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Aston Villa are back in action in Europe tonight, as Unai Emery’s side hope to kickstart their progression in Group E of the UEFA Europa Conference League against Zrinjski.

Despite cruising through the qualifiers with an 8-0 aggregate win over Hibernian in an all-British tie, the Villans were dragged back to reality in the opening group game as they faced defeat to Legia Warsaw in Poland.

Emery’s side were hit with a footballing lesson against Legia, losing the game 3-2 in what was an overall disappointing performance by the Midlands club who were well poised to top the group at first glance.

What is the latest Aston Villa team news?

Just as Villa learnt in their opening game of the tournament, no side should be underestimated, which is a lesson that must be carried over to tonight’s contest as Zrinjski were victorious in their opening fixture against AZ Alkmaar.

Villa got back into their groove last weekend by seeing off Brighton & Hove Albion 6-1 at Villa Park, however the match saw two integral members of Emery’s squad sustain knocks forcing them to withdraw from the contest.

The Spaniard confirmed in his pre-match press conference that he will be without Moussa Diaby and Boubacar Kamara for the showdown at Villa Park, with both players having not trained following their withdrawal against Brighton.

Another unfortunate blow is Jacob Ramsey, who scored his first goal of the season against the Seagulls after missing the start of the campaign due to a broken metatarsal injury, with Emery confirming that the Englishman is also unavailable.

In the Conference League opener against Legia, a host of players were far below par, leaving questions over whether Emery will continue to rotate his side to accommodate those that were incapable of fighting for the win in Poland last time out.

Should Douglas Luiz start against Zrinjski over Leander Dendoncker?

Away from the Conference League, the manager opted to rotate his squad against Everton in the Carabao Cup, seeing Leander Dendoncker come into midfield to hand Kamara a rest.

Now that the Frenchman is out of contention, the Spaniard should avoid rotating the former Wolves dud back into the side, after his woeful performance against the Toffees that saw him earn a 6.4 Sofascore match rating.

Instead, Luiz should partner Youri Tielemans, who despite being another poor performer on the night, has shown glimpses of what he can offer to the side when at the top of his game.

Once lauded as a “warrior” by journalist Jack Grimse, Luiz has been the glue to Villa’s transformation in the middle of the park, and while the Brazilian would be the natural target of rotation due to his importance, tonight’s fixture poses little room for error.

With just 33 touches and a failure to impose himself defensively in midfield against the Toffees, Dendoncker was hooked at halftime, with Birmingham Live's John Townley writing that the 28-year-old was 'slow in possession and didn’t progress the ball particularly well'.

Considering Villa’s growing injury problems, Emery will be short on his options in midfield after losing both Kamara and Ramsey, however he should opt against risking another Dendoncker disasterclass.

After the defeat to Legia, Villa must begin to make waves in the group, which they could start tonight with a win over Zrinjski, which they will have to be at their best to ensure with Luiz often possessing the keys to the squad’s success.

From a fractured club beyond repair to a side battling at the top of the Championship, Sunderland have now recovered from years of poor ownership, suicidal investment and managerial catastrophes that saw them suffer back-to-back relegations from the Premier League in 2017.

Spearheaded by Tony Mowbray, who has developed a habit of winning matches, developing youngsters and an attractive playing style, the Black Cats are now on the right path to becoming a top-flight club, having narrowly missed out on promotion through the play-offs last season.

While Sunderland are pointing in a forward direction these days, they are still haunted by their terrible decision-making towards the latter stages of their Premier League journey, especially in the transfer window.

The Black Cats' scattergun nature to transfers saw them bring in the likes of Didier Ndong, Jack Rodwell, Papy Djilobodji and Ricky Alvarez, who bled the club dry with their extortionate transfer fees and wages but contributed very little to their plight towards relegation.

What was perhaps more frustrating than the nature of transfer dealings during this period was who the Sunderland hierarchy passed up the chance to sign, only to watch them thrive elsewhere.

Although passing up the chance to sign Ivan Rakitic in 2011 and Toby Alderweireld in 2014 will likely have supporters pulling their hair out, the most infuriating example of a player that got away was Premier League and Champions League-winning defender Virgil van Dijk.

Did Sunderland almost sign Virgil van Dijk?

According to the Daily Mail, Sunderland were eyeing up an £8m move for Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk in the 2015 winter transfer window.

Gus Poyet, their manager at the time, even admitted on the "What the Falk" podcast years later that he was "very, very interested" in landing a deal for the highly-rated 23-year-old. Coincidentally, Poyet also tried to complete a move a few years before when he was at Brighton.

He detailed: "After 20 minutes watching the game with my assistant I knew we had to sign him. It was too easy for him [Van Dijk]. With all respect for all the other players playing in that game, and for the Dutch league, it was like a first-team player playing with under-15s in a training session. It was incredible.

"At that time the price was £3m and Brighton was not able to buy him because our most expensive player was £1.5m.

"The year after we bought Leo Ulloa for £3m but because he was a striker. For a defender? No chance. The following year he goes to Celtic. Then when they said to me about the possibility of getting him, we were very, very interested."

While the Black Cats showcased their interest, Southampton ultimately landed van Dijk for £13m.

With the Saints later selling the Dutchman for £75m to Liverpool in 2017, not taking a plunge on him is a decision Sunderland will live to regret for eternity, as the player that slipped through their grasp went on to become one of the best centre backs to grace the beautiful game, with Michael Owen lauding him as such in 2022.

What has Van Dijk gone on to achieve?

The defensive "monster", as described by Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, has gone on to become a colossus at the back for Liverpool, orchestrating them through a trophy-laden spell as the Reds scooped the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020.

While he helped transform Jurgen Klopp's side into a trophy-winning machine, he was recognised for his magnificent defensive displays by being crowned the Players' Player of the Year and the UEFA Men's Player of the Year in 2019.

Van Dijk, simply put, is a generational defender, and he has established that tag with his domineering performances, drawing praise from one of the best strikers in the world, Harry Kane, during a question-and-answer session with Prime Video Sport in 2022.

The Englishman said: “Obviously, [Virgil] Van Dijk is a fantastic defender,” Kane said. “He's been consistent now for Liverpool over many years and he won the Premier League and won the Champions League.

“So, he's a tough defender, and he's doing great this year after his injury last year.”

Kane met a multitude of stand-out centre backs across his career when he was at Tottenham, including John Terry, Vincent Kompany and Ruben Dias, but for the Bayern Munich striker, van Dijk tops them all.

At 32-years-old, the impact that the Dutchman has on Liverpool is immeasurable and as seen when he is absent from the starting XI – against Wolves on Saturday lunchtime during a 3-1 win – their defence looks jaded and disorganised.

Van Dijk's presence on the Reds back line is huge, but so is his presence among the elite defenders in world football, ranking in the top 12% for aerials won, top 10% for pass completion and top 9% for non-penalty xG, emphasis his importance in both boxes when compared against players positionally similar to him across Europe's top five leagues, as per FBref.

Given what the £29m-rated titan has gone on to achieve in his career, Sunderland supporters will be tearing their hair out at what could have been.

يلتقي فريق بيراميدز اليوم السبت، مع نظيره ساجرادا الأنجولي، ضمن منافسات بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا موسم 2024 – 2025.

ويحل بيراميدز ضيفًا على ساجرادا على استاد 11 نوفمبر في العاصمة لواندا في إطار الجولة الخامسة من دور المجموعات لدوري أبطال إفريقيا.

طالع.. يورتشيتش يُعلن قائمة بيراميدز لمواجهة ساجرادا الأنجولي بدوري أبطال إفريقيا

ويقع بيراميدز في المجموعة الرابعة إلى جانب الترجي التونسي وساجرادا الأنجولي ودجوليبا المالي.

يحتل بيراميدز والترجي صدارة المجموعة برصيد 7 نقاط لكل منهما، خلفهما يأتي ساجرادا في المركز الثالث برصيد 5 نقاط، ويتذيل دجوليبا المجموعة برصيد نقطتين.

وكان بيراميدز حقق الفوز على الترجي في الجولة الماضية بهدفين مقابل هدف في اللقاء الذي أقيم على ملعب 30 يونيو. موعد مباراة بيراميدز وساجرادا اليوم في دوري أبطال إفريقيا

تُقام المباراة بين بيراميدز وساجرادا في تمام الساعة السادسة مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة والسابعة مساءً بتوقيت السعودية. القناة الناقلة لمباراة بيراميدز وساجرادا في دوري أبطال إفريقيا

وتنقل المباراة على قناة beIN Sports HD 2. معلق مباراة بيراميدز وساجرادا في دوري أبطال إفريقيا

وأسندت شبكة قنوات “بي إن سبورتس” مهمة التعليق على المباراة لـ علي محمد علي.

ويُمكنكم متابعة أحداث مباريات اليوم لحظة بلحظة من مركز المباريات من هنـــــا.

Chelsea could still sign more players before deadline day, even if this hinges on their quest to offload an array of surplus squad members.

PSG "prepared" to smash transfer record with £217m bid for Chelsea star

The claim emerges days after they lost the Club World Cup final to Enzo Maresca’s side.

By
Emilio Galantini

Jul 15, 2025

The world champions, fresh off their Club World Cup triumph over PSG at the MetLife Stadium, have just banked a substantial £87.5 million financial from winning the tournament, but there is still a need to balance Enzo Maresca’s squad through player sales.

After being fined by UEFA for breaching FFP rules recently, the governing body and Chelsea reached an agreement that they need to sell and trim their bloated squad, or Maresca will be unable to register new players for the Champions League next season (Kaveh Solhekol).

According to journalist Simon Phillips, via his Substack, the prospect of more new signings still isn’t entirely ruled out, but any business will be directly tied into Chelsea’s outgoings.

“A new goalkeeper is still on the agenda for Chelsea this summer, but we have to wait and see exactly what action Chelsea do end up taking there,” wrote Phillips.

“A new defender is also being targeted still and sources believe it is going to be another flexible option. They are looking at Marc Cucurella cover as well, but we are uncertain whether they will get a centre back and a left back, or a player like Jorrel Hato, who we are still looking at, who can play both positions.

“So these are the three positions that Chelsea are still actively looking to sign in, but they will depend on sales at this point.”

João Félix is already said to be in talks over a return to Benfica, right after Noni Madueke sealed a £52 million move to Arsenal and Djordje Petrovic agreed to join Bournemouth in a £25 million deal.

The latter duo are set to join goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, defender Basir Humphreys, midfielder Mathis Amougou and Marcus Bettinelli, who’ve also sealed permanent moves away from Stamford Bridge.

With Chelsea making significant progress on the exit front, perhaps there is more room to add another centre-back to Maresca’s squad.

Chelsea could offer Renato Veiga in a swap deal for Kim min-Jae

According to TUTTOmercatoWEB and journalist Dimitri Conti, £200,000-per-week Bayern Munich defender Kim min-Jae is on BlueCo’s shortlist of defensive targets.

The 69-cap South Korea stalwart was a mainstay of Vincent Kompany’s back line for the majority of last season before injury problems limited his game time towards the back end of 2024/2025.

Bayern are open to selling the 28-year-old, who boasts years of top-level experience, and Chelsea are interested in potentially doing a deal for him.

It is believed that Chelsea could even use Renato Veiga in a swap deal for Kim, given the Portuguese has long had admirers at the Allianz Arena. However, Maresca faces competition from both Atlético Madrid and Tottenham, with the latter holding an historic interest in Kim dating back to José Mourinho’s tenure in charge.

“I wanted to sign Kim Min-jae when I was at Tottenham,” said Mourinho in 2023, via Fabrizio Romano. “I had some FaceTime calls with him — our bid was €5m, Fenerbahçe wanted €10m for Kim and for Tottenham that wasn’t possible at that point.

“Now look at Kim and his level, he’s a top player”.

Daniel Farke had to resort to using his third-choice goalkeeper for Leeds United's last match versus Birmingham City, Kristoffer Klaesson drafted in at the last second and keeping a clean sheet to the relief of the German boss.

The Whites were left with no option but to give the unproven Norwegian shot-stopper a chance owing to Karl Darlow picking up an injury prior to the Blues clash and Illan Meslier still being suspended after petulantly picking up a red card away at Preston North End.

Locking horns with a Lilywhites player and lashing out was always going to result in Leeds' first-choice keeper being given his marching orders at Deepdale, with Farke now wondering whether the Frenchman deserves the status of being the number one in-between the sticks after such an outburst.

Transfer rumours indicate that Leeds could well swoop in for this goalkeeper from Italy amidst growing doubts, sensationally waving goodbye to Meslier in the process.

Leeds transfer latest – Bartomej Dragowski

In recent days, TuttoMercatoWeb have reported on the possibility that Leeds will sign Spezia goalkeeper Bartomej Dragowski this January, with the Polish shot-stopper allegedly eyeing up a move away from the Serie B outfit.

Leeds aren't the only club name-checked in the report from England however, with fellow Championship club Hull City also tempted to test the waters and land the 6 foot 3 keeper this month.

Previously on the books at Fiorentina, Dragowski would aim get to his career back on track if signed by Leeds and become a star at Elland Road ahead of Meslier.

The stats that show Dragowski would be a good signing for Leeds

Capped by the senior Poland side twice, Dragowski has been a reliable shot-stopper throughout his career for many different Italian clubs.

Whilst playing for Empoli out on loan from Fiorentina, Dragowski stole all the headlines when he pulled off a remarkable 17 saves in just one game versus Atalanta towards the tail end of the 2018-19 campaign – Empoli singlehandedly kept in the game by the heroic exploits of their loanee, a 0-0 scoreline somehow the final outcome.

It was a loan spell that saw Dragowski enter Empoli folklore, football talent scout Jacek Kulig even labelling him as a "superman" during his time with the relegation candidates.

In the present, however, Dragowski's game time has been cut in Serie B and so Leeds could offer the one-time Empoli monster a chance at redemption.

Leeds could sign Kamara upgrade in swoop for £9m-rated “war machine”

Leeds United could sign this top talent in January to give Glen Kamara a run for his money.

ByKelan Sarson Jan 4, 2024

When the towering stopper has played for Spezia this campaign, the 26-year-old has shown glimpses of why he was so highly regarded early into his fledging career – impressively pulling off nine saves in November for his Serie B outfit versus Cremonese.

In contrast, Meslier has struggled at points this campaign with Leeds routinely cruising in contests and then the nerves are suddenly ramped up out of nowhere due to an erratic error or lapse in concentration from the 23-year-old – who pundit Jamie Carragher previously criticised for having "no presence" in the sticks.

That was seen in Leeds' slender 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle a few months back, Meslier unable to keep the Pilgrims out all game with Ben Waine scoring late on despite the visitors from Devon only registering three on-target efforts.

It could well be a worthwhile buy adding Dragowski to the Leeds ranks this month therefore, further bringing competition to the goalkeeper positions at Elland Road with Farke then faced with the prospect of using four goalkeepers in just one season.

Arsenal's unbeaten start to the 2023/24 Premier League season came to an end on Saturday as they were beaten 1-0 by Newcastle United in the evening kick-off. The Gunners came out the wrong side of the result at St. James' Park as Anthony Gordon's second-half strike was enough to secure all three points for the home side.

However, the winning goal was shrouded in controversy after a lengthy VAR check on three possible infringements that eventually saw the goal awarded to Eddie Howe's team.

There was an initial check to see whether or not the ball had gone out of play before a possible foul on Gabriel, and then a possible offside against Gordon. However, none of those three situations could be fully substantiated into a claim to disallow the goal and Mikel Arteta was incensed after the match.

Arteta's comments after VAR controversy at Newcastle

The Spanish tactician described the incident as "embarrassing" and a "disgrace" before going on to say that he is wasting his time as results are in the hands of other people – referees. Arteta went as far as to say that he feels "embarrassed" and is "ashamed" to be part of how the Premier League is using VAR and the technology available to decide matches, in some instances, with their decisions.

Of course, emotions were running high after a tight match that ended in defeat for the London-based outfit, and the choice of words may have been influenced by that. However, Arsenal then released a statement in support of their manager and added that PGMOL must take action to improve the standard of refereeing, as they believe that the league deserves a higher quality of officiating than it is currently getting.

Stephen Warnock slams Arsenal and Arteta

Whilst speaking on Sky Sports' Ref Watch segment, pundit Stephen Warnock ripped into the Gunners and Arteta for their reaction to Newcastle's winning goal.

The former Liverpool defender started out by questioning why the Gunners boss did not feel "embarrassed" to be involved in the division after Luis Diaz's goal was wrongly disallowed for offside against the Reds earlier this season in their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. This point was also raised by The Mirror as they reported his previous comments about that VAR mistake that went against Jurgen Klopp's side.

The Gunners boss said that referees and VAR need to be given support and for people to understand that mistakes happen, which was a calmer and more reasoned response than the one he gave over the weekend after Gordon's goal. Warnock then went on to say that the club's subsequent statement was "distasteful" and that it should have been handled in a different way.

Whether or not any of this will lead to an improvement in refereeing or VAR standards remains to be seen, given that the Arsenal boss thinks that he is wasting his time, and it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the next major incident of controversy to take place.

ScorecardAfter they were dismissed for 88 and 85 in their previous championship game at Hove, Glamorgan’s batting woes continued at Sophia Gardens on the opening day of their game against Durham. They were dismissed for 154 from 49 .1 overs with tail ender Rory Smith top scoring with 36.Durham had no problems when they batted, with Alex Lees, who has left Yorkshire and signed a three year contract with his adopted county, leading the way to a chanceless half century. The visitors were 75 for 0 at the close, and trailing by 79 with all their wickets intact.Glamorgan were undone by the visitors’ pace attack, with Chris Rushworth and new signing Matt Salisbury sharing six wickets, as the batsmen struggled in overcast conditions.Nineteen overs were lost at the start of the day due to a persistent drizzle, and after Paul Collingwood had no hesitation in bowling first after an uncontested toss, Glamorgan were soon losing wickets against an accurate visitors pace attack.Jack Murphy was the first to go when, after scoring the opening 17 runs of the innings he was well caught low down at third slip off Rushworth, and after Connor Brown and Nick Selman- who had laboured for 26 balls and 46 minutes over his two runs- were out, Glamorgan were 26 for 3 at lunch.Salisbury, who was initially on a loan deal with Durham before signing a contract until 2020, has also played for Essex and Hampshire, and was the pick of the seamers, ending with 3 for 34 from 13 accurate overs.Kiran Carlson and David Lloyd resisted for 16 overs as they shared a partnership of 51 for the fourth wicket, before Carlson, shouldering arms to Salisbury, was bowled off stump. After Chris Cooke went for a duck, also deceived by Salisbury, much depended on Lloyd , but when Collingwood appeared with his cutters, the former England all rounder induced Lloyd to give him a return catch.Smith played an useful knock towards the end, but after Rushworth had dismissed him , Durham’s latest overseas signing, the Indian spinner Axar Patel, ended the innings by taking the final two wickets in nineteen balls.Durham had 28 overs left to bat, and although conditions might have eased, Cameron Steel and Alex Lees set off purposefully, and were seldom in any trouble against the Glamorgan pace attack. Lees was the dominant partner, driving elegantly through the offside and racing ahead of his partner.Lees reached his half century from 53 balls out of 59, which included a large proportion of boundaries -eleven-, but shortly afterwards the light deteriorated and play was called off for the day with eight overs remaining.

Virat Kohli wants to try different players in different roles as India’s tour of the United Kingdom gathers steam

The Preview by Varun Shetty28-Jun-20181:58

Chopra: Bhuvneshwar, Pandya need to do more

Big pictureThere were two particular things in evidence in the first T20I. The more obvious of them was India’s complete difference in class to their opponents Ireland. At no point, other than when catches were being dropped in both innings, did the match come close to being a contest.The second visible feature was that India were definitely in the game to experiment. The inclusions of Suresh Raina and Manish Pandey, at the expense of Dinesh Karthik – who single-handedly won them their last T20I – was the first sign of that. Sending Raina up at No. 3 (he was the only batsman other than the openers padded up during the national anthem) instead of at No. 4, that big batting void of India’s across limited-overs formats, all but confirmed this. And with only one game before the England series, we might see this experimental trend extend. Virat Kohli said at the toss that India were trying to get used to the “cool winds” in this part of the world, and more of their players might be given a chance to do that, particularly those who will be sticking around for all of India’s tour of the UK.Ireland weren’t above experimenting either. It is, after all, the time for their next generation to take over. James Shannon and Simi Singh were offered significant batting roles and that isn’t likely to change any time soon. With top-quality cricket hard to come by as the cricket world debates inclusion, they’re likely to treat this game like India would – a practice match. Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar, expected to be at the game on Friday, will have to settle for that.Form guideIreland LTWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India WWWWW
Rohit Sharma works the ball into the leg side•Cricket Ireland

In the spotlightKL Rahul is likely to get a shot at the opening position on Friday and it won’t feel any different than all the other times he’s played for India. There will remain a sense that he has to score big just to keep his place in the XI. At least among his fans. Rahul himself is no longer obsessed with perfection in the shorter formats, a reality brought about by a sensational last IPL season. More assured, more mature, the spotlight may finally be what he uses to make runs, rather than score points.After a superb season playing ODIs in India against Afghanistan last year, Andy Balbirnie’s stature as Ireland’s middle-order mainstay had grown. But he hasn’t been able to bring that reputation to bear in T20Is. Mind you, he did make 74 just a few innings ago in the tri-series in the Netherlands, but in nine other innings, Balbirnie has only 98 runs to his name.Team newsUnless they’re tempted to bring in fast bowler Joshua Little, Ireland are expected to play the same XI.Ireland (probable) 1 Paul Stirling, 2 William Porterfield, 3 Andy Balbirnie, 4 Simi Singh, 5 Gary Wilson (capt), 6 Kevin O’Brien, 7 Stuart Thompson, 8 Stuart Poynter (wk), 9 George Dockrell, 10 Boyd Rankin, 11 Joshua LittleKohli made no secret of the fact that India will be looking to rotate their squad around. This could mean wholesale changes in all departments. Rohit Sharma is expected to sit out.India (probable) 1 KL Rahul, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Suresh Raina, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Manish Pandey/Dinesh Karthik, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Umesh Yadav, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit Bumrah/Siddarth KaulPitch conditionsThere is no change expected in the pitch or conditions. It continues to be a high for Ireland, in terms of weather, and the flat pitch is expected to stay as dry as it did throughout the opening game.Stats and trivia Shikhar Dhawan is 42 runs away from becoming the sixth Indian to 1,000 T20I runs. Since June 2010, Suresh Raina has made only international fifty in this format.Quotes’We’ve already announced we will experiment with the middle order a lot. Even in the next few T20 games, even in England, we will look to throw in guys and surprise the opposition. It presents an opportunity for those lower down the order to go in and bat at the top. In the next games, we will play the guys who didn’t play today.’

“We don’t have to get ourselves up for anything. Playing in front of 9000 people in Malahide on days like this against the best T20 side probably in the world – if you cannot get up for that you cannot get up for anything else. We have got ourselves down but we will be back up Friday.”

Tom Kohler-Cadmore struck 81 off 63 balls before Fisher won a rain-reduced match with consecutive boundaries

ECB Reporters Network30-May-2018

ScorecardMatthew Fisher boosted Yorkshire’s Royal London Cup hopes as they beat Derbyshire by two wickets with a ball to spare in a dramatic North Group game at Derby.Fisher blasted an unbeaten 24 from eight balls to chase down a target of 190 in a game reduced by rain to 24 overs a side despite Ravi Rampaul’s best limited overs figures of 5 for 48.Ben Slater made an unbeaten 109 from 82 balls in Derbyshire’s 189 for 6 with David Willey taking 4 for 47 but Tom Kohler-Cadmore replied with 81 off 63 balls before Fisher won it with consecutive fours off Hardus Viljoen.Yorkshire brought in Willey who only arrived back in England from India on Monday night but his first over went for 21 as Derbyshire got off to a flier.The first five-over Powerplay cost 52 runs with Slater hooking Fisher for six to punish Yorkshire who bowled too short and wide but the introduction of Adil Rashid restored some order with Billy Godleman well caught at deep midwicket as only 20 came from the next four overs.Rashid should have had a second but Adam Lyth put down Wayne Madsen on eight at long off and the batsman celebrated by reverse sweeping the final ball of the 11th over for six.Tim Bresnan removed Madsen for 20 when he miscued a pull but after reaching 50 from 39 balls, Slater hit Liam Plunkett for three fours in the 16th over to get Derbyshire back on track.But some momentum was lost when Luis Reece collapsed in pain with an ankle injury and retired hurt at the end of the 18th over and Willey returned to bowl Gary Wilson and have Matt Critchley caught behind first ball.Willey struck again when Alex Hughes pulled to deep midwicket but Slater completed an excellent hundred off 77 balls before hitting two more fours in the final over.Derbyshire opened with Madsen’s offspin and he responded with a maiden but Adam Lyth pulled Duanne Olivier for consecutive sixes before Kohler-Cadmore did the same in Madsen’s next over.Kohler-Cadmore drove Rampaul for six but Lyth skied the seamer high to mid-on and in the next over, Willey top edged Olivier to short midwicket.Derbyshire struck a big blow in the ninth over when their former batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was lbw trying to work Critchley to midwicket and Ballance should have been caught on 11 by the substitute fielder at deep cover.It threatened to prove costly but Ballance was bowled by Olivier for 27 trying to ramp Olivier to fine leg in the 18th over and Bresnan was caught behind off Rampaul in the next over.Rampaul pinned Tattersall lbw to leave Yorkshire needing 55 off the last five overs and although Kohler-Cadmore swung the West Indian to wide midwicket, Fisher’s late assault saw Yorkshire home in the gloom.

Sri Lanka’s batting woes start from the top and that has troubled them for over a year

Jamie Alter in Colombo25-Aug-2008
All the top order really had to do was to see off India’s four key men and attack the fifth, but by the time Yuvraj Singh came on to bowl his part-time spin, Sri Lanka were already deep in the mire © AFP
If Sri Lanka are to turn this series around and add to their Test triumph, their much-vaunted batting line-up has to come out of its current trough. On Sunday, for the second game running, India’s medium-pace trio of Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel left the batsmen searching for answers. The script read much the same as in Dambulla, the only difference being that Sri Lanka were chasing under lights.Mahela Jayawardene has been the first to admit Sri Lanka have not batted well in the last three games. One or two players have had good days but, as a unit, the batting has failed to either put runs on the board for the bowlers to defend, or chase targets. The problem starts at the top and runs right through.In 24 innings since the World Cup, Sri Lankan openers average 21.23, with only two fifty-plus stands against non-minnow sides (Bangladesh, Zimbabwe). In the last 20 innings, their best start has been 45. During the first 15 overs of these matches, the average runs per wicket has been 22.89, scored at 4.26 runs an over, which converts into an average 15-over score of 64 runs for 2.8 wickets, or effectively 64 for 3. That is just not good enough against top teams.In this series the preferred openers, Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara, have put on 18, 4 and 18, not once threatening to bolt out of the stables. Jayasuriya, after his feats in the IPL and Asia Cup, was expected to be a major threat but he has disappointed. Not once has he managed to bat out the Powerplays.Sangakkara’s form has been especially worrying. His scores since being promoted to open the innings in the West Indies earlier this year are 23, 28, 1, 101, 0, 112, 121, 7, 4, 19, 2 and 9. Those three hundreds came in the Asia Cup, two against Bangladesh. The last five scores have come against India. His dismissals by Zaheer Khan in the last two matches were classic examples of failing to cope with precision and subtle inswing. Not a natural opener, Sangakkara has been bumped up to get more time at the crease, and against the Indians it doesn’t seem to be working.When asked, earlier in the series, if Sangakkara was not performing due to the pressure of opening, Jayawardene shot back, “When he is scoring centuries you don’t ask these questions. Every batsman has highs and lows. The idea of playing Sangakkara as an opener is to have some senior batsman get more balls to play”. However, with two other specialist openers in the squad, Mahela Udawatte and Malinda Warnapura, the time may have come to use one of them. Warnapura scored good runs in the Test series and Udawatte has impressive scores of 73 and 67 in his last two ODIs.By sticking in a new opener, Sangakkara could then easily slot back into the No. 3 position. He is a firm believer in orthodoxy and batting for time, and he could be better suited to one-drop, where he has batted for most of his careerSri Lanka’s problem is aggravated because their best batsmen traditionally bat at Nos 1, 2 and 3 – a top-order failure invariably puts immense pressure on a brittle middle order. By sticking in a new opener, Sangakkara could then easily slot back into the No. 3 position. He is a firm believer in orthodoxy and batting for time, and he could be better suited to one-drop, where he has batted for most of his career. Jayawardene could then go back to his preferred No. 4 slot. It makes for a more balanced line-up.Chamara Kapugedera’s promotion to No.3 flopped on Sunday but the bigger concern for Sri Lanka is over Chamara Silva, who some locals consider very lucky to be even carrying a bat. He burst onto the scene before the World Cup last year and scored 878 runs at 46.21. His last 11 innings have one fifty; his last three scores read 0, 0, 1. Tillakaratne Dilshan, like Silva, remains a livewire in the field but his batting hasn’t clicked. In the last two matches he has attempted to play his shots in desperation and failed.Given that India only had four specialist bowlers yesterday, a change in strategy could have worked. All the top order really had to do was see off India’s four key men and attack the fifth but, by the time Yuvraj Singh came on to bowl his part-time spin, Sri Lanka were already deep in the mire. Dilshan’s decision to attack hurt his team all the more. There are murmurs that Thilan Samaraweera, who benefited from a change in approach, will be selected, though he’s not in the squad.The Premadasa pitch did a lot more under lights, but that is not an excuse Jayawardene will give for another sloppy batting display, because he batted superbly for his 94. Apart from Jayawardene, there appeared an element of complacency on the part of seniors, who disregarded what they’ve urged the younger team-mates to do – stay out there for as long as possible.Sri Lanka’s ODI fortunes have been sliding after darkness descended on that April evening in Barbados during the World Cup final, and they are still searching for the light. Jayawardene spoke in Dambulla about how much of his team’s slump since the World Cup final was because of the batting. The biggest challenge for Sri Lanka, before the series slips away, is to try and overcome their jitters. Jayawardene will surely lead from the front, but the harder part is getting his team-mates to follow his lead.