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Johan Botha’s best Twenty20 bowling figures helped Northamptonshire to a 40-run win which ended Warwickshire’s unbeaten start

05-Jun-2011
ScorecardJohan Botha’s best Twenty20 bowling figures helped Northamptonshire to a 40-run win which ended Warwickshire’s unbeaten start to their Friends Life t20 campaign at Edgbaston. The South Africa off-spinner took 4 for 16, including two wickets in his first over, as Warwickshire were dismissed for 110, their lowest Twenty20 total.Botha found a slow pitch, on which Warwickshire’s New Zealand off-spinner Jeetan Patel had taken three for 19, to his liking and he stifled Warwickshire’s chase as they tried to keep up with the Duckworth Lewis rate as steady rain threatened to curtail their innings.Botha may have taken the individual honours but the fact that Northamptonshire reached 150 for 8 and had a total to defend in the first place was due to Jack Brooks and David Willey, who shared a Twenty20 world record-equalling ninth-wicket stand of 59.Northamptonshire were in danger of being dismissed for under 100 when they limped to 91 for 8, but Brooks and Willey rode their luck to equal the record stand of Lancashire’s Glen Chapple and Peter Martin at Leicester in 2003.Brooks, who had made only seven runs in the competition before this innings, struck out boldly and lifted Neil Carter for a straight six in his breezy unbeaten 33 from just 19 balls.Left-hander Willey also lifted Carter for six over long on in making 22 from 15 balls which helped Northamptonshire recover after they had struggled against Patel and seamer Steffan Piolet, whose three for 25 constituted competition-best figures. Piolet took two wickets in his first four balls including Alex Wakely, who was lbw working to leg after he had clobbered six fours in his 35.Warwickshire’s response was timid and they ran into trouble against Botha after Carter was run out trying to take two to Chaminda Vaas at short third man. William Porterfield, who made half centuries in the wins over Durham and Yorkshire, carved to point and Warwickshire captain Jim Troughton went lbw in Botha’s first over.Botha then snared Darren Maddy and Varun Chopra playing across the line and Hall ended a mini-revival by bowling Keith Barker and Tim Ambrose, whose seventh-wicket partnership of 23 was the best of the innings, in the space of four balls.

A question mark has arisen over the continuance of Justice BN Srikrishna as arbitrator in the case between the BCCI and the Kings XI Punjab following the Indian board’s objection to his appointment on grounds of a conflict of interest

Nagraj Gollapudi and Sharda Ugra01-Dec-2010The arbitrator in the case between the BCCI and the Kings XI Punjab, justice BN Srikrishna, has withdrawn from the case after disclosing to both parties that he represented the Wadia Group, part owners of the Punjab franchise, in many of their cases in the past.”I disclosed to the BCCI today that I was defence counsel for the Wadia Group,” Srikrishna told ESPNcricinfo. “They said I couldn’t continue, I said that was fine with me.”The news came a day after Srikrishna delivered an interim order in another case involving the BCCI, granting a stay on the expulsion of Rajasthan Royals. He said today’s development would not have any bearing on the Rajasthan case. “I will carry on because my association with the Wadias in the past does not concern that case.”Srikrishna was scheduled to begin hearing the Punjab case today, with the hearing set to last three days with provisions for a reserve day. But the board’s objection – made before the day’s proceedings started – stalled it.The irony is that Srikrishna was the BCCI’s own choice as arbitrator when both the issues went to arbitration. BCCI president Shashank Manohar told ESPNcricinfo that “he was chosen as we have all our faith in him.”Manohar said they would be challenging Srikrishna’s order staying the Rajasthan Royals termination in the Bombay High Court tomorrow, but said there was a possibility to include more teams in the fourth IPL.”Honestly speaking, we have nothing against any teams or any of the franchises,” Manohar said. “We have just acted based on the advice we have taken from our lawyers over certain matters.”The BCCI chief said the board was “not at all worried” about the turn of events in the IPL arbitration cases. “We will work it out … even if there are eight teams or ten teams in the next IPL, that’s fine. If we get an order from the court tomorrow that we cannot terminate the teams and they will have to be included in the IPL, that will happen.”

A round-up of the action from the tenth day of matches in the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2011Vidarbha beat Punjab by 100 runs at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ranjit Paradkar and Ravi Jangid scored half-centuries and were involved in a 74-run stand for the fourth wicket, taking their team to a challenging 278 in 45 overs. Punjab struggled in their reply, collapsing to 98 for 6 and had to rely on Mayank Sidhana and the lower order to put up some resistance. Each of the five Vidarbha bowlers bagged at least a wicket and bowled out Punjab for 178. Vidarbha meet Tamil Nadu in the quarter-final on February 25.Gujarat prevailed over Karnataka in a low-scoring game at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore to qualify for the quarter-finals. Manprit Juneja’s 49 stood out in an innings otherwise replete with low scores as Gujarat managed just 168. But Karnataka proved abject in their reply. Bharat Chipli, Ganesh Satish, Manish Pandey and Udit Patel down the order got starts but failed to convert them, while the batting around them crumbled. Ishwar Choudhary picked up four wickets with his medium-pace as Karnataka folded for 136 in 31.5 overs. Gujarat will meet Bengal in their quarter-final on February 25.

Manchester City are back in Premier League action this evening after their exhilarating 4-3 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League.

This time, Pep Guardiola’s side travel to Elland Road to take on Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United, with the visitors looking to add as many points as they can to their tally and potentially retain the league title.

The previous meeting between the two teams saw City put seven goals past the Yorkshire club back in December, when the Whites still had Marcelo Bielsa at the helm.

Heading into today’s clash, it seems as though the away side will have to take on Leeds without two of their key players.

What’s the news?

Speaking in his latest press conference, Guardiola revealed that Kyle Walker and John Stones will not be fit enough to play against the Yorkshire club.

Walker picked up an issue during the second leg of City’s Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid last month, whereas Stones was forced off in the first half against Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid in midweek.

At such a crucial stage of the season where every point matters and the games are coming thick and fast, having two defensive options unavailable is undeniably a big blow for the team and terrible news for Guardiola.

Throughout the current league campaign, the duo have racked up a combined total of 38 interceptions, 20 tackles, 234 recoveries and 69 aerial duels won.

This highlights just how important the England pair are for City at the back and why they will be a big loss for today.

Leeds are currently unbeaten in their last five league games, scoring nine goals in the process, so it could be a tricky day for the visitors, especially given that they will be without Stones and Walker.

Moving forward, Guardiola and every City fan will be hoping that the other defensive options who will be fit enough to play this evening will do their bit in helping the Premier League champions to emerge victorious from Elland Road.

Looking beyond today’s showdown, the City manager will surely have his fingers crossed that the injured defensive pair will be able to feature at some point before the season ends and potentially secure the Premier League and/or Champions League titles.

In other news: In talks: Behind-scenes development emerges, it’s great news for Man City supporters

The absence of a specialist spin-bowling coach in Australia’s full-time touring setup is not a major problem, according to the offspinner Nathan Hauritz

Brydon Coverdale17-May-2011The absence of a specialist spin-bowling coach in Australia’s full-time touring setup is not a major problem, according to the offspinner Nathan Hauritz. Craig McDermott is Australia’s new bowling coach and his brief, like that of his predecessor Troy Cooley, includes mentoring the slow men as well as the fast bowlers.McDermott took 291 Test wickets off the long run-up and would seem as qualified to help the spinners as he would be to advise the batsmen. But Hauritz said while it was in theory a positive to have a specialist on hand to assist the slow bowlers, the information overload provided by an extra coaching staff member was not necessarily a good thing.”It is good, it gives you someone else to talk to about fields and tactics, but sometimes it can confuse things,” Hauritz told ESPNcricinfo. “You can have too much. It can be a bit overwhelming at the end of the day.”There’s so much technology these days. Any spin coach can watch the footage or you can sit down and have a chat over the net, Skype or anything like that. Craig McDermott’s experience and record speaks for itself. I think he’ll be invaluable for the side. And he’s going to offer different opinions about spin bowling as well. It’s all going to be worth listening to.”Australia typically don’t take a spin coach on tours, although the Centre of Excellence mentor John Davison has travelled with the side, as he did on last year’s Test tour of India. England, on the other hand, use the former Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Ahmed as a specialist coach, and his former team-mate Saqlain Mushtaq has advised the New Zealand spinners.Australia’s spin stocks are not exactly brimming with world-class talent, and an international expert might be of use to give Hauritz and his colleagues a different perspective. He said when bowling in the nets on a tour, it was usually the batsmen to whom he turned for advice, as they had a good view of how he was performing.”They’ve generally got the best idea of how the ball is coming down, whether they’re getting beaten in flight, the lines, what sort of fields you’d set,” Hauritz said. “That’s what I like to work with. When you’re bowling against those guys, if you’re doing the right thing and the ball is arriving in the right way, they can give you the best response. If not, then you can work on it from there.”

Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in second-semi final by five wickets to seal their place in the final of the Asian Games in Guangzhou

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2010Bangladesh 102 for 5 (F Hossain 33) beat Sri Lanka 101 all out (Chinthaka Jayasinghe 28, S Shuvo 4-6) by 5 wickets
Scorecard
Suhrawadi Shuvo strangled the Sri Lankan middle order with a miserly spell of 4 for 6•AFPBangladesh beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the semi-final of the Asian Games cricket event to seal their place in Friday’s final in Guangzhou. They will play Afghanistan – who stunned favourites Pakistan in the first semi-final – in the title match.Sri Lanka, who had reached the semis after scraping to a two-wicket win over Nepal in the quarters, won the toss and batted. They started positively with the openers Nuwan Zoysa and Jeevantha Kulatunga scoring at more than a run a ball and, at 38 for 1, looked set for a competitive total. However, Kulatunga’s dismissal at that point by Shahadat Hossain robbed them of momentum. Suhrawadi Shuvo strangled the Sri Lankan middle order with his left-arm spin, picking up 4 for 6. It was only some late hitting from Chinthaka Jayasinghe, who made 22 with one four and two sixes, that carried them past 100 before they were bowled out for 101.The total was never going to be enough to challenge the Bangladesh batsmen. Though they lost opener Mithun Ali early, solid contributions from Mohammad Ashraful, Faisal Hossain and Naeem Islam set the base for their chase, Faisal top-scoring with 33. Bangladesh reached their target in just under 16 overs.The Bangladesh women’s team had earlier won the silver medal in the inaugural women’s cricket tournament, where they were beaten by the Pakistan women’s team in the final and with their men’s team reaching the final, Bangladesh have a chance to add a gold medal to their tally. They have currently won just two medals, with a bronze in women’s kabaddi, apart from the silver.

Ian Blackwell’s career may be over at the age of 34 after his contractwas terminated a year early by Durham.

George Dobell16-Jan-2013Ian Blackwell’s career may be over at the age of 34 after his contractwas terminated a year early by Durham.Blackwell, who played one Test and 34 ODIs for England, recently underwent thethird bout of surgery on a long-standing shoulder injury and wasthought unlikely to be fitfor the first three or four months of the 2013 season.Despite animpressive first-class record – he scored over 11,000 first-class runsat a fraction under 40 andclaimed 398 first-class wickets at 35.91 apiece – he fell out offavour at Durham during 2012 and did not feature in their Championshipside after May.A destructive batsman and reliable left-arm spinner, Blackwell wouldsurely have won more opportunities for England had he embraced therequisite fitnessethic. He attempted, on various occasions, to lose weight with varyingdegrees of success but, eventually, temptation always got the betterof him.Over thelast few years his increasingly rounded figure provided something of athrowback to a more innocent age in the professional game. He was wellsuited to hissobriquet – The Blacksmith – and the county circuit will be a littleless entertaining for the news that he laid down his hammer and tongs forthe final time.But he could play. His double-century for Somerset againstDerbyshire at Taunton in 2003 is the fastest, in terms of ballsreceived, ever made by anEnglishman. It occupied just 134 balls, with the second 100 coming offonly 41 deliveries. And, with his unostentatious spin, he took 43wickets – 10 more thanany spinner had previously managed in a season for Durham – as thecounty successfully defended their Championship title in 2009.His sole Test came at Nagpur in 2006 – the game in which Alastair Cookand Monty Panesar also made their debuts – and, though he struck atypicallycommanding 82 in his second ODI, he failed to pass 50 in any of hisother 34 matches and, at one stage in 2003, scored one run in foursuccessive inningsagainst Australia.After making his debut for his native Derbyshire, he left the county -largely due to a dislike of Dominic Cork – as part of a widespreadexodus and joinedSomerset in 2000. He spent nine happy seasons at a club that hasalways had a soft spot for big-hitting allrounders but, struggling to fit in with Justin Langer’s less romantic approach to fitness, departed for Durhamat the end of 2008.He may reflect that his career ended on a high. Loaned out toWarwickshire for the final few weeks of the 2012 season, he was partof the side that clinched theCounty Championship title and his last game was the CB40 final atLord’s. A future as an umpire beckons.

Leeds United are still plotting a summer move for RB Salzburg midfielder Brenden Aaronson, according to an update from journalist Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Leeds miss out on January move

The Whites seemingly spent the whole of January trying to acquire the 21-year-old’s signature but he ended up remaining at Salzburg for the rest of the season.

Aaronson has stood out as a key man for his current team in 2021/22, starting all six Champions League group stage matches and helping them reach the knockout rounds, which no doubt is what made it difficult for Leeds to get a deal done.

Victor Orta may return for the American in the summer transfer window, however, and a fresh update has emerged regarding the situation.

[freshpress-quiz id=“383507″]

The Latest: Interest still remains

Taking to Twitter on Friday, Hay confirmed that the Whites are still keen on getting their man, as Orta looks to work his magic once the season ends:

“Leeds confident their pitch will work.”

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The Verdict: No-brainer for Whites

Aaronson looks like a great young talent with a big future in the game, so Leeds remaining interested in him is encouraging news.

The midfielder has been compared to Chelsea’s on-loan star and past Whites target Conor Gallagher in terms of style, with the Englishman scoring seven goals and registering three assists for Crystal Palace this season.

The hope is of course that Aaronson could have a similar impact at Leeds, thriving in a No.10 role for Salzburg and bringing an extra dimension in the middle of the park.

FBRef.com put the player in the 99th percentile in Europe for pressures per 90 with a remarkable 27.84 each match, so it’s no surprise Leeds see him as someone who would fit their high-intensity style under Marcelo Bielsa like a glove.

In other news, one Leeds player could leave the club permanently. Find out who it is here.

Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist and ‘transfer insider’ Dean Jones has made a claim on Wednesday night, sharing a worry for West Ham United involving star man Declan Rice.

The Lowdown: Rice concerns at Rush Green…

Recent reports indicate that West Ham and manager David Moyes could be concerned about Rice.

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Indeed, as explained by The Telegraph, the England international star is attracting major interest from top clubs in the Premier League – including the likes of Man United, Man City and London rivals Chelsea.

A lot could depend on where the Hammers finish at the end of 2021/2022, and if they can’t seal a place in Europe next year, Rice may well grow more and more open to leaving.

There have already been murmurs of the 23-year-old being ‘ready to leave this year’ with Old Trafford being his preferred destination, at least according to 90min reporter Scott Saunders.

The Latest: Jones makes worrying Rice claim…

Speaking to GMS, reporter Jones has now backed that Rice could be edging closer to a Rush Green departure, stating the midfielder is ‘more open than ever’ to leaving.

He explained: “I think that any buying club might be helped by the fact that Declan Rice, from what I’m hearing, does seem more open than ever about the idea of leaving West Ham. That could be interesting.”

The Verdict: Big blow?

The player’s stance on leaving comes as a blow given in-house tension could disrupt the harmony of Moyes’ squad.

However, one glimmer of hope is the one-year extension option currently in Rice’s deal, so if the Three Lions ace does attempt to leave, GSB are in a strong position to command huge transfer fees.

That being said, his influence would be sorely missed, with the West Ham mainstay averaging more interceptions per 90 than anyone in Moyes’ squad and their second-highest Premier League match rating per 90 (WhoScored).

In other news: Sky Sports: West Ham eyeing £21.6m-rated star for Moyes, he’s set to move! Find out more here.

Manchester United are rumoured to want to sign a number of midfielders during this month, as the side continues to underperform in the Premier League.

There is pressure on Ralf Rangnick to identify the right individuals and there is now a fresh link to one of the most sought after midfielders in world football right now.

What’s the word?

The Athletic has reported that John Murtough has identified Jude Bellingham as top of the list for Man United’s transfer targets.

However, the report claims that the Bundesliga star won’t be targeted to join Old Trafford until the summer, along with Declan Rice, who has also been heavily linked with a move to the club over the next few months.

Bellingham is a popular player, who has been linked to a number of clubs including Red Devils rivals Liverpool, so United will have to make an attractive offer for the Borussia Dortmund midfielder at the end of the season.

Back in October, it was reported that the German outfit had slapped a whopping £101m asking price on the midfielder.

Scott McTominay upgrade

Securing the signature of the £49k-per-week dynamo would surely be an upgrade to their current midfield, and he would likely compete for Scott McTominay’s spot in the team.

The Manchester United midfielder has been the subject of criticism on a number of occasions when the side’s underwhelming form reaches its peak, with his partnership with Fred coming under fire often, will the pair labelled ‘McFred.’

Roy Keane said earlier this season: “Look at the performance of the two midfielders. McTominay is a good, honest player. And they’ve got Fred. As long as those two players are in midfield for Manchester United, they will not be winning any big trophies.

“I can’t believe how short Manchester United are.”

When you compare Bellingham and McTominay this season alone for their clubs in their respective leagues, the 18 year old, who was hailed “scary” by Manchester United legend, Keane, has shown considerable more.

He scored more goals (3 vs 1), made more ball recoveries, attempted and completed more passes, been successful in more take-ons and even from a defensive perspective has won 42 more ground duels in the same number of appearances as his Man United counterpart, McTominay, according to Squawka.

From this comparison alone, it is clear why the board at the 20 league title winning club are eager to sign the youngster, however they will likely need to put themselves in a much more attractive position in the league by securing Champions League football to ensure they can beat their Premier League competitors for his signature.

In other news: Woodward in the midst of his final disaster