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Porto’s highly-rated defender Abdoulaye Ba is a loan target for Aston Villa and Southampton, according to the Daily Mail.

The 22-year-old Senegal international has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs this summer and Porto are thought to be willing to let him leave Portugal in a loan deal worth at least £400,000.

And it is now thought that the Premier League duo have both lodged bids to bring the defender to England before the transfer window closes next week.

However, the Portuguese giants may change their mind if Eliaquim Managala is the subject of a late bid from Chelsea, who are reported to be lining up a move for the defender.

Ba was a member of Senegal’s under-23 squad that faced Great Britain in the London 2012 Olympic Games, while he has been capped four times by the Senegal national team.

Paul Lambert has been busy strengthening his Aston Villa squad this summer with no less than six new faces arriving at Villa Park, as he desperately tries to improve on Villa’s relegation-threatened campaign last term.

Southampton manager Mauricio Pochetttino has splashed out almost £35million on new recruits during this transfer window, including £13million on Roma’s Pablo Osvaldo and £12.7million on Celtic’s Victor Wanyama.

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Arsenal loanee Nicklas Bendtner has been labelled too fat by his new employers at Juventus.

The Danish international was a deadline day signing for the Italian champions, but lacks fitness as Arsene Wenger allowed him to miss training to try and find a new club throughout pre-season.

It is said the 24 year old is carrying too much weight to be effective Serie A, and his transfer has also been questioned in some quarters. The Daily Mail report that former star midfielder at the club, Alessio Tacchinardi said, “I will not say Bendtner is a bad player, but he does not help improve Juventus either.”

A key club objective for the Gunners this summer was removing disillusioned, out of favour players, Bendtner and Andrey Arshavin from the wage bill, who earn £52,000 and £80,000 a week respectively.

However the diminutive Russian remains at the club, enquiries were made for Russia’s captain to take him back to his home country. But Arsenal’s £5 million evaluation proved a sticking point and the 31 year old remains an Arsenal player for now.

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Glamorgan suffered their first Championship defeat of the summer as Essex crushed them by 248 runs in their Division Two match at Chelmsford

ECB/PA15-Jul-2015
ScorecardJesse Ryder completed a 10-wicket match haul to hand victory to Essex•Getty Images

Glamorgan suffered their first Championship defeat of the summer as Essex crushed them by 248 runs in their Division Two match at Chelmsford.After resuming on 110 for 1, having been left a target of 462, they were bowled out for 213 soon after lunch with only 18-year-old Aneurin Donald putting up much resistance. The teenager caught the eye with some fine strokes either side of the wicket before he tried to square cut a shoulder high delivery from David Masters and was caught behind by James Foster for 67.Donald’s fine innings contained seven fours and one six and served to underline the shortcomings of most of his colleagues. Admittedly, overcast conditions did provide the Essex bowlers with some assistance but not nearly as much as their efforts would imply.Poor shot-selection speeded Glamorgan’s demise and left Essex celebrating a third victory from their last four games. Fittingly it was Jesse Ryder who sealed the win by having Graham Wagg caught at long-off by Graham Napier.Wagg decided to hit out and struck two sixes on his way to 28 from 18 balls before Ryder had the last word. It gave Ryder 4 for 53 and a match haul of 10 for 100, only the second time in his career he has picked up a ten-wicket haul.The game from which Essex emerged with 21 points also provided captain Foster with personal satisfaction as he emerged with seven catches, five of them in the second innings. The first of those ended the resistance of his Glamorgan counterpart Jacques Rudolph, who added just 2 to his 45 before Ryder found the edge.This set the Welsh county on a slippery slope as seven wickets tumbled in the morning session for 72 despite Donald’s valiant attempts to keep his side’s interest in proceedings alive. But they quickly evaporated as Colin Ingram, Chris Cooke, Mark Wallace and Craig Meschede all departed within 12 overs, only Ingram managing to reach double figuresMasters, with 3 for 37, supplied Ryder with his main support while left-arm spinner Liam Dawson 2 for 34 and Jamie Porter, who ended with 1 for 41, shared the other wickets as Essex were able to avenge the 89-run defeat suffered in Cardiff earlier in the season. Glamorgan return to Wales with just three points and reflecting on a setback that put the brake on their promotion ambitions.

Australia completed a 277-run demolition of West Indies inside four days at Sabina Park to win the Frank Worrell Trophy 2-0

The Report by George Binoy14-Jun-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMitchell Starc took 3 for 34 in the second innings•Getty Images

Australia completed a 277-run demolition of West Indies inside four days at Sabina Park to win the Frank Worrell Trophy 2-0. West Indies began the day with eight wickets in hand, but their resistance was feeble. The contest was all but over after they lost 5 for 56 in the first session, and they crumbled for 114 shortly after lunch.

Smart Stats

0.65 West Indies’ win-loss ratio at home over the last 10 years, the worst for any top-eight team. West Indies have played 41 home Test during this period, winning 11 and losing 17.
9 Number of times three out of West Indies’ top six batsmen have been dismissed for ducks in a Test innings. Five of those instances have come since 2000.
31 Runs scored by West Indies’ top six batsmen in the second innings, the second-fewest in a Test innings at home. The fewest runs scored is 24, also at Sabina Park, against England in 2004.
49 The eighth-wicket partnership between Veerasammy Permaul and Denesh Ramdin in the second innings, the highest in 24 years for West Indies against Australia in a home Test.
611 Balls faced (or 101.5 overs) by West Indies’ batsmen in this Test, the third-fewest against Australia when they have been bowled out twice. The fewest balls faced is 457 (or 76.1 overs) in Port of Spain in 1999.

Mitchell Starc had accounted for Kraigg Brathwaite and Rajendra Chandrika in the first over of the innings late on the third day, and he struck in the fifth over this morning. A full ball curled into Shane Dowrich after angling across him from over the wicket and brushed his front pad. Starc whipped around to appeal for lbw, not realising the ball had gone on to hit off stump. He had figures of 6-4-2-3.There was seam movement on offer in the morning and Josh Hazlewood bowled an impeccable length around off stump, moving the ball just enough to constantly trouble the batsmen. Darren Bravo eventually pushed forward with hard hands, and the deviation off the pitch caused the outside edge to carry to gully, where Shaun Marsh stooped to take a low catch. Shortly after, Hazlewood induced Jermaine Blackwood to play on to a delivery that nipped into the right-hander from a good length, and West Indies were 33 for 5.The partnership between 21-year old Shai Hope and Denesh Ramdin lasted nine overs before Mitchell Johnson let one rip from round the wicket. Hope pushed forward with a gap between bat and pad and the ball cut in to hit off stump. There was no resistance from Jason Holder this time; he fell clipping Shane Watson tamely to short midwicket.West Indies were 72 for 7 at lunch but Ramdin and Veerasammy Permaul kept Australia waiting after the break. Their partnership extended to 49 at 4.5 runs at over before Johnson broke through. He squared Ramdin up and Michael Clarke dived to his right at second slip to take a low catch.The offspinner Nathan Lyon had not been used much in the innings but in his seventh over he ended the match off consecutive deliveries. Kemar Roach popped a catch to short leg, before Jerome Taylor was bowled slogging across the line to bag a pair. West Indies had lost 20 wickets in 101.5 overs in the Test.

Pat Howard has signed on for another two years as Australia’s executive general manager of team performance

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2015Pat Howard has signed on for another two years as Australia’s executive general manager of team performance.Howard was appointed in 2011 to the newly created role recommended by the Argus review and although his contract was due to end in June, his reappointment will now take his tenure through until at least 2017.”This recognises the outstanding job Pat is doing leading the team performance function at Cricket Australia,” Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland said. “Our men’s and women’s teams continue to succeed on the world stage while strong foundations are being built to achieve sustained success in all forms of the game.”Howard’s time at Cricket Australia has been eventful and he was part of the decision to sack Mickey Arthur as coach on the eve of the 2013 Ashes series in England.However, the team has enjoyed significant on-field success in the past two years – Australia currently hold the Ashes, World Cup and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.The major challenge in the coming months, though, will be to sustain that performance away from home, with Test campaigns in West Indies, England and Bangladesh.

Round-up of the first day of the eighth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group C matches

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2012
ScorecardOn a strange day in which two players single-handedly dominated the bowling and batting for their respective sides, and in doing so, created history, Jammu and Kashmir played out an evenly-contested first day against hosts Kerala. Opener Ian Dev Singh scored an unbeaten century, becoming the second J&K batsman to have carried his bat, and seamer CP Shahid, playing in his third first-class game, took 8 for 51 to register third-best figures for any bowler in his side in history. Besides opener Adil Rishi and No. 3 Bandeep Singh, who were the first two to be dismissed, all fell to him, as J&K were bowled out for 215.But wickets didn’t fall in a heap, as Ian Dev struck useful partnerships, especially for the third and the seventh wicket. None of them, however, lasted beyond 59 runs, and seven single-digit scores put paid to J&K’s hopes of a big first-innings total.
ScorecardServices captain and opener Soumik Chatterjee scored a century to lead his side to a strong 284 for 4 against Goa at stumps in Porvorim. After choosing to bat, they lost their other opener Pratik Desai in the fifth over, No. 3 Ansuhl Gupta for 31 in the 18th over and the next batsman Soumya Swain after ten more overs. But Chatterjee then combined with Yashpal Singh, who gave him able support, to give their side a strong foundation. The duo added 141 runs for the fourth wicket, before Chatterjee got out in the final session after scoring his fourth century.
ScorecardIn Guwahati, Assam built the foundation for a strong first innings against Himachal Pradesh after being put in to bat. Opener PP Das, playing his eighth first-class match, was dismissed for ten short of what would have been his maiden first-class century. Although none of the top-order batsmen scored a fifty, they featured in four productive partnerships, to help their side reach 213 for 4 at stumps.Das’ innings of 90 contained 15 boundaries, but he also played out many dot deliveries, as his innings’ strike-rate was 48.36. For Himachal, offspinner Gurvinder Singh, with two wickets, was the most productive bowler.
ScorecardJharkhand held the upper hand in their contest against Tripura in Agartala after right-arm fast bowler Ajay Yadav, in only his second first-class match, took 6 for 38 to help bowl Tripura out for 106. After a poor start to their reply, Ishank Jaggi and Saurabh Tiwary scored 85 runs together to leave their side to within 11 runs of their opponent’s total.Tripura’s innings crumbled from the beginning. Opener Shubhrajit Roy top-scored with 43, and only two others scored beyond five runs in the innings. When five wickets had fallen for 12 runs in the 11th over, Shubrajit and Debabrata Chowdhury stuck for 17.2 overs, and helped them to a better position, adding 54 runs. But Chowdhury’s dismissal led to another collapse, and Tripura were soon bowled out. Their bowlers, however, gave them a positive start with the ball, as Jharkhand were reduced to 10 for 3, but Tiwary and Jaggi batted responsibly to ensure their side’s dominance.

Kevin Pietersen has reiterated his commitment to attend the birth of his first child, even if means leaving the field mid game

Cricinfo staff30-Apr-2010Kevin Pietersen has backed Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy to carry England ‘a long way’ in the World Twenty20 but reiterated his commitment to attending the birth of his first child, even if meant leaving the field mid game.Aside from Bangladesh, England are the only Test-playing nation not to win a global tournament and have endured a dismal run in recent times. Yet they play their first game on Monday in Guyana in conditions likely to favour the slower bowlers and Pietersen feels England have the men to deliver.”I think we’ve got a good chance,” Pietersen said. “We’ve got some pretty good spin bowlers – Swanny’s obviously world-class, [Michael] Yardy’s performed brilliantly in the two warm-up games, and I think I may have a trundle in Guyana on those wickets.””If we field well, take all our catches and have some moments of brilliance, I don’t see any reason why we can’t go a long, long way. But anyone could win this tournament – it’s very unpredictable.”Should they make the final it is likely Pietersen will not be available because he will leave the Caribbean to be present at the birth of his first child, who is due on the weekend of May 15 and 16. He has made his position clear all along and has the support of the England management.”As soon as she goes into labour, I’ll be off,” he said. “No matter where it is in the tournament, I’ll be off – and it’s been cleared with the management to do that. If I’m in the middle of a match, I’ll obviously get off the field and then I’ll be on the next plane that flies into London Heathrow.”Should he leave the tournament, Pietersen would be following on from a precedent set in recent times. Andrew Strauss missed the third Test against Pakistan in 2005 and Matt Prior missed the fourth Test against West Indies last year. It’s a trend Pietersen is happy to see continue. “I think it’s pretty sad that if you have your first child people criticise you for wanting to be there, whatever walk of life.”

Sri Lanka’s spinners picked up nine wickets as West Indies bundled out for 89 in chase of 163

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2024Sri Lanka’s spinners ripped through the West Indies batters on a turning Dambulla surface to level the series at one apiece, as they won the second T20I by 73 runs.Debutant Dunith Wellalage – belatedly making his T20I bow – was the pick of the bowlers, ending with figures of 3 for 9, while Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga and Charith Asalanka grabbed two each. Matheesha Pathirana was the sole seamer to pick up a wicket in the innings.With the bat, Pathum Nissanka’s 54 off 49 had helped set the platform as Sri Lanka did well to keep a steady run rate throughout their innings, having won the toss and elected to bat first. There were also runs for Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera and Kamindu Mendis, but this game was all about Sri Lanka’s spinners who showed total dominance in the West Indian chase.

Sri Lanka spinners flex their skills

Hasaranga, Sri Lanka’s premier spinner, bowled his first delivery of the game in the 11th over of the chase. And the fact that he picked up a wicket with that delivery was perhaps the least remarkable aspect about it.What was more astounding was that he was the sixth bowler used by Sri Lanka, and West Indies had still managed to collapse to 39 for 6. But who needs Hasaranga when you have the world-renowned offspin stylings of, um, Charith Asalanka. Yes, with two left-hand batters at the crease, the Sri Lanka captain opted to introduce himself and a right-arm variant of Kamindu Mendis ahead of Hasaranga.Maheesh Theekshana chipped in with two wickets•Associated Press

And it worked too. Asalanka’s two overs brought two wickets for just six runs – and those weren’t even the best figures at that stage of the game. No, that honour belonged to Wellalage – though he is by no means new to the international stage – who had grabbed three for himself.In the lead-up to the game, Asalanka had stated how he had expected more for the spinners in the first T20I, and his wish was granted and then some in the second. Gudakesh Motie turning the ball square in the first innings would have set off West Indies’ alarm bells, but not even that could have prepared them for a 100kph sharp-turning offbreak from Theekshana.

WI need to go back to drawing board

The first T20I had seen the West Indies batters execute their plans to perfection and put Sri Lanka’s bowlers to the sword. Stepping out, moving around in the crease, using the depth, everything came off, with the last over-finish in reality nowhere close as it looked.Sri Lanka, though, took their learnings and came back stronger – mainly in that they were prepared for what this surface was set to offer, replacing pace-bowling allrounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe with Wellalage.West Indies, however, seemed to have missed the memo, and had only two spinners in their line-up. And those two – Motie and Roston Chase – did their part, going for just 37 off their collective eight overs. It will not be a surprise if Fabian Allen gets a go in the final game.West Indies’ batters then seemed at a loss on how to deal with Sri Lanka’s array of spin threats, expertly utilising the conditions along with clever variations in pace, line and length. West Indies will need to come up with plans soon if they are to pose a threat in Thursday’s decider.

Nissanka shines in hindsight

On the face of it, Nissanka’s innings seemed to be more detrimental than anything else – and by the standards of modern T20 cricket, it was not too difficult to understand why. This was an innings that saw 42 runs come in boundaries (9 fours and a six) but also included 27 dot balls.Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis added 77 for the first wicket•Associated Press

In fact, it was a microcosm of Sri Lanka’s innings as a whole; they played out 58 dots. It meant that in five of the first ten overs less than five runs were scored, and roughly half of their powerplay total of 52 was plundered in one Shamar Joseph over, where a combination of luck and belligerence saw Nissanka plunder 25 runs.But if that over was meant to signal the start of Sri Lanka’s onslaught, Nissanka and Co seemed to have other ideas. That over ensured that the first three overs, in which Sri Lanka scrounged together eight runs, were quickly in the rearview; by the end of the powerplay Sri Lanka’s run rate was at a healthy 8.66 – but that was the highest it would reach at any point across their innings.The rest of Nissanka’s time at the crease was spent punctuating periods of dot deliveries and the odd single with an odd boundary. But the time he spent at the crease ensured he was able to do this consistently – and with it keep Sri Lanka’s scoring rate ticking above seven an over.Anchors are largely considered obsolete in T20s, but on a wicket such as this Nissanka – who was named Player of the Match – proved to be invaluable (even if it did not seem so at the time), as he allowed the likes of Perera to take early risks. And then with wickets in hand for the death overs, the middle and lower order hit out freely. As a result, Sri Lanka struck 85 runs in the last ten overs – just four short of West Indies’ final total.

A half-century by Georgia Voll was the decisive factor as Heat won by 26 runs

AAP21-Oct-2022Georgia Voll whips off her toes•Getty Images

Brisbane Heat’s batting depth has come to the fore with a match-defining half-century by Georgia Voll securing a 26-run win over the Melbourne Renegades in the WBBL.Heat posted 8 for 163 and dismissed the Renegades for 137 at Adelaide’s Karen Rolton Oval. It was the Heat’s second win in three days over the same opposition after prevailing in Mackay on Tuesday.Heat slumped to 3 for 31 at the end of the sixth over before Voll (52 off 37 balls) and Amelia Kerr (27 off 22) conjured a rescue mission to get their side back in the game.Voll’s innings was a masterclass of placement and common sense in a knock that included nine boundaries. She stayed until the 19th over to hold the innings together with late cameos from Jess Jonassen and Pooja Vastrakar giving the Heat bowlers a total to defend.Renegades’ innings was a carbon copy of Heat’s at the start as they crashed to 3 for 15 in the fifth over.Josephine Dooley (40 off 28) gave the Renegades a sniff but the turning point came when she holed out to the first ball of the 11th over. Two balls later Heat medium pacer Courtney Grace Sippel dismissed Georgia Prestwidge without scoring.Melbourne needed 99 from the last nine overs and a whirlwind hand by Ellie Falconer (27 off 11) gave her side a chance before she chopped on to Kerr. Courtney Webb ran out of partners when the last wicket fell at the end of the 19th over.Heat’s bowlers performed well as a unit with legspinner Kerr (3 for 26) and offspinner Charli Knott (3 for 19) chiming in with key wickets to swing the momentum their team’s way.Renegades announced on Friday that they had signed Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu for the remainder of the season.The 32-year-old will join the squad following Monday’s match against the Adelaide Strikers, and she replaces Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who was ruled out for the season with a back injury.Meanwhile, the dates for the WBBL finals have been confirmed, with all three matches to take place between November 23-26.The Eliminator (3rd v 4th) is on November 23, with The Challenger (2nd v The Eliminator winner) to be held a day later.The November 26 final is on the same day as the Socceroos’ World Cup clash with Tunisia, and also the Victoria State election.

He is expected to take at least three weeks to recover

Mohammad Isam20-May-2022There’s more bad news for Bangladesh’s bowling attack, with Nayeem Hasan ruled out of the second Test against Sri Lanka, in Dhaka, with a finger injury.A BCB statement quoted national team physio Bayzidul Islam as saying, “Nayeem had a contusion of the right middle finger while batting and fielding in the first Test. An X-Ray after the match confirmed an oblique fracture on the tip of the middle finger. He will miss the second Test. We will take specialist opinion before planning his rehab and recovery.”Offspinner Nayeem was seen with his right hand in a sling, and the injured finger in wraps, on the flight from Chattogram, where the first Test was played, to Dhaka on Friday. Nayeem will be the fourth frontline bowler to be sidelined from the two-Test series after injuries to Shoriful Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taskin Ahmed; Mehidy and Taskin are missing the whole series.Nayeem took career-best figures of 6 for 105 in the first innings of the Chattogram Test as he made his return to the Test team after 15 months. The injury took place on the fourth day, when Nayeem couldn’t hold on to a return catch offered by Dimuth Karunaratne and his finger was jammed into the pitch. He still ended up bowling 23 overs in the Sri Lanka second innings as the match petered out into a draw.Earlier in the same afternoon, quick bowler Kasun Rajitha, himself a concussion sub for Vishwa Fernando, struck Shoriful’s hand during the Bangladesh innings, and the left-arm quick did not take any further part in the match. He has already been ruled out of the Dhaka Test and, like Taskin, is unlikely to play in the West Indies Test series next month.The second Test will start on Monday.