Bayern Munich are interested in Chelsea's Tyrique George but will have to sign him permanently as they already seek a loan move for Nicolas Jackson.
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Joshua Kimmich was critical of Germany's "attitude" as he reflected on the shock 2-0 loss to Slovakia in World Cup qualifying on Thursday.
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Plus, how bad have Royal Challengers been at the death this season? (Spoiler: extremely bad)
Srinath Sripath26-Apr-2018
Each of Chennai Super Kings’ four chases have gone into the 20th over, and down to the last three balls. Three of these four times, they have come out on top, and on the other occasion, they were one hit away from victory.Once might be a lucky escape. Twice, a coincidence. But now, Super Kings seem to have turned this into an art form, if tightrope walks atop skyscrapers can be called that. Right now, they are double-daring opponents to hold their nerve when up against intense pressure. They are backing themselves to chase down ridiculous equations like 80 runs from 36 balls.Almost every member of their power-packed batting order has had his day out, and even equations of 14-15 runs an over, daunting asks that have forced other teams to give up, are being hunted down. Today, they needed 132 off 11 overs when Dhoni walked in, and ended up smashing 72 of those runs in sixes. That’s slightly better than one six every over, a incredible rate to maintain over the best part of a T20 innings.Dhoni the limited-overs cricketer has made an entire career out of putting opponents under pressure and coming out on top from such situations, as was evident in the 19th over when young Mohammad Siraj bowled a ten-ball over that went for 14 runs, with his side still marginally holding the upper hand. Siraj had gone for 19 off his previous two overs, and with 30 needed from 12, another such over would have made things difficult for Super Kings. As it turned out, Dhoni’s sliced six over point amped up the pressure, forcing Siraj to miss his wide yorkers and slow bouncers.Just when we all thought the era of take-it-to-the-last-over Dhoniball was over, he and his crew seem to be reviving it.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
By the time Dwayne Bravo came back for his second over, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers had plundered 103 runs off just 52 balls. Bravo was one of the few options Dhoni had in hand, with most of his bowlers being taken for runs. As it turned out, he prised out de Kock with a typically deceptive slower one off his first ball, and bowled the innings’ second wicket-maiden.According to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats – our new metrics for T20 cricket, which take into account match context and scoring rates at the other end – Bravo’s spell saved his side as many as 10.3 runs, quite likely the difference between victory and defeat. His wicket-maiden kickstarted a five-over phase where Royal Challengers lost three wickets for 35 runs, an uncharacteristic lull between periods of sustained six-hitting.It is the second time his bowling in the later stages of the innings has made the match-turning difference, after his all-round exploits against Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener.
That RCB’s bowling attack has been their weaker suit has been a fact that has stood the test of time since this tournament’s inception, and over the years, they have become the perfect case study to prove Azhar Mahmood’s “batsmen win you games, bowlers win your tournaments” aphorism right.ESPNcricinfo LtdAt this year’s auction, they snapped up the entire Kolkata Knight Riders 2017 attack – Umesh Yadav, Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme and Nathan Coulter-Nile – that bowled them out for 49. With Coulter-Nile, the most successful among that lot, injured for the season, they opted for an oddball replacement in Corey Anderson, a man who has hardly bowled at the top level over the past 12 months.A couple of shoddy death-overs performances early in the tournament have forced Virat Kohli to bowl out his two best bowlers, Umesh and Yuzvendra Chahal, before the final five, and that happened once again in a game they had no right to lose. All this left Kohli to choose between Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi and Anderson to defend 16 off the last over. Irrespective of what happened next, no IPL side should have found itself in a position to entrust Anderson with that kind of final-over pressure.
You have $12 million to build a T20 cricket team. You shouldn't end up with Corey Anderson as your death bowler
— Tim (@timwig) April 25, 2018
Six years ago, RCB’s now coach Daniel Vettori brought Kohli on to bowl the 19th over, with CSK needing an even harder 43 off 12, chasing the same 205. Albie Morkel razed Kohli for 28 off that over, and from a similar situation, they sank Royal Challengers with a last-ball boundary.Vettori now has a backroom full of specialist coaching staff and analytics whizzes to help him and his captain take more informed decisions, and, somehow, they couldn’t do better than bowling a young Indian seamer and Anderson on the trot for six overs at the back end of this chase.It’s bewildering how it has come to this after ten seasons of seeing the same story play out time and time again, and it is only fitting that Royal Challengers are now the side with the worst-ever economy rate at the death in any IPL season.
Barcelona have confirmed that Ferran Torres has undergone emergency surgery for appendicitis and is now unlikely to feature again this season.
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Desire Doue was left speechless after PSG thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final, but he did pay tribute to Luis Enrique.
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Winner of last season's Serie A Golden Boot at the age of 35, the Juventus striker is now at the forefront of the Azzurre's incredible summer
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Major tournaments are a great stage for players to introduce themselves to the wider world, with youngsters so often announcing themselves as stars of the future and ones to watch with performances under the highest of pressure. But one of the most heart-warming features of the 2025 European Championship has been the regularity with which long-standing icons of different nations have had their moments in the spotlight.
Lucy Bronze is a great example. The full-back enjoyed a breakout tournament when England reached the last four of the 2015 Women's World Cup and has been a key player in the run of six successive major tournament semi-finals that started, so it was fitting that she was such an inspiring figure in the remarkable comeback against Sweden in last week's quarter-finals, aged 33.
Jess Fishlock, meanwhile, is the greatest women's footballer Wales have ever produced, as well as being one of the best players in the history of the NWSL, the U.S. top-flight, but it long looked like she'd never play in a major international tournament. Thus after helping to finally drag Wales over the line in qualifying, having contemplated retirement in an emotional and often heart-breaking journey to that point, it was amazing to see her score the Dragons' first-ever goal on this stage – and provide a great assist as they bowed out against England.
But the best story of this kind during Euro 2025 has come in the form of Cristiana Girelli. Twelve years on from her senior international debut, the striker looks to be almost better than ever at 35 years old, with her goals having helped Italy put back-to-back group-stage exits at major tournaments behind them during an incredible run to the semi-finals, where they will take on the defending champions, England.
Despite ending up on the losing side, Stokes was happy with England’s approach in the fourth innings
ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2024It proved to be the case, but Ben Stokes says at no point did his side believe their lofty fourth-innings target in the second Test against India was too many.Still needing 332 of the 399 set by the hosts, captain Stokes and his team began the fourth day in Visakhapatnam with the trademark self-belief that is a lynchpin of their Bazball ethos.”Coming into this last innings we had full belief in ourselves that we could go and chase that down,” Stokes said at the post-match presentation. “The way in which we go about taking on challenges like that is what we’re about and the number of runs that we needed to get was just sort of another thing for us to try and try and chase down.Related
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“In moments like that, in games when you’ve got scoreboard pressure, a lot of runs to chase down, that’s where your process and the way in which we know that we get the best out of ourselves as individuals, that really comes out. And I thought the way in which we applied ourselves and really tried to put India’s bowling attack under a lot of pressure was great. Unfortunately, we didn’t end up on the right side of the result. Congrats to India, I thought they played a fantastic game and, again, another great game to be a part of.”There’s no suggestion whatsoever about how to go out and play, it’s go out and play how you best feel at a given time. We knew the task ahead… and everyone in that dressing room there is a quality player and they are good enough to be able to go out there, assess the conditions or the situation and also assess how they’re feeling and how they best feel to go about getting those runs.”Stokes was further heartened by the fact that England had sliced 67 runs off their task for the loss of just one wicket – Ben Duckett on the third evening – and with Zak Crawley looking in good touch.”The big thing for us was asserting our authority very early and letting the Indian bowling attack know that this is how we’re going to go about the day, trying to not let them settle and make it as hard as we possibly could for them,” Stokes told broadcaster . “I know we’ve got to give credit to [India captain] Rohit [Sharma], the way in which he led, and credit to the bowlers that every time that we would drag the momentum back towards us and sort of felt like we were getting on top of them, they were able to produce something to take the wicket and put us back.”But I’m real pleased with the way in which that we found ourselves in a pressure situation. Chasing runs down in India is never easy, but we were actually able to go out there and stick to everything that we speak about.”Zak Crawley was England’s best batter in both innings•BCCI
Crawley was twice England’s top-scorer, adding 73 runs to his first-innings 76, but ultimately England fell short in the face of Jasprit Bumrah’s timely wicket-taking prowess. Bumrah took 3 for 46, including the dangerous Jonny Bairstow on the stroke of lunch and last man to fall Tom Hartley, to add to his six-wicket haul from England’s first innings and seal victory. But Stokes said Crawley had exemplified his team’s approach to the fourth innings.”That period last night when your openers have to go out, it’s one of those, what do you do? But I think when you have that real clarity, you’re able to see what they did last night,” Stokes added. “We could have easily been 20 for none, and not lost a wicket, but the game’s not really gone anywhere. Yes, we lost Duckett at the end of the day, but we’ve knocked 60 runs off and that’s a huge deficit when you come to a new day.”But Zak, he started again this morning, he sensed the threat in Bumrah early on and then when the spin came on, he looked to assert his dominance a bit more. But a great game for him with the bat, especially considering he’s someone who’s not been exposed to conditions like these for the most part of his career. Very happy for him and I think it’s a great stepping stone for him. “Stokes was also full of praise for his trio of young spinners, Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed, who took eight of India’s second-innings wickets between them as the hosts were bowled out for 255, with the more experienced Joe Root bowling just two overs of spin before succumbing to an injury to his right little finger, sustained while fielding. James Anderson, the vastly experienced seamer, took the other two as part of his haul of five wickets for the match.”Looking at Tom, Bash and Rehan – five or six Test matches between them – to put in the performance that they did yesterday, obviously without Joe, and Jimmy having bowled a very long spell on Saturday, I thought what they were able to produce in terms of effort and output was incredible,” Stokes said. “They showed a lot of maturity, a lot of skill beyond their years and experience and it’s something I’m very proud of as a captain.”With the third Test, in Rajkot, not starting for 10 days, England’s squad will head to Abu Dhabi to enjoy a break with their families.
Barcelona have confirmed the arrival of Marcus Rashford on a season-long loan, with the England international handed the iconic No.14 shirt. The jersey carries deep historical weight at Camp Nou, previously worn by legendary figures such as Thierry Henry and Javier Mascherano.
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This season has been a great one for the Twenty20 Cup.
Paul Coupar07-Jul-2005
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This season has been a great one for the Twenty20 Cup. The competition is now in its third year: the hoopla has simmered down, most of the boundary-edge Jacuzzis have been drained and cricket-ground speed-dating has been abandoned. One of the men who spent last season in Warwickshire’s comedy bear suit is now playing for them. Now we can start to judge whether the game stands on its own feet.And it is not just standing but trotting at a healthy lick. If leafy Richmond, where Middlesex played Hampshire last night, is anything to go by, Twenty20 sounds like excited children, smells like a barbecue and looks like a big, happy bunch of people crowded round a boundary rope, drinking in wine and sunshine.The crowds seem to be growing still. Average attendances in 2004 were up by around 1,000 on the first year, at 5,800. The final figures are not yet in for this season’s group games. But on the drizzly Friday night of July 1, 20,500 Londoners knocked off work early to watch Surrey and Kent play a not-particularly-crucial match. Last night, the newly expanded Oval was almost full, despite Surrey having already reached the quarter-finals. The extra 27 group games this year do not seem to have watered down enthusiasm.What keeps people coming? It is no longer a fresh experience for most, but it still appears to be an enjoyable one. Young audiences quickly tire of gimmicks, but they have not tired of Twenty20.Is that because they are pinned to their seats by enthralling finishes? No. Some rough research reveals that only a third (33.3%) of this year’s Twenty20 group matches ended in a “close” finish (“close” being defined as a defending team holding on to win by fewer than 10 runs, or a chasing team scraping home to win in the last over, or with two or fewer wickets in hand.) Compare this year’s totesport first division, where about a quarter of games (22.2%) have been close. Fifty-over county cricket is only a little less exciting but a lot less well-attended.
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Nor does it seem to be the big hits that encourage the punters to turn out in droves. In the first season spectators thrilled to sixes; now there are conversations along the lines of “Another six? Oh was it? I can’t find the chicken drumsticks anywhere in here.” However, there is enough interest – in the rapid evolution of new and exotic ploys like the batsman’s “ramp” shot over the keeper’s head – to keep serious cricket followers interested.For everyone else there is the atmosphere. Some doubters ask why people – wives, casual sports fans, auntie Jean who’s staying over for the week – go to an event they have only a cursory interest in? That seems a bit like asking why Italians go to the piazza in the evening when they’re not interested in the architecture. They go, it seems, because it’s fun and because it’s easy.At last there is cricket on at a time that suits working people. It eats a smaller chunk out of the spectators’ time so it attracts the casual viewer. In the time invested (three hours) it’s about the equivalent of a few post-work pints in the pub (and probably cheaper: £10 for adults and free for under-17s at Richmond). It is also a half-plausible excuse to bunk off work a little early. And everyone enjoys that.
Eleven matches that featured a surfeit of runs
17-Jan-2006This XI is the choice of Andrew Miller and Martin Williamson. Undoubtedly readers will have their own preferences. Email us with your nominations
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Sri Lanka v India, 1st Test, Colombo (RPS), 1997-98
India’s debutant, Nilesh Kulkarni, must have thought he had Test cricket licked. Buoyed by his side’s formidable total of 537 for 8 dec, he dismissed Marvan Atapattu with his very first ball, as Sri Lanka – for an instant – looked as though they might struggle. That, however, was before Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama had got into their stride. Their obscene second-wicket stand of 576 remains to this day the largest in the history of Test cricket, and as the fifth and final day dawned, the only question was whether Jayasuriya, 326 not out overnight, would go on to break Brian Lara’s then-world record of 375. He didn’t, but Aravinda de Silva weighed in with a century of his own, as Sri Lanka closed with an alternative world record – a vast total of 952 for 6.
Spare a thought for … Rajesh Chauhan. Back in the reckoning after two years out of Test cricket, Chauhan was tonked for 276 runs in his 78 overs – the second-worst analysis of all time. At least he managed to claim the wicket of Jayasuriya.West Indies v England, 4th Test, Kingston, 1929-30
Both sides agreed to a timeless Test if the series was in the balance, and they probably regretted it. After nine days – the last two of which were rained off – this game was abandoned as England had to go home. Batting first, England scored 849, with Andrew Sandham making a world-record 325 in his final Test, and then bowled West Indies out for 286. Rather than making them follow on with a lead of 653, England opted to bat again and set them a tougher ask of 836 to win. But a magnificent 223 from George Headley guided West Indies to 408 for 5 when the rain came. The 1815 runs produced remains a record for a Test.
Spare a thought for … Tommy Scott, the West Indies googly bowler, who went for 374 runs, although he did take nine wickets. No bowler has conceded more in a Test. And what about England old timers George Gunn, who was 50, and 52-year-old Wilfred Rhodes. Bengal v Karnataka, Ranji Trophy quarter-final, Calcutta, 1990-91
The Ranji Trophy has produced some daunting totals and dull stalemates over the years, but few matches have been more turgid than this affair where after five days the first innings had not even been completed. Karnataka batted the best part of three days in scoring 791 for 6 before finally declaring, only for Bengal to take two-and-a-bit days to make 652 for 9 themselves. It wasn’t even as if the two teams got on. Bengal’s batsmen were accused by Karnataka players of deliberately delaying play to try to get them penalised for a slow over-rate. Deliberate or not, it work as Bengal were awarded 60 penalty runs, enough to give them victory by virtue of averaging 3.26 run per over compared to Karnataka’s 3.17.
Spare a thought for … Bengal’s Utpal Chatterjee, who took 0 for 160 off 65 overs and scored 5 when his turn came to bat. Karnataka’s Anil Kumble was more expensive, conceding 215 runs, but at least he took two wickets and made an unbeaten 68.
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England v Australia, 5th Test, The Oval, 1938
The regulations again allowed for a timeless Test if the series was undecided, although it is worth noting that all Ashes Tests in Australia until the second World War were played to a finish anyway. On a pitch prepared by the legendary Oval groundsman Bosser Martin (who declared on the eve of the game that it would “last until Christmas”) England ground out 903 for 7 with the 21-year-old Len Hutton making a tortuous but immensely popular 364, taking Don Bradman’s world record in the process. By the time Australia came to reply they were without Jack Fingleton and, crucially, Bradman who had fractured a shin bone bowling on the third morning. Their nine batsmen, presumably exhausted and mentally broken, slipped to defeat by an innings and 579 runs. The call to end timeless Tests grew defeating once the euphoria dissipated.
Spare a thought for … Chuck Fleetwood-Smith, whose 1 for 298 remain the most expensive Test figures. And he had Hutton missed off a stumping chance when he had made 40.Surrey v Lancashire, County Championship, 1990
The summer of 1990 is recalled with a shudder by bowlers all across England. An improbably hot season, coupled with new regulations reducing the width of the seam, culminated in a run-fest like few others. The lack of contest between bat and ball was never better exemplified that at The Oval in early May, when Surrey’s captain Ian Greig compiled a career-best 291 out of a total of 707 for 9 declared, only for Lancashire to respond with the small matter of 863. The backbone of their innings was provided by two young players destined for greater things – Michael Atherton (191) and Neil Fairbrother (366) – who added 364 for the third wicket. By the end of that round of Championship matches, no fewer than 41 first-class centuries had been scored in the first three weeks of the season.
Spare a thought for … Grahame Clinton, who missed out on the festivities, not once, but twice, falling for 8 and 15 in his two innings. “Actually,” he pleaded in mitigation, “it was harder not to score runs on that pitch.”South Africa v England, 5th Test, Durban, 1938-39
The final nail in the coffin of timeless Tests on a pitch which offered little help at any stage, but a local rule allowing the wicket to be repaired overnight meant , accordoing to the Cricketer, that each day started on what amounted to a brand new pitch. With no end in sight, both sides plodded along, and the eighth day was lost to rain. England were set a seemingly impossible 696 to win, but they were 654 for 5 at tea on the tenth day when rain started falling – and two of those wickets fell as the clouds darkened that afternoon. The captains went into a meeting and emerged to say that, as England had to catch the train to Cape Town that night to enable them to catch their homeward trip on the Athlone Castle, the game had to be ended with no result. South Africa’s Ken Viljoen is said to have had his hair cut twice during the game! The aggregate of 1981 runs is a record, as is England’s fourth innings score.
Spare a thought for … Any number of people, but South Africa’s Norman Gordon takes the biscuit – his 92.2 eight-ball overs produced 1 for 256 in the match. England’s Doug Wright conceded more runs – 288 – but took five wickets and, unlike Gordon, it was not his final Test.
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England v Australia, 4th Test, Old Trafford, 1964
Australia retained the Ashes in a match so tedious that it moved Playfair Cricket Monthly to ask if the time had come to end such contests. Wisden, meanwhile, wrote that “a bad taste was left in the mouth of the cricket enthusiasts.” The Daily Mail called it the “murder of Test cricket” while at one stage six journalists in the press box were seen to be sleeping. Sour grapes? Possibly, but pity the 108,000 who witnessed a game where the two first innings were not completed until five minutes before the end. Bobby Simpson, Australia’s captain, made 311 – his first Test hundred in his 41st match – in a score of 656 for 8 while England replied with an equally mind-numbing 611.
Spare a thought for … Australia’s offspinner Tom Vievers, whose 95.1 overs was one ball shy of the most sent down in a Test. He was in good company. Six bowlers conceded 100 runs and another three finished in the 90s.West Indies v India, 4th Test, Antigua, 2001-02
A horror story from start to interminable finish. Five centuries of underwhelming single-mindedness, a run-rate that never threatened to push three an over, significant and stultifying innings from two bit-part internationals, Wasim Jaffer and Ajay Ratra. With the series intriguingly poised at 1-1, the Antigua Recreation Ground and its landing-strip of a wicket was the last place that such a crucial encounter deserved to be held. While India were compiling 513 for 9 after being asked to bat first, they were setting themselves up for their first overseas series victory since 1986 – and their first in the Caribbean for 31 years. But Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ridley Jacobs preserved West Indian pride with a trio of hundreds, and instead India became the third Test team to give a bowl to all 11 of their players.
Spare a thought for … Sachin Tendulkar, whose first-ball duck not only denied him his share of the spoils, but also compounded a horrific run of form – 0, 0, 8, 0 – that was the talk of an entire nation.India v Pakistan, 4th Test, Madras, 1960-61
Between December 1960 and February 1961, one of the greatest series of all time took place, a contest that reinvigorated Test cricket and conferred legendary status on each of its participants. Sadly, for the faithful and under-rewarded few who turned out to watch India take on Pakistan, the series in question was Australia v West Indies, 5000 miles to the south-east. Instead, the subcontinent was subjected to a five-Test stalemate that plumbed such depths of ennui that the Pakistanis were unable to force a result in any one of their 15 first-class fixtures. It was, as Wisden noted, “an extremely dour affair”, enlivened only by a fire during the Madras bore-draw that gutted the eastern section of the stands.
Spare a thought for … Haseeb Ahsan, who wheeled away to the tune of 15 wickets for the series, including a grandly futile 6 for 202 from 84 overs at Madras.
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West Indies v South Africa, 4th Test, Antigua, 2004-05
Antigua has become such a no-contest of a venue it is only fair that it should be named and shamed twice. If India’s visit in 2002 was pure distilled tedium, then South Africa’s engagement three years later was a gluttonous surfeit of runs that produced a world-record eight individual centuries. The largest and most avaricious of these was compiled by Chris Gayle, who slapped merrily through the off-side for a career-best 317. Just over 12 months had passed since his team-mate Lara had posted 400 at the same venue, and until fatigue set in on the penultimate afternoon, Gayle was on course to better even that feat. A jumbo total of 747 was capped by a maiden Test hundred for Dwayne Bravo.
Spare a thought for … Bravo, who suffered the indignity of becoming a first and only Test victim for Mark Boucher, who was brought on to bowl the 233rd over, and struck with his eighth ball.Pakistan v India, 1st Test, Lahore, 2005-06
A pancake of a pitch, and an eyepopping assortment of batting onslaughts. Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf provided a sedate start to the festivities with 199 and 173 respectively, before Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal flew off the handle in spectacular fashion. Afridi clobbered four sixes in a row off Harbhajan Singh in the course of a 27-run over and a 78-ball hundred; Akmal was scarcely any more sluggish, taking just 81 balls to reach his fourth international hundred of the month. A mighty total of 679 for 7 was just the basis for negotiation, however, as Virender Sehwag launched himself into the Pakistani bowling with Rahul Dravid providing steadfast support in a quadruple-century opening partnership.
Spare a thought for … Salman Butt, run out by Yuvraj Singh for just six measly runs.