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JP Duminy’s outstanding 166 ensured South Africa ended the third day of the second Test with a 61-run advantage

The Bulletin by Peter English28-Dec-2008Australia 394 & 0 for 4 trail South Africa 459 (Duminy 166, Steyn 76, Smith 62, Siddle 4-81) by 61 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

JP Duminy followed his heroics in Perth with a magnificent 166 that left South Africa on top at the MCG © PA Photos
JP Duminy’s outstanding maiden century provided more evidence for South African claims they are the best side in the world on a day when Australia flopped, fumbled and allowed a stunning recovery that almost certainly ended their chances of winning the series. While the hosts were lifeless, the visitors were inspired by Duminy’s fresh 166 in his second Test and Dale Steyn and Paul Harris followed in exceptional and irritating stands that stole the game from Australia.South Africa started the morning 196 behind with only three wickets – and a wobbly tail – remaining and wanted a miracle to avoid a large deficit in reply to Australia’s 394. It came through Duminy and his bowlers as they controlled an under-manned attack and posted a magnificent 459. Even a year ago this sort of charity would have been unthinkable, but the Australians had another long day in the field to consider their revised position in the world order.Ricky Ponting was missing Brett Lee, who had a sore left foot, but given the way he has bowled during the series it was not as costly as it would have been six months earlier. Most of their pain came from Duminy, but he was joined by the No. 10 Steyn, who gathered an unlikely 76 in a performance that exposed the young attack and rallied South Africa to the point where when they were finally dismissed they owned a 65-run lead.A day earlier there was the threat of the follow-on, but at stumps they were in charge. Australia survived three overs and picked up four runs, while Matthew Hayden gained a bruise on his chest from Makhaya Ntini.In a courageous partnership of 180, the third-highest ninth-wicket stand in history, Duminy stayed cool and Steyn battled through the pain of a stinging blow on each hand to frustrate the home side and delight their own. Duminy, 24, continued his amazing start after being a key component in the record-breaking chase in Perth last Sunday.Duminy looked as nerveless as a veteran such as Graeme Smith or Jacques Kallis while he carefully added to his collection and continued his rapid development. A couple of pull shots went for four off Nathan Hauritz, but it was not really a day for flourishes, and he nudged and scampered towards three figures. He spent half an hour in the 90s – not that the time mattered – and there was relief when he cut Peter Siddle through gully for four, raised both arms and kissed his helmet badge.His team-mates lined up to cheer as they wondered at the effort that gone into the recovery. Duminy appeared fresh despite staying throughout the day, facing 340 balls and hitting 18 fours, including fine cover drives from Siddle and Mitchell Johnson after his century. A sweep to Hauritz (3 for 98) lobbed to Siddle to extinguish the excellence and Duminy left the ground with people lining up to congratulate him.Steyn, who could have retired hurt after being struck on the left hand by Johnson, continued to expand on his personal best. His peak came when he hit Johnson for two straight drives for four and mirrored the shot off Siddle to bring up his half-century. His memorable innings, which ended when bowled by Siddle, took 191 balls and included nine fours and the six off Hauritz.Not only did South Africa add 261 runs on the third day, but they took significant time away from Ponting’s team, which needs a victory to level the three-match contest. Ponting is unlikely to be generous with a target following South Africa’s pursuit of 414 at the WACA, although he might be left with no option with only six sessions remaining. However, these scenarios rely on Australia’s under-pressure order performing strongly.If the batsmen copy the effort in the field South Africa will own the series by Tuesday. The same attack that was so potent on day two was able to manage only one wicket – the No. 9 Harris – in the first four hours. It was Michael Hussey, the most casual of part-timers, who broke through the 67-run stand that started the revival, with Johnson taking a fine running catch when Harris (39) heaved to deep mid-on.There were misfields, penalty runs for hitting an unused helmet, overthrows and missed catches, including Ponting dropping Steyn on 32. Poor Hussey could not get within two metres of a Steyn shot that went straight up and followed the path of the sun, and Hauritz spilt a caught-and-bowled.Siddle finished with 4 for 81, taking a day between his third and fourth wickets, while Johnson was used heavily in gaining 2 for 127 in 39 overs. The inexperienced men tried but were ineffective in dealing with a side that is more talented and committed than its hosts.

Though Bangladesh have already lost the series after defeats in the first two games, their captain Mohammad Ashraful has said the third and final ODI will be just as important as the previous matches

Cricinfo staff12-Nov-2008
Mohammad Ashraful wants the fielding and top-order batting to improve © AFP
Though Bangladesh have already lost the series after defeats in the first two games, their captain Mohammad Ashraful has said the third and final ODI in East London will be just as important as the previous matches.”Every international match we play helps our cricket development,” Ashraful said. “For the players, it is another opportunity to show what they are capable of and when you perform against top quality sides, the confidence level goes up a notch.”In the second ODI in Benoni, Bangladesh grassed three opportunities off Hashim Amla, who went on to make his maiden one-day century and led South Africa to 358. “We haven’t fielded anywhere near our usual standards and the top-order batsmen have not contributed as the team would have liked,” Ashraful said. “These are areas we will try to improve in Wednesday’s match.”He, however, felt the players had adjusted well to the pitches and conditions in South Africa. “It was quite chilly at Benoni but otherwise we have adapted well I think. The batters haven’t looked out of place against pace bowling of the highest quality and we continue to bowl well apart from in the third powerplay overs. The wickets have even bounce and you can score quickly if you stick to proper cricket shots.”Ashraful also said he was not concerned about Graeme Smith’s comments that Bangladesh played negative cricket at Benoni while chasing 359. “We don’t spend time thinking about what other people are saying. Our job is to try and play to the best of our ability and that’s where our focus is. We know that when we manage to do that in every department then we become quite competitive against any team anywhere in the world.”Bangladesh have left out Mashrafe Mortaza and Raqibul Hasan for Wednesday’s match. Vice-captain Mortaza is suffering from a sore back while Raqibul has made only 18 runs in his lats four outings, including two ducks.”We want a fully-fit Mortaza for the Test series as he is a very important player for us,” physio Darryn Lifson. “He is still not a 100% and therefore not playing tomorrow.”

Jayaratne stars with both bat and ball for Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI

Cricinfo staff17-Sep-2008Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI 246 for 9 (Jayaratne 69*, Peiris 42, Dar 3-32) beat Hong Kong 230 (Gull 36, Jayaratne 3-35, Weerasinghe 2-27) by 16 runs
Scorecard
Hong Kong’s misery on their tour of Sri Lanka continued as they lost the final one-dayer against the Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI in Colombo by 16 runs. Hong Kong, to their credit, put up a fight, first with the ball and later with a last-wicket stand but those efforts weren’t enough to pull off a consolation win. The result meant a 4-0 clean sweep for the Sri Lankans who showed no signs of easing off, having already secured the series in the previous match.Put in to bat by Hong Kong, the Sri Lankans were off to the worst possible start losing their openers, Tharindu Fernando and Geeth Kumara, for 11 runs inside the fifth over. Having been reduced to 57 for 5 it was upto Udara Peiris and Imesh Udayanga to steady the innings in the middle. However, the fireworks were supplied by Ishan Jayaratne whose quickfire 69 ensured Sri Lanka edged close to 250. His unbeaten knock, off 60 balls comprised eight fours and a six.Among the Hong Kong bowlers, Irfan Ahmed and Munir Dar finished with three wickets apiece.The Hong Kong batsmen began cautiously but the Sri Lankan bowlers picked up wickets regularly. Opener Tabarak Dar, Munir Dar and Ilyas Gull, who top scored with 36, all got off to starts but couldn’t go on further. The biggest partnership was the 38 put on by the last wicket as Hong Kong finished at 230.Jayaratne starred with the ball as well for Sri Lanka picking up 3 for 35 and was ably assisted by Shameera Weerasinghe who chipped in with two wickets.

Hamish Marshall’s polished half-century, and quick contributions from Rohan Gavaskar and Lance Klusener, propelled the Royal Bengal Tigers to 170 for 4, a match-winning total, in Ahmedabad

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera in Hyderabad19-Oct-2008
ScorecardHamish Marshall’s polished half-century, and quick contributions from Rohan Gavaskar and Lance Klusener, propelled the Royal Bengal Tigers to 170 for 4, a match-winning total, in Ahmedabad. The Mumbai Champs turned in another below-par performance – they were dismissed for 158 – and suffered their third straight loss of the tournament.The feature of Marshall’s innings was that all of his shots, barring a heave to cow corner, were conventional. He hit a couple of sixes over the bowler’s head but, instead of long-handle shots, they were merely an extension of the follow-through.Steve Rixon, a coach in the ICL, had a revealing story to tell about convincing Surrey’s Mark Butcher to play Twenty20. Butcher wasn’t sure he could play this format but, during a net session, Rixon told him to play his shots with a follow through. Much to Butcher’s surprise the ball flew over the cover boundary. That is how Marshall has batted in this tournament: nothing extravagant, just good old cricket but with a pronounced sense of purpose while completing a shot.He lifted Johan Van der Wath, who had another poor day with the ball, and Nathan Astle straight over their heads for a six and pulled Michael Kasprowicz over deep midwicket.Marshall’s test came against Sridhar Iyer, a tall legspinner, and he went down the track to the first ball and lofted it with the turn over extra cover. Iyer shortened his length but got cut to point boundary. Marshall went down the track once again but his lofted shot didn’t clear long-off. It was a neat little innings and it laid the base for the assault from Rohan Gavaskar and Lance Klusener.Prior to this game Klusener had faced only 24 balls for 22 runs with two fours and, surprisingly, no sixes. He hit one today, a monstrous shot over long-on against van der Wath. His high back lift and the powerful swing of his heavy bat fetched Bengal valuable runs. It was Rohan Gavaskar, however, who really turned it on by smashing his first ball from Avinash Yadav over deep midwicket. He found the cover-point boundary thrice against the medium-pacers and his 30 off 12 balls helped achieve a challenging target.Mumbai have been unable to gel as a unit in the tournament and they had another bad day. There was the odd contribution with the bat from Astle and a late charge from van der Wath and Subhojit Paul created some artificial excitement but they never really threatened Bengal. When you are losing consistently even the attacking innings tend to get overlooked. Mumbai’s start to the tournament has been poor but the worrying bit is that they haven’t shown much improvement.

Former Premier League footballer Steve Howey believes that Emiliano Buendia is a very good player, and that if Aston Villa could sign James Ward-Prowse then he would be a fantastic signing for the club.

Buendia completed a move to Villa Park from Norwich City for a club record transfer fee and signed a five-year-deal with the club.

The right-winger featured 41 times for the Canaries in the Championship last season, scoring 15 goals and providing a further 17, with Howey telling Football FanCast: “I think Buendia is a very good player, I think he struggled the first time Norwich came up but apparently he was absolutely outstanding last year, so you know I think they broke the record to bring him to the club.”

Villa have recruited even further this summer alongside Buendia, with Leon Bailey, Ashley Young, Danny Ings and Axel Tuanzebe all signing deals at Villa Park.

Earlier on in the summer, Villa saw a bid for Arsenal midfielder Emile Smith-Rowe turned down and have recently seen the same happen for Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse, with SaintsExtra claiming Villa believe it could take £50m to sign him.

Sky Sports reported that the club had a £25m bid rejected from the Saints for Ward-Prowse but Howey believes he would be a fantastic signing for Villa, saying: “I’m not sure what you could do to prise Ward-Prowse away from Southampton. He’s captain, you know he’s kind of pretty much the main man there, but I’ve always liked him. For me, for a team to get him like Aston Villa, I think would be a fantastic signing.”

Aston Villa have added some further quality to their side this summer so far, and with less than a month left of the transfer window, will there be any further incomings this summer?

Football FanCast’s EFL spy reckons that Liverpool youngster Ben Woodburn could thrive in front of a packed-out Hillsborough if he makes a move to Sheffield Wednesday.

Following their off the field financial problems, the Owls are going to need to take advantage of the loan system if they’re to push towards making an instant return to the Championship.

Darren Moore has already signed Olamide Shodipo for the season from QPR, and the EFL insider has suggested that the Wednesday boss investigates bringing Woodburn to south Yorkshire.

The attacker, who made his Premier League debut at 17 before netting his first Reds goal just three days later, endured a tricky period last season having spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Blackpool before returning to Liverpool in January only to play Under-23 football from then on in.

Woodburn has previously played for Wednesday’s Sheffield rivals, United, one of the EFL loan stints he’s had in the last three years.

But, by the time the new season gets underway, it will be more than seven months since the 21-year-old played at first-team level, and the spy believes that Wednesday could be the perfect home.

He exclusively told Football FanCast:

“He is an interesting one that can play on different sides and can help Wednesday in League One. He has a lot of potential and that could come good for him at a potential full house at Hillsborough when fans return.

“He’s a sharp, clever player who just needs a different home now.”

It’s ‘by no means a certainty’ that Andre Gomes will leave Everton in this summer’s transfer window, The Athletic’s Greg O’Keeffe reports. 

The lowdown

The Liverpool Echo claimed last week that Liga NOS outfit Benfica had enquired about the possibility of signing Gomes. For Everton, it’s a move which could ‘help free up vital space in the wage bill’.

According to Spotrac, Gomes is the third-highest earner on the club’s books, taking home just over £112,000 per week. Only Yerry Mina and Lucas Digne, two other former Barcelona players, earn more.

Everton paid £22m to sign Gomes permanently at the end of a loan spell in 2018/19. He still has three years left on the deal he penned.

The 27-year-old played 28 Premier League games under Carlo Ancelotti last season and averaged 1.3 tackles, 1.1 dribbles and two accurate long balls per match (via WhoScored).

The latest

O’Keeffe says that Ancelotti’s successor Rafael Benitez is keen to ‘give everyone a fair chance’ to prove themselves and, as such, has yet to reach a verdict on whether he wants Gomes to be part of his squad.

However, the report does caution that more ‘high-earning low contributors’ will have to be sold during the window following the departure of Bernard. At present, Gomes’ value stands at £15m.

The verdict

If Everton truly want to become consistent qualifiers for Europe, the revolution must start from within. They need to shed the players who simply haven’t delivered, and Gomes – who has just one goal from 81 appearances for the club – is among them.

These sales could then fund genuinely impactful additions, building on the success the Toffees enjoyed last summer with Ben Godfrey, Abdoulaye Doucoure, James Rodriguez and Allan.

If Benitez wants to leave a bigger mark than his predecessors in the Goodison Park dugout, than he’ll have to be ruthless in trimming his squad.

In other news, many Everton fans lauded this significant Denise Barrett-Baxendale news.

Rangers have rejected a second bid from West Ham United for Ibrox youngster Kai Kennedy, according to a recent report from Football Insider. 

The lowdown: West Ham targeting move for Rangers forward

Kennedy has been a transfer target for West Ham for some time now, and has previously spoken out on the Hammers’ interest in signing him, but wouldn’t be torn on making a decision on his future.

“It is extremely flattering that West Ham have made an offer for me and it would be a great opportunity to be able to work with a top manager such as David Moyes, but I am a Rangers player until I am told otherwise.”

West Ham submitted their first offer for the forward on Monday 18th July, but it was swiftly rejected by the Gers, who are eager to keep hold of the 19-year-old. He spent last year’s campaign on loan with both Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Raith Rovers.

The latest: Second bid rejected

West Ham evidently aren’t giving up in their pursuit of the Rangers youngster, with Football Insider’s Ibrox source now reporting that the Scottish side have rejected their second offer for Kennedy’s services.

Kennedy is contracted with the Gers until the summer of 2023, and it remains to be seen as to whether West Ham will make a third offer for his services anytime soon.

But Steven Gerrard has moved him into their first-team plans now, with Kennedy previously training with the club’s ‘B’ team.

The verdict: A nervy few weeks ahead for the Gers

They’re clearly keen to keep hold of Kennedy for the foreseeable future, especially if they’ve recalled him to first-team training ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

Kennedy scored one goal and was on hand to provide four assists in 19 appearances for Raith Rovers in his loan spell away from Ibrox last season, and it appears as though some of his strong performances haven’t gone unnoticed.

The diminutive winger still has two years remaining on his contract with Gerrard’s side, and it’ll be interesting to see whether he’s got serious role to play for the club’s first-team this season.

It wouldn’t come as a surprise to see West Ham come back with another offer for him though judging by their quick move to make a second bid, so the Gers may now face a real battle to stand firm.

Cricinfo previews the Group B Asia Cup clash between Pakistan and India

The Preview by S Rajesh25-Jun-2008Match factsThursday June 26, 2008
Start time 16.00 (local) 10.00 (GMT)
Salman Butt didn’t score a run against Hong Kong, but his record against India is formidable © Getty Images
Big PictureBoth Pakistan and India recorded comprehensive victories against Hong Kong – as they were expected to – and despite an assured rematch later on in the tournament a lot rests on Thursday’s match. The winning team carries forward two points from this match into the semi-final league.Moreover, an India-Pakistan match always comes with its own pressures and expectations, and both teams would want to carry forward valuable momentum to go with the two points.The two teams have played more often recently, and India have had the better of the exchanges, winning nine out of 14 since 2006. However, Pakistan turned the tables on them in the Kitply Cup a couple of weeks back, losing the league game but winning the final.On paper India are the stronger team, with their batting, especially, looking in much better shape than Pakistan’s. The home team’s top order struggled against Hong Kong’s limited bowling resources, and Shoaib Malik will want a much better performance on Thursday. Both teams, though, will gladly trade a defeat here for a win in the round-robin clash.Form guide (Last 5 completed ODIs; most recent first)
Pakistan WWLWW
India LWWWWWatch out for …Salman Butt: He was dismissed for a third-ball duck on Tuesday against Hong Kong, but India are his favourite opposition: Butt averages 52.93 against them, and five of his seven ODI hundreds have come against the Indians.Yuvraj Singh was rested on Wednesday, but expect him to be among the runs against an opponent he loves to play: he averages 48.58 against Pakistan, and has scored half-centuries in each of his last five innings against them.Team newsIndia rested Yuvraj and Ishant Sharma against Hong Kong, but expect both to get a game against Pakistan. Rohit Sharma, who scored a listless 29-ball 11, could well be benched. Irfan Pathan’s side strain kept him out of the first game, and if he clears a fitness test, Yusuf Pathan might sit out.India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Robin Uthappa, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 RP Singh, 11 Ishant Sharma.Pakistan are most likely to field the same team which beat Hong Kong, but with not too much at stake in the game, this might be the perfect opportunity to tinker with the batting order and push Shahid Afridi up the order to open the batting. He has struggled lower down the order, and a move up might just do the trick.Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Shahid Afridi, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Fawad Alam, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Iftikhar Anjum.Stats and trivia The last time Pakistan lost to India in an Asia Cup game was way back in October 1988. Since then, they have won three times while one game was washed out. India also have a good winning streak going against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi, winning their last three matches against them here. The last time they lost to Pakistan at this ground was in January 1983. Shoaib Malik’s only Asia Cup game against India was a memorable one: he scored 143 – his highest ODI score – and took 2 for 42 as Pakistan won by 42 runs in Colombo in 2004.Quotes”A little difference is made from playing so often but in both our countries, crowds want a win all the time. There is a little more pressure on us being at home, but we are confident going into the India game.”
Shoaib Malik says his team is ready for another tussle with their old rivals”The beauty is that when we used to play less, people used to complain. Now we play more, people complain. But it’s not up to us; it’s the boards’ job to make schedules, it’s the cricketer’s job to play.”
Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the frequent India-Pakistan matches. If both teams make the final, they’ll be playing each other three times in this tournament alone

An update has emerged regarding West Ham’s interest in Mikkel Damsgaard.

What’s the talk?

According to La Razon, as transcribed by West Ham World, the Hammers are among a number of clubs interested in signing the 21-year-old this summer following his impressive performances for Denmark at the European Championship.

The report claimed that Tottenham, Barcelona and Liverpool are also running the rule over the Sampdoria midfielder, whilst David Moyes is hoping West Ham can swoop in ahead of some huge European clubs to secure his services in the coming weeks.

Fans would love him

West Ham fans would surely love to have Damsgaard at the London Stadium next season should he come through the door in the summer transfer window. He is an exciting young winger and could get supporters off their seats with his driving runs down the flank. The 21-year-old likes to get at his opponents and commit defenders, which could fantastic to watch for those who want to see the kind of fast-paced, attacking football for which the Irons are historically renowned.

Damsgaard has been particularly impressive for Denmark at the European Championship. In three games for his country at the finals, he has produced one goal and one assist and averaged an excellent WhoScored rating of 7.25, completing eight dribbles and creating five chances. Not only does this highlight his willingness to run head first at the opposition and make things happen, it also shows that he has the mentality required to perform at the very top level in a major international tournament.

TV2’s football expert Martin Mikkelsen hailed Damsgaard as being “magical” and praised how mature he is in terms of his decision-making in the final third despite his young age, saying: “He’s magical – what speed!

“He is dynamic and can go both ways. He is creative but also so mature in his decisions.”

The £11.7m-rated dynamo could be a terrific addition to West Ham’s squad and that is why Moyes must ensure that a deal can be done for the Danish winger. He has proven his class at international level and was directly involved in six goals for Sampdoria in the Serie A last term, showing that he has experience playing top-flight football and could adapt to regular Premier League action relatively quickly.

Moyes could have the chance to develop him over the course of several years. Damsgaard turns 21 today and has the majority of his career ahead of him, which means that he would be in no rush to have an instant impact at the London Stadium. The former Everton boss could take his time with the youngster and make sure that he is ready to come in before giving him regular minutes in the team, whereas that may not be the case with an older signing who could expect to play straight away.

AND in other news, Imagine him and Soucek: West Ham must seal swoop for £17m maestro, Moyes needs him…