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Wolves have been boosted in their efforts to sign Joao Palhinha in the summer transfer window, with Sporting CP reportedly willing to cash in on the midfielder.

The Lowdown: Wolves keen on Palhinha

Bruno Lage will be looking to make inroads in the transfer market this summer, ensuring his squad continues to go from strength to strength in the Premier League.

One player Wolves have been linked with signing numerous times is Palhinha, with the 26-year-old shining for Sporting this season, making six starts in the Champions League.

Ruben Amorim has described the midfielder as a ‘special’ player and Wanderers may have been boosted in their attempts to snap him up.

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The Latest: Wanderers boosted

According to Correio da Manha [via Sport Witness], Palhinha is at the ‘top of the list’ of players that Sporting are happy to sell this summer, in order to be boosted financially.

Not only that, but the report also states that it ‘seems impossible’ the Portuguese giants could now demand €40million (£33.5m) for his services, due to a dip in form. That means Wolves could sign him on the cheap.

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The Verdict: Ideal Neves replacement

With Ruben Neves looking increasingly likely to leave Wolves at the end of the season, Palhinha looks like a tailor-made replacement for his compatriot.

He possesses Neves’ deep-lying expertise, enjoying an 87.4% pass completion rate in the Primeira Liga this season from that position, as well as winning 1.5 aerial duels per match.

Filling the void left in midfield will be vital if the expected exit does happen and Palhinha is surely the front-runner to solve that problem, especially if Wanderers could now sign him in a cut-price deal.

In other news, a report has confirmed Wolves’ interest in one player. Find out who it is here.

India’s new opener racked up some amazing numbers against South Africa in Visakhapatnam

Bharath Seervi05-Oct-201913- Sixes hit by Rohit Sharma in this Test – the most by any batsman in a single game. He broke Wasim Akram’s record of 12 sixes, against Zimbabwe in 1996. The previous Indian record was held by Navjot Sidhu, who hit eight sixes against Sri Lanka in 1994.Rohit Sharma broke the record for most sixes in a Test•ESPNcricinfo Ltd27 – Sixes hit by India in this Test – the most by any team in history. The previous record was held by New Zealand, who hit 22 sixes against Pakistan in 2014, and the old Indian record dates back to 2009 when they hit 15 sixes against Sri Lanka in Mumbai.Watch cricket on ESPN+

India v South Africa is available in the US on Hotstar and ESPN+. Subscribe to ESPN+ and tune in to the three Tests.

525- Runs scored by India’s openers in this Test – a national record . Rohit scored 303 and Mayank Agarwal got 222. The previous highest was 414 by Sunil Gavaskar (278) and Chetan Chauhan (136). There have been only two instances of a team’s openers aggregating more: South Africa accumulated got 550 runs against England at Edgbaston in 2003 and England openers 536 versus India at Lord’s in 1990.Rohit Sharma emulated Sunil Gavaskar in his first Test as opener•ESPNcricinfo Ltd2- India openers to score centuries in both innings of a Test match. Rohit joined Sunil Gavaskar, who managed it three times in the 1970s. Overall, Rohit is the sixth India batsman to score twin centuries in a Test after Ajinkya Rahane, who too got them against South Africa in 2015.1- Rohit became the first batsman to score two hundreds in his first Test as opener. The 303 runs he made in this Test are also the most by a batsman opening for their first time. The previous highest was 215 by Tillakaratne Dilshan (92 & 123*) against New Zealand in 2009.1- Rohit also became the first India batsman to be stumped in both innings of a Test; overall though it was only the 22nd instance. Ironically, he had never been stumped in his entire first class career prior to this Test.

Australia will head back home to prepare for the forthcoming Ashes series in conditions that are more familiar than India, but the series defeat has left them with numerous issues to ponder ahead of it

Daniel Brettig02-Oct-2017Pat Cummins is flying home, Darren Lehmann is already there, and Steven Smith and David Warner will be looking eagerly at their calendars. All know that the best place for Australia to prepare for the forthcoming Ashes series is on more familiar turf than India, where an ODI series defeat has underlined numerous issues for the aforementioned figures to consider between now and the Gabba.The reliance of the team on runs from Smith and Warner is chief among them, highlighted by the former’s perceptible tail-off in productivity since his outstanding tour of India in February and March. In 10 internationals since, taking in the Champions Trophy and tours of Bangladesh and India, Smith has managed 347 runs at 34.70 without a century.In another XI with stronger batting down the order, such a return from the captain would not be disastrous – Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting all went through slumps as captain while getting help from teammates – but among the 2017 Australians, Smith simply cannot afford to be worn down this way. Finding a way to refresh, mentally as much as anything else, will be critical for Smith in the weeks between now and the Ashes. By his own admission, Smith has not been batting the way he wished to.”To be honest, I wasn’t feeling great at the start of the series, I wasn’t holding the bat the way I liked to and I was having a few issues there that I was working on,” Smith said in Nagpur after the series finished 4-1 in favour of India. “But I think I’ve slowly found a nice tempo which I’m after. I would have loved to score a lot more runs.”I’ve got myself in on a few occasions and not gone on to get the big runs that I previously have been. From that aspect, as the leader of the team, it’s been disappointing. But I guess sometimes that’s cricket. You have those periods where you’re not playing or getting the scores you really like. Something hopefully I can turn it around and hopefully contribute in the T20s.”The issue of finding an even batting contribution is interlinked with Smith’s form. The mental weight of knowing a collapse is likely to follow your wicket is a heavy thing to bear, leaving Lehmann and the rest of the national selection panel to ponder the shape of the batting order over the next few weeks. One figure to emerge with promise in India was Marcus Stoinis, who showed plenty of composure while building on the impact he made against New Zealand at Eden Park earlier in the year. Equally, his bowling looked capable of doing the sort of job once performed ably by Shane Watson.A question for many concerns the way Stoinis struggled with the bat in the 2016-17 Sheffield Shield, cobbling a mere 197 runs at 17.90 without once passing 50. At the season’s end, he relocated to Western Australia, the state of his birth, and in this may be found the seeds of his struggles last summer. Stoinis’ father was gravely ill, forcing numerous cross-country flights whenever possible between matches. Stoinis’ new coach Justin Langer has counselled that not too much should be read into the previous season.”I think the main reason Marcus didn’t have a great season last year was that his mind was probably elsewhere,” Langer said. “His dad was very unwell and never underestimate that. It’s really hard to perform when you’re not necessarily feeling settled off the field. I think his game’s in pretty good shape. He’s a great hitter and my gut feeling is that last year was a bit of a blip for him because he’d had such a tough season personally.Peter Siddle’s re-emergence has added depth to Australia’s pace division•Getty Images”With him, he just needs to tighten up his game a little bit. He’s got the hitting game, and a strong defensive game, but he’s just got to work out now how he’s going to go about playing first-class cricket consistently, then, hopefully, Test cricket. Is he going to be a real power hitter like Ben Stokes, or is he going to be a guy who really bats for a long period of time? That’s all part of his evolution as a first-class, and then, hopefully, Test batsman.”Numerous other options have filtered through the team in recent months, not least another Warrior in Hilton Cartwright, who opened the innings in India with little success while Aaron Finch recovered from a calf injury. Cartwright enjoyed an outstanding 2016-17 in the Shield, but his bowling appears to need more polish if he is to bowl the “Watson overs” in an Australian Test side.”Hilton Cartwright batted No. 3 for us last season and had a breakout season. He hits the ball as hard as anyone in world cricket, he’s a brilliant fieldsman and his medium-pacers are handy,” Langer said. “I’d say he probably has to keep working on that side of his game if he’s going to be a genuine allrounder and bowl 10-15 overs of real quality in an innings. That’s his challenge, but he’s an outstanding young bloke with a great work ethic.”More doubts surround the Victorian duo of Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade, who each spent time out of the ODI team in India. Maxwell’s mature Test hundred against the same opponents had appeared to be the turning of a corner. But he has found several blind alleys since, at a time when he needed big runs to counterbalance any lingering doubts among the selectors about whether he can play with as much authority on Australia’s bouncier tracks as he did in Ranchi.As for Wade, the decision to drop him for the part-time glovework of Pete Handscomb did not suggest he has much left in the way of credit ahead of the Ashes. He was back in the team by the end of the series and struck a handful of useful blows towards the end of the innings in Nagpur. But the dropping of a difficult chance off James Faulkner in Australia’s unsuccessful defence of 242 will not help, meaning Wade needs runs and catches upon his return home while hoping the likes of Peter Nevill and Alex Carey do not surge past him.Among the bowlers, Cummins’ impact was something to take out of the matches against India and Bangladesh, as was the welcome return of a fit and rhythmical Nathan Coulter-Nile. As Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc enter the later stages of their recoveries from side and foot problems, respectively, the re-emergence of another sometime Australian Test paceman – the highly experienced Peter Siddle – is cause for optimism, given that the pace division is growing deeper at the right time of the year.

Plays of the day from the IPL match between Rising Pune Supergiants and Mumbai Indians, in Pune

Shashank Kishore01-May-2016Smith’s stroke of luck
Steven Smith coming off a century in the previous match, against Gujarat Lions, showed urgency straightaway. An angled-bat slash off his second ball took the inside edge and flew to Parthiv Patel, who couldn’t get his gloves underneath the ball as it raced to the fine leg boundary off the deflection. The sequence of events off the next ball was similar, except this time the ball flew to Parthiv’s left into the fine-leg boundary. After two streaky fours, Smith brought out a more authentic version of the stroke he had intended earlier by going into his crease and slashing the short ball behind point to make it three fours in a row.Bumrah makes a mess
Saurabh Tiwary presented Mumbai Indians an opportunity to hit back almost immediately. In the over that followed the three Steven Smith boundaries, Tiwary was hustled for pace as he mistimed a pull to mid-on. Jasprit Bumrah, who only had to time his jump properly, stuttered for a second before jumping backwards. A second’s indecision meant his balance had gone haywire. The ball ricocheted off his palm, but he couldn’t get to the rebound either.Bumrah makes a mess again
There was another shocker from Bumrah, almost immediately after the dropped chance, just when you thought the evening couldn’t get worse for him. Steven Smith pulled Mitchell McClenaghan towards mid-on where Bumrah charged in a little too much, but couldn’t quite bend down to stop the ball. A chase resulted as he quickly had to dash back 40 yards towards the boundary to slide the ball back in. What should have been a dot ball resulted in three runs.The Harbhajan-Rayudu drama
Saurabh Tiwary fetched a pull from outside off into the gap between deep midwicket and long-on. Ambati Rayudu ran in from cow corner, while Tim Southee was sprinting around the ropes from long-on. But Rayudu’s swimming-pool dive to scoop the ball towards Southee resulted in a boundary. Harbhajan, seemingly annoyed with the effort yelled at Rayudu, who was having none of it and yelled back. Both players then brisk-walked towards each other before Harbhajan put his arms around Rayudu to comfort him. Rayudu, still seething, snubbed the gesture and walked back. They made peace later in the innings.

England’s late change of line-up, batting order and new-ball bowling undermined their recent preparations and seemed to affect the players on the pitch

George Dobell at the MCG14-Feb-20155:03

Insights: England’s death-bowling woes

In the end it was less a contest and more of an execution. On the ground where, not so long ago, England retained the Ashes, they sunk to one of the worst defeats in their World Cup history. There have been more competitive seal clubbings.To some extent, you can’t blame England. As Australia’s players took a succession of outstanding catches – catches even more impressive than their brilliant batting and hostile bowling – it became undeniable that they are simply a far better side than England. Quicker, stronger, better. The margin of victory, although diluted by an admirable but never threatening seventh-wicket partnership, did not flatter them. You might even call it a Valentine’s day massacre.But they are better than this. And the fact remains that, had Chris Woakes clung on to a relatively simple chance in the first over of the match before Aaron Finch had scored, things could have been very different.It was not the only error England made early on. Moeen Ali was also slow to move to a chance offered by David Warner, meaning England could have dismissed both Australia openers within the first five overs. Some nervous throws necessitated desperate dives to avoid over-throws. It looked as if the occasion had got to England.Chris Woakes picked up the wicket of Steven Smith bowling first change but his drop of Aaron Finch proved crucial•Getty ImagesThe example of Woakes is instructive. With hard hands and slow feet, Woakes gave every indication of nerves. He gave every indication that he was not quite as focused on the moment as he might have been, as if his thinking was just a little distracted. It is a catch he would expect to take nine times out of 10.Was it simply the occasion that had bothered him? Perhaps. But it is also quite possible that disruption within the England squad added to the sense of discomfort and unsettled Woakes and co just at the moment they should have been secure and confident in their plans and roles.England changed their plans at the last minute. Not just by dropping Ravi Bopara, but by shifting James Taylor in the batting order and demoting Woakes from his role as new-ball bowler.In a format where role definition is vital, it indicated panic within the England management to make such changes at so late a stage. And it cannot have filled the players involved with any confidence to know that the management were so lacking in faith that they felt the need to make alterations at the 11th hour.One of the few signs of progress in recent times had been England’s ability to play a settled side. It meant that individual players could specialise in their roles and grow more comfortable in performing them.Woakes, for example, had opened the bowling in every ODI England had played since the start of the Sri Lanka tour, 13 in total. In the only warm-up match he played, against West Indies, he took two wickets in the opening over of the match and 5 for 19 in all. Afterwards, he said he expected to take the new ball throughout the World Cup.There are knock-on effects of such a decision. With Stuart Broad taking the new ball instead, it meant that England’s two senior seamers had delivered 14 of their 20 overs by the time England had delivered 29 overs. In other words, they had only six overs between them to deliver in the last 21 of the innings. It may well have been a contributory factor in England conceding an eye-watering 102 runs from their final nine overs and 76 from the last six. England’s death bowling is killing them.Taylor, meanwhile, had spent the last few months familiarising himself with the No. 3 position. He had batted there in every ODI he had played except one – where he went in No. 5 – since coming back into the team in Colombo in December and right up until the warm-up match he played a few days ago. He had never batted at No. 6 in an ODI before. Asking him to go from the No. 3 position to playing the role of finisher is akin to asking your dentist to do your plumbing.Equally, Gary Ballance was hardly given the best chance to succeed. While he had impressed in the warm-up match against Pakistan, he had not played a List A game since September 2. He was not in the ODI squad that toured Sri Lanka and it was hardly surprising that he looked off the pace here.It is not that any of these decisions are necessarily wrong. Ballance may well develop into a fine No. 3, Taylor an excellent No. 6 and Woakes a fine first- or second-change bowler.The problem is the timing. England have been preparing for this World Cup for months. It has not crept up on them. To be changing plans at this late stage makes a mockery of their preparations. It sends an uncertain, equivocal message into the dressing room from the management just at the time when nothing should distract, or create doubts.The job of the coach is less about suggesting technical adjustments than it is about creating an environment in which players can perform to the best of their ability. By making such changes so late in the day, Peter Moores destabilised the dressing room and invited doubt into the minds of his players. It seems that, on the eve of his biggest match since he returned to the coaching role, he panicked.So perhaps it is not surprising that Woakes’ mind was clouded when that ball flew towards him. Perhaps it was not surprising that he was not in the perfect frame of mind. Perhaps it is not surprising that England looked nervous and skittish. On the biggest stage of all, they suffered stage fright.

Conditions around the world vary, and pitches are prepared to suit the home team on a regular basis. But there’s nothing wrong with that as the game would lose its greatest challenges if pitches are homogenised

Douglas Sloan25-Feb-2013During England’s recent series in India, nothing occupied column inches or filled air time quite like the state of the pitches. Whether it was the non-spinning practice tracks, the slow Ahmedabad surface, or the pace and bounce on show at later venues, the pitches were never far from the news. Even MS Dhoni was compelled to comment. The subtext, rarely explicitly stated but regularly implied, concerned fairness. Was it in the spirit of cricket, really, to prepare such ‘biased’ tracks?Leaving aside the fact that bias is of course subjective, it should be noted that this is not a question posed only to India. Conditions around the world vary, and pitches are prepared to suit the home team on a regular basis. Can English fans look at the green, seaming tracks of Trent Bridge or Headingley and claim the pitch conditions are inconsequential? Can Australians in Brisbane, or West Indians at Sabina Park? Such ‘home bias’ is not rare in international cricket, and it often comes in for a slating. It is derided as insular, as short-sighted, as regressive. The game is seen as fragmenting, as the skill sets required to succeed in each scenario drift further and further apart.This fragmentation is accused of obscuring the true ability of each team – if each of the top teams wins at home, who can be said to be best? There is some truth to this accusation: India’s recent loss was their first at home since 2004, South Africa have only lost twice at home since 2005, Australia have lost three times after 1993, and England went undefeated for 11 home series in the middle of the last decade. I would challenge, however, whether this is such a great price to pay. There is some value to a slightly blurry ranking system; where would pub chatter be if we knew, without a doubt, which was the best team or who the greatest player was? Cricket is a sport obsessed with statistics, and it is in these fuzzy, unknowable, and inherently subjective considerations that its heart lies.In the same vein, the diversity of the game as it is played across the world is a strength, not a weakness. It would be boring indeed if every pitch were similar and identical techniques succeeded everywhere. Not only would such a world stifle innovation (can anyone imagine the doosra or the carom ball being invented in English conditions?) but it would lose a certain vitality. There is something exotic about the regal, wristy play of maestros from the subcontinent; something visceral about the lean, southern-hemisphere quick charging in from fifty paces.Most of all, the game would lose its greatest challenges. As Dhoni commented, “You want to face challenges in Test cricket. These are the kinds of wickets that push you.” What is a tour to the subcontinent, or to Australia, if the conditions are negated? Half the challenge is gone. Home bias allows the game its greatest stories: its heroic series and its magisterial innings. Without it, cricket would be all the poorer.

A tragi-comic meeting with Richard “Danny Germs” Austin who returned to Jamaica after the 1983 rebel tour of South Africa and lost himself to drugs

Sriram Veera21-Jun-2011″If West Indies win by Wednesday, you can never die. The spirits you know …” He is clutching a crumpled paper-bag of peanuts, his eyes are bloodshot, saliva drips out from the corner of his mouth, his head is tonsured, he is dishevelled, probably homeless, and he was just chased away by the cops from the boundary line. The kids call him Danny Germs. He used to be Richard Austin. A West Indies Test cricketer. He even represented Jamaica in football and was by all accounts a good table-tennis player. He was one of the cricketers who went on the 1983 rebel tour of South Africa and found himself ostracised on return. These days he is high on cocaine, wasting himself on the streets of Jamaica, and in general drifting his life away.”Bishen Singh Bedi is going to die,” he mutters before he pats me on the back and says, “I am just f****** with you man!” Austin smiles. He leans across to speak to an old lady sitting behind us. He is polite, courteous and gentlemanly to her. He doesn’t ask her money. He does ask me. “I don’t know how he gets by,” Tony Cozier says when I ask him about Austin. “Some time back, Robin Jackman and I met him at a bar. He made intelligent observations about the game, you know.””Platinum can pass through hydrogen. No other metal can go through it. White metals yes. You see this line running through the eye of this man?” Austin is pointing out to the line in the Jamaican currency note that I had given. He had asked for 100 us dollars. I had just 100 Jamaican dollars. He looks happy. Someone tells me later, “Yes it’s sad that a West Indian cricketer is living like this but there are so many other people like that in Jamaica.” And in India and around the world for that matter. But then, this is a Test cricketer.”I am not bright. Buttons are bright. I am a learned guy. L-e-a-r-n-e-d.” Often, during our chat, he spells out the letters. “Rhythm. R-h-y-t-h-m. Composition. C-o-m-p-o-s-i-t-i-o-n.” He talks about music, about table-tennis, about spirits, and about the crime in the city. Out in the middle, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh steal a quick single. Austin gets excited and thinks there will be a run out. He exclaims, stands up, waves his hand excitedly, almost willing the fielder to fire a direct hit and sits back with a sigh.”My kid was murdered because he was a black man, you know,” he says suddenly. “The cops shot him in New York, in the head.” The lady behind us shakes her head and whispers to me that it’s not true. She gets up and goes away. I ask him about the catch he took at Kensington Oval in the Test against Australia. I tell him that Tony Cozier was raving about it. “Tony eh? Good man. It was off Graham Yallop, you know. It was at backward square-leg. It was the worst ball that Colin Croft ever bowled to take a Test wicket and I took the catch. They say it was one of the best catches seen here.””Have you had mango chutney? I like it.” He asks me which city I am from. “Hmmm. I have been all over India,” he says. “I like Mumbai. It’s fun party place. Some of the other places can be a bit dull, you know.” His face droops; he shakes his head and laughs. I am not even sure whether he has ever been to India. “My friend lives in Mumbai. I know another who lives in Lahore.””I do nothing.” Austin stares out in the middle at the cricket as he says that. “I do nothing.” He just lives. Austin isn’t alone. Herbert Chang, who played for West Indies once and was also on that rebel tour, is also living it rough. “Good man, Chang,” Austin says before suddenly jumping up. He holds stance like a left-hander and leans forward to play a flick. “Chang was a stylish player you know. Good man.” Austin himself was an offspinner who could even open the batting. “He could even keep wickets,” Cozier says. “He was a fine all-round cricketer.””Do you want peanuts?,” Austin asks a 15-year old sitting beside us. And he stretches his left hand out, holding the peanut bag, towards the boy. Austin and the kid talk about platinum, hydrogen and white metals. We are sitting in the George Headley stand. Suddenly, he decides to leave. He gets up, makes me sit in front of him, casts a spell – his finger touches his chin, lips and forehead, and he makes a circling motion around me. “You will be protected.” And he slips away. I see him later at the end of the day’s play, on the road, hitch-hiking his way out of the ground. Just before he leaves, he spots me, envelops me with a hug and asks me to be careful while walking in the streets here. “They just knife you. But you don’t worry. You won’t die. You are protected.”Lawrence Rowe is in town you know. I am going to meet him and have a party later on”. A short while earlier, inside the ground, Austin must have seen Rowe walking out, clad in a suit, and having a Player’s pavilion named after him. Rowe was officially restored to Jamaican cricket. Rowe was Austin’s captain on that fateful tour which affected both men’s lives. Rowe went to USA to escape from the public anger in Jamaica and rebuilt his life. Austin came back to Jamaica and destroyed his life. Life has been one long dark night of the soul for him. This might be the land of Bob Marley but not everyone gets to hear the redemption song.

When India were batting the pitch looked quite placid, but Munaf Patel showed just how to bowl on it

On the Ball with S Rajesh11-Jun-2006When India were batting the pitch looked quite placid, but Munaf Patel showed just how to bowl on it. The key was the length he bowled: more than 85% of his deliveries pitched perfectly on good length. That, coupled with the lively pace he bowled at and the movement he extracted off the pitch, meant that the batsmen’s techniques were always tested. At the other end, though, he was let down by Irfan Pathan, who again struggled with his length: only 64% of his balls pitched on good length. Worse, he dragged it short fairly regularly, and at his medium pace, that combination meant easy pickings for the batsmen.The three strikes by India in the last session has put them firmly in charge, and while only one team can win the match from here, India might still regret the rate at which they scored runs in the afternoon session. After racking up 124 in 29 overs in the morning session (4.28 runs per over), India crawled at three per over after lunch (103 in 34.3). During this period they played out 143 dot balls, and even went off the field briefly when offered the light. Mohammad Kaif scored 59 from 91 during that period, but the rest of the batsmen showed no urgency: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Pathan totalled a grand 28 from 86 balls, a scoring rate of 1.95 per over. It remains to be seen if that go-slow approach comes back to haunt the Indians later in the match.

Shayan Jahangir’s maiden ODI century went in vain as Bhim Sharki scored a steady half-century in the chase

Peter Della Penna20-Jun-2023

Nepal medium pacer Karan KC left a devastated USA top order in his wake with 4 for 11 in a seven-over new-ball burst to set up a six-wicket win at Takashinga Sports Club. For the second match in a row, a maiden ODI century was made in vain for USA as Shayan Jahangir was left unbeaten on an even 100 off 79 balls with his side bowled out for 207 in 49 overs. Coming off a golden duck against Zimbabwe, Bhim Sharki’s unbeaten 77 ensured the total was hauled down with ease as they cantered across the line with seven overs to spare.Nepal captain Rohit Paudel won the toss and didn’t hesitate to send USA in to bat under moist early morning conditions. Karan struck with his fifth ball, trapping Steven Taylor with an inswinging yorker to win an lbw appeal. With USA captain Monank Patel out of the line-up sitting back in his hotel room battling illness, Sai Mukkamalla was bumped up to No. 3 but lasted just a single ball as a nervy prod at an outswinger on the fourth stump line produced an edge that carried low to Aarif Sheikh at first slip to make it 6 for 2.Stand-in captain Aaron Jones survived a missed run-out as well as a drop in his painstaking two off 22 balls before a delivery from Karan climbed off the shoulder of his defensive prod and carried to Kushal Bhurtel at gully in the eighth over. Nosthush Kenjige, who batted at No. 9 against West Indies, was sent up to No. 5 as USA’s batting reshuffle continued without desirable results when he poked well away from his body to send another edge low to Aarif at slip for one to make it 18 for 4 in the 10th. It was a new-ball performance that locked up Player-of-the-Match honors.Coming off a century against West Indies, Gajanand Singh got another start but was unable to convert it on this occasion, edging Dipendra Singh Airee’s offspin to Aarif at slip for 26. Sushant Modani watched all the carnage unfold at the opposite end and did his best to stave off Nepal’s bowling unit. The opener made 42 off 71 balls before he finally gave in, playing an ill-advised sweep shot to left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi and saw his middle stump knocked back.Shayan Jahangir’s maiden ODI hundred went in vain•ICC/Getty Images

Jahangir arrived at No. 7 and did his best to shoulder the load with the tail. Entering the day with a best of 39 in his ODI career, he reached a maiden half-century off 56 balls before taking just another 23 balls to reach three figures as he carted a series of lofted cover drives to and over the off-side boundary. However, the single he took to bring up the three-figure landmark left the tail exposed. Gulshan Jha bowled Saurabh Netravalkar on the very next ball before last man Kyle Phillip was pinned lbw two balls later to end the innings with six balls unused.Nepal were rarely troubled in the chase. Aasif Sheikh fell for 12 to a questionable lbw decision given in favor of Netravalkar that struck the batter high above his pads to end the fifth over at 25 for 1. Bhurtel and Sharki teamed up for a brisk 49-run stand that ended when the former was teased into a slog sweep that produced a top edge back to left-arm spinner Kenjige for 39.Captain Paudel stayed mostly in his shell in making 16 before trying to clear mid-off in the ring against left-arm spinner Nisarg Patel but miscued the shot to Jessy Singh diving forward on the circle. Kushal Malla exited after a hasty run-a-ball 13, slogging Taylor’s offspin flat to long-off to make it 137 for 4 in the 33rd over.But Sharki kept his cool and teamed with Airee for an unbeaten 74-run stand that spanned just 10.4 overs. Sharki took 97 balls to get to his half-century, but spurred on by the arrival of Airee, unfurled a series of sweep shots to accelerate alongside Airee, who pumped a series of straight drives to the boundary in his 39 not out off 32 balls. A straight drive by Airee to the mid-on rope for his fifth boundary clinched Nepal’s first win of the tournament while USA stand winless after two matches.

Jobe Bellingham was left soaked in blood after suffering a nasty collision with Andrej Ilic during his competitive home debut for Borussia Dortmund.

• Midfielder started Bundesliga fixture
• Took blow to the head inside 20 minutes
• Cleared to continue after receiving treatment

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The England U21 international was included from the off as BVB lined up against Union Berlin in Bundesliga competition. Bellingham got another chance to show passionate home supporters in Dortmund what he is all about.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The 19-year-old midfielder proved that he is prepared to put his body on the line for the good of the collective cause. He has never been one to back down from a challenge – much like Real Madrid superstar brother Jude.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  That meant spilling blood in pursuit of victory during a clash with Union Berlin. There were less than 20 minutes on the clock when Jobe was involved in an unfortunate head-to-head collision with Serbian striker Ilic.

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  Both players hit the turf, with blood streaming down their faces. After receiving treatment during a three-minute break in play, it was determined that they were okay to continue. Jobe was left sporting a plaster above his right eyebrow.

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