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India’s impressive batting line-up made a collective statement of intent, not least their 20-year-old prodigy Smriti Mandhana, as England, the hosts, were overwhelmed by a display of power and finesse

The Report by Andrew Miller24-Jun-2017

India’s impressive batting line-up made a collective statement of intent, not least their 20-year-old prodigy Smriti Mandhana, as England, the hosts, were overwhelmed by a display of power and finesse in the opening match of the Women’s World Cup at Derby.After winning the toss and bowling first under overcast skies, England’s captain Heather Knight had anticipated an opportunity for her side to lay down a marker of their own as they embark on their first home World Cup campaign since 1993, and the first ICC event on home soil since their victory in the world T20 in 2009.But they had reckoned with the silken skills of Mandhana, who capitalised on a nervy opening gambit from England’s bowlers, not least the veteran Katherine Brunt, to lead the charge with an innings of 90 from 72 balls.Despite the insistence from India’s captain, Mithali Raj, that women’s cricketers should not be judged against their male counterparts, it does Mandhana no disservice to say there were shades of Sourav Ganguly in her strokeplay, particularly her powerful driving on the up and through the covers. She also swung hard through the line for two big sixes over long-on, as she and Punam Raut left England with no place to hide in an enterprising 144-run stand for the first wicket.Raut was the sheet anchor as Mandhana went for her shots at the other end, seeing off a restrictive opening burst from Anya Shrubsole en route to an 86-ball fifty before lifting her tempo as her innings progressed. She benefited from a brace of drops from Tammy Beaumont at long-on and Shrubsole at midwicket, but was looking good for a century until she picked out Danielle Wyatt with a slog-sweep to deep midwicket in the 43rd over.Mandhana, by this stage, had also perished, holing out to Danielle Hazell at midwicket as she climbed into a short ball from Knight and trooped off, proud but disconsolate for 90 from 72 balls. It was a stunning performance from a young player who is on the comeback from cruciate ligament tear sustained at the WBBL this winter. There were concerns of a relapse when she limped from the field midway through the England innings, but she later confirmed it had been a hamstring twinge, and she is confident of being ready for the rest of India’s tournament.Her departure paved the way for the entrance of Raj, who in her 15th year of international cricket is in the midst of a golden vein of form. She charmed her way to a women’s record seventh consecutive ODI half-century before holing out for 71 from 73 balls from the final delivery of the innings. Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s aggressive allrounder, showed glimpses of her strength with a big six over midwicket off Hazell, and finished unbeaten on 24 from 22.In reply, England opened with a notable returnee, as Sarah Taylor stepped in for the absent Lauren Winfield in her first full international appearance for more than a year. It was an achievement in itself to complete her comeback after her much-publicised battle with anxiety, but she found India’s bowlers hard to dominate in a 31-ball 22, which ended with a mistimed slap to mid-on.Beaumont was dropped off a top-edged sweep early in her innings but failed to capitalise as Mandhana clung on to a sharp edge to slip for 14, whereupon England’s middle-order was becalmed by India’s slow bowlers, who dropped the ball on a good length and gave the batsman nothing to work with. England relied on a diet of sweeps to keep the score moving before Knight stepped up the pace with a pair of sweetly struck sixes down the ground. But, after Nat Sciver had been caught down the leg side via the first DRS review of the tournament, Knight fell victim to a sharp pick-up-and-throw from Kaur, to be run out for 46.At 134 for 4, England seemed in peril, although Fran Wilson wasn’t done yet. Her hard-hitting 81 from 75 balls gave her side genuine hope going into the final eight overs. But a spate of run-outs – three in four overs, including Wilson herself and the dangerous Brunt – wrecked their fightback. Victory was duly sealed with 15 balls to spare, as Shrubsole slogged to deep midwicket, moments after a defiant six had been caught in the stands by the father of her team-mate, Jenny Gunn. For India, it was their 18th victory in their last 19 matches, and a very impressive show of force at the outset of the tournament.

Wrexham star Ollie Palmer showed Charlie Day no mercy when the Always Sunny star visited the Welsh club back in April.

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• Day took part in Wrexham warm-down
• Palmer showed actor no mercy
• Clip emerged in Welcome to Wrexham

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's Always Sunny co-star attended Wrexham's 3-0 win against Yeovil Town in April. After the match, Day was invited to take part in the players' warm-down. Now, new footage has emerged showing Wrexham striker Palmer leaving him for dust without even breaking sweat.

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• WATCH THE CLIP

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Day was among a number of other stars from the hit TV show to attend the match. The footage has emerged as part of the latest series of 'Welcome to Wrexham', a docu-series that charts the journey of the club under the ownership of Hollywood stars Reynolds and McElhenney.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

  FX has commissioned a third season of Welcome to Wrexham, and it promises to be a good one. The Red Dragons are currently flying high in second place in League Two after a 15-year exile from the Football League. Next up for Phil Parkinson's side is a trip to Accrington Stanley on Saturday.

Fans online have been left stunned after Manchester United ace Marcus Rashford pulled off a brilliant bit of skill for England in their most recent match.

What was the score in England v Malta?

On Friday night, the Three Lions travelled away from home to Malta looking to maintain their spot at the top of their Euro 2024 qualifying group.

And Gareth Southgate’s men we able to make it three wins from three as they cruised to a 4-0 victory thanks to a midfield masterclass from new No 10 Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Indeed, the Liverpool defender played a beautiful through-ball to open up the defence for England’s opener from an own goal before rifling in a fine effort to make it 2-0. Harry Kane won and scored a penalty to make it 3-0 before half-time, while Callum Wilson also scored from the spot later on in the match.

Rashford didn’t start the game, but did come on for Jordan Henderson on the hour mark and was able to make a positive contribution with one fine moment in particular.

Indeed, as shared in this footage on Twitter, he picked the ball up on the left flank and did a couple of sharp stepovers before leaving his man for dead with an elastico.

After seeing the replay of the 25-year-old, it’s safe to say a number of fans were left rather impressed and they soon flocked to social media to express their thoughts.

Here are some of the best Twitter reactions…

Supporters were seriously impressed.

The allrounder first paired up with Mehedi Hasan Miraz to limit Dhaka Dynamites to 138 and then eased Rajshahi Kings’ chase with a brisk unbeaten 44

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Samit Patel hit a flurry of boundaries to ease Rajshahi’s chase after they had lost quick wickets upfront•Getty ImagesA robust all-round show from Samit Patel gave Rajshahi Kings their first win of BPL 2016-17, as they trounced Dhaka Dynamites by six wickets. The England allrounder took two wickets to help keep Dhaka to a modest 138 before his flurry of boundaries eased the chase.Patel was unbeaten on 44 off 25 balls, having shared a 73-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Sabbir Rahman, who was dismissed for 31 after the scores were level. Mohammad Shahid bowled a wide to give Rajshahi the win with eleven balls to spare, symbolic of Dhaka’s indiscipline with the ball – they conceded 15 extras in the match.Rajshahi’s chase began with Rony Talukdar winning the all-Narayanganj battle when he hammered Shahid for a straight six and fours through mid-off and fine-leg. But Talukdar injured his back while hitting the second boundary and that cost Rajshahi two wickets – Mominul Haque was run out in the third over when he tried to get Talukdar off strike, and then Talukdar was stumped for 14 after charging at Shakib Al Hasan. Talukdar’s wicket was Shakib’s 50th in the BPL.Sabbir and Umar Akmal added 38 runs for the third wicket to calm the nerves in the dressing room and both picked up regular boundaries. Akmal fell in the tenth over for 27, but Patel took over the baton immediately.He struck his six fours through and over cover and extra cover, past point and through fine-leg. Patel’s only six was a blast over long-on, which got Rajshahi within 10 runs of the target.In Dhaka’s innings, after they were put in to bat, Mehedi Maruf once again gave them a bright start despite the loss of Kumar Sangakkara in the second over. Maruf slammed four boundaries and a swept six off Mohammad Sami in his 22-ball 25 but fell into the seven-ball hole that resulted in three Dhaka wickets. Samit Patel removed Mahela Jayawardene, on his BPL debut, before removing Maruf two balls later. In the first ball of the next over, Shakib was stumped off Mehedi Hasan and suddenly Dhaka were 43 for 4 in the eighth over.With three of their most senior batsmen back in the dugout, it was easy for Dhaka to slow down but Mosaddek Hossain’s confidence meant that they recovered quickly.During his 54-run fifth-wicket stand with Ravi Bopara, Mosaddek timed the ball well through the off side and found fours with pushes through point and cover. After Bopara fell for 20, Mosaddek carved Sami over point for his only six and soon raised his first half-century in BPL, sharing in a 41-run unbroken stand for the sixth wicket with Darren Bravo.Mehedi and Patel took two wickets each while Hasan, who mixed his pace well, picked up one wicket. Sami was unlucky as he had Bravo and Mosaddek dropped in his last over by the sweeper fielder on either side of the wicket.

Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade kept wickets for only two overs on the third day before returning to the team hotel with an illness

Brydon Coverdale in Sydney05-Jan-2017

Australia’s wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is expected to take no further part in the third day’s play against Pakistan in Sydney after returning to the team hotel due to illness.Rain delayed the start of play until 2.35pm and Wade took the field with the team when play finally began, but he was able to keep wicket for only two overs before he left the SCG.”Matthew felt ill this morning and has had nausea and diarrhoea,” Australia’s team doctor Peter Brukner said. “He’s received medication for his symptoms but is still feeling unwell. After taking the field he realised he was not well enough to continue, hence his decision to come off. He’s returning to the hotel to rest and will hopefully recover by tomorrow morning. We will monitor his condition.”Wade was replaced behind the stumps by Peter Handscomb, who has kept wickets in nearly 50 matches across first-class, List A and Twenty20 matches. Although he rarely keeps in Sheffield Shield matches these days, Handscomb performed the role in four Matador Cup games this summer and is expecting to do so in the BBL this month as well.”The gloves stay in the bag and the pads only come out for a bit of bat-pad work,” Handscomb said when asked about his wicketkeeping in the lead-up to this Test. “When I’m not keeping it’s pretty much full-time batting and fielding, because I need to be able to catch like a fielder.”Then as soon as I go back to Big Bash and put the gloves on I’ll do some work there and make sure that my skills are up to date … I think I’d be able to do it as a last call if no one else was around. I can chuck the gloves on, that would be fine.”

Timm van der Gugten and Michael Rippon led the demolition job as Netherlands crushed Nepal by seven wickets in their World Cricket League Championship match

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2016
ScorecardFile photo: Michael Rippon wrecked Nepal with 3 for 21 as Netherlands crushed Nepal by seven wickets in their WCL Championship clash•IDI/Getty

Pace bowler Timm van der Gugten and chinaman bowler Michael Rippon led a demolition job to help Netherlands crush Nepal by seven wickets in their World Cricket League Championship match on Saturday.Van der Gugten and Rippon returned identical figures of 3 for 21 as Netherlands shot Nepal out for 94 after electing to field at the VRA Ground in Amstelveen. Stephan Myburgh then guided Netherlands’ small chase with an unbeaten 33, and along with wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi, who slammed 37 off 33 balls, completed the win in 16.5 overs.Apart from Nepal’s top three – Gyanendra Malla, Anil Mandal and Sharad Vesawkar – only Sompal Kami managed to get into double figures. Malla and Mandal’s 23-run opening stand was the highest Nepal could manage as they were dismissed in 38.1 overs.Van der Gugten and Rippon found support from left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe, who took 2 for 12, while Mudassar Bukhari and Paul van Meekeren took a wicket apiece.Netherlands lost Rippon in the fourth over with just 13 on the board but Myburgh and Barresi then came together for a second-wicket stand worth 57 that shut out any early advantage Nepal may have hoped to attain. Both batsmen struck five boundaries each, before Basant Regmi had Barresi bowled with Netherlands 25 away from a win. Ben Cooper could not hang around for long, but van der Merwe and Myburgh saw the team through to the finish line.Both teams face off again on Monday at the same venue. Netherlands are perched on top of the table with 12 points, while Nepal are sixth with four points after seven games.

A round-up of all the Dhaka Premier League matches played on June 12, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2016

League leaders Victoria Sporting Club opened up the gap at the top of the points table as they beat Prime Bank Cricket Club by 23 runs in Fatullah.Batting first after a delay of over two hours, Victoia were driven by Abdul Mazid. The right-hand batsman, coming off two consecutive hundreds, added 83 for the second wicket with Mominul Haque, who made a 47-ball 55, to lay the foundation of their 272 for 6 in 40 overs.Mazid matched Mominul’s enterprise in his 68-ball 72 courtesy 10 fours and a six. Nadif Chowdhury, the captain, then struck a run-a-ball 41, while Chaturanga de Silva, the Sri Lankan batsman, hit three fours and two sixes in his 23-ball 39 to ensure the momentum was carried through.In reply, Prime Bank openers Mehedi Maruf and Shanaj Ahmed added 55, but lost three wickets in quick succession to slip to 119 for 3. Sabbir Rahman and Nurul Hasan added 50, but their dismissal in consecutive overs proved to be the turning point. While batsmen got off to starts, the escalating required rate resulted in poor shots as they were restricted to 249 for 8.Mahbub Alam took two wickets, while Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Dolar Mahmud, Suhrawadi Shuvo and Mominul Haque took one each.Legends of Rupganj crushed Mohammedan Sporting Club by 104 runs in Mirpur to make a superb start to their Super League campaign.Batting first after a 90-minute delay due to a wet outfield, Rupganj posted 232 for 8 in 45 overs. Mohammad Mithun top scored with 59; his opening stand of 89 with Soumya Sarkar, who made 40, setting the tempo.Rupganj wobbled when Junaid Siddique, Nahidul Islam and Asif Ahmed fell in quick succession to leave them in a spot of bother at 129 for five in the 30th over. But Sajjadul Haque, Mosharraf Hossain, the captain, Pawan Negi and Alauddin Babu took them past the 200-run mark. Naeem Islam, the offspinner, took four wickets while their new Sri Lankan recruit Thisara Perera took two wickets.Mohammedan lost two early wickets by the fifth over. Hamidul Islam struggled to put bat to ball, but hung around to make a 37-ball 60 to revive the innings. But his dismissal followed by Mushfiqur Rahim’s for 34 in successive overs left them reeling at 90 for 5 in the 22nd over. They couldn’t recover from those twin blows as they were eventually bowled out for 128.The win meant Rupganj moved to 16 points while Mohammedan remained on 14 points.

Everton extended their Premier League unbeaten run to four games after holding top-four hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur to a draw on Monday evening, with Sean Dyche's men producing a spirited display at Goodison Park to bolster their hopes of survival.

In what was a frantic and frenetic second half on Merseyside, both Abdoulaye Doucoure and substitute Lucas Moura saw red either side of a Harry Kane spot-kick, before surprise hero Michael Keane – who had earlier given away the penalty – stepped up to secure a point at the death with a stunning, long-range strike.

In truth, the result was no more than the Toffees deserved with the relegation strugglers likely to have been somewhat frustrated not to have sealed the win – albeit with the hosts still only a point above the drop zone.

While the club's future in the top-flight remains uncertain, there is seemingly renewed optimism among the Goodison faithful amid the arrival of Dyche, with the former Burnley boss having found a formula to get results during his brief tenure thus far.

One man who looks set to be a key figure between now and the end of the season is fleet-footed winger, Alex Iwobi, with the Nigeria international having again sparkled against the Lilywhites after producing a "terrific" attacking display, as per journalist Fatteh Hamid.

How did Iwobi perform against Spurs?

As The Athletic's Jack Pitt-Brooke noted, there is an argument to be made that Iwobi has been the "most improved player in the Premier League over the last 2-3 years", with the £35m man having become instrumental to all that is good about the Toffees.

Once branded a player who "makes too many bad decisions" by journalist David Prentice back in 2020 and described as someone whose ability "lets him down" by ex-Everton man Michael Ball in 2021, the 5 foot 11 dynamo has looked far more effective in the current campaign, notably racking up a team-high seven assists in 29 league games already this season.

While the 26-year-old did somewhat suffer from a 'lack of end product' yesterday, according to 90min's Jude Summerfield, the versatile ace was a constant thorn in the side of the visitors, having laid on two key passes and created one big chance, while also attempting eight dribbles on the night.

Such a dynamic and relentless threat did see Iwobi lose possession on 20 occasions although that was merely a marker of his willingness to make things happen for his side, with The National's Olakunie Afolabi writing that the 62-cap gem was 'crucial to everything the Toffees created in the first-half' having posed 'serious problems' for the opposing backline.

The hard-working ace also put in a typically impressive display defensively after winning five ground duels from his wide berth, with such an all-round performance earning the £120k-per-week man a solid 7.0 match rating, as per Sofascore.

That outing bodes well for the impact that the Lagos native can have in Everton's survival bid, with it yet another sign of how far the former Arsenal man has come since his early days on Merseyside.

Waqar Younis has resigned as Pakistan’s coach three months before his contract was going to end, and only one day after Shahid Afridi relinquished his T20 captaincy

Umar Farooq04-Apr-2016Waqar Younis has resigned as Pakistan’s coach three months before his contract was going to end, and only one day after Shahid Afridi relinquished his T20 captaincy. Waqar took the decision after meeting PCB officials in Lahore.The two resignations came after Pakistan’s disappointing performances in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and the World T20 in India. Pakistan won only three games out of the eight they played across the two tournaments and failed to make it beyond the first round. The last series Pakistan won in any format was last October, when they beat England 2-0 in a three-Test series in the UAE. After that, Pakistan lost the ODI and T20 series to England, and then traveled to New Zealand to again lose the T20 and ODI series. They won only two of the 12 limited-overs matches they played in all against England and New Zealand. Pakistan are currently ranked a respectable fourth in Tests, but eighth in ODIs and seventh in T20Is in the ICC rankings.”It’s time to go,” Waqar said. “With disappointment and pain I would like to inform that I decide to resign as the Pakistan coach. In last 19 months of my job I was completely honest and didn’t leave any stone unturned to help the team achieve the best but unfortunately we couldn’t get the results.”It was slightly unfair by the board the way the whole case had been handled as my report was leaked and none of the board officials tried to talk about all this. But in all this, I do not want all of you, including ex-cricketers, to forget my services to Pakistan cricket.”Waqar had recently presented a scathing report, after Pakistan’s exit from the World T20, in which he criticised the PCB’s decision of not giving him a say in the selection process and lambasted Afridi’s style of captaincy. The report was an overview of his two-year term as coach and was submitted to the PCB chairman Shahryar Khan and to the board’s fact-finding committee. The PCB later announced on Monday, among several other measures, that a panel comprising Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja would assist the board in finding a new coach.A day before submitting that report, Waqar had offered to step down but had said cosmetic changes would be insufficient to solve the deeper issues in Pakistan cricket.”I am stepping aside with with a heavy heart, and what can I say, the present circumstances aren’t good in PCB,” Waqar said on Monday. “They were looking to make me a scapegoat so it was important for me that I should go with respect.”It was Waqar’s second tenure as coach after he was appointed in May 2014 for a two-year contract that was due to end on June 30 before the tour of England. By stepping down at this juncture, Waqar will forgo three months’ salary; he advised the board to invest that money in domestic cricket.”I am being portrayed as the villain,” he said. “Whatever I said in past five days wasn’t a lie. I want Pakistan cricket in good shape and hence gave recommendations which are already out in public. I hope my suggestions will help the upcoming coach if they are rightly understood for the betterment of Pakistan cricket.”I had three months remaining in my contract and some Rs 50-60 lakh with PCB but I told them to invest them in domestic cricket where it is actually needed. Players there at the first-class level are being underprepared. Until you don’t invest at the right place you will not get the right players to the top level. If money isn’t invested then I am afraid after next five-six years someone else will be standing here and cursing PCB and the system.”

Tottenham Hotspur chief Fabio Paratici is personally ‘more likely’ to target former Spain boss Luis Enrique over the heavily-linked Mauricio Pochettino.

The Lowdown: Conte future uncertain…

The future of current Spurs manager Antonio Conte is set to be one of the hot topics over these next few months with reports suggesting he may well leave.

While the north Londoners have an option to extend his stay by a further 12 months, some sources claim the Italian is far more likely than not to depart by the end of 2022/2023.

Pochettino, who is currently out-of-work after leaving PSG, has been tipped as a hot contender for the role yet Spurs reporter Jack Pitt-Brooke claims Paratici may personally target another name.

The Latest: Paratici ‘more likely’ to target Enrique…

Indeed, former Barcelona tactician Enrique may be more favoured by the managing director despite chairman Daniel Levy and those within Tottenham appealing to Pochettino.

Pitt-Brooke explained on Twitter:

“If they go for Pochettino it would be driven by Levy, not Paratici. No way Paratici would hand over that much power willingly. He’d be more likely to go for, say, Luis Enrique. But then it was Levy (not Paratici) who appointed Conte in the first place…”

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The Verdict: Big name…

Also currently a free agent and proven at the top level of management, Enrique emerges as a potentially astute option to succeed Conte if he does leave.

The 4-3-3 attacking boss has won nine major pieces of silverware in total, including a Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and two La Liga titles with Barca (Transfermarkt).

Enrique would not only represent a fine Pochettino alternative for little to no cost, the 52-year-old’s pedigree and philosophy as a forward-thinking tactician would seriously appeal to Spurs supporters.

If Paratici campaigns with the Spurs hierarchy to appoint Enrique, he would have a serious case to bring forward to Levy and the board.