Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw will "100%" sign a new deal at the club, according to an update from renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano.

How is Shaw playing this season?

The Red Devils are enjoying an excellent season to date, clinching EFL Cup glory already and also having a chance of winning the Europa League and FA Cup. Meanwhile, a top-four finish in the Premier League looks likely, in a year that has seen big strides made on the pitch.

Numerous United players have shone throughout the campaign, with Marcus Rashford the standout performer, and Shaw has been a model of consistency at left-back. The 27-year-old has been an influential presence in both and attacking and defensive sense, making 22 league appearances and averaging both 1.7 tackles and 1.2 key passes per game in the competition.

The Englishman has now established himself as arguably one of Europe's best left-backs, and with his current United deal expiring next year, it is important that the club ties down his future. That certainly looks set to be the case, with an exciting new update suggesting as much.

Is Shaw set to extend his stay?

Taking to Twitter, Romano relayed Erik ten Hag's quotes regarding Shaw, before providing his own update over a new contract being signed:

"Ten Hag: 'If Luke Shaw signed new deal, I don't know — I haven't heard, as John Murtough didn't inform me until now. I have to wait for that. If it's true, I’m pleased. We want to keep Luke because he's a really important player for our team'.

"New deal, 100% agreed."

This is clearly great news from a United perspective, with Shaw someone performing at the peak of his powers, and an undoubted a key starter for Ten Hag's side. The 29-cap England international's manager has called him "a great player and a great personality for the dressing-room", and at 27, a new long-term deal will run out when he is still potentially in his best years.

It is heartwarming to see Shaw reach such a high level, having suffered a terrible broken leg early in his United career and not always managed to consistently become an important player down the years. He is now fully reaching his potential, though, and there is no reason why he can't find another gear, too, especially if more key signings are made during what is hopefully a fruitful summer transfer window at Old Trafford.

Mahela Jayawardene has praised the character shown by England’s young batsmen after they pulled off the second-highest successful run chase in T20 internationals

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-20163:26

Jayawardene: It was something special

Mahela Jayawardene has praised the character shown by England’s young batsmen after they pulled off the second-highest successful run chase in T20 internationals. Led by Joe Root’s 83 from 44 balls, England achieved a target of 230 to beat South Africa with two balls to spare in Mumbai and Jayawardene, who has been working with the team as a batting consultant, called it a “special” performance.Jayawardene, who was part of the Sri Lanka side that won the previous World T20 in 2014, has now concluded his part-time role with England and joined ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day analysis line-up, and he played down his part in their success.”To be honest, I haven’t done much,” he said. “When you work with a talented group of players, and when they do something like that, everyone thinks you had a huge role to play… but I’ve really enjoyed working with the England boys, they’re a young team with not much experience in international T20s but they want to play a brand of cricket which they have been playing for 12 months and they are still finding their way.”It was a great win last night, I really enjoyed it. In the dressing room it was nervous moments at points and at the halfway mark obviously everyone was disappointed. But they showed a lot of character to regroup and go out and the way they played was something special.”A former Sri Lanka captain, Jayawardene retired from international cricket for good after last year’s World Cup and first worked with England on their tour of the UAE before returning for the World T20. His relationship with the coach, Trevor Bayliss, goes back to their time together with Sri Lanka and Jayawardene credited the Australian with helping to change England’s approach.While chasing down 230 requires a capacity for powerful ball-striking, Jayawardene identified the “smartness” of Root and the captain, Eoin Morgan, as a key factor, as well as a degree of freedom and flexibility that has allowed the rest of the top six – openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales, as well as Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler – to flourish.”This is something that they have developed since Trevor Bayliss has taken over, they have put a lot of emphasis on white-ball cricket, not just T20 but one-day cricket as well,” Jayawardene said. “They’ve managed to get a group of young cricketers, looking towards the next 50-over World Cup as well. It’s not just power hitting, the way Joe batted in that middle period and the way Buttler controlled a tough situation when they lost Morgan. They’re still finding ways of doing things, they definitely have the power if they need to use it but [they are] trying to be much more structured going about things.”They have given licence to Jason because that’s the way he bats, Alex Hales still hasn’t really found his rhythm but he showed something yesterday. They can use Stokes anywhere because the flexibility is there, he plays pace and spin well. What they have got is the smartness of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, who’s got the experience of playing in the subcontinent, in that middle. Jos Buttler has been in great form as well, so they’ve got six batsmen who can change a game and they do bat deep as well, so they’ve got the freedom to go out and express themselves.”While acknowledging there would be challenges ahead if England were to progress, Jayawardene was impressed by the players’ willingness to improve. Chief among them is Root, described by Morgan as “the most complete batsmen we’ve ever had”. Despite having played just 14 T20I innings – and 39 in the shortest format overall – he has become central to their World T20 plans and Jayawardene was impressed by his attitude to batting, calling him a “very skillful cricketer and a very bright cricketer as well”.”He wants to learn new things and to evolve as a cricketer,” Jayawardene said. “What you have to understand is that Joe hasn’t played that much T20 cricket, he hasn’t had that much experience of playing in the subcontinent, he’s still finding his way.”So for him to go out in a tough situation – probably the situation dictated the way he had to play, started slowly but to keep up with the run rate he had to be innovative. But he just kept his cool, made sure the guys around him do a bit of work as well, so when you look at the bigger concept, he’s the guy that England would want to do that kind of role for them in this tournament.”Jayawardene added: “[He is a] good all-round cricketer, there are about four-five young good players in this tournament that everyone is going to look out for and he is one of them.”

The PCB has introduced a revamped domestic one-day tournament, called the Pakistan Cup, to replace the existing Pentangular Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2016The PCB has introduced a revamped domestic one-day tournament, called the Pakistan Cup, to replace the existing Pentangular Cup. The tournament will be played between five provincial teams, starting April 19 in Faisalabad.The format will remain the same as the Pentangular Cup, but the process of picking players has been altered – the traditional selection process has been replaced with a draft system. It will allow a pre-announced captain and coaches to pick their 15-man squads from a list of 150 cricketers in 15 rounds. There was no reason given for the selection process being changed.The five teams from the five provinces – Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a team from Federal Capital of Pakistan – will remain the same. The PCB announced Azhar Ali will lead Balochistan, Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq will lead Federal Capital, Younis Khan will take the reins of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Shoaib Malik will captain Punjab and Sarfraz Ahmed will lead Sindh.The draft took place in Lahore, where Punjab picked Salman Butt as their opening batsman while Sindh went for Mohammad Amir. Mohammad Asif, however, was not picked by any of the five teams. Mohammad Hafeez, who is suffering from a knee injury, remained unavailable for selection. In order to promote young cricketers, each team had to pick one regional Under-19 player in their 15-man squad.The Pakistan domestic structure has been inconsistent for decades with changes occurring every two years. Their domestic season starts in August with Grade-2 tournaments, and ends with the limited-overs tournaments by March. The PCB had introduced a completely new first-class system in 2015 and the announcement of the Pakistan Cup reflects the varying nature of planning in the domestic set up. It was understood that there were commercial reasons behind the timing of the event.”Our public loves cricket and we are trying to further elevate our product,” Najam Sethi, the chairman of the PCB executive committee, said. “There is greater involvement of senior cricketers with the draft process in place. Players will also receive a 100% increase in remuneration and the support staff is very experienced. We are celebrating unity in diversity and I urge the fans to come and watch these matches in the stadium.”Punjab: Salman Butt, Shan Masood, Asad Shafiq, Asif Ali, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saad Nasim, Amir Yameen, Shoaib Malik (capt), Ehsan Adil, Amad Butt, Adnan Ghaus, Zulfiqar Babar, Saif BadarSindh: Khurram Manzoor, Sami Aslam, Mohammad Waqas, Shoaib Maqsood, Khalid Latif, Fawad Alam, Saad Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Imad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan, Ruman Raeez, Hassan KhanBalochistan: Azhar Ali (capt), Owais Zia, Ramiz Raja (junior), Babar Azam, Umar Akmal, Shahid Yousaf, Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Nawaz, Sohail Tanvir, Junaid Khan, Bilawal Bhatti, Umar Gul, Imran Khan, Osama Mir, Saeed AjmalFederal: Sharjeel Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asif Zakir, Hammad Azam, Sarmad Bhatti, Arsal Sheikh, Imran Khalid, Zafar Gohar, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Irfan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad AbbasKPK: Ahmed Shahzad, Fakhar Zaman, Younis Khan (capt), Rameez Aziz, Naveed Yasin, Musadiq Ahmed, Bismillah Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Rahat Ali, Azarullah, Sadaif Mehdi, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Zohaib Khan, Hayatullah

Journalist Steve Kay has hailed Rob Holding’s performance for Arsenal in their 4-1 win at home to Crystal Palace in the Premier League as ‘outstanding’.

The Lowdown: Holding steps in

With William Saliba ruled out injured, Holding was entrusted to step in by Mikel Arteta, in what was his first start in the top flight so far this season.

He did concede to a Jeffrey Schlupp goal, but it did not matter in the end, as Arsenal ran riot by scoring four at the Emirates Stadium.

Bukayo Saka grabbed all the headlines with two goals and one assist, while Gabriel Martinelli and Granit Xhaka also managed to get themselves on the scoresheet, as the North London club moved three points closer to winning the Premier League title.

The Latest: Holding ‘outstanding’

Taking to Twitter after the game, Kay hailed Holding’s performance in particular as ‘outstanding’:

“Outstanding performance today by Rob Holdinho.”

The Verdict: Available if needed

Holding has shown that he can step in and do a job if needed.

He has only made 18 appearances in total over all competitions so far this term, with only 10 of them being starts, and has generally been an understudy to both Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.

However, with Saliba injured, Holding needed to come into the starting line-up in his place, and put in an inspired performance to help his team gain all three points.

The Englishman won a player-high 11 of his individual duels, and also made more clearances (five) than any of his team-mates, while he was accurate with all five of his long ball attempts, and recorded one successful dribble, two tackles, 87 touches of the ball and a 91% pass accuracy (SofaScore).

Nonetheless, Gunners supporters will have more faith that Holding can step in when needed, although they will also be hoping that Saliba can recover from his injury after the international break.

West Indies allrounder Andre Russell has committed an “anti-doping whereabouts” violation, according to the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), and could face a lengthy ban from cricket.Russell, who is part of the West Indies squad for the upcoming World T20, has reportedly missed three such tests in a 12-month period, which equates to a failed test under doping laws.”We received notification of Russell’s violation about two weeks ago and I’ve appointed a panel to hear his case,” JADCO independent disciplinary panel chairman Kent Pantry told .Athletes must make their whereabouts known to local anti-doping agencies to facilitate testing. Russell could face a possible two-year ban if found guilty of the violation.”There is a process regarding the findings by JADCO,” the West Indies Cricket Board said in a statement. “All that will be observed and you will be advised accordingly.”

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta continues to reap the rewards of the club's impressive production of young talent, with Hale End graduate Bukayo Saka having been a leading figure in the Gunners' title charge.

The England international – who netted for the Three Lions against Ukraine at Wembley on Sunday – already boasts a standout haul of 12 goals and ten assists in the Premier League this season, ensuring that the 21-year-old is the only player in the division to reach double figures for both metrics.

The youngster's rise from promising teen to first-team star has rubberstamped the benefits of promoting from within, with fellow forward Emile Smith Rowe another who looks set to have a big part to play at the Emirates moving forward, despite being hampered by injury this term.

For all the plaudits that are flooding the way of the "sensational" Saka, in particular – as hailed by pundit Alex McCleish – the focus for Arteta and co will be to ensure that the academy ranks continue to churn out exciting young talent over the coming years.

It would appear at present that there are a number of eye-catching gems who are just waiting to be unleashed in the senior set-up, with teenage centre-back Zach Awe one such asset who could be given a chance to shine sooner rather than later.

Who is Arsenal's Zach Awe?

The "promising" defender – as lauded by Layth Yousif – has been a standout presence at youth level in recent times, having notably featured 22 times in all competitions so far this term, scoring twice from his centre-back berth.

The highly-regarded 19-year-old – who signed a professional contract with the club back in February 2021 – has been on the cusp of the first team of late, having been training with Arteta's squad ahead of the Europa League clash with Bodo/Glimt back in October.

The London-born starlet may well be hoping to push for a regular role under the Spaniard in the near future, with the Gunners currently lacking quality, centre-back depth outside the first-choice pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel.

January arrival Jakub Kiwior was notably dubbed "embarrassing" by talkSPORT pundit Dean Ashton after making an error on debut against Sporting CP earlier this month, while long-serving dud Rob Holding has also looked unconvincing when he has been involved, with the Englishman having "made mistakes" over the years, as per pundit Darren Bent.

It remains to be seen what long-term future Holding will have at the Emirates, with the £40k-per-week earner having just over a year left on his contract and with The Sun only recently reporting that the former Bolton Wanderers man could be part of a mass, summer exodus.

If the peripheral figure is to depart any time soon, then promoting young Awe should seemingly be on the minds of Arteta and co, with the latter man having been hailed as a 'commanding centre-back' who has an 'impressive passing range and leadership qualities', as per the club's official website.

Such quality was evident during the former England youth international's four outings in the EFL Trophy earlier this season as he scored once and averaged 0.8 key passes per game to illustrate his prowess on the ball, while also proving a rock-solid asset at the back after averaging 4.8 clearances, 2.8 interceptions and 1.5 tackles per game.

Holding, by contrast, has looked far less impressive during his eight Premier League appearances this term, having failed to score or average a single key pass, while also averaging just 0.6 clearances, 0.4 interceptions and zero tackles per 90.

While Awe's displays were from just a small sample size, that impressive statistical record should indicate that has the tools needed to go on to flourish at senior level, with that move into the first-team ranks likely to help aid Holding's departure from the club.

Manchester United are eyeing up a swoop for World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister this summer as Erik ten Hag continues his rebuild.

What’s the latest on Alexis Mac Allister to Manchester United?

According to Argentinian reporter Cesar Luis Merlo, United are fighting it out with Liverpool and Arsenal in order to lure the Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder to Old Trafford during the summer transfer window.

Merlo claims that two of the clubs are ‘already negotiating’ with the player, although he doesn’t state which teams that is.

The south coast side were looking at £50m in order for any team to prise Mac Allister away from the club during the January window and come the end of the season, this figure may have increased.

Could Manchester United sign Alexis Mac Allister?

Ten Hag is still a few signings short of completing a team which can compete for the Premier League title and Mac Allister would certainly improve the team that’s for sure.

With the Dutchman also looking to ship out some deadwood and underperformers during the summer, the Argentinian could be a big upgrade on Scott McTominay.

Indeed, this season, the 24-year-old has registered more goals (eight to none), shots per game (2.35 to 0.78), tackles won (30 to 18) and has a higher pass success rate than the Scot (86.7% to 81.9%), proving he has been much more effective across all areas of the pitch.

Ten Hag would love to add another midfielder who can pose a significant goal threat and Mac Allister ranks in the top 5% across Europe’s big five leagues for goals, total shots and penalty kicks made, meaning United would be signing one of the finest goalscoring midfielders in the continent if they lured him to the club.

His experience at the highest level is also a big plus for the Dutchman. Reporter Roy Nemer lauded the midfielder as being “unplayable” during the 2022 World Cup final that Argentina won, and he was incredible throughout the duration of the competition.

He averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.05/10 across six matches, scoring once, creating two big chances and making 1.3 key passes per match along with taking 1.2 shots per game, displaying his attacking qualities on the grandest stage of all.

McTominay has started just nine Premier League matches for United this season, making 20 appearances overall, and it looks as though his career at the Red Devils could be coming to an end.

In Mac Allister they will have a player who is a big upgrade on the 26-year-old and one who can further strengthen United’s midfield.

Kumar Sangakkara produced a mesmeric sixth Championship hundred – his 56th in all first class cricket – to leave Somerset smarting having conceded 394 in a day’s play

Vithushan Ehantharajah at The Oval24-Apr-2016
ScorecardKumar Sangakkara passed 1000 runs for Surrey during his innings of 171 (file photo)•Getty Images

The first day of the season at The Oval was given a grandstand beginning as one of game’s leading stars gave Surrey the perfect home start. Kumar Sangakkara, still glistening as bright as ever, produced a mesmeric sixth Championship hundred – his 56th in all first class cricket – to leave Somerset smarting having conceded 394 in a day’s play.As it happens, both teams read the pitch well. What green there was only spanned the middle of the track, from good length to good length and those within the Surrey camp hoped Somerset might be lured into bowling first. Chris Rogers did not bite and asked for the coin, but failed to call correctly. That was the starter pistol for a run-fest on a chilly day in south London.The breath of each exposed spectator and player was visible as scenes resembled something out of . The only difference might have been that after a few hours, Somerset’s fielders would have welcomed a bear’s forced embrace. Instead, they were mauled by Sangakkara.The familiar jaunt to three figures took just 94 balls and saw him pass 1000 first class runs for Surrey in this, his 22nd innings. To say he had it his own way would be an understatement.Craig Overton, in his first start of the season, was particularly charitable to the 38-year-old, feeding the cuts and drives. Even the pull shot was given a decent run out as Overton tried to find something in the pitch that wasn’t there. His generosity, and that of the rest of the attack, towards Sangakkara might only have been bettered had they offered to pick up his dry cleaning and wash his car.It is worth noting that Overton did find Sangakkara’s edge, only for the ball to die on its way through to Peter Trego at first slip, who had to dive to gather. Trego himself also missed out on Sangakkara’s wicket when, on 34, he was pulled to Roelof van der Merwe at midwicket. A difficult low chance was not taken.Otherwise, Sangakkara was unfazed. He strolled down the wicket to hit Trego for six over midwicket and lashed Tim Groenewald through cover and cover-point in the opening 50 runs of his first hundred of the season. On 99, he was greeted with a packed ring field and van der Merwe bowling darts. After a couple of plinks into the leg side, he skipped down the track and sent the left-arm spinner into the covers for six.When he holed out to deep midwicket for 171 – his highest first class score in county cricket – Surrey had 313 on the board in the 69th over. For that, they also owed thanks to Rory Burns.While Sangakkara worked with flourishes, Burns dealt in straight lines. Perhaps the most flamboyant aspect of Burns’ game is his set-up: knees bent, backside sitting directly above his heels, wrists cocked sending his bat out towards gully. It is a set-up that has now accrued him more than 4000 first class runs.There was a degree of annoyance at The Oval when Burns was not selected for the winter’s Lions tour, though that can be argued away as it was very much a limited-overs party. Here, he showcased why long-form is his strongest suit.He had 13 from 48 balls before a four from his bat off Lewis Gregory brought up Surrey’s 50. Gregory was perhaps the pick of the seamers on show, but no number of deliveries passing the outside edge could make up for his 18 overs of toil.Burns showed him respect but, eventually, in bringing up his half-century off 88 balls, made hay on the front foot, even hitting van der Merwe over his head for six. Perhaps the biggest compliment that could be paid to Burns’ change of pace in the latter half of his innings was that this shot was met by one unsuspecting punter sat a matter of feet away from where the six landed saying, “Was that Kumar again?” Their partnership of 187 was ended when Burns gave van der Merwe an easy return catch of a leading edge.And so the stage was set for Jason Roy to hammer a weary attack into the ground, getting off the mark with a gorgeous on drive that said he meant business. In the end, 85 at just below a run a ball was his lot – Gregory’s endeavour rewarded by a delivery that might have been a bit high but was adjudged to have trapped him lbw. By then Roy had taken a few casualties, stinging the fingers of fielders with fierce drives, with one of his 11 boundaries going literally through cover.While his wicket buoyed Somerset late in the evening, they also saw Zafar Ansari dropped at gully, off the bowling of Gregory, on 28. Ansari, in his first game back after badly injuring his hand last September on the day of his England call-up, had looked characteristically obdurate during his 57 balls.He and Ben Foakes will have 500 in their sights going into day two. They may need that and then some as the pitch suggested Somerset may still be able to bat their way out of trouble. On this showing with the ball, that may well be their only hope.

Kings XI Punjab went into the auction ahead of IPL 2016 with a purse of Rs 23 crore. On their priority list were fast bowlers and a legspinner. By the time they had finished shopping, they had added eight players to their roster – two fast bowlers, three spinners, two batting allrounders and an uncapped Indian batsman – and they still had Rs 12 crore left in the purse. With only 22 players, Kings XI have the joint-smallest squad in the IPL.Much like Rajasthan Royals, King XI have always been known to run a tight ship and are loath to splurge on big stars. That they have only seven overseas players in their squad tells the story. “I am guided by the same principles that you use in selecting a national squad – pick only about 15 or 16 players,” one of the franchise’s officials told ESPNcricinfo ahead of the auction. “In an ideal world – and I understand it’s a long tournament – I want the starting XI to play all the 14 matches. It makes sense to have four [foreign] players and have back-ups if anybody is injured.”Ahead of IPL 2014, Kings XI similarly preferred functionality to reputation while appointing their coaching staff, opting for the then recently-retired Sanjay Bangar, known only for his mentoring skills with the India A and Railways sides, over accomplished names. Under Bangar, the first Indian coach in the IPL, Kings XI made the final. The captain, George Bailey, was thoroughly impressed with Bangar and said, “Everything you see and like about Kings XI starts with Sanjay Bangar. His knowledge of the game is wonderful.”Two seasons on, Bangar has strived to ensure that the team doesn’t deviate from its primary ethos. “Our strategy has always been based around getting good domestic players, catching them young and providing them the platform. You have seen our platform has helped players like Axar Patel, Sandeep Shama, Gurkeerat Singh, Anureet Singh and Rishi Dhawan,” Bangar said. “Players have played here as unknown quantities, and have progressed and gone on to play the next level. That has been the vision of our franchise as well. In that parlance, if you see, we always went for Marcus Stoinis who is one of the emerging allrounders from the Australian cricket circuit.”Bangar admitted that their player-acquisition strategy was dictated by small budgets, and said he didn’t see the need to dismantle the unit despite having won only three games and finished last on the points table last year. “All our strategy is based around a particular budget that the directors give us. From that perspective we have to optimise the selection strategies taking into account the budgetary constraints,” he said.”The players have been included with an eye on the future. We believe in giving continuity. We believe in their strengths, we believe in their ability to bounce back and turn the corner for the team. That is why we opted for continuity in the core group of players that we have in our team.”Bangar also suggested that the team was built bottom up, with the captain, David Miller, being chosen from among the players rather than the other way around. This, however, was not entirely by design, but dictated more by the constraints Kings XI faced. “Number one, there were very few options outside which were available. Most of the captaincy candidates who we were looking for who were coming out from the two teams [Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings] – Ajinkya Rahane or Suresh Raina or Steven Smith – were absorbed by the two new teams.”Taking that into account we wanted to have a captain who has played for the team quite a bit. The association with Kings XI was quite important among the available players, and we needed somebody who is young and who is dynamic, and we chose David.”Bangar was pleased with newly appointed mentor Virender Sehwag’s “hands-on” role in devising strategy and sharing pointers with the team’s youngsters. “He interacts with the boys a lot and the boys are going to benefit immensely from his inputs,” Bangar said. “As far as Sehwag goes, it is a continuation of our association we had with him as opening batsmen. We have opened together for India, in the last two-three years we have been player-coach, now we are coach and mentor on the same side of the management.”He is making some good contributions to the team in relation to the strategy, also most of the things we did at the auction were in consultation with him. He is quite hands-on and is involved in a lot of activities.”The Kings XI experience, Bangar said, had helped immensely in his evolution as coach. He also served as India’s batting coach for a while until his contract came to an end after the World T20. “It has been an enormous experience for me, in terms of running or managing the team in a set up like the IPL, wherein players from various age-groups and various levels of achievement are playing together. How do we integrate them, how do we handle them, how do we create a conducive atmosphere, and then again work with them to ensure that the team achieves the goal it wants. It has been quite a learning experience and I have benefited immensely from it.”

Kolkata Knight Riders’ openers laid the foundation for a total of 164 and their bowlers overcame the threat of a Glenn Maxwell fifty to go to the top of the table

The Report by Alagappan Muthu04-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGautam Gambhir struck his 30th IPL fifty to help Kolkata Knight Riders post 164•BCCI

“One interesting decision and everyone forgets you hit a fifty in the last game.” It seemed Glenn Maxwell was still smarting from an incorrect caught-behind decision in Kings XI Punjab’s previous game against Gujarat Lions. He couldn’t score any runs then, but on Wednesday, it was almost like he couldn’t be stopped.Almost, because Piyush Chawla found a way, and did so at the perfect time. Maxwell fell for 68 off 42 balls with his side still 45 runs away from a target of 165 with only 26 balls in hand. A well-populated Eden Gardens reveled in the tension. So did a bowling attack that featured six internationals. Kolkata Knight Riders closed out a victory by seven runs and climbed to the top of the table.Andre Russell had 11 runs to defend in the final over and he did so by picking up one wicket, apart from two run-outs, to finish with 4 for 20 in four overs. He was Knight Riders’ battering ram, but he needed Chawla to make that decisive dent. By contrast, Kings XI were reliant on one man and he had far too much to do.Maxwell took on the challenge though. He came in with the score on 13 for 3 and his determination to contribute was apparent in the shots he played – flicks and cuts against the Knight Riders quicks, who bowled too short at him, and powerful lofts down the ground against the spinners. Essentially, Maxwell wanted to limit the risks he took. His fifty came off only 29 balls, by which time he had played only one reverse sweep.Towards the end of his innings, the cross-batted shots kept coming out and one of them did him in. Maxwell misread a googly from Chawla, played a reverse sweep against the turn and was adjudged lbw by umpire Anil Chaudhary. The batsman walked off unhappy because he felt he was hit outside the line of off stump, and while replays indicated more than half the ball had been outside the line, some of his anger may have been directed at himself. He was the only Kings XI batsman who showed any kind of control and with him out of the way, Knight Riders breezed past the finish line.The result seemed never in doubt when Russell had knocked over Marcus Stoinis and Vohra in his first two overs. Morne Morkel had M Vijay caught at mid-off in the fourth over as the Kings XI top order paid the price for not taking time to understand a slow pitch.Knight Riders fared better in that department as well. Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa struck fluent half-centuries and added 101 runs for the opening partnership. Though the run-rate they maintained was only 7.48, they laid an excellent foundation for the big-hitters down the order by punishing a bowling line-up that couldn’t get their length right.On a sluggish pitch, short-pitched bowling allowed the batsman time to pick his spots, as Stoinis found out in the third over when Gambhir pulled a couple of fours away. It also allowed time to recover after making a mistake, as Mohit Sharma found out in the fourth over when Uthappa came forward to a back of a length delivery and was still able to drive it past point.On top of that, Kings XI dropped Uthappa three balls after Gambhir was run-out. The culprit, Mohit, recovered well though. He and Sandeep Sharma switched to a mix of yorkers and slower deliveries for the last five overs. That meant Yusuf Pathan and Russell could not bring their power-hitting into play and Knight Riders had to settle for only 43 runs in that period.Kings XI have dropped to the bottom of the table with six losses in eight games. They went in with only three overseas players on Wednesday – Maxwell, Stoinis and David Miller – after Shaun Marsh’s back injury ruled him out of the IPL two days ago. Hashim Amla, who was brought in as a replacement, sat out because he had arrived in India on the day of the match and had had very little time to prepare.