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Nepal captain Paras Khadka strode into the press conference room at a Dhaka hotel impressively. He stressed how Nepal have been working for more than a decade to get to this level, and not just to play in this edition of the World T20. They are among six teams to have made it to the first round of the World T20 from the Qualifier tournament held in the UAE last November.”I think we are here to present Nepal cricket in front of the whole world,” Khadka said. “It is a great opportunity for us. It is not like we have only qualified for this tournament and worked for three months. We have been playing for 10-12 years with hard work and playing continuous cricket. We are here to compete and play to the best of our ability. If we play to our potential, things should be good for us.”Khadka said that Nepal’s participation in the tournament will boost cricket in the country, as the government has already taken interest. “I think we have been playing cricket since 1996. We have been part of the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) since then. CAN (Cricket Association of Nepal) is one of the oldest sporting associations back home. We are getting there.”Football and cricket are the two most popular sports. Everybody follows us. Kids love the game. The game is really growing big time. It is very exciting. We have an amazing fan following back home. The number of cricket fans that we have matches any Test-playing country.”For most people, Nepal came as a huge surprise to be playing at this level. This will be a breakthrough for the country itself. Once we qualified for the World Cup, the government is very keen to find out how to develop cricket further. I hope we can move forward from here.”Nepal shot to fame in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka where they became Plate champions, and Khadka said the senior team is now following up on the younger batch’s impressive showing in that tournament over the years.”There was always the criticism that we only do well at the U-19 level. But the national team is doing well in the last two years. You need the junior structure as well. What we need is a basic structure back home.”After Khadka, Rahul Vishwakarma said how he, like all his team-mates, had aspired to reach this stage since childhood. He met one of his heroes, Shakib Al Hasan, but didn’t get a chance to talk to him. Like Shakib, he is a left-arm spinner and left-hand batsman and doesn’t lack the confidence too.”It feels great to be playing at this level, but we belong to this level,” Vishwakarma said. “Hopefully we will do well in this tournament.”

The injuries to two major Sri Lankan bowlers will help Bangladesh as they look to bounce back after a massive defeat in Mirpur

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando and Mohammad Isam03-Feb-2014Match factsTuesday, February 4, 2014
Start time 0930 local (0330 GMT)Dilruwan Perera has a chance to strengthen his claim to a permanent Test spot•AFP

Big PictureHaving received their fourth-worst clobbering in Mirpur, Bangladesh need to find their resolve to make the Chittagong Test more of a contest. Peppered by bouncers in the first Test, the Bangladesh batsmen appeared more interested in providing short-lived entertainment than working through the tough periods. The end result was the kind of performance that diminished the advances Bangladesh have made in Test cricket.Though the batting was their most conspicuous failure, Bangladesh will also want to eliminate the fielding mistakes that squandered key chances in Mirpur. Their bowling was not as toothless as Sri Lanka’s total of 730 for 6 suggests, but they too could do with a boost in spirit.Two injuries to major Sri Lanka players will make Bangladesh’s task easier in the second Test, however. Rangana Herath’s problematic knee has flared up and Shaminda Eranga has a thigh strain after a month of heavy work, ruling both out of the Test.*Perhaps in light of their workload over the past month (they played 18 Test-match days in January), Sri Lanka have had an unusually casual lead-in to the second Test. They trained at a low intensity on both days before the Test, perhaps also concerned that sore bodies could lead to more injury.Some players may also be beginning to experience tour fatigue. Sri Lanka were in the UAE since the first week of December, and had fewer than 48 hours at home before they left for Bangladesh. With the limited-overs matches and Asia Cup also on the horizon, there is no end in sight. Their challenge will be to stay motivated and in control of their cricket. There have been four series since 2010 where Sri Lanka have taken a 1-0 lead, then finished with a series-leveling loss, and while Bangladesh will have to improve substantially to push the visitors, Sri Lanka should be wary of allowing their effort to subside.Form guide (last five matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh: LDDWL
Sri Lanka: WLWDW
In the spotlightDilruwan Perera’s best contribution on debut had been his 95 from No. 8, but in Mirpur he showcased an appetite for wickets as well, as he extracted more turn than any other bowler. Sri Lanka require a reliable bowling allrounder to balance their side, and having tasted Test success, Perera will hope to sustain it. A bagful in Hearath’s absence will go some way to ensuring he is picked for the England tour in June.Tamim Iqbal made 6 and 11 in the first Test, and there is pressure on him to score in this game. He doesn’t have three cheap innings on the trot on too many occasions, and will be expected to make a bigger contribution.Pitch and conditionsThe pitch is a typical Chittagong wicket – slow and flat. There will be far less bounce on offer for the faster bowlers, and runs will be available readily. The outfield is a little hard because there was a water shortage for three weeks last month, which affected the ground area. The grass has re-grown but the sandy base has remained.Teams newsMarshall Ayub is ruled out with a wrist injury and has been replaced by Imrul Kayes. The other major news is the dropping of Robiul Islam, which means that Rubel Hossain, who averages 81.23 in 19 Tests, has been retained. These were confirmed when chief selector Faruque Ahmed announced the 12-man team, which means that either of Abdur Razzak or Mahmudullah will make the playing XI.Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Shamsur Rahman, 3 Imrul Kayes, 4 Mominul Haque, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 7 Nasir Hossain, 8 Mahmudullah/Abdur Razzak, 9 Sohag Gazi, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Al-Amin HossainNuwan Pradeep and Ajantha Mendis are the likeliest replacements for Eranga and Herath. Sri Lanka will almost certainly stay with the same side elsewhere.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kaushal Silva, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 6 Angelo Mathews (capt), 7 Kithuruwan Vithanage, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Nuwan PradeepStats and trivia There have been five centuries at this ground by Bangladesh batsmen, two of which were scored in the last Test here in October. Kumar Sangakkara has passed 50 in his last five innings against BangladeshAngelo Mathews averages 99.60 in his last four TestsQuotes”Senior players like me, Tamim and Shakib have to take up the responsibilty to get the runs.”
“We’re not very worried if Eranga and Herath can’t play tomorrow. We have Nuwan Pradeep who took a lot of wickets in the one Test that he played, in Dubai, so we have some bench strength.”
* February 3 12.00pm GMT This story was updated after it was confirmed that Herath and Eranga will miss the Test

Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, believes that the quality of his spinners, and the experience gained by some of the key members of the side, will hold the team in good stead against India

Renaldo Matadeen31-Oct-2013

West Indies coach Ottis Gibson believes that with the pitches in the Caribbean facilitating spin, the West Indian spinners are better equipped to tackle conditions in India.”We’ve evolved from that pace-pronged attack from the 80s and 90s,” Gibson said. “Our home conditions favour spinners. These pitches are why Sunil Narine, Shane Shillingford, Veerasammy Permaul and Nikita Miller do so well regionally. They are tailored for spin. Now, you think of our spinners when you think of West Indies.”Gibson reiterated that with Sheldon Cotterrell, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel, they still boasted a healthy stock of fast bowlers. He also indicated that Tino Best was a pacer that India should be wary of given his recent adaptability to varying pitch situations. The coach expressed confidence in his attack and its diversity when questioned about the absences of Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine.”Ravi’s just coming off injury so the selectors wanted to give him time to recover. Sunil has done well but Shillingford has been excellent in Tests. Narine has played a lot of cricket and we don’t want to burden players too early with too much responsibility. I know he will bounce back into the Test team and copy his limited-overs form very soon.” Gibson professed that the versatility of his bowling arsenal would be critical come the Test series.He was cautious about the state of Indian pitches but added that his players have been mentally training for these conditions since the impromptu announcement of the tour while gearing for the subsequent New Zealand trip. “This India series wasn’t ideally timed as we were busy prepping for New Zealand,” he said. “We’ve been playing a lot of cricket all over the world in all formats but Test matches is what we’re missing. We have a good team and a nice blend of youngsters and experience now and we must prepare as best we can on these turf pitches in India. We have a good idea about the pitches but must be very mindful still.”Darren Sammy believes that West Indies will be tougher to beat this time around due to the experience they have gained over the last couple of years.”Last Test series here, it was tough,” Sammy said. “We had a lot of youngsters and we were inexperienced. Now, we have six consecutive Test wins (against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) under our belts and our limited-overs players are some of the best in the ODI and T20 formats. We are a much improved team from the last visit to India.”He pointed to 2013 Wisden Cricketer of the Year, Marlon Samuels, himself and Chris Gayle as players whose knowledge of the Indian cricketing landscape would be essential, given their IPL experience. “Our bowlers are up to the mark and ready for the challenge. [Sheldon] Cotterrell is a great find, and with players such as Kemar Roach and spinners like Shane [Shillingford] and Veerasammy Permaul more mature now, I think we’re ready. Kirk Edwards and Kieran Powell also gave good accounts [of themselves] with the A team recently, so I think we will adapt well to the pitches and conditions.”Sammy also highlighted that Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th Test would be monumental for his stalwart batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. “He’s our talisman in the middle and there’s a reason why some refer to Shiv as ‘The Wall’. His batting will be crucial for us in this series. We are counting on him a lot.”The captain added that despite the occasion, he hoped to dismiss Tendulkar cheaply. “We aren’t giving Sachin a freebie or a hundred but we will be giving him a guard of honour when he walks out to the pitch because he has earned that respect,” Sammy said. “He has been a great ambassador for the game and it’s only fitting. His career is distinguished and it’s testament to him as a professional and his character as a person.”But that’s just one player. We cannot focus on Sachin alone. We have MS Dhoni, (Shikhar) Dhawan and Virat Kohli who are big run-getters. We’ll have to focus on the entire team but we have goals set that we’re looking to achieve and it will be an exciting competition.”

Offspinner Malolan Rangarajan and Abhinav Mukund picked up five wickets between them to put South Zone firmly on top in their Duleep Trophy quarter-final clash against West Zone in Chennai

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2013
ScorecardMalolan Rangarajan struck 58, before picking up three wickets for 50 runs•ESPNcricinfo LtdOffspinner Malolan Rangarajan and Abhinav Mukund picked up five wickets between them to put South Zone firmly on top in their Duleep Trophy quarter-final clash against West Zone in Chennai.Double centuries from B Aparajith and Manish Pandey on Friday had propelled South Zone to a mammoth 553 for 7 at stumps, and Malolan added to the flurry of runs on day three with a 132-ball 58 that included four fours, as the hosts eventually declared on 600 for 9.West Zone began their innings slowly, as the openers Wasim Jaffer and Aditya Waghmode added just 32 in the first 18 overs, before Malolan made the breakthrough, dismissing Jaffer for 11. West Zone stabilised with an 82-run second-wicket stand between Waghmode and Ankit Bawne, but three wickets in seven balls helped South Zone seize the advantage.First, Abhinav dismissed Waghmode for a patient 57 of the second ball of the 55th over, and in his next delivery, he bowled Manpreet Juneja for a golden duck. Yusuf Pathan went in at No.5 to salvage a recovery, but was caught by Rohan Prem off left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas in the next over, leaving West Zone precariously placed at 115 for 4.Bawne carried on, making an unbeaten 62 with six fours, but West Zone were dealt two more late blows, as Malolan trapped both Hiken Shah and Rohit Motwani for lbw in the 74th over to finish the day with 3 for 50, and give South Zone the edge heading into the final day.

قالت شبكة سكاي سبورتس الألمانية، إن مدافع نابولي، الكوري الجنوبي، كيم مين جاي، على وشك الانضمام إلى بايرن ميونخ.

ويعد كيم مين جاي من أبرز لاعبي نابولي خلال الموسم المنقضي، والذي يُعتبر تاريخيًا في النادي، حيث استطاع أبناء الجنوب التتويج ببطولة الدوري الإيطالي للمرة الثالثة في تاريخ النادي، والأولى منذ 33 عامًا.

وبحسب سكاي، فإن كيم سيوقع عقدًا مدته خمس سنوات مع بايرن ميونخ حتى عام 2028، وسيحصل فيه المدافع على راتب يتراوح بين 10 ملايين يورو و12 مليون يورو سنويًا.

اقرأ أيضًا.. بيلد توضح موقف ماني ومولر من الرحيل إلى الدوري السعودي

وستكلف الصفقة خزائن العملاق البافاري، حوالي 50 مليون يورو، وهو الشرط الجزائي الذي يصبح ساريًا في الأول من يوليو لمدة أسبوعين.

وأكدت الشبكة أن المحادثات بين النادي واللاعب لا تزال مستمرة، وهي إيجابية، وما لم يكن هناك أي عوائق، يبدو أن كيم سيلعب مع بايرن ميونيخ الموسم المقبل.

وانتقل كيم مين جاي إلى نابولي قادمًا من فنربخشة في صيف 2022 بمبلغ 18 مليون يورو، ولديه عقد حتى يونيو 2025، ولعب 35 مباراة في الدوري الإيطالي هذا الموسم، سجل هدفين وصنع مثلهما، واستطاع الخروج بشباك نظيفة في 14 مباراة.

كان مانشستر يونايتد من أبرز المهتمين بضم اللاعب، لكنه لم يأخذ خطوة فعلية ورسمية للتعاقد معه، حيث أن يقضي خدمته العسكرية حاليا في كوريا الجنوبية.

Like a scientist who has decided his analysis has run its course, Gary Kirsten declared the exploratory phase for South Africa’s one-day squad over as they begin preparations for their series against Pakistan.The five-match rubber is the last outing the team will have before they travel to England for the Champions Trophy in June. From the outside it seems South Africa have much work to do if they hope to bring back ICC silverware but Kirsten is convinced they have the base from which to build and the time for trials is over.”The players that are in this squad are the best players in the country. That’s why they’re selected. We’re not experimenting. We’re playing the best players,” he said in Bloemfontein, ahead of the first ODI. “We’re looking at the best 17 or 18 players knowing that we need to be able to shift and move around a bit.”The squad has three changes from the one that lost to New Zealand in January with Quinton de Kock and Dean Elgar out and Kyle Abbott in. While that hints at settling, what underlines it is the substantial difference from the Twenty20 squad that lost to Pakistan last week.Crucially, South Africa have senior players back in the group with Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn bringing their 320 caps with them. That proved to be the biggest difference between the teams at Centurion, where Pakistan’s seasoned bowling attack outclassed South Africa.Getting the balance between old and new, especially in an era where cricket schedules are more cluttered than said scientist’s work bench, is tricky. But with no Tests to think about before October, South Africa have an opportunity to do it properly.Their selections will be questioned as selections always are but at least they have settled on something. Some will argue they should have included Richard Levi, Stephen Cook or Henry Davids, the top-three leading run-scorers in this season’s one-day competition, but an opening partnership of Smith and Amla is more formidable.Likewise, Andrew Birch, Roelof van der Merwe and Hardus Viljoen – the domestic tournament’s leading wicket-takers – have had to miss out to an attack that will include Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Ryan McLaren, Robin Peterson and Aaron Phangiso. Morkel remains an injury concern having not recovered fully from the left hamstring strain that kept him out of the third Test. Kirsten envisages that he will play “at some point” but, in keeping with the way he has been managed in previous one-day games, he may be rotated.Where question marks remain is around the middle-order but a quick scan of the statistics hint that the selectors could not have done that much better. Vaughn van Jaarsveld scored 28 more runs than Farhaan Behardien in the Momentum Cup but no-one put up their hand up high enough.What the likes of Berhardien, David Miller and Colin Ingram need to do is harden up – particularly mentally – before players such as Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma and Yaseen Vallie and Cody Chetty start challenging for their places. That could be as early as next season. For now, the incumbents have to do the job and Kirsten has accepted that, knowing they failed in that regard two months ago.Against New Zealand, South Africa’s middle order was its usual wobbly marshmallow, incapable of toasting no matter how much it was held over the fire. It melted in the face of pressure, where aspects such as the death bowling also struggled. “All our preparation and our debriefing has been on the New Zealand series,” Kirsten said, confining the retrospection to the shelf. “We’ve spoken about what went wrong there and what we could have done better. We try not cross pollinate too much. That keeps us all sane. We’re spending a huge amount of focus over the next three days on making sure we get our game in order. Then we know we can put opposition teams under pressure.”We’ve played a lot of Test cricket over the last while, so it’s nice to have a focus on ODI cricket so we can upgrade our skills and make sure we spend as much time as we can knowing what we need to do in that version of the game to close games out in tight moments. We know we can create some momentum, and we know that with the players we’ve got we are able to win games in difficult situations.”That is exactly where South Africa have fallen short. They have not put the opposition under pressure often enough and they have not closed out squeaky-bum situations, never mind done so with conviction. They have floated somewhere between uncertain and unable, mostly mirroring their tactics.Now Kirsten has said that should change. Stability will return to South Africa’s one-day squad. AB de Villiers has been reinstalled as wicketkeeper and will have to find a way to manage that, his captaincy and his role in the batting line-up without feeling rushed, as he once claimed to. He will have plenty to lean on with Faf du Plessis having emerged as a competent leader himself.The batting and bowling roles of individual players will not yo-yo from game to game and the focus has supposedly been defined and lies centrally in everyone’s minds. South Africa only have five matches to show whether all those things have actually happened.Although Kirsten remarked that they have 15-20 ODIs before their next Test (five against Pakistan; one against Holland; potentially five at the Champions Trophy if they go all the way; five against Sri Lanka; plus a few more against Pakistan in the UAE), it is not as simple as those numbers. There is an ICC tournament in between and a demanding public will want to see how far South Africa have progressed.

Samit Patel, the England allrounder, has signed as an overseas player for Warriors in South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2013

Samit Patel, the England allrounder, has signed as an overseas player for Warriors in South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 tournament.He is currently in New Zealand and will arrive in Port Elizabeth on February 25 to be available for the rest of the tournament. The final takes place on April 7 with Nottinghamshire’s first County Championship match, against Middlesex, starting on April 10.”I’m very excited to be joining the Chevrolet Warriors,” Patel said. “I’ve heard fantastic things about the team and the area. The Warriors have a history of doing well in this format and I hope I can add something extra and make this year a winning season. I want to thank my county in England for releasing me to play and speaking to the staff at the Warriors I really can’t wait to start.”Patel was among the Nottinghamshire players barred from going into the IPL auction by their county coach Mike Newell. Unlike the IPL, however, South Africa’s tournament takes place out of the English domestic season and will not require Patel to miss any county cricket even if Warriors make it to the final.Patel, 28, has played 18 T20 internationals for England and was approached about appearing in the now-delayed Pakistan Super League.

ScorecardLions beat table-toppers Cape Cobras within three days at Newlands on the back of an all-round team performance and are now just 15 points adrift of Cobras.Lions bowled out Cobras for 169 in the second innings which gave them a 124-run target. The batsmen, led by opener Quinton de Kock, then ensured there were no hiccups as they completed the chase in the 28th over for the loss of only two wickets. De Kock set the tone of the chase with a 75-ball 55 before Neil McKenzie hit a flurry of boundaries to expedite matters.Cobras had started the third day on 81 for 6 – 35 ahead – but lost Johann Louw in the fourth over of the morning. An obdurate 63-run stand between Qaasim Adams and Charl Langeveldt took the lead past hundred, but the innings folded soon after Langeveldt fell to Imran Tahir. Adams, who scored 88, was the last wicket to fall.Lions, who had chosen to field, bowled out Cobras on the first day for 224 with Zander de Bruyn taking a five-for. But Cobras sensed a first-innings lead when they had Lions on 131 for 6 at one stage. However, a crucial 110-run stand between wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile and Cliffe Deacon – both batsmen hitting half-centuries – took Lions past the Cobras score to help Lions take a 46-run lead.

MatériaMais Notícias

Nas contas do Sport, o time precisava vencer os quatro jogos dentro da Ilha do Retiro e uma fora de casa para escapar do rebaixamento. Nesta tarde, o Leão se aproveitou dos reservas do Grêmio e conquistou um triunfo extremamente importante.

Na entrevista coletiva, o técnico Milton Mendes parabenizou os jogadores e brincou que vai pagar um churrasco para o elenco por conta da vitória.

“É com felicidade que eu pago esse churrasco que eu tinha prometido. Foi realmente uma vitória que nos envaidece, nos deixa feliz por marcar quatro gols com o nível dos jogadores, do treinador e do clube adversário. É uma felicidade imensa para mim ver que os jogadores estão dando a vida dentro de campo”, afirmou. “Estamos defendendo os torcedores, a direção, nossa própria honra e penso que fomos justos vencedores”, acrescentou.

Na próxima rodada, o Sport recebe o Ceará dentro de casa e o técnico convoca a torcida para lotar a Ilha.

RelacionadasGrêmioRenato Gaúcho lamenta os erros defensivos do GrêmioGrêmio27/10/2018Futebol NacionalEm jogo de sete gols, Sport derrota o Grêmio e respira contra a degolaFutebol Nacional27/10/2018

“Espero que o nosso torcedor continue nos abraçando que na próxima segunda temos um grande jogo, importantíssimo, que podo ser o nosso salto para começarmos a sair da zona. Então é muito importante o torcedor encher a Ilha. Se está vindo 16 mil a gente torce para dar 32 agora”, falou.

Legal proceedings have been initiated by the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) against the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the franchises involved in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) following a widespread failure to pay players.The first edition of the BPL ended in February but, despite repeated assurances and deadlines, FICA has been informed that many players have yet to receive full payment. As a result, the players’ organisation has instructed lawyers in Dhaka to file a claim against the relevant franchises and the BCB.”This is a black and white matter,” Tim May, the chief executive of FICA, told ESPNcricinfo. “It was stipulated by contract how much the players would be paid and the date by which they would receive payment. It was also stipulated that, if the franchises couldn’t pay,then the BCB would act as guarantors and would make the payments.”We have been waiting for four months. Deadlines have come and gone and all we have had is a litany of excuses. It has come to the stage where all avenues of dialogue have dried up and the BCB have stopped responding to FICA.”If it was not such a serious matter, some of the excuses they are coming up with would be amusing. They have said there are foreign currency issues, for example, but even some of the Bangladesh players have not been paid. They keep saying the payments will be made tomorrow, or next week, or the week after, but it has never happened.”May derided the behaviour of the Bangladesh board as “amateurish” and even questioned the integrity of some of those involved in the organisation of the tournament which attracted such diverse overseas players as Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Stuart MacGill and Peter Trego. Afridi, who topped the auction at $700,000, was reported last month as saying that he had been paid.”We don’t know if they have the funds available to make payments,” he said. “If we had a relationship based on trust we could understand their issues and agree a timeline for payments, as we did with the Sri Lanka board when they had some cash flow difficulties. But they have behaved in an amateurish manner and we have no confidence in them or their integrity.”Mustafa Kamal, the BCB president, has ambitions to become a president of the ICC, but May suggested that the continued impasse could harm his candidature.”The integrity of people involved in the leadership of Bangladesh cricket is spiralling downwards uncontrollably,” he said. “We have had continued assurances from Mustafa Kamal – a man touted as the next ICC president – but the continued non-payment does not reflect him in a particularly good light.”The episode presents a serious threat to the second edition of the BPL, which is due to begin in January 2013. FICA will take a more uncompromising line when it comes to advice they give players about payment.”Our advice to players is not to get involved in future unless they are either paid, or they receive bank guarantees, before they board the plane,” May continued. “The BPL will probably say that is unreasonable, but they have brought this on themselves. We have been trying to resolve this for months and legal action – which will take money that we could better spend on developing the game – is a last resort.”Our recommendation this year was for players not to travel until they had received 25% of their payment, but some went anyway. If you have a situation where players don’t receive that upfront payment, it is a sure sign that things are likely to go pear-shaped. We have major worries about the administration of the BPL.”