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Naseem Shah has been withdrawn from Pakistan’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup. Mohammad Wasim, the 18-year-old fast bowler who has been an Under-19 regular in recent months, has replaced him.Naseem, the 16-year-old fast bowler who has played three Test matches since making his senior international debut in November, was named in the original Under-19 squad last month. Pakistan head-coach-cum-selector Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis, however, were not in favour of releasing him for age-group cricket.ALSO READ – Naseem Shah caught in tug-of-war between Pakistan’s senior and Under-19 teamsThe senior and junior selection committees have now come to an agreement, and Naseem will not travel to South Africa for the tournament, which begins on January 17.”The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup is a stepping stone for future stars and a platform for budding youngsters to graduate to international cricket,” said Wasim Khan, PCB’s chief executive officer. “Naseem has recently broken that glass ceiling and has established his credentials as an international cricketer. As such, the PCB has taken a pragmatic approach and decided to withdraw him from [the] competition to provide this opportunity to another promising cricketer so that he can show his mettle and potential at a global stage.”In his short time so far as an international cricketer, Naseem has marked himself out as a special talent with his precocious pace and venom. He made his debut in Perth, in the first Test of Pakistan’s recent tour of Australia, and dismissed centurion David Warner with a brute of a short ball. He missed the second Test with a knee niggle that is understood to have hindered his rhythm in the nets, but played both Tests of Pakistan’s home series against Sri Lanka, taking seven wickets in the two Tests including a match-winning five-wicket haul in the second Test in Karachi.Naseem Shah bowls•AFP

That performance made him the second-youngest bowler, behind compatriot Nasim-ul-Ghani in 1958, to take a five-for in Test cricket, and the youngest fast bowler to do so.The junior team management, headed by coach Ijaz Ahmed, wanted Naseem to be freed up for the Under-19 World Cup, and he was meant to link up with his team-mates at a preparatory camp in Lahore after the series against Sri Lanka. But he did not attend the camp, and was also rested from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final in Karachi.After extensive discussions with the senior team management, the national junior selection committee, headed by Saleem Jaffar, have agreed to withdraw Naseem and include Wasim in his stead. Wasim has taken 10 Youth ODI wickets in eight matches, at an average of 27.40.”This should not deter Pakistan’s chances at next year’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup as the selectors have picked a side that is experienced and bubbling with confidence to perform strongly,” said Khan. “Naseem will now remain in Pakistan and continue to work on his skills under the watchful eyes of bowling coach Waqar Younis. Furthermore, he will remain available for the home series against Bangladesh.”Pakistan, the 2004 and 2006 champions and three-time runners-up, are slotted in Group C along with Bangladesh, Scotland and Zimbabwe in the 16-team Under-19 World Cup. They will kick off their campaign against Scotland on January 19 in Potchefstroom.After a month-long camp followed by a break, the players regrouped in Lahore on Wednesday for the final leg of the camp. The team will depart for Johannesburg on January 10 from Lahore.

England’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles, has admitted Kevin Pietersen was “quite right” to request time off during his international career, despite the ECB’s resistance to allowing such flexibility at the time.Pietersen’s desire to play in the IPL while asking for time off from international commitments became a cause of strain with team management towards the end of his ten-year England career. But looking back on the situation now, Giles said he believes it is essential such requests are managed with greater sympathy if England are to avoid further episodes of burnout and mental health problems.As a result, Giles has suggested players and coaches may be rested and rotated more often in future.ALSO READ: England ‘really hopeful’ Anderson will be fit for SA“Kevin was making these points and he was quite right,” Giles told the BBC’s in New Zealand. “I won’t go so far as calling him a visionary, but he was right. He’s not as silly as he looks.”The game has moved on at a hell of a pace and continues to. There are a lot of pressures out there and we talk about protecting Test cricket, but tournaments are getting shorter and faster and getting more regular and they are real cash cows for the modern player.”There are other tournaments around, too, like the IPL and we have to be realistic. Guys are going to want to play in them so we have to find time in the schedule for them to take breaks. If that means missing international cricket occasionally then I’m afraid we’re going to have to suck it up.”Part of our strategy has to be to develop a bigger group of players who are capable of playing at this level, we’re not going to manage otherwise. The same goes for our management. I’d rather have one coach, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have time of and provide chances for others to lead.”The schedule brings money and that is why we can sign these big deals with broadcasters. What it doesn’t mean is that we play our best players into the ground because we’ll lose them quickly which brings us back to that care point again.”It just isn’t fair and many of them have young families now and that puts a different perspective on life.”A recent survey by found that some of England’s highest-profile players had the heaviest workloads in world cricket. Joe Root, England’s Test captain, played more international days than anyone else between October 2018 and September 2019, with Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler ranked joint fifth.While physical tiredness is one issue, Giles is also keen to prevent his players suffering from the emotional demands of their lifestyle. In recent weeks, there have been three-high profile examples of players in Australia requesting time away from the game, with Glenn Maxwell, Nic Maddinson and Will Pucovski all being encouraged to talk openly about their mental health.”The mental wellbeing and welfare of our players is crucial,” Giles said. “Particularly as we’ve got a number of players who perform across all formats and their schedules are incredibly busy.”It looks like a great lifestyle being on the road and being in hotels but these guys are serious professionals and spend a lot of time under stress and it’s a really important issue for us.”The other modern thing around that is different from when I played is camera phones and social media. A picture can tell a thousand words but not necessarily the right ones. A player could be out having a meal and a glass of wine and it could be misconstrued so guys tend to stay in hotels a lot and look after themselves.”It is a shame if you feel you’ve got to hide away, especially in a country like this.”Giles hopes the England environment will be improved by the effective promotion of Mark Saxby. Saxby has long been viewed as a vital part of the management team with a brief that extends well beyond his official title as massage therapist. But while his title will not change, the pastoral side to his role has been extended in the hope that he will be able to spot the early signs of problems with any of the team and ensure they receive the help they require. Saxby is also qualified in executive coaching.”One of the things we’ve looked at is the role of Mark Saxby who has been around with the team for a long time as our massage therapist, but for years he has been a lot more than that,” Giles said. “He’s been a shoulder to cry on at times, a mentor and a sounding board on the bed when he’s been massaging players.”He is taking on more responsibility now on the welfare front and with our culture. It is very important to me, tour on tour, that we have some short-term checks on the group. Are there any red flags? Anyone we need to worry about?”I’m sure these issues have always been around but perhaps in the past it was more difficult to talk about. I’m pleased that players can talk about it now publicly without ridicule or any stupid chat that there might have been around it in the past.”

MatériaMais Notícias

As vésperas da estreia no Campeonato Brasileiro, a Chapecoense anunciou que o atacante Anselmo Ramon teve o seu contrato renovado. Agora, o acordo entre as partes é válido até dezembro de 2022.

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Identificado com o clube, o artilheiro é ídolo do torcedor e foi uma das peças mais importantes na campanha do acesso, que culminou com o título da Série B.

Recentemente, Anselmo Ramon ficou na mira do Botafogo, que chegou a negociar a sua contratação, mas permaneceu na Arena Condá.

‘Muito feliz por mais um ano, poder estar aqui ajudando a Chapecoense da mesma maneira que fiz ano passado. Podem ter certeza que não vai faltar empenho, estou vivendo esse momento especial aqui, de conquistas, mas agora na Série A é outro momento. Esperamos conseguir nossos objetivos. Agradecer a diretoria pela confiança e espero retribuir dentro de campo’, afirmou.

Números

Desde a sua chegada ao time de Santa Catarina, Anselmo Ramón disputou 44 jogos e anotou 12 gols.

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MatériaMais Notícias

Campeão da Supercopa do Brasil, vagas encaminhadas na final do Carioca e nas oitavas da Libertadores, além de ter o seu principal artilheiro fazendo história e igualando marca de Zico. O Flamengo vive um ótimo início de temporada, que, pela primeira vez, teve o clube emendando cinco vitórias consecutivas. A última ocorreu nesta terça, após suado triunfo diante da LDU.

+ Veja lista de jogadores mais utilizados por Rogério Ceni na temporada

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A última sequência de cinco vitórias seguidas havia ocorrido em outubro do ano passado.

Mais recente, a vitória fora de casa sobre a LDU, a pouco mais de 2.700 metros de altitude, teve como protagonista Gabriel Barbosa, que se isolou na artilharia interna, com nove gols, e ainda igualou o recorde de Zico como o maior artilheiro do clube em Libertadores, com 16 bolas na rede, ao todo.

+ ATUAÇÕES: veja as notas dos jogadores do Fla na vitória sobre a LDU

Gabigol chegou a nove gols em nove jogos na temporada, deixando Pedro, com sete, na segunda colocação.Rodrigo Muniz e Arrascaeta completam o pódio, pois têm cinco gols cada um (veja a lista completa abaixo).

Outro fator que engrandece a ótima largada do Flamengo na temporada é o fato de o time ter alcançado o seu melhor início na Liberadores, já que venceuas três primeiras partidas na fase de grupos pela primeira vez na história. O triunfo histórico no Equador também o deixa a uma vitória da classificação antecipada às oitavas (saiba mais aqui).

+ Veja a tabela completa da Libertadores

Agora, contudo, a missão é confirmar o favoritismo e fazer valer a ampla vantagem pelas semi do Carioca – possivelmente com um time misto. Na ida, o time de Rogério Ceni venceu o Volta Redonda por 3 a 0. O jogo da volta será no Maracanã, às 21h05 deste sábado.

NÚMEROS DO FLA NA TEMPORADA

Jogos – 16
Vitórias – 11
Empates – 3
Derrotas – 2

Gols marcados: 38
Gols sofridos: 17

LISTA DE ARTILHEIROS

Gabigol – 9
Pedro – 7
Rodrigo Muniz – 5
Arrascaeta – 5
Vitinho – 4
Bruno Henrique – 2
Diego – 1
Gerson – 1
Max – 1
Hugo Moura – 1
Willian Arão – 1
Michael – 1

LISTA DE ASSISTÊNCIAS

Michael – 6
Matheuzinho – 3
Bruno Henrique – 3
Diego – 2
Gerson – 2
Vitinho – 2
Arrascaeta – 2
João Gomes – 1
Filipe Luís – 1
Isla – 1
Pedro – 1
Lázaro – 1
Ramon – 1
Gustavo Henrique – 1
Everton Ribeiro – 1
Gabigol – 1

Over the years, Liverpool's academy has produced some of the Premier League's best talents, with players such as Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and, more recently, Trent Alexander-Arnold all emerging from the youth ranks.
Additionally, they have also managed to harness the talents of other clubs' players who didn't quite cut it in their teams or who the Reds saw potential in.
Some examples of these players are Harvey Elliott and Raheem Sterling. The pair each came from Championship teams before seeing their talents developed further with the Merseysiders.
Although the latter chose to leave the club in 2015 in order to join Manchester City for a fee worth a reported £49m, Elliott has become part of the furniture at Anfield.

The 20-year-old recently made his 100th appearance for the Reds against Luton in the Premier League. During that time, he has amassed a total of 15 goal contributions and, at times, has managed to cement himself within Jurgen Klopp's first team.
This season has been the youngster's most prolific. It seems that, as he gets older, he is becoming more mature and focused on his game and is managing to find his place within the squad.
Across the 2023/24 campaign, he has managed to score two goals and provide three assists for his teammates, while it is also looking likely that he could be featuring in Liverpool's upcoming Carabao Cup final due to the recent injuries the Reds have suffered in the centre of the park.

Despite Elliott's Liverpool career thus far going swimmingly, aside from the odd injury here and there, there have been some Liverpool youngsters who weren't given the chance to flourish under Klopp's wing.
An example of one of these fringe figures is that of Taiwo Awoniyi. The current Nottingham Forest striker joined the club in 2015 at just 18 years old and endured many loan spells during his time on Merseyside, prior to exploding elsewhere…

Taiwo Ayoniyi's Liverpool career

The Nigeria international joined Liverpool for a fee in the region of £400k from Imperial Academy in his home country.
When asked about what it meant to be joining Liverpool, he said the following: "This is the biggest club in the world, and I’m privileged to be here. I’ll try to develop myself very well so that when I come back to Liverpool I’ll be able to add value to the team."
Despite just joining the club, the then-teenager was instantly loaned out to German side, FSV Frankfurt.

That swift exit came about as the youngster was having problems with regard to acquiring a work permit to play football in the UK. These problems would be set to follow him throughout his Liverpool tenure.
After joining the club, the attacker only managed to appear a total of 14 times for Frankfurt and only amassed a total of two goal contributions during that time.
Then, for his next six seasons at Liverpool, he was loaned out to various clubs across Europe, including spending two seasons at Belgian club, Royal Excel Mouscron. It was during those two seasons in Belgium that the Nigerian had his most prolific time in front of goal – netting 21 times in 47 games.
During the 2020/21 campaign, he spent his time on loan with Bundesliga side, Union Berlin, and made a total of nine goal contributions during his spell with the club.

His performance over the season ended up being enough that the striker managed to finally get a permanent move away from Liverpool after the German side bought him for a fee of £6.5m.
This move occurred just after he was finally granted a work permit to play football in the UK after spending six years of his professional career bouncing around other clubs.
Awoniyi's permanent transfer away from Liverpool was expected. However, the fact that the striker was sold for less than ageing midfielder Jordan Henderson – who departed for Al Ettifaq on a £12m deal last summer – is something the Reds may live to regret.

At the time, this was Union Berlin's club-record fee, and it seemed as if it was money well spent, as, despite not having the most prolific of campaigns the season prior, he managed to score a total of 20 goals in all competitions and assist a total of five times during the 2021/22 season.
This sudden burst of form was by far and away the most prolific of the attacker's career and, to this day, it still stands as his strongest goal-scoring season.
His performances for Union Berlin didn't, however, go unnoticed. After Forest's promotion from the Championship in the same season, the club were looking to make some additions to strengthen their side.

Where Are They Now

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This resulted in Forest making a total of 30 signings across the season, with Awoniyi being among those.

Why Jamie Carragher loves Awoniyi

Since arriving in Nottingham for a fee worth £17.5m, Awoniyi has been a constant figure within the Garibaldi squad. During his time at the City Ground so far, he has managed a total of 46 appearances and has contributed to 20 goals.
Although he hasn't yet found the form he showed in his final season at Union Berlin, he has cemented himself within the Forest system superbly, even leading to praise from Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher who has compared him to Premier League icon, Didier Drogba.

Discussing Awoniyi's strike against Southampton back in May, Carragher exclaimed: "He reminded me of Drogba as soon as I saw the goal. Absolutely brilliant. I've been in that position as a defender. The turn – and bang. Brilliant."
Drogba, of course, enjoyed a remarkable stint in English football at Chelsea – across two spells – notably scoring 164 goals and providing 88 assists in 381 games for the Blues, while also winning a plethora of major honours, including the Champions League in 2012.
Awoniyi has a way to go to emulate the Ivorian's heroics, although the 6 foot marksman has already scored more than half of the goals he bagged in England's top-flight last season, netting six times from just 14 outings.

His form thus far sparked even more talk from pundits and Carragher doubled down on the praise he lauded the former Liverpool man with last season.
"The first touch is unbelievable centre-forward play. Holding the centre-back off because don’t forget he’s got no space, he knows the goalkeeper is going to be converging on him," Carragher said.
"I’m a huge fan of his. His goals towards the end of the season kept Forest up and it could do the same again."

Liverpool's "special" £4m star is now worth 1175% more

Jurgen Klopp has shaped this rising talent into one of the Premier League’s most exciting prospects.

ByAngus Sinclair Feb 23, 2024

Time will only tell whether Liverpool will live to regret selling the promising youngster after years of chasing a work permit for him.
One thing is for sure, however, and that is the fact that we will likely be seeing the £50k-per-week hotshot in England's top flight for many years to come.

Luke Shaw left out Bruno Fernandes from the best XI he has ever played with for both club and country.

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• Bruno snubbed by Shaw in his best XI
• Included Ronaldo, Rooney and Zlatan
• Will be in action for England at Euro 2024

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  During a chat with OneFootball, the Red Devils star was asked to pick the best eleven players he has played with for club and country. Shaw picked Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the front three while selecting Raphael Varane, Kyle Walker and John Stones as his defensive partners. He also named three legendary English midfielders Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Michael Carrick in the middle of the park and included former United teammate David De Gea as the goalkeeper.

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• Getty Images
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  While Shaw did include several current club and country teammates in the lineup, he surprisingly omitted club captain Bruno Fernandes from the list. He also did not include another colleague Harry Maguire who plays alongside him for both club and country.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Despite missing the majority of the 2023/24 campaign due to injury, the former Southampton full-back has been included by Gareth Southgate in his final Three Lions squad for the Euro 2024.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR LUKE SHAW?

  The 28-year-old could be next seen in action Sunday night as Harry Kane and Co begin their Euro 2024 journey in Germany against Serbia.

Aston Villa have been immense this campaign, as highlighted by their current fourth-place spot in the Premier League.

However, this week they suffered a disappointing 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea, which dumped them out of the FA Cup.

The midfield arguably lost them the tie, but there was a glimmer of quality towards the end of the game via one substitute, whom Unai Emery could look to fully unleash soon.

The rise of Jack Grealish

Having been at his boyhood club since the age of six, Jack Grealish made his Premier League debut for Villa away to Manchester City on 7 May, 2014, in what was just the start of him becoming a Villans legend.

The winger would go on to mainly take on the role of a substitute in the next two seasons, during a time when the club struggled on the field and eventually succumbed to relegation.

However, this is where Grealish developed into the player he is today, taking on the captain's armband and leading the club he supports to the Premier League in 2019.

Grealish contributed to 65 goals over 213 games for Villa, with his best campaign coming in the 2020/21 Premier League season, when he scored six times and registered ten assists. This earned him a move to Man City for £100m, which is the second-most expensive signing in Premier League history.

The 28-year-old has gone on to become a key player for Pep Guardiola's side, helping them win the treble last season while also becoming a regular for England.

Perhaps, Emery could have the biggest prospect since Grealish waiting in the wings…

Tim Iroegbunam's future at Villa

Despite being handed his first Premier League start in the 2021/22 season by Steven Gerrard and impressing, Tim Iroegbunam was sent on loan to QPR last season, where he took on a key role, playing 32 games and helping the side avoid relegation to League One.

This season, he has played 41 minutes under Emery, which has occurred in Villa's last two matches. The 6 foot midfielder can play as a number eight or as a defensive midfielder, and his stats from his time at the Hoops show what type of player he is.

Iroegbunam's 23/24 Championship Stats

Stats

Iroegbunam

League Percentile

Goals

0.08

Top 47%

Assists

0.00

Bottom 86%

Tackles won

1.74

Top 10%

Passes blocked

1.54

Top 6%

Carries into final third

1.62

Top 20%

Stats via FBref

The England gem played a handful of roles in the Championship, for a side that often spent long spells without the ball, which prevented most of his on-the-ball qualities from shining, but he still showed his ability to carry the ball with ease.

However, that did allow him to show his ability to hold his own, especially out of possession, as he ranked highly for tackles won and passes blocked, showing his reading of the game is superb.

It is no surprise that analyst and writer PGR described Iroengbunam as the "real deal," and his profile would be the perfect replacement for Douglas Luiz, who has been tipped with a move away from the club, with Arsenal being a potential destination.

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The likeness between the pair can be seen in their shared defensive prowess, with Luiz averaging 2.7 tackles and interceptions per game this season in the Premier League, while his young teammate averaged 2.8 for that same metric in the second tier in 2022/23.

Whether the Brazilian leaves in the summer or not, the youngster deserves a chance to shine.

Newcastle United's 3-1 win over Aston Villa saw them end a frustrating month on a high, but that doesn't take away from their failure to welcome a single reinforcement for Eddie Howe, whilst also struggling to offload players so far. With under 48 hours left, the Magpies could now end January with a near identical squad to the one they started with.

Newcastle transfer news

It was always going to be a difficult month for those at St James' Park, who have been walking a fine line when it comes to Financial Fair Play. Whilst investment into the women's team, academy and charity foundation doesn't count towards the final figure, meaning that Newcastle are within the guidelines, a loss of £155m over the space of the last three seasons is hardly reason to celebrate as the Premier League begins to crack down on clubs over profit and sustainability.

Newcastle's CEO Darren Eales admitted that the Magpies may need to sell players before spending big again, saying via The Athletic: "The reality is that when you look at FFP, if you take a step back and look at PSR, there’s ways you can create that headroom. Player churn, it’s counterintuitive, but it’s the nature of the beat that it creates headroom.”

That potential need for sell has seen the likes of Callum Wilson, Kieran Trippier and Miguel Almiron all linked with moves away this month, albeit without any deals involving those stars reaching confirmation. What's more, according to Gokmen Ozcan, a deal for Jamaal Lascelles to join Besiktas has now fallen through after the Turkish club reacted negatively to PIF's asking price.

Ozcan posted on X, translated from Turkish: "The book of Jamaal Lascelles in Beşiktaş is closed. The English defender could not receive his transfer fee from Newcastle United. The Premier League team asked for 3 million Euros. Beşiktaş responded negatively."

It now looks as though the Newcastle defender is set to stay put this month, with such little time remaining in the transfer window.

Keeping "unbelievable" Lascelles will prove wise

Whilst Lascelles isn't exactly the number one name on Howe's teamsheet when everyone is fit, he has proven to be a vital squad player amid Newcastle's injury crisis this season. And given that there are just under 48 hours left in the transfer window, it's unlikely that the Magpies would be able to find a replacement with the same experience before the window slams shut.

Sandro Tonali (banned)

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Joelinton

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Nick Pope

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10/02/2024

Jamaal Lascelles

03/02/2024

It's clear that Howe is a fan of Lascelles too, saying via The Daily Mail back in July of last year: "He's been an unbelievable captain for us. Captaincy doesn't just exist on the pitch, it has to exist off the pitch. The two things are so intrinsically linked. A lot of our success last year wasn't just down to the team, it came down to a group of players giving everything on and off the pitch.

"There was a group off the pitch that were absolutely magnificent, and Jamaal was one of them. He will want to play but it's how you react that is the key. We move forward together."

After going ten innings without a half-century, the opener roared back to form with an innings reminiscent of his century in last season’s final

The Report by Danyal Rasool23-Apr-20192:28

Hard to get a chance in Sunrisers’ playing XI – Shakib

Rocking up to the IPL after being the most prolific run-scorer in the Pakistan Super League just prior, it had been a mild surprise to see Shane Watson slump so sharply in the yellow of Chennai Super Kings. He had gone without a fifty in his first ten innings of the season, but the sight of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowlers, whom he had brutalised in last year’s final with 117 off 57 balls, was enough to reawaken the instinct that has made him a prized T20 asset all over the world.He didn’t quite get three figures this time, falling just four short, but 96 off 53 balls was enough to ensure Super Kings recovered from a slow start – they only got off the mark off the 11th ball of the innings – to chase down Sunrisers’ 175 with six wickets and one ball to spare.Super Kings won the toss for the ninth time in eleven matches, and they put Sunrisers in. The early wicket of Johnny Bairstow came amid a slow start, and even though David Warner continued his form with another half-century, a strike rate of 126 meant he wasn’t able to do enough damage for Sunrisers to post a total closer to 200. Manish Pandey picked up the slack, and finished unbeaten with 83 off 49, but Sunrisers struggled to find a weak link in the Super Kings bowling attack. Even though Sunrisers had seven wickets in the bank, the late acceleration that has become so vital in the IPL was largely absent from the later stages of their innings. An inconsistent bowling display and a resurgent Watson ensured the effort with the bat wasn’t quite enough.5:01

Tait: Watson’s always fancied facing spin

Watson’s masterclassWatson’s struggles had caused debate over his place in the Super Kings starting eleven, but they kept faith in the veteran Australian. When he batted out a maiden over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar – Sunrisers’ captain in the absence of Kane Williamson – to start the chase, it looked like today would be more of the same from the 37-year old. But Watson was just getting warmed up, and a six and four off Khaleel Ahmed in the fifth over were harbingers of a sleeping giant finally beginning to stir. Shakib went for a six soon after before Watson took a shine to Sandeep Sharma. Nineteen off the 12th over saw the asking rate slide dramatically, and an off-colour Rashid Khan was shown no mercy by Watson. In full flow all of a sudden, he smashed the 20-year old Afghan legspinner for two sixes and two fours in his last two overs. Soon after, the required rate was below six, and by the time Watson nicked off to the keeper, Chennai’s job was all but done.Shane Watson watches the ball sail away•BCCI

Chennai’s bowling consistencyHarbhajan Singh and Deepak Chahar may have been the only ones to take wickets for Chennai, but other than that, all five bowlers posted strikingly similar figures. Each conceded between 30 and 39 runs, and the absence of one bowler Sunrisers could pick on showed in the later stages of their innings. Despite having several wickets in hand, there appeared no coherent plan with regards to approaching the final onslaught, with Super Kings’ discipline shaving several runs off their target. Following Warner’s dismissal, Vijay Shankar never could get going, leaving Pandey to fight a lone hand against a well-drilled bowling attack. It was, as we were to see soon, in stark contrast to Sunrisers’ bowling effort…Sunrisers’ bowling strugglesIn the past two games, Rashi Khan conceded a total of 40 runs in his allocated eight overs. Not once had he allowed more than 27 in an innings this season, but today would reduce all those numbers to rubble. With Watson rampant, Rashid went for – by his standards – a colossal 44 in his four as Sunrisers’ saw their trump card neutralised comprehensively in the middle overs. To make matters worse, he wasn’t their most expensive bowler, with Sandeep Sharma conceding 54 in 3.5. Despite a valiant effort by Bhuvneshwar, who conceded just 18 in his four overs, the profligacy from the rest of the attack meant defending a medium-sized total became a near-insurmountable task.

Xavi opened up about Barcelona's financial woes as he urged the fans to remain patient to find success again.

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Xavi spoke about Barcelona's financial constraintsUrged fans to be patient for successBlaugrana failed to win any trophy this seasonWHAT HAPPENED?

The Catalan giants have remained financially crippled for the past few seasons and are more than €1 billion in debt. They have been forced to activate 'financial levers' in the past that included selling off some of the club's assets.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Under such immense financial distress, the Blaugrana manager Xavi has asked for more time to bring success to the club and urged the fans to remain patient. After winning La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup in the 2022/23 season, the Catalan side will go trophyless in the current campaign.

WHAT XAVI SAID

Speaking to reporters, the 44-year-old said, "The Culé must understand that the situation is very complicated to compete economically. It has nothing to do with what we had 25 years ago when the coach would come and say ‘I want this one, this one, and this one’. It doesn’t work like that anymore.

"I understand that and that’s how we’re going to adjust to it. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to compete. We need stability and time. There are good things to compete for. The situation we are in is the situation we are in in terms of results. Last year we were solvent without playing the football we would like to play and this year, we have played better, but with worse results."

He added, "We are living the situation that the club has at an economic level to compete. We need to compete better. The season has slipped away from us because of details."

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@GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

The club will be next seen in action on Thursday night as they take on Almeria in La Liga in an away fixture.