Sports

Xavi: History-making Yamal, 15, can mark Barca era like Messi

Published

3 years ago

2023/05/1

Lamine Yamal is the latest highly rated graduate of Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez says 15-year-old Lamine Yamal can mark an era at the club after making his LaLiga debut in Saturday’s 4-0 win against Real Betis.Yamal, who doesn’t turn 16 until July, came off the bench for the final 10 minutes to become Barca’s youngest ever debutant in the Spanish top flight.

Former Mallorca forward Luka Romero, now at Lazio, remains the youngest to ever play in LaLiga, but Yamal becomes one of just five players to play in the league before turning 16.

“I told him to try things and he did,” Xavi said of Yamal’s debut. “At 15 years old, just imagine it… He is special and he could have even scored tonight, but [Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva] saved.

“He played with confidence and he showed what he is about. He has no fear and bags of talent. Some of his passes in the final third were really good.”

Yamal has already drawn comparisons with Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati, two other forwards who broke into the Barca first team to great fanfare as teenagers.

“He’s a similar player because he has that innate talent in the final third which is difficult to find,” Xavi added when asked if the three could be compared.

“Lamine doesn’t seem like a 15-year-old, he’s very mature. He’s ready [to play] and he is training well. He can mark an era at this club as part of this team.”

Yamal was given a roaring reception from the 88,000 crowd at Spotify Camp Nou and Barca forward Raphinha, who scored the third goal in the win over Betis, said it won’t be long until he scores his first goal for the club.

“We were talking about it on the bench and I think when I was 15 I was playing for the local team in my neighbourhood,” the Brazil international told reporters.

“Seeing him come on in front of the fans was incredible. It would have been even better if he scored, but I am sure he will get one sooner rather than later.”

Andreas Christensen opened the scoring on his return from injury in the 13th minute for Barca before Betis were reduced to 10 men when Edgar Gonzalez was sent off for two bookings.

Robert Lewandowski added the second and Raphinha the third, with an own goal from Guido Rodriguez completing the scoring late on after Xavi had also brought on Ousmane Dembele, who returned from a three-month injury layoff.

The victory restored Barca’s 11-point lead at the top of the table over Real Madrid as they close in on a first title since 2019 and saw the team return to winning ways after the shock loss at Rayo Vallecano in midweek.

“After the deserved defeat in Vallecas, we needed to react,” Xavi added. “We started well. We were already a goal up when the red card arrived.

“We basically killed the game off in the first half. It was a well-rounded performance from the team, we were able to rotate and give minutes to other players. It’s another step towards our objective.

“It was important for Dembele and Christensen to get minutes. Dembele told me he felt good. We have missed them both. They are special players.”

The defeat leaves Betis nine points back from the fourth and final Champions League qualifying spot.

Coach Manuel Pellegrini accepted Barca were the better side, but he was not happy about the red card, with Edgar dismissed for fouls on Raphinha and Pedri in the first half after coming on for the injured Luiz Felipe.

“The game lasted 20 minutes,” Pellegrini said. “Barcelona dominated, scored from a corner and then the game ended with an absurd dismissal.

“If you ask me, neither of the challenges are bookings. The first one is justifiable because it’s [the referee’s] criteria, but the second has no explanation because it goes against his criteria.

“The referee himself said two times it’s not a yellow and [Barca’s players] made him change his decision. He didn’t show any character.”

(ESPN)

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Sports

Trinity take first innings honours against S. Thomas’

Published

3 hours ago

2026/02/26

Sahan Weerasooriya

Pulisha Thilakarathne top scored with 89 runs and held the top order batting together as Trinity scored first innings points and took major honours in the Ranil Abeynayake Memorial Trophy cricket encounter at BRC ground on Wednesday.

‎Trinity took a first innings lead of over 50 runs and declared their innings with two wickets in hand to find Thomians doing better in the second essay.

‎Jayden Amaraweera was in the forefront of the Thomian revival in the second innings as he scored his second half century of the match. Aaron Kodituwakku missed a second half century by five runs.

‎For Trinity, Mahendra Abeysinghe and Dinal Fernando were the others to make contributions with over 40 runs, while Aadham Hilmy made 32.

‎Scores:

‎S. Thomas’ 189 all out in 77.4 overs

‎(Aaron Kodituwakku 72, Jaden Amaraweera 50, Shanil Perera 37n.o.; ‎Kanika Anthony 5/66, Dinal Fernando 3/34) and 182 for 5 in 53 overs (Jaden Amarawera 68, Aaron Kodituwakku 45;

‎Chaniru Senarathne 2/44)

‎Trinity 54 for 1 overnight 246 for 8 decl. in 58.2 overs (Pulisha Thilakarathne 89, Mahendra Abeysinghe 44, Dinal Fernando 45, Adam Hilmy 32; Abheeth Paranawidana 4/95, Gimhan Mendis 3/41) (RF)

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India and Zimbabwe out to raise the roof at Chepauk

Published

4 hours ago

2026/02/26

Priyan

As India seek to return to winning ways, they will hope to boost their net run-rate as well [Cricbuzz]

Blue jerseys on the backs of a teeming crowd along the Walajah Road on Thursday evening will finally not be out of context. Fans in Chennai have embraced every team that has set foot in the city and played at the iconic venue, turning up in tens of thousands even for sweltering afternoon matches here. But India are finally in town, with everything riding on their fixture.

For the second World Cup in a row, the locals were meant to be treated to an India-Australia spectacle. That’s what the pre-tournament seeding had it chalked down as. But Zimbabwe emphatically struck that out, proving once again that there are no certainties in this format.

Speaking of no certainties, India have reached Chennai with their tag of favourites fast fading, and their batting – unrivaled until the tournament began – is now being seriously questioned. Not all is lost yet of course, but the Net Run Rate column has them in a tangle. The defeat to South Africa means India can only reach four points at best. There’s a possibility where they could be dragged into a three-way tangle for two semifinal spots with NRR being the deciding factor. The decimation in Ahmedabad left them with -3.800, which they need to resuscitate over the next four days. Wins alone won’t cut it.

Zimbabwe are now in the same boat, needing two wins and a surge in NRR. Their unbeaten journey through the group stage in Sri Lanka was cut short violently by West Indies in Mumbai, where a six-hitting batting line-up and the short square boundaries caught them unawares. Chennai offers better dimensions in that regard, but there will be the challenge of dew to deal with.

The competitiveness of the Super Eights group has raised the stakes for the 3 PM fixture on Thursday too. West Indies and South Africa will jostle for two crucial points in Ahmedabad, and nearly 2,000 kilometers away in Chennai, India and Zimbabwe will watch on keenly for as long as they can.

Yet, their futures in the tournament will still be determined by what they can control later that evening, as Chepauk gears up to bounce with bated anticipation for one last time at the World Cup.

Equal-sized square boundaries, with the game to be played on the central pitch (No.5). It’s confirmed to be a black soil surface, but in what will come as music to India’s ears, Chepauk has the worst bowling strike-rate and second-worst bowling average for spinners among the eight venues in this World Cup.

Furthermore, they might just stumble upon the true surface they have sought all along. In the two 7 PM matches at the venue, first innings scores have been 200/4 (by Afghanistan) and 196/6 (by USA).

Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak revealed that there have been conversations about changes to mix up the left-handed top-three. Sanju Samson, who batted long and did keeping drills two days out from the fixture, could be an option.

Kotak also confirmed that Rinku Singh had left to attend to his ailing father but was due to return on Wednesday evening. There’s still a chance India don’t feature him and maintain their batting depth by adding to the heft at the top. With only two left-handers in Zimbabwe’s top-order, expect Axar Patel to reclaim his spot too.

“Sikandar Raza is 100% playing. Good luck telling him that he’s not going to play against India,” Ryan Burl said with a chuckle. The Zimbabwe skipper took a hit to his left palm in the game against West Indies in Mumbai, but is ready to go again.

Zimbabwe could resist the urge to make changes after the big loss in Mumbai, and instead choose to alter their bowling plans. Against West Indies, they used four quicks and just two spinners in Raza and Graeme Cremer. If the opportunity comes up, Raza could throw on leg-spinner Burl against the likes of Suryakumar and Tilak in the middle-overs.

India Probable XI:Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun CV, Jasprit Bumrah

Zimbabwe Probable XI:Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Dion Myers, Ryan Burl, Sikandar Raza (c), Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Graeme Cremer, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani

[Cricbuzz]

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South Africa vs West Indies: Clash of heavyweights in another high-stakes battle in Ahmedabad

Published

4 hours ago

2026/02/26

Priyan

Is the ICC’s Super Eight the silliest qualifying process in the sporting universe? The unfathomable permutations of UEFA’s rejigged Champions League might beg otherwise. But it’s surely in a club of two.

After precisely two completed fixtures in an impressively sub-standard Group 2 of this T20 World Cup, we already knew our first semi-finalists … and even England themselves might be wondering how on earth they are still pointing in the right direction after their endless flirtations with catastrophe.

Over in Ahmedabad, however, there’s significantly more jeopardy brewing in Group 1. West Indies and South Africa, the two remaining unbeaten teams in the tournament, are gearing up for a heavyweight clash of the most literal variety, but even after they’ve finished battering seven bells out of each other, the victors will have no gurantees of progression just yet.

For West Indies, in particular, this feels like a must-win contest. They could hardly have laid out a more emphatic marker than their 107 run win over Zimbabwe on Monday. But, even allowing for that hefty NRR boost, a wounded India await as their final Super Eight fixture on Sunday. If that ends up being a straight knockout, then it’d be best to lay the killer blow here and now.

West Indies certainly have the form and the focus to do so. But, thrillingly, so do their opponents. In a tournament marked by reticence from a host of likely contenders, West Indies and South Africa have both been refreshingly route-one in their approach. Shimron Hetmyer’s 85 from 34 balls against Zimbabwe may have been the apogee of attacking batting in the tournament to date, but it was merely a continuation of the pedal-to-metal approach that enabled his team to out-muscle England by 13 sixes to six in their statement victory in Kolkata a fortnight ago.

South Africa, similarly, have not been backward in coming forward. India must have thought their last contest was in the bag when Jasprit Bumrah reprised his Barbados impact to reduce them to 20 for 3 after four overs at this same venue. They reckoned without a relentlessly aggressive middle order of Dewald Brevis, David Miller and Tristan Stubbs, who kept piling into the breach to produce a total of 187 for 7 that Marco Jansen soon proved to be more than enough to defend. A win on Thursday will almost certainly place South Africa in the semis, unless India lose all three games in the Super Eight.

More such bravery will be the requirement on Thursday. On a localised level, it’s thrilling to have such a high-stakes encounter at this stage of the competition. In reality, though, each of the tournament’s three likeliest winners would appear to have been crammed into the same under-sized pool. It’s sink-or-risk-being-sunk time at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

With 11 wickets at 12.18 – including eight in his last two outings, at this very venue, against New Zealand and India – Marco Jansen has the form and the method to make another statement impact for his team. Five of those wickets came in the powerplay – three against New Zealand, though they used his pace and bounce against him in between whiles, and two against India, who were never allowed to rally after his first-ball extraction of Tilak Varma. Every team craves a rangy left-arm seamer in this format, and Jansen’s combinations of angle, accuracy and steepling bounce mark him out as one of the very best.

If West Indies are to win, their batters need to keep swinging with the freedom and confidence that has brought them this far already. And no-one epitomises their current mood better than Shimron Hetmyer. With 219 runs at 54.75, he is the tournament’s second-highest run-scorer, behind Sahibzada Farhan’s tally of 283. In terms of pure six-hitting, his tally of 17 puts him way out on his own. If his game can sometimes seem too loose to function consistently, then it is entirely in keeping with West Indies’ mighty T20I heritage, including his 2016 forebears who counted almost exclusively in boundaries as they powered to their second world title, here on Indian soil, a decade ago.

No obvious reasons for West Indies to tinker with their winning formula, although Roston Chase’s offspin could be a consideration, especially with the significant core of left-handers in South Africa’s batting ranks. He would also add further depth to the batting line-up.

West Indies (probable): Brandon King, Shai Hope (capt & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein / Roston Chase, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph.

The team that took on India was the strongest that South Africa could have put out, and for such a crunch contest, there’s no reason to think they’ll fiddle with their options.

South Africa (probable): Aiden Markram (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.

[Cricinfo]