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The Lord’s-based Hundred franchise will continue to be known as London Spirit following the sale of a 49% stake to the Silicon Valley consortium known as the “Tech Titans”, with former England performance director Mo Bobat announced as the incoming director of cricket.MCC has been in discussions with its new equity partner for some time and is expected to unveil new team branding – possibly including the club’s famous egg-and-bacon colours – ahead of the 2026 season. But they have opted to keep the name as part of an identity that reflects “the capital’s energy, diversity, and cricketing heritage”.Bobat’s appointment is the first significant move by any of the Hundred teams after six of the eight equity sale deals were signed off by the ECB last month. Bobat, who will retain his role in the IPL as Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s director of cricket, is set to join up with Spirit from October.Related

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• Titans land at Lord's as London Spirit sink to new low

• Warner, Spirit take spoils despite Bairstow fire

“It’s an honour to join London Spirit at such an exciting time,” Bobat said. “The opportunity to shape the cricketing future of this franchise, working with MCC and our new partners, the Tech Titans, is incredibly exciting. I’m looking forward to building something special – on and off the field.”London Spirit chairman, Julian Metherell, said: “Today marks a significant moment for London Spirit. Mo Bobat brings unmatched expertise and vision to the role of Director of Cricket, and we’re thrilled to welcome him. At the same time, retaining the London Spirit name reflects our belief in the identity that’s been built – one that resonates with the capital, our fans, and our values. We now look ahead to a new era, with fresh energy and clear purpose.”London Spirit men, currently coached by Justin Langer, lost their opening game of the 2025 season after being bowled out for 80 in front of their new owners – but bounced back to record victory against Welsh Fire at the weekend.

The 24-year-old New Zealander played shots that most overseas batters rarely attempt in India during his maiden Test hundred in Asia

Ashish Pant18-Oct-20242:29

Ravindra: ‘Context of the game made the hundred special’

Rachin Ravindra is a man of few emotions. Whether he’s reached a batting milestone or taken a wicket, he rarely has vivid expressions. But a Test century in India, one of the toughest places for a visiting batter, is no ordinary feat and Ravindra marked the occasion in Bengaluru with a first pump and a shriek of delight.”Yeah, very, very uncharacteristic,” Ravindra said of his celebrations at the end of the third day’s play, after his 134 off 157 balls helped New Zealand take a first-innings lead of 356. “I don’t know, a little fist pump doesn’t happen often for me, but I guess scoring an overseas 100 in India is always nice, but also the context of it when we had lost a few wickets, and we built a pretty cool partnership. And for me, that’s special.”I guess more than just the milestone, I think being able to do it with team-mates and do it with our backs… well no, I wouldn’t say backs against the wall because we had a sizeable lead, but when the game’s in the balance, it probably meant a lot and it felt really good to share it with my mate Timmy [Tim Southee].”The stand-out feature of Ravindra’s innings was his approach against India’s formidable spin trio. Ravindra faced 95 balls of spin, off which he scored 101 runs. He took R Ashwin for 30 off 35, Kuldeep Yadav for 30 off 21, and Ravindra Jadeja for 41 off 39. That almost never happens in India.Rarely does an overseas batter play the kind of strokes that the 24-year-old Ravindra did. He didn’t use the conventional sweep like most other visiting batters. Instead, he unfurled wristy flicks, like subcontinent batters tend to do, playing the ball late and also using his feet to get to the pitch of the delivery and send it downtown. When Ravindra brought out the cross-bat, he slog swept over the boundary – four times.Related

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• Batting magic in Bengaluru as India threaten something special

“I guess on a wicket like this, you’re able to pick and choose at times because it wasn’t doing too much,” Ravindra said. “[There were] not too many demons in it, but I think it’s looking like, okay, especially in Test cricket these days, it feels like you always have to drive the team forward and always score runs.”You see teams around the world, the way they’re scoring, the run rates are up, and that just feels natural. So, I think for us, it was just trying to push that on and take those options as we could, but I think we know, batting in India, once you’ve faced 20, 30, 40 balls it starts to get easier.”And obviously it’s a ground where you can score quite quickly, right? Shortish boundaries, fast outfield here, pretty good wicket to bat on. So luckily enough, the stars aligned today.”A rare display of emotion from Rachin Ravindra on reaching his Test hundred in Bengaluru•BCCIRavindra’s 134 was his second Test century, and his first in Asia. It just so happens that Bengaluru is where his parents were born and brought up. His father Ravi Krishnamurthy, who played cricket at a decent level in the city before migrating to New Zealand in 1997, was watching his son from the stands. Ravindra still has plenty of family in Bengaluru and used to visit them during his holidays.”Yeah, it’s obviously special,” he said. “A lot of my family are watching the game probably at the stadium and then at home on TV. I know they’re very, very proud and it makes me happy that they’re able to watch a relative play in their hometown, which is very cool.”And dad and mum would be very, very proud of that, me being able to play in their hometown where they grew up is pretty special. But like I always say I’m fully Kiwi, 100% Kiwi, but it’s nice to have that Indian heritage base here in Bengaluru.”Ravindra also showed composure and skill in marshalling New Zealand’s lower order. They had slipped from 193 for 3 to 233 for 7 on the third morning but he took the lead in a 137-run stand with Tim Southee off just 132 balls. He was eventually the last batter dismissed.In the lead up to New Zealand’s trip to the subcontinent, Ravindra had spent time training at the CSK academy in Chennai before the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Greater Noida in September that was eventually washed out. He had played for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024 and hence was able to use their facilities.”Yeah, extremely invaluable experience,” Ravindra said of his pre-tour practice. “I guess I thought before the six subcontinent Tests that we had, I thought maybe it’d be the best thing for me to go and have a few days training there, bit more realistic conditions than what we’d have, in the used wickets in New Zealand, which, you know, wouldn’t serve the same purpose.”And lucky enough, the CSK guys really sorted me out and I was able to have four or five days of really good training on, you know, red soil and black soil wickets. So I think that was very invaluable and helped me, sort of, shore up some game plans and work on a few positions that I wanted to.”This is Ravindra’s second Test series in India. He made his debut here in 2021 but batted at No. 7 and 8, and bowled a few overs of left-arm spin, without much impact. He’s a transformed player now, and has given New Zealand a shot at achieving their first Test win in India since 1988. And if that happens in Bengaluru, he might be moved to display more than a little emotion.

Liverpool have had their fair share of special European nights over the years, with the famous comeback win against Barcelona back in 2019 in the Champions League – which saw the Reds overturn a 4-0 deficit – still sticking out as the Premier League giants at their thrilling best.

The entertainment levels weren’t through the roof in a similar fashion mid-week when Arne Slot’s men got the better of Barca’s arch rivals Real Madrid by a single goal, but the impressive all-round display would have definitely pleased the Anfield masses watching on.

Indeed, away from Alexis Mac Allister grabbing the winner, faces such as Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah also stood out, when they have otherwise failed to get going this season, with the heavily scapegoated German covering a staggering 11.37km in total.

To make the win even sweeter on Europe’s grandest stage, Liverpool managed to get one over on ex-star Trent Alexander-Arnold, who would only come on for the final few exchanges for Los Blancos.

Yet, despite a chorus of boos greeting his every touch, it’s clear – when analysing Liverpool’s wobbles this season – that they have desperately missed the creativity of their former homegrown product from the right-back spot.

Why Liverpool have missed Alexander-Arnold

Of course, all of the animosity directed towards the former number 66 comes from a place of pain that he deserted his hometown club for a shot in La Liga.

Being able to replace the creativity Alexander-Arnold possessed in spades at Anfield instantly was also going to be an extremely tough ask, with his ability to burst forward and cut open a defence for Liverpool, dubbing him a “dream for strikers” by Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Alexander-Arnold would become a modern-day icon at Liverpool, with a mighty 23 goals and 92 assists falling into his lap on Merseyside.

Liverpool had their work cut out for them in the summer to try and find an attacking full-back of the same calibre as the Englishman; therefore, with the Anfield giants presumably thinking they’d hit the jackpot with the capture of Milos Kerkez.

Unfortunately, the former AFC Bournemouth star – who amassed five Premier League assists last season – has no assists next to his name for Liverpool in league action, leading to him being branded as “out of his depth” by journalist Tim Spiers.

Thankfully, Conor Bradley showed the Liverpool masses why he could be in with a shout to be a long-term fix for Trent deserting the building.

He was phenomenal against the Spanish giants, dealing with the effervescent Vinicius Junior with an energetic display, seeing him win eight duels against Xabi Alonso’s visitors.

But, there was another standout performer on Wednesday night, who could be a surprise shout to be Slot’s next Trent-style figure.

Liverpool's new Trent is in midfield

Liverpool haven’t just experienced a crisis in the full-back areas this season, with the aforementioned Mac Allister struggling in the midfield areas in patches this campaign, too.

He does look to have exited his slump now, with the winning goal against the visitors from Madrid. Dominik Szoboszlai, on the other hand, has only gone from strength to strength this season, even as meltdowns have occurred around him.

The Hungarian would live up to his reputation for being a dead-ball specialist – which saw him hammer home a glorious free-kick against Arsenal earlier this season – against Alexander-Arnold’s new employers, with Mac Allister ultimately thankful for the 25-year-old’s incisive eye for an assist.

The two-time Premier League title winner would, time after time, also come up trumps when taking his very own corner kicks and corners at Anfield, with Szoboszlai now taking on this role expertly, as seen in him already picking up three Champions League assists for the campaign.

Minutes played

90

Goals scored

0

Assists

1

Touches

54

Shots

5

Accurate passes

30/39 (77%)

Key passes

3

Accurate crosses

3/3

Ball recoveries

6

Back in the bread and butter of the Premier League, Szoboszlai is in a league of his own in terms of progressive carries and crosses attempted.

Two standout characteristics of Alexander-Arnold’s expansive game in England, the Hungarian has registered 26 carries and 25 crosses already in 2025/26. That’s more than any midfielder in England’s top-flight this season.

Slot has even chucked the “unbelievable” number 8 – as he has glowingly labelled him – into the right-back spot on occasion this season, with their similarities almost becoming eerie at this point.

However, as was evidenced on Wednesday night, the 25-year-old can still be an influential figure – like the number 66 – from a number ten position.

More wins will no doubt be collected this season, off the back of Szoboszlai’s “genius” alone, as his former Reds boss Jurgen Klopp also labelled him.

Arne Slot has just unlocked Liverpool's new Coutinho vs Real Madrid

Liverpool may have unearthed their next Philippe Coutinho after getting the better of Real Madrid 1-0.

ByKelan Sarson Nov 5, 2025

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O Fluminense recebe o Cerro Porteño (PAR) nesta quinta-feira (16), pela quinta rodada da fase de grupos da Libertadores. A bola vai rolar a partir das 19h (de Brasília), no Estádio do Maracanã, no Rio de Janeiro (RJ), com transmissão de ESPN e Star+ (streaming). O Tricolor lidera o Grupo A com oito pontos somados, enquanto os paraguaios estão em segundo lugar da chave, com cinco.

➡️ Faça as suas apostas na Libertadores 2024: quem será o campeão? Vem pro Lance! Betting!

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Confira todas as informações que você precisa saber sobre o confronto entre Fluminense e Cerro Porteño (onde assistir, horário, escalações e local).

✅FICHA TÉCNICA
FLUMINENSE X CERRO PORTEÑO
LIBERTADORES – GRUPO A – 5ª RODADA

🗓️Data e horário: quinta-feira, 16 de maio de 2024, às 19h (de Brasília);
📍Local: Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
📺Onde assistir: ESPN e Star+
🟨Árbitro: Dario Herrera (ARG)
🚩Assistentes: Cristián Navarro (ARG) e Maximiliano del Yesso (ARG)

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⚽ PROVÁVEIS ESCALAÇÕES:

FLUMINENSE (Técnico: Fernando Diniz)
Fábio; Guga, Felipe Melo, Manoel e Marcelo; Martinelli, Lima (Alexsander) e Paulo Henrique Ganso; Marquinhos (Keno), Jhon Arias e Germán Cano.

CERRO PORTEÑO (Técnico: Manolo Jimenez)
Jean; Alan Benítez, Eduardo Brock, Christian Javier Báez e Santiago Arzamendia; Piris da Motta, Jorge Morel, Gabriel Aguayo e Cecilio Domínguez; Federico Carrizo e Diego Churin.

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Pete Alonso has left Queens.

On Wednesday, the 31-year-old slugger agreed to a five-year, $155 million deal with the Orioles, ending his time with the Mets, who selected him with the 64th pick in the 2016 MLB draft.

Alonso played seven seasons in New York, and in that time, he made five All-Star teams and set the franchise record for home runs (264). The hulking first baseman also became a fan favorite, earning the nickname “Polar Bear” and entrenched himself as the face of the franchise.

Now he’s headed to Baltimore to join a loaded lineup that will be among the best in baseball on paper. The move is fairly shocking, as most believed the Mets and Alonso would reach a deal. But after a bruising contract fight with the team last offseason, the relationship may have been damaged.

After a lengthy negotiation, Alonso agreed to a two-year, $54 million deal with an opt-out after 2025. He exercised that option in October and went in search of a longer, more lucrative deal. It didn’t take long to find it.

Mets fans and the baseball world reacted to the shocking news on social media. We’ve put some of the best reactions below.

Pete Alonso’s career numbers

Alonso was in a much better negotiating position this offseason after putting up excellent numbers in 2025. He slashed .272/.347/.524, with 38 home runs and 126 RBIs. His wRC+ of 141 approached a career-high, and he produced 3.6 fWAR. His OPS (.871) represented almost a 100-point jump from 2024 (.788). He won his first Silver Slugger thanks to his bounce back campaign.

While he’s a subpar defender at first base, Alonso’s bat has never been in question. He carries a career wRC+ of 132 and has been above 120 in each of his seven MLB seasons. He boasts a career slash line of .253/.341/.516, with 264 home runs, and 712 RBIs. The 2024 campaign was the only time his OPS dipped below .800 for a full seasons.

Alonso is also remarkably durable. He has never missed more than 10 games in a season and has played in 1,008 of a possible 1,032 games during his seven-year career. He has played in all 162 games in each of the past two seasons.

The Orioles are adding a durable, consistent slugger to what was already a loaded lineup. It’s also worth noting that if you overlay Alonso’s hitting performance from 2025 at Camden Yards, his home run total would jump.

Expect big things in the short term.

After a turbulent summer, the Yankees are officially returning to the postseason.

In a season filled with ups and downs, the Bronx Bombers officially punched their ticket back to the playoffs on Tuesday night with a 3–2 walk-off win against the White Sox. Pinch hitter José Caballero came through as he looped a Brandon Eisert breaking ball into center field, scoring star Aaron Judge from second base.

At 89–68, New York has officially clinched a wild-card berth. But the Yankees still have a shot to potentially win a hotly contested American League East. The Red Sox beat the first-place Blue Jays 4–1 on Tuesday night, and the second-place Yankees now reside just one game behind Toronto in the division. The Red Sox have yet to clinch a postseason berth officially, but are on the cusp at 86–71 on the season and four games back in the division race.

The Yankees would love to earn another opportunity to represent the American League in the World Series, and took another step towards that goal on Tuesday.

He was appointed in August 2022 and was at the helm when KKR won their third IPL title in 2024

Shashank Kishore29-Jul-2025Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and head coach Chandrakant Pandit have parted ways as part of a support-staff rejig in the wake of a disappointing IPL 2025, where they finished eighth on the points table.Signed on the back of his domestic success as head coach of Madhya Pradesh, Pandit was with KKR for three seasons. The highlight of his stint was the franchise’s title win in 2024 after a ten-year gap.”Mr. Chandrakant Pandit has decided to explore new opportunities and will not continue as head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders,” the franchise said in a statement. “We are thankful for his invaluable contributions – including leading KKR to the IPL championship in 2024 and helping build a strong, resilient squad. His leadership and discipline left a lasting impact on the team.”Pandit was appointed KKR head coach in August 2022, taking over from Brendon McCullum. After an underwhelming maiden season in 2023, where KKR finished seventh, Pandit was at the helm when the franchise won their third IPL title in 2024. After Gambhir went on to take up the role as head coach of the Indian team in July last year, Pandit marshalled KKR for IPL 2025 along with mentor Dwayne Bravo and bowling coach Bharat Arun.