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The opener made his sixth 80-plus score in seven innings in the tournament and added 155 with Karun Nair in a nine-wicket win against Maharashtra

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Feb-2018Mayank Agarwal crossed 2000 runs across formats this season, scoring an 86-ball 81 in the presence of the national selectors in Delhi, during Karnataka’s nine-wicket win against Maharashtra in the first semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. This was Agarwal’s sixth 80-plus score in seven innings in the tournament. His opening partner and Karnataka captain Karun Nair made an unbeaten 70 and hit the winning runs after the pair had put together 155 in a 161 chase.Mayank Agarwal’s 2141 runs are the highest by anyone in a single Indian domestic season•ESPNcricinfo LtdMaharashtra lost opener Ruturaj Gaikwad in the first over after electing to bat. A second-wicket stand of 57 between Shrikant Mundhe (50) and Rahul Tripathi (18) would be their most substantial one as first the seamers and then offspinner K Gowtham (3 for 26) ensured the wickets fell regularly. Following the run-out of Ankit Bawne, Naushad Shaikh (42) kept the innings afloat before being the last man dismissed. Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna finished with figures of 2 for 26.Agarwal, on the back of a 140 against Hyderabad in the quarter-final, started the chase with a six and four off the first two balls. He got Karnataka off to a quick start and forced Maharashtra to bring on the left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bachhav (1 for 32) early to try and restrict the runs. Maharashtra failed to capitalise on the offered chances and the opening pair went about the chase with the run rate barely falling below five at any point.In the final, Karnataka will face either Saurashtra or Andhra, who face off in the second semi-final at Palam on Saturday.

Nottingham Forest are now set to sign Odysseas Vlachodimos from Benfica, with reliable reporter Fabrizio Romano sharing a deadline day update.

Who are Nottingham Forest signing today?

The Reds and Steve Cooper have really stepped up their transfer activity in the final days of the window, with a number of players set to join in the final hours of the window.

Prior to deadline day, Forest had brought in Chris Wood, Anthony Elanga, Murillo, Matt Turner, Ola Aina, Andrey Santos and Gonzalo Montiel. Those signings ranged from permanent deals, free transfers and loan moves, with Forest spending around £46m.

In the last few hours, a move for Arsenal’s Nuno Tavares has been announced by those at The City Ground, with the left-back joining on a season-long loan.

Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi is expected to be the next through the door on Friday, whereas Bologna defensive midfielder Nicolas Dominguez is also set to undergo a medical at the Midlands club in a deal that will see Remo Freuler head in the other direction on loan with an option to buy.

Forest won’t stop there, though, and by the looks of things, Vlachodimos is also on course to arrive. Romano took to X in the last few hours to share what he’s heard on Vlachodimos and a move to Forest. The transfer expert said that a deal has been agreed, with the goalkeeper on his way to the UK.

“EXCL: Odysseas Vlachodimos to Nottingham Forest, here we go! Deal agreed with Benfica right now, it’s all sealed between clubs.

“Player now travelling to the UK for medical tests later today. New goalkeeper for Forest.”

Who is Odysseas Vlachodimos?

Vlachodimos, who has a £51m release clause in his Benfica contract, is 29 years of age and has been on the books with the Portuguese giants since 2018.

A 33-cap Greece international, Vlachodimos began his career in Germany coming through the ranks at Stuttgart and made just three senior appearances for the club before moving to Panathinaikos.

He turned out on 63 occasions for the Greek outfit, keeping 34 clean sheets and then made the move to Benfica. Since then, Vlachodimos has gone on to make more than 200 appearances for his current employers, regularly featuring in the Champions League.

However, he admitted earlier this summer that he wants to move, saying:

"I'm ready to move on. It's something I want now. I established myself, won titles, experienced great successes, played in the Champions League and the Europa League. Benfica gave me a lot, it helped to develop me, but I think that the conditions are met to take the next step."

It looks as if he will get his wish, and it’ll be interesting to see who Cooper’s number one will be between Turner and Vlachodimos as the season goes on.

Bismah Maroof piloted a chase of 156 as Pakistan women wrapped up their first win against New Zealand women in 13 attempts

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsInternational Cricket Council

Sana Mir led Pakistan women to their first win against New Zealand women in 13 attempts, picking up four wickets and following it up by scoring the winning runs in a chase of 156. At the other end was captain Bismah Maroof, who top-scored with an unbeaten 36 off 69 balls, piloting the chase to its 49th-over finish after each of Pakistan’s top three – Nahida Khan, Sidra Ameen and Javeria Khan – had passed 20 to lay a solid platform.Choosing to bat first at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, New Zealand slumped to 9 for 2 inside the first six overs, with Mir picking up the key wicket of Suzie Bates. Wickets fell steadily thereafter, and only Maddy Green (26) and Sam Curtis got past 20, their sixth-wicket partnership of 38 the biggest of New Zealand’s innings. Curtis brought up her second ODI fifty before being seventh out for 50 off 77 balls, having hit five fours.

أعلن نادي برشلونة المنافس بطولة الدوري الإسباني عن تجديد عقد أحد لاعبيه، بعد التوصل لاتفاق رسمي.

وكان برشلونة قد غادر منافسات دوري أبطال أوروبا على يد باريس سان جيرمان من دور ربع النهائي، كما يحتل المركز الثالث في الدوري الإسباني برصيد 73 نقطة.

ووقع كوبارسي على عقد رسمي جديد لمدة 3 سنوات مقبلة حتى 30 يونيو 2027، ووضع برشلونة شرطًا جزائيًا في العقد بقيمة 500 مليون يورو.

وأثبت كوبارسي في الموسم الحالي مدى جدارته في التواجد بالفريق الأول لنادي برشلونة، وبالتالي قررت الإدارة الكتالونية مكافأته بعقد جديد.

اقرأ أيضًا.. تطورات مستقبل نونيز مع ليفربول وحقيقة انتقاله إلى برشلونة

PAU CUBARSÍ
2️⃣ 0️⃣ 2️⃣ 7️⃣ pic.twitter.com/r12uaj0oLJ — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) May 9, 2024

وشارك كوبارسي في الموسم الحالي مع برشلونة في 31 مباراة في 4 بطولات، وصنع هدفًا وحيدًا في إجمالي 2424 دقيقة.

ولكن أداء كوبارسي تحت قيادة المدرب، تشافي هيرنانديز، قد تطور كثيرًا وكان الجميع يعمل من أجل التجديد معه ليستمر نظرًا لكون له مستقبلًا كبيرًا مع برشلونة.

أداء المدافع الشاب صاحب الـ17 عامًا جعله ينضم إلى منتخب إسبانيا الأول ويشارك في مباراتين وربما نراه في كأس أمم أوروبا 2024.

Although Sri Lanka Cricket had already named a T20 squad ahead of the ODI series, two days out from the one-off match against India, the board has released a new squad, this one featuring legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay and seam-bowling allrounder Dasun Shanaka.

Sri Lanka’s revised T20 squad

Upul Tharanga (capt), Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilshan Munaweera, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Isuru Udana, Seekkuge Prasanna, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Vikum Sanjaya

Also in this side are spinner Akila Dananjaya, who was Sri Lanka’s most penetrative bowler in the ODIs, seamer Suranga Lakmal, who has recovered from a back complaint, and allrounders Wanindu Hasaranga, Thisara Perera and Milinda Siriwardana. Seam bowler Isuru Udana has also been named, while Dushmantha Chameera and Vishwa Fernando have been omitted.Kusal Mendis, whom the management feels is suffering from mental fatigue, has been rested as well.Vandersay has not played a T20 for Sri Lanka since the World T20 last year, which is perhaps surprising, as he had been one of the team’s standout players in that tournament. His return was complicated by injury, but the selectors have tried other spinners ahead of him as well. Notably absent from this 15 is left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan – a more aggressive but expensive option.*On the seam-bowling front Sri Lanka have Lasith Malinga, in addition to Lakmal and Vikum Sanjaya. The most senior batsman is Angelo Mathews, and this will also be Upul Tharanga’s first match as full-time T20 captain.T20s are the one format in which Sri Lanka have a creditable record in 2017. They won both the three-match series against Australia and South Africa, and drew the two-match series against Bangladesh to keep a 5-3 win-loss record. The victories over Australia and South Africa, however, were against substantially depleted teams.The match is scheduled to be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on September 6.*The story had earlier stated Seekkuge Prasanna had been ommittted. However, he is in the squad.

A second ODI loss to Zimbabwe in the ongoing series, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews conceded, has put his captaincy under significant pressure, and he hinted that he is unsure if he will lead the side in the next World Cup

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Jul-2017

Angelo Mathews is unsure whether he will be Sri Lanka’s captain at the 2019 World Cup, after leading his side to a second loss against Zimbabwe in the ongoing five-match series. The defeat, Mathews conceded, put his captaincy under significant pressure. His comments came after Zimbabwe chased down a revised target of 219 – deduced via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method – in the fourth ODI, after Sri Lanka had made 300.”There’s a lot of pressure on all of us, and as a captain there is a lot of pressure on me as well,” Mathews said after the loss in Hambantota. “In these games, where our batsmen have done well, our bowlers didn’t perform well – both in this match, and in the first one we lost. Our fielding also hasn’t been good at times. Against Zimbabwe, we need to play better than this. If we score 300 and still lose here, there is a big shortcoming.”Mathews’ record as ODI captain since the last World Cup isn’t exactly awful: the team has won 12 matches to the 15 they have lost under his watch. However, during that time, their only series wins under Mathews have been against West Indies at home, and Ireland, away. They have lost one away series apiece to England and New Zealand, and one home series to Australia and Pakistan each. Besides, there is now a risk of losing a home series to 11th-ranked Zimbabwe, who have tied the ongoing series 2-2.”I don’t know if I will be going to the 2019 World Cup as captain,” Mathews said. “Our batsmen are doing well, but sometimes there’s no consistency in our fielding – we don’t do well sometimes. But with the players that we have, we can win these matches. We lost these matches because our bowling wasn’t good. We have to solve this problem quickly.”If Sri Lanka perform poorly in the forthcoming ODIs against India (in August and September), there is also the chance of the team not being able to gain automatic entry for the 2019 World Cup. At present, Sri Lanka are on the eighth position, with 92 rating points. They must stay ahead of West Indies, who are currently on 78 rating points, in order to avoid going through a separate qualification procedure for the next World Cup.Considering this was the second instance in the series when Sri Lanka failed to defend 300 or more, Mathews was forthright in stating his discontent over the lack of sting in the performance of the bowlers.”After scoring 300, how many times can you lose a game?” You know, we had enough runs on the board. [It’s] unfortunate the rain had to intervene, but still, we had the bowling attack to defend it. The first ten overs we gave away a lot of runs, also the rain intervened and the last ten overs we didn’t bowl that well.”We actually didn’t know the rain might come in, but the wicket was extremely dry this morning. So we all thought it’s going to start slowing more and more once the day goes on. We saw in the last game also that the ball started turning after the first 20 overs, in the second half especially. So, I thought if we bat first and bat well, we have the spinners to defend it.”Mathews also made the point that Sri Lanka’s attack was a diminished one. Nuwan Pradeep, who has recently been the best bowler in the side, picked up a niggle in the third ODI, and is being rested in order to ensure he can be fit for the four Test matches over the next eight weeks. Suranga Lakmal was also made unavailable by illness.”In our bowling we are facing problems – Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal are injured,” Mathews said. “We have to manage our bowlers’ workloads as well. We’ve got a lot of cricket coming up. We have to balance managing workloads and winning the matches in front of us.”

ScorecardThree days of engaging cricket from both sides ended, depressingly, with handshakes at 5.25pm. But whatever sorrow filled the air was engulfed by a deeper dismay when Kumar Sangakkara, with a century in each innings, announced that this would be his final season in the County Championship.He has a couple of contracts to honour this year, including a stint in the Caribbean Premier League with Jamaica Tallawahs. “The mercenary in me is still alive,” he joked, when pressed on whether he might be around for a T20 gig or two. “No one wants an old dog just playing for the sake of it. All in all, I’ll have a few more months but that’ll be it.” So begins the farewell tour.”You need to get out while you are ahead,” was Sangakkara’s response when he was implored to reconsider – by the press, no less. What world is this where a man can become the fourth Surrey batsman to score four centuries in four consecutive innings (Ian Ward was the last to do it in 2002), pass 20,000 first-class runs with two centuries in a match and sit pretty on 592 in just four Championship games this season and think he’s done? Sport and indeed life, as it happens. “This really is it. Look – I’m 39. I’ll be 40 in a few months. I think this is about the end of county cricket [for me] in the four-day and any sense, really.”The biggest mistake you can make is to think you are better than you are and you try to fight the inevitable. When you start a season like this, there is a long way to go. You have to enjoy the good times. All good things come to an end. Cricketers and any other sportsperson have an expiry date. I’ve been very lucky to plays as much as I have and I’m not taking anything for granted, but and there’s a lot of life to be lived away from the game.”He has a young family: two children who have reached ages when a settled home life will do them the world of good. They have seen dad play all around the world. Now is time for dad to take a load off his feet and watch them flourish.That is not to say their stay in south London has been unenjoyable. Surrey, as a county and a base, has been good to Sangakkara, even if his original move – spawned over a beer with his then Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford, who was leaving for the county – was met with a degree of trepidation from himself and those who know he prefers warmer climes. They also worried that the longest form of the game might enhance the streaks of grey that have crept into his sideburns.Turns out there was nothing to worry about. In fact, he took to the city so quickly that he was even looking into canal boats and mooring spots along the Thames during his first year at the club. “Seriously, he won’t stop going on about it,” groaned a team-mate at the time. Last year he signed a one-year extension.”A lot of friends asked me: ‘Why four day cricket? It’s long, it’s tough in England, it’s cold. It’s a long hard grind.’ I thought the same when I came in to be honest. Had I made the right decision? But I really, thoroughly enjoyed my time at Surrey. They’ve been a wonderful club to play for. They take care of their players very well.”James Franklin removed Kumar Sangakkara for 120 but his side opted not to chase a fourth-innings target•Getty Images

If this really is to be it, then it has been some way to bow out. As a man with very little memorabilia at home, he watched on as MCC unveiled his portrait in the days leading up to this fixture. “It’s a great honour and I think Anthony, the artist, has actually made me look a bit better than I actually am!”Look at all the other portraits of great cricketers and you feel a bit funny, thinking you don’t belong in that environment but the fact the MCC wanted my portrait was very humbling.”He says he was unnerved and slightly embarrassed when he walked past it on his way to the middle, twice, before making centuries in both innings. To think, for the longest time, his lack of a red-ball century at Lord’s weighed heavy on his mind.”I sat here in my last Test at Lord’s hoping to get a hundred,” he said. It was only in the first innings of that match in 2014, after six previous innings that amounted to just 140 runs, that he got his name on the honours board. “But also, at that time, I was thinking ‘wouldn’t it be funny if I got a duck?’ It was nice to go through the processes and bat again at Lord’s. It’s probably the last time I’ll play a four-day game here.”For the second time in the match, though, Sangakkara was unable to go on the morning after the century before, meaning Middlesex had an end open. And while they were able to pick away at that end, eventually bowling out Surrey, it was Ben Foakes, batting for more than six hours for his 67 not out, who dragged Surrey away from danger.Ollie Rayner accounted for the Currans either side of lunch, before Dawid Malan bowled Stuart Meaker and then had Mark Footitt caught at midwicket to leave Middlesex with a chase of 242 off 39 overs. What happened next did not reflect well on the defending champions.Even with all the caveats – a red ball, no fielding restrictions, the fall in the pound – this was a chase to be undertaken: just over six an over needed, a small boundary away to the Grandstand that had been peppered regularly over the last three days. This is also a Middlesex batting line-up that went to Taunton last year and successfully chased 302 in 45.4 overs. The cornerstone of their title win was positivity and yet here, on a pitch that was still playing true, they opted for caution.Nick Gubbins and Nick Compton opened the second innings and it became apparent after the third over, which Compton played out as a maiden, that the champions were not going to go out of their way to get the runs. Gubbins was caught behind swiping in an attempt to get things going and with him seemed to go the impetus.Compton – who had 2 off 16 balls at one point – hit a couple of fours before being caught on the square-leg boundary off Footitt. Even Malan, who did not play with any particular urgency, finished with 37 off 44 balls when the game was put out of its misery. Middlesex’s captain, James Franklin, while accepting that the chase entered their minds, felt that ultimately a docile fourth-day surface would have prevented them from really going hell for leather.

أعلن نادي بيراميدز تجديد تعاقده مع لاعب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم إسلام عيسى، في ظل سعي الإدارة للحفاظ على العناصر الأساسية.

ويأتي قرار إدارة بيراميدز بتجديد تعاقد إسلام عيسى في إطار سلسلة من تجديد العقود لبعض العناصر والقوام الأساسي، وسيتم الإعلان عنها تباعًا خلال الأيام المُقبلة.

وسبق ذلك الإعلان عن تجديد عقد المدافع الدولي الشاب أسامة جلال، وكذلك الظهير الأيسر الدولي محمد حمدي في وقت سابق.

ويبلغ إسلام عيسى 28 عامًا، ويُعد من أهم اللاعبين في مركز لاعب الوسط والجناح الأيمن، حيثن انضم اللاعب إلى صفوف بيراميدز عام 2019.

طالع أيضًا | أسامة جلال بعد تجديد تعاقده مع بيراميدز: هدفنا المنافسة على لقب الدوري

وشارك عيسى بقميص بيراميدز في 158 مباراة بمختلف البطولات، سجل خلالها اللاعب 26 هدفًا إلى جانب 20 مساهمة تهديفية خلال تلك المباريات.

وعبر إسلام عيسى عن سعادته بتجديد تعاقده مع بيراميدز والاستمرار مع هذا النادي الكبير، مؤكدًا أنه فخور باللعب في صفوف السماوي منذ 2019، وارتداء قميص هذا الفريق شرف كبير لأي لاعب.

وأضاف عيسى أن قرار تجديد عقده مع بيراميدز لم يأخذ وقتًا، ووقع بدون تردد لأنه يشعر بالراحة في النادي الذي لم يتخل عنه لحظة واحدة وقت الإصابة وساعده على العودة قويًا بعد رحلة تأهيل في الإمارات.

وشدد على أنه يسعى لمساعدة زملائه في تحقيق الفوز وحصد البطولات خلال الفترة المُقبلة، والفريق أمامه منافسة قوية على لقب الدوري.

شارك المصري مصطفى محمد بديلاً في مباراة فريقه نانت أمام مارسيليا، بمنافسات الدوري الفرنسي، مساء الأحد.

وتعرض نانت للهزيمة بهدفين دون رد، في إطار مباريات الجولة الخامسة والعشرين للدوري الفرنسي.

ولعب مصطفى محمد 45 دقيقة، وحصل على تقييم 6.5 من 10، بحسب شبكة “سوفا سكور”.

لم يسدد مصطفى محمد أي تسديدة على المرمى أو بعيدة عنه، وسدد 3 تسديدات تم تشتيتها من لاعبي الخصم.

في الكرات الأرضية فاز بواحدة من أصل 3، وفقد الاستحواذ على الكرة 4 مرات، وتم ارتكاب خطأ ضده.

ويتواجد نانت في المركز السادس عشر بترتيب الدوري الفرنسي، ومارسيليا في المركز السابع برصيد 39 نقطة، فيما يتصدر باريس سان جيرمان الترتيب بـ 56 نقطة. ملخص لمسات مصطفى محمد أمام مارسيليا

A round-up of the matches from the fourth round of New Zealand’s Ford Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2017

Centuries from openers Martin Guptill and Glenn Phillips were just enough for Auckland to scrape to a four-run D/L win against Central Districts, a result that pushed them to the top of the Ford Trophy points table. After Auckland were asked to bat at the Eden Park No. 2, Guptill (112 off 105) and Phillips (102 off 89) thwacked their way to a 208-run stand in just 27.5 overs, before both were dismissed in quick succession off the bowling of Blair Tickner. Sean Solia’s 57-ball 70 and brisk cameos from Mark Chapman (43 off 28) and Robert O’Donnell (44 off 33) helped Auckland pile on 392 for 3.Central Districts lost Jesse Ryder for 1 in the third over, but kept pace with the asking rate. George Worker put on stands of 74 and 125 with Tom Bruce and Dane Cleaver respectively. Cleaver followed up Bruce’s 34-ball 50 with 77 off just 50 balls, an innings that featured seven fours and four sixes. Worker struck his ninth List A ton, and was unbeaten on 107 when rain came down. After a 13-minute interruption, play resumed without a reduction of overs. Soon after, however, heavy rain forced the game to be called off with Central Districts four runs short.In the only match not affected by rain in the round, Northern Districts beat Otago by 125 runs in Whangarei. Their win was set up by fifties from Dean Brownlie and Tim Seifert, before 19-year-old Zak Gibson took a career-best 4 for 31 to run through Otago’s batting line-up.Otago, who were set a target of 260, were reduced to 42 for 6 in the 13th over. Gibson claimed four wickets in his first four overs. Scott Kuggeleijn (2 for 31) and Ish Sodhi (2 for 30) were also among the wickets. Wicketkeeper-batsman Derek de Boorder top-scored with 43 at No. 8, but his was the only major contribution as Otago folded for 134 in the 39th over.Earlier, Brownlie scored 71 as he put on 57 for the opening wicket with Bharat Popli and 55 for the fourth with Daryl Mitchell. But Netherlands international Michael Rippon, a left-arm wristspinner took 3 for 36, and medium-pacer Christi Viljoen returned figures of 3 for 45 to keep things tight. Seifert (56 off 50) was the only other batsman who could get past 30. He put on 56 for the seventh wicket with Brett Hampton (29), before they lost four wickets in five balls to be bowled out for 259 in the last over.Hamish Bennett’s figures of 3 for 9 helped Wellington beat Canterbury by 10 runs (D/L method) in their rain-curtailed fixture at the Basin Reserve.Wellington were put into bat before the match was reduced to 27 overs a side. They were 35 for 2 in the 11th over, when Tom Blundell – who is part of the New Zealand ODI squad for the Chappell-Hadlee series – scored 32, and combined with Scott Borthwick (38), before falling with the score on 66 in the 16th over. Thereon, Wellington scored 100 runs off 69 deliveries thanks to Matt Taylor’s unbeaten 43 off 22, to post 166 for 6. Logan van Beek and Tim Johnston took two wickets each for Canterbury.In reply, Canterbury were reduced to 12 for 3 in the fifth over, Bennett taking all three in consecutive overs. Opener Jack Boyle put on 54 with Todd Astle (26) for the fourth wicket. Wickets off consecutive overs, including that of Boyle for 68, set Canterbury back. They slammed 11 off the next three balls as the rain came down, and were 123 for 6 in 22.2 overs – 10 short of the par score – when play was stopped.