2016-17 combination of Lyon and Steve O’Keefe who shared 38 wickets at 24.73. The England side of 2012-13, dominated by Swann and Panesar, claimed 39 wickets at 28.61.Smith, who took over the captaincy for the last two Tests when Pat Cummins returned home, praised the way Murphy and Kuhnemann, neither of whom were the first-choice spinners for their states in Australia before this tour, had dealt with the pressure.”Debuting in Test cricket in India, it can be quite daunting at times and the way they came in and performed was outstanding,” he said. “The way they have developed and learnt to bowl over here on the go has been outstanding. I thought Murphy in the last game and this Test match as well, how tight he kept it, bowling in a defensive way was outstanding.”Lyon took 22 wickets in the series to finish equal second with Ravindra Jadeja behind R Ashwin, the India duo being named joint players of the series. After the third day’s play, Lyon said he felt he had bowled better in Ahmedabad than in Indore, where he claimed 11 wickets in the match including eight in the second innings, and it was a view endorsed by Smith who even went a step further.”I’ve stood at slip to him for a very long time and the way the ball was coming out, the revs and drop and everything he had on the ball on a surface that wasn’t offering a great deal, I said to him at the end of play, that’s probably the best I’ve seen you bowl,” he said. “For someone who’s played 115-odd Tests to keep getting better, I thought was outstanding.”