David Raya has revealed that Arsenal have worked 'a lot' on penalties on the training ground this season.

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Raya the hero as Arsenal beat PortoGunners stopper reveals secret to success Arteta's side through to UCL quarter-finalsGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

And that practice appears to be paying off, with the Gunners edging out FC Porto on spot kicks to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night. With the scores level at 1-1 on aggregate after extra time, penalties were required to separate the two sides. And Raya rose to the occasion, keeping out Wendell and Galeno's efforts from 12 yards to send Arsenal through.

AdvertisementWHAT RAYA SAID

However, when speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Raya was not entirely satisfied. He revealed that he felt he could have kept out Marko Grujic's penalty, which he got a hand to, as well.

"I should have saved three, but I'm over the moon to save two," he said. "We played a really good game from the start. We dominated, created chances and it went down to penalties. We've worked a lot on penalties this year and all the hard work with the goalie coach and the team has paid off."

He added: "This means everything. You play football for these kind of things and I'm lucky to be playing for Arsenal, to be in the Champions League and to get through to the quarter-finals. We're just going to enjoy the night."

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Raya's match-winning performance is further vindication of Mikel Arteta's decision to sign him in the summer and make the 28-year-old his No.1 goalkeeper at the expense of Aaron Ramsdale. Aside from his penalty heroics, Raya made three saves in normal time.

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DID YOU KNOW?

Incredibly, Tuesday's game was the first Champions League knockout tie to be settled by penalties since the 2016 final between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.

With one swing of the bat, New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso went from a underperforming star to a postseason hero.

Trailing 2–0 in the ninth inning with two runners on base, the Mets were two outs away from elimination when Alonso stepped up to the plate. Facing two-time All-Star closer Devin Williams, Alonso took a hack at a 3-1 changeup and poked it over the right-field wall for a 3–2 Mets lead over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Alonso entered Game 3 in a 5-for-38 slump (.132 batting average) and hadn't homered in his last 49 at-bats. He was a combined 1-for-11 in the wild-card series before stepping up to the plate in the ninth inning.

"This is something that you practice in the backyard as a kid," Alonso said on the ESPN broadcast after the game. "I'm just happy to come through for the boys."

Earlier in the game, Alonso served as more of a laughingstock among Brewers fans. In the seventh inning, he misplayed a routine foul ball with two runners on base. Had the Brewers scored those two extra runs, Alonso could've gone down as the Mets' goat rather than the hero.

Instead, Alonso and the Mets had the last laugh as they advance to the NLDS to battle the Philadelphia Phillies. Game 1 of the Phillies-Mets series is scheduled for Saturday at 4:08 p.m. ET.

The Arizona Diamondbacks missed out on the postseason despite winning 89 games in 2024. With their fate out of their hands, the D-Backs found themselves on the outside of the playoffs looking in after the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves split their doubleheader on Monday, resulting in both NL East teams reaching the postseason.

Speaking candidly during an appearance on Arizona Sports radio's Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick took responsibility for one of the team's failed offseason signings.

When discussing the acquisition of starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, Kendrick admitted that he was responsible for the signing, going as far as to call it a "horrible decision."

"Let me say it the best way I can say it. If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you're talking to the guy that should be blamed. Because, I brought it to their attention. I pushed for it, they agreed to it. It wasn't in our game plan," said Kendrick.

"Looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to invest that money in a guy who performed as poorly as he did. It's our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint, and I'm the perpetrator of that," he added.

Montgomery, formerly a client of Scott Boras, signed with Arizona after spring training on a one-year, $25 million deal, which includes an option in 2025. He endured the worst campaign of his career, logging a 6.23 ERA across 25 appearances and eventually getting demoted into a bullpen role.

It certainly wasn't the production the Diamondbacks anticipated when bringing him on board. Rather than shift the blame elsewhere, Kendrick took ownership of what was ultimately a catastrophic acquisition for the franchise.

Kirk Gibson was at a cabin in the woods of Northern Michigan at 11:37 p.m. ET Friday. He and a few friends did not have a television on. They were listening to Game 1 of the World Series on one of their phones.

“Like old times, huddled around a radio,” Gibson says with a laugh.

He heard Fox announcer Joe Davis say the New York Yankees intentionally walked Mookie Betts to load the bases to pitch to Freddie Freeman with two outs in the 10th inning.

“Get ready,” Gibson said aloud. “Here it comes.”

At 8:37:50 PT, New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes threw an inside fastball to Freeman, who had not hit a ball hard for three weeks after spraining his right ankle, causing him to limp through the games he was able to play.

Freeman, the hobbled left-handed hitter, with the Dodgers down to their last out, pulled a home run into the right field pavilion to turn defeat into Game 1 victory. The ball landed at 8:37:55 p.m.

It is understood that the batsman has not even been travelling to the stadium ever since he was dropped from the side following a poor run in the tournament

Umar Farooq16-Mar-20181:46

The ups and downs of Umar Akmal

Umar Akmal’s future with Lahore Qalandars is increasingly uncertain after a troubled campaign for the team and batsman. Six losses in nine games have left Lahore firmly rooted to the bottom of the table and Akmal’s poor form – and familiar questions about his attitude – have seen left him out of the squad. ESPNcricinfo understands that he has not even been travelling to the stadium with the side anymore. Regardless, as per the contract he has with the franchise, he will take home USD 160,000 at the end of the season.That represents some fall for a player who lit up the league in its inaugural season, finishing as top scorer in 2016, making 335 runs at 83.75. He was less successful last season but was retained by Lahore and was always thought to be an important part of the side.But after making just 57 runs in five games in the ongoing season he was dropped, the trouble beginning with a bizarre run-out during the group stage match against Peshawar Zalmi. Since his axing, he has been attending training sessions at the ICC academy.The decision to drop Akmal, ESPNCricinfo understands, was a unanimous one, with team owners, managers, coaching staff and captain all on board. It is also understood that an upset Akmal has responded by sending angry messages to the team owners complaining about the captain Brendon McCullum talking to the media about him.”Umar is a complicated guy and we all know he has well-documented troubles throughout his career,” McCullum told ESPNcricinfo. “But he is incredibly talented and he has done special things in his career and if his career has to finish now, I think it’s fair to say that he has underachieved.”I think it’s a hard message and sometimes you need that, because as a cricketer you need to be honest with yourself and you need those who are prepared to be honest with you.”This is not the first time Akmal has had a fallout with his team – it follows the pattern of his ouster from the Pakistan side. Last year his career took a major hit after the PCB had omitted him from the list of 35 centrally contracted players. He was the most notable omission, with his fitness having been a major concern.He was then involved in a very public spat with national head coach Mickey Arthur, which subsequently led to the PCB slapping a three-game ban on him during domestic season and a fine of PKR 1 million. Besides that, the PCB also revoked all No-Objection Certificates issued to him for participation in overseas tournaments for two months, forcing him to miss the Bangladesh Premier League.Having dropped Akmal, Lahore brought in overseas player Anton Devcich, who smacked a 42-ball 62, albeit in a losing cause, during the match against Islamabad United.”We did not do it purely based on his performance,” said Aaqib Javed, Lahore’s head coach. “As a senior player there is a responsibility but when you are not able to deliver in five games then, as a team, you start thinking of trying something new before it is too late.”We still had chance and we wanted to try our second options. Then we played our sixth match only to score our highest total in the tournament. We then went on to win our next three games. So now getting him back at this stage is difficult because the youngsters you trusted have delivered, it’s unfair if they don’t get more chances.Aaqib also said that it was the management’s concern to look after and support an out-of-form senior player.”We haven’t deserted him but we have allowed him to take a back seat and relax and think,” he said. “He has a full career ahead of him and it’s not the end of the road. He is a good player, and everyone has their ups and downs, but all you need is to show character and push yourself. He can do it and we expect him to do it.”

Shahbaz Nadeem will take his place in the India A squad, which will now be led by Ankit Bawne

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2018A day after he had been named captain of the India A squad, R Ashwin has been ruled out of the Deodhar Trophy. According to a BCCI release, the India spinner has a “niggling issue”, for which the board’s medical team has advised a week’s rest.The Jharkhand left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem will take Ashwin’s place in the India A squad, which will now be led by the Maharashtra middle-order batsman Ankit Bawne. Bawne was originally in the India B squad; the Uttar Pradesh batsman Akshdeep Nath will move in the other direction to facilitate the change.India A: Ankit Bawne (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Unmukt Chand, Shubman Gill, Ricky Bhui, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Krunal Pandya, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Basil Thampi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Amandeep Khare, Rohit RayuduIndia B: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Akshdeep Nath, Manoj Tiwary, Siddhesh Lad, KS Bharat (wk), Jayant Yadav, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Umesh Yadav, Rajat Patidar

South Africa’s head coach Ottis Gibson was steadfast in his defence of Quinton de Kock ahead of an ICC code of conduct hearing on Wednesday

Firdose Moonda07-Mar-2018

South Africa insist Quinton de Kock only acted on provocation in the Durban stairwell dispute, even though he has been found guilty of breaching the ICC’s code of conduct.De Kock did not contest the charge at a hearing on Wednesday evening, though he aimed to lessen the sanction that applies to a Level 1 offence. Although he was unsuccessful in the endeavour and admitted he had said “something” to Warner, the South Africa wicketkeeper maintained he was not the instigator.CCTV footage of the passageway leading to the dressing rooms showed David Warner being physically restrained and shouting at de Kock, who did not respond. Warner was charged with a Level 2 offence on Tuesday evening, and fined 75% of his match fee. Though he has accepted those sanctions, Australia claim Warner was responding to a jibe from de Kock, and they say it was “personal.”South Africa, however, have denied de Kock provoked Warner in any way. “We are appealing Level 1 because we think Quinny didn’t do anything,” the head coach Ottis Gibson said. “Quinny wasn’t aggressive. You saw some footage, and the footage showed Quinny walking up the stairs and somebody else being restrained, and then Quinny gets a Level 1. That doesn’t seem fair.”Gibson would not comment on whether de Kock was entirely silent, and neither would several team sources, only for the man himself to admitt he had answered back.”Quinny would not have said anything had something not been said to him in the first place. But I wasn’t out there. Faf was there. Faf probably knows what was said,” Gibson said. “But there’s one guy walking up the stairs going back to his dressing room, there’s another guy having to be restrained. If I am walking, trying to get back to my dressing room and somebody is being restrained, how can you fine me for something?”Asked if de Kock said anything about Warner’s wife, which is what Australia are alleging, Gibson chose to focus on the undefined line and called for clarity. “I wasn’t there. I can’t categorically speak for another person. There’s this thing and I have seen it recently now about the line. They are saying they didn’t cross the line, but where is the line, who sets the line, where did the line come from? When you are saying you didn’t cross the line but we didn’t cross the line, you went very close to the line… whose line is it?”South Africa would really like the umpires to start answering that question. Du Plessis called for them to step in immediately after the end of the first Test. But Kumar Dharmasena and S Ravi have made no reports of anyone breaking the code of conduct and Australia subsequently used that as part of their defence. Gibson, however, believed that the umpires must have heard something.”The match officials are there to do a job and to govern the game on the field, and off the field I guess,” he said. “If they hear things on the field, they should clamp down on it. It becomes unfortunate when everybody else hears stuff and the match officials say they haven’t heard anything. They are there to do a job and they must do their job.”If things are happening in the game and things are being said, and if it’s within earshot – if the player is standing at point or wherever he is fielding, surely the umpires can hear. Maybe the umpires need to stand up and take control of the game.”Unhappy might not be the right word. We just feel that the umpires are there to do a job and they must do their job. When they hear things, they must take charge and don’t leave it to: ‘oh, we didn’t cross the line.’ Can you say whatever you want, and then when something is said, it’s offensive. You didn’t tell us where the line was. Let’s be clear where the line was.”With tension escalating on both sides, the umpires’ roles will be in sharp focus once again in Port Elizabeth. Dharmasena will be the on-field official again on Friday and he will be joined by New Zealand’s Chris Gaffaney.”I am happy with aggression being shown on the field if it’s coming from the bowler,” Gibson said. “If a fast bowler is bowling bouncers and trying to intimidate batsmen, to me that’s aggression. When everybody else is chirping or sledging the batter as he is trying to bat, that’s not aggression in my book. That’s how I grew up, playing the game in the Caribbean. But, obviously, things change.”Gibson recalled the West Indies greats of the past, who “didn’t have to (say anything) because they were aggressive with the ball and their body language, and that’s what aggression is. When a batsman is trying to take his guard and people are standing around and saying whatever they want to say, I’m not sure that it’s necessary.”If a bowler has tried everything he can to get a batsman out and he can’t get him out because a batsman is playing well, and then they have to revert to that, then is it aggression? I don’t think that it is.”That was the case at Kingsmead, where de Kock scored 83 and partnered Aiden Markram for a sixth-wicket stand of 147 which stalled Australia’s victory push and dragged the match into the fifth day. De Kock had not struck a half-century in 15 Test innings before that, and there were questions over his form. But Gibson believed the Durban knock showed what de Kock is capable of, both with bat and in his conduct.”It takes a strong character to stand up and bat for three hours when everybody on the field is saying whatever they want to say to you. But then, as soon as you respond, then it’s a different thing. The game should be about cricket on the field. I feel like everybody needs to focus on cricket. Calm down and get back to cricket.”

After the Tim and Trent show on the first day, it was the turn of Neil Wagner and Todd Astle to impress on the final day at Eden Park

Andrew McGlashan27-Mar-2018The Tim and Trent show stole the early headlines at Eden Park, but for New Zealand coach Mike Hesson there was huge satisfaction in his side showing they are an attack for a variety of conditions as they put in the “grind” to bowl England out a second time and secure an innings victory.There were still four wickets shared by Southee and Boult in England’s second innings but the other six went to Neil Wagner and Todd Astle. For Wagner it was just another example of his match-seizing capability when the going gets tough, but for Astle his 3 for 39 was his first significant intervention in Test cricket five-and-a-half years after making his debut.”I think we’ve got first-innings bowlers and second-innings bowlers which is what you need,” Hesson said. “Neil Wagner is testament to that and I thought Todd Astle did a great job.””The balance of the attack allows Neil to play that role, particularly in the second innings. When not a lot is happening he can make things happen. It was such a good surface we needed something special and Neil provided that again.”In just his third Test, and having waited until the 69th over for his first bowl, Astle dragged a few down in his first spell – although it didn’t stop him picking up Jonny Bairstow at midwicket – but in the evening session produced a teasing display where his googly caused a number of problems. He trapped Craig Overton lbw before claiming the final wicket when James Anderson spooned to mid-off.A couple of days earlier, fellow legspinner Ish Sodhi had claimed a career-best 7 for 30 in the Plunket Shield and there were a few murmurings about why he had not been preferred to Astle. Partly, New Zealand will have wanted to cover for the loss of an allrounder in Mitchell Santner but Hesson said Astle’s position in the side was no less than he deserved.”A lot of the selection debate comes from people who don’t watch first-class cricket,” Hesson said. “Todd has been amazing in first-class cricket for three or four years and is a fine bowler. He probably just hasn’t got the opportunities that he’s earned over time because we’ve had Dan Vettori and Mitchell Santner in that role. Todd has good variation, he brings the stumps into play. We thought the lbw and bowled would be crucial.”Victory in Auckland has put New Zealand on the brink of just their fourth series win over England heading into the final match of their season in Christchurch as the format switches back to the red ball. There have been results in all four Tests at the ground with New Zealand winning three and there will be no thoughts of playing it safe.”This is a huge opportunity, you don’t go in thinking about drawing,” Hesson said. “It’s been a big series, we’ve been planning for the last six months and need to make sure we use the next few days wisely.”

The RCB head coach didn’t think the bowlers did too badly in their first game apart from the spell to Narine, and is not too keen to change his team’s game plan just yet

Varun Shetty12-Apr-20184:11

Dasgupta: Important to have at least six bowling options in T20s

Royal Challengers Bangalore were blindsided in their opening match against Kolkata Knight Riders, but they won’t be straying too much from their plan. At least not this early in the season, according to head coach Daniel Vettori, who said captain Virat Kohli will continue to bat at No. 3 and that a sixth bowling option is not on their minds on the eve of their first home fixture against Kings XI Punjab on Friday.”You have to be flexible,” said Vettori. “The reason we wanted Brendon [McCullum] and Quinton [de Kock] at the top is that they’re so dynamic and [we felt] Virat and AB [de Villiers] can take over. That was the thinking. We’ve obviously got Quinton’s all-round game. He’s a keeper as well and Brendon did a great job in the first game. So at this stage, that’s the plan, but it could change.”The plan did seem to work against KKR, where both McCullum and de Villiers made scores in the forties around a struggling Kohli. But a freakish over from Nitish Rana had de Villiers and Kohli falling off consecutive balls and Royal Challengers’ inexperienced middle order was forced to play a steadying job.”There’s always a lot of little things when you’re analysing a T20 game. If I were to pinpoint two things, it’d be losing those two wickets and the way we bowled to [Sunil] Narine,” Vettori said.Narine’s 17-ball fifty was his second Powerplay assault against Royal Challengers in as many games, following last year’s fixture where he had equalled Yusuf Pathan’s 15-ball fifty, which was an IPL record for the fastest fifty at the time. While that performance was symptomatic of a long-term bowling depth issue, Royal Challengers would not have expected a repeat this year. Particularly after an auction where they believed to have put together, as Kohli said to the media recently, their most balanced line-up of all time.Perhaps even more damaging was the fact that their spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar, were taken for plenty during the Powerplay – a phase where they’ve both carved good reputations for themselves in the IPL. It meant the pressure fell on the fast bowlers, one of whom was debutant Kulwant Khejroliya, who couldn’t wrest the game back in Royal Challengers’ favour. But Vettori didn’t think the bowlers did too badly apart from the spell to Narine, and he wasn’t too stressed about having a sixth bowling option, a view batsman Mandeep Singh had endorsed in the post-match conference last week.”There’s five bowlers there. Kulwant’s new to the team but we backed him because of his performances coming in, in the T20 format,” Vettori said. “We look at it more like an opportunity for five bowlers to do their job rather than wait for someone to fail and then the sixth bowler picks up [from there].”If the pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium is consistent with the slow turners that were produced last year, five bowlers would be enough. Even on the conditions front, Vettori seems confident.”I think the reflection after last season was that the pitch wasn’t what we’re used to. But two teams played on it and the other team won more often than not. So we don’t want to use the pitch as an excuse. We need to be adaptable and I suppose that was part of the selection criteria at the auction. [We bought] players who could perform in any conditions, not only on a 200 or 220 type of wicket. So we think we’ve got a group of guys who can really adapt to any conditions.”

Somerset built on Matt Renshaw’s audacious hundred on the opening day to lift hopes of that elusive first title

ECB Reporters Network30-Apr-2018
ScorecardSomerset’s seamers bowled them to a 118-run victory over Yorkshire at Taunton and a second success in as many Specsavers County Championship games this season.Craig Overton, Lewis Gregory, Tim Groenewald and Tom Abell shared the final day wickets as Yorkshire were dismissed for 202, chasing 321 to win. Jack Leaning offered most resistance with 68.It is the first time since 1993 that Somerset have won their opening two Championship fixtures. They took 20 points to Yorkshire’s threeStarting the morning on 49 for 1, needing a further 272 to win, Yorkshire lost Cheteshwar Pujara to the first ball, caught behind off Gregory, and went on to struggle against some accurate seam bowling.

Coaches’ verdict

Andy Hurry (Somerset director of cricket): “The magic wand behind winning our first two games is all the hard work put in by the players and the coaching staff during the winter. It was a tougher game than our first win over Worcestershire and it took a real team effort to come out on top.”
Andrew Gale (Yorkshire coach): “The difference between the teams was our first innings batting. I thought our approach was poor and that we could have put more pressure on the Somerset bowlers. Matt Renshaw has come out and played like it was a T20 game for them. He couldn’t trust his defence on that pitch so he went on the attack. I can’t remember seeing a Championship innings in April like it.”

Adam Lyth, on 34, edged Groenewald to James Hildreth att first slip and Gary Ballance was caught by wicketkeeper Steve Davies pushing forward to Gregory. Matthew Waite could make only six before being caught and bowled by Overton off a leading edge and when Andy Hodd fell lbw to the same bowler for a single Yorkshire were in disarray at 103 for 6.The afternoon session began with a stubborn partnership between Leaning and Tim Bresnan, who put together a stand of 56 without looking troubled.It took Abell bringing himself on from the River End to break the partnership. The Somerset skipper bowled an impressive spell, swinging and seaming the ball.Bresnan fell leg-before for 21 to a delivery that nipped back at him after Leaning had moved to an impressive half-century off 128 balls, showing commendable technique and patience.Jack Brooks counter-attacked to also make 21 off just 16 balls. His entertaining cameo was ended when Groenewald took a sharp return catch, one-handed to his right.Abell struck again when Ben Coad edged a good delivery to Marcus Trescothick at second slip and at 191 for 9 Yorkshire were a beaten side. The second new ball was taken and Somerset completed a comprehensive win when Leaning was caught at square-leg, top-edging a pull shot off Overton.They are dreaming of a title challenge at Taunton•Getty Images

A day of bright sunshine, with a biting wind, ended with home supporters dreaming that this might finally be the year Somerset clinch the Championship title for the first time in their history. There is a long way to go, but it has been a hugely encouraging start for new director of cricket Andy Hurry and head coach Jason Kerr.The one negative for Somerset was that Josh Davey pulled out of his run-up after bowling five balls of an over with the total 103 for five and took no further part.