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In a session’s worth of play – 14.1 overs upfront and the last 15 overs – Karnataka lost eight wickets, and with it the initiative in their semi-final against Saurashtra

Saurabh Somani at the Chinnaswamy24-Jan-2019Jaydev Unadkat made the ball dart around both ways, from over the stumps or around them, at the outset. Karnataka’s batsmen flailed and poked, against both pace and spin, at the close. In the middle period, the trio of Manish Pandey, Shreyas Gopal and S Sharath held sway. But despite that middle period being twice as long as the start and the finish, the day was defined by how it began and how it ended.In a session’s worth of play – 14.1 overs first up and the last 15 overs – Karnataka lost eight wickets, and with it the initiative in their semi-final against Saurashtra.ALSO READ: Umesh claims seven as Kerala roll over for 106Unadkat was terrific, keeping the ball in the channel, working the angles to yank bat away from body and pad and into a poke, getting subtle movement and cranking up the pace when needed. But a batting line-up that has Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and Pandey among its first five batsmen but still finds itself at 30 for 4 after choosing to bat must ask itself questions. A lower order that has decent batting chops must also ask itself questions if the score tumbles from 232 for 5 to 258 for 9.When Pandey chose to bat first on Thursday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, he would have known that the first hour presented the most testing phase. The ball was new, the bowlers raring and the pitch fresh. He would have known equally, that if Karnataka could survive the opening hour, there would be runs for the taking. Except, Unadkat had other plans.”Honestly, there was nothing new in the plan,” Unadkat said. “We thought there was some moisture in the wicket. To take the advantage of that it was necessary to bowl in the right areas, on the top of off stump. That’s what we talked about after I bowled a couple of overs, and I told Chetan (Sakariya) as well that we’ll keep the off-stump lines and wait for them to commit errors. Looking at the way the pitch was behaving, it was the only plan that was there in my mind. I’m happy that we actually got those wickets. At times it doesn’t come even if you bowl in good areas and bowl good balls. Later on the spinners also capitalised in the end.”Unadkat’s opening burst brought three wickets in seven uninterrupted overs. He had taken out R Samarth with the third ball of the match. He then got a one to tail in late to account for KV Siddharth, Karnataka’s highest scorer this season. And the most crucial strike came when the plan to stifle Agarwal resulted in a poke that was snaffled by the wicketkeeper. The man who handled Mitchell Starc’s left-arm pace confidently on Test debut was undone by Saurashtra’s captain.”For Mayank I just had a set plan to bowl top of off stump, in the fourth-stump line. There was movement happening at that time, so for me it was just simple,” Unadkat said. “I had to bowl in the right areas and wait for him to commit an error. Because we were bowling in partnerships, and not giving him loose balls, not giving him boundaries – I think that was the reason he didn’t really get his shots and he just pushed at a good ball.”Pandey then took the onus on himself to carry his team out of trouble. Counterattacking from the start, he succeeded in making Unadkat change his plans. Once the spinners came on, the field began to spread, and more importantly, the bowlers couldn’t settle on a length because Pandey was using his feet and the depth of the crease.Unadkat had not bowled in the first session after a seven-over burst. He later explained this was because he knew he would have to spread out his overs across the day. He duly came back after lunch and got his man, setting him up with one that went away, and then bowling a quicker, fuller ball homing in on the stumps. Pandey wasn’t in position to play it, and brought his bat down too late, by when the ball had found its target.”After lunch, it wasn’t really moving much so I was trying to get something out of it,” Unadkat said. “I was bending my back as well. That particular ball, I think if you saw the one before that it was an outswinger and he got beaten. So I just had a feeling that if I bowl this ball up and get it to swing in, which it did, it could get him lbw or bowled and that happened.”What Unadkat started, Karnataka’s batsmen finished. In the final hour, Shreyas tried to swipe Kamlesh Makvana across the line and found that he had played for turn that wasn’t there, the ball merely going with the angle from around the wicket. Shreyas had stayed at the crease for more than four hours with exemplary concentration, so one lapse was understandable. Unfortunately for him, his first mistake was his last. There was no redemption in the other dismissals though. Both K Gowtham and Vinay Kumar have first-class centuries while Abhimanyu Mithun has a highest score of 89. They collectively scored 14 off 35 balls. Gowtham was dropped second ball off Makvana, but he wafted at one lazily outside off to give slip-catching practice. Both Vinay and Mithun played ugly slogs across the line – one was bowled, the other caught off a top edge.The lower order had fallen while copying Pandey’s counterattack but without his skill. This despite, Shreyas and Sharath putting on an exhibition of patience and classical long-format batting, and with Sharath watching from the other end while batting unbeaten on a maiden first-class fifty.Sharath conceded that he and Shreyas “were actually looking at 300” when they were together as a reasonable end-of-day score, so by their own measure 264 for 9 was considerably below par.Karnataka may have had the better of four hours out of six on the first day. But it’s the two hours they conceded that have made the most impact.

Manchester United and Ruben Amorim have suffered a new injury scare, as a “monster” player is set to undergo a test following an injury he picked up against Everton on Saturday.

Man Utd fight back to claim a point at Everton

It looked like it was going to be another disappointing weekend for the Red Devils, as they went 2-0 down to Everton in the first half at Goodison Park. United put on a poor showing in the first half, but changes by Amorim transfored the game in the second half and two quick goals from Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte meant the points were shared.

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After the game, Amorim claimed his side were “soft” and gave the ball away too many times when not under pressure.

Amorim was also asked what he can do to make his United side more consistent, as that is now no win in their last three league games – the Portuguese is unsure if he can change it.

“I don’t know; if I know, I will change it. Everything we do in the week, we have to do better in the game. In this moment, we need to focus on day by day. We need to survive this season, and then we can think ahead. I don’t want to just say the negative part. In the second half, we were close to win this game.”

Man Utd suffer injury scare as “monster” set to undergo Monday scan

Amorim will have been pleased to see his side fight back to rescue a point on Saturday, but he will now be concerned about one of his key players. According to ESPN reporter Rob Dawson (relayed by mufcmpb on X), Noussair Mazraoui picked up an injury to his knee in the game against the Toffees and is set to undergo tests on Monday.

The 27-year-old went down in the second half of the game but was able to continue a little bit longer before being replaced in the 70th minute by Leny Yoro. It is unclear the severity of Mazraoui’s injury, but he is set to undergo tests before a decision is made on whether he can play against Ipswich Town on Wednesday.

Mazraoui, who has been dubbed a “monster” in the past, has been a key player for United this season, starting 24 Premier League games as well as seven in the Europa League and two in the FA Cup. The defender has failed to appear in just one game this season, and that was in the recent game against Rangers, as he missed the match through injury.

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The versatile defender, who earns £135,000 a week at Old Trafford, would complete what is fast becoming a Tottenham-level injury crisis at United. Amad Diallo is likely out for the season, Kobbie Mainoo will miss several weeks and Lisandro Martinez is facing a long spell on the sidelines with a knee injury of his own, and things wil go from bad to worse if the Moroccan’s scans come back with bad news.

Youngster could help some of Australia’s modern greats tick their bucket lists

Matt Roller27-Jul-2023Moeen Ali was batting on one leg by the time he arched his bat and upper-cut Pat Cummins for four over Alex Carey’s head, and Australia seemed to have let their opportunity to take control of the fifth Test slip away.Cummins had finally won a toss, his first of the series, and asked England to bat first under thick cloud cover, with the floodlights turned on shortly after the lunch break. Australia had reduced England to 73 for 3 but dropped three catches and missed a run-out chance; Harry Brook and Moeen had brought up a 100-run stand in 17 overs.Enter Todd Murphy, long sleeves pulled up, top-button clasped and up-turned collar flopping down. At 22, Murphy is a boy in a team of men, the youngest player in this Australian XI by seven years. He has played as many Tests as Sheffield Shield games (six of each), and in most of those he has been Victoria’s second spinner.But here he was, standing at the Vauxhall End and trying to burgle a wicket for a group of team-mates at a completely different stage in life to him. This Australia team will undergo a near-total regeneration before its next tour here in four years’ time and these five days are about securing a legacy for most of them. Murphy is still making his way.Related

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His first ball was a fraction short, and Brook punched it away through point to get off strike. His second was even shorter. Moeen rocked back and pulled him away through midwicket for four. Cummins told short leg to move to midwicket, fearing that Murphy had already underlined the reason for his non-selection in Manchester last week.But Murphy’s next ball was a braver one: much fuller, drifting in with the around-the-wicket angle. It was quick (58mph/93kph) and hardly turned, but had enough drop on it to sneak underneath Moeen’s bat as he swung wildly, lining up a swipe into the leg side.Murphy hardly celebrated, wearing the expression of a bowler still annoyed at himself for the previous ball. Perhaps, too, he was conscious of what is to come: Moeen’s wicket brought Ben Stokes in at No. 6, the man who crashed him for five sixes at Headingley before eventually holing out to long-on.And yet Murphy fared well against Stokes, tossing the ball up and conceding only two singles from the 11 balls he bowled to him. He beat him on the cut, cramping him for room, and responded by dragging his length back when Stokes skipped out of his crease.He was whipped out of the attack after Stokes fell, losing his off stump to Mitchell Starc when looking to break the scoring pressure by turning him into the leg side, then returned for a token over before tea.After the interval, Murphy’s second ball was full and flighted, and scythed over point for four by Mark Wood. It was one of two boundaries he conceded, and just as he had after lunch, he responded by taking a wicket with his next ball: Wood cleared his front leg, and Murphy’s offbreak crashed into the top of his middle stump.There was a brief celebration this time, punching the air and roaring, “yeah! Come on!” before giving David Warner – 14 years his senior – a high-ten. Wood’s partnership with Chris Woakes was worth 49, the third-highest partnership of England’s innings; it was Murphy who broke two of the three substantial stands.He finished with 2 for 22 from his six overs – and it should have been three-for, but for a fluffed caught-and-bowled chance when Woakes chipped one back to him. Thrown into away tours in India and England, Murphy has 17 wickets at 24.94 in his first five-and-a-bit Tests.Moeen Ali was bowled by Todd Murphy for 34•Getty Images”Since he started in his Test career he’s been really good for us, through India,” Starc said. “He didn’t play a heap of a role at Headingley – [he was] used pretty sparingly there – but he’s come back and played a job today. He’s going to learn from those experiences, his first Ashes tour on the back of his first Indian tour.”Murphy has had a walk-on role in this series and it is clear that Cummins does not trust him to the same extent that he does Nathan Lyon. And how could he be expected to? Lyon is a veteran of 122 Tests; Murphy is playing the 14th first-class game of his career.”Obviously coming in and trying to fill Nathan’s boots is a big deal as it is,” Starc added. “Nathan has obviously bowled quite well here in the past; did in the Test final. Todd’s gone off the back of that and bowled some really good overs today with a couple of crucial wickets. We’ll look for him to play another part in the second innings.”Starc predicted that Murphy is “going to be a quality spinner for us for a long time,” and Australia will hope that he can be Lyon’s long-term successor. Whether that proves to be the case or not, he is fulfilling a role well enough that he could help some of Australia’s modern greats tick one final achievement off their bucket lists.

Ange Postecoglou faces a make-or-break Europa League final as his Spurs future seemingly hangs on one night in Bilbao.

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Spurs reach Europa League final after 5-1 aggregate winPostecoglou dismisses critics, says league form irrelevantRobinson: Ange's job depends on final resultFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

After a 2-0 second-leg victory against Bodo/Glimt in Norway, Tottenham have secured a spot in the Europa League final, achieving a 5–1 aggregate semi-final win. Goals from Dominic Solanke and Pedro Porro in the Arctic Circle set up a showdown against their Premier League rivals, Manchester United in Bilbao on May 21. But while major silverware is at stake, so too might be Ange Postecoglou's future with the club. Spurs' Premier League performance has dropped and they find themselves in 16th in the table. Nevertheless, the story is different in Europe, where Postecoglou has led his side to the brink of ending a 16-year trophy drought.

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Throughout the campaign, Postecoglou has come under growing scrutiny. Injuries have wrecked his team, but Spurs' domestic decline has raised doubts about his long-term future. Former Spurs keeper Paul Robinson now thinks the Europa League final will determine the club's season, which goes hand-in-hand with their manager's future.

WHAT POSTECOGLOU SAID

Postecoglou came out swinging after reaching the final in Norway, striking back strongly at those who have mocked or insulted Spurs' European success.

"It's going to upset a lot of people isn't it," he said, according to . "The debate's now raging. The latest one is that neither of us will be able to get a trophy if we win — they're just going to take a team photo because we're not worthy."

The Spurs boss dismissed the idea that league form should diminish their achievement.

"Who cares if we're struggling in the league? It's a separate thing. It's got nothing to do with league form. I couldn't care less who's struggling and who's not. I think both us and Manchester United have earned the right to be there."

Given Spurs' season, many have also asked whether winning this trophy would even matter. Postecoglou, however, made apparent its significance.

"I've said all along that this is important. What's happening now is people are fearing that — that it actually might happen, and let's see how we can tear it down somehow… by saying it's been a poor season and we don't deserve this or that, or somehow comparing us to Man Utd.

"Maybe if we had Man Utd's success then maybe I'd have a different view. So of course it's massive. You have to frame it against what this club has been through over the last 15 or 20 years and what the supporters have been through. We've given them some real hope and something to dream about — that we can do something special this year."

WHAT PAUL ROBINSON SAID

Former Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson added fuel to the fire with a stark assessment. "If Tottenham don't win, he won't be in charge next season,” he told. "Ange Postecoglou's whole season and Tottenham career depends on that one result."

Head coach McDonald ‘surprised’ at how aggressive England were against Boland at Edgbaston

Andrew McGlashan22-Jun-2023Scott Boland’s place in Australia’s side is likely to come under scrutiny for the second Test at Lord’s after he was taken for nearly six an over at Edgbaston.Head coach Andrew McDonald admitted there was some surprise at how aggressive England’s batters were against Boland who conceded 147 from 26 overs across the two innings, making it his highest economy rate in a first-class match where he’s bowled at least 20 overs by some distance.Related

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“We’d seen the way they go about it, they are ultra-aggressive,” McDonald said. “But I think Scott Boland, that match-up probably surprised us how aggressive they were against Scott. So that’s something we can look at and find better ways through.”Boland did dismiss Zak Crawley twice the game and was threatening under gloomy skies on the third evening, but for the first time in his Test career he was largely treated with disdain.Mitchell Starc, who was omitted in favour of Josh Hazlewood in the first Test, could be a straight swap for Boland, provided Hazlewood pulls up without problems from his return to the format.McDonald suggested that with a degree of hindsight about how conditions played out at Edgbaston, where the pitch was largely flat and slow, Starc could have had an impact.”I think the fact the line and length potentially over left-arm swing, and we didn’t feel as though we may have got swinging conditions here,” he said. “It’s really down to a gut feel at selection, it can be critiqued any way you want.”We feel as though, looking back on it, potentially Mitch could have played a role, there’s no doubt about that. But we felt like when we went into the game with all the information that we had, we made the best decision.Mitchell Starc was omitted in favour of Josh Hazlewood in the first Test•Getty Images”We took Starcy on that journey, he understands that and he understands the fact there are four more Test matches and he’s got a pivotal part to play within that.”One of the knock-on effects of England playing at such a rapid tempo is that the fast bowlers did not clock up massive workloads at Edgbaston. Captain Pat Cummins sent down the most with 32.2 overs and Hazlewood was used for 25 alongside Boland’s 26. Allrounder Cameron Green bowled just eight.McDonald said there was a plan mapped out of which bowlers may suit certain venues but that it could also be adjusted on the fly.”Our bowlers didn’t bowl as many overs as we probably expected in this Test match,” he said. “There’s a longer turnaround, so you can have a pencil plan but the reality is you see how they pull up, what the conditions are when we get to Lord’s, and you make a decision with what’s in front of you. The issue is we’ve got great depth in the fast bowling, and that’s one of our great strengths.”On the field, Australia played a largely defensive game during the opening Test, operating with three or four sweepers for large periods and sometimes only a slip and a gully. It was a tactic flagged before the series but came in for scrutiny which would likely have escalated had Cummins and Nathan Lyon not forged their match-winning stand. However, McDonald wasn’t going to be drawn into judging one team’s approach over another.”I think it should be more a celebration,” he said. “Two styles come together and produce a Test match like that. Certainly no vindication, we’ll go about it our way and England will go about it their way and we’ll see what happens at the end of the series.”We’re clear from the way that we play. I’ve suggested over the last 12-18 months it’s pretty clear the way that we do go and we feel as though we’ve got some great strengths around that.”