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Uthappa’s 24 off nine went in vain for Atlanta Riders

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2023Yusuf Pathan, Naman Ojha spoil Finch’s six partyFormer India players Naman Ojha and Yusuf Pathan led the New Jersey Triton’s chase at different points to give them a six-wicket win over California Knights. Batting first in a game that was to be originally played on August 18 but was postponed because of rain, California were powered to 116 for 3 by Aaron Finch’s unbeaten 75 off 31, studded with three fours and eight sixes.California were also helped by Milind Kumar’s 27 off 14 before he was run out. In reply, Ojha, opening with Jesse Ryder, gave New Jersey a powerful start by smashing two fours and two sixes in his 11-ball 25. Once they lost three wickets in as many overs, Yusuf latched into the bowlers, hitting 35 off just 11, before Chris Barnwell and Peter Trego finished things off.Afridi, Sohail, Kamran, Dilshan shine for New York WarriorsIn another rescheduled game, New York Warriors’ Pakistani firepower lifted them to the top of the table with a three-wicket haul from Sohail Khan and cameos from Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi, along with Tillakaratne Dilshan. The batters combined to chase down their target of 98 with 11 balls to spare for a seven-wicket win against Atlanta Riders.Batting first, Atlanta saw fiery starts from Robin Uthappa (24 off nine) and Lendl Simmons (21 off 11), but Sohail’s 3 for 21 restricted them to 97 for 4. Dwayne Smith top-scored with 34 but took 26 balls for it. In reply, Kamran and Dilshan hammered 63 for the opening stand in just 4.1 overs to set the tone for the chase before Afridi (22* off 14) and Jonathan Carter (17* off nine) sealed two points for New York.The opening match of the tournament, between Atlanta Riders and Texas Chargers, was also rescheduled for Monday but had to be abandoned as rain once again played spoilsport.

No risks from champions as Nottinghamshire’s overnight ascendancy is thwarted

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2023Brett Hutton’s fifth five-wicket haul of the season was the highlight of the final day at The Oval as Surrey’s LV= Insurance County Championship fixture with Nottinghamshire petered out into a draw.Hutton, who spent a portion of day one off the field with what proved to be cramp, took 5 for 91 to take his tally for the season in the Championship to 41, putting him alongside Durham’s Chris Rushworth at the top of the wicket-taking standings.South African leg-spinner Calvin Harrison provided great support for Hutton with 3 for 99 to bowl out the hosts for 340 40 minutes after lunch. This was a heroic effort from the visitors who, already without the services of Jake Ball, injured in the first innings, then lost Dane Paterson to what appeared to be a hip injury after just one delivery with the new ball.Will Jacks led the run-scoring for Surrey with a largely subdued 60, while there a maiden first-class 50 for Tom Lawes, but Surrey’s batting was overly cautious for too long.The eventual chase was 297 from 52 overs, but despite a solid start from Ben Slater (39) and acting captain Haseeb Hameed (44 not out ) a draw was agreed with the visitors 118 for 1.Surrey began the day 156 ahead with five wickets down, so were understandably keen to avoid a collapse which would have afforded the men of Trent Bridge a more comfortable chase. Consequently, progress from Lawes and Jacks was at best steady, the main talking point being an accidental beamer by Paterson to Lawes from a ball which clearly slipped out of his hand.The arrival of the new ball led briefly to a change of approach as Jacks attempted to break the shackles with two fours from a Hutton over. Paterson’s unfortunate injury appeared to help the host’s cause, but Hutton responded magnificently in adversity, trapping Jacks lbw before sending first-innings centurion Jordan Clark packing by the same means.Surrey went to lunch on 299 for 7, 255 in front but anyone hoping they would have a quick dart on the resumption were disappointed as they chewed up more than 11 overs in adding a further 41.Lawes reached 50 in 106 balls before Harrison had him superbly caught at slip by Matthew Montgomery. The leg-spinner then turned catcher to remove Sean Abbott and give Hutton his fourth victim.The run-chase may have been more tempting had Jamie Overton been given out caught at mid-wicket soon afterwards, but the square leg umpire ruled the catch hadn’t carried and consequently another seven overs slipped by before Hutton wrapped up the innings.Hameed and Slater saw off the early swing from the Kookaburra in the run-chase, the latter more than once despatching the short ball to the fence. However, the run-rate required which had begun at almost six continued to rise. By the time Slater cut Jacks into the hands of Abbott at point from what proved the last ball before tea to depart for 39, that rate was almost seven.A barrage of short balls from Overton immediate post the tea interval slowed down Nottinghamshire’s progress still further and Hameed and Young batted with few alarms before the 5pm handshakes.

حصل فريق الهلال السعودي على بطاقة التأهل إلى دور ربع نهائي كأس العالم للأندية، نسخة 2025، بعد فوزه التاريخي على مانشستر سيتي في مباراتهما فجر اليوم.

وخاض مانشستر سيتي مباراته في دور الـ16 من بطولة كأس العالم للأندية، المُقامة حاليًا في أمريكا حتى 13 يوليو الجاري، ضد الهلال.

وانتهت المباراة بفوز الهلال على مانشستر سيتي، بأربعة أهداف مقابل ثلاثة، في مباراة امتدت للأشواط الإضافية (لمطالعة التفاصيل كاملة من هنا).

بتلك النتيجة، تحصل الهلال على بطاقة التأهل إلى ربع نهائي كأس العالم للأندية، في نظامها الجديد.

من جهة أخرى، حصل فلومينينسي على بطاقة التأهل إلى دور ربع نهائي كأس العالم للأندية بعدما فاز على إنتر ميلان بهدفين دون رد. موعد مباراة الهلال وفلومينينسي في ربع نهائي كأس العالم للأندية

تنطلق المباراة يوم الجمعة المقبل، 5 يوليو الجاري، في تمام الساعة العاشرة مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة والسعودية.

This season has felt like a real slog for Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta’s side have had to deal with a drop in form, questionable officiating, and a mountain of injuries, which have eviscerated their frontline.

Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are all out injured, with the last two not set to return until next season, which makes the decision not to sign anyone last month look utterly absurd.

Gabriel Jesus

ACL

22/11/2025

Takehiro Tomiyasu

Knee Surgery

06/10/2025

Kai Havertz

Hamstring

21/07/2025

Gabriel Martinelli

Hamstring

01/04/2025

Bukayo Saka

Hamstring

16/03/2025

Following the loss of Havertz earlier this month, we reckon the manager would love to have one of his former forward options back in the squad, especially as he’s won comparisons to Manchester City’s new addition, Omar Marmoush.

Havertz's pre-injury form

It would be fair to say that Havertz is a centre-forward who divides opinion.

After all, the former Chelsea ace was initially signed as a midfielder to replace Granit Xhaka in the summer of 2023.

However, while the criticisms of his finishing ability certainly hold true, as evidenced by Understat revealing he’s underperformed his expected goals by 2.76 this season, he’s been more effective than people have perhaps given him credit for this year.

Appearances

34

Minutes

2776′

Goals

15

Assists

5

Goal Involvements per Match

0.58

Minutes per Goal Involvement

138.8

For example, in 34 appearances before his injury, totalling 2776 minutes, the 25-year-old “monster,” as dubbed by writer Jake Entwistle, managed to rack up a pretty decent haul of 15 goals and five assists.

That means the Aachen-born forward was averaging a goal involvement every 1.7 games, or every 138.8 minutes, which not only makes him the Gunners’ top scorer this year but also demonstrates why his absence from the starting lineup for the rest of the campaign is such a significant concern.

It’s a problem that Arteta will have to find a solution for as soon as possible, and while he likely will, we can’t help thinking about how useful it’d be to have one of his former stars back in the team, especially as they’ve won comparisons to Marmoush of all people this year.

The former Arsenal star compared to Marmoush

Arsenal have had some brilliant strikers play for them in recent history, such as Olivier Giroud and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but perhaps one of their most underrated number nines in the modern era was Alexandre Lacazette.

The French poacher joined the Gunners in the window before Aubameyang arrived, so his efforts in attack were often, understandably, underappreciated, as while he could be profligate and even sluggish at times, the Lyon-born star had a pretty decent record.

When he left the Emirates for free in the summer of 2023, the 33-year-old did so with 71 goals and 32 assists to his name in 206 appearances, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every other game, and considering he’s since racked up a haul of 63 goals and 12 assists in 103 appearances for Lyon, it would be fair to say he would’ve been the ideal solution to Havertz’s recent injury.

On top of his raw output, the French “goal machine,” as former teammate Sokratis described him, has been likened to one of the most exciting players in Europe this season: Marmoush.

The comparison stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, has concluded that the Egyptian is the second most similar forward to the Lyon star.

Progressive Passes Received

7.52

7.52

Penalty Kicks

0.14

0.10

Goals per Shot

0.15

0.18

Passing Accuracy

70.6%

71.2%

Passes into the Penalty Area

1.45

1.44

Passes into the Final Third

1.66

1.78

Expected Assists

0.26

0.24

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, including, but not limited to, progressive passes received, penalty kicks, goals per shot, expected assists, passing accuracy, passes into the final third and more, all per 90.

Ultimately, there can be no doubt over the fact that following Havertz’s injury, Arsenal are in the midst of a crisis in attack, and while moving Lacazette on over two years ago was probably the right move, we can’t help but imagine Arteta would be feeling much better about the situation with him in his squad.

Arsenal lost a "top talent" for £0, now he's similar to Isak & Havertz

The experienced Premier League star would be perfect for Arsenal at the moment.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Feb 28, 2025

The transfer window has concluded in disappointing fashion for Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta, who did not get a single outfield signing through the door and failed in their pursuit of a much-needed striker.

Arsenal inactive in January as Mikel Arteta shares disappointment

Ahead of their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Newcastle United tonight, Arteta spoke of how the club were not happy over their lack of business.

£150,000-a-week star who's "running" matches could miss Newcastle v Arsenal

This would be a massive blow for Eddie Howe.

By
Henry Jackson

Feb 4, 2025

The Spaniard, despite links to an array of high-profile centre-forwards, couldn’t get a new frontman to ease the pressure on Kai Havertz. Arsenal made a late bid for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, and were tipped to target the likes of Juventus star Dušan Vlahović, RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, Tottenham loanee Mathys Tel, Sporting Lisbon sensation Viktor Gyokeres and Wolves’ Matheus Cunha throughout the winter window.

Arteta says Arsenal are disappointed to not have got a single squad upgrade through the door before Monday’s deadline, but also says that they were disciplined enough not to panic buy either.

“We had a clear intention, which is always there is a window open to explore opportunities to improve our squad with players that can impact it,” said Arteta on Arsenal’s January window.

“We haven’t achieved it so we are disappointed in that sense but as well we are very aware that we only want to bring in certain kinds of players and we have to be very disciplined with that as well, and I think that we were.”

It was also an uneventful window in terms of exits, despite a few squad members attracting interest. Left-back Kieran Tierney was attracting serious interest from Celtic, but he’ll have to wait until summer to park his move back to Parkhead.

Meanwhile, midfielder Jorginho has also been subject to serious interest from Brazilian sides, with his contract expiring at the end of this season.

Jorginho in pre-summer talks to join Flamengo from Arsenal with deal close

Flamengo appear to be leading the pack to sign him on a pre-contract, and are in negotiations to do so right now.

That is according to GOAL Brasil, who state that an authorised intermediary of Jorginho is in talks with Flamengo on the player’s behalf. The outlet reports that Flamengo want to seal a pre-contract agreement with Jorginho “in the coming days”, and they’re convinced that they’re close to an agreement with the Italy international.

The Brazilian transfer window is actually still open, and will be until February 28th, but Flamengo concede that a deal for Jorginho is unlikely to happen until the summer.

The 33-year-old has been a useful utility player for Arteta this season, so Arsenal’s manager won’t be keen on losing him midway through the campaign.

“I know him a lot, so for me it is nice to play with him he knows me well,” said Kai Havertz last season. “It makes life easy for me, he is a world-class player.”

MatériaMais Notícias

O Flamengo está próximo de mais uma contratação. Depois de fechar com Everton Cebolinha, e Arturo Vidal estar próximo, a bola da vez é Luís Henrique, cria do Botafogo. O Rubro-Negro fez proposta ao jogador, que gostou dos números e já aceitou jogar no clube.

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+ Adeus confirmado: Andreas Pereira é o 19º jogador a deixar o Flamengo em 2022; veja a lista

A proposta é por empréstimo de um ano. Luís já deu sinal verde e afirmou que quer jogar no Flamengo, que agora negocia a liberação junto ao Olympique de Marselha-FRA. Essa, contudo, não deve ser a parte mais difícil da negociação, já que o atacante não é muito utilizado na equipe.

O Botafogo até chegou nas negociações um pouco depois do Flamengo e ofereceu exatamente os mesmos números a Luís Henrique, mas o atacante optou pelo Flamengo e já deu a palavra que atuará no clube da Gávea.

A negociação está próxima de ser concretizada. No Botafogo, alguns dirigentes até mesmo “já jogam a toalha” e consideram que Luís, realmente, será jogador do Flamengo. O Rubro-Negro tem caminho livre para conversar diretamente com o Olympique.

+ Confira a tabela completa do Brasileirão e simule os resultados

O OM tinha negociações com Nantes-FRA e Torino-ITA em relação a Luís Henrique, mas a vontade do jogador deve falar mais alto nessa questão.

Comprado pelo Botafogo em 2020, Luís Henrique marcou um gol e deu seis assistências em 49 jogos pelo Olympique de Marselha.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) says it is paying for Danushka Gunathilaka’s legal defence in Australia because the charges of sexual intercourse without consent were laid on him while he was on national duty at the T20 World Cup.Related

• Danushka Gunathilaka granted bail in case of alleged sexual assault

• Police facts sheet: Gunathilaka's alleged victim was 'choked repeatedly without consent'

• Gunathilaka charged for alleged sexual assault, arrested in Sydney

• Danushka Gunathilaka denied bail, suspended by SLC from 'all forms of cricket'

It is also not yet clear whether Gunathilaka breached SLC’s own protocol by going on a date during an active tour, something the board CEO Ashley de Silva told ESPNcricinfo was prohibited. Six days after the alleged incident, SLC says it is yet to figure out whether Gunathilaka broke curfew on Wednesday, November 2, the night to which the charges relate.SLC has no contractual obligation to assist Gunathilaka’s defence, and is doing so voluntarily. De Silva insists, however, that it will recover the legal costs eventually, either by asking Gunathilaka to pay the board back, or by docking payments the board owes him.”This wasn’t a private visit,” de Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “He was with the team in an official capacity, so we felt we should pay the legal fees, on the condition that we can recover them from him later, whatever the results of the case.”His parents probably aren’t able to do that [cover the legal costs],” De Silva said further. Gunathilaka has been a regular part of Sri Lanka’s limited-overs teams since mid 2017, playing 47 ODIs and 46 T20Is, in addition to eight Tests. He has appeared in at least three franchise T20 tournaments and also has local sponsorship deals.De Silva equated SLC’s backing of Kusal Perera in the first six months of 2016, to their support of Gunathilaka now. “Just like we recovered the cost of that case, after Kusal Perera was cleared, we will do so here as well.”Perera’s case, however, was not criminal in nature and there is no previous instance of SLC providing official support to a player facing criminal charges.Gunathilaka had been ruled out of the T20 World Cup on October 19 with a hamstring injury but had remained with the squad in Australia as “a stand-by player” when the alleged incident occurred.Asked whether SLC’s own reputation is tarnished by its support of a player facing such serious charges, de Silva said the board should offer its support “to someone who has fallen into such a situation”.Whether Gunathilaka breached the team’s own touring codes – something that would normally warrant internal censure – de Silva was not sure yet. SLC has appointed a three-member probe to make an “independent inquiry”, and de Silva said the team manager is in touch with the ICC’s security personnel to ascertain whether Gunathilaka breached curfew that evening.SLC also denied an allegation from a senior journalist that politicians had instructed the board to bear Gunathilaka’s legal costs. The board did this via a statement issued on Tuesday, which said that “Sri Lanka Cricket has in no way been influenced by a ‘third party’ in carrying out the obligatory actions required to be taken to allow Mr. Danushka Gunathilaka to pursue any legal rights available to him”.Later in the same release, SLC said it had been “in consultation with the Ministry of Sports and Youth, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the consular officials” in taking steps to pursue Gunathilaka’s legal rights.Gunathilaka was arrested on the morning of November by Sydney police, and charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent, and was later denied bail. According to de Silva, apart from a five-minute period around the arrest during which Gunathilaka spoke to the team manager, SLC staff has not been in direct contact with the player.