Ryan Reynolds has received the “highest compliment” after three years at Wrexham, with a Vancouver homecoming leaving the Hollywood star emotional.

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Takeover completed in 2021Plenty of success enjoyed since thenAnother U.S. tour completedGetty/GOALWHAT HAPPENED?

The Deadpool actor completed a stunning takeover of then National League side Wrexham alongside fellow co-owner Rob McElhenney in early 2021. Quite the journey has been enjoyed since then, with back-to-back promotions lifting the Red Dragons into League One.

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The ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series has become an award-winning production, while opening up a window to the world, and Phil Parkinson’s side are now popular enough across the globe to take in pre-season tours of North America.

WHAT REYNOLDS SAID

The latest of those has come to a close, with Reynolds being reunited with McElhenney in Canada to see Wrexham beat MLS side the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-1. Reynolds has said of that experience: “I met with the team before the match and every single @wrexham_afc player mentioned how beautiful Vancouver is. It is the highest compliment anyone could give me. Side note, walking into BC Place Stadium to see my guys play the Whitecaps was a level of surreal I’ll never fully process. I spent my childhood watching Lui Passaglia kick game winners for the @bclions_official. I’d watch with my dad from the nosebleeds but always had the best time. He’d have been blown away by yesterday’s experience. Thanks again to my beautiful city for showing up and giving everyone more reasons to fall in love with Vancouver.”

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WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

Wrexham invited Reynolds to join them for post-tour celebrations in Vancouver, with a final opportunity being taken to relax before returning to the United Kingdom and continuing their preparations for the 2024-25 campaign – which will likely see famous co-owners take in live action on a regular basis.

Stuart Broad has challenged England’s batsmen to bat for 150 overs and “set up the game” over the next couple of days in Hamilton.Having been frustrated for hundreds of overs by New Zealand’s batsmen in the series to date, Broad urged his team-mates to show similar determination if England are to secure a series-equalling victory. And while it wouldn’t quite be true to suggest that Broad intimated the bowlers had done their job, now let’s see the batsmen do theirs, it wouldn’t be entirely untrue, either.England’s bowlers again performed with heart and stamina in restricting New Zealand to 375 on a docile pitch in Hamilton. But England’s batsmen were soon struggling in reply and were probably fortunate to reach the close with just two wickets down. Rory Burns was dropped twice.ALSO READ: Pope keen to prove he’s a keeperThat left Broad calling on his batting colleagues to seize the opportunity to record a substantial total over the next day or two. And he called on Burns, in particular, to make a telling contribution.”We know we’ve got to go and bat 150 overs here to set up the game on day five,” Broad said. “Our opportunity is there. There’s not a lot happening in the pitch, there’s not a lot of scoreboard pressure. There’s a chance for a couple of people to go and get hundreds.”Someone like Rory Burns is our key batsman because he’s a player that has his areas that he scores in. If he can stay in that bubble and not chase balls outside off stump, he’s someone who could go and get 200. We need someone to go and get a big hundred for us to win this game and we’ve got the players to do it. If a batsman really applies himself on these pitches and doesn’t play loose shots and wants to just score in their area, they can be a real handful.”While Broad’s words were, no doubt, meant as encouragement, he could be forgiven if there was an element of frustration behind them, too. For Broad was one of the bowlers sentenced to 201 overs in the field in New Zealand’s only innings in Mount Maunganui after England’s batsmen squandered the opportunity to make first use of a benign surface. At one point on day two, with the score 277 for 4, it looked as if England might make a game-defining total, but a first innings of 353 turned out to be deeply inadequate.Equally his highlighting of Burns’ role is intriguing. Burns was originally selected as something of an old-fashioned, solid opening batsman. But in the last hour of play on Saturday, he played a couple of oddly aggressive strokes and was fortunate to survive. Broad, it seems, was gently trying to remind him of his strengths and the team’s requirements.”We had an opportunity at Mount Maunganui on the morning of day two to heap all the pressure on New Zealand for the rest of the game,” Broad said. “And we didn’t manage to take that. But if we had gone and scored 450-500 then they would have been batting under pressure.”Equally, when they were 200 for 5 in their first innings, we had another opportunity to take pressure off ourselves and apply it to New Zealand. But Mitchell Santner and BJ Watling batted fantastically well. We gave the pressure back to them and lumped it on ourselves at the end of the fourth day.”Here we’re not batting with a scoreboard of 500. They made 375. So, I think our pressure is reduced slightly and we just go and play. If you’re a batsman, you’d want to bat out there, wouldn’t you? If you were good at batting, you’d fancy that.”For us to win this game, we’ll need a batter to get 150-plus and someone else to get a hundred and leave ourselves a day to bowl them out on day five. I think that’s how New Zealand won the last Test they played here: they got 700 for six. Arguably, they’re probably 300 under par.”If we bat through the whole of day three and go past New Zealand, we can apply some pressure on them in the second innings. If we don’t go and get 400, we can’t. The opportunity is there to bat big and bat big once.”While some will look at the scoreboard from these two Tests and suggest the bowlers might do well to worry about their own jobs rather than give advice to the batsmen, Broad has a point. The pitches in both Tests have been painfully slow and, armed with a Kookaburra ball that has offered little after 20 or so overs, England’s bowlers have been demonstrated impressive control and discipline. “They make your work hard for the wickets here,” Broad said.Broad finished with 4 for 73 here. While he dismissed Jeet Raval, caught at slip in fairly conventional fashion on day one, and then ended Tom Latham’s excellent innings when the batsman left a straight one, he was forced to think outside the box for his other two victims.Watling, for example, was deceived when Broad deliberately bowled one from at least a foot behind the popping crease in a bid to put the batsman’s trigger movements out of sync.”I tried it once at The Oval, where Steve Smith was causing us a lot of problems,” Broad said. “Because he triggered so much, I thought if I bowl it a yard before the line, it might surprise him and catch him off guard. But I hadn’t practised it all.”So leading into tea here, I thought I’d nothing to lose. I thought it might change the balance of the trigger movement for the batsman. It caught him by surprise a bit. I don’t know if it did him for lack of pace, but you take anything out here.”I’ve tried to vary my pace and I’ve tried to use the short ball at times. I’ve got a lot of respect for how Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Trent Boult have gone about their business over a long period of time. I looked at Tim Southee at Mount Maunganui and he changed his position on the crease a huge amount. Wagner bowls a bit of everything. The mindset is a bit different here. I feel I’m learning a bit as well.”Now it’s up to England’s batsmen to show they can pick up new tricks, too. If their first innings doesn’t extend into day four, it’s hard to see how they can claw their way back into this series.

Newcastle United are eyeing one of their former players as a potential replacement for Dan Ashworth as sporting director, according to a new claim.

Newcastle eyeing Dan Ashworth replacement

Ashworth has been a hugely influential figure at St James' Park, working so effectively alongside Eddie Howe when it comes to transfers, but he is now set to leave the club sooner rather than later.

He has been placed on gardening leave by Newcastle, with a switch to Manchester United looking increasingly likely, although a lot of that may depend on whether the Red Devils are willing to pay £20m in compensation to get their man. If not, they will have to wait until his contract expires in 2026.

With Ashworth soon to depart Newcastle, the hunt is now on to find the perfect successor in terms of someone who can work similarly seamlessly alongside Howe, ensuring that the Magpies continue to move in a positive direction.

Monaco's Paul Mitchell has been mentioned as a potential replacement a number of times, having shone during his time in France, and he also has plenty of experience in English football, having enjoyed a successful stint at Southampton and masterminding signings such as Sadio Mane and Victor Wanyama.

Victor Wanyama

2013/14

€15m (£13m)

Dejan Lovren

2013/14

€10m (£9m)

Sadio Mane

2014/15

€23m (£20m)

Fraser Forster

2014/15

€13m (£11m)

Shane Long

2014/15

€15m (£13m)

Newcastle could hire former player

According to inews, former Newcastle player Hugo Viana is a candidate to be the club's next sporting director after Ashworth, with the Portuguese shining in the role at Sporting CP.

AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini is also in the mix to take over from the Englishman, but it is worth stressing that Monaco ace Mitchell is the current first choice.

Viana is a great option in his own right, however, having done such an impressive job at Sporting, playing a big role in their success under Ruben Amorim.

He has been in his current job since 2018, and Amorim has outlined his colleague's expertise in the transfer market, assessing last summer's business back in August:

"We are still below 50 percent, between sales and purchases. Last year, Porro left in the middle of the season, Sarabia, Palhinha, Matheus Nunes also departed and there were more changes than this year. Only Ugarte left from the regular starters, which allowed us to plan better. We went looking for young players who already had some experience to join the first team. Many kids came in and will have their spot. We set targets early and we had good sales.

"We're on the right track. We know it's going to be a tough year, but having a base will make it easier."

Howe must drop Newcastle star to allow 5ft 10 talent to flourish

He’s come under fire from a lot of supporters this campaign.

ByEthan Lamb Mar 30, 2024

Viana's links with Newcastle would make bringing him in an added bonus, considering he made 61 appearances for the Magpies back in the 2000s, meaning he could adjust even better than others in the role.

The 24-year old claimed the best women’s T20I figures in match against Maldives

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2019

Anjali Chand returned the best figures in T20I history•@Nepal_Cricket/Twitter

Nepal’s Anjali Chand set a new record for the best bowling figures in women’s T20Is, claiming 6 for 0 – yes, you read that right – to skittle Maldives for 16 at the South Asian Games in Pokhara.Maldives, incidentally, were playing their first international game. Chand was making her debut too.This was also the first time that a bowler had picked up six wickets without conceding a run in an international match. The previous record for best figures in an innings in women’s T20Is was held by Malaysia’s Mas Elysa, who returned 6 for 3 against China in January.After Maldives opted to bat, they slipped to 15 for 4 at the end of the powerplay. Chand then made it 15 for 5 in the very next over when she dismissed captain Zoona Mariyam for a duck. That began her wicket-taking spree, and Maldives added just one run to their tally before they were wiped out at the start of the 11th over. Karuna Bhandari took 2 for 4 in her two overs to back up Chand, who needed only 13 balls to complete her six-wicket haul.Barring opener Hamza Niyaz (9) and wicketkeeper Hafsaa Abdhulla (4), no other Maldives batter opened her account. Twelve of Maldives’ 16 runs came via fours.Nepal needed a mere five balls to get to the target and seal victory with ten wickets and 115 balls to spare.

The Manchester derby. A fixture that Manchester United fans dread rather than look forward to takes place this afternoon at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola has gotten the better of Erik ten Hag since the Dutch boss arrived in England, with Manchester City winning three of the four encounters since the start of last season.

Luckily, the Red Devils do go into the game during their best run of form all campaign, winning seven matches already in 2024 across all competitions.

However, the problem lies in the absence of some key players, such as Rasmus Hojlund, Luke Shaw, and Lisandro Martinez. Nonetheless, Victor Lindelof should be given the boot if United are to walk away with anything.

Man Utd starting XI last time they won at the Etihad
Man City 0-2 Man United (March 2021)
GK – Dean Henderson
RB – Aaron Wan-Bissaka
CB – Victor Lindelof
CB – Harry Maguire
LB – Luke Shaw
CM – Fred
CM – Scott McTominay
CM – Bruno Fernandes
RW – Dan James
LW – Marcus Rashford
ST – Anthony Martial

Why Victor Lindelof must be benched

The 29-year-old has been somewhat of a useful utility and squad player this season, stepping into the starting XI when usual first-team starters are unavailable.

Lindelof has featured in 16 Premier League matches this campaign, starting 11 of those matches, with six of them being in an unorthodox left-back role. However, Ten Hag trialled Sofyan Amrabat in that position on Wednesday in the FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest, with the Moroccan set to start in the same role against the Citizens.

This means that if the Swede were to start, he would be playing as a central defender up against Erling Haaland, who is known for his athleticism, strength, and pure goal-scoring ability.

Lindelof is a defender who isn't the most physical, as shown by his 1.6 duels won per game this season, and he has been caught out when getting tight to the opponent recently, with his two yellows in his last three games serving as evidence for that.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast's Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Man United simply cannot afford this lack of assertiveness and dominance on the field against Man City, as the quality of Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, and so on will take advantage of that.

Therefore, Ten Hag could look towards a more experienced centre half to partner Raphael Varane this afternoon.

Ten Hag must now ruthlessly bench McTominay for Man Utd's "monster"

Scott McTominay struggled at times against Nottingham Forest.

By
Tom Lever

Feb 29, 2024

Why Jonny Evans must start against Man City

The signing of 36-year-old Jonny Evans was both confusing and frowned upon by the United faithful at the start of the term, however, the defender has been crucial at times throughout this season, not just stepping up in absences but also performing to a high standard, with creator Liam Canning describing one of his performances last month as "immaculate."

The Northern Ireland rock has started ten games in the league this season while also being relied upon to come off the bench and secure a victory. The number 35 has already built a dominant partnership alongside Varane, with the duo's performance against Liverpool in the 0-0 draw proving that they can be effective against the very best.

Varane & Evans v Liverpool
Stats	Varane	Evans
Goals conceded	0	0
Clearances	15	5
Blocked shots	2	2
Duels won	4/4	3/4
Possession lost	10	5
Stats via Sofascore

As you can see by the table above, Evans and the French defender were a brick wall at Anfield, despite the hosts having 34 attempts at goal, 12 corners, and 68% possession. They showed their experience and incredible box-defending ability to prevent Liverpool from finding the back of the net.

The high clearances prove that their reading of the game is excellent while also showing that they can deal with crosses into the box, whether they're in the air or on the floor. This will be vital against Haaland, who has exceptional movement and thrives inside the box.

Between the centre halves, they also won seven of their eight duels, proving that they can be dominant and deal with the physicality of the Norweigan much better than Lindelof, for example, who's won four of his last ten duels.

Overall, it is quite clear that if United are to have any success this afternoon, then the centre-half pairing of Evans and Varane will play a big role.

Tottenham Hotspur are weighing up a move for a mega-money striker this summer as they look to push on under Ange Postecoglou next season.

Kane-shaped void still needs filling

The Lilywhites lost star striker Harry Kane over the summer, and plenty feared that they would suffer as a result, with the Englishman having racked up over 200 Premier League goals during his time in north London.

However, Spurs have thrived. Heung-Min Son has taken up greater responsibility in a central role, while Richarlison is also beginning to shine in a Tottenham shirt, and the pair have combined for 25 goals and 11 assists this season.

PL Top goalscorers 23/24

Rank

Player

Club

Goals

Assists

1.

Erling Haaland

Manchester City

18

5

=2

Ollie Watkins

Aston Villa

16

10

=2

Mo Salah

Liverpool

16

9

=2.

Dominic Solanke

Bournemouth

16

3

5.

Jarrod Bowen

West Ham United

15

4

=5.

Heung-min Son

Tottenham Hotspur

15

8

11.

Richarlison

Tottenham Hotspur

10

3

It is a far cry from Kane's 31 efforts in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich, but it is enough to leave Tottenham in with an excellent chance of winning back Champions League football next season. As things stand, the top five in the Premier League are expected to qualify, and there is an eight point gap between Spurs in 5th and 6th placed Manchester United.

The squad still need strengthening though, if Postecoglou is going to be able to deliver on his promise to make Spurs more than top four hopefuls next season.

"We want to finish the season strong and keep building on the foundation of being a team that hopefully in 12 months' time people are looking at us differently and talking about us differently," he told the media ahead of their clash with West Ham.

Spurs target they've been chasing for months no longer wants to join

Daniel Levy and Johan Lange have got their work cut out for them.

ByBen Goodwin Apr 1, 2024 Big money striker on the radar

As it stands, Spurs seem a man light in their front line, especially if Timo Werner returns to RB Leipzig this summer after his loan spell in north London ends. They have been linked with adding a more physical presence at the top of the pitch, and now reports claim that they are the latest side keeping tabs on Sweden striker Alexander Isak.

The Newcastle man scored twice and grabbed an assist in a win against West Ham on Saturday, and has looked like a very shrewd addition to the Premier League since his arrival in the summer of 2022.

Eddie Howe has already issued a hands off warning for his striker, telling the media that “he’s an outstanding talent and no one connected with Newcastle would want to lose him”. But amid financial fair play concerns on Tyneside, there is fear that they may lose one of their stars, while CEO Darren Eales earlier claimed that "if we're going to get to where we want to get to, at times it is necessary to trade your players".

Arsenal are keen on Isak, but The Sun report that "Tottenham are also keeping tabs" on the 24-year-old should a cut price deal become available, although any deal is still likely to cost in the region of £100m as things stand, which would be a record move for the Lilywhites.

Isak himself appears open to a move to north London one way or another, admitting over the international break that “if things show up, things can happen”. Could he be the man Tottenham need to move from top four challengers to Premier League contenders?

Two weeks ago, he failed to defend eight off the final over. On Thursday, he hit a crucial six to take his team into the quarterfinals

Sreshth Shah in Bloemfontein22-Jan-2020Two weeks ago, New Zealand’s Kristian Clarke needed to defend eight off the final over against Zimbabwe’s lower order to secure victory in a third-place playoff match at the Quadrangular tournament in South Africa. But Zimbabwe’s No. 9 Luke Oldknow struck a six off him to crush New Zealand’s hopes.On Wednesday, Clarke had a shot at redemption. He was faced with the task of hitting six runs off two remaining balls. At stake was a quarter-final berth. He cleared deep midwicket, much to the joy of his mates; Sri Lanka’s hopes crushed.”Winning or losing in the final over is probably the toughest part of the game,” Clarke told ESPNcricinfo. “I was part of it when we were playing Zimbabwe and I kind of bowled an average last over and lost the game, so I know the feeling.”In the last over, me and [the No. 8] Joey Field just talked about the bowler, that he may bowl full. So we wanted to walk across and go square. He was telling me to breathe to stay calm. After hitting the shot, I looked for a bit, but since I timed it pretty well, I just began to run off.”New Zealand, whose first game against Japan was washed out, now have the opportunity to top Group A if they beat India on Friday. Clarke felt lessons had to be learnt from the tense finish ahead of the clash against the defending champions and tournament favourites.”We can take a lot of confidence from this win ahead of the India game,” Clarke said “Chasing 250 [243] is a good effort. But we don’t want to fly too high. We want to keep carry on and focus on the processes. We stuck to our training against the Sri Lanka spinners and they paid off. We’d like to stick to that against India.”For Sri Lanka, it was “heartbreak”, according to team manager and former international Farveez Maharoof, himself an Under-19 World Cupper (featured in the 2004 edition). However, he felt the better side won on the day.”Definitely can’t question our boys’ effort,” Maharoof said. “Just one of those heartbreakers. “The boys fought brilliantly because conditions were very good for batting till the end. The boys fought well, especially with our partnership in the first innings between Sonal Dinusha and Ahan Wickramasinghe [who struck 78 runs in 66 balls].”Overall, New Zealand were deserving winners. They were in the game more than us and they dragged the game right till the end. In the end, our boy missed his yorker by six inches and it goes for a sixer. Complete heartbreak, can’t imagine what the boys are going through. All in all, good game.”As for how the Sri Lankan youngsters would cope with the loss, Maharoof said that’s where the contribution of the support staff comes in. He said that despite a tough loss, there were positives for the team to learn for the future.”It will be hard for sure,” Maharoof added. “You can see the coaching staff and the players are clearly down. Now it’s up to the management to cheer the boys up. We have a plate to play for, and pretty proud of the boys’ effort.”They never gave up till the end, and these are little good things that will help the boys in their careers. Answering your question, how hard it is? Definitely very hard and that’s where our professionalism comes in. We need to get the boys up and running again.”

Barcelona have reportedly submitted a fresh bid for Joao Cancelo with the Manchester City outcast willing to take a wage cut to seal the transfer.

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Barcelona submit a second bid for CanceloCatalan club propose another loan for the playerReady to pay another €18m in mandatory purchase next summerWHAT HAPPENED?

According to the Catalan club have submitted an offer which includes a £7 million ($9m) loan fee and a £18 million ($23m) purchase clause, which would take effect at the end of the loan period. This structured deal reflects Barcelona's persistent financial constraints which once again limit their spending power this summer.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

City would prefer to offload Cancelo permanently rather than arranging another loan spell. However, with no other offers currently on the table, Barcelona's proposal might be the best available option. The Premier League champions are reportedly hoping to raise around £25 million ($32m) from Cancelo's transfer, and despite the delayed payment structure, they are getting closer to their target which has once again opened channels of negotiations.

DID YOU KNOW?

Cancelo is also willing to accept a lower salary than his current £150,000-a-week package to expedite the move. Barcelona are ready to pay his salary in full, which is an appealing solution to City, especially considering the reported breakdown in Cancelo's relationship with head coach Pep Guardiola.

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(C)Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

While Barcelona remains the frontrunners for Cancelo's signature, other clubs have also shown interest. Italian giants Juventus and Inter Milan are said to be monitoring the situation. However, City are still holding out hope for a sudden offer from the Saudi Pro League, where financial terms would not pose an issue and they can offload the player permanently this summer.

West Indies played their part in a classic in Cuttack as the decider went down to the wire

The Report by Sidharth Monga22-Dec-2019West Indies’ tour of India ended the way it began: denied by the bat of Virat Kohli after they had put in a fight despite losing the toss. Only, the master of chases fell with 30 runs still required and it was left to Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur to calm India’s nerves and they did that in style.India were chasing 316 because of a stunning counterattack by Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard that lifted them from 144 for 4 in the 32nd over, but it was still a relatively easy chase on a ground that India had to fight hard to defend 381 in its last ODI. The chase became difficult despite fifties from the openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul because once the partnership broke, West Indies kept finding a way to keep taking wickets, bringing India’s dodgy lower order into the picture. Except they couldn’t go past Kohli, who didn’t make the kind of mistakes his team-mates did.As it had become apparent towards the end of the first innings, the little grip in the pitch that had tied the West Indies batsmen down had now given way to skiddy evening conditions. Sharma and Rahul had got India off to a fluent start with a 122-run stand in 21.2 overs. The dew had begun to play its part. Then Sharma fell driving Jason Holder on the up, Rahul got surprised by extra bounce from Alzarri Joseph, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant played slightly casual shots to Delhi Capitals team-mate Keemo Paul, and Sheldon Cottrell came back to clean Kedar Jadhav up.Virat Kohli drives through the off side•BCCI

India were 228 for 5, needed 88 off 67, which should be straightforward on most Indian evenings, but Kohli’s mannerisms told a different story. When Iyer and Pant fell, he turned away and put his head down, visibly disappointed with the junior partners. He asked Jadhav to stand in front of the stumps because Cottrell was unlikely to bring a ball back in for the lbw. Cottrell somehow snuck one back in through the gate. Kohli didn’t have West Indies fielders chirping him this time, but he was pumped up just as he was in the chase in the first T20 international.Now was the time for Jadeja, back in the limited-overs set-up because of the batting depth he provides, to repay all the faith. This was the beginning of a partnership between India’s last recognised pair. Kohli was so excited he was probably taking runs that were not on. One such occasion brought West Indies a freakish opportunity, a chance that perhaps wouldn’t even have existed for other teams. Jadeja defended one just off the pitch, Kohli called him for what has become a regulation single these days, but Cottrell, the bowler, unleashed a right footer that surprised everyone and would have sent Kohli back had it not missed by inches.Had Kohli been run out then, India would have needed 73 with four bowlers and Jadeja standing. That West Indies needed such extraordinary efforts to even have a chance against Kohli spoke of the mastery of the charged-up batsman. In the next few overs, Kohli and Jadeja calmly steered India towards safety, getting boundaries without taking risks.Kieron Pollard whips one into the leg side•BCCI

The pivotal moment was the gamble with Khary Pierre, who didn’t need to bowl in the last 10 as the fifth bowler’s quota had been exhausted. Pollard, though, offered him to Jadeja in the 43rd over. Jadeja refused to take the bait, took just one run off the first two balls, but Kohli dissected Pierre’s non-turners with precision. Boundaries through a late-cut and a flick through midwicket brought him the fours to bring the task down to 53 off seven overs.At the start of the 47th over, India needed 30, and Kohli exactly half of those for a century, but he chased a wide length ball and ended up playing on. This was only the fourth time he had been dismissed after the 45th over of a chase. This was only the first time in the last five years that he had crossed 80 in a chase and not converted it into a hundred. The crowd at Barabati Stadium didn’t know these stats, but they knew India had left it for their unfancied bowlers to get 30 runs. There was a loud hush around the stadium.Thakur, though, came out batting in a positive manner. He drove the first ball he faced on the up and got four through extra cover. With 22 required off the last three overs, West Indies went to Cottrell’s last over. He began with a wide, bowled another bouncer too high, and when he got the bouncer right, Thakur obliged with a top edge on the hook. However, he had swung hard enough for the edge to sail over the fence. He followed it up with a flamboyant Ajit Agarkar-like bat swing to a full ball to beat long-on and all but kill the game. Jadeja remained unbeaten on 39 off 31.Nicholas Pooran plays the pull•BCCI

Having come so close, West Indies might have some questions of the approach taken by Evin Lewis at the start of the innings when they were put in. They would have known they would need every single run if they were to perform the improbable task of denying India in a home chase with dew around. Lewis, though, faced 50 balls for 21 runs, his first shot in anger bringing his downfall. In Lewis’ defence, this was probably the time when the ball was not coming onto the bat.Kohli wasn’t satisfied with the wicket of Lewis. Even though Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were keeping the batsmen quiet, he went to his quicks in the middle overs. The return of Mohammed Shami brought the wicket of West Indies’ anchor man Shai Hope. Debutant Navdeep Saini, who was driven first ball for a four, came back to get rid of Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase with pace.At that time, it seemed India were looking at a facile chase, but Pooran and Pollard had other ideas. Pollard hit seven sixes in his 51-ball 74, and Pooran batted beautifully to end up with 89 off 64. Thanks to them, West Indies added 105 in the last eight overs, leaving India stunned and frustrated. Kohli’s displeasure was apparent then, but he ended up with a smile of satisfaction.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Botafogo goleou o Remo por 3 a 0 neste domingo, pela 3ª rodada da Série B do Brasileirão. O resultado fez o Alvinegro chegar a 7 pontos na competição e subir para a 3ª posição na tabela de classificação.

+ ATUAÇÕES: Chay, Rafael Navarro e Pedro Castro marcam a vitória de 3 a 0 do Botafogo contra o Remo

Marco Antônio, que deu a assistência para o terceiro gol do duelo, marcado por Pedro Castro, elogiou o desempenho que o Glorioso vem mostrando até aqui na Série B e afirmou que o resultado é um reflexo do que vem acontecendo em campo.

– Foi uma partida muito boa coletivamente. A gente tem feito bons jogos e com isso os resultados vão aparecendo. Trabalhamos bastante para sempre sair de campo com a triunfo. Fico feliz em estar fazendo parte disso e estar ajudando a equipe sempre – afirmou o meia.

O camisa 70 foi titular, sendo substituído por Ricardinho aos 35 minutos do segundo tempo. O Botafogo volta aos gramados na próxima quinta-feira para enfrentar o Londrina no Estádio do Café, às 19h.

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