Tag Futebol

Division One

Darren Stevens struck a century to launch Kent into a strong position © Getty Images

Darren Bicknell and Stephen Fleming batted firmly for Nottinghamshire as a heavily rain-affected match edges towards stalemate. Andrew Harris took three of Sussex‘s final four wickets as they made 355 on the third day. Harris ended with 5 for 131. In reply, Jason Gallian fell early for 5 and Russell Warren made 25 before being bowled. But Bicknell (88) and Fleming (102 not out) stood firm to take Notts into a strong position.Mohammad Akram took five wickets in the second innings to consign Hampshire to Surrey a heavy defeat at The Rose Bowl. Ormond had taken apart the top order – Jimmy Adams, who made just 1 for the second time this match, Michael Brown (20) and Chris Benham, who made a duck – before Akram ripped through the middle order with 5 for 41 from just 9.3 overs. John Crawley offered the best resistance for the visitors, with 67, before Harbhajan Singh penetrated his defences and Hampshire collapsed to 160 all out from just 33.3 overs.An intriguing final day is in prospect at Southgate after Middlesex declared on 435 for 4, and Glamorgan replied with 125 for 3. In another run-fest, Ed Smith fell eight short of his century, Scott Styris 15 short of his but Ed Joyce managed to post his – and went on to stricke an unbeaten 155. Glamorgan increased their lead of 149 to 325 by the end of play, but Daniel Cherry couldn’t repeat his first innings heroics: he made 16 before Alan Richardson dismissed him, the first of his three wickets. Matt Elliott (20) and David Hemp (29) were the other casualties.Kent are strongly placed for victory after their batsmen struck 569. Warwickshire still trail by 272 with eight wickets remaining. For a full report see Match of the Day.

Division Two

Dale Benkenstein followed up a good performance with the bat with four wickets as Durham took firm control of their match against Northamptonshire. Benkenstein ran through the middle order with 4 for 29 as Northants collapsed from their overnight score of 98 for 2 to 214 all out. Jonathon Lewis and Nathan Astle led the charge in reply, each striking half centuries to leave Durham with a good chance of success as they have a lead of 372 with six wickets remaining.Lancashire edged a one-wicket win against Derbyshire. The visitors had been in firm control, requiring just 136 for victory after Muttiah Muralitharan took six wickets to shoot Derbyshire out for 185. But they didn’t make it easy for themselves – and Derbyshire nearly snuck the win after Lancashire slumped from 57 for 1 to 131 for 9. Ian Sutcliffe, though, proved a hero with the bat, anchoring the innings with 62 not out as Muralitharan hit the winning runs in the third additional over.Worcestershire are scenting victory at Grace Road after advancing to 323, with Zander de Bruyn topscoring with 67. Daryl Mitchell ended unbeaten on 63 and James Pipe added 47 to give the visitors a first innings lead of 98. Leicestershire chipped away at the deficit, but lost four wickets for 28 runs, and HD Ackerman fell for 2 later to give them a slim lead of 34, with five wickets remaining. Worcestershire will press for early wickets tomorrow.

Scorecard
If Michael Papps doesn’t get them, Peter Fulton will. That seems to be the continuing story of Canterbury’s batting in the State Shield as they remained at the head of the table after the latest round of games today. Add to the equation the return of Chris Cairns, the captain, and the Canterbury line-up represented a heady mix.Fulton, who scored his maiden State Shield century at Timaru today, finished unbeaten on 115. Shanan Stewart scored 71 after Papps was out for 1, and when Stewart was out, Cairns came in to launch one of his special assaults, reaching his half-century off only 39 balls. He went on to 66 before he was out, having hit five sixes in all. Chris Harris added 23 before the innings ended on 300 for 3.Craig Cumming (52) took his time to move into a position to launch an assault, but then Harris decimated the Canterbury middle-order by taking 4 for 44 from his 10 overs. There was a chance for the Otago lower order to hit out, but all they achieved was a narrowing the final margin of defeat. Gareth Hopkins scored 37, Warren McSkimming 32 not out and Brad Scott 16 not out.Backing Harris’s effort was Stephen Cunis, who took 2 for 41, as Otago finished 30 runs short at the end of 50 overs.
Scorecard
Apart from Richard Jones, who scored 71 and shared an 86-run stand with James Franklin (36), Wellington were never comfortable in their visit to Pukekura Park to play Central Districts. All the Central Districts’ bowlers put up a disciplined effort with Michael Mason’s took 2 for 32 being the pick of the lot.Wellington scored only 205 for 9, a total well below what they needed on a pitch that was soon shown to be a run-scoring delight by the CD batsmen. Craig Spearman scored 57, his best score of the competition, while Ross Taylor’s climb up the list of batsmen clamoring for a place in the New Zealand A team continued. He scored 53 and with Mathew Sinclair (40 not out), CD were able to claim a valuable bonus point after achieving the win in the 36th over.
Scorecard
Kyle Mills snapped up three wickets and helped Auckland win a low-scoring thriller against Northern Districts at Hamilton. Auckland struggled to 183 for 9, after opting to bat first, as Ian Butler (3 for 30) and Mark Orchard (3 for 27) got stuck into the middle order. Tama Canning and Paul Hitchcock shared a vital 80-run partnership and prevented a complete collapse.ND were in dire straits at 17 for 6 with Mills and Kerry Walmsely wrecking all the havoc. Mark Orchard led the fightback with a fine 79 and received valuable support from the tail. But Orchard was run-out at a critical juncture, and ND fell 8 runs short in the end.

It took six days of Test cricket before genuine Test match conditions were available and New Zealand had played themselves into the best position to take their second victory of the National Bank series when beating India by four wickets at Hamilton today.This will long be remembered as a Test series dominated by New Zealand’s miserable early-summer weather, where bouncy pitches were complicated by excessive sideways movement.But it will also be recalled as a series where New Zealand took their chances, and after a dreadful first day of catching in Wellington, they lifted their act so impressively that they never dropped a chance for the remainder of the series. And with so much movement creating so many edges that was crucial.Such had been the competitive nature of this match that it was the first time since England played Australia in 1981 that any batsman had failed to score a half century in a Test. Of the 13 occasions in which that statistical oddity had occurred, this was only the second time, after the Birmingham Test 21 years ago, it involved a covered pitch.Yet out of the disappointment of an uneven contest, where the conditions dictated more than any self-respecting cricket connoisseur would want, a marvellous last day emerged full of all the intensity that is associated with Test cricket at its best.India fought superbly. They lacked the firepower of New Zealand, but left-arm medium pacers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra were outstanding, while Tinu Yohannan was accurate and unrelenting in his control.Had the match been a day older, and New Zealand chasing another 100 runs, off spinner Harbhajan Singh would have been a big player in this game. But circumstance dictated otherwise and the New Zealanders, with the same patience that has served them so well in much of their successful cricket over the last 12 months, ground down the margin until two newcomers in Jacob Oram, in his second Test, and Robbie Hart, in his fifth, were able to stay together while the last 24 runs were scored.It had been a restless morning for New Zealand. The run rate had been laborious, and rightfully so given the state of the match. But no-one in the large pre-Christmas crowd was complaining.Ninety-six runs were added in the elongated morning session, and five wickets fell – just the sort of script to have the cricket purists salivating.Lou Vincent was the first of the New Zealanders to be dismissed, hanging his bat to a ball from Yohannan that was comfortably taken by wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel. Vincent scored nine in 79 minutes and off 52 balls.Mark Richardson kept the prospect of errors to a minimum until a lovely ball from left-armer Nehra straightened up on him and took the edge to give Patel the catch. Patel’s response, and that of his team-mates suggested they were well aware of the importance of Richardson’s wicket to their own aspirations of victory.Skipper Stephen Fleming seemed to set himself to bat the team home. He worked the quick singles, and also took advantage of Khan tiring toward the end of his first spell to hit three fours in four balls.He and Craig McMillan, who was sorely in need of a good performance, had added 37 runs for the third wicket, when an attempted pull shot by Fleming, a shot that has not succeeded at all in this Test, was skied high to mid-on where Khan and bowler Nehra did their best to foul up the catching chance. But Khan was steadfast and completed the catch to dismiss Fleming for 32, scored in 87 minutes.McMillan got his scoring underway with four behind square off Yohannan and was untroubled in coming down the pitch to Harbhajan and hitting him for six over long on. Harbhajan bowled only two overs, conceding 14 runs before being taken off.But McMillan was the next man to depart, at 90, when Nehra trapped him leg before wicket for 18.Nathan Astle saw the 100-up, a vital psychological boost for New Zealand, with Scott Styris. However, five runs later he attempted to swing a leg-side ball behind square only to be beaten by the bounce, gloving the ball to Patel to be out for 14.Styris and Oram reached 120 by lunch and were going well after the break until Styris tried a cut shot against Harbhajan and had the faintest tickle taken by Patel to be out for 17 with New Zealand 136/6.Hart, playing on his home ground strode out to find Oram taking control. Oram’s batting in the two earlier innings he played showed nothing of the potential he possesses, but there was no doubt this time.A flowing cover drive from Harbhajan signalled his attitude and he backed that up with a lovely square drive to the boundary off Nehra. New Zealand couldn’t miss out and when a run out attempt of Hart, which would have been successful had it hit, produced four overthrows to take them within seven, the damage was well and truly done.The two batsmen just worked the ball around and Hart was able to flick the winning single off his hip to give New Zealand the win.The Indian pressure was outstanding and Nehra, especially, with this three for 43, kept the home team on their guard. Harbhajan really needed more runs to bowl at while Khan’s figures do not reflect the menace he represented.In the final outcome, New Zealand played the conditions best, and while they are more used to them, they certainly are not expert in dealing with the movement off the pitch that occurred in the series. They had the benefit of winning the toss in both matches, but they also had the better bowling attack under the circumstances to make best use of the conditions and that ultimately told the story of the series.

One over-30 wicket-keeper will replace another for the Kenya leg ofthe imminent West Indies tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya.Courtney Browne, 30, takes over from Ridley Jacobs, 33, emphasisingthe absence of obvious young candidates at present.Browne is one of two changes to the 16 for Kenya where the team willplay two four-day matches and three One-Day Internationals.The other brings in 21-year-old left-arm wrist spinner Dave Mohammedfor his first tour in place of fellow Trinidadian Dinanath Ramnarine.Chairman of selectors Mike Findlay did not say who would substitute ifeither Jacobs or Browne is injured. It is a calculated gamble but onethat could well backfire.Last year, Findlay identified Wavell Hinds as a possible choice afterJacobs was originally the only chosen keeper for the tour of England.But then Wayne Phillip, the 22-year-old Dominican, was seconded tofill the post.In the event, Hinds never had to be called on. He is again in thesquad for the triangular one-day series with India and Zimbabwe, whileLeon Garrick, his fellow Jamaican who takes his place for the Tests,has kept at club level.Jacobs was also the sole keeper on the preceding tour of New Zealandand played in both Tests and all five One-Day Internationals.Findlay acknowledged yesterday that the choice of Jacobs, who hasplayed his 31 Tests and 79 One-Day Internationals in succession, andBrowne (13 Tests, 12 internationals) was indicative of the dearth ofyoung keepers.On this tour, we would have loved to have had a young keeper but thereality is we don’t have one we felt was ready yet , he said.The disappointing thing is that every time we see a young keeper wholooks promising, after a couple of years he falls back instead ofgoing forward.Findlay, himself a former Windward Islands keeper who played 10 Testsfor the West Indies between 1969 and 1973, placed Jamaicans Shane Fordand Matthew Sinclair, in that category.They were chosen for representative teams against touring teams buthave since lost their places in the Jamaica team.Phillip and 21-year-old Jamaican Keith Hibbert are both at the ShellAcademy in Grenada and Findlay hoped they would emerge from that asthe keepers of the future.Phillip looked quite good when he went to England and filled in forJacobs in some county matches on last year’s tour of England, he said.But something seemed to go wrong along the way and he hasn’tprogressed as we hoped.Hibbert made an impression in last year’s Red Stripe Bowl with bothhis batting and his keeping but, according to Findlay, they fell awayduring the Busta International Series.They are both young enough that they can come on with the propertraining and attitude, he said.

Joe Hart, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Tom Rogic stood out in Celtic’s huge 2-1 victory away to Rangers on Sunday afternoon.

Ange Postecoglou’s side faced a massive trip to Ibrox, knowing that victory would take them six points clear of their rivals at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Celtic did exactly that, falling behind to Aaron Ramsey’s early strike but eventually turning the game on its head thanks to goals from Rogic and Carter-Vickers.

According to Sofascore, there were three Hoops heroes who stood out on the day, and we’ve taken a deeper look through their numbers to get the beat on Ange’s star men, who won a combined 14 duels and made ten clearances.

Hart – 7.3/10

Hart started between the sticks and he produced an immaculate performance, on a day when Celtic’s backs were against the wall in the second half.

The veteran goalkeeper made three saves inside the penalty area, proving to be a constant thorn in Rangers’ side and showing all of his experience, with the low save to deny Fashion Sakala late on particularly impressive.

Hart made five saves overall, in what was arguably one of his best performances in a Hoops shirt.

Carter-Vickers – 7.7/10

Carter-Vickers received the highest rating at Ibrox, following a magnificent display at the heart of the defence.

The 24-year-old made a monstrous nine clearances in a season-defining encounter, as well as winning seven out of nine aerial duels and making three interceptions.

There was also the small matter of Carter-Vickers scoring the winning goal, firing home low like a seasoned striker.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-23/” title=”Celtic updates!!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Rogic – 7.4/10

Rogic was Celtic’s other goalscorer on the day, equalising early on to silence the Ibrox crowd, and he only grew from that moment onwards.

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 Australian was an influential presence in midfield, winning six out of ten ground duels and successfully completing three out of five dribbles.

Rogic also made one tackle, as he thrived both on and off the ball.

In other news, an expert has dropped a key Celtic injury claim. Read more here.

Jeremy Snape will team up with his England Twenty20 team-mate, Dimitri Mascarenhas, after joining the Rajasthan Royals franchise as a performance coach for the forthcoming Indian Premier League.Snape, 34, has made a name for himself as a Twenty20 specialist since the format was first piloted in England in 2003, and he has helped his Leicestershire team to each of the first four finals days, including the title in 2004. On the strength of these performances, he was selected for September’s inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa.The news comes a day after the chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board, Giles Clarke, hardened his stance against English participation in the IPL, but a statement from Snape’s county side said: “Leicestershire are very supportive of his involvement and are sure that he can pass on the experiences gained in India to our younger players, particularly, in our Twenty20 campaign.”Snape will miss four county games during his stint with Rajasthan; the Friends Provident Trophy tie against Northamptonshire followed by the first three rounds of the County Championship. Apart from Mascarenhas, he will be playing alongside the likes of Shane Warne and Justin Langer.

It will be a big step up from State Championship final to World Cup Super Eights for Hamish Marshall © Getty Images

On Monday, Hamish Marshall was batting for Northern Districts in New Zealand’s domestic State Championship final. On Wednesday, he was in Antigua preparing to bat at No. 3 in New Zealand’s Super Eights match against West Indies a day later.Marshall said it had been a hectic week after he was called up to replace Lou Vincent, who broke his wrist, in the 15-man squad. “There’s a bit of excitement,” he told AFP.”It’s always nice to get to a new country so I’ve been staying up reasonably late but I got to sleep last night and got eight hours in. I had a schedule that [the fitness trainer] Warren Frost had given me – when to sleep and when not to – and I stuck to that.”Marshall was dropped from the New Zealand team in January after reaching double-figures only twice from eight ODIs since the start of the Champions Trophy. However, his domestic form has been strong and on Monday his unbeaten 80 helped Northern Districts win the State Championship title.”It’s nice to be here, a little bit of a shock and I’m disappointed for Lou,” Marshall said. “It’s an opportunity for me and it’s just nice to be over here. The batting’s been going well for ND and playing some cricket in a team that’s winning is also pretty handy. To get some runs myself has been good for my confidence.”Marshall said facing up to West Indies on Thursday would be a huge challenge having only just arrived in the Caribbean. “It’s a quick turnaround but it’s part of the job,” he said. “I knew that was going to happen when I was coming over.”Mentally and physically there’s not a lot you can do, just get as much rest as possible and hydrate and eat well – that sort of thing. Mentally the key is to get on track to play a game which is pretty important for us at the start of the Super Eights.”Marshall’s appearance at No. 3 is not the only change to the New Zealand top order, with Peter Fulton set to open with Stephen Fleming. A win for New Zealand would put them well on the way to a semi-final berth.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Daren Ganga: calmed the nerves on a rain-marred day © Getty Images

A day truncated first by a wet outfield and then bad light ended saw only 27.2 overs being bowled at Napier as West Indies reached 95 for 1 thanks to sensible knocks from Daren Ganga and Brian Lara. West Indies may have been happy to have been saved by rain in the first two Tests which they lost, but their last shot at redemption was seriously jolted in the final Test.When Stephen Fleming won the toss and chose to put West Indies in at 3pm, with 47 overs to play, he held all the aces. Shane Bond had recovered fully from his illness and was firing on all cylinders, the skies were overcast and the outfield damp and slow. It was the condition of the outfield that had delayed the start of play in the first place, leaving both sides hanging. Despite all this, though, Chris Gayle and Ganga began well, as they have done more than once in this series.Gayle in particular disregarded the 0-2 Test series scoreline, coming on the back of a 1-4 hiding in the ODIs, and played some sumptuous strokes. He drove through the off side well and played his favourite pick-up shot through the on side with ease, only occasionally struggling against the pace and bounce of Shane Bond. Gayle had struck five boundaries in his 30 when a moment of indiscretion cost him his wicket. He punched Chris Martin on the up towards short cover where Peter Fulton was placed for just such a shot.After Gayle’s error in judgment a determined Lara knuckled down and blunted the New Zealand bowling. Defensive for the best part, Lara moved exaggeratedly in his crease getting right behind the line of the ball. He was able to handle the pace of Bond quite well and even unfurled an attractive cover-drive, full flourish of the MRF bat sending the ball screaming to the cover fence.Fleming, leading New Zealand for the 75th time in Tests, behind only Allan Border the former Australian great who led his team 93 times, sensed that his main fast bowlers were not getting much assistance from the conditions and threw the ball to Nathan Astle who bowled a tight line and length and kept one end very quiet. He troubled Lara with his nagging line, getting in a good lbw shout from which Lara was only saved by the height. When tea was taken, after 22 overs of play, Lara was on 17 while Ganga had reached 23 in West Indies’ 75 for 1.Soon after a tea break which both team really could have done without, considering the fact that they were cooling their heels in the dressing-room for the best part of two sessions, West Indies pressed on. They consciously looked to put runs on the board, and this almost resulted in a second wicked when Lara pushed Bond to gully and set off. Fortunately for the West Indies the shy at the stumps missed and Lara lived to battle on. He slapped Bond over point for a boundary, and two balls later, when the light was offered, the batsmen accepted it. Lara was on 28 and Ganga on 31, the second wicket partnership of 58 pushing West Indies along to 95 for 1, the score on which stumps were drawn soon after when the light situation failed to improve.

Chris Gayle c Fulton b Martin 30 (37 for 1)

David Dawson joins the Academy after impressing with Tasmania © Getty Images

Three first-class players were inducted into the 18th intake of the Australian Academy at Allan Border Field today. James Packman, the New South Wales batsman who played in the Pura Cup final victory, Tasmania’s David Dawson and Ryan Harris, from South Australia, were part of the 23-man squad that opened with an exhibition match in Brisbane.The players in the Australian Institute of Sport program will undergo a 13-week course that has been used by 67 cricketers on the way to international honours. James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence was a pivotal component for Australia’s aspiring cricketers. “It forms an integral part of the pathway to help these talented players refine their skills and prepare for the next step in their career,” he said. “For some that may culminate in representing their country.”Since the course started in 1988 there have been 240 inductees and 72.5% have reached first-class level while 30 have played Tests. Shane Watson was the last Academy graduate to figure in a Test while James Hopes, the Queensland allrounder, is the most recent one-day international representative. At the end of the two training blocks in July a 14-man squad will be picked for a three-week tour to Bangalore and Chennai.

Richard Davis, the only cricketer to have appeared for five counties, has died aged 37 after a long battle against brain cancer.Davis, known throughout the game as Dickie, began his career as a slow left-arm spinner with Kent, before going on to play for Gloucestershire, Sussex (in one-day cricket only), Warwickshire, and finally Leicestershire, for whom he played a one-off County Championship match in August 2001. It was 170th and final first-class appearance, and he signed off with six second-innings wickets.The highlight of Davis’s career came in 1994, when he was a member of Warwickshire’s treble-winning squad. Neil Smith, a friend and team-mate at Warwickshire, said: “He was thoughtful, caring and considerate – an honest and straightforward guy who will be sadly missed.”Davis had harboured hopes of moving into fulltime coaching – he was assistant coach to the England women’s team – but within two weeks of his final Championship appearance, he suffered a seizure and was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. A second, more aggressive tumour was discovered in September this year.Davis leaves a wife, Sam, the sister-in-law of Kent’s captain David Fulton.