All posts by h716a5.icu

Martin Guptill’s first century for Derbyshire set up a 31-run victory over Kentin the Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Derby

24-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Martin Guptill’s first century for Derbyshire set up a 31-run victory over Kentin the Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Derby.Guptill made 102 off 109 balls and shared a century stand for the fourth wicketwith Greg Smith (68) as the Falcons made 249 for 9 despite Azhar Mahmoodtaking three for three from his last 11 balls.The Spitfires then slipped to 121 for 6 in reply, and although Darren Stevensput them back in the contest with 65 off 52 balls, Derbyshire held their nerveto dismiss Kent for 218 in the 35th over and keep their challenge in Group Aalive.Guptill had shared an opening stand of 59 in 10 overs with Chesney Hughes butDerbyshire’s momentum was checked by the fall of three wickets in six overs. After Hughes (33) mistimed a pull, Wes Durston and Wayne Madsen made only one run between them as the Falcons slipped to 79 for 3.However, Smith played with controlled aggression from the moment he joinedGuptill as the pair put on 129 in 19 overs.Stevens was pulled for six as Smith moved to a half-century off only 43 ballsand with Guptill placing his shots with authority, the home side had theplatform to launch an assault in the closing overs.But Pakistan duo Mahmood and Wahab Riaz responded with some intelligent seambowling that saw the Falcons score only 23 runs for the loss of five wickets inthe last four overs.The pair were rewarded for bowling full and straight and hit the stumps fourtimes with Riaz capturing the big wicket of New Zealander Guptill, who missed abig drive aiming to add to his 12 fours and one six in the penultimate over.Mahmood finished with figures of 4 for 57 while Riaz took 3 for 45. Mahmood then helped Sam Billings launch Kent`s chase with some flourishing strokes before he cut Steffan Jones to point in the third over to depart for 10 and Billings (19) missed a drive after cutting Tim Groenewald for six, leaving the visitors on 55 for 2.Martin van Jaarsveld pulled Jon Clare for six and was threatening to dominatewhen he was lbw pushing forward at Groenewald for 29 in the 12th over.When Sam Northeast failed to beat Clare’s accurate return and was run out for12, Kent were stumbling and they were dealt another big blow when Clare (threefor 61) returned to the attack in the 21st over.Geraint Jones was caught behind for six and then Alex Blake went the same waythree balls later to leave the Spitfires in trouble on 121 for 6.Stevens gave them hope with some defiant blows in a 44-ball fifty and wasthreatening to turn the game when he was lbw to Jones in the 29th over.andalthough James Tredwell hit 37 off 39 balls, Kent came up short.

Many Everton fans have been left fuming over some news that has emerged involving Yerry Mina.

The central defender has now been called up by the Colombia national team for their upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifying games against Peru and Argentina, which are due to take place on January 28th and February 1st.

They would want Mina to join up with the squad early as well for training, and so there is a chance that he could now miss the Goodison Park faithful’s match at home against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime, as well as their FA Cup tie at home to Brentford on February 5th, due to potential fatigue.

The Merseyside club have only lost two games in the top flight so far this season when he has played, and so he is clearly a key part of the team.

Thus, losing him potentially for their next two fixtures will be a big blow.

Everton fans on Mina news

These Toffees supporters fumed as the news was shared on Twitter, with one Blue even going as far as to claim that it was ‘ridiculous’:

“Please tell me he said no.”

Credit: @jet_pinnacle

“Jesus Christ..! Here we go again..”

Credit: @Kieranbuckley5

“Nooooooooooooo….don’t do it!”

Credit: @JohnDiazTheOne

“What a joke”

Credit: @JayKennedyEFC

“Shouldn’t be allowed to go. End of”

Credit: @chriswatson187

“Ridiculous”

Credit: @GedEFC1878

In other news, find out what manager update has Evertonians buzzing here!

Cracking half-centuries by Steven Davies and Andrew Symonds helped Surrey maintain their hopes of qualifying for the Friends Provident t20 knock-out stages

22-Jun-2010
Scorecard
Andrew Symonds top-scored for Surrey with a 33-ball 63 to help set up an 11-run win•Getty ImagesCracking half-centuries by Steven Davies and Andrew Symonds helped Surrey maintain their hopes of qualifying for the Friends Provident t20 knock-out stages after edging out Hampshire Royals by 11 runs in a high-scoring clash at The Oval.Chasing the Lions’ excellent 200 for 8, Hampshire ran out of steam against the Surrey spinners with 1 for 28 for Gareth Batty and two wickets for Rory Hamilton-Brown that gave his side their fourth qualifying win.Batting first, the Lions got off to a flying start through openers Hamilton-Brown and Davies who posted the home 50 inside four overs of the powerplay. Hamilton-Brown contributed 10 to the run-fest until he clipped a length ball from Sean Ervine into the hands of Liam Dawson at deep square leg. Left-hander Davies showed no compassion for his ex-Worcestershire team-mate, Simon Jones, who, two years after his last Twenty20 appearance prior to knee problems, disappeared for 25 in his first over.Davies sprinted to an 18-ball 50 with nine fours and a brace of sixes and drove another sublime six over extra cover off Ervine, only to fall two balls later when he clipped to Jimmy Adams at deep square-leg to make it 74 for 2.Teenager Jason Roy, preferred to veteran Mark Ramprakash, hit an audacious six off left-arm spinner Danny Briggs into the top tier of the pavilion but the right-hander from Reigate soon top-edged a sweep to deep-square.Stewart Walters attempted to accelerate with a slog-sweep against Briggs’ arm ball only to be bowled and Jones bravely switched ends to concede only seven from his second over from the Vauxhall End.Symonds, in tandem with Younis Khan, added 71 in seven overs with Symonds posting the second 50 of the evening in 11 minutes with five fours and two sixes but Khan sliced a drive to long off to give Ervine figures of 3 for 28. Ervine’s direct hit from long-off to the striker’s end stumps ran out Symonds for a stunning 63 from 33 balls as he chanced a second run.Entrusted with the last over, Jones showed his character to run out Chris Schofield in his follow through then bowl Batty with a slower ball, but he was powerless to prevent Andre Nel’s last ball six that raised the Lions’ 200.Initially, the Royals run-chase ticked along at the asking rate of 10 an over as Michael Lumb (11) and Jimmy Adams added 33 before Lumb miscued to midwicket to bring teenager James Vince to the crease for only his second t20 appearance.The youngster showed his style with 43 from 17 balls before needlessly attempting a slog-sweep to lose his leg stump to Hamilton-Brown. Ervine (3) checked a drive into the hands of the Surrey skipper at cover then Adams, having hit 46 off 37 balls, attempted to cut Schofield only to be caught behind off a looping bat-pad chance.The 14th over proved a turning point as Batty conceded only five, forcing the asking rate beyond 12 an over for the first time and Nic Pothas (18) soon cracked under the pressure by holing out to deep cover.Dawson soon followed to another catch in the deep and though Neil McKenzie (52 not out) improvised cleverly Hampshire were unable to find the 29 they needed from Nel’s final over of the night.

The Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, St. Georges Park in Port Elizabeth, Kingsmead in Durban and Centurion Park in Centurion will host Champions League Twenty20 2010

Cricinfo staff17-Jun-2010The Champions League Twenty20 governing council has named the venues for the second edition of the tournament to be held this year in South Africa. The Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, St. Georges Park in Port Elizabeth, Kingsmead in Durban and Centurion Park in Centurion will host the competition that will feature ten of the top domestic Twenty20 teams, from September 10 to 26.”South Africa is widely regarded as a top international host nation, having successfully hosted most major international cricket events in recent years,” said Shashank Manohar, the league chairman. “The Governing Council is satisfied with the four venues that Cricket South Africa have recommended. We are excited about the future of CLT20, and call on the South African public to come out and support the second edition of this tournament, which features the best of the best.”Gerald Majola, the CEO of CSA, was pleased with South Africa getting the opportunity to host another major sporting event. “CSA is proud to be hosting CLT20 in what is an iconic year for South Africa with the soccer World Cup currently being hosted here. We are encouraged by the eagerness of the four host venues to make this tournament a success.”CLT20 has already picked the interest of South African fans, especially with the Lions and Warriors (South African teams participating in the tournament) having qualified for this prestigious event. We are confident of hosting a successful CLT20.”Following the the 2003 one-day World Cup, South Africa have been one of the favourite destinations for multi-team cricketing tournaments, including the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, the second edition of the Indian Premier League and the Champions Trophy in 2009.The inaugural Champions League was held in India last year, with New South Wales beating Trinidad & Tobago to win the event that was contested by 12 teams. This year’s event will feature ten teams, nine of which have already qualified. The tenth spot will be taken by a representative from the West Indies following the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament in end July. The CLT20 2010 will feature 23 matches, with the tournament format and match schedule to be decided at the next governing council meeting on June 28 in Singapore.Teams contesting Champions League T20 2010:
From India – Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore
From Australia – Victorian Bushrangers and South Australian Redbacks
From South Africa – Warriors and Highveld Lions
From New Zealand – Central Stags
From Sri Lanka – Wayamba Elevens
From the West Indies – TBC

Eddie Howe has been handed a huge behind-the-scenes boost over Newcastle full-back Kieran Trippier’s recovery from injury…

What’s the latest?

The Toon defender has been out of action since February and is now taking steps forward towards making his return to the first-team squad before the end of the season.

Journalist Miles Starford Tweeted: “Kieran Trippier close to injury ‘handover’.”

This Tweet was in relation to Howe’s comments on the defender’s current situation. Speaking about Callum Wilson and Trippier, the head coach said: “They’ll definitely be stepping it up.

“I don’t think they’ll be with us at all, so they won’t train with the group. There will be a handover period for Kieran, I think, where he’ll go with our sports science guys.”That might happen at some stage soon. It’s not happened yet. Both players are still with physiotherapists.” Howe will be buzzing

Howe will surely be buzzing with Trippier’s recovery and the pace at which he is going through it. These comments suggest that he is making good progress and stepping up the work that he is doing at Darsley Park to get himself back in contention to play in the Premier League.

The Toon boss will be keen to see him back out on the pitch in the coming weeks to make sure that he heads into the summer with a good base of fitness under his belt.

If he fails to play any minutes before the end of the campaign then that will mean that he will have gone around six months without competitive minutes by the start of 2022/23 and that is not an ideal way to start a season. Therefore, getting him back in for the last few matches would be a big boost ahead of the summer.

Howe will also be delighted with his return to action because of the quality he has on the pitch. In the top-flight this term, he has scored two goals in four matches and made a whopping 6.0 tackles and interceptions per game from right-back since joining from Atletico Madrid.

The England international has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.67 for the Magpies so far and this is why the head coach will be keen to have him back in the squad. He is a joy to watch with his sublime performances in defence, as he was able to showcase his attacking and defensive quality prior to his injury against Villa.

AND in other news, NUFC could finally axe shocking £80k-p/w flop with “insane” £40m “star in the making”…

Ben Cutting is used to aiming for the corridor of uncertainty instead of being stuck in it after an off-season spent wondering when he will return from a bad case of fast bowler’s ankle

Peter English11-Oct-2010Ben Cutting is used to aiming for the corridor of uncertainty instead of being stuck in it after an off-season spent wondering when he will return from a bad case of fast bowler’s ankle. At the end of last summer Cutting, 23, was being discussed as a national prospect, but as the 2010-11 campaign began he was playing as a specialist batsman in grade cricket and limited to practising his action off a couple of steps.Rather than celebrating his breakthrough summer of 46 Sheffield Shield wickets at 23.91 – the most in the competition – Cutting had a scan on his ankle straight after the final loss. It showed a stress fracture as well as a crack in his heel and he had surgery after some rest to settle the problems.”It was meant to be six weeks before I could do running, but it’s turned out to be six months,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “The frustrating thing is I can’t work to a timeline. I might have a bowl, and pull up sore, so I can’t go harder the next day.”While Cutting was playing in the Shield final in March, South Australia’s Peter George was called up as a standby player with the Test team in New Zealand. There was talk that if Cutting wasn’t involved in the decider it might have been him covering for Ryan Harris.As Cutting spent the off-season in rehabilitation, George re-joined the national team in England and on Saturday was picked for his first Test. “To be honest, it didn’t really bother me,” Cutting said of the rise of George and Josh Hazlewood during his absence. “It will take me a while to get on the park, and if I have a really good season this year it will take care of itself.”He did have a down period two months ago when he realised he’d probably miss the start of the summer, but he was cheery as the Bulls prepared for their opening matches. “The business end is after Christmas, you’ve got the Big Bash and the two finals as well, so I’ve got that in the front of my mind,” he said.Queensland began the season with Harris also on the injured list and Luke Feldman joined him after breaking his wrist in the opening one-day match against Tasmania on Wednesday. The setbacks leave the Bulls missing three of their major weapons and Cutting’s team-mates are desperate to know when he’ll be back. Currently his best chance of a return is the 2nd XI game against Tasmania on October 19.

Cricinfo previews the Semi-Final match between England and Sri Lanka in St Lucia

Sahil Dutta12-May-2010Match FactsThursday, May 13, St Lucia
Start time 1130 (1530 GMT)Angelo Matthews was Sri Lanka’s man of the match against India and his allround threat could unsettle England•AFPThe Big PictureWhile England have not made the final of a ICC global tournament since 2004 Sri Lanka have been beaten finalists in both last year’s World Twenty20 and the 2007 World Cup.Yet ahead of the match it’s England who are the more bullish having topped their Super Eights group with three comfortable wins. They are on the verge of fulfilling their transformation that began after losing 5-1 to Australia last summer. Gone is the stuttering top order hoping to ‘keep wickets in hand’ and in its place is a fearless line-up led by two dashing hitters at the top and followed by the classiest middle-order pair of the tournament, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan.Sri Lanka, on the other hand, looked unsteady to begin with but have found increasingly assurance as the tournament went on. Mahela Jayewardene’s graceful striking has completely carried Sri Lanka’s batting – his 292 runs are more than anyone else in the tournament and over double the next highest Sri Lankan tally of 123 from Kumar Sangakkara – but they showed they could perform without him when they beat India. Nevertheless how England’s nagging fast-medium attack fare against Jayewardene could well determine the outcome of the game.Form guide (most recent first)Sri Lanka WLWWL
England WWWNLWatch out for…Craig Kieswetter has fizzed without quite exploding yet in this tournament. But on the slow pitch his Michael Clarke-like twinkle-toed approach could see England off to a lightning start.Suraj Randiv has stepped into the place vacated by Murali’s injury and, with Ajantha Mendis’ mysteries all but revealed, he has become Sri Lanka’s leading spin weapon. They may be tempted to open the bowling with him after seeing Michael Lumb’s dismissal to Johan Botha when South Africa adopted the same tactic.Team newsKevin Pietersen returns just in time after seeing the birth of his first child and will replace Ravi Bopara. Throughout the tournament Ryan Sidebottom has looked set to miss out for England’s supposed attack-leader, James Anderson, but the selectors have refused to change.England (probable) 1 Michael Lumb, 2 Craig Kieswetter, 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Luke Wright, 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Michael Yardy, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 Ryan Sidebottom.Sri Lanka have been far less settled through the tournament so far. Mendis missed out against India but could return for an England side less used to him.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Mahela Jayawardene, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt, wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Sanath Jayasuriya, 7 Chamara Kapugedera, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Chanaka Welegedera.Pitch and conditionsEngland may have adapted well to the conditions against New Zealand in their last game, but the slow and low surface in St Lucia will suit Sri Lanka. Their batsmen proved a touch shy of the pace and bounce in Barbados but will be much more comfortable here.Stats and trivia Sri Lanka won the only T20 encounter these two sides have played before. Way back in 2006 at Southampton, in a game where Tim Bresnan, England’s best bowler this tournament, made his T20 debut.Quotes”Life is not exactly a hardship at the minute, you know?”
Tim Bresnan keeps things in perspective.”We would love him to play. He’s a top quality spinner, and England have probably played him once.”
Kumar Sangakkara would love to play his mystery spinner, but won’t quite confirm he will.

With Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur side heading into Saturday’s Premier League clash with Watford off the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw against 10-man Southampton last time out, the 52-year-old would have been hoping for a much-improved display at Vicarage Road this afternoon.

While the Italian would have certainly enjoyed the match a great deal more if his side had managed to seal all three points slightly earlier, Spurs nevertheless came away with maximum points thanks to Davinson Sanchez’s dramatic 96th-minute winner, with the game ending 1-0.

However, despite the victory, there were still a number of performances within the team which will have given Conte cause from concern, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Sergio Reguilon and Emerson Royal all enduring something of an afternoon to forget against Watford.

It will undoubtedly be the latter of this trio who would have been most disappointed with his own display on the bus home from Vicarage Road on Saturday evening.

Lost the ball every 5.4 touches

While Emerson’s metrics over his 90 minutes on the pitch were not overly disastrous, the wing-back’s wastefulness in the final third was undeniably the 22-year-old’s downfall against Watford.

Indeed, the £22.5m-rated man had a whopping 113 touches of the ball, but he found his intended target with just four of his 13 attempted crosses and lost possession a whopping 21 times, meaning that he ceded possession with every 5.4 touches.

This is something which was also picked up by the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, who awarded the defender a five in his player ratings, as well as stating of the £62k-per-week right-back’s performance: “No-one was allowed more space and time in the final third but the Brazilian put in a succession of poor crosses. You couldn’t escape the feeling that Watford knew he wasn’t much of a threat.”

As such, it is unavoidable that Emerson’s poor decision making in the final third of the pitch badly let his side down on Saturday despite Tottenham’s ultimate victory, and is an area of his game that the Brazil international must improve if he is to finally disprove Kieron Dyer’s claim that he is “miles off it” for Spurs.

In other news: Spurs begin talks for £116k-p/w gem dubbed “the best”, he’s “more stable” than De Ligt

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said the organisation might send a hand-picked side to Pakistan late next year

Cricinfo staff17-Jul-2010ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said the organisation might send a hand-picked side to Pakistan late next year to give fans an opportunity to watch international cricket as he is worried the lack of top-level cricket will affect the popularity of the game in the country.”It will always be dependent on the expert advice of the security experts, but we think that perhaps towards the end of next year we must start looking at what the horizon looks like and if it is at all possible [to send a team to Pakistan],” he told .Lorgat said the ICC could not let the status quo continue indefinitely and that he would accompany any team that did go to Pakistan.”We will assess the situation very, very carefully. We know that we can’t leave things as they are if it is at all possible to play in Pakistan,” he said. “I’m not just suggesting a bi-lateral series; it may be an ICC XI. Whether it’s a youth team, an older team, or whatever… I would go with that team as well.”We need to look at it. We shouldn’t just sit back and do nothing. But we certainly would not do something that is not properly calculated.”In another attempt to bolster cricket in Pakistan, the ICC has appointed Mike Brearley and Greg Chappell as ambassadors to support the PCB. The two former Test captains have been tasked with getting the global cricket community to support the PCB and its players at a time when Pakistan is unable to host matches at home.Teams have refused to play in Pakistan since March 2009, when seven Sri Lanka players were injured after gunmen attacked the team bus on its way to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

Newcastle United are interested in signing Union Berlin striker Taiwo Awoniyi this summer, according to German football journalist Christian Falk.

What’s the story?

According to Falk, Newcastle, as well as West Ham and Southampton, are interested in signing the 24-year-old this summer with the Nigerian having a release clause of €30m (£25m).

Awoniyi has scored 23 goals in 61 matches for the Bundesliga outfit, at a rate of once every 176 minutes, since making his loan move from Liverpool permanent last summer.

However, this term has been particularly prolific for the 24-year-old, netting 18 times and registering four assists in 39 appearances across all competitions.

The striker has been a serious contributor to the club from the capital side’s recent rise, with Union playing in the Europa Conference League this term and sat currently sixth in the Bundesliga, and could return to England this summer.

Howe will love Awoniyi

It’s no secret that a new striker will be high up the priority list ahead of the summer transfer window for Newcastle United with it being the first since PIF’s takeover of the North East club in October.

£25m January signing Chris Wood has found the back of the net just twice since joining from Burnley whilst Callum Wilson has been sidelined since December with hope that the Englishman will play again this term.

However, neither are long term options with both strikers aged 30.

Having failed to make it into the first-team picture at Liverpool, Awonyi will certainly be keen to make the move to a Premier League club to show English supporters what he’s capable of and potentially what the Reds missed out on.

Although, with Union Berlin on course for another season in Europe, West Ham may be the forward’s preference out of the aforementioned trio if the Hammers can once again qualify for Europe.

The Nigerian who journalist Lolade Adewuyi dubbed a “unicorn” has endured a plethora of loan spells during his career thus far, and was subject to serious praise when on loan at Belgian outfit Royal Excel Mouscron in 2019, with then-teammate Mergim Vojvoda saying: “He should stay his entire life here. We have to offer him a 20-year contract.

“He’s an excellent player with great qualities. If you ask me, it didn’t work with Gent because he was always in the box. Taiwo is a forward who needs to showcase his power and sometimes come deep to find the ball.”

Eddie Howe will need to add higher quality strikers to his ranks this summer and Awoniyi could certainly prove to be a shrewd purchase.

AND in other news: Howe and PIF are now heading for their first big NUFC error, it would be a disaster