All posts by h716a5.icu

Namibia steamrolled Uganda in a low-scoring encounter in the first of three List A games in the capital Windhoek

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2010
Scorecard
Ramond van Schoor top scored for Namibia in their 62-run win•Getty ImagesNamibia steamrolled Uganda in a low-scoring encounter in the first of three List A games in the capital Windhoek. A four wicket-haul from seamer Louis Klazinga and left-arm spinner Louis van der Westhuizen’s three-for shut out Uganda from the game after the hosts had been bowled out for 156.Only two batsmen in Uganda’s chase – Arthur Kyobe and Frank Nsubuga – reached double-digits as the result failed to measure up to Namibia’s determined effort to compensate for their shortcomings with the bat. The only ray of hope in the Uganda innings was a second-wicket stand of 30 but the innings derailed from there on, as Namibia captured the remaining nine wickets for just 53. Klazinga uprooted the top order and van der Westhuizen mopped up the tail to knock out Uganda for 94.Opener and wicketkeeper Raymond van Schoor top scored for Namibia with a fluent 36 and even after his dismissal, with the score on 43, there were important contributions from Wian van Vuuren (26) and Gert Lotter (32) in the middle order and Christi Viljoen (23) further down that gave the Namibia bowlers a fighting target to defend. For Uganda, seamer Charles Waiswa starred with three wickets.

West Ham are still interested in completing the signing of Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Lingard excels at West Ham

The 29-year-old spent half of last season on loan at the London Stadium, becoming a hero in no time and spearheading the Hammers’ European challenge.

Lingard scored nine goals and registered four assists in just 16 Premier League appearances for West Ham, prior to returning to the northwest.

He has again struggled for playing time at Old Trafford this season, however, and the Hammers have been tipped to re-sign him in the near future.

The Latest: Hammers still in the fight

Speaking to Give Me Sport, O’Rourke claimed Lingard remains on David Moyes’ radar, with their interest never going away:

“He has been on West Ham’s list since last summer when he had that great loan spell at the London Stadium last season. He doesn’t figure in Manchester United’s plans going forward.”

Newcastle are now strongly linked with the 32-cap England international, so it appears Rob Newman could have a fight on his hands for his signature in the next ten days.

The Verdict: Newcastle favourites

While it would be great to see Lingard back in east London, it does look increasingly as though he could be part of the Tyneside revolution, following their recent big-money takeover.

The Magpies have made a second loan bid for the England international and their newfound financial power could give them the edge over West Ham, in terms of wages.

Should the player opt for London living and a club currently thriving instead of fighting relegation however, Lingard would be a fantastic addition to Moyes’ squad this month. He has been hailed as ‘exceptional’ by the Hammers boss in the past and showed in his temporary stint last term just how much he can inject into the Irons’ attack.

In other news, some West Ham fans are excited after an update on one target. Find out who it is here.

Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lankan fast bowler, has been rested from the second Test against India beginning in Colombo on July 26

Sa'adi Thawfeeq24-Jul-2010Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lankan fast bowler, has been rested from the second Test against India beginning in Colombo on July 26. Malinga was one of the architects of Sri Lanka’s ten-wicket win in Galle but will miss out at the SSC because of “stiffness in his knee”. He will be replaced by Dilhara Fernando, while spinner Ajantha Mendis also returned to the squad.Aravinda de Silva, the chairman of selectors, said Malinga was rested on the advice of team physiotherapist Tommy Simsek after the bowler complained of stiffness in his dodgy right knee, which had kept him out of Test cricket for 30 months.”We have to be cautious with Malinga. He was not feeling quite fit to go through a five-day Test. He complained of stiffness in his knee,” de Silva said. “We are closely monitoring Malinga’s fitness and we are hopeful he will be fully fit for the third Test starting in ten days time.” The third Test starts on August 3 at the P Sara Oval.Malinga had made his comeback to Test cricket in Galle after a long absence and played a critical role in Sri Lanka’s victory by taking 5 for 50 in the second innings. He bowled a total of 30 overs in the match for seven wickets.The setback to Malinga is a severe blow for Sri Lanka especially since the SSC Test will be their first after Muttiah Muralitharan retired from the format. Malinga and Muralitharan had combined to take 15 of India’s 20 wickets in Galle.Mendis, who had taken 6 for 67 in a practice game against the Indians but was overlooked for the first Test, is likely to take Muralitharan’s place. The other contender for the spot, offspinner Suraj Randiv, retained his place in the squad.Following Muralitharan’s retirement, former captain Mahela Jayawardene was named vice-captain to Kumar Sangakkara. “We want Mahela, who has a good cricket brain, to be part of the decision-making process in the middle,” de Silva said.Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ajantha Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Chanaka Welagedara, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Thilina Kandamby, Dammika Prasad, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Pradeep.

Celtic ‘are looking’ to loan out Osaze Urhoghide during the January transfer window, according to Joe Crann for The Scotsman. 

The lowdown: Urhoghide limited

Urhoghide was the first signing of the Ange Postecoglou era at Celtic, penning a four-year deal after his contract at Sheffield Wednesday expired (via Sky Sports).

However, he was limited to a solitary appearance prior to the winter break, and that came in a Europa League dead-rubber against Real Betis.

The right-back produced an all-action performance against the La Liga outfit, winning five tackles, prevailing in nine out of 15 duels, completing two dribbles and creating a chance (via SofaScore).

The latest: Celtic plan loan move

‘(I) understand that the club have turned down approaches to sign Osaze Urhoghide on a permanent basis,’ Crann said on Twitter.

However, the Hoops do intend to let him leave Parkhead on a temporary basis.

There’s interest in the 21-year-old from ‘clubs in the SPFL and English Championship’.

The verdict: Great decision

Opportunities have been hard to come by for Urhoghide, but he very much looks to remain part of Celtic’s long-term plans.

And no wonder, based on a ‘fantastic debut’ against Betis that Football Scotland’s Euan Robertson rated eight out of 10.

If he can impress on loan further down the SPFL or in the English second tier, he’ll return to Lennoxtown for pre-season with his prospects of a greater squad role significantly boosted.

Listing him for loan is a smart move from the Hoops, and a permanent deal should absolutely be out of the question given how little we’ve seen of his abilities so far.

In other news, Gabby Agbonlahor is in awe of this transfer business.

Despite managing to valiantly claw back from being 2-0 down to secure a 2-2 draw against Manchester United in their latest Premier League match thanks to goals from Jacob Ramsey and Philippe Coutinho on his debut, Aston Villa were unfortunately struck with a concerning injury blow that will have some fans worried.

What’s the news?

In a recent article for Birmingham Live, Villa journalist Ashley Preece shared some details on the issue that forced defender Ezri Konsa off the pitch to be replaced by Kortney Hause at half-time.

He said: “Konsa took a whack to his hip and, after attempting to run it off before the second half, had to come off at the break after shaking his head to fitness coach Jordan Milsom saying he couldn’t continue despite having some painkillers in the dressing room.”

Preece also added that Villa will be “sweating” over Konsa’s fitness now and that it “doesn’t look too good” in terms of his chances of being available for their next match against Everton at Goodison Park next weekend.

A big miss?

So far this season, Konsa has played in all but one of Villa’s 20 Premier League games so far this season, showing how highly rated he was by former Villa manager Dean Smith earlier in the season as well as current boss Steven Gerrard.

This then shows how much of a big miss he would be if he were to spend a significant period of time out of action due to this hip injury, something that would ultimately severely worry fans.

Also, one other worrying aspect with this situation at the moment is the lack of depth in the centre-back position with the Midlands club saying goodbye to Axel Tuanzebe earlier in the window.

Moving forward, the best thing that everyone at Villa can hope for is that Konsa can recover from this injury as soon as possible and that Hause and Tyrone Mings can keep things tight at the back if he misses the Everton game or any other matches after that.

Fortunately for Villa, with Hause managing to deliver a solid display in the second half against the Red Devils, this should be encouraging for Gerrard and the Villa fans that he has what it takes to fill in for Konsa.

In other news: Villa could secure another transfer masterclass with £49k-p/w gem who “has everything” – opinion

Kumar Sangakkara has asked for teams to be given equal opportunity in Test cricket, saying the dwindling number of five-day matches Sri Lanka were playing was limiting their ambitions

Cricinfo staff22-May-2010Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan captain, has asked for teams to be given equal opportunity in Test cricket, saying the dwindling number of five-day matches Sri Lanka were playing was limiting their ambitions. Sangakkara welcomed the idea of a world Test championship and said teams should be given the chance of playing a minimum number of Tests in a year.”It’s great to have a Test championship but I believe that all sides should have an equal opportunity to play Test matches,” Sangakkara told in Florida, where Sri Lanka are playing two Twenty20 internationals against New Zealand. “This year we are lucky that India wants to come and play Test matches but the opportunity for Sri Lankan players to fulfil their Test ambitions are getting more and more limited.”Since their tour of Australia in 2007, Sri Lanka have not played a Test series outside the subcontinent. They haven’t been to South Africa for a Test tour since 2002 and the Tests in 2011 will be their first in England in five years.”Sides must be given the opportunity to play a minimum number of Test matches and the Future Tours Programme must be reorganised so some of the best sides tour more than just once in five years,” Sangakkara said. “There was once talk of playing a Test championship without Sri Lanka in the first year at a time when we were number two in the Test rankings. These are the inconsistencies they must address.”Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka batsman, echoed his captain’s views. “I think we need to think a bit more about Test cricket, you need to make sure all the teams are going to play eight to ten matches a year minimum, and then you can strike that balance,” he said. “I have only played four Test matches in my entire career in Australia; that’s in 12 years of playing.”

Tottenham Hotspur are set to ramp up their pursuit of Antonio Rudiger in the coming days, according to an inside source…

What’s the word?

As revealed by Football Insider this week, the north London outfit are in the race to sign the £100k-per-week Germany international after he rejected a new Chelsea contract, meaning he is currently free to leave Stamford Bridge in the summer.

Valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, it is thought that Spurs have planned discussions behind-the-scenes in an effort to persuade the 28-year-old to swap the Blues for their capital city rivals in 2022.

Lilywhites sporting director Fabio Paratici is said to be pushing hard to get an early agreement in place but they will face a battle to secure him as foreign teams can seal him on a pre-contract agreement as early as January, something that Spurs do not have the luxury of.

Statement signing

This would be quite an outlandish move from Spurs, considering their west London rivals won the Champions League last summer and are quite some way ahead of them on and off the pitch.

However, the fact that Antonio Conte is in charge boosts their chances of landing the 6 foot 3 colossus as the pair worked together when the Italian was at the helm.

45 of his 172 appearances for the Blues came under Conte as they won the 2017/18 FA Cup together, leading to the German describing the 52-year-old as a “very good coach” to reporters.

Rudiger has been one of Chelsea’s standout performers under Thomas Tuchel over the past 12 months, with BT Sport pundit and Premier League legend Rio Ferdinand a big fan.

“Look at Rudiger, he’s arguably, since Tuchel has been there [at Chelsea], been the best defender in the Premier League,” he told his podcast (via the Metro). “Him or [Ruben] Dias in that time. He’s been unbelievable, he’s like an animal.”

Indeed, the German is just one of two players to have played every minute of every Premier League outing for the Blues this term, where he has averaged a second-most 2.2 aerial duels won, 1.1 tackles and an 86.9% passing accuracy when managing over 70 attempts per game, as per WhoScored.

Evidently, Rudiger is an efficient ball-playing defender and one that would instantly improve Spurs’ backline, not just because of his trophy record at Stamford Bridge.

The vastly-experienced defender would be quite the signing to make next year and it would certainly reveal the ambitions of the club under Conte. As such, many around N17 must be absolutely excited by this latest development.

Spurs fans would surely love Rudiger at the club, so this update should provide some huge encouragement heading into January.

AND in other news, Paratici eyes Spurs bargain after “courting” £18m-rated maestro, Conte would love him…

A round-up of the quarter-final matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that took place on March 13

Cricinfo staff13-Mar-2010
Scorecard
Akshath Reddy, in his first Twenty20 game, smashed an unbeaten 105, including ten fours and five sixes, to lead Hyderabad into the semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after they beat Mumbai by seven wickets. Mumbai, thanks to an unbeaten 89 from Siddharth Chitnis and a 24-ball 46 from Paul Valthaty, had posted a formidable 181. Chitnis, who faced just 36 balls, was ruthless in his knock, striking 10 sixes and four fours. But Reddy’s reply was just as unforgiving, and he was well backed up by opener Danny Prince and Anoop Pai who chipped in with useful contributions to help ensure Hyderabad scaled down their target with little difficulty.
Scorecard
Maharashtra marched into the semi-finals with a comprehensive victory, easing past the finish line with six wickets and four overs to spare. It was the bowlers who set up the win, taking four wickets for 19 runs in the middle of the innings to derail Madhya Pradesh, who had moved along to 54 for 2 by the 10th over. Left-arm spinner Kiran Adhav was the most successful of the Maharashtra bowlers, finishing with 3 for 29, as MP folded for 120. There was hardly any trouble during the chase, with the openers slamming 56 by the seventh over. Offspinner Jalaj Saxena sent down a tight spell, conceding only 17 runs and taking a wicket, but the target was too flimsy for MP to defend.

Comparing Mumbai Indians to Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai look the more formidable unit with better all-round players

The Preview by Jamie Alter21-Mar-2010Match factsMonday, March 22
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Big pictureMan under fire: Sourav Ganguly•AFPBoth sides got off to winning ways before they were rudely jolted – Mumbai Indians by top dogs Royal Challengers Bangalore, looking the most balanced side, and Kolkata Knight Riders by Rajasthan Royals, looking the most disheveled. One loss hardly matters when you have 14 to play, but in each of those defeats, the weaknesses of Mumbai and Kolkata were exposed.Mumbai’s tubthumping batsmen, in particular a domestic pair whose preference was to hit through the line, found the bouncer a particularly nasty delivery to cope with at pace, while in the field the slow variations tried by Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard turned out to be utterly ineffective during the Powerplay. In fact after the star new-ball pair of Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga, the rest of the bowlers were ruthlessly exposed by Jacques Kallis.Kolkata stumbled to an odd sort of defeat against Rajasthan, particularly struggling to score runs in their chase despite having kept wickets in hand. Neither Brad Hodge, Sourav Ganguly nor Owais Shah was able to hit a long ball and their insipid innings allowed the pressure to build up. In short, Kolkata are lacking firepower with the bat; they really need Chris Gayle into the XI and must be watching the calendar to see when Brendon McCullum will touch down.Both teams will be keen to resume winning ways and if the marquee names play to form this has the makings of a good contest. The battle begins at the top, with Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya pitted against the pace of Ishant Sharma and Shane Bond and Gayle and Hodge against the wealth of experience that Zaheer and Malinga share, not to forget some yorkers and crafty swing. Throw in one of the most economical bowlers of the tournament, Murali Kartik, against a hungry Mumbai middle order and there’s even more to look forward to. Anil Kumble exposed young Saurabh Tiwary’s deficiency against quality spin and Kartik will prove a stern test as well.Comparing the two sides, Mumbai look the more formidable unit with better all-round players. Both teams are coming off defeats but on paper, Mumbai start off as favourites.Team talkMumbai won’t press the alarm button after one loss. Ambati Rayudu injured himself while taking a catch so he’s doubtful. Allrounder Abhishek Nayar is also injured so Shikhar Dhawan might come in his place. Jayasuriya’s poor form will be a worry but such is his stature that he can win them a match on his own on a given day.Kolkata have selection conundrums. Gayle will play his first game, meaning that Shah would be benched. Charl Langeveldt’s fitness is also in doubt, but who can Kolkata drop? With Ajit Agarkar still recovering from injury, Ashok Dinda should keep his place. Cheteshwar Pujara came back into the side for Rohan Gavaskar in the last game but struggled for consistency, so he could be pushed aside too.Previously…Mumbai won both times in the first IPL, by seven wickets and eight wickets. When they came up against each other in South Africa, Mumbai thrashed Kolkata by 92 runs before sneaking a nine-run win.In the spotlightChris Gayle v Mumbai’s fast bowlers: In his first match of the season, Gayle won’t have it easy once he reaches the middle. Zaheer and Malinga have pace and swing and are adept at firing the ball into the blockhole. Zaheer’s penchant for dismissing left-handed openers precedes him and against Gayle, who prefers standing and moving his back leg across, Malinga will also fancy his chances of pinning him at the crease. Gayle had a few issues teeing off early against Zimbabwe’s spinners when they opened the attack in the limited-overs series in the West Indies recently, so it may not be a bad idea giving Harbhajan Singh the ball early in the match.Sourav Ganguly: The Kolkata captain, booed by a section of Rajasthan’s ‘home’ fans in Ahmedabad after the last game, was terse in assessing the loss and called for more intensity from his players. For starters he could do with some intensity himself. Against Rajasthan some of the facets that Ganguly had been derided for as an international player were all too prevalent – he was sluggish between the wickets, keen to turn down sharp singles, and a liability in the field. Kolkata don’t need that from their captain. Despite a partisan Mumbai crowd, ‘dada’ (as Ganguly is widely known) still has his own bunch of die-hards everywhere and, for Kolkata’s sake, maybe he’ll choose the Brabourne Stadium to get off the block in the IPL.SRK’s clan v the Ambani caravan: Shah Rukh Khan, owner of the Kolkata franchise, has made the Eden Gardens his second home but Mumbai will always remain first love for the Bollywood superstar. Wherever Shah Rukh goes a posse of family, celebrity friends and management follows and no doubt, many eyes will be on that gang as well as on the high-profile couple of Mukesh and Neeta Ambani. The owners of the most expensive IPL team are loyal to their side at all their home games – wife Neeta accompanies them everywhere – and they were seen to occupy a large section of a Brabourne stand with friends for the last game.Prime numbers Kartik has the fourth best economy rate of the competition at 5.66. Zaheer and Malinga are the only Mumbai bowlers with an economy rate under 7.42.Mumbai have the best run-rate inside the first nine overs (the strategic time-out is now taken after this juncture, not ten overs) so far – a very satisfying 9.48.Mumbai have conceded the least number of extras – 18 – in the tournament so far. Kolkata have conceded the second most – 28.The chatter”Every game has a story… One shouldn’t get too emotional, though.”

West Ham United complete their Europa League group stage campaign as David Moyes’ side welcome Dinamo Zagreb to the London Stadium this evening.

The Irons, who sit top of the standings, have already advanced into the knockout stages of the competition but do have an unbeaten record to maintain, having amassed 13 points from their opening five games.

Moyes has hinted at rotation, though that should be expected as it’s something he’s done in pretty much every midweek outing this season. He is also having to deal with somewhat of a defensive injury crisis.

However, it is in the attack where he should look to make a bold and brutal call, nonetheless, it’s one that would benefit the team going forward.

Michail Antonio’s recent form is a massive cause for concern as the 31-year-old, who is Moyes’ only senior striker, has found the net just once across his last nine appearances in all competitions.

At times, the £10.8m-rated frontman has looked jaded and out of sorts – that’s largely due to the sheer volume of minutes played, particularly in comparison to this stage last season, as well as his appearances for Jamaica across the Atlantic. It all adds up and the Hammers are now paying for it.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/west-ham-news-transfer-updates-rumours-gossip-david-moyes-gsb-premier-league” title=”Read the latest West Ham news, transfer updates and much, much more!”]

Antonio racked up only 530 minutes worth of action before Christmas last year. That number has nearly tripled to 1,462 minutes this term.

It’s no secret that the Scot needs reinforcements up top this January but until then, they’ll have to make do.

Some of the club’s young talents, such as Sonny Perkins, have been called up to first-team training in preparation for tonight’s encounter, so there could be a simple switch to be made, whilst Andriy Yarmolenko could be recalled and Jarrod Bowen is capable of leading the line, too.

In Antonio’s first seven league games, he found the net five times and managed at least four shots in all but two fixtures. Since then, he’s bagged once and hasn’t surpassed a total of two shots in any match, per WhoScored. A worrying trend and only emphasises his struggles.

The leading £70k-per-week talisman, who was dubbed a “complete monster” and an “absolute revelation” by Daily Star journalist Paul Brown to GIVEMESPORT earlier this season, could really do with some time on the sideline in a bid to get his fitness and form back.

It’s time for Moyes to be ruthless in axing his star man tonight.

AND in other news, Moyes must unleash West Ham’s 6-foot “monster” tonight after suffering another “massive blow”…