All posts by h716a5.icu

John Hastings, the Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder, has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL season as he has returned home with an ankle injury

Sidharth Monga18-Apr-2016John Hastings, the Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder, has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL season as he has returned home with an ankle injury. Hastings hurt himself during the warm-ups before Knight Riders’ match against Mumbai Indians last week. He went on to bowl his quota, and was the most economical bowler from his side as they failed to defend 187.”He bowled through a fair bit of pain,” Simon Katich, Knight Riders’ assistant coach, said. “He had a fair bit of scans after that, and he has flown back to Australia. It’s a shame to see his campaign end prematurely. He had fitted in really well into the team, and he had performed well in a couple of games. Yeah, unfortunately he’ll be doing a lot of rehab instead and working towards getting fit for the West Indies tour for Australia.”Knight Riders are in talks with a replacement, whose name they will disclose only after the IPL technical committee has cleared the paperwork. “We have looked into it,” Katich said. “We have sent off the paperwork. Nothing has been confirmed regarding the player concerned. Hopefully that’ll happen in the next few days. We have sent out the paperwork to BCCI, we’ll just have to see what happens.”Katich said the franchise had always been interested in the replacement player. “It’s someone that we had already looked at in the auction,” he said. “Obviously, we did get John. He [Hastings] was right up there on the priority list when we went for the auctions. We didn’t know if it was going to come through or not so we had a few other names in mind. We’ll find out if it comes through.”

Cristiano Ronaldo plunged into an ice bath ahead of Portugal's final Euro 2024 qualifying game against Iceland.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Ronaldo plunges into an ice bathPortugal face Iceland nextA Selecao have qualified for Euro 2024WHAT HAPPENED?

The Portugal and Al-Nassr star shared a photo on his Instagram story where he can be seen calmly meditating as he plunged into an ice bath ahead of the national's team final Euro 2024 qualifying match against Iceland. The Ronaldo-led side have already booked their place in Germany while maintaining a 100% win record through their nine qualifying matches.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The 38-year-old looks to be in great shape both on and off the pitch. He has scored 16 times in 17 matches and provided nine assists for his club this season and was also on target for A Selecao in their recent 2-0 win over Liechtenstein in the Euro qualifiers.

WHAT RONALDO SAID

The superstar uploaded his Instagram story with the caption, 'G Night' with a 'cold face' emoji.

@cristiano/IGENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

WHAT NEXT FOR CRISTIANO RONALDO?

The Manchester United and Real Madrid legend will be next seen in action against Iceland on Sunday before heading back to Saudi Arabia where Al-Nassr will be playing against Al-Akhdoud in the Pro League on Friday. Ronaldo and Co currently trail leaders Al-Hilal by four points.

Germany's players reportedly have a number of concerns about manager Julian Nagelsmann amid a run of two consecutive defeats.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Die Mannschaft have lost to Turkiye and AustriaPlayers concerned about NagelsmannFirst international job for coachWHAT HAPPENED?

reports that Germany's players have a series of concerns about the management of the 36-year-old, who is embarking on his first international coaching job. They have lost two on the bounce, 3-2 against Turkiye and 2-0 against Austria. Since his appointment, Nagelsmann has also overseen a 3-1 win over the United States men's national team, and a 2-2 draw with Mexico.

AdvertisementWHY ARE GERMANY'S PLAYERS UNHAPPY?

Per the report, several players believe that Nagelsmann is more suited to club management and is too demanding. There is not said to be a lack of faith in the manager, but they would like him to simplify his ideas, due to the condensed nature of training at international level.

Nagelsmann has also played several players out of position – for example, Kai Havertz has been fielded as a left-back – and is said to place great faith in video sessions, while he also stops training to point out mistakes. Overall, it is said to have overwhelmed the Germany squad.

Getty ImagesWHAT NAGELSMANN SAID

Nagelsmann's desire to overhaul Germany's defence has not paid dividends yet, with his side failing to keep a clean sheet under his management and conceding eight goals in four games, and he has said: "We're not defensive monsters".

That has not gone down particularly well in the Germany dressing room.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

Nagelsmann will go back to the drawing board now that the international break is over. One has to expect that he will tinker with his tactics before the next break and Euro 2024, when the country will be hosts.

Umar Akmal has said he is excited to play for Pakistan in front of his home crowd for the first time in his career, and is overjoyed that international cricket is returning to his country with the Zimbabwe series

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2015Umar Akmal has said he is excited to play for Pakistan in front of his home crowd for the first time in his career, and is overjoyed that international cricket is returning to his country with the Zimbabwe series. Akmal made his international debut in August 2009, but no Full Member nation has toured Pakistan since the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lanka team bus in March 2009. Zimbabwe will play two T20Is and three ODIs in Lahore beginning on May 22.”It will be an amazing feeling, it would mean so much to me. Cricketers around the world take playing at home in front of their own crowds for granted,” Akmal told . “But unfortunately many of us Pakistani cricketers have never been able to play in our own conditions which is really tough. I know the people of Pakistan are really looking forward to the return of international cricket to Pakistan and so are the players. I can’t wait to hopefully walk out in front of the Lahore crowd if I am selected. I thank the Zimbabwe team for embarking on this tour and hope it’s the start of international cricket returning permanently to Pakistan.”Akmal was recalled to the Pakistan T20 squad after he was left out for the tour to Bangladesh. He made scores of 35, 1, 95 not out and 85 not out in four innings in the recently concluded Super8 T20 Cup for Lahore Lions. “I went back to club cricket and performed well there and I was also one of the top-scorers during the Super8 tournament in Faisalabad and showed the selectors that I am in good form and can score runs when given the opportunity. I’m hoping that I can carry my good form into the Zimbabwe series.”Reports of disciplinary issues coupled with a poor World Cup – where he scored 164 runs in seven games at an average of 27.33 – resulted in him not being selected for the tour to Bangladesh. Akmal said that batting down the order had affected his returns.”I have done the best I could despite the position I have been batting in for large parts of my career. I could have been selfish and finished with a few more not outs, but that’s not the way I am. I’m a team player and will not sacrifice the team’s interests for my own. Obviously you cannot make runs every time, but I feel my better performances have come when the management have shown faith in me and given me a chance to bat up the order.”

Hashim Amla’s 16th ODI century served as the fulcrum to another resolute South African batting performance that set up a series win over New Zealand

The Report by Alagappan Muthu23-Oct-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:11

Moonda: Amla read conditions perfectly

Offering Hashim Amla a life is generous. Gifting him two is criminal. New Zealand were left searching for a third chance while he completed a 16th ODI century in Mount Maunganui. Faced with a target of 283, the hosts’ reply was woefully similar to the series opener: wickets rained down at one end, Luke Ronchi carried on at the other, reset New Zealand’s record for the final-wicket partnership and was last man out to hand South Africa the series.Short of two of their best batsmen, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson, the New Zealand top order looked far too green and struggled to balance attack and defence. Only Ronchi, who made a brisk 79 off 83, displayed enough application to tax South Africa’s bowlers.Martin Guptill drilled a half-volley into short cover’s waiting hands and the scoreboard read 25 for 1. Four runs later, James Neesham suffered another dejection as he continued flirting with the role of one-day opener, dragging the ball onto his stumps.Tom Latham transformed a rank long hop from AB de Villiers’ into the South Africa captain’s maiden ODI wicket, Dean Brownlie missed a straight delivery and his off stump took the brunt of it, and Corey Anderson nailed a short ball to short midwicket. All three wickets took place while the scoreboard was creaking from 60 for 70.Brendon McCullum swept across the line of a tossed-up Imran Tahir delivery and was lbw. With 193 needed off 148 balls, the contest was already snuffed out. The innings could have been snuffed out sooner but for the stubborn Ronchi, and De Villiers’ desire to keep the part-time bowlers going. De Villiers himself bowled six overs and grabbed 2 for 28.Mount Maunganui might have done enough to tempt the wanderlust in most people, with an almost utopian combination of beaches and mountains. But the Bay Oval pitch has not been quite as fetching. Amla, though, managed its sluggish nature brilliantly for 44.2 overs. He manipulated the lines of the bowlers, jumping outside off and whipping through midwicket. The ploy also sucked New Zealand into bowling too far outside off and he was able to chop through the covers to keep adding to his tally. Fifty-seven of his runs came through those regions.New Zealand’s fielding too was rather amateurish. An Amla outside edge slid away to the third man boundary, with keeper and a wide first slip staring at each other. He had been on 5. With no luck off the fuller length, Southee flung down a few short balls and the inherent tennis-ball bounce on offer messed with Amla’s pulls. One of them skewed off the top edge, but Daniel Vettori lost sight of it in the sun.If Amla was the backbone, Faf du Plessis was the propellant as he used his feet to create the lengths he wanted. Despite only five boundaries in his innings – including two stunning straight sixes – his 67 came off only 73 balls. The partnership accounted for 113 runs through the middle overs at 5.46 per over without any risk.Amla was at his sublime best in the 44th over- having just reached his century – when Trent Boult was carved through point, tucked past midwicket, manoeuvred to fine leg and slashed to third man for four successive boundaries and the bowler was eventually left nursing figures of 10-0-70-2.South Africa had looked primed to cross 300, but Amla’s dismissal sparked a collapse. Six wickets fell in the final 34 balls for the addition of only 25 runs.Anderson delivered a double-wicket maiden to end the innings as only one of the last six overs cost more than five runs.The only other time New Zealand forced the opposition to dig deep was when Ronchi and Mitchell McClenaghan, who had become the joint second-fastest to 50 ODI wickets earlier in the day, combined to add 76 runs for the 10th wicket and improving the record set during the previous match. But it was nothing more than a consolation prize.

Who can be happy and who can be concerned after Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying draw?

GettyWinners: Nigeria

The Super Eagles can largely be content with their Group A draw, even if there are a few potential banana skins in there as the West African giants look to pick themselves up off the ground.

Sierra Leone are strong—and Nigeria weren’t able to beat them during the last qualifying campaign—but Guinea-Bissau were dispatched comfortably at the Nations Cup, and shouldn’t spoil the party.

Sao Tome e Principe are one of the continent’s minnows, and are unlikely to pose any problems for the Eagles.

AdvertisementBackpagePix.Losers: Kenya

As one of the weaker sides in Pot Two, everyone in the other pots will have been keen to be pitted against the Harambee Stars, while there are a few sides who Kenya will have wanted to have avoided.

Cameroon—who they’ve been pooled against from Pot One—are one of those sides, with the Indomitable Lions demonstrating their class to eliminate Algeria in the World Cup qualifying.

Namibia and Burundi, like Kenya, were both present at the 2019 Nations Cup, and their squads are full of players who know how to get over the line.

backpagepixWinners: South Africa

Morocco are tough opponents for Bafana Bafana, and they’ll definitely have been one of the sides they’ll be keen to have avoided from Pot One.

However, the presence of Liberia presents South Africa with two winnable fixtures, and the derby with Zimbabwe—even if that complicates matters—gives Hugo Broos a good opportunity to demonstrate the progress he’s overseeing with this talented squad.

Zim were undone by Malawi at the Nations Cup, and Bafana will only have themselves to blame if they can’t reach the Afcon.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Getty ImagesLosers: Egypt

Top seeds Egypt are of course favourites to reach the Nations Cup from Group D, but the Pharaohs could have had things a little easier than the group they’ve ultimately ended up with.

All of Guinea, Malawi and Ethiopia reached the last Nations Cup, with the Syli Nationale and the Flames both reaching the Last 16.

Egypt must ensure there’s no complacency as they look to progress.

The Argentina legend has become infamous for a raft of unsavoury incidents throughout his career as a player and coach, on and off the pitch

GettyHand with the GunIn the months leading up to the 1994 World Cup, Maradona was really struggling for form and fitness, and was being hounded by the press because of it. Maradona reacted to this in a way only Maradona can, by firing a compressed air-rifle at reporters outside his home. Some reporters who were hit with the pellets suffered minor injuries. AdvertisementGetty ImagesMaradona runs over cameraman & curses the manIt was the day when Maradona was to name his 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup. His stresses were made even worse when he ran over a cameraman as he was driving to his news conference. Instead of being apologetic and asking if the man was alright, he hurled abuse at him and blamed him for the accident. Witnesses close to the incident recalled how Maradona could he heard saying: "What an a**hole you are. How can you put your leg there where it can get run over, man?"Getty ImagesSuck it upA Maradona-led Argentina were under pressure through their qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup but they eventually secured their place by beating Uruguay 1-0. Maradona could not hide his delight at this result and, after the game, was caught making a rather offensive gesture outside a window of their team bus, which can be named as a 'chupar'. Just as you thought it could not get any more controversial, during his post-match press conference he said: "They can suck it and carry on sucking it. This is for all Argentines, minus the journalists."ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Getty ImagesMaradona's curseMaradona and Argentina went into the 1990 World Cup full of critics, with no one apart from their own fans wanting them to do well because of their negative football. In their game with West Germany, Argentina's national anthem was roundly booed by the Germans. Maradona reacted furiously to this and could be seen mouthing the offensive Spanish phrase, “hijos de puta”, down the camera – which does not really need translating to understand what he is saying.

Lionel Messi is a man of many talents, but speaking English fluently is not one of them – despite what an AI-generated video would have fans believe.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Argentine superstar now in the StatesHas been taking English lessonsDoing much of his talking on the pitch

WHAT HAPPENED?

The Argentine superstar has made his way to the United States in 2023, with a move to Inter Miami completed after reaching the end of his contract at Paris Saint-Germain. There is a big Spanish-speaking community in Florida, but Messi revealed back in 2021 that he has been taking English lessons.

AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE

A video released on social media has gone viral, with Messi seemingly speaking at a press conference in English. The clip does, however, come from the website HeyGen – which allows users to produce deep fakes of other people.

DID YOU KNOW?

Messi has only ever carried out press duties in his native Spanish and, despite some initially being fooled, the video doing the rounds at present is clearly not real due to the echo on the voice and the sudden breaks in speech.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Messi continues to do much of his talking on the pitch, with Inter Miami inspired to Leagues Cup glory and a place in the U.S. Open Cup final since his arrival in America. He also has them in the hunt for a MLS play-off spot, while reigning champions Argentina are being helped down a qualification path that leads towards the 2026 World Cup.

Chris Woakes was dropped from the one-day team, had a modest Test debut and did not make the Ashes cut. But as captain of England Lions he reminded the selectors of his ability in Kandy

Alex Winter in Pallekele13-Feb-2014
Scorecard0:00

Chris Woakes puts England Lions in command

There are a number of this England Lions squad that have taken a hefty knock from international cricket. Injury, unfortunate selection and underperformance have befallen them. They have all been forced back into cricketing purgatory having been briefly shown through the pearly gates.Chris Woakes has had a double dose. His run of 13 one-day internationals was ended last June and his Test debut in August deterred the selectors from including him in the Ashes party – a decision that one could now argue was a blessing in disguise.He was on the wrong end of Martin Guptill last summer but maintained his form in county cricket, finishing the season as the leading English allrounder, and shrugged off an unrewarding Test debut – where four of his first five overs went for 30 – to complete the year strongly with Warwickshire, including a first-class best 152 not out. He then put in two solid performances for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash.Being made captain of England Lions for this Sri Lanka tour would have been a further stir in raising his credentials as an international cricketer. On the second day in Pallekele he produced an opening spell worthy of such a player and finished with 4 for 45 to put his side in full control.It was feared that Sri Lanka A’s young order would be over exposed against a high-quality experienced attack, benefitting from swing with the new ball. The third ball of the innings compounded such thoughts. The fourth doubled the scepticism that this match will last four days. Two wickets in the opening over and by lunch the hosts were 55 for 6 and Sri Lankan appetites for a season in England were disappearing.Footwork, a lack thereof, was chiefly to blame for five of the top six contributing only 21, two of them ducks. Just enough movement flummoxed four into offering catches behind the wicket, the first of which was stunningly held by Liam Plunkett with one hand down to his right hand side. Onions also won an lbw decision against left-handed Niroshan Dickwella.0:00

Onions hopes unexpected Sri Lanka tour is springboard to Test return

The new ball – taken by Woakes and Graham Onions – was when classically English bowling was a threat. When the swinging ball had run its course, Chaturunga de Silva and Dhammika Prasad thrived. But their stand of 64 was for the eighth wicket merely propped up the innings from a miserable 61 for 7. Sri Lanka paid badly for their failure to get into the meat of the innings with any kind of stability. They only lasted 48 overs.Veteran captain Upal Tharanga survived the initial carnage but 30 was a modest return from the most experienced player in the order. He fell in the last over before tea as Moeen Ali found some turn to have him caught at short leg. Moeen also ended de Silva’s attractive innings, finding an edge taken by Varun Chopra at first slip. It was evidence of what an attacking weapon Moeen can be. Scott Borthwick did not bowl in the innings.De Silva held the Lions to a draw in the second warm-up in Colombo and again demonstrated his sound technique – albeit coming in at No. 6 against a ball not as fresh – and flourishing strokemaking. His piercing cover drive off Tymal Mills was the shot of the day. In general it was more intelligent batting than his colleagues up the order and prevented his side from being totally blown away.De Silva was helped by some hefty striking from Prasad. He belted several drives through the covers, lifted Moeen over extra-cover for four and then over long-off for six, and managed his last partner carefully enough to allow the addition of 28 more runs. The stand nearly saved the follow-on that the Lions predictably chose not to enforce.But the tourists stumbled in adding to their first-innings lead of 159 as Sri Lanka A’s very capable spinners, Tharindu Kaushal and de Silva, thrived in more helpful conditions. The Lions’ top three all fell lbw, Chopra sweeping, and James Taylor nibbled to slip. Three wickets went to de Silva who, in the face of testing day for his side, walked off with a smile.

A round-up of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Silver League quarterfinals that ended on November 25, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2014Strong performances from the bowlers and an unbeaten century from captain Usman Salahuddin helped State Bank of Pakistan rout Khan Research Laboratories by an innings and 47 runs to enter the semi-finals of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Silver League.Pacer Rizwan Haider and left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar led the charge for State Bank in the first innings, taking four wickets apiece to dismiss KRL for 176. In reply, State Bank were reeling at 61 for 5 before Salahuddin strung together key partnerships to lift them to 394. His unbeaten 154 was supported by fifties from Mukhtar Ahmed (61) and Haider (54). Legspinner Usama Mir was the most successful bowler for KRL taking 4 for 133 in his second first-class match.KRL could neither wipe out the deficit nor could they better their first-innings score, folding for 171 as the left-arm spinners Gohar (3-48) and Kashif Bhatti (4-45) took seven wickets between them. In an innings dotted with single-digit scores, Ali Khan’s 73, Shoaib Ahmed’s 47 and Zulfiqar Jan’s 31 were the only substantial knocks.Pakistan International Airlines also made their way into the semi-finals, rallying around after a first-innings collapse to beat Bahawalpur Stags by six wickets in a low-scoring game. They will meet State Bank of Pakistan in the first semi-final from November 28.The bowlers forged PIA’s fightback after their batsmen had collapsed from 80 for 4 to 104 all out in response to Stags’ first-innings score of 137. Led by medium-pacer Kamran Sajid, who took four wickets in each innings, PIA skittled Stags out for 96 in the second innings.That left PIA a target of 130 and they were struggling at 47 for 4 before an 85-run partnership between Fahad Iqbal and Faisal Iqbal ensured their passage to the semis. Faisal struck an unbeaten 52 off 55 balls, while Fahad remained not out on 38 off 68 balls.The pace-bowling pair of Ansar Javed and Zahir Siddiqi had posed the biggest threat for PIA. They took four wickets apiece during PIA’s first-innings, the only Stags bowlers to take wickets, and struck again to put PIA’s chase in a precarious position.