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On a pitch that offered bounce and sharp turn Delhi Daredevils lost three wickets for a song, before Gautam Gambhir and Mithun Manhas batted with determination to secure a valuable victory

The Bulletin by George Binoy15-Apr-201020 overs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGautam Gambhir and Mithun Manhas revived Delhi after a top-order collapse•Indian Premier LeagueChennai Super Kings were restricted to their lowest total of the season at the MA Chidambaran stadium, and yet they threatened to defend it. On a pitch that offered bounce and sharp turn Delhi Daredevils lost three wickets for a song before Gautam Gambhir and Mithun Manhas batted with determination, fighting dehydration, to secure a valuable victory. It wasn’t until 17.1 overs that Delhi’s run-rate touched six for the first time in the chase and they overhauled 112 with eight balls to spare.Delhi had lost to Punjab on a similar surface at home, although the Kotla surface was slower, and they had to contend with the humidity of Chennai as well after MS Dhoni chose to bat. However, their fast bowlers Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes, back after a finger injury, made vital incisions into the Chennai line-up, an advantage their spinners capitalised on. Chennai were 39 for 3 after the Powerplay, 55 for 6 after ten overs, and only an eleventh-hour boost propped them past three figures. Doug Bollinger hit the only six of the innings – in the 18th over – and it turned out to be the only one of the match.The chase was anything but straightforward. David Warner slapped his second ball, from offspinner R Ashwin, to cover and Bollinger dismissed Virender Sehwag – Hayden leaping at slip to take the catch overhead – and Tillakaratne Dilshan in the second over. Chants of “Bollinger, Bollinger” resonated around the ground and he left Delhi reeling at 7 for 3.The first boundary came in the third over when, after four consecutive dot balls, Gambhir charged Ashwin and edged past slip. The next came in the fifth, when a ripping offbreak snuck through Dinesh Karthik’s bat-pad gap and past Dhoni for four byes. The third in the sixth over, when Karthik flicked Bollinger through midwicket – the first commanding shot of the innings. Karthik fell soon after, though, miscuing a pull in Shadab Jakati’s first over to midwicket, leaving Delhi on 38 for 4.Delhi held Paul Collingwood back and sent in Manhas, who provided his captain sensible support. Gambhir, run out thrice in his last four innings, was steely: there were no ambitious shots and he played the ball late, cutting and glancing for ones and twos. The humidity was getting to him, running between the wickets became increasingly hard, but Gambhir ensured the asking-rate never touched six until late in the innings.Slowly but surely Gambhir and Manhas steered Delhi to safety. Manhas released pressure by cutting L Balaji and pulling Ashwin for fours before Gambhir hit a brace of boundaries off Raina to end Chennai’s challenge. He pulled Bollinger for four in the 18th over to bring up 50 off 51 balls, and victory came soon after. Gambhir and Manhas’ match-winning stand of 75 had taken 11.4 overs.Delhi’s spinners, however, had provided their batsmen a sign of what was to come. They came on after the Powerplay and Dilshan, Sehwag and Amit Mishra strangled the scoring-rate with frequent wickets. Chennai slid from 52 for 3 to 55 for 6 in the space of two overs: Suresh Raina lofted Dilshan to deep cover, where Yadav ran in to judge the catch, Michael Hussey lobbed Sehwag tamely to cover, and Albie Morkel was caught at slip. Sehwag got him with a terrific delivery: it drifted into the left-hander from round the wicket, dipped, pitched on leg and middle, and spun across the face of the bat. Morkel pushed forward and the outside edge went to Collingwood at slip, who dived forward to take a low catch.Chennai were reeling at 55 for 6 by the half-way stage, with only S Badrinath left of the specialist batsmen. The hosts managed to take 12 off the final over – 33 off the last three – to reach a total their bowlers attempted valiantly to defend, but in vain.

If one were to summarise Rajasthan Royals’ campaign thus far with a single word, then it would be ‘resurgence’, but their opponents on Wednesday could lay a rightful claim to the same description

The Preview by Nitin Sundar30-Mar-2010Match factsWednesday, March 31
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Can Shane Warne and co. stop a David Warner encore?•Indian Premier LeagueBig pictureIf one were to summarise Rajasthan Royals’ campaign thus far with a single word, then it would be ‘resurgence’. While they prepare for their first return encounter, they will do well to keep in mind that their opponents, Delhi Daredevils, could lay a rightful claim to the same description.A week is a long time in the IPL; a fortnight, an era. On day three of the tournament, Rajasthan were steam-rolled by Delhi in a hopelessly lop-sided encounter. Yusuf Pathan succumbed for a blob before Virender Sehwag hammered Shaun Tait; the match was effectively over even before Shane Warne came on to bowl. Prior to that, Rajasthan had fallen short by the slimmest of margins in their opening game and, later, they were decimated by Royal Challengers Bangalore, leading to early obituaries.All that is history now. Rajasthan’s big guns have found their range in the ensuing period, and they have reeled off four convincing wins to become serious title-contenders. Yusuf has been devastating with bat, and canny with the ball; Warne has got his spin to talk like it did in his heyday, and Tait has been fast and furious. But Rajasthan’s rise can, in large measure, be attributed to their lesser-knowns, and their ability to synergise and present a whole that is far larger than the sum of its parts – a reprisal of their blueprint circa 2008.Delhi’s fortunes have vacillated out of sync with Rajasthan’s, but in an equally extreme fashion. They began with a bang, as they have in previous seasons, running to two comprehensive wins before the injury to their captain Gautam Gambhir heralded a nadir of sorts, leading to defeats against Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers.Rajasthan reignited their campaign by beating the off-colour Kolkata Knight Riders; Delhi found their self-belief by trouncing the form team of the tournament, Bangalore. With David Warner getting into the groove, they had no trouble in putting it past Kolkata on the tricky Kotla surface, where familiarity to the conditions counts for a lot. Both these teams hold winning hands, but on Wednesday only one of them can come up trumps.Form guide (most recent first)Delhi Daredevils WWLLL
Rajasthan Royals WWWWLTeam talkThere are not many teams in the tournament that can afford to bench names like AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan, but such is the class in Delhi’s batting line-up. In both their recent wins, Andrew McDonald was the weakest link with the ball, going at nearly 10-an-over in his eight overs. In his place, Farveez Maharoof might get another look-in, or Ashish Nehra could make his first appearance in the tournament, provided he is fully fit. Will Delhi break with the norm by bringing him in for McDonald, thereby going in with just three overseas players?While Delhi’s batting line-up oozes class, Rajasthan’s is made up of bits-and-pieces players. Michael Lumb, Naman Ojha, Faiz Fazal and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala have all clicked and their top order looks as settled as Delhi’s. Sumit Narwal was taken to the cleaners by Chennai, and could make way for Munaf Patel or Amit Uniyal.Previously…Rajasthan 3 Delhi 3
Gambhir’s team would be ill-advised if it becomes complacent based on the virtual walk-over in Ahmedabad, earlier this month.In the spotlightYusuf Pathan v Amit Mishra: After Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan, Mishra has by far been the best spinner on view. His googly to castle Jacques Kallis, and his dipping leg-spinner that bamboozled Mandeep Singh are two dismissals that highlight the kind of form he is in. At some point during this match, he is likely to bowl at the man who has happily dismantled most spinners who have come his way. Yusuf will still be smarting from the way he was dismissed by Shadab Jakati in his last innings. Can Mishra deny him two meals on the trot?Umesh Yadav: As any wary Indian cricket fan will tell you, hyping a pace-prospect is fraught with danger – most of them lose pace and fitness once they hit the headlines. These are early days yet, but Yadav has easily been the fastest Indian bowler in the IPL, hitting 145 kph and troubling batsmen with disconcerting lines. He comes off two splendid spells, and though he is yet to get many wickets, the yorker that cleaned up Angelo Mathews in the previous game holds a lot of promise. With Nehra’s recovery, Yadav knows he is one poor outing away from the bench, and that could spur him on to greater deeds.Prime numbersShaun Tait has blasted his way to third position in the race for the Purple Cap, with nine scalps to his name. Mishra has eight wicketsYusuf and Sehwag occupy the third and fifth spots in the quest for the Orange Cap, with 250 and 203 runs respectively. Among batsmen who have made over 150 runs, they have been the fastest scorers, with strike-rates just under 180The chatter”It’s taken a few games to get back to bowling my best but I feel comfortable now, had to work hard though… Royals on a roll, 2008 feeling!”

Waqar Younis has been offered a contract by the PCB to coach the Pakistan side until December 2011

Osman Samiuddin27-Feb-2010Waqar Younis has been offered a contract by the PCB to coach the Pakistan side until December 2011. The former fast bowler, in Sydney currently, received the contract yesterday and is expected to sign it and send it back over the next few days, in the process becoming Pakistan’s fourth coach in three years.The PCB finally confirmed that they had made an offer to Waqar to coach the side. “I would like Waqar to join the Pakistan team,” Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, said at a press conference. “We are awaiting a reply as we have offered him to take over as our head coach.”It is believed that Waqar has some concerns over the contract that has been sent and will raise a couple of points with the board. There is likely to be further negotiation over the financial package and Waqar is also keen to have a clause which allows him to take stock of his role after the 2011 World Cup, a buffer of sorts against what is a generally a period of considerable administrative turbulence.Some of the targets set in the contract, about what the team needs to be achieving in that timescale might also be re-calibrated. None of them, however, are thought to be significant enough to derail his desire to be coach.Waqar will likely be working alongside former team-mate Ijaz Ahmed, who will be, according to Butt, the fielding coach for the side. Ijaz was in charge of the recent Under-19 Pakistan side that finished runners-up at the World Cup in New Zealand; as one of the best Pakistan fielders of his time he is expected to improve the lot of what must be among the world’s poorest fielding sides. Ijaz was with the side in Dubai as a batting and fielding trainer for the two Twenty20 internationals against England.The PCB has also spoken about their plans to engage foreign coaches for consultancy stints as and when needed on Pakistan’s tours, of which there will be a few given that they are not playing at home for some time. The idea sits well with Waqar.”I think that is good thinking and I would be happy with anything that works to better and improve the state of the national side,” Waqar told Cricinfo.Remarkably there is still no official announcement on the fate of Intikhab Alam, the man Waqar is replacing. Intikhab still has time to run on his contract; he was appointed for two years in October 2008. The board initially said that a decision would be taken on the coaching set-up only after an inquiry committee analyzing the Australia tour completed its work and made its recommendations. But they seem to have pre-empted themselves by contacting and now offering the position, without having – publicly at least – decided on the fate of Intikhab.

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has dropped a claim concerning the future of Tyler Roberts.

What’s been said?

In recent comments cited by Leeds Live, the 66-year-old suggested that he would not stand in the way of a player’s departure if it was evident that they did not want to remain at the club, although went on to claim that, despite Roberts having fallen down the pecking order in recent weeks, he is keen to keep the 22-year-old at Elland Road ahead of the transfer window.

Concerning the 19-time capped Wales international’s future, Bielsa offered the following hint: “Tyler is also someone who I have accompanied with, with his efforts to get into the team and whilst he continues to have that desire to fight for a place in the team then I will still want him to be here. It is different when a player has the desire to leave. When a player has a desire to leave, there is no point in trying to keep him.”

Time to go

While Bielsa’s comments regarding Roberts’ commitment to the cause are all well and good, whether or not the attacker is good enough to play a regular role in a team of Leeds’ current standing is another matter altogether.

Indeed, over his 13 Premier League appearances so far this season – only one of which has come as a start – the £5.4m-rated man has failed to score a goal, register an assist and has created just one big chance for his side, as well as taking an average of 0.9 shots and making a mere 0.6 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £3.5k-per-week forward average a SofaScore match rating of 6.75, ranking him as Bielsa’s 10th-worst performer in the top flight.

It was a similar story for the player who Gabriel Agbonlahor dubbed “frustrating” last season, with the 22-year-old scoring one goal, providing two assists and earning a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.76 over his 27 Premier League appearances – ranking him as the club’s eighth-worst player in the league.

As such, while it would appear that Roberts’ application is not in question, whether or not the attacker is a top-flight standard player is much more debatable, something that would appear to support the argument of Victor Orta looking to ship the Welshman out in January.

In other news: Radz could be set for colossal LUFC disaster as swoop for “massive” gem is “discussed”

Some West Brom fans have been left fuming over some news that has been shared involving Dara O’Shea.

As shared by The Express & Star journalist Joseph Masi, O’Shea has now been banned for three matches and fined £7,500 for an incident that happened during the celebrations at Peterborough United back in August.

The central defender pushed a steward to the ground in wild celebration, which has now gotten him punished.

Perhaps luckily for O’Shea and the Baggies, the ban is immediate, which means that he will be banned for the next three games, despite already being out with a long-term injury.

Nonetheless, some Albion supporters were still fuming that he got a ban despite appearing not to seriously harm the steward, while others were left annoyed at how long the FA took to make their decision.

West Brom fans on O’Shea ban

These members of the Hawthorns faithful fumed as the update was shared on Twitter:

“What a joke this is”

Credit: @Richardthomasd5

“Why has it taken so long come come to this? I suppose we can blame it on Covid. We do everything else.”

Credit: @bricoleshotmai1

“FA are pathetic”

Credit: @kookaburra25

“Nothing for Ferguson’s childish rants then?”

Credit: @Stevotop

“Pathetic”

Credit: @JakeWBA97

“This has to be the most pointless 3 game ban ever”

Credit: @lewis_botfield

In other news, find out what official club post had WBA fans talking here!

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, will return to Australia in time for the first Test in Brisbane

Cricinfo staff22-Nov-2009The West Indies have received a major boost with Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, due to fly back to Australia in time for Thursday’s first Test. Gayle will leave the Caribbean on Monday after his mother was allowed to leave hospital following a serious heart problem.Gayle went home to Jamaica before the tour match last week to be with her and will face a disrupted preparation. He is due to land in Brisbane just a day before the three-game series begins.The news is still a huge help to the West Indies, who are rebuilding following a players’ strike and need another senior player to support Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the batting order. Gayle has been twittering while in the Caribbean and his last post confirmed his mother was fine. “As I tweet doc call an say she can leave tonight even better, just want to thank everyone for prayers an support an best wishes.”A West Indies team spokesman said: “Chris will rejoin the team so clearly that’s good news for everyone. We are happy his mum is doing well.”

As per the Daily Express, there has been an update on West Ham United manager David Moyes’ bid to bring a new striker to the London Stadium.

The Lowdown: Moyes ‘desperate’ for new forward…

One of the Scotsman’s personal summer transfer missions was, unsurprisingly, the quest to sign a new out-and-out striker to provide backup to Michail Antonio.

The 31-year-old, who is currently on tour with Jamaica during this international break, has suffered with various fitness issues in the past and his injury record comes as a possible cause for concern.

He has been in red-hot form so far this season, bagging six goals and three assists in just 10 top-flight outings whilst winning August’s Premier League Player of the Month award.

One bad knock for Antonio could spell trouble, with Moyes previously admitting to the press he has been ‘desperate’ to sign an alternative natural striking option.

There have been no shortage of links to potential new additions, including the likes of Adam Hlozek and Andrea Belotti most recently, but it now looks as if Moyes has his eyes on another target.

The Latest: West Ham eye Simeone swoop…

According to Daily Express and transfer reporter Ryan Taylor, the Hammers are eyeing a ‘third transfer swoop’ for in-form Serie A goal machine Simeone.

The Hellas Verona star, who is currently on loan from Cagliari, is now apparently ‘top of West Ham’s striker shortlist’ after they had previously attempted to sign him twice over 2021.

They apparently explored Simeone, the son of Atletico Madrid boss Diego, on a couple of occasions this year – once in the January window and again in the summer, when they entered talks over a ‘potential loan plus £14million option to buy’.

However, as explained by this report, there may be a problem in West Ham’s pursuit of the 26-year-old, with Hellas looking set to trigger an option to buy. This may ‘complicate’ a move for West Ham and it currently looks unclear whether they can prise Simeone away from Italy.

The Verdict: Time to move on?

Out of Moyes’ striking shortlist, it’s no surprise the Argentine international has made his way to the top given his stellar form so far this campaign.

Bagging nine goals and three assists in just 10 Serie A outings (Transfermarkt), he has even managed to outscore Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic who is one of the most coveted strikers in Europe right now.

Former Real Madrid boss and footballing icon Zinedine Zidane is also an admirer of Simeone, having previously admitted to Italian TV (via Tribal Football) that he ‘really’ likes the forward. The 26-year-old has also racked up a solid career tally of 79 goals across his senior career, pointing to a prolific option.

However, given Hellas’ role and the rumour that they’re looking set to trigger his option to buy, Moyes may now need to ponder alternatives, and we believe Belotti comes as the most fruitful option.

An experienced Italy international and proven scorer at the top level, Torino may also be forced to sell for a cheaper price in January given that his contract expires in 2022.

In other news: ‘Huge’ – Sky Sports pundit raves as West Ham eye ‘massive signing’ for Moyes, find out more here.

While West Brom may not have had a perfect start to their Championship campaign with 17 games played, the Baggies are still very much in the mix to secure a promotion place by the end of the season, currently sat in third place in the league table with 32 points from nine wins, five draws and three defeats under their belt.

One player that has played a big part in West Brom’s season so far is defender Conor Townsend, who has started all 17 of their league games and ultimately played more minutes than any other Baggies player, showing just how important he is for Valerien Ismael.

In addition to this, the 28-year-old has also highlighted his versatility on the pitch by playing as a centre-back, left-back and left-midfielder at times this season, which is a big sign as to why Ismael has picked him to start so many times.

Regarding his performances, from a defensive point of view, Townsend has racked up an average of 2.8 aerials won (47 in total), 1.8 tackles, 1.5 clearances and 1.4 interceptions per game in the Championship, proving himself as a vital part of West Brom’s back line.

As well as his defensive contributions, Townsend has also proven himself to be a useful attacking outlet for the team, contributing an average of 1.5 key passes per match, with the Englishman securing two assists for the team which came during their 2-2 draw against AFC Bournemouth on the opening day of the season followed by their 1-1 draw against Millwall back in September.

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to say that Townsend, who has been described as a “confident” player on the ball by Baggies journalist Steve Madeley, has been a real hero for Ismael this season given his versatility, reliability and all-round ability up and down the pitch.

Moving forward, with Dara O’Shea still out injured for the next few months and the fact that Kean Bryan has now been ruled out for the remainder of the season through injury, Ismael will undoubtedly be hoping that Townsend will be able to keep fit for the rest of the campaign.

He’ll need to keep delivering the sort of performances that he has been doing, as he could give the Baggies a great chance of securing a place back in the Premier League.

In other news: WBA must secure deal for “wonderful” 6ft4 beast, it may be season-defining for Ismael – opinion

With things beginning to look on the up for Celtic under the leadership of Ange Postecoglou in recent weeks, as the Bhoys have picked up 12 points from 12 available over their last four fixtures in all competitions, the 56-year-old manager will undoubtedly be hoping for yet another positive result when the Hoops make the trip to Hibernian on Wednesday evening.

And, with Jack Ross’ side being in rather contrasting form to Celtic at present, with Hibs currently on a run of three straight defeats in the league, Postecoglou will be more than aware that the fixture presents his team with a fantastic opportunity to close the gap on the current Scottish Premiership leaders.

So, will Postecoglou make any changes to the team which started the 2-0 win at St. Johnstone last Saturday? Here’s how we think Celtic could line up against Hibernian, along with the latest team and injury news…

With Postecoglou recently revealing that he has no fresh injury concerns ahead of Wednesday’s fixture, as well as suggesting James McCarthy could be in line to make a return to the matchday squad, we predict that the 56-year-old will make two changes to the team that lined up against St. Johnstone last weekend.

The first of these changes comes in the heart of the Celtic defence, with the £20k-per-week Cameron Carter-Vickers making way for 21-year-old Stephen Welsh – who could very much do with a run-out having not featured in any of the Hoops last four league fixtures.

The remainder of the back five is untouched, with Joe Hart starting between the sticks, while Josip Juranovic and Anthony Ralston retain their spots at left and right-back respectively, and Carl Starfelt lines up alongside Welsh at centre-back.

In the middle of the park, Callum McGregor, David Turnbull and Tom Rogic also retain their starting spots, with the trio having highly impressed for the Bhoys in recent weeks – while, despite his return to fitness, James McCarthy has to make do with a place on the bench.

The second change comes in Celtic’s front three, with the recently recovered Mikey Johnston replacing Jota on the left-hand side of the attack in order to afford the £900k-rated man some much-needed game time, while Georgios Giakoumakis and Kyogo Furuhashi line up alongside the 22-year-old.

In other news: Ange must unleash £2.7m-rated Celtic “phenomenon” vs Hibs, he’s a game-changer

Leeds United winger Raphinha may have become even more crucial for the Whites than Kalvin Phillips, according to journalist Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Raphinha excels on Brazil debut

The 24-year-old has been superb for Leeds since arriving from Rennes in 2020 and he has taken his form with him to the international stage.

Raphinha registered two assists on his Brazil debut on Thursday evening, helping them to a 3-1 victory away to Venezuela in a World Cup qualifier.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375277″]

The Latest: Hay hails winger

It was a performance that summed up Raphinha’s brilliance, and taking to Twitter on Friday morning, The Athletic‘s Hay admitted that he could be the first name on Leeds’ team-sheet, ahead of even Phillips:

“One of the questions in the mailbag was ‘Is Raphinha Leeds’ most important player?’ and even though Phillips is the player Leeds really miss, you could easily make an argument for Raphinha.”

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The Verdict: Phillips still the key man

Raphinha is a wonderful footballer who is unquestionably one of Leeds’ star men, but Phillips is still the player they miss the most when he isn’t there, losing seven out of the nine fixtures he was absent for in the top flight last term.

That was highlighted in the 5-1 defeat at Manchester United on the opening weekend of the season when the Whites’ midfield fell apart without him in the team.

Phillips has averaged 2.3 tackles per game in the Premier League this season – only Liam Cooper (2.7) has more – as well as an 84.6 percent pass completion rate.

The England international brings so much energy, quality and all-round influence in the middle of the park that he has the edge over Raphinha, which isn’t to diminish his own class as a footballer.

In other news, one Leeds player has been tipped to make a ‘breakthrough’. Find out who it is here.