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Pakistan maintained an iron grip on proceedings on day three in Abu Dhabi, bowling West Indies out for 224 before moving to 114 for 1 by stumps

The Report by Sirish Raghavan23-Oct-2016Stumps
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsYasir took two quick wickets with the second new ball•Getty Images

Yasir Shah’s four wickets led Pakistan’s slow but clinical strangulation of West Indies, before their openers stretched a 228-run first-innings lead to 342, leaving them in a dominant position in the Abu Dhabi Test by stumps on the third day. While Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali did not go out of their way to score quickly, the ease with which they milked the bowling contrasted with West Indies’ struggles in the first two sessions of the day.Aslam departed for 50 late in the day, when third umpire Paul Reiffel made the dubious decision to overturn a not-out decision on a caught-behind appeal. Shannon Gabriel had angled the ball into Aslam’s pads and West Indies believed he got a faint edge as it went down leg to the wicketkeeper. DRS provided only slow-motion replays and the evidence to overturn looked scant, but it was enough to convince Reiffel.That ended a 93-run opening partnership that had steadily taken the match further and further from West Indies’ reach. Asad Shafiq joined Azhar to take Pakistan to 114 for 1 by the close, a position that looked nigh on impregnable with two days left in the match.It was an indictment of the ineffectiveness of West Indies’ frontline bowlers that Kraigg Brathwaite, bowling first-change, was the only one who came close to taking a wicket in the first two hours of the innings. In the tenth over, Brathwaite fired in a delivery at 95 kph to beat Azhar’s sweep and induce umpire Michael Gough to raise his finger. But Azhar reviewed immediately and replays indicated the ball had brushed the batsman’s glove. In Brathwaite’s next over, another fired-in delivery thudded into the pads, but not before Sami Aslam had got an inside edge. Umpire Gough raised his finger and West Indies’ hopes, only for Aslam to review successfully.In the 18th over, Brathwaite was denied yet again, this time by his team-mate. Azhar edged a cut to Jermaine Blackwood at first slip, but the fielder did not even manage to a get a hand on it. He moved to his right, the ball struck his left thigh and a clear chance went down. It was ultimately Gabriel who made the breakthrough, but only after Pakistan’s lead had swelled beyond 300.Sami Aslam’s fifty helped Pakistan build on their 228-run first-innings lead•Getty Images

Having lost two wickets in the last seven balls on the previous day, West Indies began the third day well behind the game, trailing by 346 in the first innings with four wickets down. Nightwatchman Bishoo might understandably have been carrying a few scars from the second evening, having been involved – and arguably culpable – in the run-out of Kraigg Brathwaite in the last over of the day. But he shrugged all of that off to occupy the crease for a gutsy 66-ball knock that, while not always convincing, helped West Indies repel many of Pakistan’s early efforts.Bishoo’s overnight partner, Blackwood, departed about half an hour into the session with only 15 runs having been added to the overnight score of 106 for 4. Blackwood took a couple of steps down the track, before playing a loose, half-hearted drive to a Rahat delivery moving away from him; Sarfraz Ahmed collected a good, low catch to his right.Bishoo struggled against Rahat’s outswing, repeatedly playing and missing outside off stump with no footwork. He got off the mark in his 20th ball with a cross-batted swipe through midwicket off Yasir. His first boundary came off his 50th ball with a similar shot, this time off Zulfiqar Babar. By that stage, Bishoo’s stubborn knock was vexing Pakistan. In Babar’s next over, the bowler went up for a big lbw appeal after Bishoo missed a sweep; Pakistan reviewed the not-out decision, only to find that the impact was just outside off. That exhausted Pakistan’s reviews.But Bishoo did not last too much longer. He had his off stump floored by Sohail who angled the ball away from the left-hander to beat his outside edge and give Pakistan their second wicket of the morning. Roston Chase and Shai Hope then added 7 off the 49 balls leading into lunch, and added a further 18 after lunch before both fell to Yasir in the space of three overs.Yasir struck with the first delivery of the second new ball, finding the outside edge of an extravagant drive from Chase with Shafiq completing a sharp catch at second slip. In his next over, Yasir bowled Hope when the batsman missed an attempted pull off a short ball that kept low.He could have had a third when Jason Holder played an inside-out drive in the air to long-off, where Mohammad Nawaz dropped the catch. Instead, it was Sohail who broke the 19-run ninth-wicket partnership, when he angled a ball across Miguel Cummins to beat the bat and hit off stump, much as he had done to Bishoo earlier in the day. Holder and Gabriel then chipped in with a few lusty blows, before Gabriel holed out to mid-on as West Indies were bowled out for 224.West Indies had added 118 for 6 over the course of 49.4 overs of attritional cricket, till they were bowled out at the stroke of tea. Pakistan’s solid start in their second innings left West Indies in need of a far better effort when they bat again.

West Ham United manager David Moyes will be frustrated by comments striker Michail Antonio made recently regarding differences between Gianluca Scamacca's style of play and the Scot's tactical approach, according to journalist Paul Brown.

What's the latest news involving Moyes, Antonio and Scamacca?

Speaking on the Filthy Fellas podcast via The Daily Mail, West Ham striker Antonio questioned whether fellow attacker Scamacca would succeed at the London Stadium under Moyes.

Antonio stated regarding Scamacca: "I'm going to be honest with you lot. He's actually quality. He is a quality player. The problem is, he can't play the way the gaffer (Moyes) plays. He needs a different type of manager to play his type of football. He needs a manager (where) he can play and have other players come off him and stuff like that. You can see the ball comes into him and it sticks; he's tidy. But how David Moyes plays is more like if you're up front, you're dealing with scraps and you've got to be more of a fighter, and that's not him."

As cited by Football London, Moyes replied to £85k-a-week earner Antonio's comments in the run-up to West Ham's Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina on Wednesday, stating: “I've got no issues with Gianluca. Gianluca is a terrific player, a really good footballer, someone who we really like, but unfortunately, he’s been hit with injuries for periods of this season. Micky has his own opinions but we're not getting into that.”

Scamacca has had a mixed spell in east London and has made 27 appearances in all competitions, registering eight goals, as per Transfermarkt.

Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist Brown thinks that Moyes will have been inconvenienced by Antonio's comments on Scamacca.

Brown told FFC: "As a journalist, I love the honesty in the way that Michail Antonio can go on that podcast and say whatever he likes. I think it's the kind of thing that should be encouraged because we're always complaining about footballers never having an opinion and not being allowed to speak from the heart. So, that part, I fully agree with. However, I'm not sure his manager will be too keen that he said that."

Should Michail Antonio have commented on Gianluca Scamacca?

It's hard to say really and there wasn't anything malicious in Antonio's comments; however, it was hardly ideal preparation for Moyes ahead of their crunch European final.

The Guardian claimed earlier this month that Antonio is actually someone who could 'push to leave' the Hammers this summer, potentially provoking some change in the striking department moving forward.

Football Insider had reported that David Moyes may also walk away from West Ham in the off-season, even though they won against Fiorentina in the final of the Conference League, in order to return to his family home in Lancashire.

According to The Sun, Moyes may also be a likely candidate to take over at Scottish champions Celtic should Ange Postecoglou complete his expected departure to Tottenham Hotspur, signalling that plenty of alterations could take place at the London Stadium ahead of 2023/24.

Sarfraz Ahmed extended his T20I record as captain to three wins in as many matches, with Pakistan successfully defending 160 to take the series 2-0

The Report by Shashank Kishore24-Sep-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBefore this match, Pakistan had won 24 out of 27 T20Is defending 150-plus. On Saturday, they posted 160, which was 22 more than the average first-innings score at this venue. That meant West Indies had to achieve the highest successful chase to take the series into a decider. On paper, it was advantage Pakistan, but cricket is played out on the field, sometimes on greasy ones because of heavy dew that negates any advantage teams batting first conjure.Did it affect them? It didn’t look like, as yet another timid batting show that lacked application and self-belief resulted in West Indies falling 17 short of the target. It meant Sarfraz Ahmed extended his unbeaten run as T20I captain to three matches.On these outfields, it isn’t unusual to see teams trying to overachieve while batting first in their quest to negate the dew factor. Perhaps the experience of having played their home matches here since 2009 helped Pakistan set a clear mandate. If Shoaib Malik provided the fire through swift foot work and muscular hits in his 28-ball 37, top-scorer Sarfaz proved to be the ice in a 69-run stand off just 46 balls to drive the innings.West Indies didn’t help their cause with ordinary fielding – chances were dropped and extra runs conceded through misfields – to further give Pakistan breathing space; 60 were scored off the last six overs as they finished with 160 for 4.Sarfaz then went to his go-to new ball bowlers, and they didn’t disappoint. Sohail Tanvir stamped his class with an opening burst of 3-0-11-2, in which he troubled the batsmen with late away movement to all but seal the deal even before the halfway mark of the chase.If ugly hoicks mirrored West Indies’ effort on Friday, across-the-line swipes and ill-advised footwork resulted in their downfall here. Johnson Charles holed out to long-on, Evin Lewis nicked to the slips and Marlon Samuels was done in by late movement, partly because he was feeling for the ball from the crease. At 20 for 3 in six overs, the chase was in tatters.West Indies’ batsmen also kept playing for turn when there was none. Dot balls added to the pressure – 21 of them in the first six overs alone – as the required rate spiralled over ten runs to the over. When Dwayne Bravo, fresh off a half-century on Friday, was bowled playing all around an in-drifter from Mohammad Nawaz, the left-arm spinner, West Indies were tottering at 45 for 4 in 10 overs. From there on, it was largely a question of damage limitation. Not even Sunil Narine’s entertaining cameo, 30 off 17 balls, a majority of which came against the inexperienced Hasan Ali, came as a soothing balm to a side that was brutally exposed by the trying conditions.The start to the clash wasn’t exhilarating like in the first T20I. What was constant, though, was a string of dots forcing the openers to up the pace. For the second time in as many matches, Sharjeel Khan was bowled by Samuel Badree, in the third over, to give West Indies an ideal start.Khalid Latif and Babar Azam rebuilt through a mix of ones and twos, with the odd boundary laced in between. Latif, made to look ungainly at times, was reprieved on 26 by Nicholas Pooran at long leg. While he managed to add just 14 more, his second successive fifty-plus stand with Azam helped set up a foundation from which Pakistan could tee off in the end-overs.Azam threw it away after bedding in by dragging a pull to wide long-on, while Latif’s cramping legs and tiring body that drained out his reserve energy resulted in him being run-out in the 12th over.There was a ray of hope for West Indies, but that was quickly extinguished. Malik was quick on his feet to take second runs that seemed far from the realms of possibility, while Sarfraz, far from being intimidating, managed to pinch cheeky runs through his trademark whips and glides to give Pakistan a formidable total. That Pakistan consumed just 10 dots in the last eight overs exhibited their control to a certain degree. In the end, the good deeds with the bat meant it was 11th time in 13 T20Is that a side batting first had successfully defended a 150-plus total at this venue.

يرى إدين هازارد، لاعب فريق ريال مدريد السابق، أن مواطنه كيفين دي بروين لاعب مانشستر سيتي، هو الأفضل في العالم.

ويقدم كيفين دي بروين أداءً مميزًا مع مانشستر سيتي في مختلف المسابقات، خاصة بعد عودته من الإصابة التي تعرض لها في أغسطس الماضي.

اقرأ أيضًا.. هازارد يعارض رونالدو بشأن أفضلية الدوري السعودي على الفرنسي

وعندما سُئل عما إذا كان دي بروين هو أفضل لاعب في الدوري الإنجليزي، أجاب هازارد: “بالطبع، بفارق كبير عن الآخرين، لا يوجد أحد قريب منه حتى، هو يرى أشياءً لا يراها الآخرون”.

وأضاف في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “ديلي ستار” الإنجليزية: “كما أن جوارديولا يمنحه الحرية في اللعب، في كل مرة يمتلك فيها كيفين الكرة، يكون حرًا”.

وواصل: “لهذا السبب فهو الأفضل، عندما يكون كيفين حرًا، لا يكون فقط أفضل لاعب في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، ولكن في العالم أيضًا”.

Following India’s 19-run loss in Ranchi, India captain MS Dhoni has said patience must be shown with India’s new-look middle order, especially given it’s not easy to finish games on tricky tracks like the one used in this ODI

Arun Venugopal in Ranchi26-Oct-20161:51

‘Hard to bat down the order on these wickets’ – Dhoni

MS Dhoni has asked for more patience to be shown with India’s inexperienced middle order after they couldn’t complete a chase of 261 on a sluggish Ranchi pitch. Dhoni backed the young players to find their own method of finishing games, even if it meant going for big shots, referring to the dismissals of Manish Pandey and Hardik Pandya at a critical juncture. While Pandey lofted a slower ball from Tim Southee to mid-on, Pandya’s inside-out strike off Mitchell Santner was pouched by Tom Latham at long-off, and with this wicket India had slipped from 128 for 2 to 167 for 7.”Cricket has changed, people like to play big shots. It is important to not tell them to stop playing the shots; you don’t want them to go into their shells,” Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony. “They played their shots when the ball was in their area. The Nos. 5 and 6 are quite new, they will learn their own way. Some will play big shots, some will take it deep. Once they have played 15-20 games, they will figure out what works for them.”Dhoni’s post-match press conference was along the same lines; he reiterated the difficulty of batting down the order on such a sluggish pitch. “It’s important they get games like these and finally they’ll figure out a way what suits them best to chase down a total like this,” he said. “Unless they get an opportunity like this it will be very difficult because that’s how you get experience. You can learn a lot by watching but ultimately when you feel the pressure and go through that motion, that’s where you learn a lot. It will be a good learning curve for them. Give them some time.”Dhoni saw parallels with the defeat in Delhi, and said the loss of wickets in clumps hurt the team. He also hit out at India’s profligacy with the ball – they conceded 13 wides in the afternoon. “I think it was the first 10 [overs] where we gave away a lot of runs and the extras,” he said. “The wicket was best to bat on in the afternoon, and it kept getting slower and slower. On a wicket like this when the score is not too much – we were not chasing anything over 6.5 or 7 runs an over – you need partnerships.”Also, you need to realise that with two balls it initially comes on to the bat better and as the game progresses the wicket slows down and the ball doesn’t come that well. That’s where it becomes difficult to freely rotate the strike.”India’s innings received an early jolt after Rohit Sharma was dismissed in the fifth over. But, the chase was kept on track by Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, who put on 79 runs for the second wicket. However, once Kohli was caught behind attempting to cut Ish Sodhi, India’s innings fell apart. Dhoni disagreed with the suggestion that India’s chases were overly dependent on Kohli.”If you see the last one to one and a half years, we haven’t played a lot of ODI cricket,” he said. “In between we had Zimbabwe, we had three games so… I can say that the stats actually don’t reflect the exact scenario because also in that period I have batted at a different position and our top order was batting brilliantly. So everything is very different. Just in this series, if you see, there have been a couple of games where the wicket was on the slower side.”It’s when the wickets are slow and when the required run rate is not high, you calculate and at times you play out a few overs thinking if you have a partnership at this moment, with more wickets in hand in the last few overs, you can look to chase down something that’s even seven to seven and a half [runs per over]. We have got quite a few batsmen who can do the job. It’s just that we have to give them more time. Batting down the order is one of the toughest things to do. You don’t get a [ready-made] player who’s complete, who bats at No. 5, 6 or 7, all the time.”

تحدث ديكو المدير الرياضي لنادي برشلونة، عن رحيل تشافي هيرنانديز مدرب الفريق نهاية الموسم، واختيار بديله، وموقف النادي إذا قرر المدرب تغيير رأيه.

وأعلن تشافي في وقت سابق بشهر يناير الماضي، قراره بالرحيل عن برشلونة في نهاية الموسم الجاري.

وقال ديكو في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية: “أمام نابولي، أردنا تحقيق الفوز، لكنه دوري أبطال أوروبا، الفرق تتغير، وقد رأينا ذلك بالفعل مع بورتو، إنه شيء مختلف، لقد لعبنا مباراة رائعة ضد خيتافي”.

وأضاف بشأن علاقته مع مدرب برشلونة تشافي: “قبل مجيئي، لم أره منذ فترة، كان لدينا أصدقاء مشتركون، لم يتغير أبدًا، إنه إيجابي وممتع، الجميع يمر بأيام سيئة”.

واستطرد: “لا أعرف من أين يأتي الحديث عن أن علاقتنا ليست جيدة، إنها جيدة جدًا، في كل شيء، أنا أحترمه كلاعب، بسبب التغيير الذي أحدثه في مسيرته الرياضية، أحترمه أيضًا لأنه مدرب تولى مشروعًا محفوفًا بالمخاطر، إنه ينافس، هناك الكثير من الأشياء الإيجابية”.

وعن مستقبل تشافي، أفاد ديكو: “أود أن يستمر، لقد تم تجديد عقده لأن المشروع كان لفترة أطول، إذا جددت عقده فهذا لأنك تريده أن يبقى، لم أكن أريده أن يعلن عن رحيله، أردت أن يبقى لسنوات أكثر و نقاتل معًا في المشروع”.

وأكمل: “لكن لديه أشياء شخصية ودوافعه، لكن لأنه تشافي وبسبب ما يمثله وبسبب فكرته، نحن نقبل ذلك”.

اقرأ أيضًا | برشلونة يتوصل إلى قرار نهائي بشأن مستقبل جواو فيليكس

وعن خليفة تشافي في تدريب برشلونة، أشار: “الموسم لم ينته بعد، لا يزال هناك الكثير لنقطعه، أيضًا بعد الفوز باللقب كان علينا الحفاظ على الفريق، هناك أشياء كثيرة لا يزال يتعين القيام بها، هذا الموسم لم ينته بعد”.

وشدد: “هناك أشياء أمامنا، قبل البحث عن المدرب، نحن في الحاضر، التخطيط لا يتغير بسبب المدرب، أولا، نريد التواجد في دوري أبطال أوروبا العام المقبل، واجتياز دور الـ16، والفوز بالليجا”.

وواصل: “في كرة القدم، يمكن أن تحدث أشياء كثيرة في شهر أو شهرين، عندما أقول إننا لا نتحدث عن المدرب، هذا يعني أننا لا نتخذ أي قرار لأن الوقت مبكر”.

وأصر: “هناك الكثير من الوقت أمامنا، لكنهم يقومون بتحليل الملفات الشخصية، الموسم لا يزال غير واضح، عندما يكون الأمر أكثر وضوحًا سنرى”.

وأوضح: “أولاً، يجب أن نعرف ما نحن قادرون على تحقيقه كمشروع، ثانيًا، يجب أن نعرف ما يمكننا القيام به، ثالثًا، يجب أن نعرف اللاعبين الذين لدينا، الأغلبية تريد أن تكون هنا وهذا لن يتغير، وبعد ذلك سيعتمد الاسم على عدة أشياء”.

واستطرد: “لا يوجد الكثير من المدربين رفيعي المستوى متاحين في السوق، معظمهم لديهم عقود، ليس هناك الكثير متاح، ولكن ستكون هناك تحركات، عندما يحين الوقت، سنتخذ القرار الصحيح”.

وعن إمكانية تغيير تشافي لرأيه بشأن قرار الرحيل، علّق ديكو: “إذا تغير شيء ما، فلن أقول إنه لا يمكننا النظر فيه، لا نستبعده، ليس لدينا أي شيء ضد تشافي، إنه ليس قرارًا اتخذه النادي والإدارة الرياضية”.

وأكد: “لقد دعمته في اللحظات الصعبة، في الوقت الحالي، لا يوجد مثل هذا الاحتمال، نتحدث عن شيء غير موجود، إذا حدث ذلك، فسنتحدث عنه”.

وعن إمكانية تولي رافا ماركيز مهمة تدريب الفريق الأول، أفاد ديكو: “إنه يتطور كمدرب، من المهم أن يضم النادي أشخاصًا ومحترفين على مستوى عالٍ، في الفريق الرديف وفي الشباب.. رافا يتطور كمدرب”.

Tottenham Hotspur may elect to loan out striker Troy Parrott this summer to give him some more first-team experience to develop, according to journalist Dean Jones.

What's the latest news involving Troy Parrott?

As per Transfermarkt, Parrott spent the 2022/23 campaign out on loan at Preston North End and endured a difficult time of things at Deepdale, where he never really got going, registering just four goals in 34 appearances across all competitions.

Despite this, Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has recalled the 21-year-old for their crunch Euro 2024 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Greece and has backed the £12k-a-week ace to get back to his best, stating in an interview quoted by The Irish Sun: “Troy hasn’t backed that up this year. He had a hamstring injury during the middle of the season and it was bad. I had a long conversation with Troy in Bristol [at a national team training camp] — and his next move is important for him. “He knew in the last camp because I left him out of the last game, he wasn’t at the level he had been. He’s honest and he’ll say, ‘I’m missing chances I should be scoring, I wanted to be better and further on than I am now."

According to Football London, there are question marks over whether Parrott will have a long-term future at Tottenham and young striker Jamie Donley is believed to be ahead of him in the pecking order in N17.

Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist Jones thinks that Parrott is likely to exit Spurs on a loan basis once again this summer while he believes that boss Ange Postecoglou may give an opportunity to youngster Dane Scarlett to stake a claim for first-team action.

Jones told FFC: "There has to be a consideration to loan these players out. I think Parrott probably will go out on loan, but I think there'll be more temptation to give Scarlett a chance."

Will Tottenham Hotspur give Troy Parrott a chance under Ange Postecoglou?

Right now, it looks doubtful; however, Postecoglou does have a knack of reviving players' fortunes when coming into a particular club that many punters may not expect to have a prayer of becoming first-team regulars.

One of his most recent examples of this was at Celtic, where he gave forgotten right-back Anthony Ralston, who was previously completely out of the picture at the Scottish giants, a chance to stake his claim for senior involvement, eventually culminating in the 23-year-old becoming an important contributor for Celtic and also earning international recognition with Scotland.

Of course, this isn't related to Tottenham in any way, shape or form, though it is an indication of the type of manager Postecoglou is and how he can turn around the fortunes of fringe stars.

His main priority will be trying to keep hold of star man Harry Kane, who has been linked with Real Madrid and Manchester United; nevertheless, he will need an understudy or two to help deputise in attack when needed.

Whether Parrott, who was hailed as a "leader" on loan at Preston last season, can be that man remains to be seen, though he will need to take his chance in pre-season to have any opportunity to feature under the Australian boss in 2023/24.

Celtic are reportedly set to officially confirm Brendan Rodgers as their new head coach on Monday after they agreed terms with the 50-year-old boss.

Majority shareholder Dermot Desmond has been pursuing a new manager for the Hoops since Ange Postecoglou decided to join Tottenham Hotspur on June 6th.

After settling back in at Parkhead, the Northern Irishman will have plenty on his docket to deal with after the summer transfer window opened earlier this month.

Football Insider reported, in May, that multiple Premier League teams are interested in signing Liel Abada from the Scottish giants and that the club are prepared to accept offers in the region of £10m as the exciting youngster is pushing for an exit.

Who could replace Liel Abada at Celtic?

The incoming Celtic boss could find the perfect replacement for the Israel international by striking a deal to sign soon-to-be free agent forward Mohamed Elyounoussi, who Neil Lennon dubbed as "outstanding" during the hotshot's time on loan in 2019.

Speaking about Rodgers' reported move to Parkhead, the winger said: "From what I've heard, he's an excellent manager and is loved by the fans up there. It's a massive pull for the club and probably for him too, so it's a good link up I think."

Elyounoussi was then quizzed about a potential return for himself and teased: "We'll see. I enjoyed my time there. I didn't get much time to play with the fans, it was mostly without fans. I enjoyed my time there and you never know."

The Norway international appears to be open to a second spell with the Glasgow giants and Rodgers could take advantage of that by snapping the right-footed whiz up after his release from English side Southampton.

Abada provided an abundance of quality down the right flank for Celtic in the Scottish Premiership last season and Elyounoussi's previous time with the club suggests that the 28-year-old attacker has the ability to replace the young talent.

The 21-year-old plundered ten goals and five assists in 34 league appearances for the Hoops and averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.01, which shows that the exciting dynamo is able to make a huge impact at the top end of the pitch.

However, the Southampton magician has already proven himself capable of excelling in the Scottish top-flight. He racked up ten goals and four assists in 34 outings during the 2020/21 campaign, whilst on loan at Paradise from the English side, and averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.94.

These statistics show that the £60k-per-week ace could be the perfect replacement for Abada as his prior form for Celtic indicates that the Moroccan-born talent has the ability to make up for the goals and assists that the club would lose by cashing in on the £10m sensation.

It would be a dream deal as Rodgers would be bringing in a player who is ready to hit the ground running as Elyounoussi knows what it takes to perform week in, week out at Parkhead.

There was no mayhem this time, no clatter of wickets in a giddy rush, or frenzied burst of noise from the Gabba’s biggest crowd ever outside the Ashes

The Report by Daniel Brettig17-Dec-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:05

Haddin: Good to see some fight from Pakistan

There was no mayhem this time, no clatter of wickets in a giddy rush, or frenzied burst of noise from the Gabba’s biggest crowd ever outside the Ashes. Instead Australia steadily and surely placed their foot ever more firmly on the throat of Pakistan, claiming a pair of wickets at the start of their chase of 490 to win.All of Australia’s bowlers delivered handy spells, Mitchell Starc accounting for Sami Aslam via another excellent catch from the new first slip Matt Renshaw, before Nathan Lyon coaxed another edge to slip, this time from Babar Azam to Steven Smith.Pakistan’s fourth-innings best in Australia: 336

5.17 Australia’s run rate in the second innings – their sixth best in a total of 200 or more runs. Four of the top five innings have come since 2014 and in the third innings of a Test.

287Australia’s first-innings lead. However, they did not enforce the follow-on.

336 Highest fourth-innings total by Pakistan in Australia against the hosts, at MCG in 1990. They have been set 490 to win in about 217 overs.

67 Score from where Pakistan’s ninth-wicket partnership added 54 runs – the fifth lowest score from which a team has had a 50-plus stand for the ninth wicket. The four lower scores are all against England.

7 Tests in which Steven Smith has scored a century and a fifty. Only Jacques Kallis (11), Ricky Ponting (10), Allan Border (9) and Kumar Sangakkara (9) have done it on more occasions.

Lyon’s effort over numerous overs to find exactly the right line, length and pace to deceive Babar, like a destroyer sinking depth charges ever closer to a submarine, was instructive. It showed that Australia had earned themselves plenty of time to make life impossible for each of Pakistan’s batsmen, even if the visitors showed greater discipline in the second innings.The initial decline to 8 for 67 on the second evening remained a millstone around the necks of Misbah-ul-Haq’s team. Younis Khan and Azhar Ali scrapped their way to the close of the third day, but plenty of deliveries had beat the bat and left Australia confident of their ability to finish the job. Some rain is forecast for day four but not enough to make the home side nervous just yet.Australia had amassed a lead of 489 after an impish rearguard by Sarfraz Ahmed dissuaded Smith from asking Pakistan to follow on. Smith and Usman Khawaja did most of the run-scoring for the hosts, but there was another low score for Nic Maddinson as the declaration was delayed until the target was well beyond the world record chase.David Warner started aggressively but he was undone when trying to pull a delivery from Mohammad Amir that was not short enough for the stroke, succeeding only in shovelling the ball to mid-on. Renshaw was turned around by a late outswinger from Rahat Ali, edging to the slips.1:05

Farrell: Maddinson finding the step up difficult

Smith and Khawaja, however, combined in an attractive stand. They built the lead with a mixture of the classical and the inventive, though neither went on to a century. Smith failed to clear mid-on to hand Yasir Shah a wicket, and Khawaja was well caught by Misbah-ul-Haq in a similar position off Rahat. Peter Handscomb maintained his sparkling start to Test cricket with another useful contribution, but Maddinson managed only one boundary before he hooked to fine leg. Australia eventually declared during the dinner break, on 5 for 202.The third day had begun with Sarfraz and Amir facing an enormous task to prolong Pakistan’s first innings. With a combination of quick singles and the occasional boundary they were able to take their ninth-wicket stand beyond 50 while compelling Smith to call upon Nathan Lyon and Jackson Bird after trying Starc and Josh Hazlewood.It was Bird who eventually broke through, finding the thinnest of inside edges on Amir’s bat – revealed by HotSpot and Realtime Snicko after the not-out decision was reviewed. Amir was visibly annoyed, perhaps because the ball also appeared to brush his elbow on its way through to Matthew Wade.Sarfraz went on to 59 in the company of Rahat, cutting Australia’s lead slightly but more pointedly ensuring Smith did not risk enforcing the follow-on. His array of shots included a slog sweep off Bird, leading to one dropped catch by Maddinson at deep-backward square leg, before the innings concluded when Warner ran out Rahat by the width of a shadow over the crease.

قدم لاعب فريق ريال مدريد، إدواردو كامافينجا، آخر التحديثات الخاصة بشأن فريقه قبل مواجهة لايبزيج الألماني في دوري أبطال أوروبا.

ويواجه نادي ريال مدريد نظيره لايبزيج الألماني، ضمن منافسات إياب الدور الـ16 من مسابقة دوري أبطال أوروبا، غداً الأربعاء، على ملعب “سانتياجو برنابيو”، في تمام العاشرة مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة.

وانتهت مواجهة الذهاب بين الفريقين بفوز ريال مدريد بنتيجة 1/0، على ملعب “ريدبول أرينا”، بهدف من إبراهيم دياز.

اقرأ ايضاً.. قائمة ريال مدريد أمام لايبزيج في دوري أبطال أوروبا.. عودة كامافينجا

وقال إدواردو كامافينجا في المؤتمر الصحفي قبل المباراة: “الحديث عن الموسم اليوم أمر معقد، لقد قمنا بعمل جيد للغاية حتى الآن ولكن لا يزال أمامنا طريق طويل لنقطعه، عندما تأتي النهاية سنقوم بإجراء التقييم، حتى الآن لا يمكننا إلقاء اللوم على الفريق في أي شيء”.

وأضاف كامافينجا: “مباراة لايبزيج ستكون مهمة بالنسبة لنا ونريد الفوز فقط والتأهل إلى الدور ربع النهائي”.

وعن مبابي أوضح كامافينجا: “لم أتحدث معه، إنه لاعب في باريس سان جيرمان ولا أعرف ماذا يريد أن يفعل”.

وواصل: “المنافسة في بطولة الدوري المحلي ودوري الأبطال مختلفة وبعقلية مختلفة، دوري أبطال أوروبا بطولة أقصر من الليجا لكنه مختلف”.

وأردف: “نحن مجموعة فريق شبابي، وفريق جيد جدًا مع فينيسيوس وتشواميني”.

عن مركزه المفضل: “أحب اللعب كلاعب محور، لقد لعبت هناك لمدة عامين، أنا أُفضل اللعب كمحور”.

وبشأن تواجد تشواميني في مركز الدفاع: “هو في نفس الوضع الذي كنت عليه في العام الماضي عندما أخبرني كارلو أنه يجب علي أن ألعب هناك”.