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Plays of the day from the match between Kolkata and Delhi at Eden Gardens

George Binoy07-Apr-2010Dinda v Warner:
The first over of Delhi’s chase. Ashok Dinda sent down four successive dot balls, all of them short of a length and skidding into the left-hander David Warner, hurrying and cramping him. Warner attempted to short-arm jab three of those on the leg side but failed. The fifth was straighter and quicker. It skidded through Warner’s defences before he brought his bat down and demolished off stump. For a batsman reared on the hard and fast surfaces of Australia, Warner was surprisingly beaten by Dinda’s pace.False alarm:
The first ball of the third over. Dinda bowled full outside off and Sehwag threw his bat at it. There was a noise as the ball passed the bat and Wriddhiman Saha flung it in the air in celebration after taking the catch. Dinda was ecstatic and turned to Rudi Koertzen to appeal, Sourav Ganguly ran in from mid off to join in. And then Koertzen’s famously slow left hand began to move, its index finger almost outstretched. But just when Kolkata though they had Sehwag, Koertzen’s hand went into his pocket, and Sehwag smiled.Ganguly!:
You had to see it to believe it: Ganguly throwing himself all over Eden Gardens. His first moment of excellence was the most crucial: he ran in from mid-off to intercept Gautam Gambhir’s drive, picked up, released quickly and threw down the stumps at the bowler’s end with the batsman short. It ended a dangerous 99-run partnership. Ganguly, however, wasn’t done. He was prowling at cover, diving to his left, then to his right, intercepting well-timed shots and working the Kolkata crowd into a frenzy. And then, when Kedar Jadhav drove hard just above head height, Ganguly was there, jumping to take a sharp catch to force the door shut on Delhi.Ganguly v left-arm spin:
In his pomp, Ganguly treated left-arm spinners with disdain. And yet Gambhir gave the ball to one in the second over of the Kolkata innings. This was no ordinary left-armer, though; it was Daniel Vettori, the best in the world. Ganguly won Round one, his deft late cut, cover drive and sweep all finding the boundary. His balance was precise and footwork graceful, and Vettori did not bowl another over immediately. When he returned for the 12th, however, Vettori won round two with a wily change of pace. He sensed Ganguly trying to hit across the line, and slowed one down to 71 kmh. Ganguly swept, missed and was bowled.Absent-minded cricket:
The third ball of the 15th over, bowled by Ajit Agarkar, was a friendly full toss outside off stump. Sehwag wound up and swung, but missed. Perhaps ruing the missed opportunity, Sehwag did not realize he was out of his crease and was loitering dangerously. Saha, however, did not seize his chance and lobbed the ball high over the stumps.

Spinner says the delay in being granted his visa made his debut “more memorable”

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2024Shoaib Bashir, England’s debutant offspinner, has described the dismissal of Rohit Sharma for his first Test wicket in Visakhapatnam as “very, very special” – and said that the lengthy delay in being granted his visa had made his debut “more memorable”.Bashir bowled 28 overs on his first day as a Test cricketer, returning figures of 2 for 100. He dismissed Rohit in his fourth over, caught at leg slip, and had Axar Patel caught at backward point in the final session as India closed the opening day of the second day on 336 for 6.”If you were to tell me that two years ago, I would laugh,” Bashir told , asked about becoming a Test cricketer at the age of 20 with only six previous first-class appearances to his name. “It was a very special moment receiving my Test cap and for me to get Rohit Sharma as my first wicket was very, very special.”He’s a great player of spin as well. I’m just so grateful to God and my family. They’ve supported me through thick and thin. I had a lot of ups and downs in my journey, so I just want to thank them as well.”Bashir only arrived in India on the fourth day of the first Test in Hyderabad after a delay in receiving his visa caused by his parents’ Pakistani heritage. It meant he had to fly back to the UK after England’s training camp in Abu Dhabi.”I always knew I’d get the visa,” he said. “I did have a few troubles with it, but look, we’re here now and I got to make my debut and it’s such a special day. It makes it more memorable, yeah. I had a bit of trouble, bit of hassle with it but to come out to India now and make my Test debut is unbelievable.”Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum told Bashir he was playing at training on Thursday, and Jack Leach, his Somerset team-mate, presented him with his Test cap on the morning of the game. “He had some nice words to say,” Bashir said. “Me and him get on really well.”We’re very tight and he’s the one that saw me on the scene when I was playing for Somerset 2s. He was just talking about how proud everyone is of me, and my family and my journey. It was just so special receiving it from him as well.”Assessing England’s day, Bashir said: “It was a tough pitch to bowl on. It didn’t offer too much, but I thought the way the boys went about it was awesome for us to pick up six wickets… we’ll get again tomorrow, hopefully get a breakthrough and get batting out there.”

Barcelona have been warned off a move for Luis Diaz this summer with an ex-player discussing his big weakness.

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• Barcelona warned off Diaz
• Ex-player discusses weakness
• Linked with move to Camp Nou

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Former forward Bojan, an academy product who belonged to the club until 2014, claims Diaz is a "great player" but that he is inconsistent – and he would much rather they moved for Marcus Rashford.

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  WHAT BOJAN SAID

  Bojan told : "Luis Diaz is a great player but he lacks consistency in performance. If I were at Barca, I wouldn't sign him. He's a player who works wonders for you and then disappears for three games. Or he gives you a brutal half-hour and disappears.. I'd sign [Marcus] Rashford before Luis Diaz. He gives me the option to play as a number nine."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The club are searching for a forward this summer, with Robert Lewandowski turning 37 in August and the likes of Ansu Fati and Pau Victor linked with moves away. It has been reported that Diaz wants to join the Catalan club, while Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan have also been credited with interest in him.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

  Barcelona can win the La Liga title on Thursday evening if they beat Espanyol, securing a domestic double.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has bid a fond farewell to good friend and team-mate Jack Grealish ahead of his transfer to Everton.

Grealish leaving for season-long loan at EvertonHas fallen out of favour at Manchester CityWill be missed by good friend HaalandFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Grealish is set to join Everton on a season-long loan in a bid to get his career back on track after falling out of favour at Manchester City. The move will see Grealish say goodbye to Haaland, with the two players having formed a close bond on and off the pitch during their time together at the Etihad Stadium

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Haaland has already shown his sadness at seeing Grealish miss out on Manchester City's trip to the United States for the Club World Cup but will now have to cope without the playmaker for the rest of the season at least. Grealish's loan deal to Everton is also thought to include a purchase option set at round £50 million ($67m), although it remains to be seen if the Toffees will be willing to take that up next summer.

WHAT HAALAND POSTED

The striker tagged Grealish in a post which featured a series of photographs of the two together enjoying some good times over the last few years.

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR GREALISH?

Grealish is set to follow in the footsteps of Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne at Everton by wearing the No. 18 shirt. The Toffees open up their Premier League season on Monday against Leeds United.

Two contrasting T20 innings were played on the two sides of the border on Thursday evening. One where the ball seemed to hit the sweet spot of the bat virtually each time. The other where the ball didn’t seem to find the middle of the bat at all.In Delhi, in an IPL game between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, T20 batting records were smashed. In Rawalpindi, New Zealand folded for 90, which was 42 fewer than what Sunrisers hit in just sixes. The ball stopped or gripped or turned off the pitch in Rawalpindi, as Pakistan’s quick bowlers and spinners feasted on a bowler-friendly pitch. Shaheen Shah Afridi, who had started the party for Pakistan, finished with 3 for 13. Two wickets each went to comeback man Mohammad Amir, first-timer Abrar Ahmed, and Shadab Khan.Mohammad Rizwan then led Pakistan’s chase with 45 not out in 34 balls, and brushed New Zealand aside with 47 balls and seven wickets to spare.

Shaheen and Amir have a party

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl. They had the perfect mix of bowlers – having Afridi and Amir bowling in tandem can do that. As if that was not enough, there was a fantastic piece of fielding to get them going. Shadab, placed at backward point, dived low to his right to pouch Tim Seifert in the third over for Pakistan’s first wicket. Afridi had slowed his pace down, and Seifert, in an attempt to flick, lost his bottom hand and got a leading edge. Shadab did the rest.That was just the start.Next over, Amir, who was bowling for Pakistan for the first time since August 2020, repeated the trick. He took pace off to fox Tim Robinson, who ended up spooning the ball to short cover off the toe-end of the bat. A duck on debut two days back. Just 4 in his second game.Dean Foxcroft and Mark Chapman briefly calmed things down with a pulled six and a clipped four, respectively. But Amir prevented New Zealand from gaining any momentum when he had Foxcroft lofting to mid-off for 13. New Zealand ended the powerplay at 35 for 3, and never recovered from the early blows.Abrar Ahmed picked up two wickets in one over•Associated Press

Pace off, and spin’s in for Pakistan

Sensing the slowness of the surface, Babar Azam introduced spin immediately after the powerplay. He bowled Shadab, Abrar and part-time offspinner Iftikhar Ahmed for seven overs in a row. That period gave Pakistan three wickets, and New Zealand managed only 34 runs.While Abrar had started with a flat trajectory, he noticed Iftikhar slow it down and toss it up, and followed the lead. Chapman found fine leg with his attempted sweep to start the ninth over.Two balls later, James Neesham kept waiting for a 73kph delivery to arrive, it almost didn’t, and when it did, Neesham swung but found midwicket.Not to be left behind, Shadab varied his pace to go a lot quicker to Michael Bracewell to start the 12th over. Bracewell reverse swept, but the length wasn’t full enough. He found short third, as 49 for 3 became 59 for 6.Amid all that, what brought about giggles on the Pakistani faces was Ish Sodhi’s wicket.Shadab bowled really short on leg while slowing it down, and Sodhi was already through with his bat swing before the ball got to him. It turned a bit and hit him on his thigh pad. Pakistan appealed and umpire Aleem Dar turned it down. But Babar reviewed and got it overturned, leaving even the umpire with a wry smile.Mohammad Rizwan finished with an unbeaten 45•AFP/Getty Images

Rizwan takes Pakistan home

The leading edge made its way into Pakistan’s innings as early as the second ball when Saim Ayub, looking to turn Ben Lister off his hips, ended up sending a return catch.But Babar and Rizwan ensured Pakistan didn’t lose their way. Rizwan drove Lister first ball for four, while Babar punched Jacob Duffy to the off-side boundary soon after.Only 14 came off the first three overs, before both batters attacked Ben Sears. Rizwan pulled and drove him for six and four respectively, and Babar flicked him for four too.But Babar was stumped off Bracewell when he tried to be too ambitious and came down the track to his counterpart.The target wasn’t really enough to test Pakistan, though, and Rizwan ticked away steadily at one end, even as he lost Usman Khan for 7. Irfan Khan joined Rizwan, who pushed the ball around before ending the game with a slog sweep for four to deep midwicket.The result gave Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, with the next game again in Rawalpindi on Sunday evening.

Usman Khawaja will challenge his ICC charge for wearing a black armband during the first Test against Pakistan in Perth having told the governing body it was for a “personal bereavement” but added that he won’t continue to wear one in the MCG Test which starts on Boxing Day.Khawaja wore the armband having initially planned to take the field with writing on his shoes which he had worn in training stating “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.Black armbands are a regular sight in international cricket to mark deaths of former players, family members or other significant individuals, but they need permission from the national board and the ICC.Speaking at the MCG on Friday, Khawaja said that he did not believe ICC were implementing their own regulations consistently.”They asked me on day two [in Perth] what it was for and told them it was for a personal bereavement,” he said of the armband. “I never ever stated it was for anything else. The shoes were a different matter, I’m happy to say that. The armband makes no sense to me. I followed all the regulations, past precedents, guys that put stickers on their bats, names on their shoes, done all sorts of things in the past without ICC approval and never been reprimanded.”I respect the ICC and the rules and regulations they have. I will be asking them and contesting they make it fair and equitable for everyone and they have consistency in how they officiate. That consistency hasn’t been done yet. I was very open and honest with that. I’ll deal with that with the ICC.”There was no official statement when Khawaja wore the armband on the first day in Perth, but at the time it was understood to be in relation to the video he’d posted on social media after being told he could not show the messages on his shoes.Nick Hockley, the Cricket Australia CEO, confirmed the board was having ongoing discussions with ICC about whether there was a way that Khawaja could share his message although it remain uncertain whether a conclusion to those talks would be reached in time for the Boxing Day Test.Under the level that Khawaja has been charged with, a reprimand is the most serious punishment so if that did eventuate it would not leave him in any doubt for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan. Even a fourth such sanction in a 12-month period would only be a penalty of 75% of the match fee rather than a suspension.”Usman Khawaja has been charged for breaching Clause F of the Clothing and Equipment Regulations,” an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “Usman displayed a personal message (arm band) during the first Test Match against Pakistan without seeking the prior approval of Cricket Australia and the ICC to display it, as required in the regulations for personal messages. This is a breach under the category of an ‘other breach’ and the sanction for a first offence is a reprimand.”The ICC’s clothing and equipment regulations state: “Players and team officials shall not be permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey personal messages on their clothing, equipment or otherwise, irrespective of whether such messages are affixed to clothing, equipment or otherwise and whether such messages are displayed or conveyed through the use of the specific clothing or other items (eg. an arm band) or by the use of words, symbol, graphic message, images or otherwise (‘personal messages’), unless approved in advance by both the player or team official’s board and the ICC Cricket Operations Department. Approval shall not be granted for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes.”Khawaja reiterated what he said in his video before the Perth Test, that he was not taking a political stance and was instead trying to bring awareness to the suffering.”I don’t have any agendas other than to shine a light on what I feel very passionate and strong about,” he said. “I’m trying to do it in the most respectful way possible. What I wrote on my shoes, I thought about it for a while. I made sure I didn’t want to segregate different parts of the population, religious beliefs and community. I wanted it to be really broad because I’m speaking about humanitarian issues. I’m talking about article one in the unified declaration of human rights. The reason I’m doing it is because it hit me hard.”I told Nick that when I’m looking at my Instagram and seeing innocent kids, videos of them dying, passing away, that’s what hit me the hardest. I just imagine my young daughter in my arms and the same thing. I get emotional talking about it again. I don’t have any hidden agendas.”If anything this brings up more negativity towards me…I don’t get anything out of this. I just feel like it’s my responsibility to speak up on this. We live in such a beautiful country. I’m blessed to live in Australia. I can walk outside, don’t have to worry about a thing. My kids can do the same. I just want that for the rest of the world.”

Bangladesh started promisingly but then subsided as the hosts overcame a significant injury scare while Ben Stokes nears a return for England

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Oct-20231:43

Pujara: Jadeja is more accurate than a bowling machine

–Fixtures | Squads | Points table | Tournament IndexTop Story: Jadeja, Kohli lead India to fourth win in a rowThe sameness to a Virat Kohli innings in a middling chase is no criticism of his batting. The beauty of it lies in the repetitive nature of it, a mark of his hunger to make every start count. On Thursday, it helped deliver ODI century No. 48, which takes him that much closer to the man who he hoisted on his shoulders on that famous April night in 2011, before delivering an epic line that made a country of more than a billion shed happy tears.Kohli’s knock, which turned into a race between his hundred and a victory towards the end, was preceded by a run-torrent from Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. The pair’s 88-run opening stand in a chase of 257, which seemed well short of a par score, was an exhibition of batting aesthetics dreams are made of. Rohit, with his lazy elegance, ferocious cuts and monstrous pulls did the early running, and Gill took over the mantle to slowly get into top gear.Click here for the full reportMatch analysis: Jadeja, the gladiator who goes to bankRavindra Jadeja again showed his value to India•Getty ImagesThe skills of Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav are irreplaceable, but Hardik Pandya performs a role for India nobody else can do: a seam-bowling allrounder good enough to hold down his place for batting alone in many other sides. Pandya was down and getting treatment.Pandya tried to run in to bowl again, but eventually went off the field and off for scans, the results of which the whole nation will await. The anxiety around the injury is understandable. There are back-ups for the best of the batters, there are bowling back-ups, and the other allrounder has a like-for-like replacement. However, does anyone have the body of work the other allrounder has?There might be others answering to the job description of Ravindra Jadeja, but there aren’t many that are doing the job as well as him. Looking at his flamboyance, Jadeja will be the last person you’d think of as a banker, but that is what he is for India.Read the full piece from Sidharth MongaMust Watch: Kohli’s manufactured hundred2:13

Did Kohli chase his milestone? Pujara okay if it doesn’t hurt the team

News headlines India were given a significant injury scare against Bangladesh when Hardik Pandya left the field with an ankle problem, but Rohit Sharma was hopeful it wasn’t serious.
Ben Stokes feared his World Cup was over after picking up a hip injury shortly before the tournament began, but is now ready to return just as England need his inspiration to keep their campaign alive.
Allrounder Angelo Mathews and fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera will join Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad as travelling reserves.