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Shakib Al Hasan was bullish about Bangladesh’s chances in the Asia Cup

Siddarth Ravindran in Mirpur10-Mar-2012

Fans in Sri Lanka may still be coming to terms with the narrow defeat in the CB series finals, those in India may still be coming to terms with the retirement of one of their greatest batsmen, but for fans in Bangladesh, the Asia Cup can’t start soon enough. Tickets went on sale four days ago, and the response has been hearteningly enthusiastic.Another sign of the fervour for the tournament was in evidence at Shakib Al Hasan’s press conference today. It was a routine pre-match media interaction, but a horde of around 70 reporters, photographers and cameramen, a large proportion being locals, filled out the press conference hall at the Shere Bangla stadium.The zeal for cricket remains high though it has been a dispiriting 12 months for Bangladesh cricket, with many reverses after the high hopes going into the 2011 World Cup. Shakib was bullish about Bangladesh’s chances in the Asia Cup. “Our target? To be the champions,” he said. “We want to play our best cricket, though we are not able to do it all the time. It is possible at home. This tournament is a good place for us to know where we stand in world cricket at the moment.”There hasn’t been any international cricket in Bangladesh for three months, but Shakib felt the Bangladesh Premier League had made them ready for the Asia Cup. “We had very good preparation, not as a team, but in domestic competitions. If we play to our potential, I’m hopeful we can do well.”Bangladesh were swept aside by Pakistan in the one-dayers three months ago. Their only victory over Pakistan remains the famous one in the 1999 World Cup. “We haven’t won against Pakistan for a long time but in the last series we had a good chance in the third ODI,” Shakib said. “We did well in the second Test. This is an opportunity to prove ourselves.”Pakistan’s success in that series, and over the past year, has been built on their troika of tweakers – Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi. “Their three spinners will be a challenge for our batsmen,” Shakib said. “If we can put up a reasonable total, our bowling can hold the opposition.”Besides strong opponents, Bangladesh have to deal with plenty of off-field issues as well. The naming of their captain for the Asia Cup was delayed by a day, prompting speculation that perhaps Mushfiqur Rahim would be punished for his disparaging remarks about the BPL. The drama over the exclusion of one their best batsmen, Tamim Iqbal, lasted several days, revealing a dispute between the chief selector and the board president that has now been resolved, at least temporarily, after the prime minister’s intervention.Hasn’t all this affected the team’s focus? Shakib vehemently denied it. “We have not discussed the issues in the dressing room so it won’t distract us in any way with regards to our preparation in this tournament.”Bangladeshi fans retain a craving for cricket despite the regular defeats and the many controversies. An early victory for Bangladesh will be reward for their perseverance, and also the shock the tournament needs to lift its profile outside the host nation.Edited by Abhishek Purohit

Mahela Jayawardene has said that India would be more disappointed with the tie, but he knows his side needs to start winning games

Sidharth Monga at the Adelaide Oval14-Feb-2012It was a bittersweet night for Sri Lanka.They were set for a big total at 3 for 168 after 35 overs with the batting Powerplay at hand, but they contrived to end up with only 236. Angelo Mathews, the man who brought Sri Lanka heartbreakingly close in Perth against Australia, let the game slip with two full tosses in the 49th over of the chase, and then pulled it back with two direct-hits. Lasith Malinga bowled these four overs towards the end to keep Sri Lanka alive: four runs in the 39th, a maiden with a run-out in the 41st, five in 45th, and four and wicket in the 48th. Then, in the final over, he failed to make two collections and would have got them run-outs, and went for three over extra cover off the last ball. And spare a thought for the young Dinesh Chandimal. Yet another good innings, but one that ended in a suicidal run-out and short of being the decisive one.The overall fielding, too, went from being flash to flaccid. There were four direct-hit run-outs, but Kumar Sangakkara dropped a sitter, and then Malinga missed those two run-outs. It can be difficult to decide how to feel after such a night. Mahela Jayawardene wouldn’t blame the fielding for sure. “But I think the fielding got us into the game,” he said. “The run-outs and the way we stopped at least 20-25 runs on the field, on a hot day, on a bigger ground as well. We didn’t give them any easy twos. Only the last few fumbles. That’s the thing. Make or break situations. We have got to be ruthless.”Jayawardene said his instinct told him to trust Mathews, and that he will learn a lot from this night. Mathews bowled the 49th over with 24 runs required and Malinga to bowl the last. He slipped up, though, and bowled two full tosses – one of them a no-ball – that went for six and four. “This is how these guys are going to learn,” Jayawardene said. “The more games these guys play, they will become better finishers and they will take more responsibility. That’s probably why I had my gut feeling, giving the ball to Angie in the 49th over.”I feel he is ready now to take more responsibility. Apart from those couple of bad balls, I thought he bowled a very, very good over. So let’s put them in these situations, let them learn. I am quite happy, we are headed in the right direction, we are close, playing two top teams. Once we get that win we can get come momentum going.”Malinga’s bowling is the reason why Sri Lanka not only came back from the dead but were the favourites in the last over. With the ball, Malinga hardly faltered, except – if you were harsh – with the final ball, which Dhoni went deep into his crease to get under. “He [Malinga] bowled beautifully,” Jayawardene said. “I mean, you love to have a guy like that in the field. You know he is going to deliver for you. He did in the last three-four overs.”He changed ends as well. It wasn’t a problem for him. He didn’t give a single loose ball. He created the pressure for us. Otherwise we probably would have lost in the 46th-47th over. Lasith has been the difference. He has been in these situations, you know. We have lost some matches, he has won some matches for us, no issues with him. He will come back strong.”However, with Malinga, when you have three runs to defend off the last ball, you expect him to pull through. Jayawardene thought so too. “Well, 10 overs to go, they had a run a ball, I am sure they will be disappointed,” Jayawardene said. “I was disappointed when we had one ball, four runs. I would back Malinga to finish it off. I am happy with the two points after the amount of mistakes we made in the last few overs and in the entire game. To come back with two points, it is always good. But not a win in our column. Hopefully we get that and some momentum going forward.”Jayawardene felt that India would be more disappointed with the tie, but know his side needs to start winning games. They now need four wins from their last five games, which is a tough ask. “The last bit, we aren’t finishing games off, we are making mistakes,” he said. “But overall I thought we came back strongly in this game. 230 was not good enough on this surface. After making so many mistakes, I should be happy, but at the same time the way we are making mistakes we need to be a bit more focussed. And try and be ruthless in finishing games off. That’s what you expect, especially with these two teams.”

ScorecardA strong all-round showing from Mountaineers helped them to an eight-wicket win against Matabeleland Tuskers at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Tendai Chatara, with a five-for, and Kevin Kasuza, with an unbeaten century, led the way for the Mountaineers.Being put in to bat, the Tuskers lost wickets at regular intervals. They slipped to 122 for 6 in 29 overs as their top order caved in, before handy cameos down the order carried them to a respectable 197 in 45.1 overs. While the Mountaineers bowlers, led by Chatara, were incisive, they were not very disciplined; they conceded 42 extras, including 25 wides, which was the highest individual score in the innings.In the chase, Mountaineers lost their openers off consecutive deliveries in the third over to be reduced to a wobbly 4 for 2, but Hamilton Masakadza and Kasuza were not to be defeated. While Masakadza constructed a solid innings of 64 not out off 84 balls, Kasuza hit the Tuskers out of the match with a blistering 110 of 91 balls. His innings included 14 fours and two sixes, and helped his side seal the game in just the 32nd over.

The Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Valsad remained in the balance as neither West Zone or East Zone were able to take a grip on the game by the end of the second day

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2012
ScorecardThe Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Valsad remained in the balance as neither West Zone or East Zone were able to take a grip on the game by the end of the second day. Like West Zone had relied on Suryakumar Yadav, East Zone depended on their captain Natraj Behera to ensure they were not in danger of conceding a sizeable first-innings lead.East Zone’s innings began poorly, with opener Manish Vardhan edging behind for 1, leaving the score 1 for 1. Then followed a steadying 98-run stand between Dheeraj Jadhav and Behera. Jadhav made 38 before he too was caught behind, and West Zone dismissed Ishank Jaggi for a duck soon after. Behera put on 80 more with Biplab Samantray to lift his team from 100 for 3. Samantray fell just before stumps, though, and Behera remained unbeaten on 102 as West Zone reached 183 for 4. Behera faced 246 balls and hit only 13 fours, and will want to take his team to a lead on the third day.The second day had begun with West Zone on 299 for 7 and the tail did not last long. They added 15 more and were dismissed for 314. Ashok Dinda finished with 4 for 85 and Abu Nechim took 3 for 61.

India 300 for 5 (Rahane 91) beat England 298 for 4 (Trott 98*, Patel 70*) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMS Dhoni finished the match off in typical style•AFP

MS Dhoni was India’s matchwinner once again, as he marshalled an asking-rate approaching ten an over to seal an unassailable 3-0 series lead in the third ODI at Mohali. With Ravindra Jadeja alongside him, he clubbed Tim Bresnan for consecutive boundaries in the final over of the match to finish unbeaten on 35 from 31 balls, as England’s best total of the series – 298 for 4 – proved insufficient to keep the series alive.It was a sloppy fielding display from England in a match they could and should have won. Their own total had been built on another sheet-anchor performance from Jonathan Trott, who finished unbeaten on 98 from 116 balls, but the point-of-difference innings had been played by Samit Patel, whose career-best 70 from 43 balls enabled England to add 91 runs in their final ten overs. Given the history of chasing at Mohali – only five teams had previously managed it in 19 matches at the venue – their route back into the series was awaiting them.Instead, they produced a listless defence, with Ajinkya Rahane cruising along to 91 from 104 balls in a second-wicket stand of 111 with Gautam Gambhir. They managed just one wicket in the first 34 overs – a marginal lbw against Parthiv Patel, which broke an opening partnership of 79 – and though they rallied well to claim four wickets in an eight-over spell of dominance, their failure to take their chances cost them dear in the closing stages.The most culpable man was the wicketkeeper, Craig Kieswetter, who missed an early chance to remove Gambhir on 17, before dropping Virat Kohli off a Jade Dernbach bouncer at a crucial juncture. Kohli had been struggling to impose himself and should have gone for 4 from 12 balls, only for Kieswetter to spill the catch as his elbows hit the turf. Worse was to follow, however, when he trod on the stumps while attempting to run out Jadeja with 12 balls of the match remaining, and 17 runs still needed.That final error unsettled the under-pressure bowler Dernbach, who had earlier shown his frustration when Tim Bresnan let a four fly through his legs at backward point. He finished his spell with a wide and a no-ball beamer in an over that went for 10 runs, moments after Steven Finn – who had bowled superbly to concede 31 runs from his first nine overs – had been battered for 13 runs in his tenth.Regardless of England’s shortcomings, it was another hugely impressive display from India’s batsmen, with Rahane setting the game up superbly with the second half-century of his fledgling career. He picked off six fours in his innings – mostly through deft steers behind square – but the most telling feature of his innings was the ease with which he and Gambhir rotated the strike in the fallow middle overs. England were powerless to react as the gaps in their field were pinched at will, and it wasn’t until a rare misjudgement from Gambhir led to an impressive one-handed catch from Kevin Pietersen at cover that they found a foothold in the game.That wicket was due reward for another probing and pacey spell from Finn, and he doubled his tally three overs later when Rahane’s quest for a maiden hundred ended in a leading edge to Alastair Cook at mid-off. Suresh Raina then drilled Bresnan to cover for a third-ball duck to tilt the balance of power firmly in England’s direction, and when Kohli was trapped lbw by a sharp turner from Graeme Swann, India had slumped to 235 for 5 with nine overs remaining, and that target of 299 suddenly seemed a long way off. In the end though, Dhoni and Jadeja picked it off with aplomb.England owed their shot at victory to another solipsistic performance from Trott, whose tempo is immoveable regardless of the format of the game. This was his first significant innings since being named the ICC Cricketer of the Year, and it was a reprisal of the role he had played at the World Cup in March. He picked off eight boundaries after coming to the crease in the fourth over of the innings following the loss of Cook for 3, and was denied his fourth ODI hundred by a sharp piece of fielding at short fine leg, when he paddle-swept the penultimate ball of the innings for a single. Though he missed out on his milestone, the net gain was England’s, as Samit Patel blazed Vinay Kumar’s final ball of the innings into the long-on stands for six.The debate will rage about Trott’s approach to one-day cricket, but seeing as England collapsed in a heap in the first two matches, the backbone he provided to this performance was self-evident. Both of his major partners – Pietersen, who made 64 from 61 balls, and Patel – thrived on the right to go for their strokes, with Patel instrumental in belting 43 runs from the final 24 deliveries of England’s innings. With his place under threat after two inconsequential displays in the early part of the series, this was a timely reminder of his combative qualities, as he was pushed up to No. 6 ahead of Jonny Bairstow.Pietersen, meanwhile, produced his best one-day innings for many a month. He and Trott came together with England wobbling on 53 for 2, but the pair soon settled into a comfortable accumulative rhythm. Pietersen glanced his second ball through fine leg for four, and later launched a calculated assault on the swing of Praveen Kumar, who was bludgeoned for four fours in consecutive overs. He had a familiar aberration when the left-arm spin of Jadeja entered the attack, and would have run his partner out for 32 had the shy from midwicket been anywhere near Dhoni’s gloves. As it transpired, however, it was England’s own failure to run out Jadeja later in the game that would prove to be the decisive error.

MatériaMais Notícias

Com a ausência de Thiago Neves em dois treinos seguidos, na sexta-feira e neste sábado, na Toca da Raposa II, o jogador tem grande possibilidade de não atuar contra o Sport, no Mineirão, às 11h, no domingo. O meia sentiu dores na panturrilha direita e está tratando da lesão.

Deste modo, quem deve substituir Thiago Neves, é Robinho, que participou do último treino, neste sábado. Com isso a provável escalação do time mineiro será:Fábio; Lucas Romero, Dedé, Léo e Egídio; Henrique, Lucas Silva, Rafinha, Robinho e Arrascaeta; Sassá.

O Cruzeiro vai em busca da segunda vitória no Brasileirão. Na 14ª posição do Campeonato Brasileiro, com quatro pontos, o time de Mano Menezes está a apenas três pontos do terceiro colocado Corinthians.

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ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in Chennai

The Preview by Nitin Sundar03-May-2011Match factsWednesday, May 4 Chennai
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)”Well of course, let’s play poker”•Associated PressBig PictureThe invincibles at home face off in back-to-back games over the next five days. Chennai go in as favourites for the first leg, but will not take things for granted. The Chepauk pitch has behaved a lot like the strip at the Sawai Man Singh – dry, slow and with lots of help for spin. The afternoon start will recreate the heat of Jaipur as well, and Shane Warne’s men might feel at home playing here. It will be up to the gladiatorial stands at Chepauk, and the vociferous fans filling them, to remind Rajasthan that this is an away game.Both sides are on the ascendancy, and will be keen to extend their three-game winning streaks. The game could be decided by the respective spin attacks. Both teams have used three-spinner arsenals to great effect in this tournament. Johan Botha has been flexible, opening the attack at times and coming in late at others – much like R Ashwin has done for Chennai. Shane Warne has rolled the years back in the middle overs, while Ashok Menaria has surprised everyone including himself with his guile. Chennai will look for the same kind of impact from Shadab Jakati and – if he plays – Suraj Randiv. Both have been inconsistent so far this year.Form guide (most recent first)Chennai: WWWLL (fourth in points table)
Rajasthan: WWWLL (third in points table)Team talkChennai will review Randiv’s role in the side. MS Dhoni likes to have three specialist spinners in the XI for home games, but Randiv has only managed five wickets in six games, and has gone at 7.69 runs per over. Jakati’s figures are worse, but he has improved dramatically in the last three games. Will Faf du Plessis be in line for an IPL debut? Or will Nuwan Kulasekara get another game?Stuart Binny has bowled only three overs and faced 24 balls in five games. Warne may consider benching him in favour of either a specialist bowler or a batsman.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.In the spotlightOne of them is the best captain Australia never had. The other has nothing left to win – he leads the world’s ODI champions and the No. 1 Test side, and has World Twenty20, IPL and Champions League trophies in his cabinet. MS Dhoni and Shane Warne are diametrically opposite in demeanour and leadership styles, but bring the same innate flair and magnetism to their craft. Will they face off on the pitch tomorrow?We are three-and-a-half seasons into the IPL, and Rahul Dravid is yet to stamp his excellence on the tournament. He’s got starts in almost every innings this year, and has shepherded a couple of chases with his trademark assurance and correct shots. IPL glory can’t mean much to a man with over 10,000 runs in each of the formats that matter, but Dravid will still want to make a statement one of these days.Prime numbersSuresh Raina is the only batsman with over 1500 IPL runs. MS Dhoni is ninth in the list with 1191 runs, while Rahul Dravid is 13th with 1074
The last time these two teams played in Chennai, they scored a combined 469 runs in 40 overs – the highest aggregate in any single IPL game. The chatter”Once you have dismissed Sachin, you just develop a certain confidence. Any other wicket looks quite ordinary.”
“I am happy with the way we fought back. We play well in our home conditions and we showed that today. If we play with the same intensity we showed today, we will get far into the tournament.”

It’s crunch time for West Ham United on Thursday evening, as David Moyes’ side take on Eintracht Frankfurt in what is set to be an enthralling, Europa League, semi-final, second-leg clash.

The Hammers head into the game on a run of four matches without a win in all competitions – having lost their last three both in Europe and domestically – although all hope is not lost with the current aggregate scoreline at just 2-1 in favour of the Bundesliga side.

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The London Stadium outfit weren’t at their best in that defeat on home soil, although that one-goal deficit ensures it is all still to play for, with history seemingly on their side as they overcame the same opponents at the last four stage of the European Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1976.

Ahead of this pivotal encounter, here’s how the Football FanCast think that Moyes will line his side up…

With the former Manchester United boss announcing a clean bill of health in his pre-match press conference, the only changes to be made are likely to be tactical ones, with the Scotsman having shuffled his pack in the weekend defeat to Arsenal. As such, we are predicting that the 59-year-old will make four alterations from the side that lost at home to the Gunners.

One of those tweaks will see Alphonse Areola return in goal having featured in nine of the ten games in the competition, while ahead of him Craig Dawson returns to the backline after his brief suspension on Sunday, lining up alongside Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma and Aaron Cresswell.

The latter will return to his usual left-back berth, meaning that £38k-per-week dud Ryan Fredericks will drop out – the full-back having been dubbed a “shocker” by journalist Thomas Clark earlier this season.

In midfield, the club’s “man mountain” Tomas Soucek, as he has been described by pundit Micah Richards, replaces club captain Mark Noble alongside talisman Declan Rice, while ahead of them should be the attacking trio of Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini and Jarrod Bowen.

Leading the line will almost certainly be Michail Antonio – with Said Benrahma making way – although as his manager admitted, the Jamaica international is in desperate need of a goal, having scored just twice in all competitions since New Year’s Day.

In other news, Forget Rice: Moyes now set for West Ham disaster on “remarkable” £125k-p/w giant

Nottingham Forest’s decision to let Anel Ahmedhodzic leave the City Ground back in 2019 could well go down as one of the biggest howlers the club has made in recent times.

Ahmedhodzic was a product of Swedish outfit Malmo FF and left the side to join Nottingham Forest’s U18s. The Bosnian with Swedish citizenship worked his way up to the Forest senior side, where he made one first-team appearance as a substitute against Newcastle United, before rejoining Malmo FF – this time as a first-team player.

After a six-month loan spell to Danish outfit Hobro IK, Ahmedhodzic was recalled and became a big part of the squad after signing a new three-year deal, with the side becoming league champions just seven months after he returned from his loan spell.

The following year was the antithesis of his spell at Forest and saw the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Atalanta very much interested in signing the then 22-year-old. The latter, Atalanta, were on the verge of signing Ahmedhodzic in March of 2021, though he stayed with Malmo and made his Champions League debut just five months later against Juventus.

Fast forward to the present day and Ahmedhodzic finds himself on loan at Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux, having established himself as a starter since joining in January.

Bordeaux have an option to buy the 6 foot 4 centre-back for just €4m (£3.3m) which is a bargain, considering his market value has elevated to £6.3m, according to Transfermarkt.

At 23-years-old his potential is limitless, though if you were to take a look at his stats, they would suggest he is a box-to-box midfielder.

They are peculiar to say the least, but nevertheless impressive. As a centre-back, it is very rare to achieve a shot-creating actions average of one SCA per 90 minutes. Though that suggests everything you need to know about Ahmedhodzic and the system that he operates in.

The Bosnia international plays in a back three and functions as an overlapping centre-back, with his ability in possession a key enabler in his desire to progress up the pitch.

He’s been described by Fabrizio Romano as a “top talent” and it is easy to see why.

If Ahmedhodzic keeps up this trajectory, he will have Nottingham Forest deeply regretting their decision to sell him after he was afforded just one appearance.

In other news: Forget Grabban: Cooper must now unleash Forest’s “clinical” £12.7k-p/w machine…

The Athletic’s David Ornstein, a reliable source, has revealed that Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus is a target for Arsenal ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window. 

The lowdown: Doubts emerge?

Signed for £27million from Palmeiras in 2016 (Sky Sports), the Brazilian has scored 93 times in 230 outings for the Citizens.

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Despite the impressive return the Brazilian has struggled to hold down a regular place in Pep Guardiola’s first team and as such has only started on 22 occasions in 35 outings across all competitions this season.

Jesus put on a Man of the Match display at Eastlands on Saturday afternoon with a remarkable four-goals and one assist in a 5-1 demolition of Watford – but his long term future at the Etihad is in question…

The latest: Ornstein makes transfer claim

Taking to Twitter on Friday, journalist Ornstein of The Athletic stated: “Arsenal exploring possibility of signing Gabriel Jesus from Man City. Clubs yet to speak but talks between Edu + reps for months. 25yo open to idea, #AFC current favourites. Calvert-Lewin among options @TheAthleticUK #MCFC #EFC 1st reported @jorgenicola.”

Out of contract in 2023 (Transfermarkt), Arsenal are billed as the ‘current favourites’ to sign the man hailed as an ‘unsung hero’ by Guardiola back in March 2021 following a brace against Wolves.

The verdict: No deal

This shouldn’t even be under consideration for City as Jesus’ astonishing form, when given the opportunity by Guardiola, has backed just how useful he can be for the Sky Blues – as evident by his ridiculous performance yesterday.

So far this term the versatile forward has scored 11 times and provided 12 assists, importantly proving to possess the Midas touch when it comes to big game showdowns with Liverpool.

Even with the potential arrival of Haaland, Jesus has proven to be a top-level operator for the Sky Blues and should be kept on in rotation with or as an understudy for the Norwegian. Albeit Arsenal would be an attractive proposition for the player and a palatable one for Guardiola given the links to Mikel Arteta, selling to a Premier League rival must be out of the question.

In other news: Pep falls out with ‘world class’ Man City star behind-the-scenes, he could now leave…find out more here.