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Mithali Raj is right. “Everybody”, as she puts it, was rooting for India. Even England, their opposition in the Women’s World Cup final, wanted to see Raj and her team at Lord’s.”India being in the final is the best result for women’s cricket,” Heather Knight, England’s captain, said. “There’s massive scope for growth and support from India. And with their team being in the final, BCCI will take note and support women’s cricket the way it should be.”The BCCI have already done exactly that. On the eve of the final, they announced a bonus of INR 50 lakh (approx US $ 77,500) for each member of the squad, irrespective of whether they return home with the trophy or not. It means that for reaching the final, Indian women will receive more than three times the amount of an annual Grade A contract, which is set at INR 15 Lakh (approx US $23,200). If they win, who knows how much richer they could become.Raj hoped the wealth won’t be measured only in numbers. “There might be a lot of changes back home if we go on to win the World Cup, and those changes will benefit the future generations,” she said. “Women’s cricket in India will have a brand of its own. It won’t require anything else to support it and promote it as a sport. This platform and this win will definitely give it that edge for young girls to take up sport back home and maybe a women’s IPL might be in the pipeline.”This is not the first time Raj has proposed a women’s IPL. Before last year’s World T20, Raj predicted that if India did well at the event, it would “give birth” to the women’s IPL. As things transpired, India only won one of their four group games and did not make the semi-finals. Now, things have changed. The team is on the up and Raj has reason to restate her request for an IPL.”It is time. Looking at the way the girls have been performing in the last couple of years. And we’ve seen how Smriti and Hamanpreet have benefitted from their exposure to WBBL,” she said. “I am sure if the other young girls in the squad are exposed to the culture of a T20 league, the domestic standard in Indian women’s cricket will also improve immensely.”Knight agreed that an IPL could become one of the showpiece events for the women’s game, and that the performance of the Indian team at this World Cup could be the catalyst for starting it. “A women’s IPL would be brilliant. The BBL and KSL have been really successful and they’ve been a part of pushing women’s cricket forward,” she said. “You’ve seen players involved in those competitions really develop and perform in this World Cup. All we can keep doing as cricketers is keep improving and keep pushing. The more cricket we play, the more competitive and close games, people will improve quicker.”England coach, Mark Robinson, however, was a little more sceptical about another T20 competition. Being a national coach, his reservations are understandable, especially because the women’s game is still trying to find its feet when it comes to regular bilateral fixtures. “I think we have to play more international cricket before we get into IPL. We don’t play enough international games. We haven’t played since November coming into this competition,” he said. “We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. England need to play New Zealand more, Australia more, South Africa more. We need to play more good games, home games from a selfish point of view. The IPL might improve cricket in India, but we want to play more international games.”Even in that regard, Raj aimed to please. Though T20 is foremost on her mind, she also wanted to see the game develop more traditionally. “I would also prefer women cricketers playing the longer format, because that is the ultimate challenge,” Raj, who has played 10 Tests, said. “T20 is a good way of promoting the sport and it gives more range for the batters to be more innovative and proactive in their shot selection. But if you want to see quality bowlers, it’s the longer version that you give them that space. We need to have bowlers also in the game and not just focus on batters.”But not at Lord’s tomorrow. Raj was hopeful of “plenty of runs” at the ground where she averages 153. She has only played at Lord’s twice, first in 2006, when she made 59 in a losing cause, and then in July 2012, when her unbeaten 94 helped India beat England. She remembers the first occasion because all she wanted to do back then, as a 24-year old first-time entrant at the venue, was “click pictures.” Now that she is back here to finish her World Cup career, she considers it “destiny.”Though Raj believes she can continue playing for India for a little longer, she has confirmed this is her last World Cup and she wants to give it everything because she does not know how great the rewards could be. “Unlike 2005, where I played with a lot of pressure, this time I want to enjoy being out there,” she said. “In all the years, there were a lot of occasions where I could have enjoyed the success of my team or a few of the innings I played, but it never occurred to me. Now, I will make sure I will not let the fear of what might go wrong cross me.”What about what might go right? “It’s a final and everybody will have their nerves. No matter how many finals we play, there’s always that fear of putting a wrong foot,” she said. “But this bunch of players is playing a final for the first time. I don’t see any fear in them now. It’s completely different to 2005 when we were all overwrought by the situation.”India’s calm comes from a place of certainty, because they know that everybody, at least everybody that matters to them, is rooting for them. “The whole world will be watching India play. Everybody is rooting for India back home,” Raj said. “We’ve been getting calls from various parts of the country to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the team so far. Everybody is very happy with the way the team has performed through the tournament. One more game can change the fortunes for women’s cricket and Indian women’s cricket.”

Rangers have lined up a move for Ecuador international Jose Cifuentes amid reports they're closing in on Cremonese forward Cyriel Dessers.

Who will join Rangers this summer?

It's been a busy summer transfer window for the Gers and manager Michael Beale, who have already seen five major signings come through the Ibrox door.

Jack Butland, Dujon Sterling, Kieran Dowell, Sam Lammers and Abdallah Sima are all now Rangers players as the Ibrox side look to wrestle back Scottish football dominance from their arch-rivals.

The Hoops sealed an impressive domestic treble last season, but following the departure of Ange Postecoglou and re-appointment of Brendan Rodgers, it will be interesting to see if Rangers can usurp them.

Beale's side have held no shortage of ambition when it comes to transfers and reliable media sources claim that they're closing in on another major deal in potentially signing Dessers (as per Fabrizio Romano).

The 28-year-old is apparently on the verge of joining Rangers, and that is echoed by journalist Scott Burns in a piece for The Daily Record.

However, dropping another line in his piece, Burns claims that the Glasgow giants have "also lined up a move" for Los Angeles midfielder Cifuentes.

In a further bit of good news, it's added that the move is "expected to be completed" in this window.

Cifuentes has been heavily linked with a move to Rangers this summer and it appears they're still very much interested in signing the 24-year-old for Beale.

Who is Jose Cifuentes?

The South American ace apparently "starred" for Los Angeles over his most recent season, and with Cifuentes out of contract in December, Rangers could seemingly strike a cut-price move.

Cifuentes, who featured at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar last year, has also been praised by Tim Vickey for his exploits across the Atlantic.

Vickery, an expert on all things to do with South American football, called Cifuentes a "terrific" player after his 2019 exploits at the Under-20 World Cup.

"He was the beating heart of that side and I think he’s a terrific midfielder," said Vickey on talkSPORT (via footballscotland).

"This fellow Cifuentes strikes the ball well, moves across the field, strong in the tackle, strong on the ball, I like him a lot."

Mashrafe Mortaza has said that while Mustafizur Rahman’s early success was extraordinary, it should not be expected of him so regularly

Mohammad Isam25-Apr-2017

Mustafizur Rahman needs to work harder if he wants more success as batsmen have begun reading his bowling better. Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who made this observation, also said that Mustafizur’s success early in his career was “extraordinary” and urged that he shouldn’t be put under too much pressure.”What he got in the early stage of his career was extraordinary so what is happening to him now is what is supposed to happen to any bowler,” Mashrafe said before Bangladesh’s departure to England for a preparatory camp ahead of their Champions Trophy campaign. “It is unbelievable that he got so many wickets in the first few games of his international career. Now he has to work hard to take wickets. Batsmen are reading him better. Every team has top-quality computer analysts who find out his strengths and weaknesses.”Injuries have also bothered him, and he has just recovered from the latest injury few months ago. He is only 19 or 20 [21]. So with everything in consideration, he is having a tough time off late. So we also shouldn’t put him under pressure. He has already proved that he is Bangladesh’s future. If we can keep him relaxed by not weighing him down with expectations, he can be a wonderful asset for us in the next ten years.”After coming back from a shoulder surgery late last year, Mustafizur was out of sorts in New Zealand and was dropped for the Hyderabad Test in India to allow him more time to recuperate. He bowled well in patches in Sri Lanka, especially in the Test series, but wasn’t at his best in the two completed ODIs and the first T20I.In the second T20I against Sri Lanka, however, he took 4 for 21 but was expensive in his only appearance for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2017, conceding 34 runs in 2.4 overs. He has been benched since then, which has raised concerns over his form and mental state.Mustafizur was scheduled to join the team on Tuesday but will now do so on May 4. Despite his recent patchy form, he remains an important cog in Bangladesh’s pursuit of a strong result in the Champions Trophy. Mashrafe said that the tournament will be a difficult one for the team, as they are placed in the same group as hosts England, Australia and New Zealand.He said that the preparatory camp in Sussex does not guarantee success but will give the players a better understanding of local pitches and overhead conditions.”Realistically, it is going to be a difficult tour,” Mashrafe said. “The Champions Trophy won’t be easy when you look at our opposition. We have defeated England in that condition. We beat Australia in Cardiff once and, although these are history, I think it is still possible. A lot will depend on how we prepare our mentality.”The camp will give us an inkling about the pitches. Weather conditions change quickly in the early part of the English summer. We had a good World Cup after an early camp in Australia in 2015 but the same didn’t pan out in 2016 when we prepared for the New Zealand tour.”One area Mashrafe is concerned about is the team’s fatigue towards the end of a long tour. Given that the Champions Trophy falls in the latter half of their tour, the team will have to devise ways to avoid falling into that mental hole.”This is not the first time we are on such a long tour,” Mashrafe said. “But we do have that problem of becoming fatigued at the end of such tours. History tells us that we have a really bad session after a good one in the latter part of a tour.”Maybe in Australia [during the World Cup] we didn’t feel too bad as we were always in the hunt. Winning in the early stage could help us fight fatigue, which we can start in Ireland. It is important to keep everyone together, in our group of 17-18 players, especially those who won’t go through a good time in the early stages. Keeping them like a family.”Bangladesh will leave for the Sussex camp on April 26. Their tri-nation series, against Ireland and New Zealand, will be played between May 12 and 24, after which they will return to London for the final part of their tour.

Wolverhampton Wanderers will aim to make improvements this summer, despite expected financial constraints following the revelation of the clubs’ Financial Fair Play (FFP) woes.

Julen Lopetegui will wish to bolster his squad this transfer window, which is something he could do in stylish fashion as Wolves’ latest link has emerged as a hot talent.

What’s the latest on Manu Kone to Wolves?

As reported by the Daily Mail yesterday, Wolves are showing interest in Borussia Monchengladbach whizz Manu Kone.

The 22-year-old machine has gathered interest from both Liverpool and Aston Villa for his performances in the Bundesliga, with him being valued at £35m as per the report.

Contracted to Die Borussen until 2025, it’s expected that the club will hold out for a good fee for their star.

What could Manu Kone offer to Wolves?

With Ruben Neves almost certain to depart this summer, Lopetegui must find midfield reinforcements to live up to the absence of the Molineux skipper.

Once hailed as “majestic” by talent scout Antonio Mango, the Frenchman could certainly be the man to fill the vacancy left by Neves’ pending departure.

At just 22 years old, the bustling midfielder was monstrous in the Bundesliga this campaign, as highlighted by his 2.5 tackles per game and 54% total duels won with an enormous average of 7.4 won per game, via Sofascore.

It’s clear to see why the youngster is wanted by Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool for his defensive exploits in the engine room, however the Colombes-born gem has far more to his game than protecting the back line.

Having been likened to Brighton & Hove Albion star Moises Caicedo, Kone could replicate the passing ability of Neves in his assured nature in the centre of the pitch.

Also lauded as having a “swagger” about him by Mango, the 22-year-old maintained a passing accuracy of 87% in the Bundesliga this term as well as registering an average of 5.73 progressive passes per 90 via FBref.

As per FBref again, the Gladbach midfielder ranks highly in comparison to midfielders in Europe, positioned in the top 4% in Europe’s top five leagues in the past year for his rate of successful take ons, averaging 1.97 per 90, incomparable to Neves’ 0.57.

While the Portuguese stalwart offers more in the final third, the Wolves target offers an opposing skill set to the 26-year-old, flexing the ability to open the play from deep playing as a commanding defensive midfielder.

His ball-carrying abilities are second-to-none and present as another area that the young whizz could signify progression in Lopetegui’s set-up without Neves, with him averaging 2.04 progressive carries to the Wolves captain’s 0.83 per 90.

With Liverpool and Villa expected to have significantly bigger budgets than Wolves this summer, only time will tell if Lopetegui can source the pennies to lure the talent to Molineux, there is no denying the impact he could have should the Old Gold win the race for his signature.

The Spaniard could well have his perfect Neves successor if that turns out to be the case.

Angelo Mathews (personal grounds), Nuwan Pradeep and Danushka Gunathilaka (injury) will be flying back to Sri Lanka ahead of the third T20

Andrew Fidel Fernando23-Jan-2017Angelo Mathews will be one of three players returning to Sri Lanka after the second T20 international in South Africa, with Nuwan Pradeep and Danushka Gunathilaka also flying home due to injury.Mathews’ return was a prior arrangement based on “personal grounds”, a Sri Lanka Cricket release said, though he had also suffered a hamstring injury during his match-winning 54 not out on Sunday. He is not expected to be available for any of the five-match one-day series.Pradeep, meanwhile, injured his hand in the opening T20, and Gunathilaka has been laid low by a back complaint. Both are ruled out the rest of the tour. Vice captain Dinesh Chandimal will lead the side in Mathews’ stead.The triple blow is a significant for Sri Lanka’s chances in the limited-overs series – all three players have featured in Sri Lanka’s ODI sides, and Mathews especially, provides balance to the XI in his all-round role.The three-wicket win on Sunday was Sri Lanka’s first victory of the tour. The third T20 international is scheduled for January 25, and five ODIs are to follow.The injuries to Gunathilaka and Pradeep may also affect availability for the forthcoming T20 tour of Australia. Sri Lanka are expected to name their ODI squad for the South Africa series on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Martin Guptill’s good form should work in the favour of the visitors as they face a must-win situation in Canberra

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale05-Dec-2016

Match facts

December 6, 2016
Start time 1420 local (0320 GMT)1:18

‘We need to take our innings deeper’ – Munro

Big Picture

New Zealand must have left the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday night thinking, “if only”. If only they had asked for a review when Steven Smith was given not-out by umpire Mick Martell after being trapped lbw on 14, the first ODI might have unfolded quite differently. Trent Boult’s fine delivery had swung in and trapped Smith in front, but New Zealand declined to refer Martell’s decision upstairs. “There was plenty of chat afterwards about that,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. “There were two sounds and the possibility of an inside edge. We’re all well aware there wasn’t. That was the thinking and you could understand it. It was a little bit frustrating.” The reason it was frustrating was that Smith went on to accumulate 164 and set up a big win for Australia.The teams now move on to Canberra with Australia 1-0 up in the three-match series, so New Zealand must win at the Manuka Oval on Tuesday to have any hope of retaining the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. The good news for New Zealand is that they had one batsman who looked every bit as dangerous as Smith at the SCG, but unfortunately for them, Martin Guptill couldn’t go quite as deep into the innings as Smith, and fell for 114 off 102 balls. The toss may be particularly important in Canberra, where big runs are generally available, and the team batting first has won the six most recent ODIs.

Form guide

Australia: WLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand: LLWLW

In the spotlight

A golden duck in Sydney was hardly the start Aaron Finch wanted in this series, but he will be pleased to arrive in Canberra for the second game. Take a look at Finch’s scores in his three ODIs at the Manuka Oval: 38, 109 and 107. His last two hundreds at the venue have come against South Africa and India, and Finch could use a big score again: in 18 ODIs since the end of the previous home summer, Finch has averaged just 26.25.After New Zealand lost Guptill, their hopes of chasing down the hefty target in Sydney faded. But, while Colin Munro was at the crease, there remained at least a tiny glimmer of hope. Munro struck four fours and one six in his innings of 49, and put on 50 for the eighth wicket with Matt Henry. While they were together, the required run rate hovered around nine an over, but at least it didn’t balloon too much further. But when they both holed out in one Pat Cummins over – the 44th of the innings – the dream was dashed. “It was a different sort of knock than what I’m used to playing,” Munro said. “Given that role to try and take things a bit deeper in the innings sort of suits my game. Hopefully, in the games to come, we can have a few extra batters around me at the end and have a bit of a hit.”Lockie Ferguson had a forgettable debut in Sydney and may make way for Tim Southee•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Team news

Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner were the two members of Australia’s 13-man squad left out in Sydney, and the selectors may wish to retain the winning XI in an attempt to secure the series.Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3, Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Travis Head, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Pat Cummins, 11 Josh Hazlewood.Lockie Ferguson picked up a wicket in his first international over, but the rest of his debut was rather costly: he leaked 73 runs from nine overs, sent down four no-balls and therefore four free hits, and also cramped up. Tim Southee might come in for Ferguson in Canberra. New Zealand may also wonder if their batting order could be strengthened by the inclusion of Henry Nicholls.New Zealand (possible) 1 Tom Latham, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Jimmy Neesham, 5 Colin Munro, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Colin de Grandhomme, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent Boult.

Pitch and conditions

Manuka Oval is the kind of venue where big totals are on offer batting first, and chasing can be a challenge. The forecast for Tuesday is for a shower or two and a top temperature of 28 degrees centigrade.

Stats and trivia

• In Sydney, Guptill became the tenth-fastest player to 5000 ODI runs, behind Hashim Amla, Viv Richards, Virat Kohli, Brian Lara, Gordon Greenidge, AB de Villiers, Sourav Ganguly, Dean Jones and Graeme Smith.
• This will be Kane Williamson’s 100th one-day international.
• Adam Zampa enters this game as the world’s leading ODI wicket-taker in 2016, with 30 scalps at 27.80. His feat is all the more impressive given he didn’t make his ODI debut until February in New Zealand.

Quotes

“We were a little bit frustrated with the fact we chased the game with the ball. We had some good plans in place and perhaps we need to back those a bit more. We weren’t far off.”

ScorecardDominic Bess claimed figures of 6 for 28•Getty Images

Somerset offspinner Dom Bess marked his Specsavers County Championship debut with 6 for 28 as 21 wickets fell on the opening day of the match with Warwickshire at Taunton. The 19-year-old produced a memorable 16 overs, including the wickets of Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell with successive deliveries, as the visitors were bowled out 123, Ian Westwood top-scoring with 34.That was after Somerset had been skittled for 95, having won the toss. Warwickshire’s pace bowlers did the damage, with Keith Barker claiming 4 for 33, Rikki Clarke 3 for 32 and Chris Wright 2 for 28.By the close of an extraordinary day the home side had made 41 for 1 in their second innings and led by 13. The pitch offered some assistance to spin and seam, without being in any way dangerous. Swing and poor shot selection also contributed to the carnage.Somerset named three spinners in their side, clearly expecting the ball to turn, but were undone by seam as they were bowled out in 30.1 overs before the end of an extended opening session. Barker bowled the first 14 overs of the day from the Somerset Pavilion End, sending back Chris Rogers, James Hildreth, Peter Trego and Roelof van der Merwe in an accurate spell that saw him swing the ball and nip it about off the seam.Wright had set the ball rolling by pinning Marcus Trescothick lbw, while Clarke sent back Lewis Gregory with his first delivery of the match and later accounted for Ryan Davies and Bess.With Somerset nine wickets down, Warwickshire claimed the extra half hour in the morning session and Jeetan Patel put the home side out of their misery by dismissing Jack Leach with his first ball after a last-wicket stand of 26 with Tim Groenewald, the best of the innings.Warwickshire reached 62 for 1 in reply before England U-19 player Bess had Trott caught at leg slip sweeping. The next ball saw Bell hit the ball into a pad and offer up a return catch which the teenager gleefully snaffled. Westwood fell to a good delivery from Bess that turned and lifted before Leach squeezed a ball between Matthew Lamb’s bat and pad to bowl him for a single.At tea Warwickshire were 81 for 5. Trescothick then produced a brilliant diving catch at second slip off Groenewald to dismiss Sam Hain for nine. Barker and Clarke fell to shots they will not want to remember as Bess, who bowled at just the right pace and trajectory to extract maximum turn, added to his tally.Patel was his sixth victim courtesy of another injudicious stroke and Leach wrapped up the innings by clean bowling Wright. Bess led his side off, showing the ball to all sides of the ground, as relieved home supporters gave him a warm ovation.There was still time for Tom Abell to fall lbw to Josh Poysden for 15 with Somerset’s second innings total on 31. The experienced duo of Trescothick and Rogers had five more overs to negotiate and did so thanks to Poysden dropping Rogers on 5 at fine leg off a top-edged pull, Barker being the unlucky bowler.

Sri Lanka captain, Angelo Mathews, said Kusal Mendis’ batting and Rangana Herath’s “all-round” performances constituted the positives from the 2-0 Test series defeat against England. He was, however, non-committal on the struggling Lahiru Thirimanne’s continued place in the Test XI.Herath claimed seven wickets at an average of 43.28, and also hit 109 runs from No. 8 in the series. “Herath was superb,” Mathews said. “He is 38 and he has backed the team with his all-round ability. He is even throwing himself all over the field. It was good to see the oldest man diving around and stopping boundaries.”Mendis made the team’s lone half-century at Headingley, and hit 156 runs at an average of 31.20, with a strike rate of 65.27, through the series. Mathews said Mendis had earned a long run in the No. 3 position.”If we pick someone, we need to give him a fair opportunity and be patient with him. We don’t want to chop and change people. We need to find the best possible combination. When you identify a guy with skill and talent you need to persevere with him.”Thirimanne, meanwhile, had only hit one fifty in his previous 12 innings before the tour, but played all three Tests in England – perhaps on the strength of domestic performances, which have been consistently excellent. However, he mustered a highest score of 22 in five innings in England, and now averages 24.00 after 50 Test innings overall.Mathews had described him as the “best batsman” in the team before the tour, but said “we haven’t decided on certain positions” when asked about Thirimanne’s performance in the series.”This is a challenging tour for all the batsmen,” he said. “I don’t want to mention one particular player. We all have to take responsibility. Apart from Chandimal, no one was able to score a hundred here, and I don’t want to let anyone down. We have to be a close unit and we have to keep working hard. We haven’t made a decision on the No. 4 position.”Having folded for 91, 119 and 101 in the first three innings of the series, Mathews lauded the top order’s relative return to runs in the second innings at Chester-le-Street, and then at Lord’s. Sri Lanka’s highest score of the series was the 475 in the second innings of the second Test, and though they lost five wickets for 43 runs on the third day at Lord’s, managed totals of 288 and 78 for 1.”This was a good learning experience for all of us,” he said. “We are a young team and we don’t have much experience. The way the guys fought facing Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad in challenging conditions was good to see. The way they batted and they showed lot of guts – it was brilliant. If we play together as a unit we can improve further. We played pretty well in the second innings in Durham. At Lord’s, too, we were sitting pretty and then lost a heap of wickets on day three.”Mathews also echoed coach Graham Ford’s words on day four, and said Sri Lanka would have attempted to chase down the target of 362, had the weather allowed a full day’s play on Monday.

Fans without tickets were turned away from Scotland’s World T20 match against Zimbabwe at the VCA stadium in Nagpur today, as there are no ticketing facilities available at the ground.The tickets for the match are priced at 100 rupees for the East and West stands and 200 rupees for behind the bowler’s arm (approx £1.10 and £2.20 respectively). However, many supporters were obliged to travel back to the old VCA stadium in central Nagpur to purchase their tickets, meaning that that those that chose to do so were forced to miss much of the contest.The current stadium, which was inaugurated in 2008 and has a capacity of 45,000, lies 20km outside the city centre, a journey time of approximately 40 minutes by auto-rickshaw. However, the main ticketing system remains still situated at the old venue. A VCA official said it was not possible to have ticketing at both grounds.The BCCI, who declined to comment, are in overall charge of the ticketing policy for the tournament, but the arrangements for each match are at the discretion of the individual state associations. Dharamsala, the other venue that has so far hosted matches, has chosen to sell tickets for the qualifying rounds at the gate.The VCA spokesman added that advertisements for the ticketing policy had been placed in local papers but was unable to explain why the information had not been passed on to the BCCI or ICC, so they could warn fans who were travelling in from other grounds.The atmosphere inside the stadium, which came in for heavy criticism on the opening day of the tournament, was marginally improved for today’s contest, thanks to an influx of some 250 children from nearby schools. However, approximately 100 fans remained locked out of the ground at the start of Zimbabwe’s innings. The venue is too remote to support any local pubs or cafes in which to watch the contest, or to access the ICC’s online ticket-booking service that could have resolved the issue.”We love cricket, which is why we are here even in this heat to watch Scotland take on Zimbabwe,” one group of college students from Nagpur told ESPNcricinfo. “But we can’t book online because of the network and the ticket sales are going on at the other ground. There’s so few people in, why can’t they just let us in. We are even willing to pay at the gate.”One group of Scotland fans, who encountered similar problems during Tuesday’s opening round of fixtures, including Scotland’s defeat against Afghanistan, had been mistakenly informed that they could buy their tickets at their hotel.Privately ICC officials are frustrated that common sense has not been used, especially with the already low turn out for these matches.

Journalist Chris Waugh believes Newcastle United could very likely be without Anthony Gordon for several weeks.

The Lowdown: More injury woes for Eddie Howe

Newcastle’s one big splurge in January was on Gordon, who was desperately trying to force a winter exit, and the Magpies came calling despite the winger having scored just three goals in the Premier League this term.

However, he’s been afforded just one start under Eddie Howe and now looks set to at least miss this week’s clash against Nottingham Forest due to an injury that was picked up after the defeat to Manchester City.

Reports have suggested that Gordon may not be seen again until after the international break – which will see the winger and his teammates jet off to Dubai – which would be an almighty blow for the Magpies, who are still yet to see why his former teammate James Tarkowski labelled him as ‘different class’.

The Latest: Gordon set for time on the sidelines

While speaking on Pod on the Tyne, Waugh has stated Gordon is likely to miss this week’s Premier League clash and may not even be seen for several weeks to come.

He said: “Obviously, Anthony Gordon – who picked up an ankle injury after the Man City game – isn’t going to be fit for Friday and might not be back immediately after the international break, either.

“So that’s a bit of a blow because we still haven’t seen him have a run of games for Newcastle, but thankfully, because others have sort of stepped up in that absence, Howe does still have some positive selection dilemmas.”

The Verdict: Newcastle have sufficient cover for Gordon’s absence

The fact that Allan Saint-Maximin appears to be back to full fitness having started four out of the last five games in the league for the Magpies and Miguel Almiron could be back to his best after netting on the weekend, Gordon’s absence may not be too hard to deal with.

However, from PIF’s point of view, they’ll be far from impressed by what they’ve seen from their £40m investment thus far, with just one start to Gordon’s name as well as zero goal contributions, so they’ll be keen for a big end to the season from the winger.

Gordon is indeed still very young and has a lot of time to prove his worth to Newcastle, but the longer he’s sidelined, the harder it becomes for him to nail down a starting spot in Howe’s side, especially now that even regular substitute Jacob Murphy is being gifted starts in his absence, but for Howe, it will be positive to look at the depth he now possesses out wide.