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Everton secured a solid point against Brighton & Hove Albion at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon

The Toffees took a surprise early lead through Vitaliy Mykolenko and just as it looked like the hosts had held on for an invaluable three points, an Ashley Young own goal saved the Seagulls blushes six minutes from time.

That equaliser rewarded their dominance throughout the contest having recorded a whopping 80% possession and 866 passes to Everton's 208, although Sean Dyche's side did restrict them to only seven shots on goal, providing evidence of the strong defence formed under his stewardship.

James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite were at the heart of their defensive solidity, winning a combined six aerials, successfully completing seven long balls and making three tackles, as per Sofascore.

Vitaliy Mykolenko

7.5

James Tarkowski

7.3

Jordan Pickford

7.2

James Garner

7.0

Dominic Calvert-Lewin

6.8

Not every player covered themselves in glory against Brighton, however, with Jack Harrison registering fewer touches than goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and unfortunately, let the contest pass him by.

The on-loan Leeds United winger must therefore be dropped ahead of Everton's trip to Crystal Palace next Saturday.

Harrison's performance vs Brighton

Harrison endured his most difficult afternoon at Goodison Park since arriving from Leeds in the summer.

Whilst he was left embarrassed having made fewer touches than Pickford (28 / 43), he was wasteful on the rare occasions he touched the ball, especially in the creative department, registering a simply dreadful pass completion rate of 21%.

The 26-year-old failed to record a single effort on goal but perhaps more alarmingly, the fleet-footed winger completed zero dribbles and offered his team very little on the counter-attack, as Everton were forced into soaking up pressure.

Touches

28

Pass Accuracy

3/14 (21%)

Key Passes

0

Cross Accuracy

0/1

Shots

0

Dribble Success

0/1

Duels Won

50%

Possession Lost

17x

Stats via Sofascore.

Harrison's inaccuracies in possession were also exemplified by his horrible end product in the final third, skewing all three of his attempted long balls and providing Dominic Calvert-Lewin with no ammunition into the box as he failed to plant a single cross into the corridor of uncertainty.

The £90k per-week wide man, who lost possession a whopping 17 times, somehow managed to last the full ninety minutes on the pitch, perhaps emphasising the need for Dyche to strengthen in January.

Unfortunately for Harrison, this isn't the only occasion that he's failed to provide a spark down the flank this term.

Harrison's numbers this season

In five Premier League appearances for Everton, Harrison has scored once and supplied two assists.

Whilst those are decent statistics on paper, two of those three contributions did come in a 3-0 victory over Bournemouth, who are struggling at the bottom of the table.

During his time at Leeds in the top flight, he was described by left-back Junior Firpo as "one of the best wingers" as he used to strike fear into defenders with his searing pace and quick changes of direction.

With Harrison perhaps being held by the shackles of Dyche's system, he's been unable to emulate a similar threat at Goodison Park, recording just 0.6 dribbles per game, 0.8 key passes and a 68% pass completion.

The 5 foot 9 ace has also seen his attacking metrics drop significantly in the past year, ranking in the bottom 38% against his positional peers across Europe's top five leagues for progressive passes, bottom 33% for successful take-ons and bottom 32% for non-penalty xG, as per FBref.

That said, the Englishman must start to see an improvement in those metrics, in particular, if he is to avoid being dropped by Dyche in the future.

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Blazing knocks by Chris Gayle and Rassie van der Dussen, complemented by a devastating cameo by Mahmudullah, helped St Kitts & Nevis Patriots clinch the fourth and final playoff spot in CPL 2018 with a dramatic seven-wicket win over Jamaica Tallawahs via the DLS Method at Warner Park. Patriots were cruising at 65 for 1 in 6.3 overs, chasing 207, when rain sent the players off for a 40-minute delay.The match had already been delayed an hour at the start due to early evening rain. With more interruptions anticipated, Patriots captain Gayle’s decision to bowl first was vindicated, when the target was revised to a very manageable 53 off the final 4.3 overs following the restart. Despite a brief stumble, characterised by two wickets in the first four balls after play restarted, Mahmudullah erased any doubt with 28 not out off 11 balls to finish off the match with five balls to spare.Ka-PowHaving not faced a single ball because he was held back – a strategic blunder that cost Patriots a win over Barbados Tridents in Florida – Rovman Powell has made up for lost time in his last three innings with a total of 183 runs. Sunday night featured his career-best knock in T20 cricket, as he smoked the Patriots attack at better than two-runs-a-ball.Powell entered in the seventh over following the loss of Johnson Charles and Kennar Lewis and wasted little time in tearing into the Patriots bowling unit. He ended the eighth over by smashing Fabian Allen’s left-arm spin for six, four and six, and barely slowed down after that.Powell brought up his half-century off 26 balls and got a second life a short while later, when Sheldon Cottrell dropped a straightforward chance at deep midwicket – one of several sloppy efforts in the field for the Patriots. The Jamaican seemed to be in with a good chance of bringing up a maiden T20 century before missing out on a knee high full-toss to Ben Cutting with nine balls to go in the innings. But by that stage, the Tallawahs had a very competitive total.Not standing patGayle got the chase off to a scintillating start by scorching 18 off the opening over from Krishmar Santokie. Tallawahs hit back in the first ball of the second, when Oshane Thomas cleaned up Evin Lewis with an inswinging yorker. But that was a minor speed bump for the Patriots as van der Dussen came in and stroked four boundaries to help take the hosts to 62 for 1 in the Powerplay.A potentially costly miss for the Tallawahs occurred on the last ball before play was stopped, when van der Dussen’s flat drive off Santokie toward Russell at long-off was spilled despite a phenomenal diving effort by Russell. The let-off ensured any recalculations with overs lost would remain favorable to the Patriots.Oh MahmaFollowing the 40-minute delay, Gayle drove the first ball from Santokie for six over long-on, but fell two balls later, skying a catch to the point sweeper. Legspinner Adam Zampa was brought on for the eighth over and struck immediately, going past Cutting’s swipe across the line to bowl him for a golden duck. At the time, the visitors needed 47 off 23 balls.Enter Mahmudullah. The Bangladesh allrounder had only faced nine balls in the previous four matches for the Patriots, and had batted at No. 9 in his most recent innings. After a few singles against Zampa, Mahmudullah showed that he has plenty of firepower to contribute when needed.Van der Dussen also swung momentum back the Patriots’ way, heaving a pair of sixes over the leg side off Thomas, before Mahmudullah took center stage. Two glides behind point – one streaky and one much more deliberate – went away for fours, before a clean wallop over midwicket made it 27 for the over, meaning Patriots had wiped out more than half the required runs in six balls. Another glorious inside-out six over extra cover two balls later, off Zampa, brought the required rate under a run a ball. Mahmudullah then slapped Powell over the infield for a brace, in the first ball of the final over, to seal Patriots’ spot in the playoffs.

James McClean has slammed the “embarrassing” celebrations of “wally” Jean Belehouan following Wrexham’s disappointing defeat to Tranmere.

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• Red Dragons came unstuck on home soil
• Local rivals revelled in their success
• Irishman stuck on sidelines serving a ban

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Red Dragons saw their bid for automatic promotion out of League Two suffer another untimely blow when slipping to a 1-0 derby date reversal at the hands of local rivals from the Wirral. Tranmere are still clinging to hopes of staging a late surge into the play-off places, leading to them celebrating wildly at SToK Racecourse.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Tempers threatened to boil over at the final whistle, as players from both sides tangled on the field at full-time, with Rovers defender Belehouan firing up the travelling support despite failing to make it onto the field across 90 minutes of intriguing fourth-tier action.

• WHAT MCCLEAN SAID

  McClean was another that saw no game time, as he serves a suspension for collecting 10 yellow cards, and the Irishman has called out Belehouan for celebrating as if Tranmere had won the league. He posted on Instagram: “Absolute wally, not sure what’s more embarrassing, him giving it large whilst being an unused sub during the game or the fact that he was an unused sub for them.”

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• WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

  Wrexham remain third in the League Two standings, level on points with second-placed Stockport and five adrift of leaders Mansfield, but only goal difference is keeping them above MK Dons while Barrow in sixth are only six points adrift of Phil Parkinson’s side with eight games left to take in.

Rashid Khan single-handedly ended Sunrisers Hyderabad’s four-match losing streak to beat Kolkata Knight Riders in the virtual semi-final of the IPL

The Report by Sidharth Monga25-May-2018Rashid Khan goes for the big one•BCCIThirty-four runs off 10 balls when his team was struggling to post a competitive total. Three wickets, including of the highest scorer and the biggest hitter in the opposition. One run-out of a batsman proving to be a great tactical move. Two catches. Rashid Khan single-handedly ended Sunrisers Hyderabad’s four-match losing streak to beat Kolkata Knight Riders and set up fourth bout against Chennai Super Kings this season, this time for the IPL title.Sunrisers were 134 for 6 in 17.5 overs when Rashid came out to bat. He produced an innings to rattle the young Knight Riders bowlers much like their captain Dinesh Karthik had recently done to the Bangladesh bowlers in the Nidahas Trophy final. Then Rashid came on to bowl with Knight Riders cruising at 67 for 1 in six overs, but took out Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, and crucially, Andre Russell in the last over that he bowled. There was a run-out in between to dismiss Nitish Rana, whose promotion had upset Sunrisers’ plans.Kuldeep Yadav lands lethal blowsBecause they don’t have David Warner, because their middle order has been out of form, Sunrisers Hyderabad have been conservative with the bat. Against a side whose batting looks like the future of T20, they got off to a cautious 45 for 0 Powerplay score, the lowest in Kolkata this season. In the eighth over, Kuldeep Yadav took out Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson, two men who had accounted for nearly half their runs in the season so far. Dhawan missed the length on a sweep, and Williamson added himself to the highlight reel of great batsmen who have fallen to wrong’uns this season: AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.Muddle in the middleAt 60 for 2 in 7.5 overs, Sunrisers needed someone in the reimagined middle order to play out of his skin but that didn’t happen. The Knight Riders spinners choked the life out of them, and the low run rate kept bringing wickets. When Carlos Brathwaite ran himself out in the 18th over to become the sixth wicket to fall, Sunrisers were looking at nothing short of another bowling miracle if they had to make it to Mumbai.Rashid RichardsPossibly, Knight Riders dropped the guard with Brathwaite’s wicket. There was some luck involved. And there was some sensational hitting. Young Prasidh Krishna, who had bowled a good 18th over until then, suddenly ditched the yorker and bowled a wide length ball with third man up. The edge flew over him. In the next over, with Yusuf Pathan gone too, Piyush Chawla left his station at the cover boundary and charged in, only to be lobbed by a Rashid mis-hit. Had he stayed on the boundary, he would have been offered a sitter. And then Rashid just went berserk. The best of his four sixes and two fours brought back memories of Viv Richards shuffling across and flicking the last ball of the 1979 World Cup final innings for a six. This was the fourth ball of the last over. He added one more six of the last ball of this innings.Perfect start to chaseA bit of a tactical tinkering, and Knight Riders were off to a perfect start. Sunil Narine did his thing with 26 off 13, by the virtue of being a left-hand batsman, Nitish Rana was promoted to delay the introduction of Rashid and Shakib Al Hasan, who in turn would have troubled Lynn whose strike rate against quicks is twice that against spin. As a result, Lynn had to face only two balls of spin in the first eight overs, by when he reached 36 off 21, taking Knight Riders to 81 for 1.The slipAnd then Rana slipped when turning for a second. Not only did he slip, he found himself taking on Rashid’s arm when he got up. The throw was flat, quick, and by the stumps. This brought Robin Uthappa in, and Williamson immediately went to Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a third over inside the first 10. Before this match, in this season, Bhuvneshwar had bowled 11 balls to Uthappa for four runs and one wicket. Unlike against CSK in the first qualifier, Williamson was not holding back here. Five balls and one run in this over put Uthappa under pressure, who as a result tried a reverse sweep on the first ball of the next over and was bowled by Rashid.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe endgame before the endgameThe two balls of spin that Lynn had faced in the first eight overs had been sweeps. The next three he faced from Rashid were sweeps again. On one of them, his glove saved him from the lbw. On one, he hit an uppish boundary. Rashid, though, could sense he was getting closer to the prey. In Test cricket you can torture this prey at leisure and get him. In T20 you don’t have time. One shot, and he can get away. Rashid didn’t let him. With the sixth, he adjusted the line a little, went for lbw on the off stump rather than middle, and beat the bat. Only Russell remained now.Williamson persisted with Rashid, deciding to bowl him in the 15th over, with 58 required off six overs. Russell knew what was happening. He started to block Rashid. A slip came in. Another block. Then Williamson made Russell wait. A helmet and a box came on to the field. The short leg fielder took his time to put it on. The faithful local crowd got twitchy. Rashid knew he had three balls to get Russell in. He bounded in, bowled a wrong’un, not particularly great as it was short, Russell went back to cut, got an edge, and Dhawan took an amazing catch as the ball swirled away from him at slip. It wasn’t a great ball, but Kumar Sangakkara said on air this is what happens when you are not sure which way the ball is turning and you make the decision a split second late.The endgameIn the qualifier, Williamson had made a mistake by bowling Brathwaite in the 18th over, thus not even utilising all of Bhuvneshwar’s over. This time, no such thing happened. Siddarth Kaul and Bhuvneshwar bowled excellent overs No. 17, 18 and 19 to shut the chase out. And defending 18 in the last over at the same venue where he chased 19 in the last over of the World T20 final two years ago, Brathwaite managed two wickets with two length balls to finish things off. It was fitting both those catches went to Rashid.

Back-to-back defeats against the two relegated counties have given Northants a tough start to their Division Two campaign

ECB Reporters Network22-Apr-2018

Ryan Sidebottom in action for Warwickshire•Getty Images

ScorecardRyan Sidebottom took 10 wickets in the match as Warwickshire got their bid for an immediate return to Division One of the Specsavers County Championship underway with an innings-and-48-run victory over Northamptonshire on the third afternoon at Wantage Road.Sidebottom, after a career-best 6 for 35 in the first innings, added a second-innings 4 for 61 to help bowl Northants out for 218 as Warwickshire’s dominance on the game brought a huge margin of victory. Five of their nine defeats last season came by an innings but here they were on the right side of such a result and took 22 points to Northants’ two.The Bears were always in command of the game after firing out their hosts for just 147 on day one. They were made to work harder for 10 wickets second time around but only one partnership of note provided significant resistance – Adam Rossington and Josh Cobb added 72 for the sixth wicket between lunch and tea.Sidebottom claimed the crucial wicket of Rossington with the second new ball. With the first delivery with it he struck Rossington on the left hand and then caught him on the crease to remove the Northants keeper lbw for 58.Rossington and Cobb saved Northants from an even bigger defeat. They looked liked tumbling away as they slumped from 87 for 1 to 100 for 5 in the fourth over after lunch after Rob Keogh prodded forward to Sidebottom and edged to wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose for 6 from 51 balls.But Rossington advanced at Jeetan Patel to clip him wide of midwicket for four and the first runs off Patel for 35 balls. He twice hit the offspinner wide of extra-cover and lofted him over mid-off. Another aerial stroke – a swept six over midwicket off Patel – took him to fifty in 135 balls.Achilles heel flares up – Ripley

David Ripley (Northants head coach): “At Lord’s I felt it was much tighter than the scores suggested but here we’ve been well beaten. Our first innings batting was where the damage was done, it was a good toss to win and to come out with only 147 was where the game was lost.
“It was difficult to score on that pitch but to get knocked over is another thing. The Lord’s game we were properly bowled out but back here it was the old Northants Achilles heel of giving too many wickets away that we could have done more about.

Cobb also played well but failed to provide the big innings his side needed. He steered Sidebottom through point for two boundaries but edged Patel between first and second slip and almost presented a bat-pad chance to short leg off the same bowler. He pulled Chris Wright through square leg for a third boundary but in the over before tea, pushed at Wright to get a feather edge behind to fall for 30.Sidebottom cleaned up Brett Hutton for his 10th wicket of the match and it was left to 18-year-old Henry Brookes to claim the final two wickets, taking out Ben Sanderson’s middle stump to complete victory.It looked like being harder work for Warwickshire after the first hour where Alex Wakely and Rob Newton settled the home side after the loss of Ben Duckett – caught behind driving lazily at Sidebottom. But in the second hour of the morning, Patel took two wickets in two balls.Northants captain Wakely began with a flowing cover drive off Sidebottom and skipped down the pitch to lift Patel into the Wilson stand. But after a second six over long on, Patel came round the wicket and a quicker ball caught Wakely on the crease and he fell lbw for 25. Next ball, Richard Levi played forward and got an inside edge onto his pad that looped up to Jonathan Trott diving forward at slip.The double strike saw Northants grind to a halt and they only scored 12 runs in the remaining 13 overs to lunch, with Newton scoring only one run from 31 balls before he tamely chipped Chris Wright to short square leg for 46. That wicket, a quarter of an hour before lunch, cleared Warwickshire’s path to victory.

Liverpool suffered two worrying injuries to key players in the 1-1 draw with Manchester City, and journalist James Pearce has provided an update on the influential pair.

Liverpool's injuries vs Man City

The Reds picked up an impressive result in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, battling their way to an excellent point away to the reigning champions.

Prior to the game, City had won all 23 home matches they have played in all competitions in 2023, but Jurgen Klopp's men proved to be a match for them at the Etihad, showing off their title credentials in the process.

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Erling Haaland opened the scoring before half-time, making the most of some questionable defending to fire past Alisson, and it looked as though Liverpool could be on their way to a damaging defeat in Manchester. Thankfully, Trent Alexander-Arnold equalised with an inch-perfect finish with time running out, however, earning his side a hard-fought draw at the home of last season's Champions League winners.

There were two negatives to take from the game, though, with Diogo Jota leaving the field with an injury in the second half, and Alisson then going down in the dying seconds, with both looking like they may have potentially suffered hamstring issues. It is a big concern ahead of the festive fixtures, with Klopp needing as many of his key figures available as possible.

James Pearce drops Liverpool injury update

Taking to X after the game, Pearce confirmed that Liverpool pair Alisson and Jota are both "set for scans" on the injuries they picked up at City.

This is clearly concerning news for Liverpool, and the fact that scans are needed to determine the severity of the injuries does suggest that neither simply suffered cramp in a high-intensity encounter.

The idea of the Reds losing Alisson for a sustained period doesn't even bear thinking, considering the Brazilian is seen by many as the best goalkeeper in the world, and his influence has possibly been unrivalled at Anfield this season.

Even against City, on a day when he was far from his best, he still made a crucial save to deny Haaland just seconds before Liverpool went up the other end and equalised through Alexander-Arnold, and he is a colossal presence between the sticks.

Meanwhile, Jota would be another big miss, with the Reds forward scoring eight goals overall this season, and he is someone who does seem to pick up injuries on a frustratingly regular basis.

The hope is that the scans reveal that both Alisson and Jota have only suffered minor issues, potentially not even missing a Premier League game, but that could be wishful thinking, and it is easy to envisage Klopp having to make do without both for a chunk of action.

Not having Alisson available for a lengthy spell would be particularly galling for Liverpool supporters, with Caoimhin Kelleher a solid backup option but not someone a title-chasing team wants in their starting lineup every week, but the Reds do at least have Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo to call upon in attack without Jota around.

ScorecardAllrounder Gareth Berg produced a match-winning performance as Hampshire began their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign with a thrilling two-wicket win over Sussex with four balls to spare at Hove.Sussex looked favourites when Hashim Amla was sixth out for 63 to leave Hampshire needing 118 from 15.5 overs to overhaul Sussex’s 250. But Lewis McManus and Berg thrashed 59 from 37 balls for the seventh wicket and although McManus was caught behind in the 41st over with 57 still needed Berg unleashed some powerful shots and farmed the strike effectively, although he should have been run out on 47 when he slipped backing up too far only for David Wiese to miss with his throw at the stumps.There was another twist when Berg, who had earlier taken 3 for 51, was caught at deep midwicket in the 47th over off Ollie Robinson for 65, made from 37 deliveries with eight fours and two sixes, to leave his side needing 15 off 20 balls.But Mason Crane and Reece Topley kept their nerve and when Mason drilled Robinson back down the ground for a precious boundary, it meant three were needed off the final over. Topley scrambled a leg bye off the first ball from Ishant Sharma then Crane crashed the next to the cover rope to seal victory.Amla had set things up with 63 from 83 balls and Sussex were to rue that they dropped him on 35, when Sharma spilled an easy chance at mid-off, and again on 54 when the same player dropped a more difficult opportunity off his own bowling. Amla could only hit three boundaries but he held the innings together and allowed McManus and Berg to take the initiative.Earlier, Sussex batsman Harry Finch had made his maiden one-day hundred a fortnight after scoring his first Championship century on the same ground.Wicketkeeper McManus dropped him on 12 off Topley and then on 98 Crane put down a sharp return catch. Finch celebrated by hitting his seventh boundary off the next ball to move to his hundred. He was eventually bowled by Berg for 108 off 142 balls with eight fours and two sixes, both off Berg.Topley, playing his first one-day game for more than a year after a succession of injuries, picked up Wells in his first over but Finch and Luke Wright, who was playing his 200th List A game, added 105 in 22 overs before Wright top-edged a sweep at Crane. Wiese, with 29 off 20 balls, hit out towards the end of the innings to take Sussex to a total that always looked competitive on a pitch on which it became increasingly difficult to time the ball.Robinson picked Rilee Rossouw and James Vince in an excellent new-ball spell and Sussex seemed to be in control before McManus and Berg turned the tables.

Dinesh Karthik, hero of the Nidahas Trophy final, said he has been working on using the crease – how to use it, where to stand and what is the right position – to make maximum use of the ball

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-20183:37

‘Karthik has changed perceptions about his batting’ – Nayar

It has been two days since Dinesh Karthik pulled off a heist to snatch victory in the final of the Nidahas Trophy. His unbeaten 29 off eight balls has also breathed a new lease of life into a start-stop career over nearly a decade and a half. Karthik believes the last-ball six off Soumya Sarkar to clinch the game was probably just dessert for all the hard yards and “good things” he has done over the years.”It is probably karma I guess,” he said at a press conference in Chennai. “For all the good things I have done all through my years and cricketing career… it probably helped me hit that six. If it had been a four, it would have been a Super Over and it would have been a different scenario. That two mm extra it went, was a great thing for me. Probably all the good things you do over the years come to fruition.”I am happy to play the sport. It just feels good, that suddenly after so many years there is lot of attention on me which is different to what it is when you are playing domestic cricket. It is a hard grind out there. But at the same time you want it to be start of something special. Not be something you get too carried away with. From here on I want to do things like that consistently.”When Karthik came in to bat at No. 7, India needed 34 runs off the last two overs. He stood outside the crease and began by tonking Rubel Hossain for two sixes and a four off his first three deliveries. Karthik completed the over with another four, only this time there was more deft touch than brawn: a scoop over short fine leg for four. The defining feature of his batting has been the use of crease. Karthik credited batting coach Sanjay Bangar and his friend and mentor Abhishek Nayar, the Mumbai batsman for helping him out in this regard.AFP

“That is one thing Sanjay Bangar has been talking about,” Karthik said. “Use of the crease – that was one of the things I worked with Nayar also. How to use it and where to stand so as to get a feel what the bowler will be doing and what is the right position for you to be in the crease to make maximum use of the ball. And it paid off.”Karthik’s composure was evident as much in his subdued celebration after hitting the six as his mentoring of Vijay Shankar, who was struggling to connect with the ball. Shankar had played out four dot balls off Mustafizur Rahman in the 18th over, and despite scoring a boundary in the last over got out off the penultimate delivery, leaving Karthik with five runs to score off the last ball.Karthik, however, defended Shankar, who hadn’t batted before in the tournament. “The good thing about him is he is very calm. Everyone thought he was flustered, he had a lot of thoughts,” Karthik said of Shankar. “He was looking to hit the ball. The only thing I told him was the outfield was fast..look to hit a four and not a six. The only idea behind it was sometimes you look to hit a six, you end up losing head positions. When you want to hit a four, you will have good base and look to time the ball. I wanted him to time the ball and he was just trying to do that.”Every cricketer goes through some days that things don’t connect and it was first time he batted for India. But the beautiful thing is even in that pressure situation he hit a boundary which was crucial. He has the skill. He has done really well. He is probably someone who is seen more as a batting allrounder but for him to take the pressure as a bowler and deliver consistently is fabulous and I can see a really good time for him in the future. If I’m right, I think they are impressed with him. He has got great attitude off the field, his work ethics are beautiful.”Karthik was quick to avoid comparisons with the finishing role that MS Dhoni has owned. “When it comes to Dhoni, I am studying in the university in which he is the topper,” he said. “So, it is unfair for me to be compared with him. I have started my journey. With time lets see how I go. His journey has been totally different. I am happy with where I am.””I have always enjoyed playing as a batsman. I think fielding comes naturally to me and i enjoy doing it. Whenever I get a chance to field, I get excited. With keeping you are standing at one place and moving.”

Barcelona captain Sergi Roberto has added to Xavi's injury problems ahead of Tuesday's crunch Champions League tie with Napoli.

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Roberto unlikely to start against NapoliMidfielder lacking match sharpnessClub only has three midfielders availableWHAT HAPPENED?

Roberto had been tipped to start in midfield against Napoli as Barca are without Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and Gavi due to injury. However, according to Mundo Deportivo, the plan will not be actualized when the Blaugrana take the field on Tuesday evening due to the Spaniard lacking match sharpness. The situation means Xavi only has three fit senior midfielders available in Ilkay Gundogan, Oriol Romeu and Fermin Lopez.

AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Barcelona have struggled all season long with fitness problems, particularly in midfield. The club has only seen four players avoid any injuries so far this season in the form of Ilkay Gundogan, Oriol Romeu, Fermin Lopez and Inaki Pena.

Only recently, the club suffered a double injury blow when they lost De Jong and Pedri in the first half of their clash against Athletic Club at San Mames.

Getty ImagesDID YOU KNOW?

Roberto received the green light from the medical team before the first leg against Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, however, the 32-year-old hasn't actually featured yet due to a lack of sharpness.

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WHAT NEXT FOR ROBERTO?

The lack of match sharpness may force academy graduate to stay on the bench at least for the start of the game on Tuesday, March 12. However, Xavi may look to bring on the experienced midfielder in the clash in the second half depending on the context of the game.

Leeds United were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2022/23 campaign after three years at the top table of English football.

The Whites were promoted under Marcelo Bielsa in 2020 and stayed up under the Argentine boss and then Jesse Marsch. However, a combination of Marsch, Javi Gracia, and Sam Allardyce failed to keep them up last term.

An instant return to the top-flight is now on the agenda for the Yorkshire-based outfit and German boss Daniel Farke has been brought in to secure it.

The impressive tactician won two Championship titles during his time with Norwich City earlier in his career and is now looking for a third promotion to the Premier League.

Points

94

97

Goals for

93

75

Goals against

57

36

Games won

27

29

Farke's Championship title-winning seasons with Norwich (via Sky Sports):

However, his squad was dealt a number of blows as the likes of Tyler Adams, Rodrigo, Max Wober, Robin Koch, Jack Harrison, Luis Sinisterra, and Marc Roca moved on either permanently or out on loan.

One decision that the German head coach made that may come back to haunt him, though, is the one to loan out talented young midfielder Sam Greenwood, who has outscored Wilfried Gnonto, Dan James, and Jaidon Anthony this season.

Why Leeds could lose Greenwood permanently

The Whites could lose the ex-Arsenal prospect on a permanent deal at the end of the 2023/24 campaign as they included a purchase option within his loan deal with Middlesbrough.

It was recently reported by The Athletic that Boro negotiated an option to sign Greenwood for £1.5m during next summer's transfer window if they decide the fit is right by that point.

This means that, essentially, Farke and Leeds have little say in what happens with the midfield technician next year as his current club have the chance to snap him up permanently if they want to.

If Middlesbrough do decide that they want to activate that £1.5m buyout clause and the Whites do not want to lose him then they would need to convince the player to turn down the opportunity to return to Teesside.

This could be a difficult task when you consider that Leeds were willing to sanction a possible permanent exit for him last summer and decided that he was not ready for their first-team.

Greenwood has been shown faith by Boro and may, therefore, prefer a switch to Michael Carrick's side over coming back to Elland Road if it comes down to it next summer.

Sam Greenwood's statistics this season

The 21-year-old whiz, who former Leeds ace Noel Whelan hailed for his "immense" ability, endured a slow start to life at Middlesbrough as his first four appearances for the club came as a substitute in the Championship.

However, he has since broken into the starting XI and has started each of their last four league matches, which has allowed him to showcase his quality out wide.

Greenwood has been deployed on the left of an attacking midfield trio behind the main centre-forward and has caught the eye with his recent attacking contributions.

The right-footed wizard has scored two goals in four starts, both of which came within the last three games, and the latest of those came in their 2-1 win over Norwich City on Tuesday night.

He produced a fantastic display against the Canaries earlier this week with a Sofascore rating of 7.7, which was the highest score of any player for either side.

The English dynamo scored the opening goal for Boro as he arrived in the right place at the right time to finish from close range after Norwich gave possession away on the opposite side of the pitch.

Greenwood also won seven of his 12 duels and completed all three of his attempted dribbles. These statistics show that the talented gem offered strength out of possession and helped to carry his team up the pitch with his dribbling quality.

To the latter point, the former Sunderland academy ace has completed 15 progressive carries in his last four matches for Boro and this shows that, alongside a goal threat, the Leeds loanee can provide value in transition.

Farke may now be looking at the gem's recent performances and wondering whether or not it was a mistake to part ways with the 21-year-old ace, particularly when he looks at how his current wing options have performed in front of goal.

Wilfried Gnonto's statistics this season

Gnonto has scored one goal in six Championship starts, with one further appearance off the bench, throughout the 2023/24 campaign so far.

The Italy international was brought back into the starting XI against Stoke on Wednesday night and failed to make the most of his opportunity to shine. He failed to provide a single shot on target, completed dribble, or chance created for his teammates in 70 minutes on the pitch.

Chances have not been particularly hard to come by for the 19-year-old whiz as he has already missed two 'big chances' and taken 1.6 shots per game, which suggests that his current return of one goal has been an underperformance.

Whereas, Greenwood has taken 1.3 shots per match and has not missed a single 'big chance' in front of goal to go along with his two league strikes.

Gnonto is not the only Leeds forward who has been outperformed in front of goal by the Boro star, though, as Anthony and James have also only scored one goal each in the league so far this season. The latter has, at least, provided four assists but the Bournemouth loanee is yet to register a single assist.

Meanwhile, Ian Poveda, Patrick Bamford, and Joe Gelhardt were all kept around to be part of the squad and have combined for zero goals and zero assists in 15 league appearances between them.

These statistics suggest that Leeds could have benefitted from keeping the 5 foot 11 dynamo as part of their squad to bolster their attacking options out wide.

The Whites have not had a steady stream of goals from those positions, outside of Crysencio Summerville's four strikes, and this was illustrated on Wednesday as Anthony and Gnonto started out wide and failed to make an impact in the final third as Farke's men lost 1-0 to Leeds.