Steve Davies’ first Championship hundred for a year carried Surrey’s fight until Yorkshire hit back strongly with a late flurry of wickets at Headingley

ECB Reporters Network08-May-2016
ScorecardStephen Davies is congratulated on a hard-won century•Getty Images

Steven Davies kept his cool in the sun to complete a solid century that held Surrey together on the first day of the Specsavers County Championship match against title-holders Yorkshire at Headingley.It was the 21st first class century of Davies’ career and his first in the Championship for almost exactly a year. He was eventually out for a defiant 117 off 163 balls with 20 fours and Surrey were bowled out for 330 after winning the toss. Yorkshire were left with two overs in which to bat and they closed on 15 without loss.”I have not got the wicketkeeping gloves at the moment, so it is all about scoring big runs,” Davies said. “There are a few spots there in the England side and I just need to keep knocking at the door. I just wanted to concentrate on my batting for a while and I didn’t want the gloves but I feel motivated and energised again and would like to wear them but so far the club have not gone down that route.”For much of the time, Surrey appeared to have the upper hand but Yorkshire rallied late in the day, six wickets falling in 20 overs and four of them to the second new ball.Many in the 1,803 crowd were not in their seats by the starting time, a half-marathon in Leeds causing roads leading up to the ground to be closed off from early morning until lunchtime.But those who did make it saw a first hour of fluctuating fortunes with 40 runs scored, two wickets going down and three catches being dropped.When Rory Burns nicked David Willey into Jonathan Bairstow’s gloves with the score on 14, Arun Harinath had already survived a sharp chance to Gary Ballance at fourth slip and he enjoyed two further lives, Jack Brooks failing to hold on at long leg and Adam Lyth putting one down at second slip.The latter escape came off the third ball of Liam Plunkett’s spell but his next delivery was miscued by Harinath and popped to Ballance at cover.Surrey were 38 for two but Kumar Sangakkara and Davies soon rattled along with the Sri Lankan in his most majestic form and finding the boundary with a succession of drives through the cover point region.Sangakkara was 45 and Davies 21 at lunch which arrived with Surrey on 96 for two but the third wicket pair continued to blossom in the afternoon as each batsman reached his half-century, Sangakkara off 78 balls with nine fours and Davies from 94 deliveries with eight boundaries.Yorkshire were beginning to wonder where a wicket would come from but after skipper Andrew Gale had temporarily left the field for treatment after diving on to the rope, two went down in consecutive overs.Sangakkara had looked invincible until he tried to guide Plunkett over the slips and was well caught by Alex Lees for 73 off 101 balls with 13 boundaries to take his runs tally for Surrey to 470 in seven knocks.Then Jason Roy departed to his fourth ball from Brooks, superbly held low down to his left at third slip by Joe Root. Roy hung around for a while, possibly feeling he had played the ball into the ground, and he responded gently to the jeers of the crowd as he left the field.At 161 for four, Surrey could have slipped further if Davies had not calmly held things together by following up his 122 stand with Sangakkara with another century partnership with Ben Foakes.Runs came steadily and without too much difficulty, Davies on-driving Root to complete a handsome century off 137 balls with 18 fours and at tea Surrey were well placed on 230 for four.But just as two wickets had gone down unexpectedly earlier on, the same was to happen again in consecutive overs from Steve Patterson as Davies drove gently to Root at short cover to end his 103 stand with Foakes who was caught by Lees at first slip for 45.Again, Yorkshire had the chance to make further inroads with Surrey on 273 for six but James Burke and Tom Curran kept the initiative with the visitors until Burke and Gareth Batty fell lbw at 309 to leave Willey on a hat-trick, the first ball of his next over being safely pushed out to gully by Ravi Rampaul.Yorkshire were hitting back in some style and Brooks comprehensively bowled Curran at 321 to bring the Champions maximum bowling points. The innings was wrapped up when Rampaul top-edged a high catch to Bairstow of Brooks who finished with three wickets, as did Willey.

Having threatened to pull off a win over a big team in their first three matches of the Super 10 stage, Afghanistan finally went ahead and did it against the group-topping West Indies in Nagpur

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur27-Mar-2016

Having threatened to pull off a win over a big team in their first three matches of the Super 10 stage, Afghanistan finally went ahead and did it against the group-topping West Indies in Nagpur. Inzamam-ul-Haq, Afghanistan’s batting coach, praised his team’s self-belief, and reiterated the call for more opportunities to play against the Full Members.”All our previous matches have been close,” Inzamam said. “There haven’t been one-sided matches, it’s not like a team makes 200 against us and we are all out for 100 or 150. The team has been fighting, and the belief was always there.”But Afghanistan haven’t had that exposure of winning against big teams. The finishing point has not been seen yet. But now that we have won this, it will definitely help. And we had a strong belief that if we can come so close, we can win too. Today it has happened. We could have won against England, there was a close game against Sri Lanka too. So we knew we had the potential to win, but you still need that win. The more we play against big teams, the more we’ll learn, and can perform even better.”One of the players who displayed strong self-belief was the left-arm spinner Amir Hamza. Having been hit for 25 runs in one over in his last match, against England, he took the new ball, bowled three of his four overs in the Powerplay, and finished with figures of 4-0-9-1.”He’s one of our main bowlers,” Inzamam said. “Sometimes we need to make changes in the XI as per the conditions, and as per the player’s form. But he is a seasoned player and a terrific bowler. In the last match, he conceded 25 runs in one over, but he didn’t let it affect his confidence. Today, at a crucial point, he bowled well.”Sent in to bat, Afghanistan posted 123 for 7. Inzamam felt the total was perhaps 15 or 20 runs below par given the conditions, but said the team made it up with their bowling and fielding.”If you see, chases have been difficult on this ground,” he said. “Even in the last game, West Indies could chase 123 against South Africa only in the last over. India also played earlier and were all out for 79 [against New Zealand]. So it’s not easy to get runs in the second innings on this ground.”And we knew that, so it’s not like we had started out thinking we should get 160-170. Our target was 140 to 150, we thought we could put pressure [on West Indies] if we had that total. So we thought we fell maybe 15-20 runs short, but I think the boys fielded excellently. They caught well and saved 10-15 runs on the field. That covered the runs we couldn’t make while batting.”West Indies were playing their second match of the tournament in Nagpur, while Afghanistan – who had won three out of three first-round matches at the venue – were playing their fourth. Inzamam said Afghanistan’s knowledge of the conditions gave them an edge on the day.”We thought we knew this ground better than West Indies, we had already played three matches here, practised a lot here. We had an idea about the pitch and the ground, and that helped us mentally as well as on the ground. The bowlers knew how to bowl on the pitch, the batsmen had an idea, and we spoke about this in our team meeting yesterday also – that we definitely know these conditions better than West Indies.”Inzamam has been part of the Afghanistan backroom since October 2015. Asked how long he intended to stay on in the role, he said he would sit with the Afghanistan Cricket Board at the end of his current term and take a mutual decision.”I am with them for a year now, so I’m looking at [finishing] that first. After a year is up, we have to decide whether they want to keep me or not too. It has to be both ways. I have five-six months left and, inshallah, they will go well.”

Glasgow Rangers return to Scottish Premiership action this afternoon following the recent international break and Michael Beale will be hoping to keep his unbeaten run going.

Dundee United are the visitors to Ibrox and the Light Blues have the perfect chance to cut the gap (at least temporarily) at the top of the table to six points, with Celtic not playing until tomorrow.

Beale has yet to taste defeat on league duty since taking over back in November and with United struggling at the bottom of the table having won just five matches all season, the Gers should be aiming for a routine victory.

Rangers enjoyed a comfortable 4-2 win over Motherwell in their last outing before the break and Beale may largely keep the same team, although Malik Tillman may be unleashed from the start given his impressive 25-minute cameo against the Steelmen.

Will Malik Tillman start for Rangers against Dundee United?

Having made his return from injury a couple of weeks ago, Tillman played 25 minutes against Motherwell and enjoyed a productive return, scoring the fourth goal which clinched all three points, making three key passes and winning 66% of his total duels, giving the impression that his recent injury didn’t affect him at all.

The Bayern Munich loanee has been a wonderful acquisition for the club and has adjusted well to Scottish football, despite the physicality proving to be a problem, with club legend Ally McCoist having previously questioned his "work rate".

The four-cap gem's slender nature and lack of first-team football meant his first few months were tough, yet he still managed to impress with his touch and ability to find space all over the pitch. The £13k-per-week maestro scored a superb solo goal against Motherwell in October, and he has scored ten goals across all competitions this season, even netting against United back in December, another reason why he should be unleashed.

Rangers Review journalist Jonny McFarlane praised the youngster earlier this year, saying: "He's got those telescopic limbs; he's a big, tall, strong lad. And he's just got the ability to nick the ball away and act as a kind of brick wall. No one's running past him, no one's running around him because he's as strong as an ox."

His embryonic partnership with Todd Cantwell is something which Beale will be hoping to see more of in the coming weeks, with journalist Joshua Barrie believing it could be an enjoyable duo, saying: “Getting him playing alongside Cantwell going forwards is an exciting prospect.”

Unleashing Tillman alongside Cantwell from the start this afternoon would certainly be an 'exciting prospect', as the American will be able to use his stellar attributes to dominate United.

Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling has been "very poor" of late and supporters are losing patience, according to journalist Simon Phillips.

Is Sterling having a good season for Chelsea?

The 28-year-old traded Manchester City for the Blues last summer, coming in as a big-money addition who would hopefully hit the ground running. It has been a grim season at Stamford Bridge, however, with Chelsea sitting 11th in the Premier League, and Sterling's campaign has got worse as the campaign has gone on.

He has scored just four goals and registered two assists in the league, which is a poor return over 22 appearances, and he hasn't found the net in the competition since New Year's Day. While he can't be solely blamed for the various struggles on show currently, he could be offering a lot more quality and consistency.

Some recent reports have even suggested that Sterling could leave Chelsea at the end of the season, departing west London after just one year at the club.

Could forward leave this summer?

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Phillips didn't hold back in his criticism of Sterling, with far more required from the England international:

"He's been poor, very poor. There are no two ways about it. Chelsea fans are getting very frustrated with his performances. When he came in at the start, I will give him credit as he did look good and not many people really complained about the signing at the time.

"For £45 million, it wasn't bad business. An England international, very experienced player, who was coming in from Man City. Obviously, he's been there and he's done it, so bringing a player like that into the squad, it didn't really get frowned upon.

"But right now, Chelsea fans have lost their patience with Sterling."

There is no doubt that Sterling has ultimately been an underwhelming signing to date, considering what a strong career he has had, scoring 131 goals for City and bring a key man for several years, as well as netting 20 times in 82 caps for England.

The hope is that his struggles are in tandem with that of Chelsea's as a team, so selling him soon wouldn't make sense, given his pedigree as a footballer, being hailed as "frightening" by Tony Cascarino last year.

Sterling has to do better between now and the end of this campaign, though, starting against Real Madrid on Tuesday night, when he could win round the doubters if he inspires the Blues to a Champions League comeback.

A batting promotion worked wonders for Moeen Ali as he scored his second Test century, and the fourth-highest score by an England No. 7, to build an imposing total of 498 for 9 before Alastair Cook declared before tea

The Report by Andrew McGlashan28-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTwo men of the day: Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali share a high five•Getty Images

Powered by Moeen Ali’s career-best 155 and three wickets on recall for Chris Woakes, England put themselves in position to push for another innings victory as Sri Lanka produced an insipid display on the second day at Chester-le-Street. The visiting batting subsided to 90 for 8 in reply to England’s 498 for 9, the follow-on surely set to be enforced in the morning, although they at least avoided being sent back in during the evening session, which looked a possibility at one stage.Moeen’s second Test century – his first also came against Sri Lanka, at Headingley in 2014 – allowed England to plunder 188 runs off 42 overs, of which Moeen provided 127, before Alastair Cook declared 40 minutes before tea. One down at the break was a passable start given what happened in Leeds, but things quickly unravelled in the final session, Woakes backing up the early incisions of James Anderson and Stuart Broad by quickly locating a challenging length with some late nip allied to eye-catching pace in the high 80s mph. Broad then returned in the final moments of the day to strike two more blows against the lower order.Regardless of the defences that can be given to Sri Lanka about the challenges of the conditions and the rebuilding phase the side is going through it was woeful performance from them. The tone was set early when, in stark contrast to their excellent catching on the opening day, they spilled two crucial chances in the first session: Moeen was dropped on 36 and Woakes on 8 inside the first four overs of the day, and from then on Sri Lanka were listless in the field.The second of those two chances, a regulation outside edge, was spilled by Dinesh Chandimal who was struggling with a thumb injury and at morning drinks was replaced by Kusal Mendis behind the stumps. It begged the question, given that Graham Ford had admitted the injury concern the night before, why the change hadn’t been made at the start of the day.Given a total of 298 at Headingley overwhelmed the Sri Lankans, 498 must have looked a fearful number looming from the scoreboard even as the sun shone brightly during the evening session. Mendis was again the best of an out-classed batting order, although Lahiru Thirimanne showed some pluck to see out the day, but their desperate state was summed up by Angelo Mathews’ review when he was given caught behind (having declined to review last week when he would have been saved from his lbw dismissal).Anderson picked up where he left off at Headingley when he found Dimuth Karunaratne’s leg stump in the third over when the left hander moved too far across to try and protect his outside edge. Anderson’s first spell, split either side of tea as Cook’s declaration allowed his new-ball pair a breather, also included Chandimal whose forgettable day continued when he edged to first slip with hard hands. Broad claimed Kaushal Silva when Jonny Bairstow took a sharp low catch which was referred to the TV umpire, Rod Tucker, although the on-field officials had given the soft signal as out.Woakes, who had played confidently for his 39 after the early life, was given the ball ahead of Steven Finn and in his second over found Mathews’ outside edge. A bowler who has recently taken 9 for 36 probably does not need much of a confidence boost, but when your Test average was upward of 60 removing the opposition’s best player is a perfect way to start.He then added Mendis, exaggerated lift finding the splice of the bat, and Milinda Siriwardana who edged a delivery that kept down – a pair of dismissals which further highlighted why Cook was happy to bat first. Still, it was not a 67 for 6 surface. Thirimanne and Rangana Herath resisted until the penultimate over of the day when Herath sparred to gully. Shaminda Eranga was then taken on the rebound by Joe Root at second slip after James Vince had done well to palm up a fast nick above his head.England resumed on 310 for 6, talking positively of 450 but probably willing to accept 400. By the time Cook declared, the last four wickets had added 271 runs with Moeen finishing with the fourth-highest score by an England No. 7. He received good support from the lower order, adding 92 for the seventh wicket with Woakes and 98 for the last two wickets combined, reaching three figures from 109 balls with a lofted drive down the ground. His next fifty took just another 43 deliveries, as he cut loose with Finn and Anderson for company, with the 150 being raised by a crunching six over deep midwicket off Suranga Lakmal.Although he made a half-century two Tests ago, against South Africa at Centurion, it has been a largely lean time with the bat for Moeen since last year’s Ashes series where his brisk lower-order contributions were vital at Cardiff and Edgbaston. He has not made any secret that he would prefer to bat higher in the order and in the absence of Ben Stokes he has, temporarily at least, moved up a spot. While not a chanceless innings, he appeared more focused than when he is lumped down with the bowlers.The only high point of the day for Sri Lanka was Herath’s 300th Test which finally came his way in his 28th over when Finn top-edged a slog sweep – Herath was not going to leave the catching to any of his team-mates. He became the third Sri Lankan bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan (light years ahead on 800 wickets) and Chaminda Vass (355) to cross the milestone. He was warmly applauded by the crowd and he raised the ball in acknowledgement, although a touch of reality soon dawned when No. 11 Anderson reverse swept him for four. The fact he had batted, and with more defiance than some, by the end of the day further summed up Sri Lanka’s plight.

The Antonio Conte regime at Tottenham Hotspur was brought to an end last month, with chairman Daniel Levy taking the decision to part ways with the experienced Italian with just a matter of weeks left to run until the end of the season, following a turbulent few months at N17.

Aside from the obvious frustration over results – including tame exits in the FA Cup and Champions League – a further factor in the 53-year-old's dismissal may well have been his inability to hand chances to the club's young talent, with the Daily Mail having reported that the Lilywhites' youth staff had become 'disillusioned' due to the lack of a clear pathway into the first-team.

That bewilderment with regard to Conte's unwillingness to promote from within the club undoubtedly stems from the fact there are a number of exciting gems just waiting for a chance to shine, including clinical marksman, Jamie Donley and fellow teenager, Jaden Williams.

Aside from that notable duo, another youngster who could also be a potential star of the future is 21-year-old, Jamie Bowden, with the midfielder said to be "rated highly" by the north London outfit, according to journalist Adam Millington.

Who is Tottenham's Jamie Bowden?

One of the more 'senior' figures in the academy ranks, there will come a point at which young Bowden may well have missed the boat with regard to earning a regular place in the first-team set-up, having notably endured a campaign hampered by an ankle injury so far this season.

That being said, however, the former Republic of Ireland youth international is clearly well-regarded by those at the club having even been named on the bench for the Premier League clash with Newcastle United just over a year ago, having also scored once and provided five assists in the first half of last season on loan at then-League Two outfit Oldham Athletic.

Club insider John Wenham is among those who have a particular fondness for the midfielder's talents, with the respected source having even likened the Middlesex-born gem to ex-Spurs star Michael Carrick, while also revealing how much the playmaker was admired by former boss, Mauricio Pochettino:

"He’s a deep-lying playmaker. The most similar player I have seen to him in recent years is Michael Carrick. He sits right in that holding midfield role and has a brilliant eye for a pass. Poch loved him and called him up to train with the first team a few times."

That likeness to Carrick bodes well for the impact that Bowden could potentially make for Tottenham in the years to come, with the current Middlesbrough boss having previously racked up 75 appearances for the club after signing from rivals West Ham United in the summer of 2004.

Like the emerging gem, Carrick was a truly gifted operator in a deep-lying role in front of the back four, having been lauded as a "complete" player by Spain legend, Xavi Hernandez, while Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola also previously said of his talents: "He’s one of the best holding midfielders I’ve ever seen in my life, by far."

That comparison between the pair can also be made by the fact that while neither man is prolific, they both also possess the knack for the spectacular, with the former Manchester United man memorably scoring a stunner for the Red Devils against Roma back in 2007, while the current Tottenham ace produced a "world-class" finish for Oldham against Exeter City last season, as per podcaster Chris Cowlin.

To think that Spurs could possibly have a natural successor to the now-retired maestro in the form of Bowden is a truly exciting prospect, with the hope being that the £2.1k-per-week sensation can overcome his previous "bad injuries" – as per Wenham – and earn a chance to shine at senior level.

South Africa need a win to keep pace with the West Indies and Australia as the triangular series moves towards its pointy end

The Preview by Daniel Brettig14-Jun-2016

Match facts

Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Start time 1300 local (1700 GMT)1:06

Confident West Indies take on shaky South Africa

Big Picture

A first-up win by West Indies over South Africa was something of a surprise, but their victory over Australia in St Kitts showed that Jason Holder’s side are genuine contenders for the triangular series title, particularly as injury worries have depleted both opponents. Having squandered a winning position against Australia, South Africa now find themselves in the unedifying position of needing to catch up with West Indies, on a small ground that clearly suits the block-and-bash style of Johnson Charles, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard and others.In defeating Australia, West Indies ran up a mighty differential in fours and sixes – the hosts’ 32 boundaries towered over the 21 managed by the visitors. What’s more, Charles and Andre Fletcher reached the rope seven times inside six overs, before Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch had done so even once. So it is clear that to restrict West Indies, South Africa’s pacemen and spinners need to find the right lines and lengths to jam their big hitters and prevent further barrages.A lack of batting depth and balance has been South Africa’s major worry for quite some time in limited-overs matches. While Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers are undoubtedly world-class players, there is too little behind them to allow for freedom of expression. Amla has been outspoken in stating that the top four need to do the heavy lifting, and it will require partnerships of considerable heft to achieve that against Sunil Narine, who confused South Africa completely in scooping six wickets during their earlier meeting.

Form guide

West Indies WLWLL (last five completed games, most recent first)
South Africa LWLWW

In the spotlight

Even during West Indies’ warm-up matches for this tournament, Darren Bravo was making starts. Scores of 24, 21, 30, 19 and 39 suggest an engine that is revving up nicely without quite hitting the desired gear. Each of the three most recent innings have included the odd glorious stroke, followed by a dismissal at a time when Bravo should have been about to dominate. No one can question Bravo’s talent or commitment to his side but, after Marlon Samuels’ spinal innings against Australia on Monday night, the bar has been set for the kind of performance West Indies need from their left-handed No. 3.Much like Bravo, Quinton de Kock has made a trio of starts in his matches so far, without going on to anything substantial. Given the slowish conditions faced in the Caribbean, it is quite an advantage to be able to get started against the new ball, and a privilege de Kock has enjoyed without making the most of it. Additionally, given that South Africa’s batting lacks the depth of West Indies and Australia, there is more responsibility than usual on the top four to produce.

Team news

The combination that restricted and then defeated Australia on Monday should be set to turn out again, though Sulieman Benn did appear to pick up a niggle while fielding.West Indies (probable) 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Andre Fletcher, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Carlos Brathwaite, 8 Jason Holder (capt), 9 Sulieman Benn, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Jerome TaylorChris Morris is fit again and may press Kyle Abbott for his place. Morne Morkel is yet to play a game in the tournament.South Africa (probable) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Kyle Abbott, 10 Aaron Phangiso, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

The Warner Park surface is swifter than that of the Providence Stadium, but it showed signs of tiring during the previous match. It also took some spin in the evening.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies last won consecutive ODIs when they defeated Pakistan and Zimbabwe at the World Cup in February last year
• West Indies haven’t won consecutive games against South Africa since an ODI series in the Caribbean in 1992

Quotes

“As a team we have always backed ourselves for somebody in the top six to take it through and bat as deep as possible. Obviously we are very disappointed after our last game. We got ourselves into a very good position to win it and we didn’t quite take it through.
“I think there can be a little bit of improvement. We are always looking to improve our fielding … and I think we are looking to improve on where we bowl in the first 10 overs and things like that.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:50

O’Brien: Sunrisers bowlers used massive square boundaries well

David Warner’s third half-century of the season paved the way for Sunrisers Hyderabad’s ten-wicket win over Gujarat Lions in Rajkot. Warner, who slammed 74 off 48, combined with Shikhar Dhawan, who struck a fifty of his own, for an unbroken 137-run opening partnership after his bowlers, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 4 for 29, kept Lions to 135 for 8.Warner began the chase with two fours off Dale Steyn, who was playing his first match of this IPL, and kicked into high gear with three fours off Praveen Kumar in the fourth over. Spin didn’t stem the run-flow either as Warner cut and pulled Suresh Raina to the boundary. The Sunrisers captain brought up his half-century in 29 balls, by which time his team needed less than a run a ball for victory.Dhawan took the opportunity to bide his time and recover some of his form. He wasn’t always fluent, but a paddle sweep off Dwayne Bravo in the 12th over changed that. At one point 25 off 24, Dhawan completed his half-century in 40 balls and though he didn’t indulge in much celebration, he did so a couple of balls later. Warner sealed the victory with six overs to spare and time was ripe for a twirl of the ‘tache.That Lions were tied down, despite Raina’s 75 off 51, was Bhuvneshwar’s doing. He swung the new ball handsomely, as Aaron Finch found out in the first over when his stumps were splayed by an indipper, and when he couldn’t get movement through the air, his mixture of slower balls were hard to put away on a large outfield. Bhuvneshwar took three wickets in the final over of the Lions innings, including Raina’s, to cap Sunrisers’ strong comeback.Mustafizur Rahman played a hand in Lions’ slowdown as well. He was saved for the final six overs again and still gave away only one boundary – when Warner misfielded at long-on. The Bangladesh seamer finished with 1 for 19, the mystery of his cutters no closer to being solved. Sunrisers also benefited from part-time offspinner Deepak Hooda and left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma rushing through five overs and picking up two wickets.Lions, who had raced to 50 for 1 in the Powerplay, only managed 85 runs in the remaining 14 overs.Raina eased his way back to form, scoring his first T20 fifty in 31 innings. On display were his typical shots: lofted drives on the bent knee, firm pushes through cover and wristy flicks off the pads. But the other Lions batsmen struggled for timing. McCullum mis-hit a slog sweep to deep midwicket and fell for 18 off 17 balls, Dinesh Karthik was dismissed for 8 off a full toss and Dwayne Bravo, also on 8, picked out deep square leg after being deceived by a slower ball. Bhuvneshwar’s triple-strike in the final over meant Lions lost seven wickets for 79 runs, and slipped to their first defeat.

Former Spurs employee Ramon Planes 'could be tempted by an offer from Tottenham Hotspur' amid all the noise surrounding Fabio Paratici.

Paratici ban extended worldwide

Earlier this week, Spurs and chairman Daniel Levy were hit with the major announcement by FIFA that Paratici's Italian footballing ban has been extended worldwide. The club chief's alleged involvement in former club Juventus' recent financial scandal resulted in him being slapped with a 30-month Serie A ban but FIFA's message has now confirmed that this applies to the Premier League as well.

This news deeply affects Paratici's role as Tottenham sporting director with the 50-year-old no longer able to negotiate transfer dealings or even get materially involved in Spurs' search for a new manager. The Lilywhites parted company with Antonio Conte earlier this week as the north Londoners begin their quest to hire a permanent replacement.

Cristian Stellini and assistant coach Ryan Mason have been placed in temporary charge until the end of this season but news of Paratici's extended worldwide ban has given chairman Daniel Levy yet another conundrum to solve.

As a result of the Paratici news, some reports have already suggested that Spurs could hire a replacement, with Spanish sources now sharing an update on this front.

According to the report from the continent, it is believed that Tottenham are 'closely following' former Barcelona sporting director Planes, with La Liga side Real Betis also targeting the 55-year-old. It is also claimed that Planes 'could be tempted by an offer from Tottenham Hotspur' with the English side listed as an 'option' for the chief. A man in demand, it is also not completely ruled out that Barca come back in for their ex-employee.

Should Tottenham hire Planes?

The experienced sporting director has worked for clubs across Spain and was even attracting interest from Newcastle back in 2021. Perhaps most interestingly, Planes also held a brief role as Tottenham's technical secretary from between 2014 and 2015 when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge.

Indeed, Planes could be a solid candidate to potentially succeed Paratici if Spurs go down that route, not least because the official is familiar with both Spurs and manager target Pochettino.

As shared by Guillem Balague, both men have also worked together before at Espanyol, so the pair could already have a considerable rapport from their jobs side-by-side in past seasons. He is one who may well be worth considering for Spurs and Levy.

Despite Royal Challengers Bangalore losing their sixth game of the season, batsman KL Rahul has said the team was peaking as the 2016 IPL approached its business end

Deivarayan Muthu in Bangalore12-May-20161:22

Road ahead for us is very clear – Rahul

Despite Royal Challengers Bangalore losing their sixth game of the season, and needing to win their remaining four to possibly make the playoffs, batsman KL Rahul has said the team was peaking as the 2016 IPL approached its business end. RCB were sixth in the standings after their six-wicket defeat to Mumbai Indians at home on Wednesday.”The plans are clear, we need to win all our games,” Rahul said. “I honestly believe that the team is peaking – the batting has come together, we’re fielding well, we’re taking some good catches, the bowling is getting better and better with each game. We need to win four out of four. We’re going to go out there and play fearless cricket.”Rahul was pushed down the order against Mumbai, in spite of enjoying success as an opener in previous games, to accommodate the returning Chris Gayle, who was out for 5. Gayle has been dismissed for less than ten in all seven innings since his century against England in the World T20, but Rahul urged support for the West Indies batsman.”Chris is dangerous up the order and we all know if he fires he can get us to 200-250 on any wicket, on any ground,” Rahul said. “You back a guy like Chris Gayle to go out there and give his best for the team. You can’t always expect him to deliver; sometimes it doesn’t happen.”The ball did not come onto the bat on Wednesday night, as it usually does at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, forcing the batsmen to manufacture shots. After Virat Kohli stabbed Mitchell McClenaghan to fly slip and Gayle toe-ended Tim Southee to mid-off, left-arm spinning allrounder Krunal Pandya suffocated RCB further with the joint-second best spell – in terms of economy (3.75) – by a spinner bowling a full quota at this venue.”After losing Virat and Chris early, we had to obviously change plans,” Rahul said. “The wicket was sticky, it was a bit damp, and it wasn’t easy to start hitting the ball right away. That’s what me and AB discussed – to take our time initially and if we batted out ten overs, then we could look at a target after that.”Rahul had come in to bat at the fall of Gayle’s wicket in the fourth over and went on to make his fourth half-century – and best score – of the season: 68 off 53 balls. He and de Villiers added 43 in 6.3 overs for the third wicket before Krunal dismissed de Villiers for 24 off 27 balls. Rahul also overcame an ankle niggle to ramp up the pace in the end overs, leading RCB to 151, which he thought was an “ideal score”.”After the loss of the first two wickets, we decided to get around 140-150, which was an ideal score,” Rahul said. “150 was what we discussed during the strategic time-out. We were happy with what we got. In the second innings it got easier to bat.”Mumbai’s chase boiled down to them needing 55 off the last five overs and then they lost Ambati Rayudu for 44 off 47 balls. Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler, however, ran down the target with eight balls to spare.The RCB captain Virat Kohli, who had been dismissed for his first single-digit score of the season, said his team had been about 20 runs short, and that he would relish the pressure of the remaining matches. “We will literally play knockouts now and I love this situation,” he said.