Sports

England declaration sets up intriguing final day in Rawalpindi

Published

3 years ago

2022/12/5

Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes had underscored their philosophy several times over: England will risk defeat in order to win Test matches. And so it proved in Rawalpindi. The visitors offered a brave declaration of their second innings, asking Pakistan to chase 342 for victory with about 100 overs left in the game, light permitting. At the end of another truncated final session, Pakistan had whittled down 80 runs from their target but lost two of their first-innings centurions Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam along the way while experienced batter Azhar Ali had to retire hurt with a finger injury.

Thankfully for the hosts, their other centurion from the first dig, Imam-ul-Haq, survived England’s bouncer plan and moved along to 43 and added 55 runs for the third wicket in the company of Saud Shakeel. It was a tricky 20 over period for Pakistan before bad light ended play early once more. They were chasing leather for much of the day before Stokes and McCullum dangled the fourth-innings carrot. Given the pitch had continued to remain benign deep into the fourth day, a chase at a rate above three runs to the over wasn’t going to be difficult. But, in it was England’s best chance to force mistakes out of their excitable opponents.

Stokes also began the final session by inverting all usual conventions. Test cricket’s most prolific fast bowler, James Anderson, was not handed the new ball and instead Ollie Robinson and Stokes took it upon themselves to test out areas half-way down from the batters. The bouncer ploy worked. Shafique miscued a pull and was caught by Harry Brook at deep square leg. Ollie Robinson then around the stumps and got a ball to climb awkwardly on Azhar Ali and pinged him on the fingers, forcing the senior batter into retiring hurt. In walked Babar at No.4. He slapped one short ball over the off-side for four but then was caught in two minds against a Stokes short ball and inside-edged a ball to the ‘keeper.

At 25/2, Pakistan were wobbling. But the pair of Imam and Shakeel managed to work their way out of trouble. It helped that the ring of attacking fielders stationed by Stokes allowed for ready boundary opportunities. Jack Leach, for instance, when introduced into the attack bowled with a pair of catching mid-wickets, a slip, a forward short leg and a silly point. That meant Shakeel could simply chip the ball towards mid-on for a pair of boundaries. There was one nervy moment for Pakistan when a Shakeel clip went straight to Keaton Jennings at short leg but the reflex catch didn’t ‘stick’ and Pakistan could go into the final day with no further damage and still with a realistic chance of victory.

It is an intriguing place for them to find themselves having conceded 657 in the first innings and then again 264 in less than 36 overs on the fourth day. When it was their turn to bat, England’s batters were in no mood to allow the game to peter out. Zak Crawley, Joe Root and Harry Brook all hit fifties at faster than a run a ball.

The signs were not hard to read in that second session. Crawley, who was on 24 at Lunch, began with an on-drive and a square drive while Root played an audacious reverse scoop off Naseem Shah for a boundary of his own. Almost immediately after getting to a half-century to go with his first-innings ton, Crawley was strangled down the legside attempting to put away a short ball from Mohammad Ali. The umpires didn’t pick up the glove and the opener himself appeared to suggest the ball had hit his shoulder but Pakistan’s ring fielders were convinced enough to ask for the DRS aid and get their third wicket.

Brook joined Root with the former captain seamlessly taking over as the tempo setter. He continued to play with the field, pushing the ball into gaps and running twos or using his famous dab to run the ball down to third man. Despite hitting only four boundaries, Root had a 48-ball 50 of his own.

Babar Azam, already hamstrung by the loss of Haris Rauf to an injury, brought the spinners on with the strategy to bowl from round the stumps and into the right-handers’ blindspot. To counter and continue with his run-making ways, Root turned into a left-hander for a ball and then abandoned that move in favour of the reverse sweep. Boundaries continued to flow as Root raced into the 70s. Eventually, Zahid Mahmood and Pakistan’s persistence paid off when Root eventually miscued a sweep and was caught at short fine. Ben Stokes followed his former skipper into the dressing room in the same over, miscuing a shot to sweeper cover.

Brook took over from there and launched an all-out offense on debutant legspinner Mahmood, repeatedly slogging him over mid-wicket or stepping out and hitting him over his head. Will Jacks, promoted above the injured Liam Livingstone, hit three sixes off his own in a 13-ball knock of 24. It was Brooks, however, who was marched on rapidly towards a second hundred of the game before he was out on the cusp of the Tea break, bowled off Naseem Shah while trying to swipe across the line. His 11 fours and three sixes, however, was perfect for England to set up a brave declaration.

More earlier in the day, Jacks finished with a six-fer on debut, having known of his participation in the Test merely minutes before the start of the game. Pakistan had begun the day, trailing England by 158 in the first innings and had Agha Salman to thank for eating into his deficit by farming the strike with the tail. Salman though edged Jacks to first slip and the offie went on to dismiss Mahmood and Rauf for figures of 6 for 161. Little would he have known then that he would be needed to produce another strong show on the final day for that first-innings performance to not end up on a losing side.

Brief scores:

England 657 and 264 for 7 decl. (Harry Brook 87, Joe Root 73; Mohammad Ali 2-64)

Pakistan 579 and 80/2 (Imam-ul-Haq 43n.o.)

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Sports

‘Disappointing’ – Sangakkara on Sam Curran turning out for Surrey with IPL still on

Published

8 hours ago

2026/05/31

Priyan

Sam Curran has returned to competitive cricket at the men's Vitality Blast [Cricinfo]

Sam Curran missed IPL 2026 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) with a groin injury, and Kumar Sangakkara found it “disappointing” when the allrounder turned out for Surrey in the men’s Vitality Blast on May 22 to mark his return to action.

As far as Sangakkara was concerned, England-contracted Curran had a “season-ending injury”, even though the player himself had said at the time of his withdrawal from the IPL – the news became public on March 19 – that he would return “whenever it feels right”.

“We were told that Sam Curran had a season-ending injury, but I think I saw him playing for Surrey for two games or three games now. So that was disappointing,” Sangakkara, RR’s head coach, said at a press conference after RR exited the IPL in Qualifier 2 on Friday. “We would have loved to have had him here playing for us.”

Since Curran, who had been acquired by RR as part of a trade with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with Ravindra Jadeja in exchange for Sanju Samson, had communicated his inability to play to RR in advance, Dasun Shanaka was brought in as a replacement on March 23, which led to its own set of problems, as Shanaka had to withdraw from his deal with Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2026 to join RR and was banned from the tournament for a year as a result.

Curran, playing as a batter only and scheduled to not bowl in Surrey’s first six Blast fixtures, has played three games so far and is their top run-scorer at this stage with 141 runs from three innings. When he opted out of the IPL, he had said that he had managed the groin problem throughout the T20 World Cup earlier this year. “It’s an injury that I’ve kind of been battling with a little bit,” Curran was quoted as saying in British media. “It has gradually got fractionally worse. I went for a couple of scans and it showed reasonable damage, so I had to make the tough decision. It was hindering me quite a bit.”

The question has come up from time to time when overseas players have chosen not to honour their IPL commitments, and in September 2024, the BCCI announced a two year ban on players who pulled out after being picked at IPL auctions.

“Yeah, I think a proper tight policy around that is always a requirement. The BCCI has a strict policy on that,” Sangakkara said. “Injuries, every person goes through injuries, and if it’s a serious injury, a season ending injury, of course we understand.”

Sangakkara, however, seemed to indicate that injured or not, he would have liked Curran to be around the RR set-up in what would have been his first season with the team.

“We’ve also had players like Adam Milne, Shimron Hetmyer, quite a few who came here and not had much of a game; Lhuan-dre Pretorius is another one, Kwena Maphaka is another one. They’ve been here, they’ve done the hard yards, they’ve practiced, they’ve carried water for the team, and they’ve really worked as hard as anyone else to support the team in this journey,” Sangakkara said.

“It’s really up to that individual player to decide whether they want to come or not, but I think the BCCI policy around it is very strict now, and that’s the way it should continue. It should be very strict to make sure that contractual obligations are met properly and genuinely, and I think every side in the IPL will benefit from that.”

[Cricinfo]

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PSG beat Arsenal to win back-to-back Champions League titles after shootout

Published

8 hours ago

2026/05/31

Priyan

Marquinhos of Paris Saint-Germain lifts the UEFA Champions League trophy after victory in the final [Aljazeera]

Paris Saint-Germain held their nerve in a cagey Champions League ⁠final to retain the title by beating Arsenal 4-3 on penalties as Saturday’s nail-biting showdown ended 1-1 after extra time, cementing the French side’s status among Europe’s modern greats.

Arsenal defender Gabriel blasted his spot kick over Matvey Safonov’s crossbar at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, his miss confirming PSG as the first club to retain the trophy since Real Madrid completed their ⁠three-year reign from 2016 to 2018.

Long dismissed as glamorous underachievers despite vast resources, the Ligue 1 champions have now forged a dynasty under Luis Enrique, marrying attacking brilliance with resilience to establish themselves as the dominant force in European football.

“It’s stronger than last year because we knew before the match just how difficult it would be to play against Arsenal,” said Enrique, whose side had ⁠thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 a year ago to claim Europe’s elite trophy for the first time.

“As a club and a city, it’s incredible to win, and I think we deserved it over the course of the season. The final was a real battle,” added the Spanish coach.

The outcome left Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice devastated but proud as his side finished their European campaign without losing a match, aside from the shootout defeat in the final.

“It’s gutting. It’s devastating to lose a Champions League final on penalties,” he said. “But we try to take a lot of perspective from how far we’ve come as a group.

“An incredible season. ‌Given it absolutely everything up until this point. We took the game to penalties. It’s a lottery.”

Eleven days after celebrating their first Premier League title in 22 years, Arsenal looked set for a maiden triumph on Europe’s biggest stage after Kai Havertz’s sixth-minute opener and a first hour spent smothering PSG’s vaunted attack.

However, the final in the Hungarian capital became chaotic, once PSG’s Ousmane Dembele equalised with a penalty in the 65th minute, the pace turning frantic before exhaustion took the match to a shootout.

Under Enrique, PSG have won the six shootouts they have contested, with the 56-year-old winning 12 of the 13 one-off club finals as coach.

After brushing aside Premier League opposition on their way to the final by eliminating Chelsea and Liverpool, PSG were facing a much sterner test against an Arsenal team playing their second Champions League final after losing to Barcelona in 2006.

Mikel Arteta’s side took the ⁠lead when Marquinhos’ clearance bounced off Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard into the path of Havertz, who raced into the box and fired into the roof of ⁠the net.

He is the fourth player to score in two different European Cup or Champions League finals with two different clubs.

It was the nightmare scenario for PSG – trailing so early against the best defence in the competition.

Arsenal lived up to their reputation as the best team without the ball and looked perfectly content with the script, doubling up on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and suffocating the usual danger posed by the Georgian magician on the left flank.

PSG’s Fabian Ruiz was ⁠unable to impose his usual rhythm in midfield and, despite monopolising possession for long spells, the French side struggled to carve out clear-cut chances.

By half-time, PSG had attacked 32 times, Arsenal three.

Arsenal, however, were flirting with the boundaries with their challenges and Cristhian Mosquera brought down Kvaratskhelia in ⁠the area, with Dembele converting the penalty to equalise with his eighth goal in the competition.

The momentum had shifted.

Jurrien ⁠Timber and Viktor Gyokeres replaced Mosquera and Martin Odegaard. Arsenal had a more attacking mindset but were exposed to PSG’s counter attacks and at the end of one of them, Kvaratskhelia sped into the box, only for his left-footed effort to crash onto the outside of David Raya’s post.

After controlling the tempo in the first half, Arsenal played into PSG’s hands as the pace increased significantly, giving too much space to Kvaratskhelia or Bradley Barcola, who replaced the Georgian winger with ‌seven minutes remaining.

In the 89th minute, PSG came close to giving the final an abrupt end as Vitinha’s shot grazed the top of the net. Barcola also shot over the bar after a counter attack, with what would have been the last kick of the game.

With both teams having run out of steam, extra time was a cautious affair and when referee Daniel Siebert blew his ‌whistle, ‌Arsenal had only managed one shot on target.

Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze missed his penalty before Raya saved Nuno Mendes’ attempt. Gabriel had to score to keep the Gunners’ hopes alive but, facing PSG’s end, he fired over.

The French side were left to celebrate being European champions once again, with extra-time substitute Lucas Beraldo’s goal in the shootout proving to be the winner.

[Aljazeera]

Latest News

Home comfort vs championship pedigree as Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru collide in IPL 2026 final

Published

9 hours ago

2026/05/31

Priyan

Gujarat Titans (GT) will be thrilled to play the IPL final at their home ground in Ahmedabad. Just that they will not be able to get there till deep into the night on Saturday. Thunderstorms in Chandigarh delayed the team from flying out, meaning they wouldn’t even have spent 24 hours in the place where they’ll have to find a way to win an IPL title.

Speaking of which, once upon a time – and for a very long time – IPL finals used to be held at the home venue of the previous year’s champions. So Royal Challengers (RCB) could have been the ones looking forward to a bit of home advantage. But something, somewhere went wrong. And now it is GT who go in with that ace up their sleeve.

And as much as the old rules do not apply to this RCB – not when their batting line-up dovetails so wonderfully, and their new-ball bowlers have been so devastating – there is some small precedent to consider. They lost to GT in Ahmedabad in the league stage, bowled out for 155. They’ve won only three of their seven away or neutral games in IPL 2026. All of that can be tossed into the wayside if any of their match-winners come off. Five of them did – the entire top five – in Dharamsala just a few days ago to put up the highest score ever seen in the playoffs. From going 18 years without a title, RCB could win two back-to-back. For the last eight straight IPLs, the team winning Qualifier 1 has gone on to become champion.

GT’s campaign has been built on the hard work of Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj; in particular the unstinting way they attack oppositions in the powerplay. Both quicks have been encouraged to go pace-on. Both quicks have been remarkable at assessing the vulnerabilities of specific batters. Both quicks have the potential to break the game early. GT have a strike rate of 16 this season, the best of all the teams (at an economy of 9.49) and it gets better when they play at home – 13.5 (economy of 8.72). They’ve converted a fourth playoff appearance in five years into a third final in five years. A second title in five years is well within reach.

Three of Tim David’s last five innings have ended in single-digit scores and a strike rate under 100. You wouldn’t qualify that as a slump though, given his innings against Punjab Kings during the same sequence. He was 2 off two at the start of the 17th over and finished 28 off 12. David just needs to connect one ball to send several out of the ground.

Jason Holder has been an impeccable addition to the GT line-up, his bowling enabling them to frontload their Test-quality fast bowlers and retain flexible use of Rashid Khan. On top of that, Holder himself has picked up 17 wickets at an economy rate of just 7.54. The extra bounce that he generates, even on Indian pitches, has been telling.

RCB will likely bring Phil Salt back in if he’s ready to go but even if not, Venkatesh Iyer has filled in very nicely.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (probable): Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer/Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam, Jacob Duffy/Suyash Sharma

GT have had the middle-order question thrown at them over and over and it will be done one last time. In Qualifier 1, when Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan failed, they lost. Badly.

Gujarat Titans (probable): Shubman Gill (capt), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

[Cricinfo]