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Match facts

May 1, 2009
Start time 3pm (11.00GMT)Pakistan need to provide more support to Shahid Afridi if they are to stay alive in the five-match series•Associated Press

Big Picture

Australia are one win away from wrapping up the series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, but not much talk has centred around the team’s on-field performance. Since the offspinner Saeed Ajmal was reported for a suspect action the sides have been under more intense focus than during the opening three matches.Ajmal was fined by the Pakistan Cricket Board for comments directed to Shane Watson and Younis Khan asked why Australia are involved in so many controversies when they face India and Pakistan. Michael Clarke maintained the series had been played in a good spirit.The talking points will shift to the middle during Friday’s fourth ODI in Abu Dhabi. Australia lead 2-1 in the five-match contest – Pakistan lost 10 for 76 in Monday’s defeat – as they finalise their preparations for the start of their engagements in England in June.

Form guide (last five ODIs, most recent first)

Pakistan LLWLL
Australia WWLWL

Watch out for

Shahid Afridi has been outstanding in the opening three fixtures and remains Australia’s biggest threat. His 10 victims at 10.70 have caused the most problems, but his 71 runs have also been a headache. The worry for Pakistan has been finding people to offer him significant assistance.He hasn’t been as effective as Afridi, but Nathan Hauritz has been a key performer for Australia. Since coming back into the one-day team in January he has 13 wickets in nine games and in this series has five at 18.60 along with an economy rate of 3.57. The prospect of more spinning surfaces in the remaining matches will lift his mood further.

Team news

Brett Lee is in town after joining the squad this week, but he won’t bowl on Friday and is unlikely to be picked until the Twenty20 to end the tour. The rotation of the attack is the main issue for the squad, with Stuart Clark keen for more work and Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Bracken, Ben Laughlin and Doug Bollinger also in the outfit.Australia (possible) 1 Brad Haddin (wk), 2 James Hopes, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Callum Ferguson, 7 David Hussey, 8 Nathan Hauritz, 9 Stuart Clark, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Doug Bollinger.Yasir Arafat replaced Shoaib Akhtar in the previous game, but with Pakistan needing to win to stay in touch Shoaib could be recalled to provide some firepower. Ajmal will be feeling vulnerable despite some encouraging returns.Pakistan (possible) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Younis Khan (capt), 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Shoaib Akhtar, 10 Iftikhar Anjum, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Pitch and conditions

The conditions in the UAE, with the low and spinning pitches, are unusual for the Australians, but the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has been enjoying it. “The beauty about international cricket is you get the opportunity to play on so many different wickets,” he told AAP. “The wickets are a bit slower and lower than they are in Australia and they turn a bit more, but that’s the beauty of it, we’re playing in different conditions against a totally different side.” A similar surface is expected on Friday, when the temperature is predicted to range between 25 and 41C.

Stats and Trivia

• In a tough tournament for batsmen, James Hopes leads the run-list with 111, one ahead of Salman Butt
• Australia have not won a one-day series since sweeping aside Bangladesh in September
• Only three half-centuries have been scored in the series

Quotes

“You see a lot now in one-day games, teams consistently getting up near the 300, but as we’ve seen here all the games have been a contest and I think that’s all you’re after … It’s enjoyable sometimes to come and play on different wickets and have different plans in mind, to get 220 is a very good score in these sorts of conditions, so it’s been quite good.”
“We will learn a lot from this experience, by playing against the Australian team.”

تأهل منتخب مصر للشباب إلى نهائي بطولة كأس العرب تحت 20 عاماً بعد الفوز على الجزائر اليوم الأربعاء.

وتستضيف المملكة العربية السعودية على أراضيها منافسات كأس العرب تحت 20 عامًا حتى يوم 7 أغسطس المقبل.

وانتصر منتخب مصر على الجزائر بثلاثة أهداف مقابل هدف، ليتأهل الفراعنة الصغار إلى المباراة النهائية، ويصطدم بصاحب الأرض السعودية.

طالع |  فيديو | صلاح باشا يسجل هدف مصر الأول أمام الجزائرفي كأس العرب للشباب

وتأهلت السعودية إلى النهائي، بعد الفوز على فلسطين اليوم بخمسة أهداف دون رد. موعد مباراة مصر والسعودية في نهائي كأس العرب تحت 20 عامًا

تقام مباراة مصر والسعودية، يوم الأحد المقبل الموافق 7 أغسطس الجاري، في تمام الساعة 6:30 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، 7:30 بتوقيت السعودية.

ومن المقرر أن تلعب المباراة على ملعب الأمير “سلطان بن عبد العزيز”.

Aston Villa’s official foundation page posted details of a number of supporters being invited to Villa Park to watch first-team training on Tuesday afternoon.

And plenty of fans then heaped praise towards the club for their act of kindness on social media.

Dean Smith’s side have recently come off the back of a memorable 1-0 win at Old Trafford over Manchester United and are now preparing to take on Tottenham this weekend.

Villa trained on the Villa Park surface ahead of Sunday’s visit to north London and invited supporters who have faced adversity in terms of their mental or physical health to watch the session in person.

The club’s official foundation page shared three pictures alongside their message on Tuesday, two of which were of Smith.

Villa fans react

This is what these Villa fans had to say in reply to the tweet after Villa’s official account retweeted the update, with one labelling it as ‘amazing’.

“This is brilliant”

Credit: @IanHill101

“Amazing. Hope everyone who attended had the most special day”

Credit: @Villa4LifeAlex

“Outstanding”

Credit: @DrWho__10

“These owners. These people in charge. This team. This club. My club.”

Credit: @TalkTrinity

“My club simply the best”

Credit: @MelVallings

“Love our club. UTV”

Credit: @deanoav

In other news: ‘Good god’  – Many Villa fans go wild at Sky Sports footage. 

The Afghanistan players are expecting a huge reception back home in Kabul after winning the World Cricket League Division 3 in Argentina. The team left Buenos Aires on Sunday night and will arrive in Afghanistan on Tuesday, and fast bowler Hamid Hassan was anticipating a large crowd turning out to greet them.”I am very excited about seeing them,” he said. “When we won Division 4 in Tanzania there were lots of people at the airport. So as we have won Division 3, there will be even more people there, blocking the roads and celebrating by banging drums.”I really enjoy the celebrations as we have such great fans. The people in Afghanistan pray for us and are waiting for the trophy to come home so we can all celebrate together.”However, the players also know they have plenty of hard work to put in if they are to realise their dream of playing in the 2011 World Cup, and once the party is over it will be straight back to work, preparing for the World Cup Qualifiers beginning April 1.Hamid, himself, will be off to play first-class cricket in Pakistan after a couple of days’ rest in Peshawar, and the team is expected to get together either in India or Pakistan in early March for a training camp ahead of the qualifiers.The joy was writ large on wicketkeeper Karim Khan’s face as well. “I am very, very happy,” he said. “We won Division 5, we won Division 4, now we have won Division 3 and if we all work hard we will get to the World Cup. This is our country’s dream and this is my dream, and the Afghan people are very happy.”I have seen the Afghan websites, I have seen the newspapers and people have said they will be coming to the airport to meet us. Even the president may be coming to see us at the airport.”However, he said the players would need to lift their game if they were to take the final step, though he believed they had the ability to perform well at that level.”Hopefully, we can beat the likes of Kenya, Bermuda and UAE and get to the World Cup in 2011,” said Karim. “It is my dream to play ODIs and face the likes of Pakistan, Australia, England and India. I have faced Shoaib Akhtar from Pakistan, India’s Irfan Pathan and Australia’s Mitchell Johnson in the nets, and I want to play them in a real match.”Karim will be back in training with former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif, who acted as his personal coach in the build-up to the event in Argentina, and helped him improve his game.”I sent an email to Rashid Latif to thank him for all his hard work with me,” said Karim. “I used to be an offspinner but now I am a very good wicketkeeper. Rashid has invited me for more training in Karachi in 15 days’ time so I am going for more hard work on my wicketkeeping and my batting.”

Middle-order batsman Raees Ahmadzai also believed that Afghanistan would need to raise their game to do well at the qualifiers. “I am very happy that I am going to play for my country in the World Cup Qualifier but we need to work on our game and avoid the mistakes we made against Uganda, and in the first match against the Cayman Islands,” said Raees.”Our first priority is to qualify for the top six – that will be our first target so that we can play ODIs for the next four years. We want to get through to the second stage of the competition and try and get in the top four, as that would be a real gift for the Afghan people. It would be amazing to come from the refugee camps and play cricket with the big nations and try and beat a Test-playing country. That would be the greatest achievement of our lives,” he said.The top four sides from the qualifiers will go on to feature in the 2011 World Cup, while a top-six finish will secure ODI status for the next four years, as well as automatic qualification for the Intercontinental Cup.Afghanistan progressed as the first qualifier and will be placed in Group B alongside Kenya, The Netherlands, Bermuda, UAE and Denmark. Uganda will be up against Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Oman and Namibia in Group A.The fixtures for the qualifiers in South Africa from April 1-19 will be released shortly.

Mohammad Yousuf, the Pakistan batsman who recently signed up to the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), has slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for their subservience to the Indian board, particularly in their ongoing policy of life bans on ICL players.Some hope had emerged for Pakistan players involved with the ICL to have their bans lifted after PCB director general Javed Miandad openly questioned the rationale of the ban. He called on all cricket boards to resolve the issue and restore normalcy, especially in Pakistan, which has lost several cricketers to the ICL.”I just say the Pakistan board should take its own independent decision. It should not toe the line of the Indians,” Yousuf said in an interview on a popular show on Geo Super, a local sports channel. “What have they given us? They even refused to tour the country recently.””There is no such ruling from the ICC on ICL players. Tell me are we committing some crime going to play in the league? I say there is nothing to stop the board from lifting the ban on us if it wants to. Javed Miandad is now director general and he should keep his word.”Yousuf, for the second time in as many months, also launched a stinging attack on the current Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and the selectors for not treating him with enough respect. Yousuf was never considered for the captaincy at any stage and was omitted from Pakistan’s Twenty20 plans. He again called into question Malik’s qualifications for the captaincy.”Tell me on what grounds did they decide I was not fit for Twenty20 cricket? What was the criteria for deciding this?” Yousuf said. “Tell me how did Shoaib Malik deserve to be the captain? How can you make a player a captain who is not certain of a place in the national Test or one-day team.”Ironically, Yousuf is currently ranked No.2 in the ICC Test rankings despite being ineligible to play international cricket and despite Pakistan not playing a single Test last year.

Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos has received criticism from Sky Sports pundit Kevin Phillips over recent comments on a radio interview in his native Colombia.

The Lowdown: Moving away from Rangers

The forward came to Ibrox in 2017 after scoring 46 goals in 62 games for Finish side HJK Helsinki. Since his arrival in Scotland, Morelos has been a consistent scorer for the Gers, netting 97 times in 190 appearances.

The 25-year-old has caused controversy during his time at the club on several occasions, receiving seven red cards since arriving in Glasgow and being called out over some moments of indiscipline by his manager Steven Gerrard.

In a recent interview with Colombian radio station El VBar de Caracol Radio, Morelos claimed that he was “calm” when asked if he wanted to leave Rangers but also said that he hopes to leave “soon”, having been linked with an exit from Ibrox in recent months.

The Latest: Fierce warning from Phillips

Speaking to Football Insider, Sky Sports pundit Phillips has criticised Morelos and urged him not to discuss his future publicly.

The former Sunderland striker said of the Rangers marksman: “He’s just making life more difficult for himself.

“He has to live in that area and we all know what supporters are like. He’ll get away with it if he comes back and scores goals.

“People will turn a blind eye but if he stops scoring and doesn’t look interested, you just leave yourself open.

“Keep your mouth shut and do your job. He needs people around him who will tell him to stop talking and to not answer those questions. Just be positive about Rangers and don’t talk about transfers in public.

“I said at the beginning of the season it would be best for him to move on, I can’t imagine this will go down well with the supporters.”

The Verdict: Morelos needs to stay focused

Despite earning his first Scottish Premiership medal, last season was Morelos’ worst goalscoring campaign for Rangers, with only 12 goals as Kemar Roofe scored two more in his debut campaign at Ibrox.

Speaking about one’s future when linked with a move away never goes down well with a club and its supporters, so Phillips’ comments may well be the thoughts of many Light Blues fans.

Fabio Capello once called the striker ‘an excellent player’ and Morelos must remain focused on the job at hand at Rangers and put his all in retaining the Premiership title, as well as impressing in the Europa League.

In other news, many Rangers fans loved recent update ahead of Europa League tie with Lyon. Find out more here.

Graham Roberts has told Manchester City to pay £160m or they simply won’t sign Harry Kane this summer.

The Premier League champions have made just one bid for the England captain of around £100m, which was rejected by Daniel Levy, who values him in excess of £150m.

Tottenham want to keep their star striker despite his off the field actions having missed training in a bid to push a move to City.

Kane later came out and denied missing his return to Hotspur Way but was then left out of Spurs’ opening day victory over Pep Guardiola’s men, although his lack of a pre-season could have been the reason for his exclusion – with the 28-year-old only joining the rest of his teammates on Friday.

Reports from The Times believe that City are set to return with an improved offer, although it’s still less than Tottenham’s asking-price, which means it’ll most likely be rejected by Levy.

Several Manchester City plays have seen their names thrown into the ring as part of a possible deal to bring Kane to the Etihad Stadium.

But Roberts exclusively told Football FanCast that City simply must pay the money or look elsewhere:

“All they have to do is pay £160m, that’s it. There’s no good throwing in Sterling, Silva, Laporte, those players are on mega wages. Sterling hasn’t signed a new contract because he wants £400,000 per-week.

“Pay us what Harry Kane is worth, Pep Guardiola should stop talking about players who aren’t his. If he wants him, come up with the money, and I’m sure the club will sell him to you.

“But are you going to pay what he’s worth? He’s worth £160m, pay it.”

MatériaMais Notícias

O Santos encerrou a preparação para encarar o Cruzeiro no domingo, às 16h, na Vila Belmiro, pela terceira rodada do Brasileirão. O técnico Dorival Júnior relacionou 23 jogadores, sendo que tem dois desfalques para a partida.

Lucas Lima, que se recupera de um estiramento na coxa direita, teve sua ausência confirmada, e Leandro Donizete, com uma inflamação no joelho direito, sequer vai para o banco de reservas.

O treinador poderá contar com Victor Ferraz, que não participou de dois treinos ao longo da semana por sentir dores no joelho direito. No entanto, o camisa 4 se mostrou apto a jogar e foi relacionado.

O Santos vai a campo com: Vanderlei; Victor Ferraz, Lucas Veríssimo, David Braz e Zeca; Renato, Thiago Maia e Vladimir Hernández; Vitor Bueno, Bruno Henrique e Ricardo Oliveira.

Confira a lista:
Goleiros: Vanderlei e Vladimir
Laterais: Victor Ferraz, Zeca e Matheus Ribeiro
Zagueiros: Lucas Veríssimo, David Braz e Cleber
Volantes: Renato, Thiago Maia, Yuri e Léo Cittadini
Meias: Jean Mota, Longuine e Vitor Bueno
Atacantes: Ricardo Oliveira, Bruno Henrique, Vladimir Hernández, Copete, Kayke, Thiago Ribeiro, Rodrigão e Arthur Gomes

RelacionadasBrasileirãoRevelado no Santos, Hudson alerta para os perigos da Vila BelmiroBrasileirão27/05/2017BrasileirãoArrascaeta está a um jogo de igualar Montillo na história do CruzeiroBrasileirão27/05/2017SantosCleber faz treino extra e quer apagar estreia pelo Santos: ‘Não valeu’Santos26/05/2017

Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh ran through Delhi’s batting order and completed a 187-run win for Rest of India in the Irani Cup match in Vadodara

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Sep-2008
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Harbhajan Singh picked up 4 for 31 in Delhi’s second innings © AFP
The challenge facing Delhi on the fourth day – they needed 265 runs with seven wickets in hand – was always going to stretch them, and their batsmen, with the exception of Gautam Gambhir, caved without a fight. They were bowled out within the first session: Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh exploited the cracks in the pitch to pick up seven wickets, and Rest of India won the Irani Cup for the 21st time by 187 runs in Vadodara.The slide started in the second over of the day. Gambhir had batted aggressively on the third evening and needed a stable partner. Aakash Chopra, who had not opened because of an ankle injury, joined him with a runner. He had scored 182 in last week’s Nissar Trophy and a confident 42 in the first innings against a versatile and experienced attack. Chopra’s resistance in the second innings, however, ended with his first ball. He drove away from his body at a Zaheer Khan delivery and inside-edged it on to his stumps.Kumble brought Harbhajan on inside the first hour to take advantage of the wearing pitch and the offspinner struck immediately. Mithun Manhas tried to pad a delivery but the ball turned into him, deflected off the bat handle, and went to Rahul Dravid at first slip. The only point of interest after that was whether Gambhir, who scored steadily despite the regular setbacks, would reach his century. He fell on 91, edging an attempted cut off Kumble to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.This was the last opportunity for the national players to get match practice ahead of the Tests against Australia and coach Gary Kirsten would have expected more. Before the start of the game he, and Kumble, had said this game was an important component in their preparation for the Australia series and each individual had a role to fulfill and understood it well.If Sourav Ganguly doesn’t make the Test squad, it will open up a vacancy in the middle order. Two of the contenders for the spot, S Badrinath and Mohammad Kaif, had the opportunity to push their claims in the Irani Cup but failed to turn in convincing performances. Badrinath looked in discomfort in the first innings and did not move his feet. He made a scratchy 16 off 62 balls before he was bowled while trying to cut. He was more confident during his 36 in the second innings before he was struck on the elbow and bowled once again by Ishant Sharma.Kaif had made adjustments to his batting stance after chats with Kirsten but met with little success. He failed to convert a start in the first innings, top-edging a pull to midwicket, and edged a scorcher from Ishant off his second ball in the second innings.One of the biggest positives was the performance of the bowlers. Zaheer Khan bowled wicket-to-wicket and focused on the batsman’s weaknesses: he exploited Sehwag’s slow footwork and trapped him lbw with one that cut in during the second innings. Ishant was hostile and extracted pace and bounce from a slow pitch, Munaf Patel proved his recovery was on the right path, while both Kumble and Harbhajan showed how dangerous they could be on a helpful surface. Only RP Singh was erratic with his line and length.The most significant outcome from this game, however, was the resolute batting of Rahul Dravid, who opened for Rest of India. His poor form over the last year has hurt India but here he succeeded in the most demanding of situations. As the wicket grew slower, Dravid stuck it out for nearly five hours in the second innings. He played the majority of the deliveries confidently, used soft hands to block short balls aimed at the body, and waited for the bowler to feed his strengths.It was the sort of preparation Dravid would have hoped for ahead of the Australia series and it was a terrific example of mental discipline for the rest to follow.

Aston Villa could get their new Gareth Barry in the form of PSG midfielder Rafinha.

What’s the story?

Having already clinched the signings of Emi Buendia and Ashley Young, Dean Smith’s side have enjoyed a decent start to the transfer window, and appear to have their eye on their next midfield signing.

According to reports in Spain,, PSG are ready to let Rafinha leave this summer in order to raise some funds for their own signings, and Villa could come in for the Brazilian.

Villa’s new Barry

Left-footed, composed on the ball, and aggressive in trying to winning it back, while Rafinha may be thought of as a typical Barcelona academy product who’s invested in a tiki-taka style of play, the Brazilian has a much-more all-round, combative presence that has a lot of similarities to how Barry liked to play.

The former England international spent 11 years in the Aston Villa senior side, playing 433 games for them, before making the switch to Manchester City, where he won the Premier League title.

The City website described him as: “A reliable, composed and tactically astute midfielder with a knack for sniffing out danger, his understated style of play made him one of the unsung heroes of that title-winning side.”

That reliability and composure is exactly what Rafinha would bring to the table at Villa.

Talking about the 27-year-old, former Barca defender Andreu Fontas once said: “Rafinha is a great player. Physically, he is a beast and, technically, he is superb.”

As per Whoscored, the midfielder boasted an impressive 90.9% pass accuracy in Ligue 1 last season (considerably better than any Villa player with more than one start), while he also averaged 2.3 tackles per match as well (only Matty Cash fared better with 2.5).

And, speaking after his performance for PSG last year, now Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, said: “Rafinha showed in this match that he was courageous. He showed that he knows how to take responsibility and he looked for attacking solutions. He had a good match.”

The £13.5m-rated play-maker could bring that same fearlessness and intensity both on and off the ball to Villa Park should Smith land his man this summer.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa are preparing a transfer bid for this player…