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Even as runs were not easy to come by, the pair kept grinding through, before switching gears and accelerating

Hemant Brar11-Mar-2024Their shirts covered in dust, Ajinkya Rahane and Musheer Khan appeared to be in the middle of an advertisement for a detergent.At different points on the second day of the Ranji Trophy final, both batters had to dive to make their ground. In the process, they ended up staining their shirts, which told the story of their struggle.For the first half of their 107-run partnership, the runs were not easy to come by and they had to rely on quick singles and doubles. In fact, the first 22 overs of their stand produced only 40 runs and one boundary. But they kept grinding it out and, by stumps, had all but batted Vidarbha out of the contest.Earlier in the day, Mumbai had bundled out Vidarbha for 105, thus taking a lead of 119. But Vidarbha would not have been in the final had they not staged comebacks from such situations.Related

• Dogged Karun Nair does his bit for Vidarbha's Mission Impossible

• Musheer: 'I batted with motivation to impress Sachin sir'

• Rahane, Musheer build Mumbai's lead after bowlers decimate Vidarbha

• 'Just a rough patch' – Thakur defends Rahane and Iyer

• Heroic Shardul Thakur experiences his Ranji Groundhog Day

In the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha had conceded a first-innings lead of 82. But they bounced back in the second innings to register a comfortable victory. A similar turnaround in the final was not impossible, especially when Mumbai lost their openers with 34 runs on the board.That brought in the middle two batters at opposite ends of their careers: Rahane, a veteran of 85 Tests but no longer in the national selectors’ plans, and Musheer, fresh from an Under-19 World Cup and playing only his sixth first-class game.Their forms were equally contrasting. Coming into the final, Rahane had scored only 134 runs at an average of 13.40 this season. A strong performance might have kept him on the periphery of India’s Test squad, but those hopes evaporated more and more with every passing game.Musheer, meanwhile, was the second-highest run-getter at the World Cup, with 360 runs at an average of 60.00 and a strike rate of 98.09. He carried that form into the Ranji Trophy as well. Landing straight into the quarter-final, he scored 203 not out and 33 against Baroda. He followed it up with a 55 on a treacherous pitch in the semi-final. After just three innings, his run tally (291) was more than double of Rahane’s.But neither Rahane nor Musheer had an easy start on Monday. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey was weaving a web with the new ball. He got one to pitch on leg stump and turn square to beat Musheer’s outside edge. When the batter tried to use his feet, Dubey shortened the length to make him look silly.Rahane was on 1 when he survived an lbw appeal against Umesh. The on-field call of not-out saved him when the Hawk-Eye showed the ball just clipping the top of middle stump.Both batters had their outside edge beaten multiple times by Umesh and Aditya Thakare, but they managed to survive. They also benefitted from left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate, Vidarbha’s leading wicket-taker for the season, unable to bowl because of back spasms.Musheer Khan has brought his form from the Under-19 World Cup into the Ranji Trophy•PTI At tea, Musheer was on 13 off 55 and Rahane 9 off 39. Something changed after tea. Or perhaps just before it, and the effect was seen only after the break. In the penultimate over before the break, the ball had to be changed as its seam had come off.Or it could simply be that the two batters had spent sufficient time in the middle by then, and were primed to accelerate against an older ball.When play resumed, Thakare pitched one full around off and Rahane unleashed a gorgeous on-drive for the first boundary of the partnership.Sarwate finally came on to bowl in the 28th over but did not look 100% fit. Nor did he get the purchase Dubey was getting. When he overpitched one to Rahane, the batter used his wrists to hit against the turn and thread the gap between short midwicket and mid-on.In the following over, Rahane brought up the fifty of the partnership with a pulled four off Yash Thakur. It took the pair 140 balls but the next fifty would take only 76.Musheer stepped up by jumping out of his crease and smashing Sarwate down the ground. When the spinner shortened his length for the next delivery, Musheer was quick to go back and punch it through covers for four more.In his next over, Sarwate dropped one short and Rahane duly pulled it over midwicket for a six. And just like that, the biggest threat was taken for 35 runs in seven overs. That too on a day where no other frontline Vidarbha bowler conceded more than 2.7 per over.The acceleration meant that Rahane reached his fifty in just 88 balls. It was an emotional celebration. He kept his head down and held the bat high for a while, with Musheer giving him a hug and a pat on the back.When Musheer brought up his half-century, in the last over of the day, his dad gestured to him from the stands to stay there and carry on. Musheer gestured back in acknowledgement.At stumps, Rahane and Musheer walked off to a standing ovation from the sparse crowd, which included Sunil Gavaskar and Diana Edulji. They must be saying what a effort, or, perhaps, [Stains are good].

Missing stars, a lack of boundaries and no tension in the result. This wasn’t the opener the ECB was after

Matt Roller03-Aug-2022The opening night of the Hundred’s second season launched with a fireworks display so extensive that the smoke took nearly five minutes to clear. It felt as though a member of the Ageas Bowl’s events staff must have pushed the wrong button, using up all the pyrotechnics for the evening.So it proved. Over the course of 169 balls, Southern Brave and Welsh Fire hit only two sixes, one from Noor Ahmad, the 17-year-old Afghanistan wristspinner, and the other by James Vince off Noor’s bowling. Brave, the defending champions, cruised home with 31 balls to spare in pursuit of 108; Fire’s hopes were extinguished before the end of the powerplay.The shadow of the absent Jonny Bairstow loomed over their innings, after the ECB finally confirmed on the eve of the tournament that Fire’s marquee player would not be taking part in order to manage his workload. They were not short on batting power, with a stacked top order on paper, but any team in the world would feel his absence keenly given his recent form. “It’s huge,” Ben Duckett said. “He came in and won us two games last year.”Related

Bairstow out of the Hundred after opting for rest

Last summer, it was all fun and frolics – now comes the real test for the Hundred

James Vince sparkles as Southern Brave claim dominant opening-night win

Bairstow’s decision to withdraw was the obvious move, the only window in his jammed schedule for him to take a rest, but by making his decision public at the 11th hour – his decision had been communicated internally 48 hours before the announcement – the ECB ensured his absence would be one of the evening’s main talking points.In fact, both sides were missing key men and neither managed to fill their quota of three overseas players: Brave were without Quinton de Kock and Finn Allen while Fire had to cope without David Miller and Naseem Shah, all on international duty. The opening night showed why the ECB have ensured the Hundred has a clear window of availability from next year: the names that had been used to sell tickets were nowhere to be seen.”We’re not quite sure what a good score will be,” Vince had said at the toss, and 107 for 7 was not the answer. Fire lost Joe Clarke, Tom Banton and Ollie Pope inside the first 22 balls for 16 runs between them, and despite Duckett’s valiant 40 off 31 and two drops from Vince in the field, they were a long way short of a competitive total.Vince sparkled in the chase after an early reprieve, dropped by Ryan Higgins at deep backward square leg. He has been seeing the white Kookaburra like a watermelon all summer, leading the run charts in the Blast, and his cuts for four through backward point off Adam Zampa tasted like strawberries on a summer evening.Vince apart, there was limited excitement on the pitch. Brave’s new-ball bowlers, Craig Overton and Michael Hogan, used the pace and bounce of a fresh surface to good effect and Fire’s top order self-destructed against the moving ball, epitomised by Pope losing his off stump while attempting to reverse-lap Overton over short third.The Ageas Bowl was sold out, though not quite at full capacity with two of the temporary stands for England’s T20Is against India and South Africa covered and unused, and felt subdued for much of the night. A clash with the Commonwealth Games means that the first eight days of the tournament will be standalone men’s games, and the ground was noticeably emptier – and quieter – at the start of the game than it had been last year.That also exacerbated the impact of the toss, with conditions significantly harder for batters in the first innings than the second. In the Hundred’s first season, teams taking more powerplay wickets won 68% of games in the men’s competition; on Wednesday night, Brave took three and Fire none. They will lose Overton to England duty soon, but have Tymal Mills and George Garton waiting in the wings.”The bowlers did a fantastic job and from there the gameplan was fairly simple,” Vince said. “The only way we would let them back into the game was to lose early wickets so there wasn’t a huge amount of scoreboard pressure. Our new-ball bowlers bowled really well and found a little bit of seam movement early on. We took early wickets and stayed in control.”The Hundred’s organisers openly admit that the first season, launched amid Covid restrictions which impacted the offering both on and off the pitch, had the feeling of a trial run, one which was generally considered to be a qualified success. This year will be the acid test at a time when domestic leagues are threatening to subsume the international game, but the tournament needs an injection of life after a quiet opening night.As the ECB found when they launched the Twenty20 Cup 20 seasons ago at this same venue, gimmicks and marketing can only take a competition so far. In time, the cricket will have to stand on its own two feet.

Williamson v Babar Azam. Maxwell v Jadeja v Woakes – our panelists have to work out some tricky picks

Sreshth Shah29-May-202037:36

Who makes it to our current world ODI XI?

In this week’s episode of , our panelists pick an ODI team from among the best players in the world currently. Helping make the decisions are Karthik Krishnaswamy, Alan Gardner and Andrew McGlashan, from three different corners of the world. The major talking points were how deep this team should bat, the number of allrounders it needs, and how the bowling line-up shapes up. Check the video above for the full discussion.4:53

Bairstow? Roy? Hope? Warner?

The opening conundrum
The man with five centuries in the 2019 World Cup was an automatic pick for everyone, but with ODI cricket currently blessed with a wide range of openers, who walks out to open with him? Quinton de Kock’s form has been on the up, Shai Hope has consistently churned out runs, David Warner has been a run machine since the end of his ban, and it’s hard to look past Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy’s form. Eventually, our writers went with the pair that can cause the most destruction.5:30

Who would you pick between Babar Azam and Kane Williamson at No. 4? 

Too many great batsmen, too few batting spots
With every ODI team in the world offering a variety of middle-order batsmen, it came down to who has been the most reliable in the past few years at No. 4. Ross Taylor and Babar Azam have been consistently among the runs, but so has Nicholas Pooran, the swashbuckling West
Indies left-hander. Then there’s the man on his way to being England’s most prolific run-getter of all time – Joe Root, the anchor around whom England’s batting sets itself up – apart from the regular contenders, like Virat Kohli and the last World Cup’s Player of the Series, Kane Williamson. A good problem to have for the panelists.4:54

Which allrounder slots in at No. 7?

Finding the best specialist allrounder
The allrounder is always a tricky pick since that position is often dictated by how the rest of the team stacks up. With secondary spin and pace options already available, it was finally a call on what kind of specialist allrounder balances out the line-up. Ravindra Jadeja, with his accurate left-arm spin coupled with his rocket arm, was one of the frontrunners for No. 8. So was Glenn Maxwell, for his destructive capabilities with the bat at the death. The New Zealand duo of Jimmy Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme made compelling cases too. However, the panelists finally chose two allrounders who add depth to both the team’s spin and pace departments. Dream Teams,

The New York Mets and Seattle Mariners put on a show Sunday night at the Little League Classic. Young ballplayers competing for youth baseball's ultimate prize got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see their favorite MLB stars up close and a tremendous amount of fun was had per usual.

The Mariners organization and its fans would have had a decidedly worse time had their cornerstone outfielder Julio Rodriguez suffered a significant injury while sledding down a hill on a piece of cardboard, which almost became a reality when a member of security took a spill and nearly landed on his ankle.

Here's the footage, which thankfully ends with everyone invovled getting up and getting on with their day.

That is too close for comfort. And you have to feel for the security person here who was simply trying to hustle to do the job and ended up losing to gravity. Before they were even able to get upright some unhelpful person is joking about a potential Rodriguez ACL injury. It's rough out there.

Rodriguez will be paramount to the Mariners' playoff hopes going forward and their ability to make a deep run if they get there. Plenty of people breathing a sigh of relief realizing this could have been worse.

U.S. international Weston McKennie opened the scoring, and Canada’s Jonathan David added a second as Juventus beat Pafos 2–0 in the Champions League. The win gives the Bianconeri a vital boost in the league stage, taking them to nine points from six games and strengthening Luciano Spalletti and his side's push for the knockout rounds.

McKennie breaks deadlock with a crucial goal

The match remained goalless until the 67th minute when McKennie found the back of the net. The American midfielder capitalized on a well-worked team move, demonstrating his attacking instincts and composure in front of goal. His strike gave Juventus the momentum they needed to control the remainder of the match and put pressure on their Cypriot opponents. His goal was also a landmark moment as it was the 50th goal scored by a USMNT player in the competition and made him the second USMNT player to record 10 goal contributions as well.

AdvertisementDavid doubles the lead to secure victory

Just six minutes after McKennie’s opener, Jonathan David extended Juventus’ advantage with a clinical finish. The Canadian forward showcased his sharpness in the box, converting a precise assist after a breathless counter-attack to make it 2-0. This goal effectively ended any hopes of a comeback for Pafos FC and ensured Juventus took all three points from the encounter.

Group-stage implications for Juventus

The victory represents Juventus’ second win in the Champions League league phase, a timely boost as the competition reaches its decisive rounds. Securing three points here improves their standing in a competitive pool and gives Luciano Spalletti’s side breathing room. They’ve now got two wins, three draws and one loss from six games in the Champions League league stage.

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AFPMomentum, rotation and European schedule

Juventus will look to carry this momentum into their remaining group fixtures and juggle rotation as domestic duties pile up. The Old Lady will face Bologna next in the Serie A on Dec. 14 before hosting AS Roma on Dec. 20 as they look to climb up the Serie A table.

يواصل الفرنسي كيليان مبابي مهاجم ريال مدريد الإسباني، تألقه في مباراة أولمبياكوس اليوناني، بمنافسات بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا 2025-2026، وسجل سوبر هاتريك.

ويحل ريال مدريد ضيفًا على أولمبياكوس ضمن مباريات الجولة الخامسة لمرحلة الدوري ببطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.

وسجل مبابي الهدف الرابع لصالح ريال مدريد في الدقيقة 60 من عمر المباراة، وهو الهدف الرابع له خلال اللقاء.

اقرأ أيضًا | ترتيب هدافي دوري أبطال أوروبا بعد سوبر هاتريك مبابي في مباراة ريال مدريد وأولمبياكوس

وقام البرازيلي فينيسيوس جونيور بمجهود فردي مميز ثم مرر عرضية إلى مبابي الذي استقبلها وسدد في شباك أولمبياكوس ليسجل الهدف الرابع.

وكان مبابي أحرز ثلاثية لصالح ريال مدريد في الدقائق 22، 24، و29، فيما سجل أولمبياكوس هدفين في الدقيقتين 8، و52. هدف مبابي الرابع في مباراة ريال مدريد وأولمبياكوس

He might not have the big trophies just yet, but Mikel Arteta has already achieved a lot at Arsenal.

He has taken a club that was spiralling into competitive irrelevance and turned them into serious contenders for the Premier League and Champions League.

Furthermore, on several occasions, he has helped revitalise the careers of players most considered to be done at the very highest level.

He has done the same this year, with someone who only last year received some particularly scathing criticism.

The best career revivals at Arsenal

When it comes to redemption stories at Arsenal, the one everyone will think of first, and rightly so, is Granit Xhaka’s.

First Impressions

What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast’s ‘First Impressions’ series has everything you need.

The Swiss international famously fell foul of the Emirates faithful in late 2019 when, as he was being jeered, he threw the armband and his shirt to the floor while swearing at the supporters.

At the time, it looked like his time in N5 was up, and were it not for the Spaniard, it probably would have been.

The midfielder would later tell the press that “my suitcases were packed, but I had a meeting with Mikel when he came” and that “he [Arteta] is the reason why I’m still at this football club.”

Over the next few years, the passionate international would slowly win the fans back onside, and by the time his final game came at the end of the 22/23 season, the entire Emirates was singing his name, and seemed desperate for him to stay.

Another player whose career has been revived in N5 is Kai Havertz.

The German wasn’t taken particularly seriously when he made his surprise move to the club in 2023, and the fact that he struggled to have an impact in the first half of that season certainly didn’t help.

In fact, just a month into the campaign, former professional Gabby Agbonlahor described the former Bayer Leverkusen man as a “joke.”

However, a move up front completely changed the game for the struggling player, and in 18 starts as a centre-forward, the “magnificent” ace, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, scored eight goals and provided seven assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.20 games.

Starts

32

18

Goals

6

8

Assists

0

7

Goal Involvements per Match

0.18

0.83

Then last season, despite being ruled out halfway through, he still managed to score 15 goals and provide five assists in 36 games.

In all, Havertz might not be Arsenal’s best player, but his revival under Arteta is undeniably impressive, and now another player previously written off is starting to show his best form again this season.

The Arsenal star who is now undroppable

The good news for Arsenal is that there are more than a handful of players who are currently undroppable, although few would have expected Leandro Trossard to be among them at the start of the season.

Now, the £90k-per-week Belgian is an undeniably talented player, but it would be fair to say that he underwhelmed last season.

While it took him just 46 games to produce 20 goal involvements the previous year, it took 56 games to produce the same number last season.

Moreover, the former Brighton & Hove Albion star was simply having less of an impact on games, unless, of course, you include the red card he picked up against Manchester City, for which Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville blasted him. The latter notably labelled the situation as “ridiculous.”

The 30-year-old was such a disappointment that by the end of the season, fans seemed alright with moving him on to sign someone more dynamic, and based on reports, it looked like that might have been the club’s plan.

However, such a move never transpired, and fans should be delighted about that, as so far this season, he has been utterly superb.

For example, in just 14 appearances, totalling 832 minutes, the Waterschei-born “little magician,” as dubbed by Arteta, has scored four goals and provided four assists.

In other words, he is averaging a goal involvement every 1.75 games, or every 104 minutes, which is a rate of return not even Bukay Saka can match at the moment.

It’s not just his raw numbers that have improved, though; he is also having far more of an influence in games.

For example, while his thunderous effort against Sunderland caught everyone’s attention, he played brilliantly throughout.

Ultimately, it’s early in the season, but as things stand, Trossard is utterly undroppable and looks like another player Arteta has revived.

Arsenal dealt Martin Odegaard injury blow after three-word Norway update

The Gunners captain was reported to be eyeing a return against Tottenham.

ByEmilio Galantini Nov 13, 2025

MatériaMais Notícias

A Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF), junto à Prefeitura do Rio, anunciou nesta quarta-feira (29) a instalação de um novo Centro de Treinamentos para o futebol feminino e árbitros. Além disso, irá transferir a CBF Academy, escola de formação de gestores e treinadores de futebol, para um novo terreno na Barra da Tijuca, na Zona Oeste da cidade.

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– A CBF tem um terreno na Barra em que a ideia é fazer um super centro de treinamentos para árbitros e futebol feminino, que é cada vez mais importante em nosso país – disse o prefeito do Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, após encontro com o presidente da CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, no Palácio da Cidade, em Botafogo.

– Vamos fazer no terreno que a CBF possui na Barra uma Escola Nacional de Árbitros para a padronização da arbitragem e também para receber o nosso futebol feminino. E vamos instalar também a CBF Academy para capacitar cada vez mais a gestão do futebol brasileiro – destacou Ednaldo Rodrigues.

A CBF Academy é a unidade educacional da entidade esportiva, onde já se formaram mais de dez mil alunos. Atualmente, disponibiliza mais de 50 cursos para a formação de profissionais do futebol. Para erguer o Centro de Treinamentos, a Prefeitura do Rio vai realizar obras de infraestrutura de acesso, a exemplo das que já fez para os CTs de Fluminense e Vasco, e a CBF erguerá o complexo.

West Ham United face a familiar struggle for goals this season and now appear to be taking steps in an effort to rectify the problem come the January window.

West Ham offer youth a chance in hunt for goals

Niclas Fullkrug and Callum Wilson are both experienced heads in front of goal and Jarrod Bowen is a permanent threat for the Hammers. However, there has been a frustrating lack of goals dispersed throughout their side lately, contributing to their Premier League struggles.

In surprise fashion, Northern Ireland international Callum Marshall earned his top-flight debut as West Ham chased a way back into the match in their defeat away to Arsenal, leading Nuno Espirito Santo to talk up his potential post-match.

He stated: “What I’ve been seeing in training sessions, his energy, he’s a good finisher, good mobility, he can recognise the gaps in the space, he has a good chance. Even though he’s not a strong boy against a very tough centre-half, he managed to get the header, so I think we have something that we can use.

“We’re going to have three strikers available: (Niclas) Fullkrug, Callum Wilson, and Marshall. We’re going to need all of them, different players, that are going to give us different solutions and options moving forward.”

Scottish youngster Josh Landers is another candidate to bolster West Ham’s forward line after 14 goals in 19 matches last term. Nevertheless, it feels likely that Nuno will turn to the transfer window after his side’s return of six goals in seven matches.

Weekly wages: West Ham United FC 2025/26 highest-paid players

The Irons’ biggest earners for the 2025/26 season…

ByCharlie Smith Sep 24, 2025

Desperate times call for desperate measures and the new regime will have designs on evading the relegation zone and building momentum, and they may look for a helping hand in the form of an out-of-favour striker.

West Ham ask to keep informed on Joshua Zirkzee

According to TEAMtalk, West Ham have asked to keep informed on Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee as the Netherlands international continues to be out of favour at Old Trafford. Intermediaries will run the rule over potential options for the forward, with both loan moves and permanent arrangements set to be explored and the player open to joining another English club.

Joshua Zirkzee’s tally at Manchester United

Appearances

53

Goals

7

Assists

3

Zirkzee believes he can succeed in the Premier League and would be open to remaining on English soil, albeit Juventus and AC Milan have previously shown interest in bringing the 24-year-old back to Serie A following his exploits with Bologna.

Coming in as a caveat, the Schiedam-born man isn’t a conventional number nine and has come off the frontline to link play regularly since his £36.5 million move to Manchester United last summer.

Either way, his talent would undeniably improve West Ham’s shrinking pool of options if they were to convince him that the London Stadium is the best place to take his next career step, though only time will tell whether that scenario can become a reality.

Making his first move as sporting director, Ross Wilson and Newcastle United have now reportedly agreed a deal to sign a young defender ahead of rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Eddie Howe backs "great" Ross Wilson appointment

With the focus now firmly back on domestic football after the conclusion of the October international break, Eddie Howe has had his say on Wilson’s Newcastle arrival.

The former Bournemouth boss, who has worked with both Dan Ashworth and Paul Mitchell at the club, has now backed the new sporting director ahead of the Magpies’ trip to face Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend.

The former Nottingham Forest man arrives to calm the storm in Newcastle’s transfer department, which endured the most chaotic summer window. Whether that means reinforcements for Howe remains to be seen.

Having broken their transfer record to welcome Nick Woltemade and replace one of the world’s best strikers in Alexander Isak, PIF certainly proved that they’re willing to spend without PSR issues in the way and that has reportedly seen Wilson spring into action from the off.

Newcastle agree deal to sign Kenchington

According to Craig Hope of the Daily Mail, Newcastle have now agreed a deal to sign Josh Kenchington from Barnsley in Wilson’s first move as sporting director. The England U15 centre-back also had interest from Tottenham Hotspur, but is seemingly set to make the move to Tyneside in the near future.

Likened to Manchester City star and multiple-time Premier League winner John Stones by Hope, Kenchington now has the chance to follow in the England international’s footsteps from Barnsley to the top flight.

Newcastle are brewing a bigger talent than Gordon who's "similar to Mbappe"

One youngster could surpass Anthony Gordon as Newcastle’s next star under Eddie Howe

ByWill Miller Oct 16, 2025

Comfortable on the ball and already over 6ft, there is understandable excitement around the young defender’s arrival. Those at St James’ Park aren’t afraid to hand young players opportunities when they’re ready, either, with the likes of Lewis Miley already benefitting from that.

Although he is unlikely to be in and around Howe’s first-team for a few years yet, Kenchington is certainly one to watch at youth level. If he proves to be anywhere near as talented as England star Stones, then Newcastle will have an undeniable gem on their hands. As first moves go, Wilson may have just pulled off an inevitable bargain.