She holds a long-term view about returning to the South Africa national team, but as it stands, is not in consideration for the upcoming T20 World Cup

Firdose Moonda30-Jul-2024Former South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk will make her return to professional cricket this summer after signing for provincial side Western Province.While she has long-term hopes of making a return to international cricket, she told ESPNcricinfo she has “no timeline”. For now, she just wants to “play again and have fun.”That means van Niekerk is unlikely to be in consideration for South Africa’s squad, led by Laura Wolvaardt, at the upcoming T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. Van Niekerk’s wife, Marizanne Kapp, will play a key role in that tournament which van Niekerk is unlikely to be at, as she participates in domestic games at home.She confirmed she will play “all the fixtures, if I am able,” and hopes to get back into contention for higher honours. “My No.1 priority is to play again,” she said. “I have no expectations other than that. What will be, will be. I miss representing my country and playing at the highest level. It has nothing to do with anything other than that.”Van Niekerk has not played any cricket since The Hundred in August last year, which she was forced to leave early after fracturing her right thumb. Before that, she captained Sunrisers in the Rachel Heyhoe-Flint Trophy, where they finished fourth, and had a stint in the first edition of the WPL, where she was part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru outfit. She has not played for South Africa since 2021 and retired from international cricket in March last year, shortly after she missed out on South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2023 squad because she was unable to meet Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) standards.At the time, South Africa required women’s national players to run a two-kilometre time trial in 9:30 and van Niekerk, who had recovered from a broken ankle, missed the mark by 18 seconds. CSA have since abandoned the rigid application of the time trial and skinfolds tests and left national selection to the coach’s discretion.Currently, South Africa do not have a confirmed permanent coach after Dillon du Preez took over in an interim capacity for the tour to India. Du Preez replaced Hilton Moreeng, who was in the role for almost 12 years. CSA are expected to announce a succession plan for the women’s coaching role ahead of October’s T20 World Cup but with no fixtures between now and then, and only two months, it is likely du Preez will continue, with a permanent appointment to be made ahead of the home season. South Africa host England this summer for an all-format tour including the first home Test in 22 years.

With the summer transfer window well and truly back open, Aston Villa have a huge few weeks ahead.

After failing to qualify for the Champions League after defeat against Manchester United on the final day of the season, the West Midlands side find themselves in the Europa League.

That surely makes them less appealing to top players they are looking to sign, and also means they have less money, which could make it tough to turn the loan moves of Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford into permanent deals. Spain international Asensio did not have a buy clause in his loan from Paris Saint-Germain, and it is unclear if he will come back.

Well, if it turns out that Asensio doesn’t re-sign for Villa, they seemingly have a replacement in mind.

Villa's potential Asensio replacement

It would certainly be a huge blow for Villa if they were to lose Asensio, who had a great impact and brought lots of technical quality in attacking areas to their squad. However, they seem to be targeting a fellow Spaniard to replace him.

According to a newspaper in Spain, via Caught Offside, Unai Emery and his side are seemingly targeting a move for Real Betis attacker Jesus Rodriguez. He reportedly has a release clause worth £30m in his current deal, but Betis are negotiating a new contract with the view of increasing the price of that release clause to around £43m.

Of course, the release clause makes this a complicated situation, and on top of that, Betis are thought to be set on keeping Rodriguez.

However, Villans’ sporting director Monchi ‘is determined to sign’ the attacker, and ‘will be leading negotiations to get the deal done’ this summer.

Why Rodríguez would be a good signing

Despite being just 19 years of age, Rodriguez had a strong second half of the campaign with Betis, after breaking into the first team under Manuel Pellegrini following a stint in the youth team until December.

The Seville-born sensation played in 32 senior games last season for the club, scoring three times and grabbing one assist. He played a lot of first-team football, too, notching up 1739 minutes, the equivalent of 19 full 90-minute games. If anything, that shows the trust Pellegrini has in him already.

The 19-year-old attacker performed well in the UEFA Conference League last season, too. Although Betis lost in the final to Chelsea, he had an important role in their quest to the final, playing eight games and scoring against Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok.

There is no doubt about it, Rodriguez stepping into Asensio’s shoes at Villa Park would be no mean feat. Not only is he ten years younger and therefore far less experienced, but the impact he had at Villa would be tough to recreate.

Even Asensio himself struggled to continue the form he showcased during the early part of his career in the West Midlands. He scored eight times and grabbed one assist in 21 games, but after a rapid start, couldn’t keep up his hot run of form past the start of April.

When looking at the underlying stats on FBref last season for both Rodriguez, a Spain U21 international, and Asensio, there are some numbers that stack up well against each other. One of those is goal-creating actions, in which the Betis man averaged 0.41 per game compared to the Villa loanee’s 0.66, showing they are both involved in their team’s goals regularly.

Described as an “explosive” player by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, Rodriguez will certainly bring dynamic ball-carrying to Villa Park, more so than Asensio of the stats are anything to go by. The 19-year-old averaged 4.31 progressive carries each game last season, compared to Asensio’s 2.72 per 90 minutes.

Goal-creating actions

0.41

0.66

Progressive carries

4.31

2.72

Carries into penalty area

3.17

0.93

Take-ons completed

2.44

1.06

Ball recoveries

4.72

3.05

It is not hard to see why Rodriguez will be Emery’s new Asensio. Not only are they both Spanish attackers who can play across the frontline, but he has the technical quality of the former Real Madrid star, combined with the habit of being involved in goals, even if that is not directly.

This seems like a deal Monchi wants to get over the line, and for £30m, the value of his current release clause, it could be an excellent piece of business for the Villans.

He's scored at Villa Park: Aston Villa racing to sign "fantastic" £42m star

Only Jacob Murphy, Mohamed Salah and Anthony Elanga assisted more goals than him last season…

1 ByTom Cunningham Jun 12, 2025

أصدرت فوربس قائمتها لأعلى 10 لاعبين كرة قدم أجراً في العالم بحلول عام 2025، ويتقاضى اللاعبون مجتمعون 945 مليون دولار هذا الموسم.

وتأتي أرباح اللاعبين من الملعب ومن خلال عقودهم مع فرقهم ومن خلال الإعلانات أيضاً، ويدخل النجم المصري محمد صلاح لاعب ليفربول الإنجليزي في هذه القائمة.

ويتصدر كريستيانو رونالدو مهاجم النصر السعودي والأسطورة البرتغالية هذه القائمة حيث يتقاضى 280 مليون دولار أي ما يعادل 240 مليون يورو، كذلك يتقاضى ليونيل ميسي الأسطورة الأرجنتينية ونجم انتر ميامي 130 مليون دولار أي ما يعادل 111 مليون يورو.

اقرأ أيضاً.. لاعب ليفربول: محمد صلاح أفضل من كريستيانو رونالدو

ويأتي كريم بنزيما مهاجم اتحاد جدة السعودي في المركز الثالث حيث يتقاضى 104 ملايين دولار أي ما يعادل 90 مليون يورو. قائمة أعلى 10 لاعبين أجراً في العالم لعام 2025

1- كريستيانو رونالدو 280 مليون دولار

2- ليونيل ميسي 130 مليون دولار

3- كريم بنزيما 104 مليون دولار

4- كيليان مبابي 95 مليون دولار

5- إيرلينج هالاند 80 مليون دولار

6- فينيسيوس جونيور 60 مليون دولار

7- محمد صلاح 55 مليون دولار

8- ساديو ماني 54 مليون دولار

9- جود بيلينجهام 44 مليون دولار

10- لامين يامال 43 مليون دولار

ويعد ريال مدريد صاحب النصيب الأكبر في هذه القائمة بثلاثة لاعبين وهم كيليان مبابي وفينيسيوس جونيور وجود بيلينجهام.

da betsul： Sunderland are now “increasingly likely” to complete the signing of a defender in the summer transfer window, according to a promising transfer update.

Le Bris bullish about Sunderland's summer

da pinnacle： The Black Cats are still basking in the glory of being promoted back to the Premier League from the Championship amid joyous scenes at Wembley last month. Regis Le Bris made it clear that he is already focusing on new signings, however, saying how he expects the summer to pan out at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland have been linked with a move for young Liverpool striker Jayden Danns, with talks even reportedly held over a move to the club. The Englishman joined the Black Cats on loan in January, but a back injury put paid to his chances of even playing a single minute.

Elsewhere, former defender Wes Brown has also talked up Sunderland’s chances of bringing Jordan Henderson back to his old club: “Going back to Sunderland would make sense. He’d understand that he might not play every week, but when needed, definitely show the heart.”

Sunderland "increasingly likely" to sign defender

According to Africa Foot [via Sport Witness], Sunderland are now “increasingly likely” to have a chance of signing Reims defender Cedric Kipre, as he expects to leave his current club this summer. Le Bris is thought to consider the 28-year-old a “serious option” for his side, no doubt knowing that he needs to bolster his defence ahead of the return to the Premier League.

Kipre is a player who already has a wealth of experience in British football, having racked up a total of 206 appearances in the Championship and Scottish Premiership combined after leaving PSG’s academy, during spells with the likes of Wigan Athletic, West Brom, Cardiff City and Motherwell.

He won the Baggies Supporters’ Player of the Season award in 2023/24, starting all 46 matches in the Championship and averaging 3.6 clearances and 2.3 aerial duel wins per game in the competition that year.

This all highlights what a strong option Kipre could be for Sunderland, even though he hasn’t yet played in the Premier League, with his experience of Ligue 1 no doubt helping him.

Related Sunderland to hold talks over move for "brilliant" Premier League forward

The Black Cats are making moves ahead of their top-flight return.

Posts BySean Markus Clifford Jun 1, 2025

The Ivorian could provide great competition for minutes to the likes of Dan Ballard and Luke O’Nien, potentially even being a starter from the off, and the fact that his exit from Reims looks likely could only be a good thing for the Black Cats.

Ricky Ponting has tipped Australia to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India later this year by a 3-1 margin.He said the hosts will have a “bit of a point to prove” after losing their previous two home Test series to India 2-1 in 2018-19 and 2020-21. Australia have not beaten India in a Test series since 2014-15.”It’s going to be a competitive series and, as I said, I think Australia’s got a bit of a point to prove against India in Australia on the back of what’s happened the last two series here,” Ponting said on the . “We are back to five Tests as well, which is the other really important thing about this series. It’s only been four Tests the last couple of times. Five tests, I think everyone’s really excited by that and I don’t know if there’d be too many drawn games.”I’m obviously going to tip Australia to win and I’m never going to tip against Australia. There will be a draw somewhere and there will be some bad weather somewhere, so I’m going to say 3-1 to Australia.”

Should Steven Smith continue to open?

Ponting said the Australian side would “pretty much pick itself” but he wasn’t sure whether Steven Smith should continue to open or not, after the spot was left vacant by David Warner’s retirement at the SCG earlier this year.”Probably the only one question there might be with Australia again, is if Smith’s the right man to be opening the batting. That would be the only query that I can see there. But that was all about obviously bringing Cameron Green back into the side.”So I’ll rephrase it, not whether Smith’s the right man to open the batting but whether he thinks it’s the right spot for him. Because I think if he doesn’t think it’s the right spot then they’ll make a change and get someone else back up there.”In his last Test series, in New Zealand in March, Smith scored just 51 runs in four innings while opening. His promotion to the top after Warner retired was to also accommodate Cameron Green in the XI, which paid dividends when Green was the top scorer on the tour with 238 runs in four innings including a career-best 174 not out in Wellington.Though the sample size is small – eight innings as opener – the numbers aren’t in Smith’s favour. Apart from a high score of 91 against West Indies at the Gabba this year, he has passed 30 only once and averages 28.50.

Leeds United are expected to submit an offer for an “incredible” player “in the coming days”, according to reliable reporter Ben Jacobs.

Leeds looking to upgrade defence amid Firpo uncertainty

Leeds fans will be well-aware of the importance of having a strong defence in the Premier League, given that a leaky backline was one of the main reasons for their relegation in the 2022-23 season, shipping 78 goals, the highest number in the division.

As such, Daniel Farke has set out to bolster his options at the back, identifying a number of defenders as potential signings, and there may be a particular need to bring in a new left-back, given that Junior Firpo could be heading for the exit door.

Player

Current club

Potential cost

Position

Kostas Tsimikas

Liverpool

£15m

LB

Aaron Cresswell

West Ham United

£0

LB

Vladimir Coufal

West Ham United

£0

RB

Nico Elvedi

Borussia Monchengladbach

£10m

CB

Elvedi has been on the radar for quite some time, with a £10m fee being touted back in February, and there has now been a new update on Leeds’ pursuit of the defender, with Jacobs naming the Monchengladbach ace and Tottenham Hotspur’s Ben Davies as players of interest.

The reporter said: “They definitely were interested in Davies when they were still in the Championship. Now we have to wait and see whether they move because targets can change due to promotion. Nico Elvedi is another name I hear for Leeds who can play left back or left centre back,”

“That’s one I expect them to bid for in the coming days. So the Ben Davies situation is open, but it is fair to say that Tottenham are open to offers. And if you’re open to offers, then extending the contract only helps you protect the value and bring in the most money possible.”

Leeds now "one to watch" in race for "outstanding" £25m Premier League ace

The Whites are in the running for a midfielder, who has a plethora of Premier League experience.

ByDominic Lund Jun 3, 2025 Elvedi could be "incredible" signing for Leeds

With Farke’s side set to return to the Premier League next season, it is important for the manager to bring in players proven at a high level, and the Swiss defender featured regularly for Monchengladbach in the 2024-25 season, making 25 Bundesliga appearances.

Former sporting director Max Eberl has also hailed the 28-year-old for his “incredible composure” in the past, which could be an important quality to have in a Farke side, given that the Leeds boss is known for playing out from the back.

The Switzerland international’s ability in possession of the ball is underlined by the fact he ranks in the 89th percentile for his pass completion rate per 90 over the past year, while also placing in the 93rd percentile for clearances, when compared to other centre-backs.

As such, Elvedi could be a perfect fit for Leeds at centre-back, and it is exciting news that a bid could be submitted in a matter of days.

With the summer transfer window set to open on the 1st of June, it is clear that Chelsea are going to sign a striker. The Blues, who face Real Betis in the Conference League final on Wednesday, are strongly linked with several new names who could lead the line for them.

A recent report from Kieran Gill for The Mail named some of the striker targets the Blues are chasing this summer. They include Eintracht Frankfurt youngster Hugo Ekitike, also wanted by Liverpool, and fellow Bundesliga striker Benjamin Sesko, currently playing for RB Leipzig.

However, there is another man the West Londoners are interested in, for whom they are thought to be leading the race to sign.

Chelsea’s main striker target

It will be fascinating to see who the Blues pursue this summer, with regards to their centre-forward targets. Of course, they seem to be strong contenders to sign Ekitike and Sesko, but they are arguably not their preferred choice.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Well, according to a report from Chris Wheeler of The Mail, Chelsea are currently the favourites to sign Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap. The Blues have ‘edged ahead’ in the race in recent days, perhaps swung by their Champions League qualification, which was confirmed on Sunday.

This has been corroborated by journalist Graeme Bailey, with the transfer insider outlining that the Blues are now ‘confident’ that they will beat Manchester United in the battle for his signature, having already held ‘fresh talks’ with the player.

Any deal for the in-demand striker would cost in the region of £30m, owing to a relegation release clause in his contract at Portman Road.

Why Delap would be a good signing

Few players in their first Premier League campaign have made as much of an impression this season as Delap. In what was a disappointing season for Ipswich as a whole, the England under-21 forward certainly made a big impact.

The 22-year-old, who is the son of Stoke City cult hero Rory, played 37 times in his first full Premier League season. In that time, he managed to bag himself 12 goals and also chipped in with two assists.

One of the biggest positives about Delap is his consistency. His longest goal drought in 2024/25 was seven games, which actually came in the final few games of the season.

Aside from that, he was a consistent scorer for the Tractor Boys, even finding the back of the net against Chelsea in a 2-0 win at Portman Road.

If the Blues do manage to sign Delap, then he is in safe hands under Enzo Maresca. The Italian coach certainly knows how to get the best out of a clinical goalscorer, given the form Jamie Vardy showed under him for Leicester City last season in the Championship.

In 37 games under the now-Chelsea boss, the Foxes legend helped himself to 20 goals and two assists. That included 18 strikes in 35 Championship appearances, to help his side win the league and return to the top flight.

Maresca certainly knows how to handle a deadly centre-forward and get the best out of him, be it as an individual goalscorer or his general striker play.

In a team that scored 89 goals in 2023/24, Vardy had to be selfless too, and Maresca helped him fit in with the team’s dynamic.

Well, that can certainly be said about Delap, too. One person full of praise for the Ipswich star is analyst Ben Mattinson, who described him as “a problem for every Premier League defence”. He’s also been described as a “monster” by teammate Alex Palmer.

The stats on Sofascore from this season show he is more than just a goalscorer, but a well-rounded striker. For example, Delap won an average of two aerial duels per game and played 21 key passes this term.

Shots

2.3

68

Shots on target

1.1

32

Dribbles completed

1.4

40

Aerial duels won

2

58

Expected goal involvements

0.37xGI

10.75xGI

Vardy and Delap are also noted as similar players among those in their position in both Europe’s top five leagues and in the Premier League, as per FBref, reflecting their statistical likeness.

For example, the Ipswich forward averages 0.34 goals per shot on target and 0.24 goal-creating actions per 90 minutes. In comparison, Vardy averages 0.35 goals per shot on target and 0.32 goal-creating actions each game.

The fact that they are so similar surely plays into Maresca’s hands, too. He surely knows how to get the best out of his number nines, and they are certainly like-for-like players, as the stats back up.

Maresca knows what he is doing when it comes to getting the best out of a striker. Delap will surely fit the bill nicely, as someone who is happy to work hard for his team and can score goals at a good rate, too.

If he can be as good as Vardy was under Maresca, then Delap will surely be a success at Stamford Bridge.

He's shades of Drogba: Chelsea open discussions to sign "the next Mbappe"

Chelsea needs to sign a striker or two this summer

2 ByRoss Kilvington May 27, 2025

MatériaMais Notícias

da aviator aposta： Por meio de nota divulgada nas redes sociais, Paulo Roberto Falcão declarou que não é mais coordenador esportivo do Santos. Neste mesmo dia, o, agora, ex-representante do clube foi denunciado por importunação sexual. O ex-jogador negou a acusação.

da pinup bet： No cargo desde o final do ano passado, Falcão disse que sua saída foi motivada por “recentes protestos diante do desempenho em campo” e declarou que sua atitude teve o propósito de “defender a imagem da instituição”.

+ Já atualizou sua camisa de 2023? Confira os novos uniformes do Peixe!

Sobre a denúncia de importunação feita pela funcionária do apart hotel, o ex-coordenador do Peixe negou o ocorrido e se declarou surpreendido com a notícia.

Veja nota divulgada por Falcão, na íntegra:

‘Em respeito à torcida do Santos Futebol Clube, pelos recentes protestos diante do desempenho do time em campo, decidi deixar o cargo de coordenador esportivo nesta data. Meu sentimento, em primeiro lugar, é defender a imagem da instituição. Sobre a acusação feita nesta sexta-feira, que recebi com surpresa pela mídia, afirmo que não aconteceu’.

O Santos também reforçou a saída do coordenador esportivo do clube. A equipe do litoral paulista não se pronunciou sobre as denúncias feitas. Veja comunicado:

‘O Santos Futebol Clube comunica a saída do profissional Paulo Roberto Falcão, que ocupava o cargo de coordenador esportivo desde o dia 15 de novembro de 2022’.

Fakhar Zaman misses out on a central contract for the first time in eight years, left out of PCB’s list of 25 released on Sunday

Danyal Rasool27-Oct-2024The revised central contracts for the Pakistan men’s cricket team have been announced, nearly four months after they were due.Shan Masood, who captained Pakistan’s Test side to their first series win since July 2023 this week, keeps his spot in Category B. Whether he lasts the full year in that position, though, is uncertain, with a media release from the PCB stating his retention in the category was “subject to captaincy”. There has been fevered speculation over how long he would keep the Test reins when Pakistan lost his first six Tests in charge. But the PCB going public in spelling out the contingency in his central contract a day after Pakistan’s comeback series win over England is unlikely to have a stabilising effect.Babar Azam retains his position in the highest category despite missing the last two Test matches against England after a run of poor form, while Shaheen Afridi drops down to the second tier, leaving Mohammad Rizwan as the only other A category player.Fakhar Zaman, meanwhile, misses out on a central contract for the first time in eight years. There were reported to be concerns over his fitness, though his relationship with the PCB has deteriorated of late.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The board issued him a show-cause notice after a tweet he put out two weeks ago where he criticised the decision to drop Babar Azam. The post remains up, and Fakhar has not apologised, with the matter understood to be with his legal team. Last month, when chairman Mohsin Naqvi organised a “connection camp” to speak to get senior players to air their views, Fakhar was among the most outspoken, singling out a senior official for particularly trenchant criticism.His long-time ODI opening partner Imam-ul-Haq also misses out on a central contract while there’s been category deflation across the board. Just five players of 25 are in the A or B categories as opposed to 11 last year. Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, who didn’t feature last year, have made a comeback off the back of their recent heroics against England, both placed in the C category, with Noman’s inclusion subject to fitness. Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Usman Khan and Irfan Khan have all been given their maiden central contracts, all finding a spot in the D category.Last year the PCB agreed landmark three-year deals on central contracts, giving players their highest pay raises in history, and, more notably, a fixed share of revenue from the PCB’s earnings at the ICC. The board has stuck to the same arrangement this time, only tweaking which categories particular players are placed in, as was previously agreed. The contracts will be backdated to cover the period starting July 1, 2024, running for another 12 months before a revision can be made.Category A (2): Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan
Category B (3): Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood
Category C (9): Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan
Category D (11): Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Usman Khan

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.