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ESPNCricinfo previews the game between Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians

The Preview by Nitin Sundar23-Apr-2011Match factsSunday, April 24, Delhi
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Mumbai’s attack is not overly dependent on Lasith Malinga anymore•Associated Press

Big pictureIt’s Sachin Tendulkar’s 38th birthday and he returns to the venue where he played the best ODI innings of 2009. That epic 175 against Australia resulted in defeat, a depressing addition to the list of Tendulkar masterclasses that went in vain. That night, the crowd returned home numbed by India’s brain-freeze in the end overs, wondering if they were destined to never see their team winning. The Uppal jinx was finally broken by Deccan Chargers when they beat Bangalore on April 14 – their first home win in four editions. Will their fans want that streak to continue, at the cost of denying India’s biggest icon victory on his birthday?Mumbai are coming off three easy wins, one shock defeat and one hard-fought victory. They have looked the most complete side in the tournament, and their star power has allowed them to carry a couple of passengers in almost every game. Their fielding effort against Chennai Super Kings must rank among the best ever put up by an IPL outfit. Not too many cover-drives can find a way past a cordon that includes Andrew Symonds, Kieron Pollard, Rohit Sharma and R Sathish. The batting has been consistent, and the bowling is shaking off its dependence on Lasith Malinga.After a sluggish start, Deccan have managed two wins in three games, and will go into the game quietly confident of an upset. Their methods have been in complete contrast to Mumbai’s: lesser-knowns like Bharat Chipli and Sunny Sohal have provided the spark, while the bigger signings have remained in the background. They will need to be at their best to put it past Mumbai.Form guide (most recent first)Deccan WLWLL (8th in points table)
Mumbai WWLWW (1st in points table)Team talkWho will open Mumbai’s innings with Tendulkar? Do they just draw lots before the toss? So far Davy Jacobs, James Franklin and R Sathish have been tried. Given how poor Franklin and Sathish were, Jacobs might fancy his chances of coming back into the XI. Deccan clicked like a cohesive unit against Delhi, and may want to retain that combination.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.In the spotlightSome say it was a speed-gun conspiracy, but Ishant Sharma has clocked upwards of 150 kph on a few occasions in this IPL. The last time he managed such pace was in 2008 when he bullied Ricky Ponting with a delightful spell of seam bowling in Perth. Ishant’s faltered, fizzled and settled into a lesser role in recent times, but there is still hope for resurgence.Rohit Sharma played a gem against Chennai. It was the kind of innings that left his critics infuriated, since it once again highlighted the contrast between his international career and his IPL exploits. His feet move better, his shot selection is sharper and he just seems switched on when he’s playing this tournament. Will Rohit have another bounty season? And this time, will he carry on from there to bigger things?Prime numbersTendulkar is 81 runs away from Suresh Raina, who is the all-time highest IPL run-getter. Rohit is fifth in the list.Pragyan Ojha is the second-highest wicket-taker in IPLs. Amit Mishra is fifthThe chatter”Unbelievable fielding. Brillant catches. Superb ground-fielding. I thought the fielders created opportunities today.”

Manchester City have not been shy when it comes to spending significant sums of money on bringing new players to the club over the years.

However, one figure currently in Pep Guardiola’s squad who has become a big player for the club but didn’t cost them a penny in transfer fees is Phil Foden.

As a product of City’s youth system, the Englishman has racked up 208 appearances for the club in all competitions across their senior and youth sides.

In that time, the 21-year-old has scored 65 goals and delivered 46 assists along the way, showing what a dangerous attacking talent he is.

Now that the next summer transfer window is on the horizon, this will give Guardiola and the Etihad Stadium hierarchy the chance to get their chequebooks out once again and make whatever changes to the squad that they see fit.

In terms of players with whom the Citizens have been linked in recent weeks, one name which sticks out who could be brought in to form a deadly duo with Foden is Mason Mount.

According to a report from The Sun last week, Chelsea are concerned that their midfield star could be lured away to the Manchester club as a result of their current ownership issues.

Should the Citizens launch a move to bring the England international to the north west, Guardiola could then have the opportunity to create a formidable attacking pairing in his team for the future.

To compare the two players from their current individual Premier League campaigns, Mount has made 30 appearances compared to Foden’s 25. In those outings, the Chelsea star has racked up more goals (10 v 8) and assists (9 v 5) than his England teammate.

Even from a defensive point of view, the 22-year-old has overshadowed the City starlet by having a combined total of 53 tackles and interceptions compared to Foden’s 32.

Praised by Joe Cole for his “unbelievable” actions on the pitch, Mount has also been described as “one of the most important players in the country” by the former Chelsea and West Ham star.

Despite having previously been valued at £70m, the Stamford Bridge sensation should definitely be in City’s thinking if a summer move for him becomes a possibility, as the prospect of him playing alongside Foden at club level would be a mouth-watering one.

In other news: Huge behind-the-scenes claim emerges, it’s great news for Man City supporters

The Umpire Decision Referral System (UDRS) could undergo further changes, but will never be perfect, the ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said. The system has had its fair share of supporters and detractors since the time it was first implemented in the India-Sri Lanka Tests in 2008. It is currently being used in the Ashes but will not be in operation for the India-South Africa series, due to India’s objection.”From the start we’ve always had a very open mind about the referral system and we are always open to changes that can make the system better,” Lorgat told . “I can’t say what those changes might be, but we are open-minded.”The UDRS received the ICC’s approval to be used in the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent, and the governing body has allowed the boards to implement the system in bilateral ODI series for teams to get used to the technology ahead of the tournament. Lorgat said support for UDRS was increasing. “More and more people are being won over to the system after having seen it or used it,” Lorgat said. “There are still a few people who are not supportive of it.”Lorgat stressed that the system’s purpose was to rectify any glaring umpiring errors, and cited Alastair Cook’s calling for a referral in the Adelaide Test against being given out caught-behind. “It is not there to get a wicket when you are struggling to find one, it is there to fix the obvious errors,” he said. “Alastair Cook’s referral on the fourth day when he was given out caught behind off his arm was a classic example.”That’s exactly what it is for, and I’m quite confident we are near to the ideal. We will never have it 100% right.”

Everton will face their fierce rivals this afternoon when they make the short trip to Anfield in the away fixture of the Merseyside Derby.

Frank Lampard has revealed several injury concerns that he will be hoping won’t setback his team from putting on a performance in the Premier League clash, with Donny van de Beek, Andre Gomes and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all ruled out against Liverpool.

Andros Townsend, Tom Davies and Nathan Patterson all remain unchanged on the injury table for the foreseeable, however, the Toffees boss has hinted that a recent returnee is in doubt to feature today.

Lampard took to his pre-match press conference to respond to doubt over Yerry Mina’s inclusion in the starting line-up:

“That’s a decision I’ll have to make closer to the game, because of the tight turnaround. He’s an important player to us and we’ve got to understand we’ve got six more games after this.”

With that being said, this is how Football FanCast expects Everton to line up this afternoon…

We predict that Lampard will make just two changes from the team that drew with Leicester City on Wednesday night, with his typical 4-3-3 formation deployed.

The first change we expect to see is Michael Keane returning to the back-line after the manager’s comments suggesting that Mina may be rested at Anfield today, so it would seem likely that the defender will reprise his role in the otherwise unchanged back four alongside Seamus Coleman, Vitaliy Mykolenko and Ben Godfrey.

The second change we think the Toffees boss will make is the inclusion of Abdoulaye Doucoure, who hasn’t been given much game time as of late with just six minutes played since the Burnley clash at the beginning of the month.

The 29-year-old gem who was hailed “underrated” by Jamie Redknapp, has played ten times in the Merseyside Derby, winning two, drawing two and losing six whilst scoring and assisting once against the Kopites.

We expect to see Doucoure earn his role back in the starting line-up to replace £100k-per-week flop Alex Iwobi in the midfield, playing just ahead of Allan and Fabian Delph to assist with the attacking threat needed to have any chance of beating their title-challenging rivals this afternoon.

Lampard will be feeling the pressure come 4:30pm if Burnley take a result in their fixture a few hours before the derby, with Everton just one point clear of their relegation rivals, a win for Burnley and a loss for the Toffees could spell danger as the side would fall into the bottom three by end of play.

AND in other news: Huge blow: Everton dealt worrying injury setback before Liverpool, Lamps surely gutted

A late afternoon collapse that saw Kent lose three wickets for fourruns in the space of five balls allowed Hampshire to wrest theinitiative of this first division survival battle

Mark Pennell at Canterbury08-Sep-2010
ScorecardA late afternoon collapse that saw Kent lose three wickets for fourruns in the space of five balls allowed Hampshire to wrest theinitiative of this first division survival battle and leave the hostsstaring down the barrel at Championship relegation.Having dismissed their fellow strugglers for 182 to secure a slender,yet precious first innings lead of 22, Hampshire survived a dozen nervyovers in fading light through to the close and go into day three on 16without loss and an overall advantage in the match of 38 runs.Rain and bad light ensured there was no hope of Kent resuming on theirovernight total of 15 for one until 1.35pm and after the loss of 30overs out of the day.Home second-wicket pair Rob Key and Joe Denly emerged seemingly hellbent on making up for lost time and, with an array of drives and cuts,took the score on to 41 before the gloom started to descend on theKentish faithful.Playing across the line of a canny off-cutter from Dominic Cork, Keywas almost walking by the time the finger went up to confirm theHampshire skipper’s leg before appeal.Denly, with a top-score of 42, and Martin van Jaarsveld (41) dug in todouble Kent’s tally before Denly played inside the line of a SeanErvine leg-cutter that rearranged middle and off stumps.Just before tea, Geraint Jones aiming to leg and against the spinwhen facing left-arm spinner Danny Briggs also went lbw, though thebatsman left the middle somewhat quizzically and only after making apoint of inspecting the inside edge of his bat.Kent’s collapse gathered momentum soon after tea and coincided with asecond stint by seamer James Tomlinson, the pick of the visiting attackon an overcast day with four for 59.He enticed Darren Stevens (13) into an ill-advised waft outside offthat found the edge through to the keeper and then beat Alex Blake forpace next ball up to pin the rookie left-hander leg before.With five slips and a gully in place for the hat-trick delivery,Tomlinson dragged the ball onto leg stump allowing James Tredwell tosurvive it by glancing for four to fine leg.However, there was little or no respite for Kent as veteran seamerCork maintained his side’s grip on the game by plucking out vanJaarsveld’s off stump in the next over as the hosts conspired to losethree in the space of five deliveries.Malinga Bandara aimed a lusty blow against Tomlinson to miss by a mileand go lbw, then Matt Coles steered to the keeper when trying towithdraw the bat at the last minute. It was left to Ervine to polish off the innings by having James Tredwell caught at deep midwicket to end a last wicket stand of 22.Hampshire’s bowling hero Tomlinson, said afterwards: “We’re back inthe hunt in this game now and we’re delighted. We knew if we could nipone or two out we might get more and we somehow managed to get wicketsat key moments.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Depois de marcar seu primeiro gol em clássicos, Borja diz que se sente mais confiante no Palmeiras em 2018. Após um ano abaixo do esperado, o colombiano diz que o apoio recebido por Roger e seus companheiros tem feito a diferença.

– Eu quero fazer gols sempre, quero brilhar sempre a cada partida. Quando chego em casa e não consigo jogar bem fico chateado , porque eu não gosto quando não jogo bem. Agora que estou conseguindo ter continuidade tenho mais confiança. Fiquei três jogos sem marcar, mas joguei para o time e me sinto bem agora sempre que volto para casa – disse o centroavante, ao Sportv.

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasPalmeirasLucas Lima ou Gustavo Scarpa? Meias comentam sobre concorrênciaPalmeiras04/02/2018PalmeirasScarpa aprova estreia e cita torcida: ‘Bem receptiva e muito barulhenta’Palmeiras04/02/2018Futebol NacionalLucas Lima revela ‘zoeira contida’ e lembra pressão injusta no SantosFutebol Nacional04/02/2018

Com 10 gols em 2017, Borja passou muito tempo na reserva, principalmente durante a passagem de Cuca. Quando chegou ao Verdão, Roger colocou o camisa 9 na equipe e o deu confiança. Em cinco rodadas no Paulista, o colombiano marcou duas vezes, a última no domingo, contra o Santos.

– Custou muito (adaptar-se) taticamente, porque aqui querem que o centroavante pegue meio-campista e na Colômbia o “profe” (Reinaldo) Rueda me dizia para sair dos zagueiros. Foi difícil quando cheguei ao Brasil, agora sei que preciso atrapalhar a jogada dos volantes e é o que tratei de mudar, ser mais simples com a bola, dar um, dois toques, estamos fazendo isso com o “profe” Roger – explicou.

– É importante a confiança do treinador, qualquer jogador precisa disso. Acho que sem a confiança do treinador vai ser muito difícil. Com o “profe” Roger eu me sinto melhor, sinto que ele quer que eu brilhe, sempre quer que o time ganhe e que eu esteja brigando pelo time. Ele precisa disso, todos queremos fazer história – encerrou.

Ramnaresh Sarwan has been named Guyana captain for the Caribbean T20 tournament and will lead a squad that does not include Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Cricinfo staff14-Jul-2010

Ramnaresh Sarwan has been named Guyana captain for the Caribbean T20 tournament and will lead a squad that does not include Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Sarwan, who missed the Test series against South Africa due to an injured hamstring, makes a return to competitive cricket in the competition starting July 22. The tournament comprises seven other teams from and the winner qualifies for the Champions League Twenty20 in September.Meanwhile, Darren Sammy, the Windward Islands captain, has said he’ll be banking on the team’s bowling as it prepares to compete in the same tournament.The Windwards team includes several players with international experience. Among them are openers Andre Fletcher and Devon Smith; pacer Nelon Pascal; off-spinner Shane Shillingford and leg-spinning all-rounder Rawl Lewis.”I don’t see why we can’t come out on top. Our strength is in our bowling and overall I would say the selectors have picked a very good all-round team,” Sammy said. Our batting will rely mainly on the experienced players – such as Smith, Fletcher, Lewis, Liam Sebastien, and myself. Most of the players in the team have the ability to bat and bowl so we have players who can contribute in two departments.”We have Shillingford, Sebastien, and Lewis who are very economical bowlers and I know they will do very well for us. We also have a number of playerswho are coming through, and I’m very satisfied with the squad assembled. Iam confident we can go to Barbados, qualify for the final four, and take itfrom there.””We have seen over the years that teams are closer together in the Twenty20format. Whoever plays the better cricket on the day will win. Our chancesare very good,” Sammy said.”The Champions League is a massive incentive. All the teams will fancy their chances and will be gunning to make it to South Africa in September. We saw what Trinidad and Tobago did for the region in India last year and that should be a form of motivation for all teams – to go out and represent on the world stage. In the Windwards camp we are very excited. We will take it one game at a time and enjoy every moment.”Guyana squad: Ramnaresh Sarwan (capt), Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Sewnarine Chattergooon, Lennox Cush, Christopher Barnwell, Davendra Bishoo, Derwin Christian, Esaun Crandon, Royston Crandon, Jonathan Foo, AssadFudadin, Steven Jacobs, Paul Wintz.Windward Islands squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Devon Smith, Andre Fletcher, Rawl Lewis, Liam Sebastien, Johnson Charles, Donwell Hector, Craig Emmanuel, Lindon Lawrence, Keddy Lesporis, Gairy Mathurin, Nelon Pascal, Shane Shillingford, Deighton Butler.

Jacques Kallis’s 45-ball 53 set up South Africa’s total of 136 for 7, and Ryan McLaren was gifted a five-wicket haul as West Indies sank to a 13-run defeat in the first Twenty20

The Bulletin by Liam Brickhill19-May-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Kieron Pollard’s dismissal for 27 was the end of West Indies’ hopes in the first Twenty20•AFP

Jacques Kallis’s 45-ball 53 set up South Africa’s total of 136 for 7, and Ryan McLaren was gifted a five-wicket haul as West Indies sank to a 13-run defeat in the first Twenty20 at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium at North Sound. Coming in after the early dismissal of Loots Bosman, Kallis struck three sixes in his innings to take South Africa to 136 for 7 in trying batting conditions. West Indies’ chase never really got going, and they were always behind the asking rate after Chris Gayle fell early, losing wickets at regular intervals thereafter.Indeed, there was a certain staleness to proceedings with the match coming so soon after the World Twenty20 in the West Indies, and it showed in the low-intensity, sloppy performance from both sides. Add to that the abject quality of the umpiring, and the low attendance at the ground, and one was left with a distinct sense of disappointment at an international engagement that, at times, bordered on the embarrassing.Bosman’s departure set an early tone for proceedings, as he gave himself out caught down the leg side in the third over, to what the umpire had decided was a wide. For those who see walking as something to be celebrated, it was a pleasing sight, but it set a farcical tone which never really picked up.On a tacky pitch Graeme Smith never quite found his range, unable to time his leg-side swats off the wily Sulieman Benn and eventually he too fell in peculiar circumstances – wrongly giving himself out stumped. The shot itself wasn’t great, with Smith attempting a reverse-sweep off Nikita Miller’s first ball, overbalancing and allowing the impressive Andre Fletcher to whip off the bails.Smith picked himself up and strode off, only to find his dressing room urging him to turn back. Replays showed the bails had been removed with Smith’s heel still grounded but, having reached the boundary edge, there was little Smith could do but smile and trudge off. It was odd to see such a fierce competitor grinning at his self-inflicted downfall, but seemed apt given the low-profile feel to the game.Kallis continued to swish sixes and mis-time singles, reaching what, in the circumstances, was an excellent 50 off 41 balls and looked set to take the game away from West Indies when an uppish pull hit a strong headwind and left him caught on the square-leg boundary.In between time the ball would occasionally pitch and fly from just back of a length, but the pitch had settled out somewhat by the time West Indies began their chase. South Africa opted to open the bowling with Roelof van der Merwe but Gayle was immediately into an attacking stride, stroking two powerful shots down the ground on either side of the bowler in the first over.Fletcher continued his batting struggles at international level, however, pushing leaden-footed at a length delivery outside off stump from McLaren, only to send an edge through to AB de Villiers, who took a smart catch tumbling to his right. Despite the early wicket, when Dwayne Bravo thumped a brace of confident leg-side boundaries it looked as though West Indies would make a fist of their chase in trying conditions, but when Gayle spooned a McLaren cutter to Smith at deep mid-on, the home side began to struggle.Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan aimed for the gaps and ran hard, but boundaries were hard to come by and the asking rate quickly began to climb. Feeling the pressure, Bravo tried to break the shackles with a heave down the ground but could only get as far as Hashim Amla, the substitute fielder, at long on. His dismissal sparked something of a collapse, as Narsingh Deonarine was stumped off a leg-side wide and, five balls later, Sarwan chipped an easy catch to Alviro Petersen at cover off a leading edge.Darren Sammy and Kieron Pollard briefly re-grouped before starting to play their shots, and when Pollard took two fours from a Charl Langeveldt over and then crunched McLaren straight back over his head for six it seemed West Indies might have enough left in the tank for a late charge. But McLaren got his revenge immediately afterwards, as Pollard played all round a full, swinging delivery that made a mess of his stumps.The match came to a bizarre end as, in the penultimate over, Dale Steyn sent down four wides and a no-ball, Jerome Taylor was run out as he attempted to sneak a bye and both batsmen ended up at the same end, and Benn was given not out after he had sent a clear, thick edge through to de Villiers. McLaren dismissed Benn to wrap up the innings with a ball to spare to claim his fifth wicket, but one can only hope for a better performance from everyone concerned in tomorrow’s game.

Everton have had one of the most impactful January transfer windows in the Premier League this month, making five signings and sacking Rafa Benitez, to replace him with Frank Lampard in a clear effort to improve and give the club the turn-around in their season that they desperately need.

It has been a season of nightmares for Toffees fans, with the side currently just four points off the relegation zone and Lampard’s first few Premier League games in charge will surely determine if Everton find themselves in a battle again the drop or whether they can turn the tide, pulling away from the bottom of the table with a run of winning form over the next few games.

One area that has been a major concern for the Merseyside club is their defence, albeit adding two new defenders to their squad in January.

The central defensive positions have been the focus of poor performances, with Yerry Mina only just returning from a long injury spell, the side has relied on Mason Holgate, Michael Keane and Ben Godfrey, who have been unable to stop the side from leaking goals with 35 conceded so far and only three clean sheets kept, with only Newcastle United recording less this season.

Holgate in particular has proven time and time again that he is incapable of offering performances that can be positively impactful in the team, and Lampard should be looking to axe the £64k-per-week dud from starting line ups if he wants to improve the defence in the remainder of the season.

From a red card in a dangerous challenge on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg after just ten minutes on the pitch against Tottenham earlier this season to numerous poor performances that have left the centre back as the worst rated defender in the entire Everton squad this season according to SofaScore.

Lampard masterclass

With that being said, the new Everton boss could drop his first masterclass at Goodison Park by axing Holgate who was criticised for being “lethargic” by Everton journalist, David Prentice, and could form a dynamic defensive duo in Mina and Godfrey instead, with Godfrey offering more positive attributes in his position.

According to Squawka, the 24-year-old has made more tackles, more blocks, won 33 more ground duels and produced over twice as many clearances for the Toffees this season compared to Holgate, so it seems like he would be the best option for building a reliable partnership with Mina over the remaining months of the season.

Lampard will lead his updated Everton side out for the first time in their FA Cup clash against Brentford this weekend, and it will be interesting to see if he includes any of the new signings in his starting lineup and where he will make changes in the previous line-ups we have seen struggling under Benitez.

Either way, it is unlikely to include Holgate, someone let the former manager down on a regular basis.

In other news: Rafa Benitez struck gold with Demarai Gray

Crystal Palace are looking to make Jean-Philippe Mateta’s move permanent.

That’s according to journalist Tom Barclay, and, as to be expected, a number of Eagles fans have been reacting to the news on social media.

Palace brought Mateta in 12 months ago from Mainz on an 18-month loan which included an option to buy. [BBC]

The 24-year-old has scored against rivals Brighton and Millwall during his time at the club and has featured regularly under Patrick Vieira in recent months.

And it now seems as if he has done enough to make a Selhurst Park stay permanent, with Barclay stating he has won Vieira over in recent months.

The journalist added that a deal is not done yet, but a full-time transfer appears to be on the cards for the Frenchman.

Palace fans react

This is what these Eagles supporters had to say in reply to Barclay’s post, with one ‘buzzing’ for the forward and another labelling it as ‘incredible’.

“Good. Goals against Millwall and Brighton. I’m a fan forever.”

Credit: @HunterCPFC

“Buzzing for the man, Vieira clearly rated him above Benteke and at 24 years old we could get him on the cheap”

Credit: @ReeceJMT

“YESSSSSS”

Credit: @EvilSashPioneer

“Would be incredible if he goes on to be a big player for us”

Credit: @SWPalace

“YESSSSS”

Credit: @MattCPFC

“Get in”

Credit: @Rpcpfc

In other news: ‘Onto the next one, sorry Donny pal’ – Many Palace fans react as Romano shares ‘bonkers’ update.