“Seeing how calm he is in the middle keeps us all calm as well,” Southee said of Williamson

Andrew Fidel Fernando13-Mar-2023

New Zealand’s lower-order hitting in the first innings, and their rallying with the ball late on day four were crucial moments in the first Test against Sri Lanka. This was what their captain Tim Southee felt, after his team had pulled off a last-ball victory at Hagley Oval – the hosts scrambling to a target of 285 with two wickets to spare.Oh, plus Daryl Mitchell’s innings – both in the first dig, where he held New Zealand together with his 102, and in the second, when he hit 81, forging a 142-run fourth-wicket partnership with Kane Williamson. In the first innings, Southee hit 25, Matt Henry crashed 72, and Neil Wagner made 27, when New Zealand had seemed like they’d end up with a serious first-innings deficit.”Daryl’s first innings was a was a massive turning point and it sort of got us back in,” Southee said after the match. “And any time the lower order is able to contribute is massive, and it sort of got us into the lead.Related

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“We were able to eke out runs there, and then on day four, when we were able to bowl them out quickly and now give them a position when they were able to declare and dictate how many runs they wanted – there’s a couple of moments there where you look back on as probably turning points in the game.”On Williamson, who shepherded the chase, hit a spectacular final boundary through point, and got New Zealand to their target, Southee had this to say: “He’s just a world-class player, and world-class players are able to perform in different conditions and different situations. Even when he was young, he was the guy you leaned on.”We saw his class even with that last boundary, when he beat two fielders to the big side of the ground. Just the calmness with which he does it is good for the group. Seeing how calm he is in the middle keeps us all calm as well.”Southee believed being relaxed even in tense situations was something New Zealand prided themselves on.”It’s just about trying to keep calm. When you’ve got one of our best players out there, that helps as well. We’ve seen it in the last two Tests, and in Pakistan as well. It’s a changing group, but the belief in the guys that that have come in… we’ve had a couple of bad days but being able to bounce back and know that someone’s going to put their hand up – that’s a sign of a good side.”

Erling Haaland says this has been a "catastrophic season" for Manchester City, while giving his verdict on why they have fallen short.

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• Man City could end season trophyless
• Haaland says it's been "catastrophic"
• Explains why they have fallen short

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The City striker believes his team haven't had enough "hunger" this season and that they need to put that right in the 2025/26 campaign. The 24-year-old admitted his performances haven't been good enough, either.

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  WHAT HAALAND SAID

  He said, via The Daily Mail: "You can find excuses in all of this – injuries, many injuries and at bad times – but in the end we haven't been performing well enough. We haven't had the hunger inside of us. I haven't been good enough, I haven't helped the team enough.

  "The club has set standards and the bar is so high which means this season is a catastrophic season – that says it all. Next season we need to find something inside our stomach again to attack the season."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  City's run of four straight Premier League titles was emphatically ended by Liverpool this season, and they also suffered early Champions League and Carabao Cup exits. All their hopes lie in qualifying for next season's Champions League and winning the FA Cup – both are very much within their grasp.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Haaland, who has still scored 30 goals this season, will hope to lead fourth-placed City into the Champions League next season and to FA Cup glory against Crystal Palace this weekend.

He hopes to cap off the milestone with a series-squaring victory in the second Test

Vithushan Ehantharajah27-Feb-2023Kane Williamson says he is honoured to lead a list of greats after becoming New Zealand’s leading Test run-scorer and hopes to cap off the milestone with a series-squaring victory in the second Test against England.Upon passing 28 early in the morning on day four, Williamson overtook Ross Taylor’s tally of 7,683 runs in his 161st innings. He went on to register his 26th Test century, allowing the Blackcaps to turn the tables on England in their follow-on innings.Related

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The 32-year-old’s 132 held together a response of 483, giving Ben Stokes’ side a chase of 258 to secure the series 2-0. Tim Southee, who took over as Test captain when Williamson stepped down last December, removed Zak Crawley to leave the tourists 48 for 1 overnight.”It’s not something I’ve thought a whole lot about,” said Williamson after the day’s play. “But it is an honour. You look at that list, and I’ve admired all of those players over those years, whether that’s watching from afar growing up or playing alongside a number of them as well. Like I say, it’s not a focus point but it’s special to be amongst that company.”It would be pretty special for sure,” he said on the prospect of becoming only the fourth team to win a Test after following-on. “It’s exciting going in to day five. As a bowling attack and a team, we want to make sure we’re on come tomorrow. There’s still some assistance there and some assistance for the slower bowlers as well. All to play for, which is exciting.”Harry Brook picked up the key wicket of Kane Williamson•AFP/Getty ImagesWilliamson, however, was frustrated with his dismissal. Not just because it was the start of a collapse of five for 28 from a commanding position of 455 for 5, but that the bowler who dismissed him was not a bowler at all. Harry Brook, whose exploits have been exclusively with the bat, was brought on in the 148th over to give James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson a rest ahead of a potential third new ball.With the final delivery of his third of seven overs of medium pace off the wrong foot, Brook fired a delivery down the leg side which Williamson tickled into the gloves of Ben Foakes, who was standing up to the stumps. Even as he shook his head contemplating the dismissal in his post-match press conference, he was able to see the funny side.”He didn’t miss his length at all, ey? He was immaculate.”He was on point. Maybe that (the wicket-taking delivery) was the worst ball he bowled, actually.”Initially given not out on the field, Ben Stokes reluctantly called for a review on the insistence of Joe Root who thought he heard something. A noise was picked up as the ball passed the face of the bat, leading to an overturned decision. While it was not a big spike, Williamson is satisfied the technology worked.”In my instance, it was,” he said when asked if UltraEdge had worked correctly. “But I think at times you see some shakes in the lone. Whether that’s accurate or now, I don’t really know. We had a few dismissals in Pakistan.”

Barcelona find themselves in a bit of a financial rabbit hole, but first steps to rectify the situation have been taken with the sale of a youngster.

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Barca sell promising youngster Valle to Como Club taking steps to offload players deemed surplus Will help club in maintaining finances for new registrationsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Barcelona will be looking to offload players deemed surplus to requirements in a bid to help head coach Flick register any potential new signings. The club seems to have already taken the first step towards achieving that goal, with Jijantes (h/t Football Espana) reporting that Como have completed the permanent transfer of Alex Valle.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Barcelona's struggles with finances have been well-documented. Over the course of the 2024-25 season, they got embroiled in registration drama, which put Dani Olmo and Pau Victor's futures at the club in jeopardy, albeit temporarily. Winning the La Liga and Copa del Rey trophies, as well as making a deep run in the Champions League, will have boosted their revenues, but Valle's sale to Como comes as an additional significant step towards improving the club's fiscal muscle for the future.

Valle was initially sent on loan to Celtic, before Como signed him in January on a short-term loan. After making 14 appearances for the club, the Italian outfit have gone ahead with the permanent transfer for the 21-year-old left-back. Como are believed to have activated the €6 million option to buy, of which they will pay €4m upfront and an additional €2m in variables.

DID YOU KNOW?

Barcelona's faith in youth continues, with Gerard Martin earning the backup role to Alejandro Balde despite a tough outing against Inter. Martin, who extended his contract until 2028, will battle for minutes next season. Fellow youngster Jofre Torrents also renewed through 2028, with Director Deco impressed by his rise through the U-19s and Barca Atletic.

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AFPWHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

Hansi Flick's troops will play their final game of the season this weekend, when they visit the iconic San Mames stadium to take on fourth-placed Athletic Club.

Ranji champions to receive INR 5 crore; eightfold increase in prize money for senior women’s T20 trophy winners

PTI16-Apr-2023

The BCCI has announced an increase in prize money for the domestic tournaments, with the Ranji Trophy winners set to receive a whopping cash reward of INR 5 crore this year.According to the new pay structure, the Ranji Trophy winners, who currently get INR Rs 2 crore, will receive INR 5 crore, while the runners-up and losing semi-finalists will get INR 3 crore and INR 1 crore respectively.”I’m pleased to announce an increase in prize money for all @BCCI Domestic Tournaments,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a tweet.

Gavin Larsen has decided to step down as New Zealand selector after almost eight years in the job. The former New Zealand seamer will now move to England along with his wife Karen to take up the role of performance director at Warwickshire, subject to a visa approval. He is set to replace Paul Farbrace, who had left his job as sporting director at Warwickshire in October last year.Under Larsen, who took up the selector’s role in 2015, New Zealand enjoyed tremendous success across formats, including reaching the finals of the 2019 50-over World Cup and 2021 T20 World Cup, and winning the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) in 2021.”The past seven-and-a-half years have just flown by and I’ve relished and enjoyed every minute of it,” Larsen said in an NZC media release.”The discussions and deliberations have always been robust and challenging but my enduring memory will always be the quality of the people I’ve worked with – from high performance right through to the administration.”Larsen will be overseeing both the men’s and women’s high performance programmes at Warwickshire.”WCCC is a club with an amazing history and tradition and I’m looking forward to joining the team and helping to drive the club’s ongoing success,” Larsen said. “I have a number of great memories of playing at Edgbaston during my New Zealand playing days and the atmosphere was simply terrific.”NZC’s GM High Performance Bryan Stronach spoke highly of Larsen’s contribution to New Zealand cricket as a selector.”Gavin was part of a support team that made a key contribution to arguably the most successful period in the history of the New Zealand men’s team,” Stronach said.”His appointment at Edgbaston reflects the respect in which he’s held around the cricketing world.”Stronach added that the process to find a new selector will begin in due course.