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Match facts

April 26, 2009
Start time 12.30pm (10.30GMT)

Big Picture

Time is running out for Kevin Pietersen to make an impression on the IPL•AFP

A campaign that began so brightly with a 75-run victory for Bangalore Royal Challengers has gone into freefall. Since that victory against Rajasthan Royals, Bangalore have suffered three consecutive defeats and languish in the bottom half of the league. In order to end the losing streak in Port Elizabeth, Bangalore will have upset the Delhi Daredevils, considered by many to be favourites for the title.Bangalore’s worries stem from a top order that has failed to make use of the Powerplay overs by losing too many wickets. Their best performance during the first six overs was 49 for 3 against Kings XI Punjab on Friday. They are facing a problem similar to the one in the inaugural season where the overseas players failed to make a significant contribution. Their troubles have deepened with Rahul Dravid, their best batsman so far, having returned home on paternity leave.Bangalore’s bowlers haven’t been in top form either – they’ve managed to take only 20 wickets in four games, 11 in the last three – and they are up against perhaps the most in-form batting line-up of the tournament. Delhi suffered a crippling blow against Chennai Super Kings, losing both Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir cheaply, and few would have expected their overseas batsmen, AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan, to perform the way they did. They batted with methodical aggression and have reduced the dependency on Sehwag for posting huge scores.

Form guide

Bangalore: The overseas players haven’t pulled their weight. Kevin Pietersen has scored 43 runs in four innings while Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor have 32 and 36 respectively from three. Robin Uthappa has been poor at the top of the order as well with 35 runs in four innings at a strike-rate of only 71.Delhi: Gambhir is the only top-order batsman from Delhi who hasn’t got going. Sehwag plundered Punjab in a rain-curtailed innings while Dilshan rescued Delhi after the loss of two quick wickets with a feisty half-century against Chennai. The innings of the tournament, however, was de Villiers’ 105 off 54 balls in his first innings of the IPL.

Watch out for

de Villiers v Bangalore’s South Africans: Bangalore’s squad includes Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn and Roelof van der Merwe and coach Ray Jennings, all of whom will have a fair idea of de Villiers’ strengths and weaknesses. Of the four, though, only Kallis and Steyn may play and they’ll strive to prevent the sort of damage de Villiers inflicted on Chennai.

Team news

Delhi haven’t picked Glenn McGrath in their starting XI as yet, preferring the faster left-armer Dirk Nannes instead. Nannes, however, went wicketless against Chennai and Delhi might consider replacing him with either McGrath or the allrounder Farveez Maharoof.Delhi: 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Daniel Vettori, 8 Dirk Nannes/Farveez Maharoof/Glenn McGrath, 9 Aavishkar Salvi, 10 Pradeep Sangwan, 11 Ashish Nehra.Bangalore’s main concern is replacing the reliable Dravid, but a lack of quality Indian Twenty20 batsmen in the ranks makes it a hard task. They had dropped Steyn for their last game and strengthened their batting by brining Taylor in but the move did not pay off. It might be time to consider using either Cameron White or Mark Boucher to bolster the middle order.Bangalore: 1 Wasim Jaffer, 2 Jesse Ryder, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Kevin Pietersen (capt), 5 Robin Uthappa (wk), 6 Ross Taylor/Cameron White/Mark Boucher, 7 Virat Kohli, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 R Vinay Kumar, 10 Pankaj Singh, 11 Anil Kumble.

Head-to-head record

Delhi won both their contests against Bangalore in the 2008 season. The first match was a close contest with Bangalore falling short of Delhi’s 191 by 10 runs. Delhi’s margin of victory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was five wickets with ten balls to spare.

Andy Flower, England’s interim coach, has given a stark assessment of Steve Harmison’s position in the team and said he is currently not up to standard.England travelled to Trinidad ahead of the final Test on Friday 1-0 down in the series after the high-scoring draw in Barbados, but Flower made clear there is unlikely to be a swift return for Harmison.Harmison was dropped for the Test at the Kensington Oval after two lacklustre performances in the series, and question marks are now being raised as to whether to can rekindle the required pace and hostility to lead the attack.”At the moment he hasn’t, otherwise he would have done it,” Flower said. “But I don’t think by any means that Steve’s finished. He’s still got a hell of a lot to offer. Fast bowling is long, hard workand at the age of 30 it is only going to get harder work, so it is up to Steve really. He’s got to put in the performances which make the selectors pick him time and time again. I’ve only known Steve a little while and we are still getting to know each other better now.”In his Sunday newspaper column, Harmison said he would seek talks with captain Andrew Strauss to learn what he has to do to win back his place. Flower, though, added that it was down to him to show that he still wants to put in the hard work required to succeed at the top level.”If hard work is just a base that you start with, that’s what he’s doing at the moment, but for you to be a successful international cricketer you have to be very hungry,” Flower said. “Only he knows how hungry he is to carry on the hard yakka of a fast bowler’s life. I think he still wants to do it: he’s proud of his career and proud to play for England.”England’s attack desperately lacks a cutting edge with Harmison a shadow of the bowler who blew West Indies away in 2004 and also without the injured Andrew Flintoff. Somehow they have to conjure up 20 wickets at Port of Spain if they are to level the series and retain the WisdenTrophy.”We hope that the Trinidad pitch does a bit and makes for more interesting cricket, let alone provide the chance for one of the sides to win,” Flower said. “Even though the pitches are flat, however, we also have to be looking at that subject of 20 wickets as well.”It seems unlikely that Ryan Sidebottom will retain his place after he struggled in Barbados, claiming 1 for 146 off 35 overs. Sidebottom’s selection was a surprise because a few days before the match Flower had spoken about his “chronic” Achilles problem and the ankle washurting again afterwards. Given all Sidebottom’s injury issues in the last six months his long-term future must now be in doubt.Once certain change for the final Test is the return of Matt Prior behind the stumps after he flew back to the Caribbean following paternity leave. His replacement, Tim Ambrose, hit an unbeaten 76 in the fourth Test and kept tidily, but will now move aside with Prior a contender to bat at No. 6 so England can play five bowlers.

Zimbabwe could be as far as two years away from a return to Test cricket after their current situation was debated at the ICC board meeting in Perth

Cricinfo staff31-Jan-2009
Zimbabwe will remain just a one-day nation for the foreseeable future © AFP
Zimbabwe could be as far as two years away from a return to Test cricket after their current situation was debated at the ICC board meeting in Perth.On the first day of the meeting an ICC-appointed task team presented an interim report on the state of the game in Zimbabwe, who voluntarily stepped away from Tests in 2006.The team was headed by Julian Hunte, the president of the West Indies board, and included ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat. They visited Zimbabwe in November 2008 to inspect facilities, infrastructure and to speak to various stakeholders and the outcome was that they were still a minimum of six months away from being ready for Tests again, but in reality that is likely to be much longer.”Pending submission of that final report, the board was told that none of the stakeholders spoken to during the visit were of the view that Zimbabwe was ready to return to Test cricket, with timeframes proposed ranging from six months to two years or more,” a statement said. “The board was informed that both the BCCI and Cricket South Africa (CSA) had offered playing and administrative support to Zimbabwe Cricket.””They will still need the right amount of exposure at international level to be competitive to play Test cricket,” Lorgat said. “The interesting thing is there is a ground that we saw that is capable of hosting international games. So they’ve got the facility at the international level.”[But] I think as you go down the stream and look at the domestic set up, particularly the level of competition that prepares those players for international competition, we felt there was some way to go. That’s the missing ingredient, the exposure to a sufficiently competitive level of cricket.”The support of Cricket South Africa is a change of policy after they cut ties in June 2008 citing “the worsening situation in Zimbabwe”. However, at that time Norman Arendse was CSA president but he resigned in September. While Arendse was openly critical of the situation inside Zimbabwe, other senior officials have steadfastly backed chairman Peter Chingoka and the Zimbabwe board and have gone to great lengths to help Zimbabwe’s young players get as much exposure to quality cricket as possible.Zimbabwe, who are currently playing a one-day series against Kenya, will not be appearing at this year’s World Twenty20 in England after pulling out of the event. It was likely the UK government would have been unlikely to grant visas for the team.Chingoka is not present at the ICC meeting in Perth because the Australian government were also expected to turn down his visa request and Cricinfo were informed that he refused to apply without the guarantee it would be approved.Although it is unclear whether he ever actually applied for one. Wilfred Mukondiwa is appearing in his place.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left buzzing as some news emerged on Glen Kamara.

As per the official website of the Ibrox faithful, the central midfield player has agreed on a new contract until 2025, amid a number of reports linking him with a move away in the summer transfer window.

It is so important that the Light Blues can keep Kamara at the club for as long as possible, as he has emerged as one of Steven Gerrard’s key players in his team over the past few campaigns.

The Finland international has already played in ten games in total over all competitions so far this season, making one assist (Transfermarkt), and thus tying him down to a new long-term deal is great business.

Rangers fans on Kamara deal

These Gers buzzed as the news was shared on Twitter, with one RFC supporter claiming that they are ‘over the moon’, while another even went as far as to label it as ‘incredible news’:

“Fantastic news for Glen, Rangers and the Rangers family.”

Credit: @BrowneyedBluen1

“Incredible news. Genuinely thought he would have been moved on. What a great talent he is.”

Credit: @becalmfollowon

“Be still my beating heart”

Credit: @cris_poole

“Fully made my day”

Credit: @KyleBunch9

“Over the moon with this”

Credit: @rosshendry15

“Well this has just made my year”

Credit: @deanobobs9

In other news, find out whose display against Livingston was slammed here!

Everton have been involved in a dramatic saga over the last few days involving one of their star players; Richarlison.

Premier League teams took a collective stance over the international break when sides agreed not to send players to red-list countries.

However, FIFA have come together with the relevant national bodies of various nations in a bid to ban players who didn’t travel for five days.

That would mean that any affected player would not be able to play for their club in the top-flight this weekend.

Brazilian players have been hit the hardest with the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, Alisson, Ederson and Fabinho among the high profile names to be banned.

However, Everton have been treated leniently by Brazil and they will have Richarlison available to select when the Toffees face Burnley next Monday.

The Merseyside outfit has a particularly healthy relationship with the Brazilian FA after they allowed the striker to go to the Olympics earlier this summer.

Richarlison was a key part of their gold medal triumph as the Everton star scored five goals en route to the top of the medal rostrum. As such, the Brazilian FA has decided not to invoke a ban on the Toffees’ forward.

This will come as a huge boost for Rafa Benitez who will no doubt be delighted to have the attacker available.

After all, Dominic Calvert-Lewin remains a doubt for the game with a broken toe and thus, he may need his Brazilian dynamo to play through the middle.

He has scored once this term but played in a central role at the Olympics and thrived, netting a 30-minute first-half hat-trick against Germany at one stage.

Calvert-Lewin is the player who usually carries the load from an offensive point of view and if Benitez was without both him and Richarlison, they would have struggled significantly.

Instead, they will face Sean Dyche’s men with extra confidence now after this saga was resolved.

The 24-year-old only scored once in his last 12 outings towards the end of last term and has failed to register a single assist in 2021.

However, he still finished last season as one of the club’s most important offensive players with 13 strikes to his name.

Consequently, it will be a seismic advantage to have him available.

AND in other news, Forget Tosun: Rafa must unleash rarely-seen 20 y/o at Everton, he’s a “cool finisher”…

أعلن الاتحاد الإنجليزي لكرة القدم حكم مباراة ليفربول ومانشستر سيتي، المرتقبة نهاية الشهر الجاري، في كأس الدرع الخيرية لعام 2022.

تُقام تلك المباراة بين حامل لقب الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، مانشستر سيتي، وحامل كأس الإمارات، ليفربول.

ومن المقرر أن يستضيف ملعب كينج باور مباراة الفريقين يوم السبت 30 يوليو، في تمام الساعة السادسة مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ذا أثلتيك توضح موقف كبار لاعبي ليفربول تجاه تجديد عقد محمد صلاح

وحسب الموقع الرسمي للاتحاد الإنجليزي لكرة القدم، فإن الحكم كريج باوسون سيكون مسؤولًا عن مباراة ليفربول ومانشستر سيتي.

وكُشف النقاب عن الحكام المساعدين وهما هاري لينارد ونيك هوبتون، بينما دارين إنجلت هو الحكم الرابع، وتيم وود الحكم المساعد الاحتياطي.

وسيكون جون بروكس مسؤولًا عن تقنية الفيديو، الفار، في تلك المباراة، على أن يتولى لي بيتس مسؤولية مساعدته.

اقترب يوفنتوس من حسم صفقة الدولي الفرنسي بول بوجبا لاعب فريق مانشستر يونايتد، الذي انتهى عقده اليوم مع النادي الإنجليزي.

بوجبا وقع لـ مانشستر يونايتد في صيف 2016 قادمًا من يوفنتوس، بعد 4 سنوات مع البيانكونيري، وانضم مقابل 105 ملايين يورو.

بعد 6 سنوات، أعلن مانشستر يونايتد عدم تجديد عقد بول بوجبا، الذي لم يقدم ما انتظرته منه جماهير الشياطين الحمر طوال فترة تواجده في ملعب أولد ترافورد.

طالع أيضًا.. يوفنتوس عن مستقبل دي ليخت: الاحتفاظ بلاعب يريد الرحيل مستحيل

عاد يوفنتوس من جديد لمفاوضاته من أجل عودة اللاعب الفرنسي، وبالفعل، وافق بوجبا على العودة حسب ما أكد فابريزيو رومانو الصحفي الإيطالي.

التأكيد الأكبر جاء من داخل يوفنتوس، بعد تصريحات المدير التنفيذي للنادي أريفابيني، حيث قال: “المحادثات مع بوجبا تتقدم بشكل جيد، ونقترب من حسم الصفقة”.

وأضاف: “هذه الصفقة ستكون أساسية بالنسبة لنا، على الجانب الرياضي وكذلك التجاري”.

Rangers return to Scottish Premiership action on Sunday afternoon as they take on Ross County away from home, with Steven Gerrard’s side needing a win to kick start their title defence.

The Gers have already sacrificed their unbeaten run in the Premiership after suffering a 1-0 defeat against Dundee United in their last away trip and they will have to perform a lot better than they did on that day if they want to pick up three points against Malky Mackay’s side.

Changes seem likely for the Gers after another disappointing performance in midweek, which saw Gerrard’s side scrape a win over Alaskhert in the Europa League playoff at Ibrox.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Gerrard to line his side up at Victoria Park, with five changes from the team that started on Thursday night…

Gerrard has rotated his goalkeepers regularly so far this season, so it seems fairly likely that Jon McLaughlin could come back in for Allan McGregor in goal.

There’s one change in defence as Borna Barisic returns to the starting side at left-back, with Calvin Bassey rested ahead of the Europa League trip to Armenia next week.

It has been suggested that Scott Wright and Ianis Hagi could both be missing for this one, so Joe Aribo looks likely to start on the right-wing, which frees up a place in the middle for Stephen Kelly to make his first Rangers start.

[freshpress-quiz id=“593776”]

He is joined in the middle by Glen Kamara and Steven Davis, with John Lundstram, who was dubbed a “winner” after joining Rangers, dropped after his sending off in midweek, whilst Ryan Kent keeps his place on the left-wing, supporting Kemar Roofe up front.

And, in other news… Southampton miss out on 61-cap “leader”, Ralph needed him

Suhrawadi Shuvo will lead a 14-member Bangladesh academy squad for a short tour of South Africa next month

Cricinfo staff31-Jul-2008Bangladesh academy squadSuhrawadi Shuvo (capt), Saghir Hossain (vice-capt), Farhad Hossain, Shamsur Rahman, Marshall Ayub, Nadif Chowdhury, Imrul Kayes, Jahurul Islam, Nasir Hossain, Raihanuddin, Mahbubul Alam, Shafaq Al Jabir, Ziaur Rahman, Delwar HossainSuhrawadi Shuvo will lead a 14-member Bangladesh National Cricket Academy squad for a short tour of South Africa next month. The tour includes two four-day games in Pretoria, starting August 8, followed by three one-dayers.Making a comeback from injury is Marshall Ayub, the Under-19 batsman. Announcing the squad at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday, Rafiqul Alam, the chief selector, said Ayub had fully recovered from the knee injury which kept him out for a year.”Marshall is now fully fit to play competitive cricket and has been practising with the academy players for the last one and a half months,” Alam said.The squad doesn’t include any of the Bangladesh A cricketers currently in England. “We picked the best side from the available 19 academy players as six of them are travelling with the Bangladesh A team in England,” Alam said. “We excluded the players touring in England as getting a South African visa for them from England would be difficult.”Shakil Kasem, the head of the development committee, said such tours are important to cover for the shortcomings of the domestic structure in the country. He added that former and current national players like Mohammad Rafique, Khaled Mashud and Mohammad Ashraful will interact with the squad on August 2, two days before departure.”It is the breeding ground. The next four-five years is very important for us because we have to produce some quality players to fill the gap,” Kasem said. “As our domestic competitions are not organised enough, where will these players get seasoned before entering the international stage? So we have to concentrate more on the academy team.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Nesta sexta-feira, o treinador Antônio Carlos Zago deu pistas do time do Inter que entra em campo no próximo domingo, às 16h, no Beira-Rio, contra o Novo Hamburgo, pela ida da final do Campeonato Gaúcho.

Uma das novidades é o retorno do goleiro Marcelo Lomba, mas no banco de reservas.Após pegar dois pênaltis contra o Corinthians, o substituto de Danilo Fernandes também acabou se lesionando, diante do Caxias, e foi substituído por Keiller. Ao bater um tiro de meta, ele sentiu fisgadas na coxa direita.

– Durante a semana foi especulado em relação ao goleiro. O Lomba ficou a semana inteira no DM e ele só não vai pro banco se não tiver condições. Teve melhora muito grande e a tendência é que fique no banco para o jogo de domingo – garantiu.

O comandante também destacou que não quer ousar logo no momento mais importante do campeonato e adiantou que quer manter a continuidade no trabalho.

-Nossa equipe não tem mudança, não muda muito o jeito de jogar. Jogamos com três volantes, não vamos falar que é meia adiantado ou atrasado, são três volantes. Temos que dar continuidade porque foi assim que chegamos nessa final, nos classificamos na Copa do Brasil e Primeira Liga – comentou Zago.

Apesar do desejo do treinador, o Inter será forçado a mexer. E será uma mudança dolorosa. O atacante Brenner, expulso contra o Caxias, está de fora. Carlos, Roberson e Valdívia brigam por sua vaga. Sem cacoete ofensivo, o último foi treinado aberto na ponta esquerda e corre por fora. Apesar disso, o técnico também o coloca na lista.

– O Roberson voltou a treinar hoje (sexta). O Carlos teve alguns problemas essa noite. Temos o Valdívia, que entrou muito bem nos últimos jogos. Temos que esperar até o momento do jogo para poder colocar os melhores jogadores – finalizou.

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