Before Monday, Karun Nair had almost joined the list of players who failed to replicate a successful first season in the second

AMOL KARHADKAR IN MUMBAI09-Mar-2015Dhawal Kulkarni. Abhimanyu Mithun. Suryakumar Yadav. All of them had exceptional maiden first-class seasons. All of them failed to replicate their success in the next. At the end of the Ranji Trophy semi-finals, Karun Nair had almost joined the list. Then came Monday.On the second day of the Ranji final, Karun showed his skills as a middle-order batsman. He was patient and persevered to remain unbeaten after batting for more than seven hours to emphasis Karnataka’s dominance.Naturally, Karun was relieved and elated with his effort. “I think this is the best and most special because it has come in a Ranji final and I hadn’t got any hundreds in this season. I was really looking forward to and hoping that I get one, so this is the most special,” he told reporters after his unbeaten 130 against Tamil Nadu.”I’ve been working hard so I was looking forward to such an opportunity. I think I was getting a lot of 30s, and I was getting out on one wrong ball.”So what was hampering him this season? Failing to cope with expectations? Being found out by the opposition teams? Trying too hard?.”Not so long ago, he was trying to cement his place in the Karnataka team. Suddenly he scored those three centuries and he was picked for India A. For a guy who was trying to cement his place in the Ranji side, it was too much to handle the pressure on the young shoulders of suddenly being in the selectors’ contention,” J Arunkumar, Karnataka’s batting coach, told ESPNcricinfo.”At some stage, many youngsters start wondering whether they should do something different. But Karun is a confident cricketer. He was quite relaxed since he knew he was hitting the ball well.”Karun made his debut midway through the 2013-14 season and made headlines by scoring centuries in successive games against Delhi, Uttar Pradesh in the quarter-final and Punjab in the semi-final. That was followed by a successful stint with Rajasthan Royals in the IPL – 330 runs at an average of 33 and strike rate of 142.24 – and Karun was in Australia with the India A squad last July.Since then, however, his form has slumped. After only one fifty in the first seven games, Karnataka decided to rest him for the last league game against Mumbai. Karun was asked to play the CK Nayudu Under-23 Trophy quarter-final and the move paid off as he scored a century and regained confidence.It reflected in his performance in the Ranji semi-final against Mumbai. His unbeaten 49 in the first innings was crucial in Karnataka digging themselves out of a hole and he has followed it up with a remarkable innings in the final. He came to the crease at 16 for 3 last evening, saw off the day and built an innings that could end up being match-winning.If he continues in the same vein, Tamil Nadu will be forced to field for three days, just like they did in their last final appearance, against Rajasthan in 2011-12.

A round-up of the Group C Ranji Trophy games on February 1, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2015
ScorecardShahbaz Nadeem took a match haul of six wickets in Jharkhand’s first win of the season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad’s 5 for 27 set up a simple win for Assam, and kept them on top of the Group C table with 35 points.Andhra had started the day on 116 for 6, but were bowled out for only 198, Naren Reddy was their lone source of resistance with 51 of 163 balls, his maiden first-class fifty.With just 24 runs required for victory Assam reached the target in 13 overs without losing any wickets. Arun Karthik and Pallavkumar Das were unbeaten on 9 and 16 respectively.Assam’s Swarupam Purkayastha was adjudged the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 108 off 248 balls and six wickets in the match.
ScorecardJharkhand wrapped up their first win of the season in Porvorim and kept Goa winless. But the result did little help as both teams were knocked out.Following on, Goa entered the final day at 161 for 5, needing nine runs to take the lead. But they folded for 223, eight more than their first-innings total. Suraj Dongre was the first to depart for 12, perishing to Shahbaz Nadeem. Keenan Vaz, the other overnight batsman, top-scored for Goa with 45 off 111 deliveries, ensuring that Jharkhand had to bat again. No.10 Sagar Naik made 19 off 18 deliveries, but Goa could only extend the lead to 53.Legspinner Samar Quadri ended with figures of 5 for 82, extending his match tally to nine. Left-arm spinner Nadeem took three of the five Goa wickets to fall on the final day to end up with 4 for 60.Jharkhand had the opportunity to pick up seven points, but were reduced to 4 for 2 with Virat Singh and Shiv Gautam getting bowled by seamer Sagar Naik inside five overs. However, Ishan Kishan and Kumar Deobrat added 51 in 14.4 overs to help Jharkhand to an eight-wicket win.
ScorecardHimachal Pradesh allrounder Rishi Dhawan followed his career-best 7 for 43 with 4 for 92 as the visitors collected three points against Tripura in Agartala.Tripura began at 20 for 0, but openers Bishal Ghosh and Samrat Singha fell in quick succession. Thirty-nine for 2 soon became 59 for 4 before Rajesh Banik and Kaushal Acharjee added 55 runs for the fifth wicket.Offspinner Ankush Bedi broke the stand, but No.8 Manisankar Murasingh clubbed a rapid 47 in a 56-run eighth-wicket partnership with Saurabh Das and Rana Dutta made 28 off 30 deliveries to take Tripura towards 200. They were eventually bundled out for 239 as the game ended in a draw.Man-of-the-Match Dhawan went to the top of the bowling charts with 39 wickets this season, while Vikramjeet Malik and Pankaj Jaiswal bagged two wickets apiece. Allrounder Bipul Sharma, who claimed the last wicket to fall, had figures of 13.1-4-11-1.Himachal Pradesh are now placed second on the Group C table with 27 points, eight behind Assam. On the other hand, Tripura finish the season winless.Kerala v Services: Kerala wrap up first win of season

تمكن نادي الشباب من زيادة أوجاع الاتحاد حامل اللقب بالفوز عليه بهدف دون رد في الدوري السعودي لموسم 2023-2024.

ولعب الشباب أمام ضيفه الاتحاد مساء اليوم الجمعة على ملعب الملك فهد الدولي في العاصمة السعودية الرياض وذلك في إطار الجولة السادسة من دوري روشن السعودي.

ودخل الاتحاد اللقاء بتشكيل مكون من: “مارسيلو جروهي، لويز فيليبي، حسن كادش، مهند الشنقيطي، زكريا هوساوي، سلطان الفرحان، نجولو كانتي، فيصل الغامدي، رومارينيو، حمدالله، كريم بنزيما”.

بينما اختار الشباب التشكيل التالي: “كيم سيونج جو، فواز الصقور، نادر الشراري، رومان سايس، حمد اليامي، جوستافو كويلار، حسين القحطاني، إيفر بانيجا، فهد المولد، يانيك كاراسكو”.

إقرأ أيضًا.. 4 قرارات صارمة من الاتحاد الآسيوي بشأن مباراة الاتحاد وسباهان

وجاء هدف اللقاء الوحيد عن طريق لاعب الوسط البرازيلي كارلوس جونيور في الدقيقة 14 من عمر المباراة.

وبتلك النتيجة بات الشباب في المركز التاسع برصيد 15 نقطة بينما تجمد الاتحاد عند 21 نقطة في المركز السادس.

وينتظر أن تستكمل مواجهات الجولة 12 من بطولة دوري روشن السعودي للمحترفين، غدًا السبت بإقامة 3 مباريات. هدف مباراة الشباب والاتحاد في الدوري السعودي

Darren Stevens has spoken openly for the first time about the circumstances that caused him to become embroiled in the Bangladesh anti-corruption enquiry which saw Mohammad Ashraful banned for eight years

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-20154:54

Darren Steven’s Story

Darren Stevens has spoken openly for the first time about the circumstances that caused him to become embroiled in the Bangladesh anti-corruption enquiry which saw their former captain Mohammad Ashraful banned for eight years.Stevens, one of county cricket’s longest-serving players, was charged with failing to report an alleged suspicious approach while he was playing in the Bangladesh Premier League two years ago.He was cleared by a Bangladesh Cricket Board anti-corruption tribunal in February last year but with the assistance of the Professional Cricketers Association he is now warning fellow professionals to report the merest hint of wrongdoing to avoid the “brutal” experience which threatened his future as a professional cricketer.Dhaka Gladiators’ managing director Shihab Chowdhury was banned for fixing, with former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent and Sri Lanka batsman Kaushal Lokuarachchi banned for not reporting a bookmaker’s approach.Stevens, the Kent allrounder, has now appeared in a DVD, produced by the PCA, which will be shown to all county players before the start of the new domestic season as part of an updated anti-corruption code.He tells how he was playing for the Dhaka Gladiators when he was asked by the owner if he would captain the side in a match against Chittagong but that Mohammad Ashraful would still “run the game on the pitch”. Stevens refused and was later contact by Alan Peacock of the ICC anti-corruption unit.He relates: “Over the phone, he said to me: ‘Can we have a meeting about Bangladesh?’ It wasn’t too bad at the start but then it got worse and worse and worse.”When I got two charges through, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, it was brutal. The next meeting was a four-and-a-half hour meeting in London. After that, it was hours and hours and hours of meetings with my lawyer going through everything, going through how the next six months up to the trial were probably going to pan out.”The trial in Bangladesh was in a small room in a bank with cameras everywhere: all different lawyers from all over the place in the same room. You just felt claustrophobic. I was there for nearly four weeks, five days a week in court going through everything. Just sitting there in court was more nervewracking than anything I have ever done.”I was on the stand for seven hours, five hours on the day and two-and-half hours on the morning. It was really hard. Cricket is my life and has been for 25 to 30 years. Every day that I was playing, it just felt like it was going to be my last game.”The former Essex fast bowler Mervyn Westfield was jailed for his involvement in spot-fixing, but after his release he participated in a comprehensive education and awareness initiative for the PCA.Stevens, too, hopes that talking about his experiences will help other players to appreciate the implications of failing to report any suspicious approach immediately.”It was horrific. Because I didn’t report at that time a suspicious act I have gone through hell over the last two years,” he said.”There are so many opportunities around the world now and if Bangladesh did come back up again I would not stop anyone going and playing out there. I would encourage them to go and play.”But I don’t want anybody to go through what I actually went through over those two years. In any of these tournaments anywhere around the world if you do come across anything suspicious just report it immediately.”

كشفت تقارير صحفية عن موقف تيبو كورتوا، حارس مرمى ريال مدريد الإسباني، من المشاركة مع منتخب بلجيكا في كأس أمم أوروبا “يورو 2024”.

وعانى كورتوا في بداية الموسم الجاري، من قطع في الرباط الصليبي، وأجرى حراجة ناجحة في الركبة، ويواصل البلجيكي عمليات التعافي بشكل تدريجي.

وتنطلق بطولة “يورو 2024” يوم 14 يونيو المقبل، وستكون المباراة الافتتاحية للبلد المضيف ألمانيا أمام اسكتلندا. 

وبحسب “راديو ماركا” كورتوا أبلغ ريال مدريد أنه لن يسافر إلى ألمانيا مع المنتخب البلجيكي للمشاركة في بطولة أمم أوروبا 2024 الصيف المقبل.

وبدلاً من ذلك، سيبقى كورتوا مع ريال مدريد، وسيعمل مع مدرب حراس المرمى بالنادي للتعافي بشكل كامل من إصابة الرباط الصليبي الأمامي.

اقرأ أيضًا | بيرلو: وقعت مع ريال مدريد.. وجوارديولا أرادني في برشلونة

ومع ذلك، نفى المقربون من كورتوا الأمر، وأشاروا إلى أن مشاركته في البطولة ستعتمد على تعافيه.

وأصيب كورتوا في شهر أغسطس، وتعاقد ريال مدريد مع حارس المرمى كيبا أريزابالاجا على سبيل الإعارة من تشيلسي.

يذكر أن منتخب بلجيكا يقع في المجموعة الخامسة والتي تضم، سلوفاكيا، ورومانيا، بالإضافة إلى الفائز من المسار الثاني في الملحق (الكيان الصهيوني، بوسنة والهرسك، أوكرانيا وآيسلندا).

An oddly familiar face peered down the SCG net containing Aaron Finch on Monday, his fiery red hair accentuated by the choice of a cap of the same colour. After a few minutes of speculation, the figure was proven to be Andrew McDonald

Daniel Brettig in Sydney24-Mar-2015An oddly familiar face peered down the SCG net containing Aaron Finch on Monday, his fiery red hair accentuated by the choice of a cap of the same colour. After a few minutes of speculation, the figure was proven to be Andrew McDonald, the former Australia allrounder and soon to be coach of Leicestershire.Apart from everything else in his quite impressive CV, McDonald is a longtime friend and team-mate of Finch for Victoria, and a past source of technical and tactical advice for the younger, squatter opening batsman. Together they have shared considerable success at the domestic level, and it may be argued that Finch is enjoying the sorts of international opportunities McDonald was unlucky – largely through injury – not to have had himself.Australia’s World Cup campaign has been punctuated by knowledgable visitors, from Geoff Marsh and Ian Healy to Steve Waugh and even the former Prime Minister Bob Hawke. But McDonald was there at the behest of Finch alone, his diminishing returns at this tournament providing all the necessary impetus to call in a pair of eyes capable of making sharp observations allied to reassuring words.”It was just a good opportunity, he’s someone I’ve worked with a lot over the last couple of years – for about 10 or years now on my game – and he’s someone I feel comfortable with,” Finch said of McDonald. “And just a different voice and someone I really trust with my game and just to touch base with him was something I really needed.”He’s just someone I really trust, he’s one of my best mates and he knows a lot about the game. He’s been around my batting for a long time and I thought it was a good opportunity to get him up here for a day and have a hit. I feel like I’ve been batting nicely, it’s nice to go back to a couple of checkpoints and make sure that I’m on top of my game and feeling good and hitting the ball nicely.”That’s all I can ask and whatever will happen on Thursday will happen. I’m not someone who over-analyses it a hell of a lot.”That McDonald was there spoke for two things. The first and most obvious point was that Finch has been struggling, from the moment his over-eager attempt to repeat a six off Tim Southee resulted in his off stump being plucked out at Eden Park. The second is that the Australian team’s coaching staff are not given to offering technical advice of too detailed a variety, particularly when it comes to batting.Head coach Darren Lehmann and his batting assistant Michael Di Venuto were uncomplicated figures when they played, and have maintained that sort of visage as mentors. Di Venuto’s advice in early summer that Steven Smith was “not out of form, just out of runs” proved to be the right words at the right time, but there have been other moments and other players who need more.Helpfully, though, neither Lehmann nor Di Venuto are uncomfortable with others coming in to help at times, as evidenced by the use of Marsh, Healy, Waugh and numerous others. As Lehmann has often said “you’d be silly not to” keep an ear out for numerous sources of wise counsel.Finch is helped by the fact that since the Auckland defeat, a reshuffled Australian batting order offers more of a top order buffer zone should the hyper-aggressive openers charge too quickly into the bend. Smith and Michael Clarke at Nos. 3 and 4 can play at multiple tempos, while Shane Watson’s floating commission at No. 5 or 6 sits easily alongside the more outlandish hitting of Glenn Maxwell.”When you’re under pressure you go back to your basics and I think we’ve got some really good ‘basic’ players,” Finch said. “We’ve got a lot of guys with flair, but when they’re under pressure they’ve still got a really good defence to fall back on, a really structured game.”When you look at guys like Steve Smith and Michael Clarke they’re quality Test players and that’s what you tend to fall back on and let the other guys. Guys like Maxwell play with the flair. But saying that, we’re not going to be holding back. We’re an aggressive team with bat and ball. It’s going to be a good opportunity to do it on the biggest stage.”Finch knows that whatever work he does this week, Thursday may also depend on a moment’s fortune. He was dropped before scoring when he made a hundred against England on the tournament’s opening afternoon. Against Pakistan he tried to give himself some luck by chancing an lbw referral for a ball striking middle stump, and must hope things will turn during the semi.”I referred one on middle stump, didn’t I?” Finch said with a rueful grin. “You never know. You hit a couple in the middle at the start of the innings and things seem to flow on sometimes and you get a bit of a roll on. It’s just one of those things – and when you’re not hitting them so well, to get down the other end so Davey [Warner] can take a bit of the strike.”Just try and work your way into an innings in a bit of a different way, as opposed to boundaries and trying to score quickly. It’s just one of those things. It’s not far away. I feel great, it might just be that one shot early in your innings that gets you going to make a big one.”Should Finch find his form on Thursday, it will be another feather in the red cap of McDonald, and a hopeful sign for his looming entrance into the coaching game.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Sport confirmou, nesta quinta, que irá participar da primeira edição da Conferência de Futebol do Nordeste, marcada para os dias 07 e 08 de novembro, em Recife. O clube rubro-negro vai expor um stand de negócios com o objetivo de colocar a sua marca em evidência no mercado.

– Com o stand, nós visamos aproximar o clube de novos parceiros e patrocinadores. A Confut Nordeste vai reunir os grandes clubes e empresas do país e mostrar a nível nacional as boas práticas de gestão. Nós, sem dúvidas, não poderíamos ficar de fora – afirmou o diretor de marketing do Sport, Diogo Noronha.

Diretor da ALsports, empresa realizadora do evento, Arthur Lobo comentou sobre o acerto com o Leão.

– É um prazer ter um clube do tamanho do Sport inserido na Confut Nordeste. Com certeza vão agregar e muito ao evento – disse.

Além da exposição do stand, o Sport vai contar com três representantes no palco do evento. O presidente Milton Bivar, o executivo de futebol Lucas Drubscky e o executivo financeiro Ricardo Veloso confirmaram presença na Conferência.

O Confut tem como objetivo fomentar o debate acerca da profissionalização do esporte na região, a Confut Nordeste vai reunir, na capital pernambucana, mais de 35 especialistas do mercado do futebol, além de contar com a presença dos principais clubes e entidades esportivas da região.

Essex’s coach Paul Grayson has predicted that the county can make a strong challenge in the NatWest Blast after securing the return of Shaun Tait, the Australian pace bowler, for England’s T20 competition.The signing could be the start of a rush of deals as the counties eye up the potentially available talent left unsold in the IPL auction.Tait previously played for Essex in 2013 when they reached Finals Day. His most notable spell came in the quarterfinal at Trent Bridge where his 4 for 29 contributed to a 47-run defeat of strongly-fancied Nottinghamshire. He has a career Twenty20 bowling average of 21.44, but during his first spell with Essex he bettered that, taking 16 wickets at an average of 17.18.Grayson hailed Tait’s return. “Shaun had such a positive impact around the club during his first spell. Not only on the pitch during the Twenty20 campaign, but he also spent time working with the younger players throughout the summer.”We believe we have an excellent chance of winning the NatWest T20 Blast this season, and Shaun will help us towards that target. Alongside Jesse Ryder, we now have two really exciting overseas players.”Essex’s stress in the Championship will focus more upon developing their own homegrown players.”In the LV= County Championship, we are intent on giving our younger players a chance, and our focus is very much on youth; in the Twenty20 competition, we want to use all our experience in this format and go all the way.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A double-century in a one-day international is not quite passé, but has become more common than ever seemed possible. A double-century in a World Cup quarter-final? is something truly special. Martin Guptill’s unbeaten 237 was the highest World Cup score of all time and the second-highest in all ODIs, but most importantly it ensured New Zealand’s progression to the World Cup semi-finals for the seventh time.Nobody in the partisan crowd in Wellington will ever forget Guptill’s innings. Nor will Marlon Samuels, who in the first over of the match grassed Guptill at square leg. It is hard to imagine a costlier one-day drop, for Guptill went on to score 60% of New Zealand’s 393 for 6. To add to the hurt, Samuels later fell to the most brilliant of catches, when a backpedalling Daniel Vettori at third man leapt and pinched a one-hander above his head that would have gone for six.It was that sort of day for New Zealand. Buoyed by the home support, they did just about everything right. West Indies kept up with the run-rate, just not the preservation rate required. They limped past Guptill’s individual tally at nine wickets down, and were bowled out for 250 in the 31st over. Trent Boult had done the damage by claiming four wickets in his opening spell.Chris Gayle pummelled 61 off 33 balls and provided some evening entertainment. Stiff with a bad back, Gayle dealt almost exclusively in boundaries. He struck eight sixes and two fours, and his innings was the most one-sided thing in a one-sided game: only one of his runs came through off. But he was bowled by Adam Milne for what was but a cameo compared to Guptill.Guptill had faced the first ball of New Zealand’s innings and the last. He played proper cricket shots, premeditating little but punishing the West Indies bowlers when they offered up half-volleys. He saw off 65 dot balls, respecting the good ones and making the most of the others. He brought up his 200 with a powerful crunch down the ground for four off Andre Russell from his 152nd delivery.It was fitting, for throughout his innings Guptill’s straight driving was so impressive you’d think he’d just had a wheel alignment. Guptill basked in the standing ovation, knowing that this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. When he had moved past 171, he had the highest World Cup score by a New Zealander, beating Glenn Turner’s effort in their very first World Cup match back in 1975.Guptill’s 163-ball innings featured 24 fours and 11 sixes, and he alone scored 92 of New Zealand’s 153 in the final ten overs. In the 50th over he even launched a six onto the roof. New Zealand knew they had the ingredients for a show-stopping product: a huge home crowd, a good pitch, a toss won, a shaky opposition attack. But Guptill cooked up something that spilled out of the Cake Tin entirely.He scored freely throughout his innings but not surprisingly the flow of runs became an inexorable current during the late stages. His first half-century came off 64 balls and his hundred from 111. Do the maths and you’ll realise that means his second hundred came from 41 deliveries. Wherever West Indies pitched it in the final ten over, Guptill had a six waiting for them.This was a man at the peak of his powers: his 105 against Bangladesh in the previous game was just a warm-up. And though he scored 195 more than his nearest team-mate, he had plenty of support. The most prolific partnership was his 143-run stand with Ross Taylor for the third wicket; Taylor scored only 42 of those runs as he nudged the ball around for ones and twos.In fact, the run out of Taylor arguably came at the perfect time for New Zealand, as it allowed Corey Anderson and then Grant Elliott to come in and find the boundary. Elliott’s 27 off 11 balls was a fine cameo and his half-century partnership with Guptill came from only 15 legal balls. Jerome Taylor got rid of Elliott and Luke Ronchi at the end, but Elliott and Ronchi were not the problem.The West Indian effort in the field was listless. Samuels’ dropped chance was the stand-out, but the first ball of the game was ominous: Jason Holder and Sulieman Benn both lethargically pursued Guptill’s straight drive. They could have saved the boundary, but didn’t. West Indies became more disheartened as the innings wore on, and more mistakes were made.Really, they’d have needed to do everything right after losing the toss. The first wicket was encouraging, as Holder lived up to his name by running away with the flight from mid-off and clinging on to a super catch to get rid of Brendon McCullum for 12. New Zealand were 27 for 1, but from there not much went West Indies’ way.Guptill and Kane Williamson put on 62 for the second wicket before Williamson drove Russell’s slower ball to a juggling Gayle at cover for 33. But as long as Guptill was there West Indies – and a whole bunch of ODI and World Cup records – were anything but safe.The result means New Zealand will host South Africa at Eden Park on Tuesday, a meeting that guarantees a first-time finalist at this World Cup. New Zealand have reached semi-finals at six previous World Cups but have yet to emerge from one victorious. In form and at home, they may never have a better chance.