All posts by h716a5.icu

The 37-year-old made his Saudi Pro League bow at the weekend, and quickly learned that he won't be in for an easy ride

Cristiano Ronaldo's first outing in the Middle East came in the Riyadh All-Star XI's glamorous exhibition match against Paris Saint-Germain last week, which he marked with a brace to outshine his eternal rival Lionel Messi.

Both men came off after 60 minutes as PSG went on to earn a 5-4 victory, but while Messi then returned to Europe to resume Ligue 1 and Champions League pursuits, Ronaldo remained in Saudi Arabia to begin his career with Al-Nassr.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner insisted the time was right for a "new challenge in Asia" after signing his eye-watering £177-million-per-year contract with the Saudi Pro League outfit, having seen his previous deal at Manchester United terminated by mutual consent in November.

Ronaldo's second spell at Old Trafford ended in controversial circumstances, and he cut a frustrated figure during his final months at the club, but already looks to be embracing a fresh start at Al-Nassr.

Rudi Garcia's side beat Ettifaq 1-0 in the Portugal striker's first competitive appearance, and although he failed to get his name on the scoresheet, there were plenty of positives to take from his performance as Al-Nassr moved back to the top of the league.

GOAL breaks down his long-awaited debut…

GettyA hero's reception

Al-Nassr's Mrsool Park stadium was sold out for the occasion, with a capacity crowd of 25,000 turning out to see Ronaldo line up in their yellow and blue colours for the first time – some three weeks on from his glitzy unveiling to a similarly excited audience.

The atmosphere inside the venue is a far cry from what Ronaldo was used to at Old Trafford, or previously at Juventus' Allianz Stadium and Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu, but the Al-Nassr fans did their utmost to welcome their new hero in style.

In addition to a number of Ronaldo banners being held up, flares were also seen in the home stands prior to kick-off, and the cheers were deafening when he emerged from the tunnel wearing the captain's armband – while also sporting a black eye from the punch he took from PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas a few days earlier.

AdvertisementGettyRenewed vigour

Ronaldo was often accused of failing to put in enough effort for United in the first half of their 2022-23 campaign, and wasn't the right fit for Erik ten Hag's high-pressing style.

Al-Nassr boss Garcia won't be holding the veteran striker to the same strict standards, but he looked far more energetic and determined on his debut than in any of his 16 appearances for the Red Devils under Ten Hag.

Ronaldo also took a more positive approach with his new team-mates, reassuring them whenever a pass was misplaced or a shot was dragged off target – a far cry from the man often seen lambasting his colleagues at Old Trafford for similar errors.

GettyA constant threat

Ronaldo was dispossessed on both of his first two touches, but the Al-Nassr faithful continued to cheer every time the ex-United star got on the ball, and it seemed to spur him on.

It wasn't long before the tricks and step-overs came out as Ronaldo looked to open up the Ettifaq defence at every opportunity, despite receiving plenty of rough treatment.

He expertly made room for a shot after just six minutes, with his deflected effort sailing over the bar, and also came close with a 25-yard free-kick late in the half.

In the second half, he almost bagged an assist after busting a gut to deliver a first-time cross from the left wing, and even attempted an acrobatic overhead kick that brought back memories of his Champions League stunner for Madrid against Juventus in 2018, but ultimately failed to connect.

On this evidence, it won't be long before Ronaldo starts banging in the goals again, but he could yet be outshined by a certain Brazilian colleague…

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

GettyInstant rapport with Talisca

Former Benfica and Besiktas forward Anderson Talisca will be leading the line alongside Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, and he showed that he is still the main man for the time being on Sunday.

The 28-year-old, who also won four caps for Brazil's Under-23s in the earlier stages of his career, rose to head home a cross from Abdulmajeed Al Sulaiheem, which just bypassed Ronaldo, in the 31st minute of the contest for his 12th goal of the season.

Talisca was a menace throughout the contest, and also forced a strong save from the Ettifaq goalkeeper after he let fly with a long-range thunderbolt, with Ronaldo unable to match his overall impact.

Still, the two men seemed to strike up a good understanding and worked well in tandem to help Al-Nassr record their 10th win from 14 games, and it will be a huge task for defences across the SPL to keep them at bay in the coming weeks.

SLC now plans to devise a new provincial structure in consultation with the clubs, who own many of Colombo’s cricket grounds, and wield substantial power in the board elections

Andrew Fidel Fernando15-Feb-2016The zonal first-class tournament scheduled for March and April by the previous Sri Lanka Cricket board is unlikely to go ahead this season, newly-elected SLC secretary Mohan de Silva has said. The new board affirmed its commitment to a provincial model, but were unhappy with the “composition and structure” of the proposed zonal tournament.This means the ongoing Super Eights four-day tournament is likely to be the only first-class tournament played in Sri Lanka this season. The zonal tournament, which had been largely devised by Mahela Jayawardene, had sought to cluster clubs in five regional hubs, but that proposal is being viewed as impractical by the new SLC board.”The elected body has always recognised the need to have a higher level of competition above club cricket,” SLC secretary Mohan de Silva said. “The only thing is we were not happy with the composition and structure of the zonal tournament.”SLC now plans to devise a new provincial structure in consultation with the clubs, who own many of Colombo’s cricket grounds, and wield substantial power in the board elections. With the southwest monsoon likely to arrive in May, de Silva conceded it was “very, very unlikely” that a provincial first-class competition could be held this season.”We’ve made a few changes,” de Silva said. “We’re going to have a brainstorming session over the next month or so. We’ll get all stakeholders involved and get everybody’s inputs, and come up with an appropriate and pragmatic programme, in time for the next season.”This move to overhaul the proposed tournament has drawn criticism from the former board members who had played a role formulating it. They contend the tournament had been fully planned out, and that money had been set aside within the SLC budget, to implement it.Criticism has also come from former players, including Michael Tissera, who has campaigned for the reintroduction of a provincial tournament.”The [zonal tournament] was going to be played involving the clubs,” Tissera told . “But again the new administration says it doesn’t have the money. I think it’s a load of nonsense, because according to the [previous board], the costs were budgeted in.”Many recent cricketers, including Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, have stressed the importance of provincial cricket, both as a means of improving the quality of Sri Lanka’s first-class cricket, and spreading the game to the provinces.

Rohit Sharma’s 83 off 55 balls was the “kind of batting that was really needed,” in the words of his captain MS Dhoni

Alagappan Muthu in Mirpur24-Feb-2016A top-order batsman scored big, which led to a comfortable victory in limited-overs cricket in the subcontinent. Seems just another Wednesday for the Indian team.Except the pitch in Mirpur had a considerable amount of live grass on it, India were invited to bat first and were afforded very few bad balls in the early tussle. They had already disintegrated once on a bowler-friendly pitch in Pune and the chances of a repeat weren’t all that outlandish.So Rohit Sharma’s 83 off 55 balls was the “kind of batting that was really needed,” in the words of his captain MS Dhoni. He weathered a four-pronged pace attack, with Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman topping 140 kph, didn’t panic when India were only 52 for 3 at the halfway stage and found his runs via the safest possible means. He knew the pitch was offering sharp bounce, so the drive on the up was stowed away. In fact, most of his runs down the ground were off singles until the six and four he hit after becoming well set in the 16th over.MS Dhoni on…

Hardik Pandya’s boundary hitting
“You don’t need to tell him. He knows one thing: hit the ball. Every time he goes to bat, he wants to clear the boundary. The more games he plays, the better he will get, but definitely he has the skill. It’s something that’s very difficult to have, that skill to clear boundaries right from the very first delivery.”
Ashish Nehra’s value to the team
“The beauty of Ashish Nehra is he knows what he needs to do to be 100% on the field. One of the major concerns about him was his fitness. He had the tendency of breaking down. But he knows what he needs to do. He has a fixed routine, that these are the things I need to do and whatever happens he follows that and that’s the reason he’s so disciplined and he’s still playing today. He’s what 36 or 37 years. The format also suits him.
It will be slightly difficult for him to play the 50-over version, because all of a sudden you have to be on the field for three hours. But this format with the kind of experience he has, it really counts and also he is somebody who effortlessly bowls at decent pace and can swing the ball. So all of that together really helps us. That’s what we want from him, we want to keep him fit throughout the T20 World Cup.”

“Overall if you see, he used the pace of the bowler,” Dhoni said when asked what he thought of Rohit’s innings. “They were bowling back of a length so he played a few cuts shots and he actually exploited the field more often than not.” Rohit collected 20 of his runs behind point, and the two fours and a six availed from that region came immediately after he was dropped on 21 off 28 balls.Along with deciding which areas to target, Dhoni also praised Rohit for knowing when to step back and Hardik Pandya for stepping up. The 22-year old allrounder strode in at No. 6 and clattered five of his first 11 balls to the boundary. He got to face seven more and came away with 31 off 18 in a partnership that provided 61 off 27.”Rohit made sure he gave a little more strike to Hardik when he started hitting and he stayed till the end,” Dhoni said. “Because of Hardik we got those extra 10-15 runs otherwise we were thinking a score of 140 would have been a very good score.”India’s 166 for 6 did have something missing. Yuvraj Singh, making a comeback ahead of the World T20, had his second opportunity in seven matches to spend some time at the crease but he could muster only 15 off 16 balls. Dhoni mounted a concerted defence of his team-mate.”I think the approach was good because all of a sudden you don’t want to go out there when you get a chance to bat thinking that you want to do all these things. What’s important is to play the delivery according to the merit. I feel that was what he was doing. Today he played a fabulous shot through the mid-off region and I think that’s the kind of batting that’s really needed from him.”It’s important for him to score runs, even if it is 15 runs, 12 runs or 20 runs, that will give him a lot of confidence and we all know once he’s confident he’s a completely different player and also to expect him to score big in the very first opportunity that he gets, or any other player gets, is very difficult. I feel he’ll need a bit of time, an opportunity like this is always going to be good for him. It doesn’t really matter how many he has scored but the time he spends in the middle will be something that is very crucial not only for him but also for the team.”It was actually something of a surprise to see Dhoni playing today’s game. He had hurt his back while training on Monday and with the World T20 only three weeks away, there must have been a strong temptation to rest him.”There was this dilemma of playing or not playing,” he confessed. “But in this format if you’re not playing, you have to leave the team and go back and it was a kind of scenario where it was difficult to convince people that I’ll make sure I’ll go through the 20 overs.”With bat in hand, he had no trouble: the six he hit to finish off the innings had barely begun its descent when he started to walk off to the dressing room. But keeping wicket proved a little more taxing and he needed a brace for his lower back in the 10th over of the chase.”So what’s the state [of my back], I’ll get to know tomorrow, once you get up the body gives you a proper scenario. Now the body is warm, so it may give you fake signals. We’ll see tomorrow how it goes, with two more days for the next game.”

The most striking aspect of the Investec summer launch came in the contrast between Ian Bell’s understandably guarded responses, and the utter relaxation of Grant Elliot, nevertheless taken aback by the headlines around English cricket in the past 48 hour

Andrew Miller14-May-20151:23

KP can feel aggrieved – Bell

As the man who struck the six that sealed New Zealand’s epic World Cup semi-final win over South Africa in March, Grant Elliott is no stranger to stressful situations. But even he was taken aback by the blizzard of headlines that have enveloped English cricket in the past 48 hours.”You guys are pretty intense over here,” he said at the launch of the Investec Test summer. “I asked Belly, ‘is it always like this?’ He said, ‘yeah, pretty much’.” Ian Bell, separated from Elliot by compere Nasser Hussain, was visibly braced for impact.The most striking aspect of the morning came in the contrast between Bell’s understandably guarded responses, and the utter relaxation of a New Zealand cricketer who, though he will not be featuring on this tour until the ODIs in June, is self-evidently qualified to speak for the mindset of his Test-playing team-mates. The afterglow of New Zealand’s extraordinary and captivating World Cup has yet to wear off and Elliott spoke with an openness and enthusiasm that must surely be the envy of any England player who longs for a chance to be truly judged on the field.”The cohesion and team environment we had could be seen through the television screen,” Elliot said. “But possibly the best accolade was having mums and dads come up to us, saying my son or daughter wants to play cricket next summer. It was great.”Respect for your team-mates would have played its part too, which is presumably the underlying, and still unspoken reason, for Kevin Pietersen’s blackballing from the England set-up. And yet Bell, who is part of the same management company, could shed no light on the dressing-room politics.”I played ten years with Kevin, we both went through highs and lows, we won a lot of cricket together,” Bell said. “I enjoyed my time with him but it’s very difficult to say anything. Kevin is a quality player, probably the best player I’ve ever played with so he does make any team stronger. But I haven’t sat in on any of these meetings, I don’t know what’s been said between Colin Graves and Kevin, and Tom Harrison and Kevin, and Andrew Strauss and Kevin.”It’s no good us as players talking about that and there have been no conversations in the dressing room about any of this stuff.”There’s no use blaming the players for the situation that their management has created for them, but whatever way you try to spin it, it’s not a good look for a sport that has rarely felt more distant from its public. As Elliott summed up, not without a degree of relish: “It’s complicated, isn’t it?”New Zealand shrugged off their internal politics long ago and throughout the World Cup, the connection between the New Zealand team and their fans was real and heartfelt, and stories abound to illustrate the warmth and the depth of that feeling – a primary school teacher in the Bay of Plenty won a bet (50 press-ups) with an incredulous Year Five student that, yes, she was in fact Trent Boult’s girlfriend, and, yes, if the class behaved for the rest of the term she would ask him to visit.There’s a significant difference in scale between England and New Zealand, of course – Elliott himself likened his home town, Wellington, to a “fishing village” – but the ECB can but dream of creating such a seamless connection between its team and its public.5:37

Elliott backs New Zealand IPL stars to fire in Tests

To that end, Matt Dwyer, formerly of Cricket Australia, has been appointed the ECB’s new director of participation and growth. It is a vital role, in spite of the lumpiness of the title, but nothing compared to the impact that a liberated, exciting, free-spirited national team could create.More’s the pity that, ten years ago, that’s exactly what England had. Though only a rookie at the time, Bell was a member of the 2005 Ashes team that won over the country with every bit as much élan as Brendon McCullum’s New Zealand have shown throughout their recent triumphs.”I remember Michael Vaughan saying he’d rather lose to Australia by taking them on than sit there and lose by playing passive cricket,” Bell said. “I see this summer as similar, we are going to have to be brave, take the odd gamble here and there, and if we play good cricket, we can start changing people’s opinions on the team and start getting people talking about cricket again, which is what we all play for.”But we’re certainly not in the place ideally that we’d like right now.”Indeed. If England are embarking on a long-term project – and Andrew Strauss appeared to imply that a five-year rebuilding mission is on the cards – then the first Test at Lord’s, now only seven days’ away, is probably too soon to hope that England can exorcise the negativity and find a new thrilling brand of KP-free aggression. But they ought to expect some handy pointers on the merits, and otherwise, of all-out attack, as Elliott fully expects Brendon McCullum to stick to the gameplan that has served him well in all formats and all conditions.”He’s a bit of a maverick, he’s risky, but it’s great to be a part of that and you have to buy into it,” he said. “I know that the bowlers turn around and think ‘where the hell are my fielders?’, and they’ll all be in the slips. But you can’t help but be endeared to him and want to play for him. He’s been an integral part of New Zealand’s success.”So too has the underlying recognition that cricket is only a game – as Elliott himself personified after booking New Zealand’s place in the World Cup final. Again, with echoes England’s endeavours in 2005, Elliott’s first instinct was to offer a hand to his beaten opponent. “I’ve got a perspective on the game now,” Elliott said. “That game could have gone any way, my middle pole could still be tumbling out of Eden Park. It’s a game of sport, and it’s about having that respect for your opponents.”

Jude Bellingham has reportedly sacked his personal chef at Real Madrid after being left "unimpressed" by his food preparation.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Bellingham fires club-recommended chefAlberto Mastromatteo had previously served Karim BenzemaEnglish midfielder 'unimpressed' despite his superb Real formWHAT HAPPENED?

The English midfielder might be enjoying life on the pitch at the Santiago Bernabeu right now, but he still has some complaints when it comes to the food he is be given off it.

According to Bellingham has shown the door to Alberto Mastromatteo, the personal chef appointed to him by the club, who previously managed the diet of Karim Benzema in the Spanish capital.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Following an extensive discussion with his mother, Bellingham decided to sack Mastromatteo as he was left "unimpressed" with the preparations of the chef. Now, the 20-year-old midfielder is actively seeking a replacement chef to manage his dietary requirements.

DID YOU KNOW?

Bellingham flew to England during the Christmas break and was spotted checking on his younger brother, Jobe, when he was in action against Coventry City at the Stadium of Light with Sunderland, and also made it to the stands at Hull City on Boxing Day as the Black Cats came out on top with a 1-0 win. Before flying back to Spain, he also tried his hand at cricket and darts as 16-year-old sensation Luke Littler grips the UK.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

GettyWHAT NEXT?

Bellingham has returned to Madrid and is gearing up to add to his tally of 22 goal contributions in 21 appearances for Madrid across competition when Los Blancos host Mallorca on Wednesday. Real currently sit top of the La Liga table on goal difference ahead of surprise package Girona.

Australia’s pace phalanx left nothing to the vagaries of the surface, firing balls full, fast and straight to deliver Australia a seven-wicket win and its fifth World Cup in comprehensive fashion

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Mar-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRyan Pierse/Getty ImagesIt had been the World Cup of short balls. On a flat MCG deck, it had seemed bounce would be the bowlers’ major ally. But so cocksure were Australia’s pace phalanx of their quality, they left nothing to the vagaries of the surface, firing balls full, fast and straight to deliver Australia a seven-wicket win and their fifth World Cup in comprehensive fashion.Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson shared five wickets, having sent down several spells of searing, swinging yorkers between them, and James Faulkner – slower but cannier than the other left-armers – claimed three scalps for himself. In all, eight wickets fell to full deliveries as New Zealand were felled for 183 in the 45th over.There were early nerves in the chase, particularly when Aaron Finch fell in the second over, but Michael Clarke and Steven Smith stroked fluent half-centuries to run the target down inside 34 overs. Clarke, the departing captain, had a standing ovation when he left the field after his sparkling 74 from 72. Smith, his most likely successor, stayed at the crease to hit the last ball of the World Cup through deep square leg for four.All through the tournament batting sides have broken games open in the final 15 overs of their innings, but Australia bent history in a different direction by blowing through New Zealand’s middle order and tail during the death overs. New Zealand might have harboured hopes of a score of 250, perhaps even 300, when Grant Elliott and Ross Taylor’s 111-run stand had repaired early damage. But when the batting Powerplay came on at the 35th over, Faulkner claimed two scalps from three balls to send the opposition into a nosedive.His slower ball first took Taylor’s outside edge en route to a diving Brad Haddin, before two balls later, Corey Anderson missed a straight yorker that made a mess of his stumps. Luke Ronchi was caught sharply at slip off Starc early next over, and Daniel Vettori castled by Johnson in the 41st. Elliott had played smoothly for his 82 ball 83, but was forced into a premature attack by the carnage at the other end, and was dismissed by a now-combative Faulkner, before a Glenn Maxwell direct hit found a languid Tim Southee short of his crease to end the innings.In the end it was a final almost completely devoid of David v Goliath romance. New Zealand had captured neutral support partly because of the spirit with which they had played this World Cup, but all through the final, there were touches of arrogance from Australia to go with their overpowering skill and strength. Brad Haddin’s sniping from behind the stumps was nearly incessant, several New Zealand batsmen had words shot at them as they departed, and the David Warner blows that kick-started Australia’s chase smacked of disdain.Luck too, favoured 21st century pragmatism over the fairytale. Daniel Vettori, the final’s second oldest man, injured himself early in the second innings and could only pivot gingerly through his five overs. Brendon McCullum had attacked relentlessly in the field right through this campaign, but the moment Warner’s assault bent his resolve out of shape, the next ball flew through second slip, where moments before a fielder had stood. Then the final slap in the face in the 15th over: Matt Henry’s ball dribbled onto Smith’s stumps, but did not dislodge the zing bails.McCullum’s World Cup final innings was a high-octane blur. Starc bowled fast and full, straightening the ball only a touch, but menacingly late. McCullum swung straight at the first, missed, then missed again when he advanced next ball. The third inswinging yorker clattered into the base of off stump. Starc took off toward square leg in celebration, the MCG’s mighty roar in his ears. McCullum left his side at 1 for 1, having been comprehensively outdone.The early wicket helped weigh the New Zealand batsmen down, but Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson were also muted by impeccable pace bowling from Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and later Johnson. They collected only two fours and a top-edged six in the first 10 overs. Having averaged more than seven an over through that period in the tournament, New Zealand were 31 for 1 when the field restrictions expired. Australia’s lively ground fielding ensured even rare loose balls were punished minimally.Australia grew red hot with the scalps of Guptill and Williamson – the former inexplicably missing an innocuous Maxwell offbreak, the latter spooning a return catch to Johnson in the 13th over. Elliott and Taylor combined to fight the fire, poking the first few runs through the offside with hard hands before Clarke slipped in a few overs from his supporting bowlers to inadvertently ease the pair in.Elliott eventually took another top-edged six and laced a few through the covers to move to a strike rate of around 100. He was the only New Zealand batsman to appear comfortable at the crease while Taylor plodded at the other end. All through the partnership, Australia’s quicks would earn thick edges, but these flew fast and high over the infield. Third man was a productive area for the batsmen.Trent Boult raised hopes of an upset when in a scorching spell, he caught and bowled Finch to leave Australia 2 for 1. But Warner soon propelled Australia through the early overs, and Australia were not shaken after that. Warner was caught attempting a second pulled four for 45 off Henry, but Smith and Clarke combined to make 112 stress-free runs together to effectively close out the Cup.Clarke was composed to begin with, but a brace of late boundaries – including four consecutive fours off Tim Southee’s 31st over – he sent his side hurtling towards the trophy. He was out soon after for a 72-ball 74, but Smith capped a dream summer by completing his fifty the same over, then sealed the result soon after.When New Zealand were all out for 183, the 1983 World Cup final was invoked. When Vettori began hobbling in what was probably his final international, comparisons with Muttiah Muralitharan’s plight in the 2011 final were made. Australia’s 1999 annihilation of Pakistan came closest to matching the narrative of this game. In the end, the final perhaps fit a 2015 tournament that has seen precious few close contests.

Brazilian wonderkid Vitor Roque is finally on his way to Barcelona as he is set to join the team later this month.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Date of Roque's arrival in Barcelona revealedRoque to play final Athletico Paranaense game on December 7Will attend first training session on December 28WHAT HAPPENED?

Barcelona confirmed the signing of the player in January 2023 but he was supposed to join in the summer of 2024. The club later decided to speed things up and will now welcome him to the team for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. Roque will play his final Athletico Paranaense match on December 7 against Cuiaba and will then arrive at Barcelona on December 27, according to .

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The report further suggests that the Catalan giants will take a short Christmas break after their clash against Almeria on December 20 and will resume training again on December 28. Roque is expected to reach Barcelona on December 27 and will have his first training session with the club a day later.

Getty/GOALDID YOU KNOW?

Barca will have to register Roque as soon as he joins the club's training session. They initially did not have enough salary space to accommodate a new player in their squad but now that Gavi has been ruled out of action for the remainder of the season, as per La Liga rules, 80 per cent of the midfielder's salary, approximately €5 million, can be used to register the Brazilian for six months.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

Xavi's men, who are currently fourth in La Liga and four points behind league leaders Real Madrid, are set to face Atletico Madrid in a crucial fixture on Sunday.

It's a London-dominated team as West Ham, Crystal Palace and Arsenal are well represented after impressive victories over the weekend

GettyLukasz Fabianski | West Ham

The goalkeeper made four saves in preserving West Ham's clean sheet in the 3-0 win over Newcastle.

AdvertisementGettyAaron Wan-Bissaka | Crystal Palace

The 21-year-old defender made three interceptions and recovered possession eight times for Crystal Palace as they beat Burnley.

GettyJonny Evans | Leicester CityEvans made nine clearances and two tackles to help the Foxes keep a clean sheet as they beat Watford 2-0.ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

GettyShane Duffy | Brighton

Duffy made an incredible 14 clearances against Huddersfield, while no other Brighton player made more than five.

Vijay Shankar notched up his second first-class hundred, while B Indrajith missed his second ton by three runs, both hoisting Tamil Nadu to 403 in the first innings.

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2015
ScorecardVijay Shankar notched up his second first-class hundred, while B Indrajith missed his second ton by three runs, as Tamil Nadu piled on a score of 403 in the first innings of their quarter-final against Vidarbha. By close of play, Vidarbha had wiped off nine runs from their deficit.Tamil Nadu began the day at 234 for 4, with Shankar batting on 90. The batsman raised his first-class hundred before falling to Rakesh Dhurv for 111 off 305 deliveries with 13 fours and a six. Indrajith then allied with Malolan Rangarajan to add 73 runs for the seventh wicket, lifting Tamil Nadu’s chances of posting a 400-plus score.After Rangarajan was trapped in front by Shrikant Wagh, Indrajith, in the company of A Aswin Crist and L Balaji, nudged Tamil Nadu past 400. Indrajith, however, couldn’t achieve a personal landmark and was the last wicket to fall, bowled by Ravi Jangid’s left-arm spin. His 97 came off 236 deliveries with 10 fours.Vidarbha negotiated five remaining overs without losing a wicket.

The Barabati Stadium will host the one-off Twenty20 International between India and West Indies on October 22 instead of the scheduled third ODI on October 14

04-Sep-2014The Barabati Stadium will host the one-off Twenty20 International between India and West Indies on October 22 instead of the scheduled third ODI on October 14, the Orissa Cricket Association has said.The BCCI has confirmed that the T20 which was originally scheduled in New Delhi will be held in Cuttack instead of the ODI due to unavailability of hotel rooms during the period, OCA secretary Asirbad Behera told PTI.”An all-India doctors’ conference is scheduled in the state capital Bhubaneswar from October 13 and hence all the rooms were booked,” Behera said. “Although the team hotel was booked, we needed an additional 250 rooms to accommodate other officials and TV crew. The Board has confirmed the change and they will soon issue a release.”The West Indies will begin their six-week tour with a five-match ODI series beginning in Kochi on October 8, followed by the one-off T20I and a three-match Test series from October 30 in Hyderabad.Behera also said the venue would get a priority in hosting an ODI in the next domestic series.Barabati Stadium has in the past hosted IPL T20 but it will be for the first time the venue will host an T20 International.The last International match here — between India and Australia on October 26 last year — was washed out without a ball being bowled and there would be similar apprehensions this time around as well.