Tag Futebol

Half centuries to Matthew Hayden and Martin Love, together with a disastrous Victorian batting collapse, have helped Queensland assume control by the halfway mark of the Pura Cup match between the teams in Brisbane. At stumps on day two, the Bulls are placed at a score of 4/243 – one that leaves them just six runs shy of the Victorians’ first innings tally with six wickets still in tact.For the Victorians, the devil came in the detail of a debilitating batting collapse through the opening fifty-five minutes of the day’s play. Having resumed at a healthy 4/229 when proceedings began, the Bushrangers surrendered their last six wickets for a mere twenty runs to be reduced, in the end, to the very disappointing total of 249. Pacemen Andy Bichel (4/69) and Adam Dale (3/50) were the chief destroyers, their ability to swing the ball in humid conditions proving too much for the succession of Victorian batsmen who were forced to shuffle their way to and from the pavilion. Wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe also indulged himself, ending with six catches following another fine innings of work behind the stumps.The Bulls then compounded Victoria’s agony by racing off in pursuit of first innings points at a scoring rate of close to four runs per over. With a polished hand, Hayden (81) went a long way toward parcelling up one of the opening spots for the First Test in Brisbane in a fortnight’s time, while Love (51) continued on from where he had left off against Tasmania last week, again timing the ball beautifully to both sides of the wicket. And just for good measure, Andrew Symonds (38*) played another electrifying cameo to thoroughly reinforce Queensland’s advantage before bad light intervened at the end of the day.After their solid start to the match yesterday, the injury-riddled Victorians had headed into the day’s play in a positive frame of mind. But they suffered from a lack of application with the bat, and an inability to restrict Hayden and Love in the course of their 122 run partnership for the second wicket. Pacemen Mathew Inness (2/47) and Michael Lewis (2/43) battled bravely, but there were few ways past the bat for the Bushrangers on a still placid pitch. Also hanging over the fielding team’s head was the absence for much of the day of veteran gloveman Darren Berry, who left the field during the second session on account of a stomach virus.

Tottenham Hotspur are lining up a move for Andrea Belotti this summer…

What’s the word?

That’s according to Italian newspaper Tuttosport (via Sport Witness), who claim that manager Antonio Conte and sporting director Fabio Paratici will attempt to bring the 28-year-old to north London upon the expiry of his contract at Torino.

It’s believed that he wouldn’t be signed as a starter due to Harry Kane’s role at the club. However, he’d be considered as a solid backup to the England talisman.

Napoli are also keen on the Italy international, though the player is less sold on that potential move.

Belotti bargain

Bringing the 5 foot 11 marksman to Hotspur Way would be something of a bargain for Paratici and Conte as they desperately need reinforcements in attack, where Kane is the only senior centre-forward option.

It would be a low-risk signing given that they wouldn’t have to pay a fee for the European champion, one valued at £25.2m – often, the club have had to splash out on backups in this regard. Roberto Soldado cost £26m, Vincent Janssen cost £17m and Fernando Llorente cost £12m.

Belotti has proven to be quite the prolific goalscorer during his time in Turin, with 109 goals in 244 appearances. He has bagged double figures in every season barring the current one, as he has been blighted by injury worries, and that includes a career-best of 28 goals in 2016/17, via Transfermarkt.

Former Spurs goalkeeper Joe Hart has previously lauded his former teammate and his ability to lead the line. He told Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio during a loan stint at Torino:

“Andrea is similar to all the great strikers, English and not. It’s hard to compare him to someone else because he’s special. He’s Belotti and that’s it. He has [an] instinct for goals, personality and he’s a team player: he’s always focused on his team and plays hard to help it.”

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

The 41-cap striker may have struggled this season but that has largely been down to injuries keeping him out of the Torino side. However, now back fit, he has scored two goals in his last five starts, so a comeback may be on the horizon at just the right time.

As Kane badly needs a backup, Spurs could do little wrong in sealing Belotti for absolutely nothing. It would be quite the bargain indeed.

AND in other news, Spurs leading race to sign £42m-rated “special talent”, could be Conte’s next Martinez…

	The Indian team was given a grand reception in Delhi © AFP

The Indian one-day team returned from the CB Series in Australia to a rousing reception at the Delhi airport, where they were greeted by hundreds of fans and received by officials of the Indian board and the Delhi and District Cricket Association.After a hard-fought series, where they won the finals 2-0, the team reached Mumbai in the morning and took a chartered flight to Delhi for a function at Feroz Shah Kotla. They were joined there by two members of the World Cup-winning under-19 side – Virat Kohli, the captain and Pradeep Sangwan – who play for Delhi.Speaking at the function, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the team captain, praised his side, which became the first Indian team to win a triangular one-day series in Australia. The series was played out amid some controversy and Dhoni made special mention of the team’s behaviour: “The conduct of my team on and off the field is responsible for our victory.”Sachin Tendulkar, who played match-winning knocks in both the finals, told news channel CNN-IBN that the team hadn’t been distracted by the controversies – which originated in the Sydney Test – during the tour. “Plenty of things happened on the field, but we were focussed on the cricket.”Rohit Sharma, who made a vital 66 in the first final, echoed Tendulkar’s sentiments. “We tried to enjoy our cricket as much as possible,” he said. “All the controversies motivated us.” The BCCI had initially planned an open-top bus parade from the airport, similar to the welcome the team had received after winning the World Twenty20, but decided against it later. “The players have been in Australia for more than two-and-a-half months and will also be tired after the two flights,” BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla told PTI. “That’s why we have not made any elaborate arrangements as the players will be eager to go home.”A reward of Rs 10 crore (US$2.5 million) had already been announced for the team.

Adam Gilchrist says a second win in a row is expected © Getty Images

The players in St Kitts currently seem to exist in a parallel universe. Upsets may be raining down in Jamaica and Trinidad, but the status quo in the World Cup’s smallest base camp hasn’t come close to being rattled. As Australia went through the motions ahead of their clash with The Netherlands at Warner Park on Sunday, Adam Gilchrist gave an indication of the relaxed mood in their camp, by admitting he didn’t even know how crushing South Africa’s 221-run victory over the Dutch had been.It’s a safe bet that this match won’t be providing the next great upset of what is already proving to be a spectacular World Cup. Herschelle Gibbs’ historical onslaught has left the Dutch morale dangling at their bootstraps, and their captain, Luuk van Troost, conceded that they would be hard-pressed to get over such a beating in just 24 hours.”We must clear our minds and try to forget what happened on Friday,” van Troost said. “We didn’t enjoy what happened against South Africa, there weren’t many positives, and I don’t want any more world records against my team. We need to do the basics right against Australia. If we bowl well and field with discipline we can be a better side.”Gilchrist did his best to avoid any complacency, although his confidence was understandable. “No result is a given, we’re well aware of that,” he said. “But winning is expected of us and we’d be disappointed if we lose. Some of the wickets here are going to provide assistance to slower bowling and that brings everyone into the game a bit more than an absolute flat road does where batsmen can swing freely. But securing the victory is the main thing.”Australia are unlikely to risk a recall for Andrew Symonds for such a low-key battle, although his return cannot be far off. In the nets on Saturday he was bowling his offbreaks for the first time since tearing his right bicep seven weeks ago, and to judge by some of the straight drives that scudded into the sightscreen, his big hitting has not been diminished by surgery.”It’s been really good solid progress from Symmo,” Gilchrist said. “He is right on track from where we had planned and plotted [he would be] prior to coming over here. When he gets back to playing an actual game, I’m not sure when that it is, but as far as being where we would like him to be, he’s progressing well.” The South Africa game next Saturday is the most likely option.

Luuk van Troost: “We didn’t enjoy what happened against South Africa” © Getty Images

As for Australia making their own assault on the record books, Gilchrist wouldn’t be drawn into a six-hitting competition with the South Africans, although he was pretty confident his team-mates would put on a similar show. “Most of the top teams have got power hitters now in one-day cricket,” he said. “I don’t see any team really having an advantage. Most of the grounds in this region are pretty small, and such is the way that batsmen approach the closing overs in one-day cricket, there is going to be a lot of sixes hit.”As for the Dutch, to judge by van Troost’s resigned air, they are braced for the inevitable. “We haven’t decided on our final line-up,” he said, although having omitted both of their spinners, Adeel Raja and Mohammad Kashif for the South Africa match, that mistake is unlikely to be repeated. “We have a meeting coming up in the evening and only then we will decide. As for whether we bat or bowl first, we have no idea.”Australia (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Brad Hodge, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Shaun Tait.The Netherlands (probable) 1 Darron Reekers, 2 Bas Zuiderent, 3 Alex Kervezee, 4 Ryan ten Doeschate, 5 Daan van Bunge, 6 Eric Szwarczynski, 7 Tim de Leede, 8 Adeel Raja, 9 Luuk van Troost, 10 Billy Stelling, 11 Jeroen Smits (wk).

Darren Lehmann and Daniel Harris led a strong South Australian reply to a commanding Western Australian total at the WACA, as the batsmen continued to dominate. The pair added 133 for the second wicket to give the Redbacks a fair chance of matching WA, who had been boosted by Marcus North’s century and Brett Dorey’s 53.Lehmann scored at nearly a run-a-ball, striking 14 boundaries, but Harris didn’t loose much in comparison, hitting 13 fours during his 139-ball innings. However, Harris couldn’t quite play out the day, falling two overs before the close to North’s off spin. He had earlier played second fiddle in an opening stand of 79 with Shane Deitz, who scored 48 of his 55 in boundaries.WA consolidated their innings during the first half of the day, despite the best efforts of the South Australian attack to chip away. Jason Gillespie, Paul Rofe and Dan Cullen took a wicket apiece, and at 7 for 323 the home team were in danger of not building on their solid work from the opening day.However, North remained firm and reached his second hundred of the season. The total was then given a somewhat unexpected boost as Dorey clubbed a maiden first-class fifty, carrying WA towards their declaration.

Younis Khan kept his cool and made the Indians pay© Getty Images

Younis KhanOn his chances of getting a triple century
I never thought of getting it, I just played for my team. I never think of statistics and records while playing, I just play for my team.On the pressure he’s faced over the years
I have never played with fear. Pressure does not affect me. I just aim to enjoy my cricket. If I get dropped from the Test side tomorrow, I will go and play cricket somewhere else, and I will continue to enjoy it.On the difficult parts of the innings
The first and the last few balls are always difficult. If you carry yourself through those, you’re OK. And I managed to get through those first few overs today.On what inspired him
The innings Inzamam played yesterday – but I couldn’t play as well as he did.On batting at No. 3
When I was made vice-captain, people advised me to take the opportunity to bat lower down the order, in a safer position. But I thought of how I had been thrust into the No 3 position in 2000 against the West Indies against [Courtney] Walsh and [Curtly] Ambrose. I did not want to put a young player in that position; I took it upon myself. I shall bat anywhere my team wants me to bat. I’ll open if they want me to; I’ll bat at No. 10 if they want me to.On playing Anil Kumble
I played him as if he were an inswing bowler.On the pitch
There are cracks on the pitch, and we will use those cracks.On his stay in India
I love it. Everywhere I have gone, people have given me so much love and wished me well. The room service boys, the housecleaning boys, I love this country.Harbhajan SinghOn choosing to bowl his doosra
Yes, I bowled my doosra. Why shouldn’t I? After all, the ICC had cleared it.On the pitch
It is good for batting, and will remain so. There’s not much spin onit, but good bounce. The bounce was more important [than the turn]. Igot a fair amount of bounce from the rough which was created by IrfanPathan.On the wicket he enjoyed most
Abdul Razzaq’s. I tossed the ball up, he tried to play thecover-drive, and I took the catch.On the controversies plaguing him
I was confident [to get through]. When these things happen, theseallegations, how you deal with them shows your character.On a chat he had with Sunil Gavaskar
He asked me why I was looking so thin.He told me that I was bowling at just the right pace, and I shouldcontinue doing what I was doing.On what he was discussing with Younis Khan
Oh, it wasn’t a heated conversation. But you know, we were speaking inPunjabi, and Punjabi is such a language that even when you have anormal conversatiion in it, it sounds heated.

Close Australia 262 for 2 (Langer 115*, Ponting 52) v India
Scorecard

Where’s the ball, Justin? Langer wasn’t at his fluent best, but he was still too good for India © Getty Images

The best part of Sourav Ganguly’s day lasted for a few minutes, first thing in the morning. He won the toss and put Australia in. But winning the toss against Australia is about as useful as using an umbrella to keep dry under the Niagara Falls. Australia rattled up 262 for 2, on a rain-interrupted first day in which Justin Langer clattered 115, and the closest thing to batting failure was Matthew Hayden’s breezy 37.Langer’s innings formed the backbone of a strong Australian score, both literally and figuratively. He was gritty, solid, no-frills and vitally important for the stability of the innings. Around him there were batsmen of greater panache and ability who played dreamy drives and powerful thumps. But no runs look better than the ones on the scoreboard. The way Langer paced his innings put the Indians on the back foot, and kept them there all day.To begin with, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan bowled too full, floating the ball into just the right place for Langer and Hayden to drive. And drive they did, in contrasting styles. Hayden stood tall and bludgeoned, Langer punched and pushed, almost apologetically. Hayden’s booming drives pinged the advertising hoardings, while Langer’s shots trickled over the ropes, often with a ragged Indian fielder in tow.When Akash Chopra caught Langer smartly at short square leg off a Nehra no-ball, and the Indian fielders had to rein in their delight, it set the tone for the day. Lady luck turned her face away from the carnage. The ball beat the bat more than once, when Zaheer bent his back and produced a good spell, but did not result in an edge. The ball tricked the bat and hit pad more than once, but did not result in an lbw.But, as they say, you make your own luck. Australia kept their run rate hovering around the four mark with unwavering certainty. Hayden reached 37 from 52 balls before flashing a delivery from Zaheer into VVS Laxman’s lap in the slip cordon (73 for 1).India needed to tighten the screws at this stage. They had to slip in a few quiet overs and put pressure on Ricky Ponting, the new batsman. Ajit Agarkar achieved the exact opposite, with a string of half-volleys that Ponting pummelled back down the ground for boundaries. Ganguly, frustrated and sheepish in equal measure, removed Agarkar from the attack after a first spell of 5-1-40-0.

Matthew Hayden: got off to a sparkling start but couldn’t keep going © AFP

Since pace clearly did not work, Gangly turned to Harbhajan Singh, his lone spinner. Harbhajan, picked ahead of Anil Kumble for this Test, was welcomed to the attack with a savage Langer cut that raced to the point fence. Ponting, who was dismissed no fewer than five times by Harbhajan when Australia last toured India, made a bold statement by coming down the track and smashing Harbhajan into the stands over long-on.Spin and pace had both failed in the face of the Langer-Ponting combination, which added 89 runs for the second wicket. Almost against the run of play, Ponting (52) then dismissed himself, when he top-edged a pull to Parthiv Patel behind the stumps (162 for 2). Zaheer allowed himself a smile, having taken Ponting’s wicket with the unlikeliest of deliveries, a short one.Damien Martyn began his pleasurable stay at the crease with a tickle down to the fine-leg boundary. He waited on the ball, was in no hurry, and built his innings. With Australia scoring as quickly as they were, Martyn didn’t need to take any risks. Playing his natural game, treating the bowling on merit, Martyn helped himself to 36 runs. Langer, unbeaten on 115 (175 balls, 16 fours), was happy to walk off the field when Steve Bucknor offered him the light. Although only 62 overs were bowled in the day, Australia scored quickly enough, at 4.22 runs per over, to reach 262.The Indians were also happy to walk off, as that was perhaps the only way they were going to get any respite from this onslaught. Ganguly walked off just behind Langer, applauding him as he crossed over the ropes to a waiting Hayden. That might be just about the shape of things to come for the Indians in the gruelling weeks ahead.

Peter Bowler who enjoyed one of the best season’s of his long career in 2001 told me earlier this week,” I can’t ever remember being so excited about a new cricket season.”He continued, “It’s great to see the club back towards where they were in the 1980’s, and to have the community behind us.”Last season Peter Bowler helped the club to the best ever season in their history when they ended as runner’s up in the County Championship and won the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.In the championship he scored almost 800 runs at an average of just over 42 runs, as well as scoring 560 runs in the Norwich Union League.”At last it’s all coming together after six or seven years. People forget all of the preparation that has been done. We’ve done all of the hard work to get the young side that we have now – we’re not quite there yet – but can look forward to being one of the top four sides in the country.”How about his own performances I asked. “I’m still improving as a batsman, I’m getting smarter. Physically I’m deteriorating, but just how fast depends on working hard at my fitness.I hope that I can hold back the years by keeping fit and at the moment I feel very fit. I know that I can bat, but it’s all the other bits, running and the athleticism. I’m working very hard at it,”he told me.At the age of thirty eight, how much longer did he see himself continuing in first class cricket. “I don’t even think about stopping playing at the moment. I’m lucky that I have prepared for the next stage of my life, and I’m free to enjoy what I like doing, and that’s playing cricket, batting,” he said, and continued, “While I feel there’s a job to do I’m keen to do it. The game will tell me when it’s finished with me.”What about next season I asked him. “We have our best chance in the one day competitions, especially in the Sunday League. To win the knock out cups you need a bit of luck,” he told me.What about the County Championship in 2002. “To win the championship we have to keep everybody fit and a couple of the young bowlers have to come to the fore. Yes we can win it, but need it all to go our way through the season.”He concluded, “I’ve never won a championship medal. At Derbyshire we ended third and last season we were second. It would be as good a reason as any to go on playing if we don’t win it this year!”

A strong rearguard action saw Hyderabad, 262 for five overnight, score421 in their first innings on the second day of their South Zone CoochBehar Trophy (under-19) match against Andhra at the Ukku stadium inVisakhapatnam on Wednesday. But Andhra, far from being overawed,replied fairly strongly and were 105 for two off 25 overs at stumps.The overnight not out batsmen Arjun Yadav and Ibrahim Khaleel took thescore to 290 before the latter was out for 34. The two had added 61runs for the sixth wicket off 33.5 overs. This was followed by aseventh wicket partnership of 46 runs off 18.2 overs between Yadav andAhmed Qadri. Yadav was out for 52 off 155 balls with four hits to theropes. Syed Yakoob was out first ball but Qadri and Nalin Reddyprolonged Andhra’s agony by adding 76 runs off 35 overs for the ninthwicket. Reddy, who batted two hours for his 32, faced 112 balls andhit four of them to the fence. The innings did not last longthereafter but Qadri came in unbeaten with 64, compiled off 163 ballswith seven boundary hits. Md Faiq, with four for 66, was the mostsuccessful bowler while opening bowler Appala Raju took three for 41.Andhra made a rather shaky start. Openers M Suresh (3) and Manoj Sai(27) were out with only 40 runs on the board. But an unbroken thirdwicket stand of 65 runs off 16.3 overs between Y Gnaneswara Rao (45)and ASK Varma (27) revived their hopes at close of play.

Steven Smith has conceded the top spot in the Test batting rankings after an underwhelming display in the first Ashes Test against England in Cardiff where he made twin scores of 33 in Australia’s 169-run defeat.He is replaced in the No. 1 position by AB de Villiers, who is skipping South Africa’s forthcoming Test series against Bangladesh for paternity leave, while Joe Root has moved into the top five for the first time in his career – as has Stuart Broad in the bowling list – after a Man-of-the-Match display in Cardiff where he scored 134 and 60.Root, who since returning to the Test side in June last year has made 1512 runs at 84.00, is just seven points behind Hashim Amla in third position and 24 behind de Villiers’ mark.Smith twice got himself settled in the opening Test, but fell to Moeen Ali in the first innings, getting into a tangle against a delivery angled down the leg side and looping a catch to short mid-on, then edging Broad to second slip in the second innings.The top of the bowling rankings remains unchanged with Dale Steyn having a significant advantage on James Anderson in second position, but Broad has achieved a career-best figure after taking five wickets in Cardiff including a defining burst on the fourth day when he removed Smith and Michael Clarke after lunch.The other two spots in the top five of the bowling rankings are taken by Pakistan’s Yasir Shah and New Zealand’s Trent Boult.For the full rankings click here.