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Pakistan huffed and puffed through a chase of 237 but they made it in the end thanks to the composure of their captain

The Report by Danyal Rasool12-Jun-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:35

Agarkar: Sarfraz’s calmness crucial in guiding his side

The Champions Trophy might have been damp and lifeless on the English shores this year, but it was on a Welsh detour that it finally roared to life. In the game which had the most riding on it all tournament, Pakistan and Sri Lanka provided a spectacle befitting the magnitude of the occasion, and Pakistan sneaked across the line with a thrilling three-wicket win. But that’s only half the story. The rest centered around how madly the momentum of this game swung as two obviously flawed teams battled tooth and nail.

Pakistan fined for slow over rate

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has been fined 20% of his match fee, while his team-mates were fined 10% of their match fees, for maintaining a slow over-rate during the match against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan were found to be one over short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration. A second minor over-rate offence in the tournament could result in a one-match suspension for Sarfraz.
Sarfraz pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction; a formal hearing was not required as a result. The charge was laid by on-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and Marais Erasmus, third umpire Chris Gaffaney and fourth umpire Ian Gould.

Qualification to the semis was the prize riding on this game that was a quarter-final in all but name, and it was clear both sides wanted it desperately. Sri Lanka started impressively but a brilliant spell midway from Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan restricted them to 236. Pakistan made the chase look harder than it was but captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Amir were there at the end to see their side home. Though the prospect of facing England on Wednesday will be daunting, it will be the last thing on their minds right now.From the moment Pakistan’s seventh wicket fell – with 75 still to win – two antsy sides were hoping they could do just about enough to pip the other. Sri Lanka were the favourites at that point, but their fielding let them down badly. Thisara Perera dropped a sitter at mid-on in the 39th over. Substitute fielder Seekkuge Prasanna shelled another chance – albeit a more difficult one – in the 41st. And Sarfraz, the reprieved batsman, the last of the specialists, took the game away.Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s great talisman, had created both chances and if this is to be his final ICC tournament, it was a cruel way to go. He watched, helplessly, as his team began to gift overthrows, and little by little, the belief as well to the Pakistan batsmen. By the time a dispirited Malinga was brought back for his final over, the fielding had disintegrated to amateurish level. Eventually, Sarfraz dabbed him over third man for the winning runs, and a shocking last half hour for the Sri Lankans met the end it deserved.Sarfraz Ahmed’s composure helped Pakistan overcome an untimely collapse•Getty Images

Before the nerves got hold of them, Pakistan were cruising. A dropped catch and a run-out opportunity in the first two overs aside, Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali set about their task masterfully.Fakhar, comfortable in his role as the designated aggressor up front, hit three boundaries in the third over against Malinga. He didn’t mind riding his luck at times, an outside edge burst through slips for four while a top edge flew for six, and when he was dismissed – caught at long leg – he had scored 50 off 36 and Pakistan were sitting pretty at 74 for 1 in 11.2 overs.But with this being Pakistan, there was the inevitable feeling they would take the Rolling English Road to victory. Two wickets fell quickly as Babar Azam clipped Nuwan Pradeep straight to short midwicket and Hafeez chipped one to mid-on next over. Opener Azhar Ali was done in by the extra bounce of Suranga Lakmal soon after, edging a sharp catch to first slip. Pakistan were at 110 for 4, and the game was anything but a foregone conclusion.Sri Lanka were quietly climbing into a position of ascendancy, but Pakistan almost appeared not to notice the early signs of danger. It certainly couldn’t be ignored when Shoaib Malik gloved a short ball from Malinga to the keeper. When Imad Wasim fell five balls later, Pakistan were 6 down with 100 runs still to win.Debutant Faheem Ashraf’s short-lived stay at the crease was fraught with danger as the bowlers peppered him with short deliveries, several of which caught his top edge but managed to evade the boundary riders. For all the risks he was taking on strike, he was run-out at the other end, a ricochet off the bowler’s hand finding the stumps before his bat hit the ground.There were no such errors from Pakistan with the ball though. In fact they were so good that Sri Lanka, despite dominating large parts of their innings, were bowled out well below the par score.A sensational four-over burst from Amir and Junaid ripped the heart out of the Sri Lankan middle order as they went from 161 for 3 to 167 for 7. It was superb fast bowling, evoking comparisons with some of the greats of Pakistan cricket and that it came soon after the innings’ second drinks break spoke either to some kind of strategy, or an especially rousing team talk from the captain Sarfraz. Either way, it was match-turning.Sri Lanka were setting up effectively for the final flourish, with Niroshan Dickwella and Angelo Mathews locked in a settled partnership, before Amir dismissed Mathews off the second ball of the 32nd over, the batsman dragging onto his stumps. Junaid followed up next over with a length delivery that seamed teasingly away from newcomer Dhananjaya de Silva and took his outside edge. Sarfraz then pulled off a superb reflex catch to get rid of Dickwella for 73 and Thisara was caught at slip next over. Sri Lanka’s position of strength was decimated in mere minutes.If it appeared that passage of play would be the solitary turning point of the match, Pakistan and Sri Lanka showed that when they take on each other, it is never quite that simple.

Shahid Afridi’s four wickets gave Hampshire promise of victory but they dried up with the bat as Kent kept their last-eight hopes alive

ECB Reporters Network01-Aug-2017Shahid Afridi’s four wickets were to no avail•Getty Images

Mitchell Claydon defended 16 in the final over to back up Daniel Bell-Drummond’s ninth career T20 fifty as Kent edged a last over thriller to beat Hampshire by five runs in the Natwest T20 Blast.England Lions star Bell-Drummond carefully hit 62 to help the visitors reach 159 for six on a slow track.Hampshire faltered in the second half of the innings to fall short. They needed 37 from 28 balls when Australian George Bailey was the third wicket to fall. Liam Dawson managed 5 from 9 balls and No. 3 Tom Alsop was left high and dry with 43 from 41 balls with only two boundaries.Hampshire’s captain James Vince expressed his disappointment at a victory that eluded his side: “For three quarters of the game we did better than them but we struggled to find the boundary in the second half of our innings,” he said. “We needed 72 from 10 overs with eight wickets in hand – it was a bit of a mess up but we have to move on for Friday.”He defended the decision not to push Shahid Afridi up the order to No 6, saying: “Afridi hasn’t really hit it miles yet this season and McManus has been in really good touch. We didn’t lose a wicket for a while so no one went in and we left too much to do in the back end. In hindsight we would have liked to win that with an over to spare.”Vince and Rilee Rossouw had got Hampshire off to a quick start in their quest to reach 160. Skipper Vince in particular took a fancy to Mitchell Clayton, who he dispatched for the match’s first six over cover in the fourth over.But the fast bowler hit back three balls later as Rossouw picked out Alex Blake at mid-on to break the 43-run opening partnership. Vince departed to the final ball of the powerplay as he was yorked by former teammate Matt Coles – as Hampshire sped to 60 in the opening six overs.Spin pair Imran Qayyum and James Tredwell put the brakes on Hampshire’s charge with tight middle overs. And from then on the hosts struggled, Bailey and Alsop neatly added 40 to take their side to 28 runs from victory before the Australian chipped a paddle sweep to short fine leg for a season best 41.Liam Dawson then picked out Blake on the long on boundary to leave his side needing 16 from the final over. But Claydon brilliantly defended the last six balls, as he only went for 10, to lift Kent’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.Earlier, Kent captain Sam Northeast won the toss and decided to bat on a grubby track under thin grey clouds.Joe Denly and Bell-Drummond set off at an understated rate, which set the tone for the innings. Denly cracked back-to-back fours off Chris Wood in the second over, two of just 12 boundaries in the Kent total, as they reached 47 by the end of the Powerplay. Mason Crane broke the 65-run opening stand when he bowled Denly with a googly.Skipper Northeast was bowled for a quick 10 and Sam Billings picked out Crane on the long on boundary as Afridi showed his class by going on to take four wickets.England Lions star Bell-Drummond continued to tick the score along effortlessly and reached a 33-ball fifty. Afridi was keeping things tight at the other end but waited until his final over to blow the visitors away by snatching two wickets in two balls.James Neesham top edged a sweep to short third man and Bell-Drummond was brilliant caught by a sliding Dawson on the cover boundary – leaving Afridi with his third best Hampshire T20 figures of 4 for 26.Alex Blake and Darren Stevens struck a quick 39 to lift Kent to 159 although the latter was caught at mid-off at the final ball as Kyle Abbott deceived him with a slower ball – but the score was enough.

A look at Australia’s batsmen and bowlers at each Ashes venue in England over the years

S Rajesh29-Jun-2009Lord’s hasn’t always hosted the first Test of an Ashes series, but the Australians have been understandably miffed about the decision to have Cardiff host the first match this time. Lord’s has traditionally been Australia’s strongest venue in England, and the only ground where they won a Test in that historic series in 2005. Ricky Ponting went as far as to say that England had deliberately switched venues this time to ensure the series doesn’t start at Australia’s stronghold.That’s a debatable point – Lord’s didn’t host the first Test in 2001 either, when the series started at Edgbaston – but what isn’t debatable is Australia’s overwhelming dominance at the venue. In 33 Tests against England there, they’ve won 14 and lost only five, giving them a win-loss ratio of 2.80, easily their best among all venues in England. The last time Australia lost there was way back in 1934. Since then, in 18 Tests, they’ve drawn and won nine times each.Trent Bridge is next best, but unfortunately for Australia, that’s not on the fixtures list for the five-Test series. Edgbaston and The Oval are the two venues where Australia have lost more than they have won, and they’ll be playing at both grounds, in the third and fifth Tests. The Oval has been a particularly poor venue for them – they’ve won six and lost 15 in 34 matches. In the last nine Tests, Australia have only won once and lost three times, though two of those defeats, in 1993 and 1997 were in dead-rubber games, after the series had been won.

Batting and bowling stars at each venueDon Bradman is obviously a name that is among the top of the list in terms of batsmen who’ve done well at a specific English venue, but he doesn’t lead the table (for batsmen who’ve played at least three matches at a venue). The leader of the pack is Steve Waugh, whose three innings at Headingley read 177 not out, 157 not out and 4, for an aggregate, and an average, of 338. His stats were obviously helped by a couple of not-outs, but Don Bradman had only one of those in six innings at Headingley, and yet finished with an average of 192.60. Between them, they topped fifty six times at the venue and they made it count each time, going on to a three-figure score.Bradman and Waugh share the next two spots too, for performances at The Oval and Lord’s, before allowing David Boon to take fifth spot. Waugh makes another appearance lower down the table, in eighth place, thanks to an average of 99.25 at Old Trafford, where he scored two centuries and two fifties in five innings. Allan Border is the other batsman with more than one appearance in the top ten: he is in seventh and tenth place due to his performances at Lord’s and Old Trafford.The top ten in the table below covers only four venues, though. The best at Trent Bridge was Stan McCabe, who averaged 79.50 in six innings, including a cracking knock of 232 out of a team total of 411 in 1938. He is closely followed by Mark Taylor, who averaged 79.20 from five innings. The best at Edgbaston is Mark Waugh, with an average of 63.50 in five innings.

The bowlers’ list is headed by the irreplaceable Glenn McGrath, who, in just three Tests at Lord’s, took 26 wickets at an incredible average of 11.50, with a five-for in each match. Those stats include figures of 8 for 38 in his first innings at the ground, a performance which sparked an Australian revival in the 1997 series after they had lost the first Test at Edgbaston. Fred Spofforth was equally impressive in his three Tests at The Oval, with 20 wickets at an average of 12.50.In fact, The Oval dominates the top ten list, which is slightly surprising considering Australia’s poor record at the venue. Ray Lindwall, Dennis Lillee, Hugh Trumble and McGrath all enjoyed bowling at this ground. Shane Warne, though, preferred Trent Bridge and Lord’s – averaging less than 20 at each of those two venues – and Old Trafford, where his average barely exceeded 20.Warne is the only bowler in the top ten list three times, while McGrath makes an appearance twice. Edgbaston and Headingley aren’t represented in the top ten list, but Warne top the Edgbaston chart as well, with 25 wickets in four Tests at an average of 21.76. Clarrie Grimmett, the legbreak bowler from the 1920s and 1930s, leads the way at Headingley, with 20 wickets in three matches at 22.20 each.

Australia’s vice-captain says the side’s problem is not so much about failing to read India’s spinners, but the struggle to cope with the pressure of losing wickets in clumps

Alagappan Muthu in Indore23-Sep-20171:38

No excuse for non-debutants to not perform in India – Warner

Australia vice-captain David Warner has rebuked the notion that Australia are not reading India’s spinners. Instead, he has offered the explanation that at the points they were introduced, the batsmen were already under a lot of pressure and that, more than any other factor, caused the match-losing collapses.In Chennai, the score was 29 for 3 when the first Australian wicket fell to spin, in a match that suddenly took on the nature of a T20 because of rain. Four days later in Kolkata, Bhuvneshwar Kumar toppled the openers during a splendid new-ball spell and just as a partnership was developing between captain Steven Smith and Travis Head, the latter found short midwicket off a full toss to allow Kuldeep Yadav easy access to the lower middle order.Two-down in the series, Australia are faced with a must-win situation in Indore on Sunday to have a chance at the trophy and Warner felt they were not ill-equipped to do that.”I find that the players can read the spinners,” he said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday. “And that it’s the odd one or two that when they can’t see the seam, then the players react off the wicket and that’s probably the odd one here or there.”At the end of the day, you have to have a game plan against spin – whether or not to hit down the ground or sweep the ball. But when you’re losing wickets in clumps, you become tentative. So you have to apply that pressure [early]. If you get off to a good start and the spinners come on, it’s a different game then. It’s about the tempo of the game, and the situation of the game and I feel if we were in a different position, you’ll see a different mode against the spinners.”There may be good news on that front. Warner felt the pitch looked very good, and noted the boundaries were rather small. The conditions may prove to be conducive to the injured opener Aaron Finch’s style of play, if he is cleared to return. On Saturday, he went through a batting session in the nets and tested the range of movement in his calf by running twos and threes between the wickets as well.”He is a very good batter,” Warner said, “And he has played a lot of cricket for us over the past couple of years. He’s got a lot of experience and, for us at the top of the order, he brings a lot of aggression. It’s good signs to see him back in the nets and he’s doing everything he possibly can to be fit for this game.”Recurrent injury issues have meant that Australia have run through 35 players in the two years since the end of the last World Cup. Matthew Wade, the wicketkeeper, has been their most capped in this period, followed by Smith, Warner and a man now discarded: George Bailey.They went to South Africa last year with an under-strength bowling attack and lost 5-0. In February, they conceded the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in New Zealand. Rain dogged them in England at the Champions Trophy, where they failed to make it to the semi-finals. The outcome of this run is the record of 10 losses, two no-results, one abandoned fixture and no wins over their last 13 ODIs away from home. Not the best record for the reigning fifty-over world champions.”I think what you have to realise is we were world champions with a different team,” Warner said. “The team that we had when we won the World Cup was totally different. There was a totally different dynamic. The team has probably chopped and changed a little bit since then and it’s about the players putting numbers on the board and playing to the best of their ability.”We’re trying to work towards the next World Cup, we’ve got about 30 games and that was the same lead-up and preparation we had with the previous team so we’ve got to find a stable team and once we work out what’s going to be the best to defend the World Cup. At the moment, it’s a work in progress. Can’t say that teams are better than us or we’re better than other teams.”That job, however, appears a little hard at the moment, with Australia facing a fairly settled Indian line-up. Warner noted the difficulty an overseas batsman faces when he comes to the subcontinent for the first time and was particularly sympathetic to Hilton Cartwright, who has begun his ODI career as an opener in India with 2 runs in two matches, having to bat out of position.”It’s always challenging for a young guy to come into the team and take the bull by the horns. It is very, very difficult. Especially when you come over here and play for the first time on a world stage against one of the best ODI teams in their own backyard – it can be overwhelming. What he brings to us is a lot of energy and, I’ll say, experience in his knowledge of the game as well. He is a workaholic, he loves the game of cricket, he brings a good dynamic for us and we thoroughly love having him here.”Much as Warner was effusive in his praise of the young player, he conceded the seniors could not hide behind such excuses. “You grow up on wickets that are fast and bounce, and then you come up to the subcontinent and it’s your first Test series, it’s very hard to adapt. But when you keep coming back, there’s no excuse,” Warner said.”You should know the conditions very well. In saying that, when you’re out there, you become tentative. The game situation dictates that if you lose a couple of wickets, what do you do? Do you use your feet? Do you play with one stride? They are the things that you have to work out and adapt when you’re here. So as a senior player coming back to these situations you should know your game well enough. Our talk in the one-day format is to get off strike, to hit the guys in the boundaries; you should know that game very well.”

His place in Australia has gone to Worcestershire’s Josh Tongue while Porter hopes to be fit for the West Indies tour early next year

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2017Essex seamer Jamie Porter will miss the England Lions tour of Australia after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back.The injury was picked up during pre-tour screening, but Porter has not been scrubbed from England’s plans completely and will now spend time with the Pace Programme as he works his way back to fitness with the aim of being available for selection for the tour of West Indies early next year.Porter was the leading wicket-taker in the County Championship last season with 75 scalps during Essex’s march to the title.”While it was initially surprising and disappointing for Jamie and for us to discover he has a stress fracture, we have agreed with him and with Essex that this new approach is the best option,” James Whitaker, the national selector, said.”Spending the first half of the winter on the Pace Programme will allow him to take a break from competitive cricket after two excellent and demanding seasons for Essex, allowing the injury to recover, and for a focus on his rehabilitation.”We believe that will give him the best chance of being in peak condition for the competitive phase of the Lions winter programme, with four-day and one-day series in the West Indies early next year.”Posting on Twitter, Porter said: “I’m extremely gutted to be missing Australia but at the same time grateful to the ECB for giving me all the support and allowing me the opportunity to work hard and get myself fit for the West Indies tour which I’m very confident I will do! This is a minor setback and I know I’m going to do everything I possibly can to be fully fit for January!”His place in the Lions squad goes to Worcestershire’s Josh Tongue who was originally set to be on the Pace Programme.Tongue, 19, took 47 wickets at 25.78 in the Championship as he played in all 14 of Worcestershire’s matches.Kevin Shine, the who heads up the Pace Programme, said: “As ever, we’ve worked closely with the players and their counties, and we think this is a good solution.”Jamie relished his first Lions experience this summer and we’ve agreed with Essex for him to spend a couple of months with the Pace Programme, at the Performance Centre in Loughborough with a warm-weather camp at Desert Springs in Spain, to get him fit and ready to join the Lions in the West Indies after Christmas.”For Josh, he gets to sample the Ashes atmosphere in Australia, as well as gaining experience of working with the Lions.”

‘He is the most in-form batsman in Australia at the moment,’ says Western Australia team-mate

Mohammad Isam and Andrew McGlashan20-Nov-2017Cameron Bancroft will be the first Australian opener to debut in an Ashes Test since Michael Slater in 1993, but his Western Australian team-mate Michael Klinger believes he has “the fire in the belly” to make a success of his elevation.Bancroft, who was previously selected for the postponed tour of Bangladesh last year, has ousted Matt Renshaw, the Queensland opener, after he endured a torrid start to his domestic season having shown promise early in his Test career.Bancroft’s numbers, which included an unbeaten 228 against South Australia, became impossible for the selectors to ignore and the main question as the squad approached was whether he would bat at No. 6 or become David Warner’s latest opening partner.Klinger has watched Bancroft’s development at close hand for WA and also recommended him to Gloucestershire as an overseas player in 2016. He has seen the player become more attuned his game and learn what sort of a batsman he wants to be.”I have been lucky enough to have a lot to do with Cameron,” Klinger, who is currently at the BPL, told ESPNcricinfo. “I batted quite a lot with him in the first couple of years in first-class cricket, I have spent a lot of time talking to him about cricket and just feeding off each other. I think he has learned a lot in the last two years.”I think he probably went through a period when he tried to over-score too much. He has gone back to batting long periods of time. He knows he has developed enough shots and skills. He knows if he bats for long periods of time, he can score freely. Mentally he has the fire in the belly to bat long periods.”While his double century in Perth earlier this month is the headline number from his season, it was a pair of half-centuries (76 not out and 86) against a New South Wales side boasting Australia’s Test attack that could well have done just as much to propel him to his first baggy green.”Last year he probably didn’t have as good a year he would have liked,” Klinger said. “He started this year brilliantly in the one-day competition and certainly in the Sheffield Shield to come and score, I think, 70 and 80 against an attack that had Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon was a super effort. To finish off with a 200-odd not out sealed the deal. He deserves his spot. He is the most in-form batsman in Australia at the moment.”And Klinger had no doubt that he would be able to handle the pressure that comes with not only a Test debut, but in an opening Ashes Test.”I think he has been waiting for a while now. You won’t find a harder trainer than him, certainly. He is very astute. I am looking forward to seeing him how he will cope with the pressure. There’s no doubt he will cope really well. He will make sure he will have everything in place and ready to go.”

Former Zimbabwe umpire Ian Robinson has died of lung cancer at the age of 69, in Harare on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2016Former Zimbabwe umpire Ian Robinson has died of lung cancer at the age of 69, in Harare on Sunday. Robinson made his international debut as an umpire in the 1992 World Cup and his Test debut in Zimbabwe’s inaugural match, against India in Harare, in October 1992. He officiated in 28 Tests, 90 ODIs and three World Cups – 1992, 1996 and 1999.He began his umpiring career in 1975, and was appointed to Zimbabwe’s first-class panel in 1978. In 2004, he was sacked by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union without being given a reason. Apart from his umpiring duties, Robinson served as a ZCU board member for 14 years and an employee of the board for nine. He also served as the board’s international cricket manager.Robinson was appointed to the first international panel of umpires established by the ICC in 1994. In 2008, he announced his retirement from top-level umpiring to focus on his role as ICC Regional Umpires’ Performance Manager (RUPM) for the Africa region.

The Inter manager has been delighted by the reaction of supporters in the Kingdom and hopes to rekindle that winning feeling there.

• The Supercoppa Italiana final between Inter and Napoli is set to kick-off at 10:00 pm (local time) on Monday at Al Awwal Park in Riyadh
• Inter skipper Lautaro Martinez is loving the club’s form right now
• This is the fourth time the Supercoppa Italiana is being held in Saudi Arabia

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Inter Milan are all set to lock horns with Serie A rivals Napoli in the final of the EA Sports FC Supercup, set to be held in Riyadh on Monday at Al Awwal Park.

  Inter, who qualified for the tournament thanks to their Coppa Italiana win last season, defeated Lazio 3-0 in their semifinal. Napoli, who were the Serie A champions last season, got the best of Fiorentina in the first semifinal by the same scoreline.

  Inter boss Simone Inzaghi was quick to highlight the love and support fans in the country have given his side.

  The Italian giants will be looking to defend the title they won last year in Riyadh when they vanquished city rivals AC Milan. Inzaghi has fond memories of the Saudi Arabian capital city and will hope to make them sweeter on Monday.

  However, they will face a stiff challenge from Napoli, who are no pushovers. Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri and captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo are determined to bring the trophy back to Naples.

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• H&K
  

  WHAT DID THEY SAY?

  Inzaghi was full of praise as he described the love and affection Saudi Arabian fans have shown his team.

  “Tomorrow there will be a beautiful final in Riyadh with a beautiful sold-out stadium. I have seen a lot of Inter fans, they come up to us at the hotel, they wait for us outside the training grounds, and of course they come to the game. I am very happy that our fan base in Saudi and the region is growing and has grown so much over the past two years,” he stated.

  “I saw many fans last year in the final with Milan and I saw many at the stadium in the last game, and we are very happy to have those fans and we hope to have many more.”

  Interestingly, Inzaghi won the Supercoppa Italiana as Lazio manager in 2019 at the same venue as Monday’s final.

  Inter skipper and star striker Lautaro Martinez, who posted on social media thanking Riyadh for “all the love”, feels the club is in a rich vein of form because they are enjoying the atmosphere and their football. He agrees with Inzaghi’s statement in his post-semifinal press conference that Inter are playing “fun” football right now.

  “It’s a nice word and feeling, because it brings us back to why we play and to when we were kids and started playing football for fun. It also feels like that because we as a team are bringing it back to playing with friends, like when we first started playing,” Martinez said.

  While Inter are brimming with confidence, their opponents are plotting their own heist. Napoli boss Mazzarri is looking forward to his second Supercoppa Italiana final and hopes this time, unlike 2012 in his first stint as manager, that the outcome is different.

  “In 23 years of my career, I have the opportunity for the second time to have a Supercup final, and I hope this time to be able to lift the trophy,” he said.

  “Otherwise, I would still be happy because not every coach that started like me from scratch can get to the final twice. I am already proud and happy at how far I’ve reached. The team is the most important thing. They are good and young, and they won the Italian championship. I don’t think it is easy for all of them to play a Supercup, they need to make the most of the opportunity to take home this trophy,” he added.

  Napoli captain and full-back Di Lorenzo said, “We will do our best to win this trophy and to bring it home for everyone – us, and for the fans.”

• H&K
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The ongoing edition of the Supercoppa Italiana is the fourth time the event is being held in Saudi Arabia. The tournament was first held in the country in 2019 when a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, now playing in Saudi Arabia for Al Nassr, earned Juventus a 1-0 win over AC Milan in Jeddah.

  This year’s Supercoppa Italiana is the first time the tournament has been expanded to four teams. While showing off the charm of Italian football, the tournament has also highlighted Saudi Arabia’s commitment and capability to host the very best international tournaments.

  It has also bridged the gap between fans from different countries and showcased the country’s unique football culture to the world.

  Interestingly, around 80% of Saudi Arabians either play, attend, or follow football and many support international – including Italian – clubs.

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  DID YOU KNOW?

  The Supercoppa Italiana follows in the footsteps of the Spanish Super Cup which was also recently held in Saudi Arabia.

  The tournament, held in a similar format to that of the Supercoppa Italiana, saw Real Madrid defeat Barcelona in the final in what was a high-voltage clash in Riyadh.

Rangana Herath, however, is still being monitored after a finger injury in Galle, according to manager Asanka Gurusinha

Sa'adi Thawfeeq30-Jul-2017Dinesh Chandimal is expected to return to lead the Sri Lanka team in the second Test against India at the SSC next week, after recovering from a bout of pneumonia that kept him out of the first Test in Galle. Rangana Herath, who suffered an injury to his finger in the first Test, is being closely monitored, ahead of the match which starts from August 3.”Dinesh should be fit, he actually played this (Sunday) morning and he has batted the last couple of days,” Asanka Gurusinha, Sri Lanka’s cricket manager and selector, said.”We have to see how he is going to come up in the next couple of days because his finger is pretty sore,” Gurusinha said of Herath’s condition. “We will give him till the last minute to make sure that he is fit.”The day before the Test we will see whether he can drift the ball, it will come down to that. If he can without pain he will play, otherwise we will have to look at different options. The finger is not swollen but it’s sore and painful.”Danushka Gunathilaka, who made his Test debut in Galle, is likely to be left out once Chandimal returns, while Kusal Mendis is expected to return to the No. 3 slot. Mendis had batted at No. 4 in Galle, dropping one spot as the team played Gunathilaka.”It’s for just one game, we pushed Kusal to four. Danushka was in form and you can’t bat him in the middle order,” Gurusinha said. “We couldn’t get him to open either because the openers were already there, that’s why we got Kusal to four for this Test. When Chandimal comes back, he will go back to No. 3 straight away. He is our No. 3 and we are grooming him for that position definitely.”Sri Lanka also have another slot to fill after the injury to Asela Gunaratne, who has been ruled out of the series with a broken thumb.”We have Dhananjaya (de Silva) in the squad and we have Danushka as well,” Gurusinha said. “We haven’t looked at whether this is the squad we are going to have for the second Test. We will have a chat later today and see whether we will need someone from outside or what combination we are going to play. It comes down to whether we are going to play six or seven batsmen, we will have to decide on that after looking at the wicket.”Sri Lanka will look to recover some ground after losing the first Test by 304 runs. Gurusinha pinned that defeat on the batsmen, who did not execute their plans well. The hosts managed scores of 291 in the first innings, in response to India’s 600, and 245 in the second innings while chasing an improbable 550.”Getting 600 runs it always affects which is a difficult thing, but our batsmen on that track I don’t think they handled it well because it wasn’t a track to get 291 in the first innings. That was a 400-run track,” Gurusinha said.”Even on the fourth day, it wasn’t doing much, it wasn’t difficult when you see the way everyone batted. When you are playing the No. 1 side, they are very patient they’ll bowl a good line and length and wait. They tested our patience and they won. They were good in that and we took more risks. Batting overall, when you look at it, we didn’t handle it well.”Gurusinha said the pace at which cricket is played today made it difficult to draw Test matches. “These days in Test cricket, the game has changed a lot because of T20. They are playing it at a very fast rate getting 300-350 in a day is nothing new in Test cricket. Sometimes if you try to bat long, you can go into a negative frame of mind. You need to play positively but positively is not hitting every ball, it is playing according to your plans. Our execution of plans was the main problem.”Nobody scored a hundred from our side in the last two Tests, even against Zimbabwe. That’s what we need. We need one of the top four batsmen to get 150 or 160 and a couple of others to get 70s and 80s. As soon as that happens it will give us a 400-plus total.”

Jude Bellingham has been breaking records at Real Madrid, but he admits to still “disappointing” boss Carlo Ancelotti in one area.

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• England star making a stunning impact in Spain
• Has settled quickly at Santiago Bernabeu
• Still working on breaking down language barrier

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The England international midfielder has made a stunning impact in Spanish football on the back of his €103 million (£88m/$112m) transfer to Santiago Bernabeu from Borussia Dortmund. The talented 20-year-old, who has won the prestigious Golden Boy award for 2023, has netted 15 goals through 17 appearances this season – allowing him to better the exploits of Blancos legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

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  WHAT BELLINGHAM SAID

  Bellingham has told of how Ancelotti is bringing the best out of him, while demanding even more on and off the pitch: “I’ve had a ferocious commitment to improving myself with hard work, but the credit goes to coach Ancelotti who has found the right position for me, giving me more freedom, so I’m flying now. However, I know I am disappointing him in one aspect.”

  Asked to reveal what that aspect is, Bellingham added: “I still don’t speak Spanish. I am sorry but I am finding obstacles I didn’t expect with this language. I admit it’s difficult for me, but I promise maximum commitment.”

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Bellingham, who also landed the Kopa Trophy at the recent Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris, added on following in the footsteps of boyhood idol Wayne Rooney as the recipient of an award that recognises the best young talent on the planet: “It’s fantastic, it’s an extraordinary result. I am glad of it and I thank all the jurors who voted for me. I am the third English player to win this award after Wayne Rooney, one of my idols, in 2005 when he was at Manchester United and Raheem Sterling in 2014 when he was playing for Liverpool.”

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  WHAT NEXT FOR BELLINGHAM?

  Bellingham has been nursing a shoulder injury of late, which Real are having to manage ahead of potential surgery, and he will be hoping to avoid any further setbacks heading towards what promises to be a big 2024 for him with club and country.