All posts by h716a5.icu

His off-side heavy innings in Jaipur saw not a single pull or hook, or even one six. Yet he scored 53 off 36

Sidharth Monga01-May-20252:19

The opening question: Go hard or go long?

Close your eyes and think of any decent Rohit Sharma innings in T20s. You likely see pulled sixes, pick-up shots for sixes behind square on the leg side, slogs over deep midwicket, the odd slog-sweep. In Jaipur, as he brought up a third score of 50 or more in a season for the first time since 2020 despite a slow start to IPL 2025, he played none of those shots. You wondered if it was actually Rohit out in the middle.Rohit hit no sixes in his knock of 53 off 36, the second-highest score of this IPL to not feature a six. This was only the third time in 89 T20 scores of 50 or more that Rohit didn’t hit a single six. It wasn’t just the kind of boundaries Rohit chose to hit but also where he tried to hit them. He scored 59.5% of his runs on the off side, the fifth-highest for his half-centuries since 2015. In his two other half-centuries this year, he scored 42.1% and 32.4% on the off side.It was just a response to the conditions and what the bowling side was trying to do. Jaipur has offered a flat pitch but it hasn’t had the kind of bounce available elsewhere. Rajasthan Royals (RR) bowled straight at the stumps, and almost invited him to play with a cross bat, the last shot you want to play in such conditions. With less bounce, you can’t expect top edges to clear the short boundaries behind square. Anyway, the boundaries are a little bigger in Jaipur than elsewhere.Related

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Stats – Mumbai Indians' first win in Jaipur in the IPL since 2012

So Rohit completely shelved the hook or the slog as a low-percentage shot. When Jofra Archer went short with two men back for the hook, Rohit didn’t take him on. He made room, and went into the off side.Despite the big boundaries, the quick outfield provided value for going past the infield. So Rohit played this un-Rohit innings, shunning his favourite square-leg and fine-leg regions, and favouring cover and mid-off. In all, he scored 32 runs on the off side.Rohit doesn’t play a lot of T20 cricket these days; his last foray into the format featured his assaults on Australia and England in the T20 World Cup that India won last year. Despite his excellent form in ODIs and good returns the last time he played T20s, Rohit has managed to confound everybody with his lean returns in the IPL. He came into this edition with just one Player-of-the-Match award in the last five IPLs. Given the bias of these awards towards the batter, it was staggering how his IPL form had remained constantly underwhelming irrespective of how he did in international cricket and other formats.The trend threatened to continue into the 2025 IPL as he failed to reach 20 in his first five matches. Then he turned it around with typical belligerence, scoring successive 70s. In Jaipur, he showed he could play a completely different game without hurting the strike rate too much. These can’t be good signs for bowlers.

Southampton decided to part ways with head coach Will Still after the former Lens boss only won two of his 13 matches in charge of the club in the Championship.

Interim manager Tonda Eckert has won both of his league games in the dugout so far, including a 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday last time out, but it remains to be seen what the future holds for him.

Irrespective of what happens now, Eckert has delivered back-to-back wins that were much-needed after a dismal start to the campaign, which led to Still’s dismissal.

Why Will Still was unfortunate to be sacked by Southampton

The Belgian-born tactician won two of his 13 league matches and averaged 0.92 points per game, per Transfermarkt, which is why it was not a surprise to see him lose his job.

However, per FotMob, Southampton rank sixth in the table for xPTS and are currently 11 places lower in the division than they would be if every game was decided by who created the higher-quality chances.

Of course, football is not played on paper and it is, ultimately, a results-based business, but these statistics suggest that performances from individuals let him down, as the Saints have underperformed their xG and conceded more than their xGA suggests that they should have.

Manager Focus

Who are the greatest coaches in the land? Football FanCast’s Manager Focus series aims to reveal all.

Whilst it is hard to know what goes on behind the scenes, perhaps Still was unable to motivate a team to win consistently, as he finished between 11th and 8th in his three seasons as a manager in France, which means that he is not used to competing at the very top of a league.

This is why Southampton could find a major upgrade on the former Lens boss by hiring reported target Brendan Rodgers as their new manager during the break.

Why Southampton should hire Brendan Rodgers

The Northern Irish manager resigned from the Celtic job last month and he could be the dream appointment for the Saints if they can convince him to drop down to the Championship.

Rodgers, who was once dubbed “world-class” by Gabriel Agbonlahor, may have the perfect track record for the situation that Southampton find themselves in, because he has experience in the Championship, the Premier League, and the Premiership.

The 52-year-old coach won promotion via the play-offs with Swansea in the 2010/11 campaign, which is relevant for where the club is now, and helped them to stay up with an 11th-placed finish in the Premier League the following season, which should be Southampton’s long-term goal.

Premier League

312

1.56

Premiership

173

2.43

Premiership top six split

15

2.20

Championship

94

1.49

Championship play-offs

3

2.33

As you can see in the table above, Rodgers is a proven Premier League manager who has excelled at Swansea, Liverpool, and Leicester City in the top-flight, which is why he would be the perfect appointment for now and in the future.

On top of that, the Northern Irishman is also a proven winner. Per Transfermarkt, he won four Scottish Premiership titles, four Scottish League Cups, and four SFA Cups with Celtic, along with an FA Cup and a Community Shield with Leicester.

This means that Rodgers has won a whopping 13 trophies in his career as a manager, whilst Southampton have not won a major trophy since the FA Cup success in 1976.

Overall, the former Celtic manager would be a major upgrade on Still, who has only managed midtable success and has no trophies under his belt, because of his career record, his history in the Championship and the Premier League, and his proven track record of winning trophies.

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If they can convince him to take the job, Rodgers could be the ideal candidate to get the Saints out of the Championship, as well as to establish them in the Premier League.

Fifties from Kaleem and Mirza could not overcome a stiff target despite India testing out their non-regular bowlers

Deivarayan Muthu19-Sep-20253:04

What are the challenges of India’s fluid batting order?

After their batters got only around 20 overs of crease-time across their first two games against UAE and Pakistan, India batted first for the first time in the Asia Cup and posted 188 for 8 against Oman. All their batters got a hit in the middle except their captain Suryakumar Yadav, who did not come out to bat despite India losing eight wickets. Though Oman made a creditable impression with both ball and bat, they could not overcome India’s might and depth.Abhishek Sharma did Abhishek Sharma things, clattering 38 off 15 balls. He was the only India batter with a strike rate of over 200 on an Abu Dhabi pitch that offered grip and turn. Sanju Samson, who slotted in at No.3, was less fluent, but moved to a 41-ball fifty. Cameos from Tilak Varma (29 off 18), Axar Patel (26 off 13), and Harshit Rana (13* off 8) then pushed India up towards 190.India had rested their bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and newly minted No.1 T20I bowler Varun Chakravarthy, but Kuldeep Yadav befuddled Oman’s batters with his variations. Oman openers Aamir Kaleem and Jatinder Singh struck up a 56-run partnership but by the time Kuldeep broke it in the ninth over, the asking rate had shot up to 12. Though Kaleem and No.3 Hammad Mirza made battling half-centuries, they could not find the higher gears that could have hurt India. In pursuit of 189, Oman finished with 167 for 4.Having applied so much scoreboard pressure on Oman, India could afford to experiment with their bowling too. Tilak and Abhishek were among eight bowlers India used on Friday.2:20

Abhinav Mukund: This is how Abhishek should always bat

Abhishek’s opening salvoLeft-arm seamer Shah Faisal dealt India an early blow when he castled Shubman Gill for 5 with a sharp inswinger in the second over. However, that didn’t stop Abhishek from lining up Oman’s bowlers in the powerplay.Abhishek claimed 38 of the 60 runs India had scored in the first six overs. Left-arm fingerspinner Shakeel Ahmed got away with the first ball he bowled to Abhishek, but the batter took him for two fours and a six in the third over. Shakeel tried to drag the ball away from Abhishek’s reach with his sharp angle from left-arm around, but the left-handed opener still found a counter.Oman’s seamers then took pace off, but nobody can take Abhishek’s power away. When Mohammad Nadeem bowled a slower ball into the pitch, Abhishek forayed down the track and scythed it over point. Then, when Jiten Ramanandi dug a 104kph delivery into the pitch, Abhishek pumped it for a straight six.He got a reprieve on 21 when he tickled Nadeem down the leg side, but Vinayak Shukla, the Oman keeper, shelled the catch and umpire Raveendra Wilalasiri eventually deemed it as a wide ball. Abhishek added 17 to his tally before nicking another one behind, Shukla making no mistake this time.2:07

Jaffer: Wasn’t a fluent innings from Samson

Samson’s stop-start inningsAfter having chalked up two DNBs, Samson had a slow start – he was on 13 off 14 balls at one point – but a six and a four off Madhya-Pradesh-born wristspinner Samay Shrivatsava got him out of first gear. Samson proceeded to crash Zikria Islam for a straight six in the tenth over, but slowed down once again thereafter.Having got to 42 off 32 balls, he took a further nine balls to bring up his half-century. Then, when he looked to turn up the tempo, he holed out to deep midwicket for 56 off 45 balls in the 18th over.India cobbled together 21 off the last three overs and managed to find the boundary just once during this period – off the last ball of the innings when Harshit scythed Faisal for six over point.2:00

Jaffer: Inspired performances from Kaleem and Hammad

Oman’s spirited chaseAfter bagging the wickets of Axar Patel and Shivam Dube, Kaleem, who will turn 44 in November, stood up to India’s bowlers. He was cagey during the powerplay – he scored only 15 off 13 balls during the period – but then laid into Dube’s medium-pace, taking him for 18 off nine balls.Kaleem’s knock ended on 64 when Hardik held onto a screamer at the long-leg boundary off Harshit, putting a smile on fielding coach T Dilip’s face. Mirza also showed his batting chops with a half-century of his own, giving Oman hope for the T20 World Cup Asia & East-Asia-Pacific Regional Qualifier, a tournament they will host next month, even if they bowed out of their maiden Asia Cup with no wins in three matches.For India, Arshdeep Singh, who was playing his first game of the tournament, picked up his 100th T20I wicket when he had Shukla holing out in the final over. Arshdeep became the first India bowler to the landmark and closed out the game for them, with Bumrah and Varun applauding the effort from the sidelines.

Ruben Dias vented his anger at Premier League officials after Manchester City's 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United. Pep Guardiola's side had two penalty appeals turned down during the game but Dias was left most confused as to why Harvey Barnes' winning goal was allowed to stand after pushing in the penalty area on City's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Dias unhappy with decisions in defeat at St James' Park

City fell to their fourth defeat of the season in an enthralling game at St James' Park. The visitors appealed for a penalty when Phil Foden was tripped by Fabian Schar and later had a second spot-kick shout for handball by Malick Thiaw. They were left furious when Barnes restored Newcastle's lead with his second goal of the game after Dias had levelled the scores. The winning goal followed a scramble in the box from a corner, with City complaining that Newcastle had put too much pressure on Gianluigi Donnarumma. 

While Dias insisted Newcastle had deserved to win the match, he said the league need to be clearer on what constituted a foul in the area.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportDias claims Donnarumma fouled

Dias told : "Of all the decisions, only the second goal we need to make it make sense. Where's the sense in their player pushing our keeper out of the goal? What are we allowing and for how long? It's more like sometimes you allow it and sometimes you don't so what can you do? In the second goal Gigi is being pushed outside his area and there is no consequence. 

"I had the chance to see the review and I think it Barnes is pushing him away from the goal. We are so picky with certain contacts but then ones like this with the keeper, then they allow it. If this is the rule then fine. But then let us do the same. Back in the day it was a foul and now apparently it is allowed. It is one of them that when you lose people say you are trying to find excuses but today Newcastle were better. They deserved the win because of that. They were able to finish more chances than us. There needs to be a rule."

Guardiola: Referees 'know perfectly'

Guardiola could be seen speaking animatedly to referee Sam Barrott at full-time, after also having a heated discussion with Bruno Guimaraes. The coach insisted "everything is fine" between him and the official although the incident instantly reminded him of how Bournemouth's goal against City in their 3-1 win earlier this month was allowed to stand after Donnarumma complained of being pushed as he contested a corner, leading to Tyler Adams levelling for the Cherries.

"It happened in the Bournemouth game and it happened today again," said the City boss. "It is what it is after VAR decided. They know perfectly."

Even though Adams' goal had little impact on the overall result against Bournemouth, it sparked a sarcastic response from Guardiola 

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AFPCity risk falling further behind Arsenal in title race

The defeat at Newcastle saw City fall to third in the Premier League table below Chelsea. And Guardiola's side will slip seven points behind leaders Arsenal if the Gunners beat Tottenham in the north London derby on Sunday. Guardiola preferred not to comment on how much of a setback the loss was to City's hopes in the title race, merely responding: "The season is so long."

Guardiola also praised the performance of Eddie Howe's men. He added: "Newcastle is a top side, top players, top manager so unfortunately tonight we could not build on the momentum that we had. It was an entertaining game, we both had chances and then there was a momentum shift and ultimately we couldn't win.

"I'm pretty sure all of the teams prefer to play at home than away, we are not the exception for that. Always Newcastle have been difficult, even where they are low in the table and after two defeats in a row. After they clean the head and the mind and have ten days off, we can hit the good moments. We fought, the players were there, but we could not find the result."

The Yankees have been in a tailspin for months and can't pull themselves out of it.

New York is under .500 since mid-June, and a series of deadline acquisitions have not only failed to light a spark in the clubhouse, they have backfired to a nearly comical degree as the players the pinstripes traded for actively contributed to losing games right off the bat. The vibes are so bad even former Yankees are suffering awful strokes of luck; Mariano Rivera tore his Achilles playing in an alumni game this weekend.

And on Sunday, the team found a new way to make the season even more depressing with a brutal blooper-filled fielding sequence.

New York was losing to the visiting Astros, 5-1, in the top of the ninth in a game that already went sideways thanks to Aaron Boone getting ejected in the third while arguing over balls and strikes. With men on second and third with one out, Ramón Urías hit a blooper into shallow left field, which should have resulted in a catch for an out with no runners advancing. It wouldn't have been an easy play, but a very makeable one.

But that isn't how 2025 is going for the Yankees.

What happened instead was three Yankees defenders letting the ball drop between them all. But the lowlights were not done coming. Cody Bellinger, realizing the runner at third had held up while the ball dropped because there was only one out, quickly scrambled to recover and tried to save a run by gunning the ball home. Unfortunately he was unable to do even that, and the ball somehow slipped out of his hands, ending up going a few feet to his right instead of forward in any direction.

In a word: disaster.

It always feels like an over-exaggeration to point to one clip and say it sums up a team's entire season. The MLB schedule is far too long for that to be accurate. And yet… this does seem to sum up the Yankees' season. Or at least the last two months of it.

The Yankees would go on to lose, 7-1, and have dropped seven of the last 10 games. Safe to say there have been happier times in the Bronx.

Kiwi legend’s stint at Lord’s reflects changing priorities for the modern grandees of the game

Matt Roller28-May-2025Kane Williamson will call Lord’s his home ground for the coming months and looked the part in his box-fresh Middlesex training kit on Wednesday. His deal for the English summer covers the T20 Blast, at least five County Championship games and the Hundred, and he will base himself in north London with his young family throughout.Williamson hitched a lift to St John’s Wood with Stephen Eskinazi, his new captain, and pulled a Karachi Kings kitbag – barely used in an abbreviated PSL stint – out of the boot on arrival. He briefly caught up with Nathan Lyon – an early arrival ahead of the World Test Championship final – on the Nursery Ground, before his first net as a Middlesex player.He later revealed his plans to extend his ‘casual’ arrangement with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for 2025-26, with his commitments in NW8 overlapping with an upcoming tour to Zimbabwe. Williamson’s first day at Lord’s served as an allegory for the modern game: he turns 35 in August, and while he sees red-ball cricket as the sport’s “soul”, his own priorities are changing.”My wife’s English, so we were keen to come over here,” he said. “To come here and call Lord’s home for a little bit, it’s quite special… I’ve got three kids, and they’re all quite small, so there’ll be a few parks and things we’ll visit, but it’s nice to be in one place for a [long] period of time. I’ve always enjoyed my time here, and summer has always got a nice buzz in London especially.”Williamson declined an NZC central contract last year, enabling him to skip a bilateral white-ball series to take up an SA20 deal. “I’ll be continuing with that,” he said. “Obviously, the landscape is changing really fast. I played a pretty large volume of international cricket in the last contract year, so we will be working through that again this season… It’s just a work in progress.”Williamson catches up with Nathan Lyon•Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesThe 15 years since his international debut have seen the sport’s structures transform, driven primarily by the IPL. “I feel really grateful that I started when I did, personally,” Williamson said. “The opportunities now are vast, and that’s an amazing thing, and the growth of the game – more so in one format than the others – is, overall, a great thing for a lot more people.”But I talk about the soul of the game, and I still see that as the red ball… The bond that you have with a team when international cricket is the only pathway that you aspire to play, and there is this journey that you’re on… That’s slightly harder to achieve when you’re playing in all different competitions, and it comes and goes a little bit.”Williamson’s signature was the indirect result of Middlesex’s outlier status among English counties. They are merely tenants at Lord’s, and the ground’s owners, MCC, effectively brokered the move on the county’s behalf; he will also captain London Spirit, the franchise which MCC will soon run alongside a Silicon Valley tech consortium, in the Hundred this summer.Related

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Test cricket's young Fab Four

It is a unique arrangement, but one that should prove beneficial to all parties. Williamson’s first assignment is to revive Middlesex’s T20 fortunes: champions in 2008, they have only twice reached the quarter-finals since (in 2016 and 2019). When they last won a Blast match at Lord’s, Eoin Morgan was England’s white-ball captain, and Boris Johnson was prime minister.The competition itself is struggling, too. Middlesex sold 108,144 tickets for their four Blast games at Lord’s in 2019 but only 64,351 last year, and are braced for a poor crowd against Sussex on Thursday night. The blame is shared between the Hundred’s impact on the fixture list, rising living costs, the pandemic’s effect on London working habits, and the club’s own results.Although the Blast has flagged since he last played in it, for Yorkshire in 2018, Williamson’s presence at Lord’s is proof that English cricket retains a certain pull. “When you see Test cricket on TV in this part of the world, it always gives you a lift,” he said. “To see full houses, often, is special to me… Seeing that appreciation and passion in that format over here is great.”Williamson heads to the nets on his first day with Middlesex•Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesYet Williamson’s own future in the format is unclear as he gradually tapers back his international commitments. He could return to England for New Zealand’s three-match series next year, but the recent Test retirement of Virat Kohli – a fellow member of Martin Crowe’s ‘Fab Four’ – prompted a level of introspection.”You do start to reflect a little bit,” he said. “When some of those decisions are made, you go, ‘Oh gosh, there’s an end point.’ Before that, you’re on the journey, and there’s a pursuit there. It’s not connected to those other three, but we’ve all been playing at the same time and competed against each other for a long time… We’ve chatted a lot over the years.”You do realise that you’re not just cricketers as well: you’re human beings, and your life situation changes, and you go through a lot over the 14 or 15 years that we’ve all been doing it together… Until the decision is made, you assume that’s not happening; then it does, and you go, ‘Ah, I can understand it. It’s life.'”The underlying message is clear. Williamson will not be around forever, and while his reputation as a T20 batter may have dipped in recent years, there is no such doubt around his superstar status. Middlesex’s hope is that if anyone can revive their T20 fortunes – and the standing of the Blast itself – then it is him.

England have a 6-2 superior record against South Africa in the tournament

S Sudarshanan02-Oct-20252:05

Sciver-Brunt: WPL experience will benefit us

Big picture: England’s strong record vs SAEngland have been South Africa’s banana peel in the Women’s ODI World Cup. They have a 6-2 superior record in the tournament heading into the clash in Guwahati on Friday. While South Africa beat England in the group stages in 2022, they lost to England in the semi-final. The result was the same in the 2017 semi-final as well.”I feel like we’ve beaten them in the group stages in the past World Cups and then lost to them in the semi-final. So we know as a group, we can beat them, especially in the group stages,” South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt said on Thursday. “We have played some good cricket recently. We’ve been batting really well. We’ve been bowling better and better. I think all of us know that if we really stick to our plans and are really clear with what we want to do, we can beat them tomorrow.”South Africa enter the World Cup on the back of a solid run of games. They played a tri-series with India and Sri Lanka, then played Pakistan in Pakistan. They have been in action regularly with the same set of players, high on confidence. While the women made it to successive T20 World Cup finals in 2023 and 2024, the men ended the drought of ICC titles with the World Test Championship win this year.”It’s been amazing to see how the country has supported them and how excited everyone was back at home and united to support them in that trophy,” Wolvaardt said. “Hopefully we have the chance to do something similar to really get the country behind us in this tournament.”England have had a contrasting run in this regard. Their leadership group underwent a change after the Women’s Ashes. Under head coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, England played just the two series – winning comfortably against West Indies and losing to India, both at home.Sciver-Brunt, however, was okay with the team’s preparation away from internationals. They had a ten-day camp in Abu Dhabi, where they acclimatised to the conditions they would encounter at the World Cup. Plus, there are eight players in the England squad with WPL experience.”We got some great time out in the middle in really hot, humid conditions where in England it’s not like that,” she said. “So preparing physically in that way was really good. That is going to be a massive part of our tournament, making sure that we are adapting as quickly as we can.”During the India vs Sri Lanka match at the ACA Stadium, spin played a part in the middle overs while it was easier to face pace at the start. That is a template that Sciver-Brunt backed England to follow.”That’s a blueprint that we work with, especially when we’re bowling, making sure the spinners in the middle are doing a really good job for us and making it really hard for people to get away. I think that has been a really good strength of ours for a number of years. We’ve got a brilliant spin attack.”Form guideEngland LWLWW (last five matches, most recent first)
South Africa LWWWWIn the spotlight: Nat Sciver-Brunt and Marizanne KappIn her first World Cup match as captain, the spotlight will be firmly on Nat Sciver-Brunt. She is England’s leading run-scorer since the 2022 World Cup and only Amy Jones has more than her so far this year. That is in addition to her 20 wickets in the last three years. With a view to manage her workload, she hadn’t bowled since the WPL but resumed duties with the ball at the warm-up games. With Heather Knight returning from a hamstring injury, Sciver-Brunt will draw from her WPL experience to navigate the side at the ACA Stadium, where the track could be slightly two-paced.This will be Nat Sciver-Brunt’s first World Cup as captain•Getty ImagesA like-for-like, South Africa allrounder Marizanne Kapp is at the peak of her powers. Give her the new ball, she’ll dry up the runs and pick up wickets. Send her in with South Africa in a spot, she will not just arrest the slide but also transfer the pressure back on the opponents. A WPL regular for Delhi Capitals, Kapp is into her fifth World Cup and would want her team to cross the finish line this time. “The amount of experience that she has is invaluable,” Wolvaardt said on match eve. “She knows every player going around. She’s bowled to basically all of them.”Team newsSciver-Brunt will bowl at the World Cup, which means England could play an extra spinner or an extra seamer. But she said on match eve that she would “like to select seven batters to go into this tournament” which opens the door for Alice Capsey, who also bowls offspin.England (probable): 1 Amy Jones (wk), 2 Tammy Beaumont, 3 Heather Knight, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 5 Sophia Dunkley, 6 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 7 Alice Capsey, 8 Sophie Ecclestone, 9 Charlie Dean, 10. Em Arlott, 11 Lauren BellAyabonga Khaka bowled full-tilt on the eve of the game. She could shoulder duties with fellow seamers Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk and Annerie Dercksen. Karabo Meso had a long batting stint ahead of Sinalo Jafta, who is South Africa’s preferred wicketkeeper.South Africa (probable): 1 Laura Wolvaardt (capt), 2 Tazmin Brits, 3 Sune Luus, 4 Marizanne Kapp, 5 Annerie Dercksen, 6 Chloe Tryon, 7 Sinalo Jafta (wk), 8 Nadine de Klerk, 9 Nondumiso Shangase, 10 Nonkululeko Mlaba, 11 Ayabonga KhakaPitch and conditionsRain washed out England’s pre-game practice session, while South Africa managed to get theirs done under lights. Showers are expected on Friday as well with IMD issuing thunderstorm alerts. A washout isn’t on the cards, though.A fresh pitch will be used for the game. Expect spin to come into play as the game goes on, as was the case during the India vs Sri Lanka contest.Stats and trivia No opening pair has scored more runs than Laura Wolvaardt-Tazmin Brits in ODIs since January 2023. They have 1536 runs at an average close to 60. The next best is Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal with 1316 South Africa have won only two of their last six ODIs against England Marizanne Kapp has dismissed Heather Knight five times in 15 innings, Nat Sciver-Brunt three times in nine innings and Tammy Beaumont five times in 13 innings Charlie Dean has got Laura Wolvaardt out three times in seven innings for only 65 runs and Sune Luus three times in four innings for just 19 runsQuotes”She obviously has a lot of experience. I think it would be stupid of me not to listen to her. She’s a hugely valuable person in our side, whether it’s with the bat or just that tactical thinking. She’s got a brilliant brain for cricket. So, yeah, I’m encouraging her to be as vocal as she wants to be.”
“The biggest learnings in that series are probably just how to play spin, especially being nice and proactive with the bat against the spinners in that middle phase. We generally get off to good starts, and I think we had really good death overs with the bat in that series in Sri Lanka, but probably could have done a bit more in that middle phase.”

Kalvin Phillips left Leeds United for Manchester City to chase his dreams, but since penning an emotional, two-page letter to his boyhood club to mark his departure from Elland Road, his career has been a living nightmare. There have been multiple runs of bad luck, injuries and humiliation, and when his former club visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, the England international is highly unlikely to even be on the bench.

A Leeds native, Phillips knew he wanted to play for his local team from the first time he visited Elland Road as a boy. He had a tough upbringing, raised by his mother after his father was imprisoned for much of his childhood and adult life. Phillips was born a triplet but lost one of his sisters when she was a couple of months old, leading to his mother being left to grieve on her own while fending for herself, sometimes going without food so her children could eat.

Phillips would pass the prison his father was interned in every day on the way to Leeds' Thorp Arch training ground, and when he helped the team win promotion back to the Premier League in 2020 for the first time in 16 years, his dad called him so that Phillips could hear the in-mates chanting the club's anthem, 'Marching on Together'.

Phillips was one of the stars as Leeds finished ninth in their first season back in the big time, earning a call-up to the England team in 2020. He subsequently started all seven games for the Three Lions at the European Championship the following summer. One year later, having helped Leeds avoid relegation on the final day of the season, he moved to City in a deal worth up to £42 million, making him Leeds' record sale (albeit only for two weeks before Raphinha joined Barcelona for £55m).

"I hope you guys understand my decision and will accept that I only want to chase my dreams and test myself against and with the best teams and best players on the planet," Phillips wrote when he left for City. Unfortunately, his result in that test was a resounding failure, and Phillips' career has been on a downward slide since, one so steep that he now faces an almighty fight just to get it going again.

Getty Images SportDoomed from the start

It might have seemed like a small detail at the time, but with hindsight one could say that Phillips' time with City was doomed from the start. He was too ill to attend his presentation in front of fans along with the other new arrivals, including Erling Haaland, in the summer of 2022, and he did not have the best introduction to the coaching staff either. 

According to , Guardiola and his assistants noted that Phillips struggled to understand the role of being City's holding midfielder and they quickly concluded that the recently departed youth academy player Romeo Lavia, then 18, would have been a better fit.

Phillips made his first appearance for City in a pre-season friendly against Club America in the unfamiliar position of centre-back, replacing Nathan Ake at half-time. He got 21 minutes in the next game against Bayern Munich, this time in midfield, and when the season began, he played a grand total of one minute across City's three opening Premier League matches. 

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Overweight'

Phillips made his first City start in an August friendly against Barcelona, but that was when his problems truly began as he injured his shoulder, aggravating a long-running issue. The only solution was to undergo surgery, meaning he missed the next 10 matches, only returning to the matchday squad for the final game before the season paused for the World Cup.

Phillips was still selected by England for the tournament in a call that emphasised how highly he was still regarded by Sir Gareth Southgate, and he made two appearances in Qatar. However, when he returned to Manchester, he was given a shock.

Guardiola didn't pick him for the Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool that kicked-off domestic action following the World Cup, and when asked why in the press conference, the coach gave a surprisingly strong response: "He's not injured, he arrived overweight."

Those comments plagued Phillips for years. "That narrative on social media just grew and grew," he told former Leeds team-mate Patrick Bamford. "Every club that I’d go to, I spoke to, like the manager and the nutritionist and stuff like that, they’d always speak about weight before they’d say anything else. And it got to the point where it peed me off a little bit. I was getting quite frustrated with it."

Getty Images SportNot part of Pep's vision

Phillips was a bystander during City's run to the treble in his first season at the club as he started just two Premier League games, both after they had already wrapped up the title. His second season was even more miserable as he played just 89 minutes of Premier League football across four substitute appearances. 

Again, the writing was on the wall from the start as City signed not one holding midfielder but two, first bringing in Mateo Kovacic and then Matheus Nunes in the summer of 2023. Phillips, who was already struggling to get any game time while competing with the un-droppable Rodri, was now very clearly fourth choice in his position. 

His first start of the campaign in the Carabao Cup against Newcastle ended in a 1-0 defeat, while his only other starts were in meaningless Champions League group games after City had qualified for the knockout stage. He did manage to score his only goal for the club, however, netting from the penalty spot against Red Star Belgrade.

When Guardiola was asked why he used Phillips so sparingly, he gave a damning explanation: "It’s just because I visualise some things and visualise the team and I struggle to see him. I feel so sorry for my decision for him. I’ve said that many times. He doesn’t deserve what has happened to him and I’m so sorry." 

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Getty Images SportNo respite

Having turned down the chance to leave City on loan in the summer of 2023, Phillips took the opportunity to get more game time in January 2024, moving to West Ham. But instead of turning his career around in east London, he plunged to new depths.

On his debut against Bournemouth, he gifted a goal to Dominic Solanke with his second touch of the ball, while in his next home game he was brought on at half-time as West Ham were destroyed 6-0 by Arsenal. At Nottingham Forest he was sent off, he was hauled off at half-time against Burnley, and when he boarded the team bus after a 4-3 defeat at Newcastle, one fan shouted "useless" at him. Phillips raised his middle finger in response.

He played just one more game for West Ham after that incident on Tyneside. His loan spell ended with him making just 10 appearances for the Irons, three of which were starts, while he failed to complete 90 minutes even once. 

Phillips returned to Manchester and went on City's pre-season tour of the United States in 2024, but with it being clear he had no hope of getting regular game time, another loan move beckoned. Newly-promoted Ipswich Town took him on and upon signing Phillips talked of "wanting to enjoy playing football again".

"The main reason I came to Ipswich was to get back playing football," he said. "[To] kind of play football, not stress free, but with less stress and less eyes on me, maybe. When I went to West Ham, I felt like there was quite a lot of eyes on me."

When it became clear that Liverpool would be crowned Premier League champions in Arne Slot’s first season at the club, well before the title was rubber-stamped and sealed, sporting director Richard Hughes suggested the summer transfer window would be significant.

After all, it was clear that Trent Alexander-Arnold was going to join Real Madrid at the end of his contract, and the likes of Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott and Luis Diaz were being linked with a move away. Liverpool needed a left-back.

And Liverpool have welcomed a sweeping array of new talent, shattering financial records as FSG added layers to Slot’s title-winning team.

But you’ll need no telling that the Reds have lost nine of their past 12 matches in 2025/26, thrashed in consecutive appearances at Anfield against Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven.

The balance is all wrong, and the squad have been shorn of confidence. It’s hardly surprising that Hughes is gearing up for a return to the transfer market.

Liverpool's winter transfer plans

Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher has been among those advocating for FSG to pull their purses out and sign a centre-back this January. However, Ibrahima Konate’s wretched form has seen Real Madrid cool their interest, and talks are ongoing regarding the France star’s renewal on Merseyside.

The need for an out-and-out winger is more pressing, with Diaz not replaced when sold to Bayern Munich in August.

That’s why Liverpool have set their sights on Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, who has been in fine fettle in the Premier League this season and is considered to be a top target on Merseyside, with his £65m release becoming active in January.

However, Hughes has compiled a list of multiple targets, and in Rafael Leao, Liverpool might even have an alternative who would prove a better pick, with stylistic similarities to the Ghana international.

According to Spanish sources, Liverpool are ready to rekindle their long-standing interest in AC Milan star Leao and place a formal winter offer worth €120m (about £105m).

This would be a significant outlay for Liverpool after their summer of spending, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and Cody Gakpo has not looked convincing on the left wing.

Why Liverpool should sign Rafael Leao

Leao, 26, is among the finest wide forwards in the world.

This season, he has enjoyed a clinical start, scoring five goals and providing one assist across all competitions. In Serie A, he hasn’t been as dynamic as in recent years, though he has been championing Maximiliano Allegri’s simplistic playing style, serving as a clinical outlet in the final third.

At Liverpool, Leao would probably be utilised in a different way, with Slot requiring more width and multi-facetedness on the flank to restore balance to his ailing frontline.

Among the most clinical wingers in Serie A this season, Leao is also maintaining such athleticism and creativity in his play. Gakpo, conversely, has consistently faced criticism for being overly one-dimensional,

Goals scored

0.67

0.29

Assists

0.17

0.20

Shots taken

2.17

2.94

Pass completion (%)

75.8

71.3

Goal-creating actions

0.50

0.39

Progressive passes

3.01

3.43

Through balls

0.84

0.39

Progressive carries

3.35

4.41

Successful take-ons

0.84

1.47

Ball recoveries

2.17

3.13

Aerials won

1.17

1.86

It is curious that Gakpo has been a bit more active in duelling situations than Leao, while also running more frequently with the ball. However, this season stands as an outlier for the Portuguese winger, as far as ball-carrying metrics are concerned.

Indeed, as well as being hailed as “one of the best left wingers in the world” by analyst Ben Mattinson, Leao has also been described as being “unstoppable” when on the ball by journalist Zach Lowy.

Gakpo might be running a fair bit in the Premier League this season, and his defensive metrics are impressive too, but he’s flattered to deceive in combination with left-back Milos Kerkez, who joined Liverpool from Bournemouth for £40m this summer.

The Dutchman, moreover, ranks among the bottom 39% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for take-on success rate.

In and of itself, this is not an egregious tactical sin, but Gakpo’s lack of dynamism has certainly been exposed since Diaz left Liverpool, amplified even more so by the 33-year-old Mohamed Salah’s deterioration on the alternate wing.

Given that Gakpo has only posted four goals and three assists across 18 matches in all competitions this season too, it’s clear that Liverpool need to make this move – for Leao or Semenyo – and add a dimension to their frontline.

There was a feeling that Liverpool opted against signing a like-for-like Diaz replacement in the summer due to the excitement around Rio Ngumoha, who became one of the youngest scorers in Premier League history when scoring the winner at Newcastle in August, but Slot has since used the 17-year-old sparingly.

1

James Vaughan

16 yrs, 8 months, 27 days

2

James Milner

16 yrs, 11 months, 22 days

3

Wayne Rooney

16 yrs, 11 months, 25 days

4

Rio Ngumoha

16 yrs, 11 months, 26 days

5

Cesc Fabregas

17 yrs, 3 months, 21 days

Also dubbed “world-class” by Mattinson, Leao’s fleet-footed and ferocious style of play is exactly what Liverpool need going forward. He fits the same mould that has been sculpted for Semenyo by the powers that be at FSG.

It’s clear that Leao, in his finest form, would nail down a starting berth at Anfield, and Hughes must now make it happen.

Better than Isak: Liverpool join race for "one of the best RWs in the world"

Arne Slot’s Liverpool tenure is crumbling before him, and FSG are considering changes.

ByAngus Sinclair Nov 28, 2025

The 2025 MLB regular season has ended, and focus has shifted to the opening round of the postseason. Before we do that, it's time to reflect on what has been an incredible 162-game campaign over the last six months.

We've been looking inside the numbers all season, so here's a final look at the most incredible stats from the 2025 season.

204 — Aaron Judge's wRC+, which was 32 points better than any other qualified hitter. Shohei Ohtani came in second at 172, leading the National League. That means Judge was a 32% better hitter than Ohtani this year. Wild. For comparison, it was his second-best wRC+ ever, with 2024's 220 still leading the way.

210 — George Springer's wRC+ after the All-Star break, the best in baseball. A's rookie slugger Nick Kurtz finished second at 199. The 36-year-old Springer discovered that the Fountain of Youth exists somewhere near the Rogers Centre and had his best season since 2019. He notched career highs in batting average (.309) and on-base percentage (.399), and slugged .560 with 32 home runs, 84 RBIs, and 106 runs. Springer ranked third in baseball behind Judge and Ohtani with a career-best wRC+ of 166. His OPS (.959) jumped an 285 points this season in his mid-30s. I'll have what he's having.

38 — Stolen bases by Juan Soto to tie for the NL lead with Oneil Cruz … Yeah, you read that right. Not Elly De La Cruz, Trea Turner or Corbin Carroll, but . Even crazier? The $765 million man swiped 27 bags after the All-Star break to lead all of baseball. Soto had 34 stolen bases over the past three seasons combined entering 2025.

6.1 — Fernando Tatis Jr.'s fWAR, which was sixth in the NL, one spot ahead of Soto, who slashed .263/.396/.525 with 43 home runs, 105 RBIs, and 120 runs. By comparison, Tatis went .268/.368/.446 with 25 home runs, 71 RBIs, and 111 runs scored. The difference? Defense. Tatis was seventh in the NL with 15 defensive runs saved, while Soto finished at -7.

6.6 — Tarik Skubal's fWAR, best among MLB pitchers, edging Paul Skenes by 0.1. Skubal will undoubtedly repeat as the AL's Cy Young winner after going 13–6 with a 2.21 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 2.45 FIP and 241 strikeouts against 33 walks in 195 1/3 innings. He's still the best in the business.

10 — Wins for Skenes despite an MLB-best 1.97 ERA. The likely NL Cy Young winner finished the season 10–10 with a 2.36 FIP and 216 strikeouts against 42 walks in 187 2/3 innings. It's a crime that the Pirates aren't better when he's on the mound.

25.2 — Launch angle for Cal Raleigh, highest in baseball by 2.1 degrees and a career-high by 2.7. Raleigh was also fourth in barrel% (19.5), so it's not hard to see how he was able to blast an MLB-high 60 home runs. The Big Dumper became a national star in 2025.

45.1 — Hard-hit percentage for Kyle Schwarber this season, a career high. The man who made himself more money than anyone in baseball during the 2025 season led the NL in the stat and finished 0.5% behind Aaron Judge. The 32-year-old slugger also notched career-highs in home runs (56), RBIs (132), wRC+ (152), slugging (.563), and fWAR (4.9). A big performance in a contract year.

99.4 — Hunter Greene's average fastball velocity, tops in baseball among starting pitchers. It was a strong season for Reds starter as he went 7–4 with a 2.76 ERA. Health is the only thing standing between him and ace status. Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski came in second at 99.0 mph. Not surprisingly, Mason Miller's fastball led all qualified relievers at 101.2 mph.

-424 — The Rockies' run differential, which was the worst MLB has seen since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders. The modern era began in 1900, so we'll just say it's the worst ever. The previous record of -349 was held by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, so Colorado “beat” it by runs! The Rockies lost 119 games, which was two fewer than the record-setting 2024 Chicago White Sox, but they were arguably a worse team. Colorado has lost 100-plus games in three straight years and has a .356 winning percentage (231–417) over the past four years. The team's ownership group should be stripped of the team at this point.

Bonus Number

.409 — Any guesses on this one? That's the Mets' winning percentage after having the best record in baseball on June 12. New York was 45–24 on that date and went an excruciating 38–55 over the rest of the season to fall out of the postseason picture. Despite a $323 million payroll, the Mets were eliminated on the final day of the season and will spend a long offseason dwelling on it.