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A round-up of the action from the first round of matches in the 2009-10 Vijay Hazare Trophy

Cricinfo staff10-Feb-2010South ZoneHyderabad launched their Vijay Hazare campaign with victory after prevailing over Andhra by two wickets in a tense low-scoring fixture at the MRF Pachyappas Ground in Chennai. Hyderabad’s decision to field reaped immediate dividends when the opening bowlers reduced Andhra to a dismal 14 for 3. Despite steadying hands from the middle order, the innings seemed to have run out of gas at 104 for 6 in the 38th over. Duvvarapu Shivkumar changed the complexion of the innings with a belligerent 67 off 41 balls to take his side past 200. Syed Sahabuddin struck early to have Hyderabad stuttering at 8 for 2, before Ravi Teja and Anirudh Singh calmed the nerves with half centuries. That was when Shivkumar got into the act for the second time in the day. In partnership with Donnapaneni Kalyankrishna, he wrecked the middle order as 128 for 2 became 175 for 8. However, Amol Shinde and Alfred Absolem ensured that their side crossed the line in the penultimate over.Tamil Nadu overwhelmed Kerala by eight wickets with 84 balls remaining at the Central Polytechnic India Pistons Ground in Chennai. Asked to bat by the hosts, Kerala got off to a sluggish start before C Ganapathy struck to dismiss both openers. The middle order was unsuccessful in lifting the run-rate despite getting starts, which played into the hands of seamers L Balaji and Yo Mahesh. R Ashwin ensured that the innings never got into gear, and Kerala was eventually bowled out for 189. The visitors needed an inspired performance from their top bowler, Sreesanth, but the India seamer failed to impress. Arun Karthik and Abhinav Mukund grabbed the opportunity, scoring a ton and a fifty respectively to ensure that their side got a bonus point. Arun was at his punishing best, smashing eight fours and four sixes in his unbeaten 98-ball 106.Karnataka barn-stormed Goa in a high-scoring affair at the IIT- Chemplast Ground in Chennai, chasing down 287 with consummate ease. Goa’s innings was propped up by aggressive fifties from S Sriram and Saurabh Bandekar, with Ajay Ratra and Shadab Jakati also contributing substantially. In the middle of the mayhem, left-armer KP Appanna managed to pick a five-for. Karnataka’s chase was put on course by Robin Uthappa and Ganesh Satish who added 51 in 43 balls. Uthappa fell after reaching a quick fifty, but there was no let-up in the momentum as Manish Pandey smote the Goa attack to all corners of the ground in a murderous 95 off 69 balls. He missed his hundred closely, falling after raising 173 runs in 137 balls with Satish, who duly completed his hundred. Khesmal Waivankar picked 2 for 48, but it was not enough to deny Karnataka the bonus point and earn Goa the ignominy of a negative point.North ZoneA spate of run outs towards the closing stages and some nerveless death bowling from Haryana handed Punjab defeat by the narrowest of margins at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak. The tone for a low-scoring scrap was set early in the piece by Love Ablish who struck two crippling blows, even as runs proved hard to come by. Seamer Jaskaran Singh and legspinner Rahul Sharma complemented his efforts and struck regularly to blight Haryana’s progress, and had it not been for a patient 76 from opener Rahul Dewan, they would have struggled to reach three-figures. Punjab’s reply got off to a similar start, with Sanjay Budhwar striking twice in his first spell. Ravi Inder Singh and Mandeep Singh combined to produce the only 50-plus stand of the day, and at 84 for 2 in the 25th over, Haryana had few backers. That’s when offspinner Ajit Chandila got into the act with a decisive double strike that set the cat among the pigeons. Vishwas Bhalla and Bipul Sharma seemed to have put the chase back on track before all hell broke loose. Chandila struck again, sending Bipul back before Jaskaran and Rahul were run out in quick succession. Bhalla found a calm partner in Gony and the pair added 20 runs to take their side two runs away from victory, but that’s as close as they got.A strong allround performance from Rajat Bhatia was the cornerstone of Delhi’s easy win over Jammu and Kashmir at the Cricket Academy in Sirsa. Imraj Thakur, R Bisati and Pervez Rassol made light of the early loss of a wicket to launch the J&K innings well, before Bhatia and Puneet Mehra intervened. Wickets fell at regular intervals, Bhatia accounting for three of them, to ensure that J&K did not reach 250, as three batsmen fell in the forties. No such problems for Shikhar Dhawan who gave the chase a rapid start, despite failures from Unmukt Chand and Virat Kohli. After Dhawan’s dismissal, Mithun Manhas and Bhatia joined in the fun to ensure an easy win for their side. Manhas fell for 70, but Bhatia saw it through with an unbeaten 59.Himachal Pradesh cantered to a six-wicket win against Services in their opening match at the Tata Energy Research Institute Oval in Gurgaon. Services’ innings came unstuck after a steady start, when Jitender Mehta struck in the sixth over. Sumit Singh and Tahir Khan struck 30s, but could not accelerate as wickets fell at regular intervals. Sarandeep Singh kept things tight in the middle overs, before Yashpal Singh and Mumtaz Qadir injected the much-needed momentum in the only passage of play that Services dominated. Both made fifties to take the score to 213 in the allotted 47 overs. Himachal’s openers put their side on course for a win with a 98-run stand. Hemant Dogra reached a fifty, while Sangram Singh missed by six runs. Paras Dogra and VA Indulkar gave the finishing touches to the chase that went past the target in the 43rd over.East ZoneIt proved to be a close-fought encounter at the Ravenshaw College Ground in Cuttack, as Tripura narrowly beat Bengal by two wickets in a low-scorer. Put in to bat, Bengal never really consolidated as both the seamers and spinners reaped dividends regularly. Opener Shreevats Goswami’s 67-ball 36 proved to be the highest in a limp total of 162. Tripura openers Wilkin Mota and Kaushik Aphale looked to have given them the perfect start during the reply, with a stand of 65. But Bengal’s seamers hit back well, led by Sayan Mondal’s 3 for 25 and two wickets apiece from Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Ashok Dinda. Tushar Saha, coming in at No. 9, hit a steady unbeaten 30-ball 19 to take nervous Tripura home with 10 balls to spare.Right-arm seamer Rahul Shukla was the main architect of Jharkhand’s convincing win over Assam at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. His five-for ensured Assam were bowled out for a paltry 117, a target that Jharkhand overhauled in the 24th over for the loss of two wickets. Shukla never let Assam settle down after they were invited to bat, taking out four of the top six batsmen. Varun Aaron gave him good support with 3 for 39. Abu Nechim hit a valiant 32 lower down but it was never going to be enough for the Ranji quarter-finalists.West ZoneRanji Trophy champions Mumbai made an impressive start to their campaign with a 108-run thumping of Baroda at the Sardar Patel Stadium C Ground. Leading the way was Sushant Marathe, with a classy 108, comprising 11 fours. He figured in two big partnerships, with fellow opener Ajinkya Rahane (66) and captain Wasim Jaffer (78). Abhishek Nayar blasted 49 off 22 balls to lift Mumbai to 328. With Dhawal Kulkarni removing openers Kedar Devdhar and Pinal Shah early in the reply, the going would always be uphill for Baroda. Though Rakesh Solanki shone with a 127-ball 94, including 10 boundaries, Mumbai held the upper hand to bowl Baroda out with seven balls to go.Captain Harshad Khadiwale led from the front with a quickfire fifty as Maharashtra eked out an eight-run win against Gujarat at the Sardar Patel Stadium B Ground. Put in, Khadiwale and fellow opener Rohit Motwani (48) made a strong start, putting on 106 by the 18th over. Khadiwale was in fine touch, hitting seven fours and a six during his 57-ball 66. Key contributions down the order finally saw them end on 286 for 7. The match was evenly poised throughout the chase, thanks to Gujarat’s solid beginning and Bhavik Thaker’s fluent 56 at No. 5. But the task of getting 14 off the last seven deliveries proved too difficult for the eighth-wicket pair of Jayesh Makla and Siddharth Trivedi.Central ZoneA stupendous spell of legspin from Piyush Chawla handed Uttar Pradesh a 28-run win against Railways at the Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground in Indore. Asked to bat first, UP never got going despite a host of starts for the top-order batsmen. Tanmay Srivastava top-scored with 52, and Ashish Yadav scored 46, but four other batsmen were guilty of not pushing on after entering the 20s. Defending a score of 239, the strong UP attack got into the act through Praveen Kumar who prised out Faiz Fazal and V Cheluvaraj for ducks. TP Singh and Sanjay Bangar got the chase on track before Chawla began to wreak havoc. He got Singh to give him a return catch, and then castled Bangar to bring his side back into the match. Marripuri Suresh did not last long, nicking Chawla behind to set the cat among the pigeons. Yere Goud and Dhiran Salvi looked to repair the innings, but Chawla had plans for both of them, as Railways slumped to lose their last seven wickets for 110 runs.A well-rounded team performance from Vidharba ambushed Rajasthan by 63 runs at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore. Pankaj Singh’s hostile spell of seam bowling gave Rajasthan the early momentum, with Amit Paunikar falling in the first over. After a steadying hand from Akshay Kolhar, Ravi Jangid and Ranjit Paradkar gave impetus to the innings with sparkling half-centuries. Pankaj snared four wickets in an economical spell, but Gaurav Upadhyaya smashed four sixes and ensured that the innings ended with a flourish. Despite Rashmi Parida’s steady 61 and a frantic 54 off 56 balls from Robin Bist, Rajasthan were never in the hunt and were eventually bowled out in the penultimate over. Umesh Yadav and Shrikant Wagh shared five wickets to take the bowling honours.

According to Football Insider, West Brom are hoping to sign Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy before the end of the transfer window. 

The Baggies have made the 23-year-old their number one target, as they seek to replace Harvey Barnes before the end of the month after the 21-year-old returned to parent club Leicester.

The winger has struggled for game time at St James’ Park so far this season, although he did start in The Magpies’ recent FA Cup loss to Watford. Other than that, he has managed just three starts in the Premier League, and he will surely want a move away from the club in order to play more often. He only signed for Newcastle in the summer, but it looks as though it has not worked out.

However, West Brom could seriously profit from the player’s unhappiness currently, and a signing like this could inject a lot of optimism at The Hawthorns. Being in the Premier League, Murphy would be player that provides a lot of quality to an already exciting West Brom team. What would make this move so enticing to Murphy is that manager Darren Moore likes to play an attacking brand of football which has seen the likes of Barnes, Jay Rodriguez and Dwight Gayle thrive this season. In contrast, Newcastle manager Rafa Benítez adopts a slightly more conservative style that could irritate a winger like Murphy.

With The Baggies chasing promotion back to the Premier League, this is the kind of signing that will boost spirits this season and put them in good stead for next term.

Round-up of action from the Clydesdale Bank 40

02-May-2010Warwickshire overcame a defiant innings by Leicestershire prospect James Taylor to register their second win in the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition at Edgbaston. After piling up 321 for 7, the Bears had restricted the Foxes to 235 for 7 when the umpires took the players off in the 35th over because of bad light. The conditions failed to improve and, with Taylor stranded on 92 after facing 77 balls, Warwickshire secured a 41-run victory under the Duckworth/Lewis method.Ashwell Prince and Steven Croft shared their third century partnership of the summer to help Lancashire open their Clydesdale Bank 40 account at the expense of Glamorgan at Old Trafford. The Red Rose pair helped their side recover from 89 for 3 in pursuit of 272 with an unbroken 186 to win by seven wickets with 16 balls to spareAfter a rousing display with the bat, Yorkshire then had the better of the difficult conditions as they beat Northamptonshire by 35 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method. Chasing an initially revised target of 245 in 30 overs, Northants were four for one after two overs when rain caused a further stoppageNew signing Steven Mullaney took three quick wickets to rip the heart out of the Hampshire batting and set up a convincing 35-run win for Nottinghamshire in their clash at the Rose Bowl. Mullaney, signed from Lancashire in the close season, finished with 3 for 24 as Hampshire’s poor start to the season continued. Hampshire have now lost all five matches in both competitions and there was never any doubt they would lose this encounter after overnight rain and persistent drizzle reduced the match to 24 overs each.The Kent v Durham, Surrey v Unicorns and Middlesex v Essex fixtures were all rained off.

Celtic signing Reo Hatate has now landed in the UK and is set to be unveiled as a Hoops player soon, Kieran Devlin reports.

The Lowdown: Triple signing

Ange Postecoglou and Michael Nicholson have made early inroads into the club’s January business, with moves for Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda already tied up.

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Midfielders Hatate and Ideguchi have penned four-and-a-half-year contracts at Parkhead, whereas forward Maeda has joined on an initial loan deal with a compulsory purchase option included for the summer.

Both Maeda and Ideguchi have already been unveiled as Celtic players, and it seems as if Hatate will do the same shortly.

The Latest: Devlin’s claim

Devlin shared a post on The Athletic on Wednesday, saying: ‘understand Hatate has landed in the UK and is set to be unveiled as a Celtic player over the next few days’.

The 24-year-old, along with Maeda, has been removed from Japan’s squad for their Kirin Challenge match against Uzbekistan, with the squad made up of domestic players only.

The Verdict: Good news…

With all three now in the country and Hatate soon to be unveiled, it can only be viewed as good news ahead of Celtic’s return to action following the winter break.

The Hoops face Hibernian in 11 days, so having the Japanese trio all at Lennoxtown and involved with the squad could mean they may all have a chance to feature at Parkhead on Monday, January 17.

That will be a welcome boost for Postecoglou, who had a number of players sidelined prior to the winter break against St Johnstone through injury and Covid-19.

In other news: Celtic may now sign £4.5m-rated man on loan; would ‘separate’ Nicholson from Lawwell. 

Monaco boss Adi Hutter has admitted that he might change his penalty taker after Folarin Balogun missed his fourth spot-kick of the season.

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Balogun misses fourth penalty of seasonHutter suggests a change in penalty-takerBalogun settling into life with MonacoGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

After a successful loan spell with Stade de Reims in Ligue 1 last year, the American attacker joined Monaco from Arsenal this summer. Balogun had a rough start at his new club, but he has gradually adapted to Hutter's strategy. Despite this, Balogun might be relieved of his penalty duties for the club after missing his fourth of the season.

AdvertisementWHAT HUTTER SAID

Speaking after the match, Hutter said: “He’s missed four penalties this season, that’s a lot. I take responsibility for this, maybe we’ll think about the order of shooters in the future. But I’m otherwise very satisfied with his performance.”

Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Two of Balogun's four penalty failures came in the same match as he missed twice in a 1-0 loss to OGC Nice. The third came against FC Rouen in the French Cup in a penalty shootout which Monaco ended uo losing.

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WHAT NEXT FOR BALOGUN?

The American will have been relieved that his side managed to win against Lens despite the miss. He will be in action next up when they take on Paris Saint-Germain on Friday, March 1, but it remains to be seen who will step up if Monaco are awarded a spot-kick.

Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore stressed on his team’s need to “read the game well” to gain positions of advantage in matches, ahead of the second ODI in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2012Although Pakistan spinners gained a stranglehold on the Australian batsmen to make their chase of 199 difficult on a slow wicket in Sharjah, coach Dav Whatmore stressed on his team’s need to “read the game well” to gain positions of advantage in matches, ahead of the second ODI in Abu Dhabi.Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 38 runs to capitulate for 198, which proved costly as the low target allowed Australia to cut out the risks as they pushed for a win.”Reading the game is very important. If the players can read the game well, they are in a better position to respond. It is not just about losing wickets. It is also about why, how and what you do next. We have some wonderful young players and they have to change their thinking sooner rather than later,” Whatmore said.Saeed Ajmal took three wickets and Mohammad Hafeez two as all six wickets fell to spinners, who together maintained an economy rate of 3.20. Whatmore praised them for putting Australia under pressure early.”Our spinners did well against Australia. Their economy rate was very good. We bowled like I expected them to. But credit has to be given to Australia for the way they countered our spinners. But if they had a few more runs to chase, it would have been a different kettle of fish.”I’m disappointed that we could not win the first game. We made a couple of errors.”

The Bangladesh fast bowler will be unavailable for the remaining ODI matches against England, after requesting the selectors not to consider him for the series

Andrew Miller02-Mar-2010Bangladesh fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza will be unavailable for the remaining ODIs against England, after requesting the selectors not to consider him for the remainder of the series following a disagreement over his fitness. Allrounder Nasir Hossain was included in the squad ahead of the second ODI in Dhaka on Tuesday.”Mortaza has informed us and Cricket Operations that he has to be by the side of his ailing mother and therefore was withdrawing himself from the rest of the ODI Series,” Rafiqul Alam, the chairman of selectors, said. He had already ruled himself out of next month’s Test series against England.After eight months on the sidelines, Mortaza had been named in the 13-man squad for the three one-dayers against England. He returned to competitive action for a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in Fatullah on Thursday, his first appearance in national colours since a knee injury during the tour of West Indies in July.However, he went wicketless in both that game and the first ODI, and though his experience was sorely missed in the tense closing stages of the second match, which England won by two wickets, Bangladesh’s captain, Shakib Al Hasan, fuelled rumours of a rift between the two players when he called into question Mortaza’s enduring worth at international level.”The way Mashrafe bowled before his injury, that Mashrafe we might have missed tonight,” he said, after the young seamer, Shafiul Islam, had conceded 23 game-turning runs from his last 11 balls of the game. “But the way he bowled in the last match and the practice match [at Fatullah], not really.”Shakib later played down the extent of the falling-out between the two players, adding that the pair had spoken by phone on the day after the match. “He needs some time to get back to full confidence and rhythm,” Shakib told Cricinfo. “He needs to play some games and get match-fit again.”Jamie Siddons, Bangladesh’s coach, added that Mashrafe had “perhaps over-reacted a bit” when informed of his omission from the second match, but insisted he would remain in contention for future selection. “We definitely want him to play in the Asia Cup and go to England,” he told Cricinfo, “because he’ll be an asset there with his swing and a bit of swing. We need him back.”In total, Mortaza has undergone six knee reconstructions in the space of eight years, but his latest return to fitness followed arguably the most demoralising setback yet. In July 2009, he was handed the captaincy for Bangladesh’s tour of the Caribbean to allow Mohammad Ashraful to concentrate on his batting. But he was able to bowl just 6.3 overs in their famous Test victory in Kingstown, his first match in charge, before collapsing in his follow through on the second day of the game.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has reportedly been blown away by Darren Fletcher's son Jack after training with the first-team.

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Ten Hag 'wowed' by Fletcher's son, JackUnited midfielder, 16, trained with first-teamTipped for big future at the Red DevilsGetty WHAT HAPPENED?

The teenager, who is the son of Red Devils' technical director Darren Fletcher, was promoted by Ten Hag to train with the first team ahead of their Champions League clash with Galatasaray on Wednesday – a game they drew 3-3.

Now, the Sun claims the Dutch manager is keen to 'fast-track' Fletcher's progress, is likely to go out on loan next season, and that he has a 'massive' future at United after watching him for several months.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Jack joined United from rivals Manchester City earlier this year to link up with twin brother Tyler. While Jack was not selected as part of the travelling party to Istanbul, he was the only under-18 representative to be involved in the first-team training session. There may be another young Fletcher going onto be a hit at United in the future.

GettyDID YOU KNOW?

Jack's father, Darren, spent 20 years at United as a player, progressing through their academy to play 342 times for the first team. The former Scottish international also won nine major trophies at the club, including the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. He also won the Community Shield on four occasions.

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WHAT NEXT?

United are back in Premier League action on Saturday when they travel to Newcastle United in a battle between the sixth-placed Red Devils and the seventh-positioned Magpies.

Jurgen KIopp's side missed the chance to boost their Champions League qualification hopes after a miserable performance at the Vitality Stadium

Liverpool blew the chance to move into the Premier League top four as they were beaten 1-0 by relegation-threatened Bournemouth on Saturday.

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Philip Billing's first-half goal gave the Cherries, who started the weekend bottom of the table, a priceless victory, the midfielder slotting home Dango Outtara's low cross after 29 minutes.

Mohamed Salah missed a glorious chance to equalise after the break for Liverpool, firing a penalty off target after Adam Smith had been penalised for handball, as the Reds slumped to their eighth league defeat of an infuriating campaign.

GOAL rates Liverpool's players from the Vitality Stadium…

Getty ImagesGoalkeeper & Defence

Alisson Becker (6/10):

Helpless for the goal. Not much to do besides.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (5/10):

Needed to react quicker as Bournemouth took the lead. Taken off not long after the hour mark.

Ibrahima Konate (5/10):

Culpable for the opener as he played Ouattara onside and then failed to stop the cutback. Booked.

Virgil van Dijk (5/10):

Sluggish as Bournemouth opened the scoring. Missed two good headed chances in the first half. Far from assured throughout.

Andy Robertson (6/10):

Prominent early on but had his work cut out with Ouattara's pace.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesMidfield

Fabinho (5/10):

Regressed after a couple of better performances. Too slow and too sloppy, too often.

Stefan Bajcetic (5/10):

Struggled physically at times and his distribution was not good enough.

Harvey Elliott (5/10):

Struggled to build on last week's impressive performance against United, and was taken off at half-time.

Getty ImagesAttack

Mohamed Salah (4/10):

On the periphery of things until Liverpool were awarded a 68th-minute penalty. Then blazed it off target. Definitely not his day.

Cody Gakpo (6/10):

Looked good when turning and driving with the ball, without finding a killer pass. Blasted a late chance off target.

Darwin Nunez (5/10):

Faded after a promising start. Made some poor decisions with and without the ball and was replaced early in the second half.

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Getty ImagesSubs & Manager

Diogo Jota (7/10):

On at half-time and immediately tested Neto. Won the penalty and played with purpose.

Roberto Firmino (5/10):

No impact off the bench this week.

Jordan Henderson (6/10):

Brought a little more control than Fabinho.

James Milner (7/10):

Helped create the penalty and defended well.

Fabio Carvalho (N/A):

Surprise late arrival.

Jurgen Klopp (5/10):

Took a risk pairing two teenagers in midfield and it didn't work.

GOAL assesses the performances of Aliou Cisse's men following their quarter-final victory at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium on Sunday.

Getty ImagesEdouard Mendy – 7/10

Mendy was barely tested in Sunday's encounter, however, he was beaten by Equatorial Guinea's first shot on target in the 57th minute.

AdvertisementBackpagepix.Bouna Sarr – 5/10

With no significant contribution, the Bayern Munich right-back was found wanting when it mattered.

Backpagepix.Saliou Ciss – 8/10

Ciss played a major role in the build-up to the third goal. It started with his fine control then his run into the box before cutting back to set up Sarr to score.

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GettyKalidou Koulibaly 7-10

Another solid performance from the captain and he was lucky to have a penalty call against him ruled out after the restart.