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Richarlison spearheads Brazil’s World Cup charge

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Richarlison may have to justify his place as Brazil’s number nine to outsiders but he used his debut on the World Cup stage to demonstrate exactly why coach Tite is unswerving in his admiration. Tottenham’s striker is up against formidable competition for his place in the team in Qatar from the likes of Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus and Rodrygo of Real Madrid, while Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino did not even make the journey.

In a squad overflowing with attacking riches, Tite has made Richarlison his first-choice striker to complement the gifts of Neymar and Vinicius Junior, and was the spearhead as the tournament favourites opened with an impressive 2-0 win over Serbia at Lusail Stadium.

Richarlison ended Brazil’s frustration in the face of Serbia’s massed defensive ranks when he pounced after goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic turned away Vinicius Junior’s shot just after the hour. Then real moment of magic arrived, a piece of skill that had the finest traditions of Brazilian football running right through it.

Richarlison initially failed to control Vinicius’ cross but re-adjusted instantly, taking to the air and showing perfect technique and athleticism to flash home an unstoppable right-foot volley. Richarlison’s second goal made it nine in his last seven Brazil appearances, further evidence of why he is held in such regard by Tite and making him his country’s first player to score twice on his World Cup debut since Neymar in 2014.

He is in some ways a workhorse surrounded by more flamboyant attacking talents, but Richarlison is the complete striker when at the top of his game, offering tireless work rate as well as high levels of skill.

Richarlison has had a stop-start opening to his Spurs career following his £60m summer move from Everton, with injuries stalling his progress, but this was a performance that showed what an asset he is for Brazil and will be for his club side in the future. Former England striker Alan Shearer told BBC Sport: “He’s a man in form in that yellow shirt. He is yet to score in the Premier League for Spurs but for Brazil he is on fire.

“The positioning of Richarlison to pick up those scrappy little goals, the ones where the keeper is going to tap them out in and around the six-yard box, give me as much satisfaction as the incredible second goal he scored.

“He’s in the right position. He gets his shot away. Watch his movement. He’s first to react as all good strikers are. It looks very simple but it’s not. You’ve got to get in there then finish it. It’s very, very good centre-forward play.”

Richarlison’s match-winning display also added to the weight of evidence suggesting the sheer strength and all-round quality of Brazil’s squad makes them favourites to lift the World Cup in this same stadium.Neymar was busy but quiet overall, and also appeared to pick up an injury, while Vinicius dazzled. They could not make their own breakthroughs but helped Richarlison get the job done to snuff out Serbia’s hopes.

Brazil could have added more in the closing stages as Tite made the sort of changes that will have their rivals wincing with jealousy at their strength in depth, introducing Arsenal’s Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli, Manchester United pair Antony and Fred, and Real’s Rodrygo.

Manchester United’s Casemiro showed all his vast experience, hitting the woodwork along with Alex Sandro, while behind them is Chelsea veteran Thiago Silva and Liverpool’s outstanding goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who did not have a save to make.

Brazil’s army of supporters are always expectant at World Cups and their first game in any tournament carries a touch of sporting theatre. Their yellow shirts flooded the Lusail Stadium before kick-off and were spread all around in the crowd of more than 88,000.They will be hoping, with good cause, to return to this venue for the final. If Brazil’s players were weighed down by expectation it did not show amid remarkably relaxed scenes as they arrived before kick-off.

When the team bus stopped in the tunnel, members of the squad joined together in a dance before disembarking. When Neymar strolled into the dressing room he was joined by team-mate Raphinha in a samba. Riddled with World Cup nerves? Not exactly.

And there was a glorious outpouring of Brazilian joy for each of Richarlison’s goals, members of the team and the squad pouring towards the corner flag to swamp the scorer. It was a genuine show of unity and celebration. When Neymar strolled into the stadium he was sporting a garish pair of shimmering golden headphones. His time will come out here in Qatar – but on this night it was Richarlison who stood out as Brazil’s golden boy.

(BBC Sports)



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Hasaranga ruled out of New Zealand ODIs with hamstring injury; Hemantha called up

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Wanindu Hasaranga rattled New Zealand in Dambulla [Cricinfo]

Wanidu Hasaranga has been ruled out of the ODI series against New Zealand, having sustained an injury to his left hamstring while bowling, in the second T20I, on Sunday. Hasaranga was seen hobbling through his later overs, and was also limping between the wickets while running.

He has been replaced in the ODI squad by Dushan Hemantha  another legspin-bowling allrounder. Hemantha has played five ODIs and has recently been among the wickets for the Sri Lanka A team.

Hasaranga’s absence will be significant for Sri Lanka, particularly as he had been Sri Lanka’s most successful bowler in the T20Is, taking 2 for 20 in the first match, then 4 for 17 in the second, while also producing an important 22 off 23 in the first T20I.

Sri Lanka already have another legspinner in the squad, however, in Jeffrey Vandersay, with Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage the other frontline spinners.

Hasaranga becomes the second player to be ruled out of the series owing to injuries sustained in that second T20I, with New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson also unavailable due to a calf injury.

The series begins on Wednesday, with the first match to be played in Dambulla, and the remaining two games in Pallekele.

[Cricinfo]

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Ferguson ruled out of ODIs against Sri Lanka with calf injury; Adam Milne called up

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Lockie Ferguson has played one Test, 65 ODIs and 43 T20Is for New Zealand [Cricinfo]

Lockie Ferguson will be flying back to New Zealand after picking up a calf injury in their series levelling T20I victory over Sri Lanka in Dambulla. The 33-year-old fast bowler has been ruled out of the ODI leg of the tour which begins with the first of three matches on November 13.Ferguson was only just returning from injury – a different one, right hamstring – and was heavily involved in changing New Zealand’s fortunes, his hat-trick helping them defend a total of 108 as they came back from 0-1 down to share the spoils.

An NZC release said he felt some discomfort while bowling his second over of the chase on Sunday. Ferguson left the field thereafter and was unable to take any further part in that T20I, although he did return to pick up the Player-of-the-Match award. He has been ruled out of the rest of the Sri Lanka tour based on initial assessments and is scheduled to undergo scans upon arriving in New Zealand to ascertain the full extent of the damage. Adam Milne has been called into the squad as Ferguson’s replacement and will arrive in Dambulla on Tuesday.

“We’re gutted for Lockie,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said, “He showed in the space of just two overs what an asset he is with the ball and he’s also brought a lot of leadership to this group, so he’ll be a big miss heading into an important ODI series for us. To be ruled out so early in a tour is always tough to take, but we’re hopeful his recovery will be short and he’ll be back out on the field in no time.

“Adam is a like-for-like replacement who brings genuine pace and plenty of international experience, so we’re looking forward to welcoming him into the group.”

Ferguson has played one Test, 65 ODIs and 43 T20Is for New Zealand since making his debut in December 2016. He has been one of the team’s first-choice picks in white-ball cricket, a status he underlined by recording his country’s sixth T20I hat-trick. New Zealand will now be relying on a relatively inexperienced seam-bowling attack, although Milne’s inclusion – 49 ODIs and 53 T20Is played – does offset that a little. Milne will join Jacob Duffy and Nathan Smith to make up the team’s frontline seam-bowling options with support from allrounders Zakary Foulkes and Josh Clarkson.

New Zealand are on the back end of a long tour of the subcontinent which began with a washed-out Test against Afghanistan in early September. That was followed by a 0-2 loss to Sri Lanka a few weeks later and a 3-0 win over India in India earlier this month.

[Cricinfo]

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Gurbaz ton, Omarzai fifty and four-for win the series for Afghanistan

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Rahmanullah Gurbaz made his eighth ODI century [ACB]

Before Monday evening, Rahmanullah Gurbaz averaged 16.73 in 20 innings in run chases in ODIs. But against Bangladesh in Sharjah, he hit 101 – his second century while batting second – with 42 of those runs coming in sixes alone. That took Afghanistan to victory in their pursuit of 245, and gave them their third sucessive series win.

It was also the first instance of a score getting successfully chased in this series, after totals of 235 and 252 were defended in the previous two games.

But it didn’t come all that smoothly for Afghanistan. When Gurbaz was caught off Bangladesh’s stand-in captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the 39th over, and Gulbadin Naib departed in the 41st, Bangladesh sniffed a comeback. Afghanistan were another 57 runs away from victory, with 58 balls and five wickets remaining. However, Azmanullah Omarzai, who had fallen without scoring in both matches this series, got an unbeaten 70 off 77 deliveries to calmly lead Afghanistan to a five-wicket win in the company of Mohammad Nabi, who smashed a quick 34*.

Omarzai clubbed five sixes, the last of which went over long-on to seal the win for his side. The victory was set up by Gurbaz’s eighth ODI hundred, and his fourth-wicket partnership of 100 with Omarzai, after Afghanistan were 84 for 3 in the 21st over. Such had been Gurbaz’s dominance that he had already reached his half-century by that point. All four of his sixes until then had been flung over the leg side, although he did have his share of luck.

When on 24, Gurbaz was dropped by substitute fielder Rishad Hossain at point, and on 48, Towhid Hridoy’s throw from mid-off went wide of the stumps at the non-striker’s end despite Gurbaz having given up after a mix-up with Hashmatullah Shahidi.

Gurbaz kept himself busy by ticking the singles and finding the boundary, and when on 56, Jaker Ali missed stumping him out off Mehidy, when one turned down the leg side – although Jaker might have been blinded by Gurbaz skipping down the pitch. Those bits of fortune taken into account, the ball seemed to fly off Gurbaz’s bat, with the most impressive shot being a hard and flat six over deep backward square leg off Mustafizur Rahman.

Gurbaz and Omarzai ensured the chase remained in Afghanistan’s control for much of the innings. The century came up for Gurbaz in the 38th over, by the end of which, Afghanistan required only another 63 runs off the remaining 72 balls. That was when Afghanistan lost Gurbaz and Naib back-to-back, but Omarzai brought up his half-century just after that, following up a haul of 4 for 37 with the ball to earn himself the Player-of-the-Match award.

Afghanistan had started the game erratically, dropping Tanzid Hasan twice and giving away extras with the ball. But bowling his second over – and the ninth of the innings – Omarzai had Soumya Sarkar chopping on for 24 at just better than a run a ball to break a 53-run opening stand.

That seemed to flick a switch. Nabi, bowling the tenth over, had Tanzid slicing to cover point for 19 off a slow and dipping ball; Mehidy, in the 11th, sent Zakir Hasan back after calling for a run, only to result in Zakir’s dismissal on 4; and Rashid Khan, in the 15th, had Hridoy caught at slip for 7. Bangladesh lost 4 for 19 in a period of six overs, when Mehidy, who scored a patient 66, and Mahmudullah, who got a run-a-ball 98, joined hands to add 145 runs for the fifth wicket.

But they took their time to settle, as they managed to add only 49 runs off the first 74 balls of their partnership. Three boundaries came during that period, with two off the outside edge of Mehidy’s bat.

While Mehidy struggled to get even the singles or find the gap, Mahmudullah looked a lot steadier. With Afghanistan keeping a lid on Bangladesh, Mahmudullah hit the first six of the innings when he deposited Nabi over midwicket to end the 35th over. Those hits remained sporadic as Nabi even bowled a maiden over in the 39th.

The last ten overs, however, brought Bangladesh 78 runs. It all started when Mahmudullah ended Nabi’s spell ended with another six. In the next over, the 42nd, Mahmudullah carved AM Ghazanfar for four through extra cover. He started the 44th with another boundary – this time over Ghazanfar’s head – before nailing a sweep off Rashid to propel Bangladesh forward.

Seeing that, Mehidy had a change of heart too. With five overs left, he lapped and reverse scooped Omarzai for consecutive boundaries, although perished in the same over when he skied one to extra cover. With Bangladesh at 217 and only 24 balls left, it was down to Mahmudullah to provide the finishing touches; and the double dose of fortune he enjoyed in the 47th over was just what Bangladesh needed for a competitive total.

Mahmudullah was given out lbw off Rashid to start the over, but used DRS to overturn the decision. Two legal balls later, he drove back hard at Rashid, who dropped a difficult catch, his hands stung by the blow. Mahmudullah ended with another six over midwicket – this one off Farooqi. He was on 97 with one ball remaining. Omarzai swung one into off, which Mahmudullah could only clip behind square to be run-out while attempting a second.

Brief scores:
Afghanistan 246 for 5 in 48.2 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 101, Azmatullah Omarzai 70*, Mohamad Nabi 34*; Nahid Rana 2-40, Mustafizur Rahman 2-50) beat Bangladesh 244 for 8 in 50 overs (Soumya Sarkar 24, Mahmudullah 98, Mehidy Hasan Miraz  66; Azmatullah Omarzai 4-37) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]

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