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Leeds United now face Burnley in a transfer battle to sign a Premier League level defender on a free transfer this summer, according to a new report.

Leeds eyeing more transfers after Nmecha deal

The Whites confirmed their first signing of the summer transfer window on Sunday afternoon, as Lukas Nmecha agreed to join Leeds once his contract at Wolfsburg expires at the end of the month.

The attacking midfielder is a player who is likely to be an important figure in Farke’s team this season, but the club are not resting with just his arrival, as they are already working on more additions.

As reported by Africa Foot, Leeds have made contact with Manchester City over signing Juma Bah on a loan deal. The 19-year-old joined the Blues back in January but spent the rest of the campaign on loan at RC Lens. He now looks set for another temporary move away, with Leeds and Southampton fighting for his signature.

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ByKelan Sarson Jun 15, 2025

Meanwhile, defender Jaka Bijol has agreed terms over a move to Elland Road this summer and a deal appears to be nearing completion. He is not the only defender on the club’s radar, as a report from Football Insider states that Alex Moreno is also interested in a move to Leeds this summer. The 32-year-old could be available for £5 million, as the Whites are in the market for a new left-back.

Leeds face Burnley in Keane battle

The list of potential new defenders to sign doesn’t stop there, as according to the Liverpool Echo, Leeds are among the teams interested in signing Michael Keane from Everton.

Keane, who has been at Goodison Park since July 2017, is out of contract at the end of this month, and while he remains in talks over a new contract, he is looking more likely to leave. That has alerted Leeds, who, along with Burnley and Sheffield United, are keen on swooping in and securing the defender on a free transfer.

The 32-year-old, who has been dubbed “immense” in the past by Harry Redknapp, has fallen down the pecking order at Everton in recent seasons. Keane went from playing 32 games in the Premier League during the 2021/22 season to playing just 12, 9 and 14 times in the last 3 campaigns.

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Keane could be a viable option for the Whites to provide more depth behind Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk, and there aren’t many free signings on the market who provide such a wealth of top flight experience.

Deepti Sharma, India’s 26-year-old “senior”, opens up on the progress of the women’s team and the unfinished business at global events

Ashish Pant19-Sep-20232:55

Deepti: ‘I enjoy the finisher’s role because it puts responsibility on you’

It’s an early August afternoon in Bengaluru. The sun is trying to peek through the clouds, and a gentle breeze is around – the famous Bengaluru weather is showing off. Meanwhile, the infamous peak-hour traffic has just about eased. Away from all the hustle, WPL franchise UP Warriorz are holding a week-long off-season camp at a private sports complex in the eastern suburbs of the city.That a women’s cricket team is conducting a camp of this kind is a rarity in India. It merely underscores the importance of having a professional structure, which makes opportunities trickle down to the grass roots.More than a decade ago, Deepti Sharma was a starry-eyed kid trying to make her way up the ranks, a path strewn with hurdles, the lack of opportunities and exposure foremost among those. Today, Deepti is a veteran trying to help unearth young talent at a scouting trial, apart from fine-tuning her own skills, which have made her a key member of the India team.Related

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Deepti is at the front and centre of the camp, where the coaches have set out specific tasks for the players. Deepti, who was signed at the auction ahead of the inaugural season for INR 2.6 crore (US $312,000 approx.), may have been back in rainy Agra training on cement surfaces. Instead, she’s going through the paces, both fitness- and cricket-wise. Be it timed sprints or precision-specific range-hitting topped with a technical breakdown of what she did right and what she didn’t.Such critical feedback from coaches in women’s domestic cricket, heavily dominated by the star-studded Railways team, is rare. Which is why the camp is already a massive step-up for the players who have assembled.As lunch time nears, Deepti gears up for a fresh round of match simulation. Many starry-eyed youngsters, who have been called up for trials, are keenly watching the team’s vice-captain. There’s a sense that everyone involved is keen to see what she does.Of course, the Warriorz are looking to get out as much as they can from the week-long camp. For Deepti, personally, this is a welcome opportunity to push herself hard ahead of a busy few months, having not played much since the WPL. All India have had in the interim is a short tour of Bangladesh, a low-scoring series marred by talk about the surfaces and the fracas over the umpiring.It starts with the Asian Games in Hangzhou, where India have secured direct entry to the quarter-finals beginning September 21. Having fallen short of the final hurdle several times, India have an opportunity to push for gold and establish themselves as the Asian powerhouses they are. It will set them up nicely for incoming tours from England and Australia in the coming months.Though just 26, Deepti Sharma is already something of a veteran•BCBDeepti has been part of all the recent heartbreaks, including T20 World Cup final at the MCG in front of 86,174 spectators. “Earlier, we never used to even qualify [for big-tournament finals]. Now we qualify, play the semi-finals, finals… it’s not easy,” Deepti tells ESPNcricinfo. “The more matches we play, the more experience we gain. We are falling short by a small margin. I am hopeful that we will cross the line very soon.”The experience bit is pertinent, because that is exactly what the WPL aims to achieve: to give Indian players a platform to train and play with the world’s best, adopt best practices and introduce them to modern training methods. This could go a long way towards bridging the gap from being second best to best.”We were waiting for so long for this [WPL], and it finally started. It has been great, experience-wise,” Deepti says. “We have played against some of the [overseas] players for so long, and now we are playing in the same team. It feels nice – different, because everyone backs each other. That is one good thing. You just need that support from the team. I feel this will go to a completely different level and it’s going to be a lot of fun going forward.”Deepti is only 26, but already a senior in Indian cricket. She made her ODI debut as a 17-year-old in 2014 against South Africa before getting her T20I cap 14 months later against Australia. No other Indian bowler has picked more wickets than Deepti since her debut in T20Is (105) and ODIs (93). In February this year, she became the first Indian bowler across men’s and women’s cricket to get to 100 T20I wickets.Deepti was part of the team that lost the 2020 T20 World Cup final•Getty ImagesDeepti’s numbers with the bat are decent too – 1912 runs in 74 ODI innings at 34.76 and 955 runs in 68 T20I innings at 24.48. What makes Deepti a perfect fit in any line-up is her versatility. She can bowl with the new ball and at the death in T20s and is often used to choke the opposition in the middle overs of an ODI. With the bat, Deepti has batted in every position from No. 1 to No. 9 in ODIs and No. 3 to No. 9 in T20Is. It’s this prospect of taking up new challenges that drives her.”Whatever the situation, if have to bowl or bat I like taking up the challenges in front of me,” she says. “These challenges help me get my mind stronger. It’s not easy to play in any condition, but if your preparation is strong, you can overcome any challenge.”I do my practice sessions in a way that I remain mentally strong, so that whatever I have in front of me gets easier.”

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Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who will be travelling to Hangzhou as the head coach of the women’s team, had recently spoken about how Deepti keeps her “training levels very high”. This is one aspect Deepti says she focuses on keenly.”The mindset I have during a match, the same mindset I try and carry when I practice,” she says. “I have been trying to increase the number of balls that I face during a practice session. If I used to face 500 balls, now I am trying to up that by 100 to 150 so that I get better at my shot-making.”My preparation is always keeping in mind a match scenario. I keep practicing with the new ball, old ball, semi-new ball. Those sessions help me during a match. In a match situation, I can be asked to bowl at any given time, so I try to keep myself ready and try to replicate whatever I have done in practice in a match scenario.”Deepti Sharma celebrates a wicket during the WPL; her batting during the tournament, however, was below-par•BCCIWhile Deepti has had success with the ball, she had a below-par WPL with the bat, scoring just 90 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 83.33. Her overall T20 record too points to her having underachieved with the bat. In 107 innings, Deepti has hit just two fifties, and her career strike rate reads 105.71.With the likes of Shreyanka Patil, whose stocks have risen rapidly in recent months, breathing down her neck, Deepti knows her T20 numbers with the bat need improvement. She has recently been the designated finisher for both India and her franchise. And she needs to work on her power-hitting, which she reckons she has been doing at training.”Power-hitting is an ongoing part of my practice routine,” she says. “I have started practicing with heavy balls. I make sure when I am facing the bowling machine, I try to step out and practice my lofted shots.”The balls are a bit heavier than the normal Kookaburra balls. So when you practice, say, ten balls with the heavier ones and then switch back to the Kookaburra, the shot-making becomes a bit easier.”I like playing as a finisher as it requires more responsibility and finishing a game for your team is a feeling on a totally different level. There is so much positivity within you when you finish a game for the team.”The next T20 World Cup is still a year away and Deepti remains a key part of India’s plans for now. The Asian Games presents a good chance for her to maximise her potential and build on her off-season gains. It could set her and India up nicely for the next several months.

Unlikely death-bowling hero ensures UAE finish campaign with first win in T20 World Cups

Sidharth Monga20-Oct-20225:07

Erasmus: ‘Difficult to put the loss into words’

On the surface, Muhammad Waseem is the kind of cricketer you wish you were.By 10.10pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time, Waseem had bowled just 22 balls in official Twenty20 cricket. He had got three wickets in those 22 balls, which makes for an impressive strike rate of 7.33. Two of these three wickets were Namibians – one of them David Wiese – but still. His main role in the side is to open with the bat.Somewhere between 10.10pm and 10.15pm, Waseem came on to bowl in a match that had appeared to be UAE’s in the bag but was now in the balance. The momentum was with Namibia with Wiese refusing to have this as his last game in this tournament. And who knew if he would ever play one again?Related

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Waseem marked an extremely short run-up, making the keeper – standing as far back as he did for other quicks – look like either optimistic or unaware. Waseem tiptoed for a bit, and then off four paces he let the ball rip. First ball nearly a yorker. Second ball beat Ruben Trumplemann and carried comfortably to the keeper. He was like the old pro in the neighbourhood who could just turn up and do anything. As an opening bat, he had scored a half-century earlier in the day.This was the 17th over. Seventy-three off 36 had become 46 off 24. The last over had gone for 18. Even Trumplemann had begun to hit now. And here Waseem was, hardly a bowler, nailing his lengths off four paces at a decent lick.

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UAE are a lovely mix. Their cricket is no longer just the first-generation guns for hire. Many of their cricketers are homegrown. Their background is diverse. Their captain is a Malayali, their youngest player of Goan origin, their hat-trick hero is Tamil, their fast bowlers have roots in Pakistan. The team language is Hindi/Urdu, but Waseem can speak a bit of Malayalam, the captain’s mother tongue. Unlike their former countries, they have no problem playing with each other. They are not insecure. They are loud, expressive and are not shy of having a go at each other on the field. They are also a team that was aiming for just their second win in all World Cups, after their triumph over Netherlands in 1996. So even though this was a dead rubber for them in terms of tournament play, but there was a big point to prove. To others and to themselves. The world just below Full Member sides is cut-throat.

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When they came to the ground, the Malayalee captain, CP Rizwan, saw the pitch and decided in consultation with the Trinidadian/Indian coach, Robin Singh, that they would play an extra spinner, and told Waseem he might be called upon to bowl an over or two.Now domestic T20 cricket in the UAE doesn’t qualify as official T20 cricket. So it is easy to miss that Waseem bowls a bit in T20s. Not just bowl, he bowls at the death. He makes sure he does because he is the captain of his club side. Recently in D10 cricket, he defended eight runs in the final over. Sometimes he bowls 14, 16, 18, 20. And he is playing, as he says, every second-third day.Muhammad Waseem gets a hug from his captain•AFP/Getty ImagesIn the UAE team, though, the bowling is, in his words, “very good”, so he isn’t required to bowl. Now that he was bowling, he had to do so to the ultimate pro, Wiese, who knew UAE would need two overs from somewhere and was quite excited at the idea of playing spin. He can pounce on any error in length. Waseem missed his on the fifth, and got clubbed. This was, to borrow from the ICC’s punch line, big time.With the sixth ball, Wiese perhaps fell to the temptation of the short square boundaries and turned the bat face. Waseem settled under the massive top edge, but the ball caught him on the fingers. Waseem was good enough to recover and fire a quick throw that would have caught Wiese short had the keeper gone back to the wicket.”I was very upset because I hardly drop catches,” Waseem said. “It is very rare that I drop one. When I did drop him – I was under it, had judged it, but it caught the fingers instead of the palm – I thought it was a big mistake, but the way Zahoor bowled that 19th over, I got my confidence back.”It was Zahoor Khan, born in Faisalabad, about 200km north of Mian Chunnu where Waseem started his cricket, who kept the game alive with his yorkers and one bewitching slower ball. He has been fantastic throughout at the death in this World Cup. His 19th over – three runs and a wicket – against Netherlands created something out of nothing. In the 20th against Sri Lanka, he conceded three runs and took two wickets.Zahoor gave Waseem a second wind. He was confident again. “The good thing is, being a death-overs bowler, I get yorkers right,” Waseem said. “And the plan was to bowl yorkers so that even if I miss the length, they have to hit down the ground, which is a big hit. I wanted to avoid being hit square. The idea was to get hit straight down the ground if I did, and that’s what happened with Wiese’s wicket.”Wiese, who had been waiting to target the two overs from spinners, was spot on when he said he was expecting some error from the part-time bowler. “We weren’t really expecting him to come on but when he came on – at the end of the day he is a part-timer – so you would expect him to miss one or two but he bowled well tonight,” Wiese said. “He executed his skill and at the end of the day, we just didn’t have enough in us. Fair play to them, well bowled.”

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The night ended in tears for Wiese. At the press conference, he sat stone-faced, staring at nothing in particular. He vowed to come back for Namibia in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Rizwan was a relieved man, having got that elusive first win. “I’m feeling really happy,” Rizwan said. “First win for UAE in a [T20] World Cup. Indeed, it’s a proud moment. Really, we can now fly back better.” Just another bittersweet final day of the first round of a T20 World Cup.

Victoria were in sight of victory over Western Australia and the outright lead in the Sheffield Shield standings, despite resolute innings by Hilton Cartwright and Joel Curtis.Seamers Fergus O’Neill and Sam Elliott made regular inroads at Junction Oval on Sunday to have the visitors 278 for 7 at stumps, a lead of just 72 runs with a day to play.Related

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Western Australia wicketkeeper Curtis played a defiant knock to keep his side’s faint hopes alive. But WA spinner Ashton Agar has a shoulder injury and there is a question mark over whether he will bat.O’Neill ended Cartwright’s 166-ball vigil on 78 with a perfect cutter that tickled the outside edge. The 23-year-old, who also snared three wickets in the first innings, has proven to be a revelation for Victoria, and also starred for Australia A against India A.Cartwright held the three-time reigning Sheffield Shield champions’ innings together with support from skipper Ashton Turner and Curtis.The visitors resumed on day three at 34 for 1 and were made to battle before and after rain took the players off the field either side of lunch.Strapping allrounder Elliott hit the pitch hard and snared Sam Fanning and Jayden Goodwin in the morning session, both edging into the bucket hands of first slip Peter Handscomb.Victoria, with vital bonus points from the match, will go top of the ladder if they can secure victory.In four Shield matches this year Cartwright has scored 420 runs at an average of 70 in a reminder of why he played two Tests for Australia in 2017.His defiance may not be enough to salvage anything for his side from this match, but along with Curtis he has made the Victorians fight hard.

(23 overs) After a series in which they consistently failed to get the rub of the green, the stars finally aligned for West Indies as they ended their tour of Sri Lanka with a morale-boosting win. Evin Lewis, playing his first ODI since 2021, struck an unbeaten 102 off 61 balls, as West Indies chased down a DLS-adjusted target of 195 in a rain-reduced game of 23 overs with eight wickets to spare. In fact, they got the required runs with an over to spare. It was their first ODI win in Sri Lanka following ten straight defeats, and their first win on this tour since the first T20I.Sri Lanka, for their part, had put up a valiant effort after their innings had been cut into less than half. The first 17.2 overs had come prior to the rain intervention, and upon resumption, they were given just a further 5.4 overs to set a competitive total.Enter Kusal Mendis, who bludgeoned an unbeaten 56 off 22 deliveries – he got the half-century off 19 balls – as Sri Lanka themselves struck 75 runs in those final 5.4 overs to end on 156 for 3, and gave themselves a fighting chance. In the end, though, a combination of a wet outfield, wet ball and a laser-focused Lewis proved too much to overcome.Brandon King (18 off 19 balls) and Shai Hope (22 off 27) had kept Lewis company for most of the chase, but it wasn’t until Sherfane Rutherford joined him in the middle that West Indies truly took control of proceedings.Rutherford’s brisk cameo saw him plunder 50 off just 26 deliveries, including four fours and three sixes, with his partnership with Lewis amounting to an unbeaten 88 from just 45 deliveries. It was a pivotal stand in the context of the game, as it came just as Sri Lanka might have been harbouring thoughts of a late heist.Kusal Mendis blasted a 19-ball fifty•AFP/Getty Images

With the required run rate at roughly 8.5 an over from the outset, West Indies had done well to just about keep up with it over the opening ten overs – there was at least one boundary in seven of the first 11 overs. But in such a short chase, even a couple of quiet overs can heighten the pressure – and so it proved to be.Between the 11th and 17th overs, Sri Lanka gave away just 40 runs as the required rate rose to above 11.50 runs an over. Skipper Charith Asalanka had done well in this period by shuffling his pack to sneak in some cheap overs from himself and Kamindu Mendis – both of whom made up the fifth-bowler quota after Wanindu Hasaranga had struggled with controlling a wet ball.Where Asalanka erred was in bowling himself for one over too many, which allowed Rutherford and Lewis to go after him. That 14-run over set the tone, after which the pair never looked back. The miserly Maheesh Theekshana was rinsed for 18 in the next over, while even the excellent Asitha Fernando was hounded for 26 off his final two. Dilshan Madushanka, playing his first ODI since March, went for 50 in five.Sri Lanka, though, will have positives to take away from this game, particularly in how aggressively they approached the post-rain period, knowing that they didn’t have much time to scrounge up a competitive total. The opening 17.2 overs had seen Sri Lanka stitch together a measured start, with openers Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando putting on 81.That, though, owed much to West Indies dropping three chances – two of Nissanka and one of Avishka – inside the opening ten overs. This poor catching did not get much better after the five-hour rain delay, with Kusal also dropped twice on the way to becoming the third-quickest Sri Lanka batter to 4000 ODI runs.Sherfane Rutherford hit four fours and three sixes•Associated Press

It all began with the four balls left in Roston Chase’s second over, as Kusal proceeded to clatter each of them for boundaries – two precise pulls, one stunning straight drive, and finally a fortunate inside edge down to fine leg. In all, Sri Lanka struck 12 boundaries in the final 34 deliveries they faced.The shortened game also had some knock-on effects on West Indies’ bowling plans, as the new provisos meant three bowlers were given a quota of five overs each, while two others were handed four apiece. Once Chase’s over, in which Kusal had struck four consecutive boundaries, was belatedly completed, and with Sri Lanka in raucous mood, West Indies were suddenly faced with the proposition of figuring out how Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales, and Alzarri Joseph – who had bowled four, four and three overs, respectively – would split the remains.And with the economical Matthew Forde already having bowled five overs prior to the rain break, it meant only two more bowlers could bowl five; so they needed to find one more over from somewhere.With Chase having been dispatched upon the resumption of play, it was left to Rutherford to roll his arm over, and he was duly taken for 17 runs courtesy two fours and a six. And as Kusal’s carefree innings continued in earnest, Sri Lanka eventually managed to muster up a competitive total – though it proved to be just not good enough on the day.

He has done his homework diligently, and has been a reassuring presence for India at the top

Nagraj Gollapudi12-Aug-20211:47

Laxman: This innings will work as a template for Rohit Sharma going forward

Till James Anderson did what only he can do, Rohit Sharma made us think ahead of ourselves. What would he do if he became the first Indian batter to score a Test century at Lord’s since Ajinkya Rahane in 2014? Would he do Misbah-ul-Haq style push-ups? Would he passionately kiss the badge on his helmet like Michael Slater? Or would he just be Rohit Sharma, and flash a sunlit smile to the dressing room, and his wife and daughter?You can get carried away easily by Rohit. KL Rahul has beautiful hands that unleash gorgeous drives, but even he would agree that few make batting look as easy as when Rohit is in full flow. And when he flows, the opposition shudders.The beauty about Rohit is that he will not get saddled with doubts and worries and what-ifs. Take the pull off the first bouncer England fired at him at the stroke of lunch on the second morning at Trent Bridge. Without even a blink, Rohit swivelled in his crease to pull Ollie Robinson high, but straight to Sam Curran at deep fine leg.Related

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“If I see the ball in my area I have to play the shot. That’s my shot. I have got runs playing that shot,” Rohit explained to the media later that day.He was not being cocky. Having studied batters who have succeeded in England, Rohit felt the way to do that was look to score while respecting the conditions. That is also his strength. His great success in white-ball cricket allows Rohit to punish bad balls effortlessly, like he did when he hit four boundaries in a single over from Curran in the first session.However, Rohit has not tried to hit his way out of difficult questions asked by the opposition. Instead, in the short time he has been opening in Test cricket overseas, one standout factor has been his defensive game outside the off stump.Assured footwork, judging lengths and lines accurately to leave balls alone or take a big stride – all these factors have allowed Rohit to stay solid at the crease, having batted thrice in this series, each time walking out with Rahul under overcast conditions, confronted by clinical and probing spells of fast bowling from Anderson and Robinson in particular.That Rohit has been ready is only because he has been doing his homework diligently. On Wednesday, Rohit, Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were the only three Indians at an optional training session. The session might have lasted about three quarters of an hour but Rohit’s sole focus was whether he was judging the lengths and the seam position well while leaving balls that pitched on a length in the channel. It did not matter when at times he was beaten, or the ball sharply slanted into his pads, or he was opened up by a zinger. What mattered was he was reacting to the ball. And each time the ball was short, Rohit played shot.That mindset came into play on Thursday morning when England took advantage of the cloudy conditions and a pitch full of moisture by throttling the run rate. After the first 10 overs India had just 11 runs. After the first hour they had 35. It was the same pattern in both innings at Trent Bridge, where India started watchfully and then built momentum quickly. The 97-run alliance between the openers in the first innings at Trent Bridge was India’s highest opening stand outside Asia since 2010. On Thursday, they bettered that by putting on 126.In the first two decades of this century, Indian openers had batted for more than 20 overs in an innings on just five occasions in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia. In 2021 alone, Rohit – along with Shubman Gill before this series and Rahul now – has helped India last at least 20 overs five time already in those countries.Rohit Sharma acknowledges the cheers after getting to his half-century•Getty ImagesOne reason Rohit has been successful as a Test opener is because he has worked out the balance between attack and defence. In the first hour of the second session, Mark Wood had a chuckle after squaring him up with a fast legcutter delivered from wide of the crease. Rohit did not mind. Presented with a short 142kmh/88mph delivery on the middle stump, he quickly moved outside the line of the delivery to pull it for a boundary.The last ball of the same over, Rohit nearly chased a wider delivery, on the fuller side, but backed out at the very last moment. That he could resist any temptation was because, just like Rahul, he kept the bat close to his body, stayed still in the crease, and had not pushed or poked unnecessarily. One way to measure the success of both Rohit and Rahul is to see how England have played on the vulnerabilities of the duo that come after them, Pujara and Virat Kohli, in the first two Tests – despite their vast experience, both batters have attempted to play at deliveries which Rohit and Rahul were mostly leaving.Late in the afternoon, Rohit stood up to applaud Rahul when the latter became the first Indian to score a century in the series. More than having missed a chance to raise the bat, Rohit would have celebrated his opening partner’s success because he had played a big role in the first two sessions when Rahul played the holding role.This series was going to be the litmus test for Rohit, the Test opener. He has answered that with calm assurance.As for how he might celebrate when he gets to the landmark, we can wait for that.

Also, why did Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers bat out of position?

Karthik Krishnaswamy15-Oct-20201:52

Chris Morris: Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube sent ahead of AB de Villiers to maintain left-right combination

Why did RCB promote Sundar and Dube above de Villiers?The Royal Challengers lost their second wicket in the seventh over of their innings, but instead of AB de Villiers coming in at his usual No. 4 position, Washington Sundar walked in. When they lost their third wicket, the Royal Challengers promoted Shivam Dube.Both Sundar and Dube bat left-handed, and the Kings XI had two legspinners – M Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi – in their attack. It’s a widely-used ploy to match up batsmen against spinners who turn the ball into them.At the presentation ceremony, Virat Kohli said having the left hand-right hand combination against the two legspinners was the reason behind the batting-order shuffle. Sundar and Dube made 36 off 33 balls between them, and of those 33 balls, 12 were bowled by the offspinner Glenn Maxwell, the Kings XI’s sixth bowler. Those 12 balls brought the Royal Challengers only 14 runs.By the time de Villiers came out to bat, only 4.1 overs remained in the Royal Challengers innings. He had no time to get his eye in, unlike during his 73 not out off 33 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the last game where he had scored 10 off his first 11 balls before launching his onslaught. He was dismissed for 2 off five today.Every decision, as Kohli said, comes with the risk of it not coming off, but was the left-handedness of Sundar and Dube enough of a reason to promote them above one of the world’s finest T20 batsmen? The data suggests it wasn’t.Since the start of 2019 until today, de Villiers had averaged 52.50 against legspin in all T20s while striking at 135.77. Sundar averaged 50.00 and boasted a strike rate of 172.41, but his sample size against legspin (29 balls) was far smaller than de Villiers’ (232). Dube, meanwhile, had scored just 28 runs off 28 balls against legspin in this period, while being dismissed five times. Did the Royal Challengers fail to look deeper into the match-up than merely assuming the left-handers would be at an advantage?Why did Kings XI bat Gayle at No. 3?Before today, Chris Gayle had opened in all but two of his 124 IPL innings. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, however, had put on 30 or more in all but one of the Kings XI’s previous seven games this season, carrying on past 50 four times and past 100 twice. It would have been a difficult decision to break up that pair just to accommodate Gayle, considering it was one of the few areas of their game that was working well. Gayle, moreover, is 41 and hadn’t played any serious cricket since January.But Gayle’s age and possible rustiness could have also been reasons to not play him in an unfamiliar role. Starting your innings with powerplay field restrictions in place is very different from starting your innings after the six-over mark.Gayle struggled initially, and at one point was batting on 7 off 15 balls, which built a bit of run-rate pressure on the Kings XI after their openers had pushed them above the required rate with a partnership of 78 in 48 balls.Like the decision to hold de Villiers back, this one could also have gone either way. Gayle’s experience and almost unparalleled six-hitting ability, however, ensured he never let the required rate climb too high.Chris Gayle celebrates his fifty•BCCIWhy did Sundar not bowl in the powerplay?Among those who’ve sent down at least 15 balls in the powerplay this season, Sundar has the best economy rate (4.54). Today, though, the Royal Challengers only brought him on in the ninth over, after they had broken the Kings XI’s opening partnership.The reason, once again, was match-ups. Both Rahul and Agarwal bat right-handed, and the Royal Challengers wanted their offspinner to bowl to the left-handed Gayle. But more specifically, Gayle has often struggled against the specific style of offspin Sundar delivers – angled into the left-hander from round the wicket, pitching just short of a length, cramping him for room.When Gayle struggled to 7 off 15, it looked like the Royal Challengers had pulled off an excellent move. Gayle, though, went on to defy that match-up, hitting four sixes in Sundar’s last two overs.The first two sixes came when Sundar erred in length. The last two were Gayle specials. Sundar is renowned for hitting a length that’s too short to comfortably sweep or loft, and too full to comfortably pull, and he hit exactly that length both times, but Gayle simply opened up at the hip and swung him over long-on with a shot that fell somewhere between lofted drive and pull. Chalk that to the genius of Gayle.Should Kohli bat with more freedom?In his last match, Kohli hit just one boundary (an edged four) in 28 balls. Today he hit three fours in his first seven balls, within the powerplay, but didn’t hit another boundary while scoring 48 off 39 balls. Part of the reason was that he wasn’t at his most fluent, and mis-hit the ball on a few occasions when he tried to go after the bowling, but part of the reason was also down to his approach – he was happy to knock the ball around for singles in the middle overs, and only really started attempting bigger hits after the 15th over.It’s how he always bats, and the same approach brought him an unbeaten 90 off 52 balls against the Chennai Super Kings. But the late acceleration that he’s capable of may not always come off. And while there have been times in the past when the Royal Challengers haven’t had a deep enough batting line-up for Kohli to be able to go after the bowling earlier, they perhaps do now.Before today, Chris Morris hadn’t yet batted this season, and Isuru Udana just once in five games. Today, Morris smacked 25* off 8, and Udana 10* off 5. Perhaps their combined slog-overs display should allow Kohli to let go of the handbrake in future games.

Chelsea are convinced a marquee Brazilian would be a star for Enzo Maresca next season, and a move for the player is expected to happen “soon”.

Chelsea agree Liam Delap deal as BlueCo continue forward search

Earlier this week, Chelsea reached an agreement over the signing of Ipswich striker Liam Delap, with the Englishman, barring any unexpected surprises, looking set to become their first completed deal of the summer.

Chelsea submit bid to sign £42m Serie A star who's admitted he could leave

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The 22-year-old had alternative offers on the table, particularly from Man United, Newcastle and Everton, but Delap started to give his preference to Chelsea after they qualified for the Champions League (talkSPORT).

Rank

Team

Points

GD

Man City

71

+28

Chelsea

69

+21

Newcastle

66

+21

6

Aston Villa

66

+7

7

Nottingham Forest

65

+12

Reports then began emerging that Delap had fully agreed to join Chelsea after being convinced of the project, with Maresca now also said to have played a “crucial” role in convincing the ex-Man City starlet to choose a Stamford Bridge move.

Delap is now also set for a medical at Cobham ahead of a £30 million switch from Portman Road.

While Chelsea are closing in on the Englishman, this doesn’t appear to be the end of their search for new forwards. Now that they’ve qualified for the Champions League, and with many squad members potentially leaving to raise even more funds, there is a chance that Chelsea sign two strikers this summer.

As well as this, BlueCo are targeting a winger, as heavily reported, and one name high on their transfer shortlist is Real Madrid star Rodrygo.

The Brazil international is valued at £84 million by Real, following his 23 goal contributions over 50 appearances last season (13 goals, 10 assists), so Chelsea would need to invest significantly in his capture as they also “push” for Eintracht Frankfurt star Hugo Ekitiké (Florian Plettenberg).

Chelsea convinced Rodrygo would be a star for Enzo Maresca

Spanish newspaper Diario AS, and their reporter Eduardo Burgos, share some interesting details on Chelsea’s links to the 24-year-old.

Chelsea believe Rodrygo could be one of Maresca’s “crown jewels” next season, envisaging a key role in the squad for him. While London rivals Arsenal have already held informal discussions over the £202,000-per-week attacker, Chelsea are expected to do the same “soon”.

Burgos writes that Chelsea are intent on making a “statement” this summer and anticipate a very busy window, especially after confirming their spot in the Champions League, and Rodrygo “ticks all the boxes”.

“Rodrygo, so underrated,” said Jude Bellingham about his Real teammate.

“For me he’s probably the most talented and most gifted player in the squad. The things he can do with the football — we’ll be messing around and he’ll flick the ball up somehow and you’re like, ‘How do you do that?’. I’m trying to do it, twisting up my ankles and everything like that. He’s a pleasure to play with.”

Can KKR maintain their season’s flavour without Salt? How big a miss will Buttler be for RR? Is this finally RCB’s year?

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-20241:41

Moody: Faf’s leadership important in RCB’s revival

Here come the IPL 2024 playoffs. It took a thriller on Saturday to decide which of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) or Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would complete the playoffs line-up, and till the very last league game – a washout in Guwahati last night – to know who would play whom exactly, but now we know. And it’s a completely different playoff line-up from last season, with none of 2023’s top four making the cut here.Qualifier 1: KKR vs SRH, May 21, AhmedabadKolkata Knight Riders (KKR) come into the first qualifier as table-toppers, the first time they’ve finished the league phase at No. 1. They finished three points clear of anyone else on the table, despite having their last two games washed out. Will they be refreshed, or rusty? If SRH are any example to go by, a break from the cricket is a good thing: they came in after a 10-day break – partly down to the schedule and partly down to the weather – and aced a chase of 215 on Sunday against Punjab Kings. This was only the second time in IPL 2024 that SRH won a game chasing.Related

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Tripathi the link at No. 3 that SRH had been missing

Previous meeting: They’ve played each other only once this season, both team’s first game of IPL 2024. It was a high-scoring thriller that ended in a last-ball four-run win for KKR at Eden Gardens.Player availability: The England players who will be going to the upcoming T20 World Cup have withdrawn early from the IPL, and among them is one of KKR’s lynchpins this season: Sunil Narine’s big-hitting opening partner, Phil Salt.Weather forecast: “Very hot with plenty of sunshine” – that’s the forecast for Ahmedabad on May 21, and the heat will hardly relent as the lights come on for the evening match: it’s a minimum of 31C on the day. The forecast says there’s a 0% chance of rain.Eliminator: RR vs RCB, May 22, AhmedabadOn April 22, RR were top of the table, flying high, having won seven of their first eight games. At the other end of the table, RCB were languishing, having lost as many as RR had won, six of those defeats coming in a row. Fast forward to May 20, and the turnaround is stunning: RR have since won one in six and lost four in a row before Sunday’s washout. RCB have won six in a row, and thus go into this knockout encounter with all the momentum on their side.Previous meeting: They’ve played each other once this year, a convincing win for RR in Jaipur, where Virat Kohli hit a century only to be outdone by Jos Buttler.Player availability: This time, RR will be without Buttler, who’s part of the English T20 World Cup contingent that’s left the tournament. RCB will be without Will Jacks and Reece Topley for the same reasons.Weather forecast: The forecast doesn’t change much from Qualifier 1. Ahmedabad should remain hot and dry for the Eliminator.After a blazing start to IPL 2024, things have gone downhill for Sanju Samson and Co•BCCIQualifier 2: Loser of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of the Eliminator, May 24, ChennaiWeather forecast: Some clouds are forecast during the day, but only a 5% chance of rain. A low of 29C, so another hot, sweaty evening in store for the players.Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Qualifier 2, May 26, ChennaiThere’s a possibility of a first-time winner: RCB, ending a 16-year drought in the same season that their women’s team knocked off the Women’s Premier League title in its second edition.Is this, finally, RCB’s year?•Getty ImagesOr RR could win their first title since the inaugural season when Shane Warne’s relatively unfancied team saw off MS Dhoni’s Super Kings in the final.For KKR it would be a first title since 2014, and their third overall. Quite the homecoming for Gautam Gambhir, that would be – he had captained KKR to both their previous titles, and played for them till 2017. This season, he shifted from Lucknow Super Giants back to KKR as team mentor.SRH’s only title (not to confuse them with the other franchise from Hyderabad, Deccan Chargers, who won it in 2009) came in 2016 – can they add to that?Weather forecast: Not much change from Qualifier 2, but slightly hotter even (min. 30 C) and even less chance of rain (4%).

Arsenal are considering a move to sign Inter Milan star Carlos Augusto this summer as the Gunners continues to reshape their squad.

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• Gunners eye Carlos Augusto
• A Serie A title winner with Inter
• Arsenal making summer moves

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Per FcInterNews, Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta is interested in signing versatile defender Augusto from Inter this summer, amid rival interest from Atletico Madrid. Berta is leading the Gunners' pursuit, and may well have begun the Rojiblancos' chase, having previously worked for the club.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Augusto initially joined Inter on loan from Monza but joined the club permanently in 2024. Because of the club's managerial change, in which Simone Inzaghi was replaced by Christian Chivu, the 26-year-old could become available. He is capable of playing as a left wing-back, a left midfielder, and as a centre-back, and would cost around €30 million (£25.5m/$35m) this summer.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Arsenal have already agreed deals to sign Kepa from Chelsea, as well as Christian Norgaard from Brentford and Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad. The club are also reported to be scouting a striker, as they chase Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres. Adding Augusto too would be a real coup as the club aim to finally make the step from runners-up to Premier League champions.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Augusto is playing for Inter at the Club World Cup, making three appearances thus far. He also made 29 league appearances, scoring three goals, as Inter finished runners-up in Serie A; he also played 37 times the season prior as they were crowned champions. Gunners scouts will next be able to watch him against Brazilian side Fluminense in the Round of 16 on Monday.