علق وائل جمعة، نجم الأهلي السابق، على أداء الفريق الأحمر خلال الشوط الأول من مواجهة صن داونز الجنوب إفريقي، في ذهاب نصف نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا، والتي أقيمت على ملعب “لوفتوس فيرسفيلد” وانتهت بالتعادل السلبي.

وقال وائل جمعة في تصريحات عبر قناة “بي إن سبورتس”: “الشوط الأول كان جيدًا من جانب النادي الأهلي، وكولر لعب بفكرة واضحة تقوم على الدفاع المتكتل وتقليل خطورة صن داونز، مع إغلاق قلب الملعب بشكل مميز”.

وأضاف: “هناك التزام واضح من اللاعبين دفاعيًا وهجوميًا، وأرى أن إمام عاشور هو نجم الشوط الأول، حيث يؤدي أدواره الدفاعية والهجومية بكفاءة، على عكس طاهر محمد طاهر الذي يظهر بشكل جيد دفاعيًا، لكنه ليس بنفس الفاعلية على المستوى الهجومي مثل إمام”.

طالع أيضًا | لاعب جنوب إفريقيا السابق لـ”بطولات”: قادرون على قهر الأهلي وبيراميدز وهذا الدليل

واختتم: “الأهلي لا توجد خطورة على مرماه، لكن هذا السيناريو خطر، لأن صن داونز صعب جدًا خارج ملعبه ويُدافع بشكل جيد، فالمدير الفني يعلم بأن هناك شوطًا ثانيًا في القاهرة”.

وكان الأهلي قد تأهل إلى نصف النهائي بعد التغلب على الهلال السوداني بهدف دون رد في القاهرة، ثم كرر الفوز بنفس النتيجة في العاصمة الموريتانية نواكشوط، ليحجز بطاقة العبور للمربع الذهبي.

في المقابل، تأهل صن داونز لهذا الدور بعد تخطي عقبة الترجي التونسي، حيث فاز عليه بهدف دون مقابل في مجموع مباراتي الذهاب والإياب بدور الثمانية.

وينتظر الفائز من مواجهة الأهلي وصن داونز، المتأهل من لقاء بيراميدز وأورلاندو بايرتس الجنوب إفريقي، في نهائي البطولة القارية للموسم الجاري 2024-2025.

After finally putting an end to an unprecedented seven-game run without victory under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City have reportedly turned their attention towards signing a new defensive leader.

Man City transfer news

For the first time in four seasons, Manchester City have looked a side without a plan. It’s suddenly become clearer than ever that they desperately need to rebuild in the key areas of an ageing squad which has crept up to them all too quickly. Consistent injury problems truly laid bare just how fragile Guardiola’s current squad is and just how much he needs some fresh faces when 2025 arrives.

The Spaniard could at least breathe a much-needed sigh of relief last time out, however, as his side finally returned to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over high-flying Nottingham Forest. Coinciding with Kevin de Bruyne’s return, City looked unsurprisingly far closer to their best with the Belgian pulling the strings.

That victory was once again not without its casualties though, with Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji reportedly suffering knocks to increase the need for another central defender to arrive.

With that said, according to reports in Spain, Manchester City are now plotting a move to sign Cristian Romero from Tottenham Hotspur next summer and will have an advantage when attempting to lure the Argentine to The Etihad if they have Champions League football to offer over Spurs.

Forget Gundogan: Man City star who had 98% passing could be Pep's new Rodri

Manchester City emphatically returned to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.

ByKelan Sarson Dec 5, 2024

With Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich all also reportedly closely following the Argentine, however, the Premier League champions may have to act quickly in pursuit of his signature. In what could be a repeat of their move to sign Kyle Walker from Spurs in 2016, Manchester City could welcome the ultimate solution to their defensive woes in Romero next year.

"Unbelievable" Romero could take Man City back to their best

With John Stones quickly becoming an unreliable option due to his fitness issues and Akanji recently suffering the same fate, Romero could emerge to fix City’s backline by forming an impressive partnership next to Ruben Dias.

The 26-year-old has already done something not many defenders have come close to achieving by keeping Erling Haaland quiet in a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the 2022/23 campaign. Although his game ended with an ill-timed red card in the 87th minute, Romero’s performance against the powerful forward was already complete, registering 11 defensive actions, which included winning five duels.

Spurs, of course, won’t be too keen to lose their star defender, who found himself at the centre of defensive partner Micky van de Ven’s praise last season. The Dutchman said via the Daily Mail: “Amazing player, unbelievable player. Defensively so strong, with the ball so strong, keeps talking, for me an amazing player.”

Alas, if Manchester City come calling then those in North London may be left with no choice but to bid farewell to one of their most important leaders under Ange Postecoglou.

Brooks, King hit impressive fifties in win; debutant Nidamanuru impresses for Netherlands

ESPNcricinfo staff31-May-2022Shai Hope’s 11th ODI century studded West Indies’ domination in the first of three ODIs against Netherlands in Amstelveen. On a blustery Tuesday with sheets of rain that reduced the game to 45 overs per side, West Indies made light work of a 247 chase, as they got home with 11 balls to spare and seven wickets in hand. There were also bruising half-centuries from Shamarh Brooks and Brandon King to help West Indies along.The tone of the chase was set early as Hope and Brooks added 120 for the first wicket. While their approach wasn’t explosive, they reeled off enough runsto always stay ahead of the asking rate.Then there was a stutter when seam-bowling allrounder Logan van Beek picked up two wickets off successive deliveries. First, he sent back Brooks by taking an excellent return catch, and then had Nkrumah Bonner lbw with an inducker. When Nicholas Pooran, the captain, fell cheaply three overs later, Netherlands may have sniffed an outside chance of winning. But Hope and King extinguished any such hopes with an unbroken 116-run stand to seal the deal.Despite the loss, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Netherlands as they fought hard to construct an innings that centred on rookie opener Vikramjit Singh and the experienced Max O’Dowd. They added 63 in 12 overs to set a solid base. Then they had small contributions from every member of the top order, but without any substantial score. It wasn’t until Teja Nidamanuru, the 27-year-old allrounder, top-scored with 58 on debut that they managed to get to a respectable position.Nidamanuru faced just 51 balls and struck three fours and two sixes in his knock. This helped Netherlands post 240 for 7, which was then readjusted to 246 through the DLS method. As the chase went on, it became increasingly evident that they were well short.”I think we need to adapt a bit faster,” Hope said after the match. “Obviously, we have seen what they have got with both bat and ball. Hopefully, we can score a bit faster, just need to make sure we acclimatise ourselves to the conditions as quickly as we can and hopefully, get on early wickets to bowl and top them with the bat.”Despite the win, West Indies stay tenth, and outside the direct qualifying zone in the ODI Super League that serves to identify seven direct qualifiers – plus the hosts – for next year’s 50-overs World Cup in India. Netherlands are last, with just two wins in 11 matches so far.The second and third ODIs will take place on June 2 and June 4 respectively.

Here’s something no one has been able to say for a while: Manchester City are struggling for goals.

Right now, the Sky Blues are the joint-sixth highest scorers in the Premier League with 22 from 13 games, meaning they’ve bagged fewer goals than Brentford and the same number as Wolverhampton Wanderers, a current member of the bottom three.

As noted by Opta’s The Analyst, of Man City’s starting lineup deployed at Anfield on Sunday, only Erling Braut Haaland had scored a Premier League goal this season, a fact that remained true following their lacklustre display on Merseyside, and even the usually unstoppable Norwegian has only netted twice in his last eight league outings.

Of course, the Citizens’ current decline has been largely attributed to Rodri’s injury, leaving them exposed at the back and vulnerable to counter-attacks, but they’re also struggling to score goals too.

Thus, despite already boasting one free-scoring, often unplayable Nordic centre-forward, could the four-in-a-row Premier League champions make a move for another?

Manchester City looking at Viktor Gyokeres move

According to a report by Florian Plettenberg of Sky Deutschland on social media, Manchester City have “intensified their efforts” to sign Sporting Clube de Portugal striker Viktor Gyökeres.

The Sweden international has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United in the last month or so, which isn’t too surprising considering Rúben Amorim, his now former Sporting boss has just arrived at Old Trafford.

When pressed on the matter, Gyökeres himself said: “We’re sad to see him (Amorim) go….. follow him to Manchester? I don’t know, I’m here and I like it here. I don’t think about it.”

However, could he indeed follow Amorim to Manchester, but end up donning a sky blue shirt, rather than a red one?

Analyst Ben Mattinson described Gyökeres as a “ball-striking monster”, with reference to this thunderous free-kick he scored during the Taça da Liga quarter-final against Nacional in late October.

That was one of 24 goals Gyökeres has scored already this season, including five in five Champions League appearances, most notably bagging a hat-trick during Manchester City’s 4-1 thrashing at Estádio José Alvalade last month.

He was also the top-scorer in this season’s UEFA Nations League with nine, including four when Azerbaijan visited Stockholm in November, a haul that meant he pipped a certain Haaland to the golden boot.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Where Gyökeres would fit in at Manchester City

Overall, since joining Sporting from Coventry City 18 months ago, Gyökeres has scored 67 goals in 71 appearances for the Lions, the key figure, certainly on the playing side, as they won last season’s Primeira Liga title at a canter.

Given that the Swede will celebrate his 27th birthday next June, next summer feels the right time for him to make a big-money move, having made very little impact at the highest level before exploding onto the scene in Lisbon last season.

On the face of it, this proposed move makes little sense at all, considering Man City already have the great Haaland leading the line.

However, Gyökeres should be viewed as more of a replacement for Julián Álvarez, who was sold to Atlético Madrid for a whopping £81.5m last summer, without being replaced; İlkay Gündoğan’s, so far, underwhelming return notwithstanding.

It was viewed that Álvarez’s departure would have little impact because he didn’t play much anyway, but this was a complete myth because, contrary to popular belief, only seven outfielders accumulated more than his 3,481 minutes, while only Rodri, Phil Foden, Ederson and Kyle Walker saw more Premier League action than the Argentine forward.

So far this season, Savinho, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Jérémy Doku and an ageing Kevin De Bruyne, persistently hampered by injury, have scored a combined seven goals across all competitions, with Grealish specifically approaching an entire year since he last scored a club goal against Crystal Palace; 353 days and counting.

So, as bonkers as it may be to say, Gyökeres could be just the man the Sky Blues need to bolster their attacking firepower, consequently replacing Alvarez in the process.

Man City want to sign Premier League star who could be their own Odegaard

Manchester City are reportedly keeping tabs on the impressive Premier League attacker.

By
Dan Emery

Dec 3, 2024

Aston Villa are understood to be in regular talks with an Italian club who are interested in landing one of their key players.

Aston Villa latest news

After a poor run that saw them win just once in nine games across all competitions, Aston Villa now seem to have rediscovered their best form. Unai Emery’s side have won four of their last five games in all competitions, most recently beating struggling Manchester City in the Premier League at the weekend.

Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers were both on the scoresheet in an impressive 2-1 victory, which manager Emery described as a “great day” at the office.

“Manchester City are a very difficult team and I think we played fantastic,” said the Spanish coach. “Every player, in the tactical structure, was fantastic, defensively and offensively. Their commitment to do everything we worked on before the match was very important.I think every player performed great. It was a really great day for the team and for individual players as well.”

Rogers, who was voted as the Man of the Match, said: “To a man, I thought we were outstanding, so I thought we deserved the win.”

Napoli readying new and improved Duran bid

Duran, Villa’s other scorer against City, has been the subject of intense interest from clubs all around Europe thanks to his scintillating displays this season. The Colombia international, who is rated at £80 million by Villa, has scored 12 goals in all competitions, including three in the Champions League – one of which was the only goal in Villa’s historic 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich.

FC Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United are all understood to be keen on the former MLS hitman. However, it seems as if it’s Napoli who might be winning the race for his signature. According to Il Mattino, as per Sports Witness, the Italian club have already made a £29 million offer for Duran, which was rejected.

The publication states that Napoli, however, aren’t prepared to stop and have sent across “signals” to Villa that a second offer of £33 million will be made soon. Napoli are having constant and “frenetic” phone calls with NSWE about the 21-year-old, who they see as a potential replacement for Victor Osimhen. They are yet to get anywhere close to Villa’s price tag however.

Chelsea make contact over signing £63m striker likened to Victor Osimhen

The west Londoners are beginning to narrow down their shortlist.

ByEmilio Galantini Dec 20, 2024

Osimhen came close to joining Chelsea in the summer, but the proposed deal collapsed on deadline day, and he ended up joining Turkish side Galatasaray on-loan instead. Though he’s not expected to stay in Turkey beyond the end of the season, he is widely expected to leave Napoli, with Chelsea reportedly maintaining their interest in signing him.

Ex-Chelsea midfielder and Nigeria international John Obi-Mikel said in the summer that Osimhen “wanted” to move to Stamford Bridge.

Four first-day half-centuries give visitors upper hand in West Country derby

ECB Reporters Network12-May-2022

Matt Renshaw and Tom Lammonby shared an opening stand of 172 to give Somerset early control of their LV= Insurance County Championship match with arch-rivals Gloucestershire at Bristol.Overseas recruit Renshaw hit 94, off 141 deliveries, with 16 fours, while 21-year-old Lammonby lost little in comparison, striking 11 boundaries in his 131-ball innings of 76.The two left-handers put together their chanceless partnership from 43.4 overs after Somerset had lost the toss and paved the way for a first day total of 319 for four on a benign pitch at the Seat Unique Stadium.James Hildreth contributed 53 and Tom Abell an unbeaten 52. Zak Chappell, one of three new loanees in the Gloucestershire side, was pick of the home attack with two for 49 from 18 overs.Renshaw and Lammonby dominated the morning session after Gloucestershire had elected to field in bright sunshine on a pitch with only a suggestion of greenness.Lammonby had a stroke of fortune on six when getting a leading edge to tall seamer Chappell. The ball spiralled back over the bowler’s head and fell safe.Ryan Higgins beat Renshaw’s outside edge a couple of times, but Somerset’s opening pair soon settled and batted with increasing assurance.Renshaw accelerated impressively and, despite being briefly becalmed in the forties, went to his half-century with a single off Brad Wheal, making his Gloucestershire debut on loan from Hampshire.The Australian had faced 85 balls and hit nine fours. Lammonby was particularly effective through the leg-side with some meaty pulls and drives as the partnership progressed to 114 off 31 overs by lunch.The afternoon session began with Lammonby moving to fifty with an edged boundary off Higgins, having faced 94 deliveries and hit nine boundaries.There looked to be little in the pitch for Gloucestershire’s injury-hit attack. But Chappell had stuck to his task, bowling a probing line from the Pavilion End, and was suddenly rewarded with two wickets in quick succession.Having previously demonstrated sound shot selection, Lammonby looked to guide ball that was too straight over the slips and miscued a simple catch to gully.In his next over Chappell produced the best ball of the day to beat Renshaw’s back-foot defensive shot with one that squeezed between bat and pad. From looking untroubled, Somerset had lost both openers and were 174 for two.Gloucestershire’s fightback continued when Tom Banton, who had lofted left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar over long-on for six on his way to 18, edged a defensive push off Higgins through to James Bracey.The wicketkeeper took a fine low catch, one-handed diving to his right, and at 207 for three Somerset were in danger of relinquishing their stranglehold.Skipper Abell and the vastly experienced Hildreth, 18 years to the day since scoring his maiden first class century against Durham, steadied things and took the score to 229 at tea.By the time Gloucestershire took the second new ball, a further 43 had been added under continuing blue skies, but with a stiff breeze blowing across the ground.Abell and Hildreth were looking rock solid, but having reached a 96-ball fifty, the latter pushed forward to left-armer Matt Taylor and edged through to Bracey.The stand of 85 had re-established Somerset’s dominance and Abell reached a 125-ball half-century with a glorious off-driven four.But Gloucestershire kept decent control of the run-rate and could also take positives from an absorbing day.

A chaotic week for Tottenham Hotspur continued on Thursday afternoon, with Ange Postecoglou’s side slipping to yet another Premier League defeat after going down 1-0 to high-flyers Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.

After a thrilling set of results against both Manchester United and Liverpool over the last seven days – the latter of which ended in a 6-3 defeat – the Lilywhites were rather muted at the City Ground, as things simply didn’t click into gear in an attacking sense.

At the other end, the north London side were undone just before the half-hour mark as Morgan Gibbs-White’s threaded pass caught the returning Destiny Udogie napping, with former Manchester United man Anthony Elanga duly prodding home to take the visitors into third in the table.

Having later seen one-time Forest loanee Djed Spence dismissed at the death to add further salt to the wounds, Spurs, meanwhile, now find themselves languishing in the bottom half following that latest defeat, to pile further pressure on that man Postecoglou.

Djed Spence's Forest return

Part of the side Forest side that secured promotion from the Championship under Steve Cooper back in the 2021/22 season, Spence would have been hoping to enjoy a positive return to Nottingham amid his recent renaissance in a Spurs shirt.

Handed his third successive league start by Postecoglou – who opted to drop Pedro Porro to the bench in place of the aforementioned Udogie instead – the 24-year-old was largely solid, in truth, for much of the affair, having provided an outlet in attack after chalking up two key passes in total, while completing 100% of his dribbles.

At the back, the one-time Middlesbrough man also won five of his nine ground duels and enjoyed a respectable 87% pass accuracy rate, even despite squandering the ball on 19 occasions amid his desire to make things happen for his side.

As football.london’s Alasdair Gold noted in his post-match player ratings, the defender’s late dismissal for a second yellow card came following ‘another otherwise solid display’, with it something of a blow that he will now miss the upcoming clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Spence then was no real villain despite that stoppage-time red, with the finger needing to be pointed elsewhere among his struggling teammates.

The Spurs star who was "awful" vs Forest

The north Londoners had scored 12 goals across their last three games in all competitions heading into Thursday’s encounter, with few likely to have expected that they would fire a blank this time around.

Performance in Numbers

Want data and stats? Football FanCast's Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.

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That said, injuries have left Postecoglou largely short of options in an attacking sense, with the only senior attacker on the bench having been that of Timo Werner, outside of teenage marksman, Will Lankshear.

With Werner only recently copping flak from his manager following an “unacceptable” first-half performance against Rangers, it is no surprise that the former Celtic boss has kept faith in captain Heung-min Son on the left flank, albeit with questions needing to be asked regarding the South Korean’s limp showings.

Heung-min Son – PL stats (24/25)

Games

15

Goals

5

Mins per goal

230

Assists

6

Big chances missed

4

Big chances created

12

Key passes*

2.1

Pass accuracy*

85%

Possession lost*

10.2x

Total duels won*

41%

Stats via Sofascore

As GOAL journalist Mitch Fretton stated, the long-serving winger was “absolutely awful again”, prior to being replaced by Werner in the closing stages, having lost possession ten times from his 52 touches.

In truth, the 32-year-old failed to step up as Spurs sought to get themselves back into the game, with the attack in total manufacturing just a solitary big chance in Nottingham.

It was for that reason that the aforementioned Gold awarded Son a dismal 3/10 match rating for his troubles, while writing that the experienced figure put in ‘a mostly hesitant and ineffective display’.

With seven goals and six assists to his name this season in all competitions, the talismanic forward is certainly no busted flush, yet questions remain for Postecoglou as to just how to get the best out of his misfiring skipper.

Related Spurs could sign Premier League flop in awful Radu Dragusin repeat

The former PL flop should not be Spurs’ answer to their defensive crisis.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Dec 25, 2024

A switch to a fall to spring schedule for MLS is being discussed in the buildup to the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Garber and CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani talk U.S. SoccerGarber shares MLS schedule change is a subject of discussionSays he has "big expectations" for USMNT at 2026 World CupFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

A change in the scheduling format for Major League Soccer – with a move to a fall-to-spring calendar – may be coming following the 2026 FIFA World Cup. MLS commissioner Don Garber spoke on the topic ahead of the 2024 MLS Cup final in Carson, California, saying that any change would be "complicated," but that the bodies around MLS and U.S. Soccer have "ongoing work" around a potential change.

Speaking at the Sports Business Journal's Business of Soccer conference this week, Garber – along with CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani – covered a plethora of American soccer topics, and the commissioner revisited the schedule change. Logical concerns about winter in the U.S., particularly with teams in the north such as Minnesota, Montreal, and Toronto – among others – were acknowledged, but a potential change is still on the table.

“Let’s just be obvious – having playoffs in May is probably better than having them in December, where we’re competing against college football and NFL football and lots of other things,” Garber said. “So we’re going to do the work… Nelson Rodriguez runs our competition group meeting with owners and chief soccer officers and chief business officers going through the math. And once we get through all that, we’ll then have to take it to that process of governance and figuring out whether it makes sense for the enterprise.”

AdvertisementAFPTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Although any change would not arrive until after the 2026 season, buildup to the 2026 World Cup has been a priority for both CONCACAF and MLS, with the tournament being hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“We have this opportunity with our [USMNT] – as the women have been able to achieve with so many World Cup victories – to have it be entirely about sport,” said Garber. “You have to have that. If the U.S. team doesn’t do well, it certainly is going to be a disappointment because of the high expectations.”

Montagliani, meanwhile, said that CONCACAF as a whole has an expectation to perform in the event at a competitive level, in both the Group Stage and the knockout rounds.

“I expect eight of our countries to be in there – six direct and two playoff for them to come out of the group,” said Montagliani. “Two of them to get to the quarterfinal and one of them to get to minimally the semifinal.”

Amid some worries that North America may not be prepared to host the event, Garber shrugged off the notion.

“I don’t really worry much about that,” Garber said. “I’ve been in the event business for a really, really long time. The fear and loathing of what you have to do, and then all the challenges of ensuring you’re managing your plan always happen, but it always pulls off.”

DID YOU KNOW?

No CONCACAF nation has ever won the World Cup, and no team has ever made it past the quarterfinals. In 1970 and 1986, Mexico made it to the stage, as did the U.S. in 2002 and Costa Rica in 2014.

AFPWHAT NEXT?

Matchday 5 of the 2025 MLS season kicks off Saturday, while the USMNT report back to the pitch on Sunday in the the third-place match of the CONCACAF Nations League finals.

Mauricio Pochettino's men meanwhile take on Jesse Marsch's Canada in the contest.

MatériaMais Notícias

Nesta terça-feira, o Internacional abriu o seu dia com a apresentação do atacante Alemão, que brilhou no Novo Hamburgo e despertou o interesse do Colorado.

– VEJA A TABELA DA SÉRIE A DO BRASILEIRÃO

Agora, o jogador não esconde que pretende agarrar a oportunidade com unhas e dentes para fazer história no Beira-Rio.

‘É o maior desafio da minha carreira, o time de maior expressão. Tive passagens por vários clubes. Em todos, tive que me dedicar e correr atrás de melhorar para estar aqui com esta oportunidade’, declarou.

Emocionado, Alemão deixou claro que, a escolha pelo Internacional se deu por conta do seu amor de criança.

‘É até curioso. Eu não esperava. Tinham murmúrios do Grêmio, mas nunca chegou nada. O Ypiranga e o Brasil de Pelotas me procuraram. Quando veio o Inter… Pô! Meu time do coração. A felicidade foi enorme’.

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The South Africa allrounder talks about his major takeaways from his IPL stint with CSK

Firdose Moonda06-Jun-20223:37

Pretorius: Playing in IPL was one of my bucket list items

Dwaine Pretorius has started to believe he can do anything on a cricket field, thanks to MS Dhoni. After a season with the Chennai Super Kings, and four stints with Dhoni at the crease, Pretorius has had first-hand experience of how to combine calm and confidence to pull off a successful chase.”The biggest thing I learnt from him is how calm he is at the crease and how much he tries to take pressure off himself and put it onto the bowler,” Pretorius said, from India, where South Africa will play India in five T20Is starting on Thursday. “He made me realise that at the death, the batter isn’t under more pressure, it’s actually the bowler that is under more pressure.”As a bowler, you can still lose the match if you have to defend 18 off the last three balls and as a batter you can win it. It was a fresh mindset. He doesn’t get too excited. He doesn’t get too down on himself. Anything is always possible and I love that about him. He is very optimistic. He believes he can do anything.”Pretorius and Dhoni’s most memorable partnership came on April 21, against Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium. Chasing 156, CSK needed 50 runs off 26 balls when Pretorius walked out to bat. He was greeted with a searing yorker from Jasprit Bumrah and went on to hit two fours off the next two times Bumrah tried the delivery. By the time Pretorius was dismissed, CSK needed 17 runs off five balls and Dhoni got them home, with a four off the final delivery.Related

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Bavuma: 'I understand I have a voice, and the influence to make things better around me'

That match stood out for Pretorius as an example of how Dhoni can take matches deep, and even though Pretorius is not South Africa’s usual batting finisher, he’d be willing to do the job if needed. “I am going to try and bring that into my game: the calmness but also that self-belief that from any position, any game can be won.”But it wasn’t all celebratory at CSK this season. The franchise strung together their worst set of results in their IPL history and finished second from bottom on the points table, having gone into the tournament as defending champions. Despite the disappointing outcome, Pretorius said the mood in the camp did not dampen and they’ve chosen to take the long view as they rebuild following a mega-auction.Dwaine Pretorius fronted up to bowl at the death for Chennai Super Kings in his first IPL season•BCCI

“What was nice about the CSK franchise is that it is very experienced. We all understand that cricket doesn’t always go your way,” Pretorius said. “It’s very important to just take the positives out of a bad season and try and build for a stronger future. It’s all about building for the next year or three years and trying to make sure a bad season is not a complete loss.”He called the CSK environment, “performance based,” where players were “given a lot of responsibility to prepare like you want to, come up with the plans that you believe will work and making sure you execute your plans.”While Pretorius didn’t pick up anything particularly new that he could use in the international T20 game, he made a case for one of the innovations of the IPL – the strategic time-out – to become a more prominent part of fixtures.”I enjoy it quite a bit. I know it makes the game a bit longer but it just splits the game into three parts – the one before, the one in the middle and the one after. It gives each team a moment to assess their strategy and what’s the best way to go forward,” he said. “And it’s about getting the coach – that will always have an objective view from the outside’s opinion as well. It makes the game a bit more liquid and it breaks up momentum.”Primarily, Pretorius is batting for the time-out for the same reason he enjoyed watching Dhoni bat: because it gives anyone an opportunity to make a big play. “Even if you might be out of it for the first few overs, you can always come back into the game after the strategic time out. It just breaks the momentum of either the bowling or the batting team,” he said. “It makes it quite interesting.”