Heracles’ excellent recent form continued with a 4-2 defeat of Heerenveen in the Eredivisie on Saturday.The club are now unbeaten in five matches, including four wins, and have moved into the top half of the table on the back of Saturday’s victory that once again highlighted the strength in Heracles’ attack.They scored four goals for the third match in succession and have netted 18 in their last four matches, making them a dangerous proposition for the remainder of the Eredivisie season.Everton kicked off the scoring with his 19th-minute strike and although Mika Vayrynen hit back for Heerenveen, Samuel Armenteros restored the hosts’ lead on the stroke of half-time.Further goals to Antoine van der Linden and Darl Douglas inside the first 15 minutes of the second half sealed the victory.Philip Haglund grabbed a late consolation for the visitors.In other matches, Groningen climbed to fifth with a 1-0 away win at NAC Breda.Andreas Granqvist’s strike on 72 minutes gave Groningen victory that broke their four-match losing streak.Leroy George’s goal after just two minutes gave NEC Nijmegen a 1-0 win over De Graafschap while the other match on Saturday saw the league’s bottom two clubs, VVV Venlo and Willem II, play out a goalless draw.
“I don’t believe that what he [Sherwood] said is true and I told him that,” Benteke said.
“I spoke with him and I explained the situation. I said football has changed and the football now is modern and I can adapt.
“It is not just about crossing, I can score normal goals too. I told him I am not afraid about it. If Liverpool bought me then they know how to use me.
“That’s why I came here – I’ll show I can play with my feet too.”
Christian Benteke has come out fighting in response to comments made by his old Aston Villa boss while his transfer saga was rumbling on over the summer. Tim Sherwood may have had good intentions when attempting to dissuade his 24-year-old hit-man from leaving Villa Park, but his “no point going to a club where they don’t cross the ball” quote, even at the time, seemed a little disrespectful to the Belgium international.
Benteke himself appears to have been riled by the judgement of his talent, which bodes well for Liverpool as they embark on a ‘do or die’ season following serious investment. A top four finish in the aim, and anything less may cost Brendan Rodgers his job and lead to serious questioning of the £32.5m fee paid for Benteke.
However we at Football FanCast believe that the burly striker will be a hit at the club, and here are FIVE reasons we think he’ll prove Sherwood, and any other doubters, wrong…
Quality around him
The major difference between Benteke at Villa and Benteke at Liverpool is that he’ll have better players around him. No disrespect to the Villans, but the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana will be able to provide a greater quality of service than Jack Grealish and Charles N’Zogbia. As a result, Benteke is sure to get more chances, even if they’re not the ‘swing the ball into the box’-type that Sherwood has talked up.
On a similar note, Liverpool play a more progressive brand of football than Benteke has been a part of at Villa. Sherwood’s side may be a bit more ‘up and at ‘em’, but Paul Lambert’s pragmatic claret and blues were joyless to watch.
His impressive goalscoring record
49 goals in 101 outings is mightily impressive. To be a top-quality marksman a one-in-two ratio is needed, and although Benteke has fallen marginally short, it must be remembered that the Villa side he’s played in has been pretty dreadful for his three years. Benteke’s record proves that he knows what he’s doing in the Premier League, and that sort of know-how will not disappear overnight.
Building on from the last point, the added quality around him is sure to help, with more chances of greater quality sure to yield more goals from a composed finisher.
Rodgers’ main man
The massive £32.5m fee paid and the summer-long pursuit shows that Rodgers has faith in Benteke. Although the Northern Irishman has been criticised and ridiculed by many, he shows faith in the players he rates, which bodes well for the 24-year-old even if his competitive Reds career gets off to a slow start.
The vast fee paid suggests that Benteke will get a significant amount of game time, too. After all, why would the Reds make him their second most expensive player ever to ration his minutes on the pitch?
Has negotiated the tricky debut…
https://vine.co/v/eHMqIBDM0zH/embed/simple
Okay, it was only a pre-season match against League One opposition, but Benteke shone in sunny Wiltshire against Swindon Town and netted a fantastic debut goal. Getting off the mark early is always the aim for any striker, so the fact the big money signing has already removed the anvil of ‘that first goal’ is a real positive.
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Then there’s the quality of the strike, too. Benteke didn’t bundle it home or play up to the stereotype with a towering header, he instead took the ball neatly on his chest and volleyed home from the edge of the area. It was very mid-2000s Didier Drogba
Not worried about price-tag
“I don’t think about the transfer fee. I knew if I joined a big club I would have some pressure so I am ready for this challenge. I will work hard and not worry about things.
“I think the pressure will bring the best out of me. The money is high, but even if it was less when you join a big club there is pressure so I just have to deal with it.”
Many big name players have wilted under the glare of massive transfer fees. Fernando Torres, Andriy Shevchenko, Andy Carroll and many more have suffered with the attention that comes with significant portions of money moving between clubs, and although we cannot be truly sure about how Benteke feels, he does seem bullish.
If he can keep the fee out of his mind and make a positive start to his spell at Anfield, there is no reason he cannot cement himself among the very best strikers to have played for the Reds.
Northamptonshire escaped any penalty for the state of their Wantage Road pitch after Matthew Hayden staged a batting masterclass to leave his Northamptonshire side in charge against Essex.The tall Australian cracked a six and 17 fours in his magnificent 164 off 260 balls as Northants closed on 337 for seven, a lead of 104 with two days remaining.And Hayden’s men were able to celebrate their promotion into Division One, albeit 24 hours late, following the ECB pitch panel’s decision not to order a deduction of points.Phil Sharpe, the Board’s Pitch Liason Officer, said: “During the cricket on the first day the ball turned sufficiently to warrant a further inspection, and I asked for a second opinion.””Having seen the cricket on the second day, along with Alan Smith, we came to the conclusion that this was not a substandard pitch and did not warrant a rating of poor.”Hayden and David Sales (61) posted 122 in 34 overs for the third wicket after off-spinner Tim Mason had removed Adrian Rollins and Jeff Cook cheaply.Sales struck nine boundaries in his 109-ball knock before edging Peter Such to slip, but Hayden powered on and gave a superb demonstration of footwork and concentration, securing three batting bonus points.”It has been a stressful day for us. Now we can celebrate a bit,” commented Northants’ relieved Director of Cricket Bob Carter when the panel’s findings were eventually announced shortly after tea.
A first-innings six-wicket haul by Azam Hussain followed by an all-round team effort helped Karachi Blues demolish Islamabad by an innings and 33 runs at the Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad. Islamabad ended their league stage on 18 points and although they have qualified for the super-eight along with Karachi Blues, their final position in the table will depend on the result of other group matches.Islamabad, after being put in to bat, had collapsed to 73 for 7, but recovered to finish on 197 in their first innings. Hussain, with his left-arm spin, picked up the 11th five-wicket haul of his career. The Blues responded with 345 in their first innings, with Khurram Manzoor’ 79 being the highest score. Three other batsmen scored half-centuries in the innings to give the Blues a 148-run lead. Islamabad’s batting collapsed a second time in the match, with their innings lasting 42.2 overs, and the team failed to clear the deficit. Akbar-ur-Rehman was the most successful bowler for the Blues, picking up three wickets for 63 runs.Lahore Shalimar collected nine points for their innings win against Hyderabad at the Gaddafi Stadium and went to the top of Group II. Second-placed Rawalpindi are just three points behind with the result of their match pending. Shalimar chose to field and their bowlers justified the decision by bowling out Hyderabad in the 44th over for 103. Aizaz Cheema was the pick of the bowlers with five wickets.Shalimar’s response was led by an unbeaten century by Usman Salahuddin who helped the team take a 243-run first-innings lead. Fast bowler Rehan Riaz took five wickets in the innings. But the lead turned out to be enough for Shalimar’s bowlers as they dismissed Hyderabad for 218 in the second innings. Wahab Riaz, who had three wickets in the first innings, picked up four in the second. Hyderabad, who ended the league stage on 18 points, have also qualified for super-eight stage.Centuries from Sohaib Maqsood and Naved Yasin gave Multan three points against Sialkot at the Multan Cricket Stadium, but Multan couldn’t convert it to victory, which would have given them a Super-Eights spot. After being put in to bat, Sialkot lost wickets regularly – spinner Zulfiqar Babar took seven wickets – and no one besides Majid Jahangir, who scored a century, provided any resistance. Babar’s bowling was backed up by a commanding batting performance, led by a 150-run stand between Maqsood and Yasin. Ultimately, though, Sialkot’s No. 3 and 4 consumed time on the final day to force a draw.After bowling their opponents out for 189, Multan lost two early wickets to be reduced to 33 for 2. However, the next three batsmen in the line-up – Saeed Anwar, Maqsood and Yasin – rescued them, and Multan were strong at 289 for 4. No. 7 Maqbool Ahmed scored an unbeaten half-century to help his team cross 400. But time prevented them to get more than three points out of the game, and in the final standing, they were three points behind their opponents, at the fifth spot.Spinner Atif Maqbool and seamer Adeel Malik took nine wickets between them to help Karachi Whites cement their spot in the Super Eights, as they drew their match against Faisalabad at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium. However, they were bowled out for 207 in their second dig as medium-fast bowler Samiullah Khan took six wickets, and Faisalabad needed 357 runs to win the contest. At 213 for 6 on the final day, with Faislabad having no chances of qualifying for the next stage, both sides agreed to a draw.After choosing to field, Faisalabad were pegged back right from the outset, as the openers put on 103 runs. The Whites’ dominant innings was based on knocks of 90 and 83 from Daniyal Ahsan and Khalid Latif. The last six wickets fell for 44 runs, as seamer Asad Ali took seven wickets, to leave them three short of 300. In reply, Zeeshan Butt scored an unbeaten half-century, but didn’t find valuable support from any other batsman, and Faisalabad were bowled out for 148. Although the Whites were dismissed for 207 in their second dig, rescued by Khald Latif’s century, Faisalabad still faced a daunting task of chasing 357. Their batsmen put up a decent performance, but the match was drawn on the final day.In Lahore, Imran Farhat’s triple-century in the first innings led Lahore Ravi to three points in a drawn match against Peshawar. Farhat struck 50 fours in his knock of 308, off 429 deliveries, as Ravi declared their innings at 512 for 6 on the second day. Their spinners Adnan Rasool and Jahangir Mirza shared seven wickets between them to bowl Peshawar out for 209. However, the match was drawn when Peshawar reached 59 for 3 off 37 overs, on the final day. Peshawar finished the league stage at the bottom of the points table, and Ravi took the third spot.Choosing to field, they were dominated by Ravi from the outset as Farhat built a huge total. In reply, they were in trouble at 42 for 3, and a half-century from Naved Khan and a knock of 40 from Mohammad Rizwan took them past 200, but they couldn’t avoid the follow-on. But having secured three points, and with less time, Ravi couldn’t push for victory.Rawalpindi secured their spot behind Lahore Shalimar at the top of the points table by taking three points off their drawn contest against Bahawalpur. Umar Amin’s century, and half-centuries from Umar Amin and Hammad Azam took them to a commanding total of 404 for 7. Although Bahawalpur’s captain and opener Usman Tariq also scored a century, they fell 88 short of their opponents’ total, thereby conceding three points. Eventually, both sides agreed to draw the game.Bahawalpur finished the league stage positioned second from bottom in Group II.
David Morgan, the ICC president-elect, confirmed that the decision to put Malcolm Speed on gardening leave for the last two months of his contract as CEO was as a result of a “fundamental breakdown” in the relationship between him, Ray Mali, the president, and some of the executive board and not, as widely suggested, Speed’s handling of issues relating to the ICL.Speaking at Lord’s, Morgan said that the breakdown had come about over a number of issues, and insisted that they pre-dated the executive board meeting in Dubai in March when Speed declined to attend the press conference in protest over the ICC’s decision to take no action against Zimbabwe.”It’s not been [a problem] for years but, yes, for some months,” Morgan said. “It pre-dates the March meeting but it doesn’t pre-date the death of Percy Sonn [in June 2007]. Matters take some time to come to the surface.”Zimbabwe is an issue where the president and the chief executive have disagreed, there is no doubt about that,” he said. “You know what the board decision was in relation with the KPMG report … Speed was clearly uncomfortable with that.”But he refused to specify which members of the executive were involved and how many. “I’m not prepared to reveal the names of the other board members. I’m unprepared to go into the details of the other issues, but I’m very ready to say that contrary to that has been gossiped on a widespread basis, it is nothing to do with the ICL or the IPL.”Morgan said the agreement for Speed to go had “not been imposed on him” but had followed discussion between him, Mali and Speed. “It’s a very unfortunate ending to what has been a very successful term of office,” he added.However, Morgan accepted that the image of the ICC was “not good” and it was “something we need to address”. He went on: “The ICC has achieved a huge amount in Malcolm’s time. I do not believe at all times that we govern in the optimum way, but govern we certainly do”In the statement yesterday the ICC said that David Richardson, the ICC general manager – cricket, will serve as interim CEO until Speed’s replacement, Haroon Lorgat, assumes the role at the ICC’s annual conference at the beginning of July.
David Warner is contemplating the end of one partnership while pondering the start of another one.Barring a late change of heart by Chris Rogers, the Oval Test will be his last in the company of an opening batsman Warner’s senior in terms of years and the opening batsman’s art. Barring a left-field call by the national selectors, the tour of Bangladesh will be Warner’s first as Test vice-captain to Steven Smith.These are jarring thoughts for those with memories stretching back a couple of years, when Warner was the subject of enormous fascination, given his questionable disciplinary record and tendency to shoot his mouth off. He had also been demoted, if briefly, in the Australian batting order, and seemed to be facing the most uncertain of futures.In their own distinct ways, Rogers and Smith have been influential in helping Warner to see more to his life and game than power and pugilism. In Rogers, Warner found a counterpoint he could work successfully alongside, as eight century opening partnerships and seven of better than 50 attest. In Smith, Warner saw how a fellow NSW brat-packer could evolve as both batsman and man, emerging as the outstanding leadership candidate to replace Michael Clarke.”We’ve played a lot of cricket together – I’ve played under Smudge,” Warner said. “He’s got great ideas and I feel that I definitely can work with him. But at the end of the day it’s up to the board and selectors to move forward with that. Go back two years my life probably wasn’t in the right direction. I was playing cricket for Australia. It’s a boyhood dream. But I needed to be put back in my place a little bit.”Since then I think I’ve turned a lot around. I’ve got a lot of hundreds and I’m playing a good brand of cricket. There’s been a little bit of a hiccup with the Rohit Sharma stuff but at the end of the day that was on the field and I’ve learnt to bite my tongue a little bit now. And I’ve got to keep moving forward and that’s my job is to score runs. And if I can keep doing that the rest will take care of itself.”How he goes about scoring runs appears to be changing and evolving, partly in response to English conditions but also as a nod to the longer term demands likely to be placed on Warner by Australian cricket. As Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Rogers look set to exit the stage, Warner will have less licence to attack without any thought about the remainder of the innings. In this Ashes series he has shown more application than others considered more likely to possess it. Rogers can be viewed as one reason for that.”We’ve come a long way and we’ve shared a great bond together out in the middle,” Warner said. “I’ve loved every single minute batting together out there. I think we have eight opening hundred stands now and it’s something we’re very proud of as a – I won’t say couple – as a duo out there.”He leaves this international game and I hope he goes another year or two either in either county cricket or back home because 24,000 first-class runs, 73 hundreds is an amazing achievement by anyone and I don’t think he gets as much credit as he deserves.”I think there’s a few names that are going to be brought up. You heard Ricky Ponting mention the other day Usman Khawaja, Cameron Bancroft scored a great hundred the other day in Indian conditions. Joe Burns scored a great hundred the other day in the one-day stuff.”Warner has looked like going on to a hundred three times this series, such has been his command of the bowling, but in contriving to get out he has shown there is still plenty of improvement to be made. In particular a shovel shot used to good effect in Australia and on the subcontinent has had Warner skying catches twice. He does not expect to repeat the mistake at the Oval.”In one-day cricket, I’m probably looking to hit that over the fence and I think I have to replicate that in Test match cricket,” Warner said. “It’s more like a half-hearted shot, I see two people go back and I look for the one. I think with the ball moving around over here I’ve really got to work hard on trying to play with a straight bat.”I think that’s what I really have to work hard on. In Australia I can probably definitely get away with that. But it’s something in my game I have to work on and that’s something me and Michael Di Venuto will address.”Warner spoke in the West Indies about also re-adjusting his persona, and in this Ashes series he has been notably absent from any obvious confrontations in the middle. There was one brief collusion with Nathan Lyon to goad Ben Stokes in Cardiff, but nothing to attract the attention of the match referee. Warner acknowledges this will be even more a case of necessity winning out as he thinks more about how to get batsmen out and less about provoking them into open conflict.”I don’t think it’s so much it gets easier [not to sledge], it’s more you’re trying to work out ways of getting batsmen out that are in and going back to the notes that you talk about before the game,” he said, “making sure they’re still in your mind and making sure you’re concentrating on the ball ahead.”The way someone like Joe Root has been batting exceptionally he’s been scoring a lot of runs square of the wicket, nothing down the ground. So it’s obviously something we as players in general we should be addressing as well. In respects to biting your tongue, it’s easy at times. But sometimes it can get frustrating when you’re getting walloped around the park.”Warner can remember being walloped around the park during a brief stint as vice-captain of the ODI team in February 2012. “I think that game we were all out for 150, so it wasn’t a great game,” he said. “I think Ricky at the end of the game put his arm over my shoulder and said welcome to international cricket mate, this is what happens. It can be a good day or a bad day.”A couple of months from now and it might be Warner doing the same for a young turk beside him. Things have changed.
South Australian allrounder Alex Gregory will captain the Cricket Australia XI in their inaugural Matador Cup campaign next month. As many as eight players could make their one-day debuts as a result of the inclusion of a seventh side in the tournament, with a squad made up of talented young players who missed out on selection in their respective 14-man state squads.Gregory, 20, played for the Redbacks in last summer’s Matador Cup and is one of six squad members with List A experience. The team has been introduced this season in an effort to provide greater exposure to elite-level cricket for some of the country’s emerging players, and CA national talent manager Greg Chappell said he was confident the side would be competitive against the states.”The idea behind it was to make sure the next generation of cricketers were going to get the opportunities they need to keep their development going,” Chappell said. “There will be some familiar names from having played a little bit of first-class cricket or a little bit of 50-over cricket for their state previously.”They are the ones the public can start looking at with the view to perhaps watching them grow over the next few years, get into their state sides and hopefully go on to represent Australia.”They will be competitive. There are probably three or four players that we thought we might have in the CA XI side who have gone on and been selected by their states and we would expect them to play prominent roles in their state squad. So maybe we have frightened some of the states into thinking they needed to pick some of their young players and, if that’s the case, that’s terrific.”National Cricket Centre head coach Troy Cooley and Australia Under-19 mentor Graeme Hick will be in charge of preparing the squad for their Matador Cup campaign. The tournament will be played around Sydney through October and the Cricket Australia XI’s first match is against New South Wales on October 5.Cricket Australia XI squad Alex Gregory (SA, capt), Sam Heazlett (Qld), James Peirson (Qld), Ben McDermott (Tas), James Bazley (Qld), Seb Gotch (Vic), Matthew Short (Vic), Jack Wildermuth (Qld), Jhye Richardson (WA), Liam Hatcher (NSW), Mitch Swepson (Qld), Hilton Cartwright (WA). Riley Ayre (ACT/NSW), Matthew Dixon (WA).
New Zealand’s captain Brendon McCullum is unsure how much the ongoing perjury trial of Chris Cairns will distract him as he sets about leading his country in what shapes as their best chance to unseat Australia at home in 30 years.McCullum missed the New Zealand players’ only chance for a first-class fixture at home before reaching Australia as he was called as a prosecution witness at Southwark Crown Court in London and gave evidence of Cairns’ alleged spot-fixing approaches to him in 2008 – conversations that he did not report to the ICC for some years.As part of a modified preparation as a result of his travel schedule, McCullum will not take part in the tour opening fixture against the Prime Minister’s XI on Friday, but will instead wait until the two-day practice match starting on Saturday to play his first cricket since the court appearance. He is hopeful that the case and its wide ramifications for the game will not cloud his thinking against Australia.”I hope so,” McCullum said when asked whether the case could be put to the back of his mind. “I had a job to do over there, but now I’m back here and very much focused on this series, three Tests is going to be a huge opportunity for us and a massive challenge as well.”It’s just nice to be around the boys again. I missed that first-class game back home so it’s good to get back into the nets. To a degree it has [been a distraction], but it had to be done and now I’m very much just focused on this tour, it’s a huge challenge for us as a team and a new stage in Australian cricket as well. It should be a cracking series.”In a departure from recent norms, the PM’sXI match will be less a festival match than a legitimate proving ground, both for the New Zealand side freshly landed in Australia and a host of locals eager to press their cases for Test selection next month. McCullum said New Zealand would benefit from an early sight of the likes of Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Joe Burns, Adam Voges and Peter Siddle before the Tests as they formulated plans to try to win a Test series down under for the first time since 1985.”It’s going to be good, and for those guys as well they probably haven’t had the volume of cricket they would have wanted,” McCullum said. “So it’s probably a smart move from the Australian selectors as well to include them in this game and it’s going to be good for us as well to have another competitive hit-out leading into the series.”It’s going to give us a good preparation. Obviously I’m not playing tomorrow and Timmy [Southee] will have the stripes and I’m sure he’ll do an excellent job. So we’ll probably be able to get a little bit more information as well about some of these guys that we haven’t seen as much of as some of the other guys in the team.”Unlike most meetings between the two teams over the past decade – of which there have been precious few since 2010 – it will be New Zealand that have the more settled team going into the Tests. While acknowledging that as a strength, McCullum said he also knew that change could have positive effect on a team, as highly motivated individuals entered the dressing room.”It can make a team more dangerous as well because change can often galvanise a unit,” McCullum said. “We’re very much aware of that and we’ve got to make sure we execute what works for us and if we can maybe create some opportunities to go on and win the series that would be great. But we know it’s not going to be easy.”We’ve got a good team, we’ve played well over the last seven or eight Test series but Australia in Australia are a very difficult team to play against. Yes they’ve got some changes and they’ve got some new personnel, but they’re also a very, very proud sporting nation and their cricket team has been successful for over two decades now so for us to come here and succeed we’re going to have to play extremely well.”
ScorecardParthiv Patel struck his third score of 50 of more in three innings•ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Parthiv Patel recorded a second century for Gujarat in the match. Venugopal Rao could have upped that count, but his 95 was part of six scores of fifty or more in Mohali. Punjab legspinner Sarabjit Ladda did his best to restore parity though with 5 for 138 and forced the visitors from 432 for 4 to 467 all out.Much of that vast total was the result of the 188-run partnership between Parthiv and Venugopal. They were together for almost 50 overs even as Punjab dipped into every resource they had. Including the part-time spin of their opening batsman Jiwanjot Singh. And the tactic worked. Venugopal was stumped after 187 balls, 12 of which were hit to the boundary. Parthiv, however, went on to make 113 to add to his 122 and 50* from the last match against Andhra.Just when it looked like Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh was running out of options, Ladda had Parthiv caught for his first wicket of the match, and proceeded to demolish the tail with his third five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, completing it in his 43rd over. That runs remained on the pitch was made clear when Punjab batted. Jiwanjot cracked 51 off 75 balls, with six fours, but was dismissed in the 27th over. His partner at the top, Manan Vohra is not out on 50 off 112 balls as Punjab negotiated the remaining 11 overs without any further trouble. ScorecardSwapnil Singh had finished five runs shy of his half-century at stumps in Vizianagaram. Baroda were 234 for 7 as Andhra kept true to their pre-season plan of giving their seamers the best chance of picking wickets. CV Stephen, one of four specialist seamers, led the way with 4 for 72. Notably there have been 147.2 overs of play, spin was used for only 13 of them and has not yielded a single wicket yet.Part of the reason might be down to the Baroda tail’s resilience. Swapnil made 74, led an eighth-wicket stand of 78 – the visitors’ best – and was the final wicket to fall with the score on 302. He struck four fours and three sixes. But Andhra’s openers Srikar Bharat (50 off 127) and DB Prashanth (38 off 102) provided a very solid start, taking their team to 96 for 0 in 38 overs. ScorecardA collapse that began in the wee hours of play yesterday continued for Railways. They were 304 for 3 with just under five overs till stumps on Thursday, which had been enough for Uttar Pradesh to snag two wickets. On Friday, Railways resumed today on 316 for 5 and finished on 375.Praveen Kumar, the UP captain, struck the first blow in the sixth over of the day and 89th of the innings to have his opposite number Mahesh Rawat lbw for 7. Karn Sharma was caught behind in the 94th over off Ankit Rajpoot. Nine balls later, the specialist batsman Arindam Ghosh was dismissed for 50 and Railways finally succumbed in the 102nd over. Their first five wickets had given them 305 runs. The last five only 70 more.The lift provided by the UP bowlers – all five specialists used were among the wickets with left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav taking 3 for 64 – seeped into the batting as well. Opener Tanmay Srivastava has recorded his third fifty-plus score in as many matches and is not out on 75. His partner Almas Shaukat cracked 10 fours and two sixes in his 76 and UP finished the day at 169 for 2 in 71 overs.Mumbai v Tamil Nadu – Dinesh Karthik 167 deflates Mumbai
November 1, 2015 Start time 1430 local (0900 GMT)1:01
New-look West Indies hope for change in fortune
Big Picture
Sri Lanka have had an abysmal year in ODIs. The last time they won an ODI series was against England at home, and let’s be fair, that barely even counts. They lost the ODI series in New Zealand 4-2, crashed spectacularly out in the World Cup quarter-final, and have since lost to Pakistan.But they are now up against a side that has arguably had an even worse 2015 – partly because they have barely had the chance to play any ODI. West Indies were defeated 4-1 by South Africa at the beginning of the year, memorably lost to Ireland in a World Cup campaign which also came to an end in the quarter-final, and they have not played since. During their down time, West Indies were elbowed out of the 2017 Champions Trophy.Jason Holder’s men now set out to regain something of their reputation – to prove that they can still be a force in limited-overs cricket, even if Test-match excellence is some way off. There are a few bright sparks in the side, as partially evidenced by the visitors’ stirring comeback in the practice match on Thursday. In that game, Carlos Brathwaite and Andre Russell – batting at nos. 8 and 9, cracked 193 runs together off 109 balls, to propel the team beyond 300. West Indies may not yet have a side that can prevail over five days, but they still have limited-overs cricketers who can scramble oppositions.Though West Indies’ trial by spin is likely to continue on a Khettarama surface known to turn up dry on match day, they will be pleased that Rangana Herath – chief among their banes in the Tests – will not play. Instead, Sri Lanka are set to field a more fragile spin attack. Sachithra Senanayake has been a diminished bowler since remodeling his action last year, Ajantha Mendis has often been exposed by powerful hitting, and legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay is yet to play an ODI.Sri Lanka’s batting appears much sturdier than the visitors’ top order, but is awash in inexperience, and as such, is hardly infallible.
Form guide
(last five matches, most recent first) Sri Lanka: WLLWL West Indies: LWLLW
In the spotlight
Lasith Malinga bowled so poorly against Pakistan, he was eventually dropped from the XI for the last match of that series. His T20 returns were no better. Having been visibly unfit since his ankle surgery last year, Malinga has lost a little of the accuracy and pace that once envenomed his bowling. He is Sri Lanka’s T20 captain for now, and with a major tournament on the horizon, fans will be intrigued to learn whether Malinga can still make top orders wobble as much as his belly recently has.Since Sunil Narine last played an international match, in August last year, he has had his action reported and tested twice by the BCCI. He has been cleared by them to bowl, after adopting a remedied action, which has not been tested at international level yet. With Marlon Samuels also facing suspicion of throwing, Narine’s nous and variations will be relied upon on in Colombo.
Teams news
Sri Lanka may try to shoehorn batting allrounder Shehan Jayasuriya somewhere in the top seven – most likely at No.6, pushing Milinda Siriwardana to No.7. The rest of the top order is fairly predictable. With Jayasuriya and Siriwardana both capable of providing spin, Sri Lanka may opt to include tearaway Dushmantha Chameera, to provide variety to the pace attack. Lahiru Thirimanne is expected to reclaim his place at No.3, after being dropped in the Tests. Dinesh Chandimal is suspended for the first ODI, and is likely to be replaced by Danushka Gunathilaka, meaning there could be two ODI debutants.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Danushka Gunathilaka, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 6 Shehan Jayasuriya, 7 Milinda Siriwardana, 8 Sachithra Senanayake, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Dushmantha ChameeraIt has been so long since West Indies have played an ODI, their XI is much more difficult to predict. Narine looks likely to play, and Andre Fletcher looks likely to open in place of the injured Chris Gayle.West Indies (probable): 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Andre Fletcher, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Jonathan Carter, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Jason Holder (capt.), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Carlos Brathwaite, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Ravi Rampaul
Pitch and conditions
Colombo has been experiencing heavy evening rains all through the past week. More of the same is expected on Sunday, which means the Duckworth-Lewis equation may be used at some point in the evening. The Premadasa surface is usually given to turn.
Stats and trivia
West Indies have won four and lost eight matches this year.
Marlon Samuels’ ODI record in Sri Lanka is almost as poor as his Test record. He has hit 57 runs at an average of 14.25 across five innings on the island.
Angelo Mathews needs 85 runs to reach 4000 in ODIs.
Quotes
“We won’t announce our team till the morning of the match, but there’s a good chance we’ll see some young players in the XI.” “Sri Lanka is ranked higher than us now. If we beat this team here now, we will gain quite a few rankins points. It’s important that we keep winning games and keep boosting our points. All these restrictions and cut off points in terms of ICC tournaments is very important.” *13:16 GMT – This story had incorrectly included Dinesh Chandimal in the probable XI. This has been fixed.