Wolverhampton Wanderers crashed out of the Carabao Cup after a disastrous loss to Ipswich Town at Portman Road, with Gary O’Neil’s side suffering a 3-2 defeat to the Championship outfit.

Journalist Steve Madley described the fortune of the game as “infuriating”, as O’Neil’s side looked to be the squad in the second-tier for the majority of the tie, in a result that saw them exit the cup early on.

The manager made 10 changes from his side that played in the draw against Luton Town last weekend, switches that proved to be costly as the squad struggled to maintain their fast start.

Who scored for Wolves against Ipswich Town?

It was an opening 15 minutes that Wolves could have only dreamed of considering their lacklustre start to the season, as Hwang Hee-Chan netted his fourth goal of the 2023/24 campaign after just four minutes played.

The Korean’s goal was quickly followed by the Old Gold’s second, as Toti Gomes put the visitors 2-0 up early into proceedings, marking their dominance over the heavily-rotated Championship side.

At the point of the second goal, it seemed as though O’Neil’s squad had already started their trip back to the Midlands, as the hosts got back into the game before halftime via goals from Chelsea loanee Omari Hutchinson and Freddie Ladapo.

After the interval, Wolves’ hard work in the opening minutes was ripped apart, as Jack Taylor put Ipswich ahead with an ambitious strike and some questionable goalkeeping by Dan Bentley, who had a shocking night.

The Express and Star’s Liam Keen stressed in his match report that the keeper “could have done better” for the third goal, as well as the second as he earned an inadequate Sofascore match rating of just 6.0.

While it was more difficult to pick out the better performers from the poor on the night, one player suffered as much as Bentley, as O’Neil handed Santiago Bueno his full-debut for Wolves.

How did Santiago Bueno play against Ipswich?

Signed on deadline day from Girona, the lightweight defender was thrown into the mix in the cup, with the hope that he could show his worth against a theoretically lesser opposition.

That was far from the case as the defender was shunned by Talking Wolves founder Matt Cooper as enduring a “tough debut”, which was matched by his notable frailties in the back line.

The £30k-per-week Uruguayan won just four out of eight of his attempted ground duels, as well as losing possession five times and committing two fouls in the heart of defence, via Sofascore.

While his numbers were far from impressive, his lack of game time of late shone through, as he was beaten to the ball by Hutchinson for the Blues’ opener, where he was criticised for looking “flat-footed” by journalist Steve Madeley.

With Manchester City up next in the league, Wolves fans expressed their upset at Tuesday night’s result, as fan account ‘Official Wolves Fans’ described the squad as being “disjointed”, which was a fair account of the evening’s entertainment.

To look so out of place on his debut against a side in the Championship was a worrying sight for Bueno and Wolves, however on what was a pitiful night for all associated with Molineux, the 24-year-old will have a shot at redemption in the future.

Gautam Gambhir has stepped down as captain of Delhi Daredevils after the team suffered another woeful start to the IPL. According to his recommendation, the 23-year old batsman Shreyas Iyer has been appointed as his successor.”I take full responsibility for where we are at the points table,” Gambhir said. “I thought I hadn’t done enough. I needed to take the responsiblity as a leader. I felt this was the right time because we still have a chance. [It was] absolutely my decision. No pressure from the franchise.”Gautam Gambhir has scored 42 runs off the 60 balls he’s faced from seamers in IPL 2018•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Daredevils had won only one out of six matches in 2018 and were in last place when he addressed a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday. But the new captain Iyer, who comes in with the full support of the coach Ricky Ponting said, “We still have the potential to win the tournament. We have eight games in hand. There are lots of us who believe.”Gambhir had returned to the Daredevils set-up after seven years with Kolkata Knight Riders in the hopes of giving back to his home city. However, after a half-century in his first game back, his batting faded away with opposition teams honing in on his weakness against pace. He has only made 85 runs in five innings.Ponting understood how difficult the decision must have been for Gambhir. “Having been in the same situation many years ago, [I know it is] tough decision to make… to put their hand up and say his performance has not been good enough. I would like to congratulate him for having put the team ahead of himself.”CEO of the Daredevils franchise Hemant Dua said Gambhir will now function as a player-mentor. “This is a decision Gautam made on his own. We salute it. He is passionate about making DD win. We are touched. There aren’t many such examples in India that a cricketer says my team comes before the individual. He will obviously be around and will mentor Shreyas into captaincy.”Daredevils might have felt the need for drastic changes after the outcome of their most recent game. Having restricted a powerful Kings XI Punjab line-up to only 143, their batting malfunctioned resulting in a loss by four runs.

Chennai Super Kings came back from a slow start to post 128 off their last ten overs and edge Sunrisers out in a four-run win

The Report by Varun Shetty22-Apr-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:32

Faulkner: Sunrisers will be upset about the no-ball that wasn’t called

Ambati Rayudu’s masterclass was nearly outdone by one from Kane Williamson, but Chennai Super Kings survived that attack from Sunrisers’ captain and then a Yusuf Pathan cameo to crawl to the top of the table. In a match where all the action happened at the back end of the two innings, the difference was only four runs.The difference, perhaps, was that Super Kings had kept more wickets in hand up front than Sunrisers had. Seamer Deepak Chahar took three wickets inside the Powerplay as Sunrisers put up a poor response after being set 183 in the absence of the injured Shikhar Dhawan.Rayudu uses experience to beat conditionsSuper Kings found it hard after being put in. Afternoon games in Hyderabad have often brought out low-scoring games because the summer heat – the temperature was in the mid-30s today – dries the surface up.Shane Watson, whose explosive batting had helped Super Kings put up 107 for 1 in the first ten overs against Rajasthan Royals on Friday, was kept quiet. At the other end, it didn’t appear part of the returning Faf du Plessis’ brief to take on the bowling. With a a struggling Suresh Raina at No. 3, Super Kings put up both the season’s lowest Powerplay score – 27 for 1 – and ten-over score – 54 for 2, almost half of what they’d got against Royals.Rayudu approached it differently. Moments after walking in against Rashid Khan in the eighth over, he hit a mistimed sweep over midwicket. When Williamson brought Bhuvneshwar back for a third over to try and break the partnership in the 10th over, he picked his slower ball and nailed a slog sweep for six.For most of his 112-run partnership with Raina, Rayudu looked like he had a plan for this kind of a surface. It was, after all, his home ground. While Raina looked decidedly on the defensive, trying to walk around in the crease to drop balls on either side with soft hands, Rayudu first maneuvered the spinners around with use of the feet to get settled, and would then mess with the seamers’ lengths when he got boundaries at third man trying to slash them onto the leg side. In his last 16 balls Rayudu scored 48 runs, with six fours and three sixes.The Rashid problem and the miscalculationIt was, however, a Raina blitz against Rashid that signalled the attack in the 12th over. The legspinner had been caned by Chris Gayle in his last match, often bowling flat and full to allow him cleans swings through the line. When Raina slogged a loopy googly over midwicket in his second over, he quickly resorted to the same strategy despite finding success with flight earlier. He darted the next one full outside off and it ended up in the same place.Rashid was forced into trying to rush through his next two overs. Eleven of his last 12 balls didn’t land fuller than short-of-a-length and he was hit for six off the only full one in that period to go for 28, and finish with figures of 4-0-49-1, days after going for 55 in four overs.Stanlake and Shakib leaked runs simultaneously and a cheeky over from Deepak Hooda earlier meant Sunrisers didn’t bowl out Bhuvneshwar for the first time ever. They conceded 128 in the last ten overs.The other Kane, the umpiring mistakeChahar’s figures read 3 for 1 when Sunrisers were 22 for 3, and with Manish Pandey and Hooda gone, Williamson found himself at the forefront of a collapsing team that didn’t have both Dhawan and David Warner in the XI for the first time.Like Super Kings in the overs immediately following the Powerplay, Sunrisers were watchful but for completely different reasons. Williamson and Shakib only occasionally went after boundaries during their 37-ball stand of 49 for the fourth wicket. The moment Shakib tried changing that, he fell to Karn Sharma.Williamson didn’t have that problem when he went after the legspinner though. Shortly after lofting Jadeja over long-off, he proceeded to take 22 off Karn’s next over, with sixes through midwicket, square leg and long-off. Yusuf Pathan, on nine off 12 at that point, took the cue and got two sixes off the Dwayne Bravo in the next over. Suddenly, the equation was 52 off 24, and Sunrisers were in the game.Two balls later, though, came a moment that might have been the one that put them out. Williamson, deep in the crease against Shardul Thakur, tried to fend off a beamer that was clearly above waist height. It wasn’t called a no-ball by square leg umpire Vineet Kulkarni. Yusuf hit the next ball for six, which may have still been the outcome if that ball was a free-hit. But the loss of that run and an extra ball was decisive.Williamson fell to Bravo on 84 next over and Thakur had Yusuf caught off a slower ball. Despite a wild 17 off four from Rashid, Sunrisers fell short.

MatériaMais Notícias

A dimensão de Pelé para o futebol mundial é tanta que transpõe rivalidades. Adversários históricos não esconderam sua admiração pelo “Rei do Futebol”, que completou 80 anos na última sexta-feira. Antigos rivais também detalharam ao LANCE! emoções de todos os tiposem duelos com o camisa 10.

Em homenagem ao aniversário do Rei do Futebol, o LANCE! preparou a série “Pelé, 80 anos em 80 dias”, com tributos desde a sexta-feira.

Titular da Itália na final da Copa do Mundo de 1970, o meia De Sisti destacou.

– Perguntar se eu gosto de Pelé é o mesmo que perguntar a uma criança se gosta de um bolo. A história do futebol é testemunha da sua grandeza – disse.

Em seguida, relembrou a impressão que teve dos jogos com o Atleta do Século.

– Enfrentei o Pelé pela Roma, pela Fiorentina e também defendendo a seleção da Itália, na final da Copa do Mundo de 1970. Ele parecia o mais forte de todos. A impressão é de que era um jogador de outro mundo – e emendou:

– O Mundial no México foi isso. O Brasil juntou a um grupo campeão um atleta fantástico. O resultado foi explosivo, fantástico. Este e Pelé – completou.

Colega do “Rei” na Copa do Mundo de 1970, Brito também é categórico sobre o seu antigo adversário que vestia a camisa do Santos. O zagueiro, que o enfrentou em passagens por clubes como Vasco e Cruzeiro, detalhou.

– A gente tinha de prestar bastante atenção a ele. Pelé era fora de série, sabíamos que se ele encontrasse um espaço, ia honrar a qualidade dele e abrir caminho para o gol. Nossa seriedade era muito grande, ainda maior. No período no qual eu jogava com o Fontana, conhecíamos muito o estilo de jogo dele, aí lutávamos para fazer nossa parte – e, em seguida, falou sobre a geração do Mundial de 1970:

– Pelé, assim como todos nós que estivemos na Copa do Mundo, fizemos parte de uma geração até hoje consagrada, considerada a melhor pelo povo. Isso é muito gratificante – completou.

RelacionadasFutebol NacionalEm homenagem, clubes postaram fotos de Pelé com suas camisas. Veja!Futebol Nacional23/10/2020VídeoPelé, 80 anos em 80 dias: Zico avalia o Rei como jogador completoVídeo23/10/2020VídeoPelé, 80 anos em 80 dias: Relembre os números do Rei pela SeleçãoVídeo23/10/2020

Campeão da Copa do Mundo de 1962, assim como Pelé, Amarildo também recordou momentos nos quais se deparou com o “Rei” do outro lado.

– Fatalmente jogávamos contra. O Santos era uma seleção e o Botafogo também. E todos estavam bem concentrados, preparados para dar o maior valor aos seus respectivos clubes. Pelé era o nome mais importante deste verdadeiro esquadrão santista. Jogar contra ele era sempre difícil – declarou.

O “Possesso” ainda encarou o Peixe vestindo outra camisa: a do Milan, na final do Mundial Interclubes de 1963.

– Foi uma honra poder defender um clube estrangeiro, ainda mais da força do Milan, jogando com Mazzola (que, no clube “rossonero”, adotou o nome de Altafini), (Cesare) Maldini… Mas este conjunto do Santos era muito forte, e isto passava pelo Pelé – declarou.

Amarildo também recordou o momento no qual teve a missão de substituir o “Rei” durante o Mundial de 1962.

– Aquilo é para não esquecer. Foi um prêmio para mim. O Pelé é para sempre aquele gênio, fico feliz de ter conseguido força para entrar e atuar com minha força na Seleção Brasileira. Além do Pelé, o Garrincha me ajudou muito, o Nilton Santos foi um pai para mim naquela Copa. Ter esta responsabilidade foi um privilégio e, melhor ainda, conseguir jogar bem, em uma equipe bem organizada, bem composta e muito forte como a Seleção bicampeã – declarou.

A reverência a Pelé ficou nítida também em Roberto Dinamite. Durante live no dia 12 de junho no “De Casa Com o LANCE!”, o maior ídolo do Vasco detalhou sua reação diante de um episódio ocorrido em um duelo entre o Cruz-Maltino e o Santos, em 1973.

– Apósum cruzamento do Paulo César “Puruca”, peguei de voleio e fiz um belo gol. Aí, fui para a torcida do Vasco, comemorei e quando estou indo para o centro do campo, passei por ele, que me falou: “pô, parabéns, garoto, belo gol!”. Eu falei: “pô, que é que é isso, Pelé!”. Olhei assim, espantado… “Pelé falou isso para mim!”. É uma coisa que me emociona até hoje porque me marcou muito. Era diferente do que é hoje a ligação com o ídolo. Eu vinha do juvenil em 1972, tinha subido para os profissionais em 1973 e fomos campeões em 1974, no primeiro ano no qual fui artilheiro – recordou.

O futebol mundial soube se unir na torcida por Pelé.

Burnley are already looking to sign a new defender but face competition from a number of Premier League rivals, according to a fresh report.

What’s the latest Burnley transfer news?

The Clarets once again had an extremely productive transfer window following their title-winning Championship campaign, bringing in 15 new players to Vincent Kompany’s side.

However, it has proven to be a tricky start to the new season, with defeats to Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester United leaving them in the bottom three and winless in the top flight.

Time may well be needed for Kompany to get the best out of his current squad, but with the January transfer window fast approaching, it looks as if the club are already looking at potential additions for the second half of the campaign.

Player

Former club

Fee

Zeki Amdouni

FC Basel

€18.6m

James Trafford

Manchester City

€17.3m

Aaron Ramsey

Aston Villa

€16.45m

Jordan Bayer

Borussia Monchengladbach

€15m

Sander Berge

Sheffield United

€13.9m

Wilson Odobert

Troyes

€12m

Dara O'Shea

West Brom

€7.8m

Michael Obafemi

Swansea City

€4m

Hannes Delcroix

RSC Anderlecht

€3m

Luca Koleosho

Espanyol

€3m

Nathan Redmond

Besiktas

Free transfer

Han-Noah Massengo

Bristol City

Free transfer

Lawrence Vigouroux

Leyton Orient

Free transfer

Mike Tresor

Genk

Loan transfer

Jacob Bruun Larsen

Hoffenheim

Loan transfer

According to TEAMtalk, Burnley are one of five Premier League sides who are exploring a move to sign Shakhtar Donetsk star Mykola Matviyenko, with the player’s representatives looking at possible options.

Alongside those at Turf Moor, Crystal Palace, Everton, Sheffield United and West Ham are also keen on the defender.

Who is Mykola Matviyenko?

Matviyenko is primarily a centre-back but can also play as a left-back or right-back and appears to be at the top of his game with a career-high €20m Transfermarkt valuation.

The 27-year-old has progressed through the Shakhtar Donetsk academy and has gone on to make 175 senior appearances for the club, contributing to an impressive 22 goals.

The left-footed Ukraine international has impressed over the past 12 months, as per FBref, ranking highly for passes completed, clearances and passes blocked.

Journalist Andrew Todos recently claimed that Matviyenko is capable of operating in either a back four or a back three, describing him as a “composed and experienced centre-back”.

"Matviyenko is a composed and experienced centre-back, who comes across as very assured, especially when playing alongside younger teammates. As he started his career as a full-back, he's got more pace than an average centre-back and this aids him quite a lot in recovery challenges.

"He rarely goes in for wild tackles that might result in bookings or penalties and one of his main strengths is blocking crosses or goalbound shots. He's also very good at playing balls over the top, playing out from the back, and he's versatile.

"In my opinion, he can be world-class when he plays in a formation with three defenders. If he plays in a back four, he should play alongside a tall defender who can help him. He is good as a centre-back but the best matches of his career were when he was in a back three and he played next to wing-backs."

Kompany currently has six centre-back options in Jordan Beyer, Hjalmar Ekdal, Ameen Al-Dakhil, Dara O'Shea, CJ Egan-Riley and Hannes Delcroix, so you could argue that Matviyenko may not be needed.

However, if Burnley view the player as an upgrade at the back after conceding 13 times in their opening five games, then they could well look to push through a move, making this one to keep an eye on ahead of 2024.

It is safe to say that it has been far from plain sailing for Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag since his appointment last year, with the current campaign, in particular, proving rather rocky so far for the Red Devils with just two wins from their opening four Premier League games.

After splashing out £183.5m during the recent summer window, the pressure is on for the Dutchman to get the club back competing for the top honours, with the gulf between themselves and rivals Manchester City still looking rather large at present.

That being said, however, the former Ajax boss has no doubt made some solid progress since taking the reins just over 12 months ago, with last season's Carabao Cup triumph indicating that things may be moving in the right direction, albeit somewhat slowly.

The 53-year-old was dealt a difficult hand initially after inheriting a fractured and underperforming squad that had recorded United's lowest-ever points tally under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, with the mood seemingly at an all-time low at Old Trafford at the time.

What Ten Hag has been successfully able to do is rejuvenate some of those figures who had underwhelmed under the previous regime, with Marcus Rashford, in particular, enjoying a new lease of life after scoring 30 goals across all fronts last term – 25 more than the year prior.

The England international is not the only first-team asset to have reaped the rewards of the change in the dugout, with Portuguese full-back Diogo Dalot having also impressed of late, as his soaring market value can attest to.

How much did Man United pay for Dalot?

It has been a long road for the 24-year-old since his arrival in Manchester back in the summer of 2018, with the Premier League giants having moved to acquire a player who then-boss Jose Mourinho described as the "best full-back in Europe" for his age group.

Despite being just a teenager at the time – with just eight senior appearances under his belt for Porto – the emerging right-back was snapped up by United for a fee of around £19m, with the youngster brought in to help provide competition for Antonio Valencia on the flanks.

That deal appeared to be to the delight of his compatriot, Mourinho, with the serial-winning coach also noting the qualities of the 19-year-old that had caught his eye: "He is an extremely talented young defender with all the qualities to quickly become a great player for this club.

"He has all the attributes that a full-back needs: physicality, tactical intelligence and technical quality, combined with a Porto academy mentality which prepares players for the maturity they need at the professional level."

It wasn't too long, however, before the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss was on his way after being sacked in December 2018, with Dalot subsequently struggling to earn a regular role for himself under his successor, Solskjaer.

How many times did Dalot play under Solskjaer?

The Braga-born gem ended his debut season in England with just 23 first-team appearances under his belt in all competitions, albeit while having notably played a prominent role in the stunning Champions League, last 16, second-leg victory over Paris Saint-Germain in March 2019.

That dramatic 3-1 win – which seemingly secured Solskjaer the permanent role at United following a solid interim spell – saw the youngster pose a real threat down the right flank after replacing the injured Eric Bailly in the first-half, with it having been the Portuguese's strike which led to the game-deciding penalty following a handball by Presnel Kimpembe.

Despite that show of promise, Dalot's hopes of succeeding Valencia as the starting option at right-back were inhibited by the £50m capture of Aaron Wan-Bissaka later that year, with the former Porto man subsequently featuring just 11 times in 2019/20.

That slide down the pecking order saw the 6 foot starlet shipped off on loan to AC Milan for the following 2020/21 campaign, with that temporary spell proving rather impressive as he scored twice and registered three assists in 33 games in all competitions for the Serie A side.

A return to Italy was mooted that summer, although Dalot was reinstated in Solskjaer's first-team squad for the new season, albeit while again playing second fiddle to Wan-Bisska – after making just four league outings in the first 12 games of the campaign.

It wasn't until the Norwegian's sacking that things soon shifted with regard to the defender's time at the Theatre of Dreams, with the £85k-per-week gem – who played just 36 times under Solskjaer's watch – having since gone on to make the treble winner look rather silly such has been his rise of late.

How much is Dalot worth now?

Having been selected as the first-choice option under interim coach, Rangnick, the 13-cap international – who was hailed as "superb" back in 2022 by pundit Kevin Phillips – retained that regular role following Ten Hag's arrival, with positional rival Wan-Bissaka enjoying just four minutes of football in the first-half of last term.

Although, to his credit, the Englishman has since enjoyed something of a renaissance to spark talk that a new deal could be on the cards, Dalot has also continued to feature prominently in recent times, with the club making a real show of faith by handing him his own extended contract back in May.

Erik ten Hag

45

2

3

Ralf Rangnick

22

0

0

Michael Carrick

1

0

0

Jose Mourinho

6

0

1

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

36

1

2

Stats via Transfermarkt

Now 24, the versatile defender – who can also operate at left-back – looks to have blossomed greatly since arriving as a teenager just over five years ago, with that improvement showcased by the fact that he is now worth around €60m (£53m), according to CIES Football Observatory.

That represents a rise of 178% in relation to his initial £19m transfer fee, with that again indicating that the blossoming talent has finally proved the doubters wrong after he "never got a chance under previous managers", according to Phillips.

While maintaining that soaring valuation may prove tricky with a resurgent Wan-Bissaka now in the picture, although it looks as if Dalot is beginning to live up to Mourinho's prior billing – putting Solskjaer in his place in the process.

Chelsea have endured a frustrating start to the campaign and the main thing that has contributed to their poor form is a lack of cutting edge in the final third.

What's the latest news involving Chelsea?

The Blues have received some much-needed clarification regarding their front-of-shirt sponsor in recent times amid news that US-based sports data organisation Infinite Athlete have agreed a £40 million per season deal to place their logo on the front of the Chelsea jersey, as per The Guardian.

The report states that the agreement has come too late to see Chelsea sport their new sponsor in Wednesday's Carabao Cup third-round tie against Brighton & Hove Albion; nevertheless, it may make an appearance for the first time in their away clash against Fulham at Craven Cottage in the Premier League next Monday.

In conversation with GIVEMESPORT meanwhile, journalist Dean Jones is bemused as to why Mauricio Pochettino continues to persist with young defender Levi Colwill in a left-back role, while Ben Chilwell, who predominantly operates as a full-back on that side, continues to be seen as a challenger to Mykhailo Mudryk on the left flank rather than an option at left-back.

Jones stated: "He's obviously looking for something here at left back that we probably didn't expect necessarily. I thought that he'd want somebody like Chilwell to play that role. But he doesn't. He wants Chilwell to be seen clearly as somebody that can challenge Mudryk for his position now. I find it astonishing, really, that Chilwell is basically now being considered as an alternative wide forward rather than a full-back because that's not really where his strengths lie."

Lecce full-back Patrick Dorgu has signalled his desire to move to Chelsea at some point in his career despite attracting interest from Liverpool, Barcelona and Manchester City, as he said in a recent interview: "Chelsea is my dream to play for. I’ve been a fan of them for over ten years, so playing for them would be a huge dream."

Where is Christopher Nkunku?

According to Football Insider, Chelsea attacker Christopher Nkunku's absence from first-team involvement due to injury is viewed as a devastating blow by coaches at Stamford Bridge, while the France international could be set to miss the rest of the year owing to a serious knee problem.

After being brought in for a fee in the region of £52 million, Nkunku hasn't made a single competitive appearance for the Premier League giants and Chelsea have scored just five goals in their opening six top-flight encounters.

Last term, Nkunku registered 23 goals and nine assists in 36 appearances across all competitions for RB Leipzig, earning himself a high-profile move to Chelsea to spearhead their attack, which so far hasn't panned out the way he would've hoped, as per Transfermarkt.

Former RB Leipzig assistant coach Achim Beierlorzer labelled Nkunku a "world-class player" back in 2021 and it is easy to see why he is deserving of such praise. In 2022/23, the 25-year-old averaged around three shots, 1.6 key passes and 1.5 completed dribbles per fixture in the Bundesliga, as per WhoScored.

Chelsea fans will be keen to see Nkunku return to the fold as soon as possible, especially given that Pochettino is struggling to get the best out of his current options in the final third.

Bangladesh’s selectors were left with hard decisions to take ahead of Sunday’s squad announcement for the T20Is against Afghanistan in India next month. Most of their selections will be based on the performances in the Nidahas Trophy that was played in Sri Lanka in March.Imrul Kayes, Abu Jayed, Ariful Haque and Nurul Hasan didn’t get a game during the Nidahas Trophy, while Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Hider and Mehidy Hasan also had sub-par performances. Soumya made just 50 runs in five innings while Taskin, Mehidy and Hider combined to take just three wickets.Soumya, who lost his central contract in 2018, could still retain his spot, with the team management having shown faith in his T20 ability. Mohammad Mithun, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Afif Hossain and Zakir Hasan are possible inclusions. However, Afif and Zakir, who made T20I debuts in February, aren’t in the 31-member preliminary squad.The selectors are also likely to persist with Mehidy; uncapped Naeem Hasan is the only other specialist offspinner in the training camp. Abul Hasan, who showed some form in the death overs in the BPL, and Yeasin Arafat have outside chances among the bowling group.Meanwhile, among those in the preliminary squad, Sabbir Rahman is likely to be picked on his international form. His most recent score was a 50-ball 77 in the Nidahas T20 Trophy final. Sabbir, was banned from domestic cricket after assaulting a fan during a first-class game earlier in the season, has been working on his batting technique and fitness.”I have been out for two months, having missed the DPL and BCL,” Sabbir said. “I worked on my fitness and batting technique. I feel staying out of the game can be a positive thing. I spent time with my family. My mother was sick, so I was with her.”Confidence is a big factor. All the techniques are in place when runs are scored. There are no faults. Everything is in place. I get out playing a good shot when I am not scoring runs, and then there are questions about technique. There can be technical and temperamental issues but as far as I am concerned, there’s nothing greater than scoring runs.”

Aston Villa have seemingly rediscovered their best form under Unai Emery following a mixed start to the Premier League season. Their last league outing against Brighton & Hove Albion was particularly impressive, as they ruthlessly pushed the Seagulls to one side, winning 6-1. The Midlands club then followed that up with a dramatic last-minute victory over Zrinjski in mid-week.

Emery will now hope to see his side's recent form continue, as he looks to guide the Villans to unprecedented heights in England's top flight. It hasn't all been sunshine and rainbows for those at Villa Park this season, however, with one particular summer signing struggling since completing his move, with journalist Dean Jones has delivered his verdict.

Who did Aston Villa sign in the summer?

During the summer transfer window, Aston Villa spent a reported €93m (£81m) on welcoming a number of additions to Emery's squad, such as Nicolo Zaniolo and Pau Torres. You can see their summer business in full below, via Transfermarkt.

Player

Fee

Moussa Diaby

£48m

Pau Torres

£29m

Nicolo Zaniolo

Loan fee: £4m

Youri Tielemans

Free

Clement Lenglet

Loan

Signings such as Moussa Diaby and Torres have hit the ground running, but free signing Tielemans has struggled since making the summer switch.

Journalist Jones provided an update on Tielemans following his start to life in the Midlands, telling GiveMeSport: "I don't know if he misunderstood what his role was going to be at Aston Villa. I don't know whether the whole thing was missold to him.

"But my understanding is that he was, first and foremost, being brought in as a squad player who would have to earn his way into that starting XI because it's one of their strongest areas of the pitch.

"That's going to take time because there was no chance that Tielemans, if Villa were playing well, was going to walk straight into that team. That's his big problem."

Why is Youri Tielemans struggling at Aston Villa?

In seven Premier League games, Tielemans is yet to start at Aston Villa as he continues to struggle to make his mark under Emery, who has opted for the likes of Douglas Luiz and John McGinn over his summer signing. After making the move, one imagines that the Belgian would have been hoping to become a more regular fixture in a side gunning for a European place, but that simply hasn't been the case.

The former Leicester City man recently had his say on his struggle for game time, telling Belgian outlet La DH (via Birmingham Mail): "The situation is not pleasant.

"I told the manager that I came to Villa to play. He understands me, but at the moment, he prefers to play with the two midfielders from last season. He told me that soon, there will be a succession of games and I’ll get more playing time.

"I know that answer doesn’t help me move forward, but what should I do? Whenever I have an opportunity, I want to take it. So far, I have started once, in the Conference League."

As such, it seems that it will take some time before we either see Tielemans become a Villa regular or become agitated over his lack of minutes.

The West Indies pacer said hitting the right lengths helped extract good bounce from a slow surface

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2018Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel commended the West Indies bowlers for making best use of a pitch that was on the slower side, but had enough bounce to keep the batsmen on their toes. Gabriel led the way, snaring his third five-wicket haul in Test cricket and helping bowl Sri Lanka out for 253 on the opening day of the second Test in St Lucia.Dinesh Chandimal had chosen to bat first, the Sri Lanka captain judging the surface to be a good one. But Gabriel provided a preview of things to come when, with just his second delivery, he squared up the debutant Mahela Udawatte with a short of length delivery that jagged away, and had him fending to first slip. He finished with 5 for 59, while Kemar Roach took 4 for 49. Gabriel said hitting that ideal length to generate bounce was key to West Indies’ success.”I think I went out there this morning and concentrated on putting the ball in the right areas, because we knew there was a bit [in the pitch] this morning,” Gabriel said. “Thankfully, things went my way today. I think it was a little slow, but you’re still getting that bounce, so it was important to hit the right areas and the right length. Most of the guys did that today… Roach bowled well this morning, didn’t get the success he deserved.”West Indies took three wickets in the morning session – two for Gabriel and one for Roach. Gabriel could have had a third had Shane Dowrich held on to a leaping catch off the last ball before lunch. Kusal Mendis got an edge on an attempted ramp to a short ball, Dowrich jumped but could only tip the ball over his head for four.Gabriel claimed one more wicket in the post-lunch session by hitting the same back-of-length spot, when he found the shoulder of Roshen Silva’s bat and had him edging to third slip. Roach had more success as the day progressed, getting three wickets in the final session. Despite the dominance of the fast bowlers, Gabriel was also impressed with Devendra Bishoo’s performance and expected the spinners to play a central role later in the game.”I just thought Bishoo was good today, more consistent with his line and length, so hopefully as the game goes on he can play a bigger part.”After the bowlers had played their part, West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Devon Smith saw off the two overs before stumps without any damage. “I think once we get good weather and the sun comes out, it will dry out a bit,” Gabriel said. “And once our batsmen apply themselves and bat long, I think we will be capable of putting up a good score in the first innings.”