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Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill both fall after promising opening stand.

Vishal Dikshit09-Jan-2021After a promising opening stand of 71 by India, Australia’s relentless pace attack got rid of both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill within half an hour to remind the visitors that they were still facing an uphill task of not just needing another 309 runs but also surviving 97 overs on the last day. With India 98 for 2, and Ravindra Jadeja dealing with a fractured thumb which may not let him bat, Australia could be only three wickets away from opening the tail and storming their way towards a 2-1 series lead.Related

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Australia propelled themselves into a dominant position with half-centuries from Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith and Cameron Green, who put on a display of belligerent hitting after crossing 50 with the help of four sixes that enabled them to score at 5.65 in the second session. Once Australia declared with a massive lead of 406 at tea, Sharma and Gill gave India a glimmer of hope by stitching a partnership of 71, but Gill fell to Josh Hazlewood’s stifling line outside off and Sharma pulled a short ball straight to fine leg to leave India 92 for 2.

Paine sanctioned for dissent

Australia’s Test captain was fined 15% of his match fees for showing dissent at an umpiring decision. Paine expressed displeasure through an expletive-laden outburst after an unsuccessful lbw review against Cheteshwar Pujara in the final session on Sunday. He was handed one demerit point to his offence, his first in 24 months.

Sharma wasn’t unafraid to pull from the very first ball of the innings and the shot even fetched him a six off Green soon after he had unleashed two exquisite cover drives off Mitchell Starc in the previous over. Gill, too, exhibited elegant back-foot punches on the way to his 31 as the new ball barely moved around. India’s 34 overs also saw as many as four reviews taken, all off Hazlewood’s bowling.The first two came within a space of three balls in the eighth over when Hazlewood thought he had Sharma lbw with a delivery that jagged back in. Replays, however, showed the ball was going over the stumps. Two balls later, after Sharma nearly chopped on in between for a single, Tim Paine reviewed when they thought Gill edged one behind but the ball had only flicked the pad.Cameron Green unwinds and unleashes•Getty Images

The second set of reviews occurred in the 23rd over and this time Hazlewood tasted success by getting a thick edge off Gill’s bat. Gill somehow thought of reviewing that and lost his team a review. Three balls later, Paul Wilson adjudged Cheteshwar Pujara lbw on a duck but the batsman reviewed immediately after being hit on the thigh pad and was saved by ball-tracking’s projection of the ball going over the stumps.After reaching his half-century with a lofted swing for four off Nathan Lyon, Sharma departed when he pulled Pat Cummins straight to fine leg and walked back in disappointment.Another promising sign for the hosts was the temperament with which Green batted after Smith’s dismissal and switched gears to extend the lead. Three of his four sixes came against Mohammed Siraj after he saw through a tough spell from Jasprit Bumrah. Green looked at ease during his 132-ball stay, especially when scoring was not as easy in the first two sessions because of the slowness and the turn.The change in tempo from Australia was apparent much earlier when Smith started to attack after lunch that saw a Siraj over going for 12. Smith then swept R Ashwin for four and clipped Siraj for another before Ashwin trapped him lbw and used a review to send him back. India could have reduced their troubles had they held on to two dropped catches, both off Bumrah. The second was off Paine, on 7, when Sharma put him down at wide first slip and the first was on the second ball of the day when Hanuma Vihari dropped a straightforward catch off Labuschagne at backward square leg.Paine dealt in boundaries after he was dropped for a quick fifty stand with Green, who got to 50 with a thick edge that gave Ajinkya Rahane a very touch chance at gully off the second new ball. Green’s charge was paused by a crowd incident directed towards Siraj at the leg-side boundary which led to six fans being evicted from the ground. Once play resumed, Green drilled Bumrah down the ground for four and then hooked him for six. Green was closing in on a maiden century but on the last ball of the same over, he was given caught behind even without an appeal from Bumrah when he missed another heave. When Green reviewed, Snicko confirmed a thin edge, and Australia declared during the tea break.The first session belonged to the hosts as well. Labuschagne cashed in after being dropped on 47 and put on another century stand with Smith. He continued to score freely square of the wicket and Smith cracked a few cover drives to also cross 50. It took an excellent spell of 7-1-19-2 from Navdeep Saini, whose high-arm action extracted extra bounce to have Labuschagne caught down leg, and then have Matthew Wade poke at one outside off for 4. Smith steered Australia past 200 but once he was trapped lbw for 81 by Ashwin with a loopy offbreak, Green took over with Paine and flattened India further.

A star performance from Liverpool's Luis Diaz hands Colombia the reigns to Group D in Copa America

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• Colombia thump Costa Rica 3-0
• Luis Diaz leads charge
• Los Cafeteros book spot in knockout stage

• TELL ME MORE

  A first-half penalty kick from Luis Diaz set the tone as Colombia blanked Costa Rica 3-0 Friday night in Group D of the Copa America.

  The strike from their star winger handed them an early 1-0 lead 31 minutes into the match, but the floodgates opened in the final 45 minutes.

  A 59th-minute header from ex-Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez gave them the double, but the third arrived via Jhon Cordoba. A precision lofted through ball from James Rodriguez placed the it on a platter for the forward, and he made no mistake as he fired past the goalkeeper.

  With the result, Colombia have confirmed their spot in the knockout stage of Copa America 2024. A win or draw against Brazil on matchday three would affirm that they finish top of their group.

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• DID YOU KNOW?

  Colombia won their first match of the Group Stage, defeating Paraguay 2-1. Costa Rica, meanwhile, earned an astonishing point by holding Brazil scoreless in a 0-0 draw.

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  THE MVP

  After a brilliant first game, Diaz was finally rewarded with his first goal of the tournament. The Liverpool superstar notched the opener from the penalty spot, and was a menace for the Ticos all night.

  He was lively from the start, creating chances and opportunity in the final-third. A deserved MOTM performance.

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  THE BIG LOSER

  Brazil:

  If the Selecao want to top Group D, they now will have to win-out through the remainder of the Group Stage. That means their matchday three showdown with Colombia could be massive.

  Colombia's victory Friday night puts all the pressure on Vinicius Jr. and Co., who now cannot afford to falter in their final two group stage matches.

Shoaib Malik’s fifty was in vain as Jaffna Stallions were bowled out for 150 batting first

Madushka Balasuriya09-Dec-2020How the game played outIn a departure from the run-fests that have populated the Lanka Premier League 2020 so far, the Jaffna Stallions and Kandy Tuskers played out a rare low-scoring affair that eventually saw the Tuskers sneak a six-wicket win.It was fittingly Asela Gunaratne, unbeaten on a 37-ball 52, who scored the winning runs – coming down the pitch to swat Duanne Olivier for a straight six off the first ball of the final over. That it was just the fourth six of the entire game tells a story, as both sets of players struggled to score fluently.That it even came to that point was down to a combination of tight bowling and unambitious batting on the part of the Tuskers. Having done exceedingly well to limit the Stallions to 150, the Tuskers suddenly found themselves struggling to get ahead of the required rate.Wanindu Hasaranga, who ended with figures of 2 for 23, was once again the standout threat, but it didn’t help the Tuskers’ cause that they lost three wickets inside the powerplay period for just 44 runs. Their response to that was to then eschew any sort of risk in their chase – though there was an incentive to get the runs quicker and leapfrog in the net run rate stakes the Galle Gladiators, whom they are competing with for a final semifinal spot.In the end Gunaratne’s cool head would prevail, putting on two consecutive 50-run stands with Kusal Perera and Irfan Pathan, to see his side through.Earlier, it was once again Gunaratne that had made the difference, after his miserly four overs had given away just 21 runs and accounted for the wickets of Minod Bhanuka and Thisara Perera. Both those wickets came in a pivotal 13th over, after Bhanuka along with Shoaib Malik had resurrected an ailing Stallions innings.Led by the finally available Dale Steyn, the Tuskers had reduced the Stallions to 3 for 50 in the powerplay period, before a slow-burn 59-run fourth wicket stand off 53 deliveries between Malik and Bhanuka brought forth consolidation – the plan clearly being to set the stage for a customary late assault from the likes of Thisara and Wanindu.Gunaratne though would intervene, before Steyn would return to dismiss Wanindu cheaply to leave the Stallions reeling on 104 for 6 in the 15th over. Malik would do his best to up the scoring rate with a few boundary hits, but in the end with recognised batsman running out, he too would fall for a 44-ball 59. Fourteen runs off the final two overs would see the Stallions limp to 150, a score that was going to be hard to defend despite their best efforts.Dale Steyn is thrilled to pick up a wicket•AFP

Stars of the dayWith figures of 2 for 33, a well-taken catch, and the introduction of a fishing-themed celebration, the Steyn effect on the Tuskers cannot be understated. Indeed, it was expected that Steyn’s entry would add some much-needed firepower and potency to the Tuskers’ bowling ranks, but it’s his influence on his fellow bowlers as a result of his in-game nous and experience that really stood out. Steyn was seen constantly giving advice to his colleagues, and it’s no fluke that it coincided with one of the most well-rounded bowling performances of the tournament.At the other end of the speed spectrum lies Asela Gunaratne. While his bowling may be hard to describe, it’s nevertheless effective. And with the bat, his mentality and composure in pressure moments makes him the ideal finisher. After a long spell out with injury, Gunaratne looks to finally be finding his best form.For the Stallions, it seems they have had get-out-of-jail free cards right through out the tournament, and why not when you have game-changers such as Wanindu Hasaranga in your ranks. While Steyn ensured he wouldn’t be able to do any damage with the bat, he more than made up for it with the ball; once again it was his control and variations, namely his excellent googly, that caused the opposition batters all kinds of trouble.Turning pointAt 100 for 3, seven overs remaining, and Thisara and Wanindu still to come, the Stallions would have been relatively pleased with the situation. But in the space of two overs all those plans went out the proverbial window, as first Gunaratne dismissed Bhanuka and Thisara in the space of an over, and then Steyn took out Wanindu four balls later. The Stallions’ innings never recovered after that.Where the teams standThe win sees the Tuskers go ahead of the Gladiators on points in the race for the final semifinal spot, but they still lag behind on net run rate. Regardless of whether the Gladiators win their next game or not, if weather doesn’t intervene, it’s all set for straight play-off between the two tomorrow.

Caleb Jewell passes 1,000 runs for the season but is only wicket to fall in Derbyshire second innings

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay10-Sep-2025Caleb Jewell reached 1,000 County Championship runs for the season on a rain-ravaged third day of Derbyshire’s clash with hosts Middlesex at Lord’s.Only 10 overs were possible, but it proved sufficient time for the Tasmanian left-hander to reach the landmark with a glance tickled to the fine-leg fence.The 28-year-old, who reached his 1,000 in what was his 22nd innings for the county, also became the only wicket to fall, as Derbyshire closed on 33 for 1, bowled by a beauty from Ryan Higgins which flattened the off stump.The further frustration for Jewell was he hadn’t reached the pavilion steps before the second rain interruption of the morning drove the players off for an early lunch.Only three more overs were bowled, during which Luis Reece survived two huge lbw shouts from Toby Roland-Jones before rain prevented any further play.Both sides are desperate for a win to keep any pressure on second placed Glamorgan in the Division Two promotion race, but it will take creative collaboration between the respective captains to contrive a positive result on the final day.

Netflix star and comedian Richard Gadd was spotted supporting Scotland from the stands at Euro 2024.

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• Scotland take on Switzerland
• Baby Reindeer's Gadd spotted
• Scotland draw 1-1

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Gadd, who rose to fame following the popularity of the Netflix drama Baby Reindeer which he wrote and starred in, was spotted by eagle-eyed fans watching Scotland versus Switzerland.

  The Wormit-born actor was spotted in a kilt, baseball cap and Scotland shirt as he supported his nation in Germany. There was no sign of Martha, the woman by whom he was stalked in the show.

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• SEE THE PICTURE

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Gadd was likely reasonably happy with the result at the Cologne Stadium, after Steve Clarke's side walked away with a point. Scott McTominay opened the scoring with his deflected effort before Xherdan Shaqiri curled a long-range shot past Angus Gunn.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR SCOTLAND?

  Scotland currently sit third in Group A with one point from the opening two games. They will now look ahead to the clash against Hungary on Sunday (June 23) which will decide whether they progress into the knock-out stages or not.

“My hands were a little bit tied and I would have liked to have had a bit more of an influence on the team,” he adds

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2020Shane Warne, Rajasthan Royals’ mentor and brand ambassador, has said that Jos Buttler “should definitely be opening” the batting for the franchise, having shifted down into the middle order for their last three games.Rajasthan have used five different opening pairs in the tournament to date, with Robin Uthappa and Ben Stokes combining at the top since their game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on October 17. That has meant Buttler moving into the middle order – a role he had filled only once in all T20 cricket since midway through the 2018 IPL season – where he has so far posted scores of 24, 70* and 9.Warne, whose involvement with the team management has been reduced this season, said that he thought using Buttler as a middle-order floater was a mistake, and that the Royals should revert to using him at the top of the order alongside Steven Smith – as they did in three of their first four games.”I think Buttler should definitely be opening,” Warne told Sky Sports’ IPL Cricket Show in the UK. “I think Ben Stokes can do a job opening the batting, but I would like Ben in the middle overs – that’s where he has played all of his cricket and done really well.”That’s not to say he [Stokes] can’t open, but Jos Buttler to me – if you’re picking a world XI, the first one pencilled in is at the top of the order, No. 1, [is] Buttler. I’m not sure why they’ve gone away from that. I think Jos has to bat at the top. I think Steven Smith should be the guy that’s the backbone of the team in their batting, so he should probably open as well with Buttler, and then you’ve got Sanju Samson, Stokes – that’s one to four, then guys like [Rahul] Tewatia who’s done really well, [and] young Riyan Parag at five and six.Warne suggested that the Royals’ think-tank had over-complicated things while trying to make up for senior players’ lack of form, and said they should return to the simple T20 mantra that teams should put their best batsmen at the top of the order to ensure they can face as many balls as possible.”As the wickets are getting slower as the tournament goes on, and the bowlers are getting so good now, the faster bowlers at the back end, you’ve got to maximise that powerplay,” Warne said. “The best players bat all the way through, or they bat to the 16th, 17th and make a hundred.”I think if you bat Jos Buttler in the middle overs, it’s that juggling act about when does he go in, how many balls does he face, and then you might get stuck like the other day. There’s only 120 balls: if Jos Buttler can face 50 or 60 of those balls, which is half, then I know he’s going to make a lot of runs.”So I want him up the top, it’s as simple as that, otherwise you can complicate it too much and say back end, he’s got all the shots and improvisation – well, in this tournament, your best players have to perform, and if they don’t perform you’re going to struggle.”That’s what Andrew McDonald, the coach, and the leaders of that team are trying to fix – all the spots that aren’t working. But as I tried to say to them: just get your best players to face the most amount of balls [sic], and if they don’t, you’re going to struggle a bit.”Warne spent some of the tournament in the UAE, but was largely seen speaking to franchise stakeholders in the stands rather than joining the rest of the Royals’ coaching staff in the dugout. He voiced some frustration at his lack of involvement with the team’s management, suggesting that his “hands were a little bit tied”.”My role was team mentor and brand ambassador, and I think they wanted me to do more of the brand ambassador stuff, talk to people in the stands. I wasn’t involved in the dugout, I wasn’t involved in debriefings, I wasn’t involved in any of that stuff.”I attended training – the coach and the captain would come and speak to me and ask for my thoughts and then implement them if they wanted to, or … they didn’t want to. At training I helped the spinners out when I could but they had a spin-bowling coach [Sairaj Bahutule] out there too, so I just worked with him.”I was trying to help out where I can. My hands were a little bit tied and I would have liked to have had a bit more of an influence on the team, but they had other people in charge.”

Jarrod Bowen received a heartfelt message from his partner Dani Dyer on Father's Day as he was unable to spend it with his children due to Euro 2024.

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• Bowen unable to see kids on Father's Day
• Dani Dyer posted on Instagram
• Winger featured in England win

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The 2018 Love Island winner, who has one-year-old twin girls with Bowen and a three-year-old from a previous relationship, shared two Instagram stories on Father's Day with images of Bowen and each of the kids. In the first, he was playing with the twins on swings, while in the second he was holding up the older boy, Santiago.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Bowen was unable to spend Father's Day with his family on account of England's opening game of Euro 2024 against Serbia coincidentally falling on Sunday. Dani Dyer did still attend the game in Gelsenkirchen and intends to travel back and forth to Germany throughout the tournament. Bowen impressed when he replaced Bukayo Saka in the second half, adding fresh energy to the England team at a crucial time in the contest.

• WHAT DANI DYER SAID

  Dani Dyer said: "Happy Father's Day baby. Thank you for everything you do for us and being the best daddy. We are so grateful and love you so much…Wish we could give you a cuddle but we will have loads once you are home."

  In the second post, she said: "Love you jayjay."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR BOWEN & ENGLAND?

  The likelihood of Bowen forcing his way into the starting XI for England's next game against Denmark on Thursday are slim, considering how well Saka had performed. But he certainly showed with his 14 minutes off the bench that he can be trusted by Gareth Southgate to change things up. A starting place could later be up for grabs against Slovenia on June 25 if England have already qualified for the knockouts by then.

Manchester United are reportedly plotting a move for Wolves' £60m-rated Matheus Cunha following Anthony Martial's exit.

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• Scouts have watched £60m-rated Cunha
• West Ham's Mohammed Kudus also tracked
• Martial will leave the club this summer

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Manchester United are reportedly ready to make a move for Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Matheus Cunha as they look to replace the departing Anthony Martial.The Mirror claim that the Brazilian forward is high on the club's list of targets as they get set for a busy summer.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  With Martial leaving the club upon the expiration of his contract this summer, Manchester United are left with just two recognised senior strikers in Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund, making a new forward a priority when the transfer window opens later this month. The report also claims that West Ham's Mohammed Kudus is another player they are looking at.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Cunha netted 14 goals and laid on eight assists for the West Midlands club last season and it was little coincidence that Wolves' poor end to the season coincided with the big-money signing missing time with injury.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?

  A busy summer awaits at Old Trafford, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team get set for their first transfer window in charge of the club's football operations. A decision must first be made regarding the future of manager Erik ten Hag before the club gets ready for a significant number of comings and goings in the transfer window.

In the clash between the top two, Northern beat KP by 11 runs to finish top of the table

Danyal Rasool16-Oct-2020Southern Punjab beat Balochistan by seven wickets</b
Southern Punjab scripted a stunning win inside 10.4 overs to storm into the semi-finals of the National T20 Cup. After being asked to bowl, Shan Masood’s side knew they’d have to chase whatever Balochistan set inside 12.3 overs, but once the target read 162, that equation seemed more academic than realistic.SP, though, threw the kitchen sink at it, sending Sohaib Maqsood to open the batting with Zeeshan Ashraf. It was carnage in the powerplay, which, thanks chiefly to Maqsood, saw SP rack up 99 runs. Maqsood had brought up a 17-ball fifty, and went on to bludgeon 81 in 29 before he finally tickled one through to the keeper. But the fall of three quick wickets did little to step the scoring. Aamer Yamin and Hussain Talat struck up a whirlwind 19-ball 53-run partnership of their own, and in the end SP got to the target with a scarcely believable 9.2 overs to spare, eliminating both Balochistan and Central Punjab in the process.When Imam-ul-Haq and Bismillah Khan had diligently accumulated a 69-run partnership in the first innings, it appeared Balochistan would put together too many runs to give SP any sort of sniff. But once the pair fell in quick succession, the run-scoring dried up. Mohammad Ilyas expertly use changes of pace to rob the batsmen of rhythm, conceding at just over a run-a-ball and accounting for Haris Sohail early. An unbeaten 21-ball 37 from Akbar-ur-Rehman appeared to have put enough on the board to at least freeze SP out of the final four, but Maqsood, and a bloody-minded SP, had other ideas.Haris Rauf ran through the Southern Punjab batting•PCB

Northern beat Khyber Pakhtunkwa by 11 runsA splendid team effort from Northern’s bowlers saw them edge out KP by 11 runs. In what was a clash of the top two, the bowlers from both sides dominated proceedings, a significant departure from the trend over the course of this tournament. Northern won the toss and batted, only for KP’s bowlers to get on top from the outset; Northern were never quite able to free the shackles. Wahab Riaz ripped through the innings, taking five wickets for 21 in his four overs, while there were also wickets for Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Afridi, who combined to concede just 26 in six overs. Only a late, and retrospectively priceless, cameo from Imad Wasim, who top-scored with 36, got Northern up to 144.It might have been a tall order to defend but what followed from Northern’s bowlers was a masterclass in execution. Each was meticulously disciplined, all five bowlers conceding between 24 and 29 in their quota. Haris Rauf was, as has been the case this tournament, amongst the wickets, taking 3 for 28, but it was the asphyxiating pressure that saw KP’s opportunities slip away. Mohammad Haris batted through the innings and faced 70 balls, but could score no more than 79; no other batsman managed more than 11. It was an illustration of the intensity Northern bring to every game, even ostensible dead rubbers, and showcased why the defending champions are favourites to double up this year.