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Here's where you can watch Cincinnati take on Inter Miami in MLS on TV or stream live.

When FC Cincinnati hosts Inter Miami at the TQL on Saturday, they'll be looking to keep up their MLS season's perfect record. For their part, the visitors will be aiming to win their first away game of the year and end a three-game losing streak.

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With three victories and two draws from their first five games of the year, Pat Noonan's Cincinnati has had a fantastic start to the MLS season and is currently second in the Eastern Conference.

The Ohio team defeated Nashville SC last time out, and Brandon Vazquez scored the game's only goal to extend Cincinnati's unblemished away streak to nine games, dating back to last season.

The team has now matched Portland Timbers' 2012 streak, and if they can contain the hot-shot St. Louis City team when they come to CityPark in three weeks, they may be able to go even longer. Cincinnati is now the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference, thanks to the victory.

Inter Miami has had a great start to the season and will be aiming to avoid suffering a fourth straight loss. Miami fell 3-1 in this matchup last year, so Neville will be looking for a better performance from his team this year. The Herons are currently in 10th position in the Eastern Conference heading into this game.

GOAL brings you everything you need to know about where to watch the game on TV and stream live online.

Cincinnati vs Inter Miami date & kick-off timeGame:Cincinnati vs Inter MiamiDate:April 1, 2023Kick-off time:7:30 pm ET Venue:TQL StadiumAdvertisementWhere to watch Cincinnati vs Inter Miami on TV & live stream online

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Check out GOAL's soccer on U.S. TV guideTeam news & squadsCincinnati team news and squad

Cincinnati will have Alec Kann unavailable but will have the rest of the squad up for selection.

Cincinnati possible XI: Celentano; Hagglund, Miazga, Mosquera; Gaddis, Moreno, Nwobodo, Barreal; Acosta; Vazquez, Brenner

Position Players

GoalkeepersVermeer, CelentanoDefendersHagglund, Miazga, Mosquera, Arias, Powell, Murphy, GaddisMidfieldersMoreno, Nwobodo, Barreal, Acosta, Kubo, AnguloForwardsVazquez, Santos, Brenner, Ordonez, BadjiInter Miami team news and squad

Inter Milan will be without Robbie Robinson and Leonardo Campana due to calf strains, Edison Azcona with a sore hamstring, and Ian Fray and Noah Allen because of knee injuries.

Inter Miami possible XI: Callender; Yedlin, Kryvtsov, McVey, Negri; Gregore, Mota; Pizarro, Ulloa, Jean; Martinez

Position Players

GoalkeepersCallender, MarsmanDefendersNegri, McVey, Yedlin, Kryvtsov, SailorMidfieldersMota, Gregore, Pizarro, Ulloa, Jean, Duke, Cremaschi, Neville, DukeForwardsMartinez, LassiterENJOYED THIS STORY?

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GOAL analyses major happenings in the concluded campaign held in Cameroon

BackpageSikazwe show

In the Group F match featuring Mali and Tunisia staged in Limbe on January 12, both teams were desperate for victory. Mali went on to score their goal through Ibrahima Kone – from the penalty spot – while the Carthage Eagles wasted their chance courtesy of Wahbi Khazri.

However, the spotlight was on Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe; he reportedly failed to stop his watch and went on to blow the final whistle in the 85th minute. He was corrected but again ended the game with a few seconds remaining in regulation time. Tunisia, later on, refused to return to the pitch to play the final few minutes. It was later revealed Sikazwe had health issues that affected him.

AdvertisementgettyAlgeria's elimination

Coming into the competition, favourites Algeria had gone 34 matches without tasting defeat. However, things did not go for them as planned.

Sierra Leone held them to a goalless draw before Equatorial Guinea claimed a shocking 1-0 win. They fell 3-1 to Ivory Coast and were eliminated from the competition. It was unexpected but it happened, giving them a chance to go back to the drawing board.

BackpageGhana's humiliating exit

Just like the former champions, Ghana were considered among the favourites and nobody would have predicted they would fall in the first hurdle. Things did not work out for the West African nation from the first game where they lost to Morocco by a solitary goal.

There were ugly scenes in the 1-1 draw with Gabon that saw Benjamin Tetteh get suspended for three games, before a 3-2 loss to debutants Comoros sent them packing. Questions will be asked about the impact of Andre and Jordan Ayew. Will they redeem their reputation in the World Cup qualifiers?

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BackpagePix.Mukansanga makes history

Rwanda referee Salima Rhadia Mukansanga made history as the first-ever woman referee to officiate in the Africa Cup of Nations when she blew the whistle for Zimbabwe's surprise 2-1 victory over Guinea on January 18.

The 35-year-old, who had already served as the fourth official during the Malawi versus Guinea fixture, took charge of the Group B clash at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium.

Goal takes a look at 10 Arsenal stars who never hit the same heights after leaving the Gunners.

When Kieran Gibbs left Arsenal for West Brom after spending over 11 seasons at the club, he remarked that he would learn how to improve defensively at his new team. Arsene Wenger was asked about those comments shortly after and made an apt statement which has rung true of several players after they departed north London for pastures new.

“Once someone takes the decision to leave I wish them well and focus on my squad, but just look at the performances of the players who left us and then come back to me about it,” he said in 2017.

Goal takes a look at 10 Arsenal stars who never hit the same heights after leaving the Gunners.

Getty ImagesEmmanuel Petit

Petit joined Arsenal from Monaco in 1997 after working with Wenger when the Frenchman was manager of the Ligue 1 side. The magnificent partnership between Petit and Patrick Vieira saw him make 85 appearances in three years before deciding to join Barcelona in the summer of 2000.

However, an injury-plagued spell coupled with poor performances saw him eventually return to the Premier League with Chelsea. Three seasons later, Petit retired from professional football.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesAlex Song

Arsenal's search for a defensive midfielder was eventually narrowed down to Cameroonian star Song. He initially struggled at the heart of the Gunners midfield before being sent on loan to Charlton where he honed his defensive qualities.

In the 2011/12 season he formed an exquisite partnership with Robin van Persie when he recorded 13 assists. 

At the end of the season he joined Barcelona but struggled to get past Sergio Busquets in the team. 

Following two disappointing campaigns with Barcelona he had mixed spells at West Ham and Russian side Rubin Kazan. He now plays for FC Sion in the Swiss Super League.

Getty ImagesPatrick Vieira

Vieira won three Premier League trophies and four FA Cup titles during his nine-year stay at Arsenal, captaining the club through the 49-game unbeaten season and making over 400 appearances for the Gunners.

He left for Juventus in July 2005 after Wenger accepted that he would need to let the Frenchman go in order for Cesc Fabregas to become the new mainstay of Arsenal's midfield.

Interestingly, Vieira returned to Highbury a year later when Juventus faced Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and was culpable for one of Arsenal's goals after Robert Pires tackled him and helped set up Fabregas to score.

Spells at Inter and Manchester City followed but Vieira's quality began to diminish towards the latter stages of his career.

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Getty ImagesAlexander Hleb

An exciting pass master with the ability to create something out of nothing, Hleb was part of an impressive Arsenal team which almost won the Premier League in the 2007/08 season.

When Barcelona came calling the Belarusian couldn't say no – but it was a decision that he came to regret as he failed to impress at Camp Nou.

“At some point, I realised, ‘Oh God! I’m leaving Arsenal!’ When Arsene said that it was a matter of hours, I felt devastated. It was really hard for me to accept. He even texted me as I was fishing. ‘Alex, I won’t let you go, we need you here’. I cried when I read it.”

Hleb has since admitted that he regrets ever leaving Arsenal. Three loan spells with Stuttgart, Birmingham and Wolfsburg later, he is now back in his homeland playing for BATE Borisov.

At the end of an absorbing opening day at Chelmsford, a late burst with the ball by Jesse Ryder ensured that Essex claimed the honours

ECB/PA12-Jul-2015
ScorecardJesse Ryder added another three wickets to his collection for Essex•Getty ImagesAt the end of an absorbing opening day at Chelmsford, a late burst with the ball by Jesse Ryder ensured that Essex claimed the honours. The home side had been dismissed for 279 having won the toss but an incisive spell from the New Zealander left Glamorgan on 40 for 3.Several batsmen were dismissed after they had settled in and seemed set for more rewarding times. Six got beyond 20 but only Jaik Mickleburgh managed to post a half-century.Ravi Bopara was one of those to promise a decent score only to fall short. He is still struggling to make an impact at Championship level for Essex this season. He contributed only 30 of a total of 279 and has now topped 50 just once in 11 Championship innings this season.Although Bopara scored a century when the Australians visited Chelmsford just over a week ago, he has not reached three figures in the Championship since his 147 against Gloucestershire 12 months and 12 matches ago. On this occasion, his hopes of a substantial score were ended by paceman Graham Wagg when he was yorked.Mickleburgh scored exactly 50, containing nine boundaries from 86 deliveries, before he was caught behind by Mark Wallace, Wagg again being the successful bowler. The ball swung sufficiently to pose problems for most of the day and Australian fast bowler Michael Hogan took advantage to help himself to four wickets. They came at a cost of only 36 in 19.3 overs, a performance that emphasised his control and took his total of victims for the season to 36 in the competition.Amongst his latest victims was Ryan ten Doeschate, who was just two runs short of his half-century when he was trapped leg before wicket by a ball that swung into him.It was tailenders Graham Napier and David Masters who provided the most entertaining batting of the day. Napier, with his typically forthright approach, smashed two sixes among his seven boundaries before holing out on the long-off boundary. His 43 came from just 27 deliveries whilst Masters struck four fours and a six while making 28 from 20 balls before Hogan held onto a fine one-handed return catch to claim his final wicket.Glamorgan, one of only two counties who are unbeaten in the Championship this summer – the other is Yorkshire – lost three wickets in the final hour of play as Jesse Ryder put them firmly on the back foot by capturing all three.He started by having Will Bragg caught behind in his first over and followed that up by removing 18 year-old Aneurin Donald for 14 and nightwatchman Andrew Salter, both lbw.

India captain MS Dhoni says his side’s ability to stay calm under intense pressure was a key factor in escaping with a one-run win over Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Mar-20162:33

‘Pandya executed the plan well’ – Dhoni

India captain MS Dhoni says his side’s ability to stay calm under intense pressure was a key factor in escaping with a one-run win over Bangladesh in Bangalore. With India in danger of falling short of the semi-final stage, Dhoni’s charges held their nerve and when asked afterward about the end of game situation he said it was important to keep cool in such hectic situations.”In a situation like this, it’s literally chaos. What you are trying to do is you’re trying to manage chaos,” Dhoni said after the match. “Everybody will come and he’ll have his own opinion. Often the opinion of a batsman is very different to the opinion of a bowler. But what you have to do is you have to see what the strength of the batsman is who is batting at that point of time, how the wicket is behaving, whether there is some kind of reverse swing or no reverse swing on offer. All these things you need to calculate and I feel what really helps is you listen to all of them.”But at the end of the day you push the bowler to bowl what you feel is good at that point of time. If I am convinced that this is something I want to do, I will go ahead with it but definitely having an open mind at that point of time really helps because at times in situations like these under pressure, that’s where the input of others comes in. But you have to assess everything and it has to happen in a very short span of time.”Dhoni hailed the younger players in the India side for stepping up and performing in key roles. In particular, he gave credit to Jasprit Bumrah for overcoming a rough start to the second innings – a misfield turned boundary and a dropped chance off Tamim Iqbal were followed by four boundaries off Bumrah to Tamim in the sixth over – to bowl a crucial 17th and 19th overs, conceding 13 runs across the 12 deliveries.”After the first misfield, if you see actually his international career, this was the first game where he was under pressure,” Dhoni said. “It’s not only the pressure of bowling. I consider him slightly weak when it comes to the fielding department and today’s game was very important. We all knew how important it was. To start, the very first ball if you miss, as a youngster you are under pressure and I feel that actually reflected in his bowling also, then he dropped a catch.”It’s important at that point of time to tell him that it doesn’t really matter because what has happened has happened. You can’t do anything about it. Even if you sit there for half an hour, the batsman won’t get out. What was important was to get away from it and at the same time try to execute your plans, what your strength is. But I felt when he came for the second over where he went for runs, I don’t think he was completely out of it. So after that we had one more conversation. I won’t say what I said but definitely it worked.”Like Bumrah, Hardik Pandya’s international career is in its infancy with both players having made their international debuts in January. However, Dhoni was pleased with the way Pandya responded after conceding boundaries from two of the first three deliveries in the final over, which left India with no margin for error needing to defend two runs off the final three balls with four Bangladesh wickets in hand.

“Somebody like Hardik or Bumrah, this was a first proper interaction with pressure and what pressure can really do. So I feel they must have learned a lot out of this game and these are the games that really make you better players because it pushes you to think in a different way.”MS Dhoni

Dhoni further elaborated on the sequence afterwards saying that he came to choose Pandya to bowl the final over by going to his specialist bowlers first, including Bumrah and Ashish Nehra, in the three overs prior as a means of stretching out the game as long as possible before seeing what the final-over equation would be.”The batsmen were scoring quite freely at that point of time,” Dhoni said. “I knew I had to take that one over from somebody whether it was a spinner or Hardik Pandya. I said what is important right now is to make a game out of it and that’s where I said I’ll use the proper bowlers at this point of time and we’ll see how many runs are needed in the last over. Then according to that we’ll decide who is the person who can bowl.”There were quite a few options. There was Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya was there. That was the reason behind it. Often it’s quite an easy one. You want to give a cushion of an extra few runs and you go back to your main bowlers, you back their strength and say whatever runs you save it all keeps mounting on the last over and if he’s able to execute his plans then we’ll be on the winning side.”More than anything, Dhoni was proud of the way the team was able to still win on a day where multiple players had rocky outings. The resiliency on display for younger players like Bumrah to compose themselves and manage to do enough to win is something that Dhoni says is a valuable learning experience they can take with them through the rest of the tournament and beyond in their careers.”It was still a very good effort by the team. I felt majority members of the team had a tough day. Ash had a very good day when it comes to bowling but still there were patches where he went for runs where he thought maybe the batsman played a very good shot. All the bowlers went for runs but they came back and everybody contributed. So I feel it’s a very good game for us, especially for youngsters who have not played under a lot of pressure.”Somebody like Hardik or Bumrah, this was a first proper interaction with pressure and what pressure can really do. So I feel they must have learned a lot out of this game and these are the games that really make you better players because it pushes you to think in a different way, pushes you to have that confidence in your strength at the time when it’s really needed. So I think it was a very good game for us.”The media conference began with Dhoni castigating a journalist for asking the following question in Hindi: “From talking about winning by a large margin to increase the net run rate, and to win by around 50 runs from being close to losing this game and winning narrowly. How satisfied are you with this win?”As the reporter began his second query, Dhoni said, “One question at a time… Because I know you are not happy that India has won.” As the reporter sought to clarify, Dhoni went said, “No listen. From your voice, your tone and you question, I feel you are not happy that India has won. Okay? And when it comes to a cricket match, it doesn’t have a script.”It is not about the script. You need to analyse that after losing the toss the kind of wicket we had to bat on, what was the reason we couldnt make a lot more runs. If while sitting on the outside, you are not analysing all these thing, then you shouldn’t ask these questions.”

Fawad Ahmed faces a battle to be included in Australia’s Test team after coach and selector Darren Lehmann declared there were enough part-time options in the side to leave out a second spin bowler

Daniel Brettig in Roseau03-Jun-2015Fawad Ahmed faces a battle to be included in Australia’s Test team for the remaining six matches of their dual tour to the West Indies and England after the coach and selector Darren Lehmann declared there were enough part-time options in the side to leave out a second spin bowler.Given its history of extravagant spin, Dominica had been considered Fawad’s best opportunity for a call-up, but Lehmann stated that the use of Michael Clarke, Steven Smith and the left-arm spin of the debutant Adam Voges constituted more than enough slow bowling to support Nathan Lyon. If that was the case in Dominica, then Fawad may spend most of the next four months carrying the drinks.Lehmann also stated the team’s preference for a three-man pace attack in order to “go pretty hard at” their opposition. Given Australia’s success in battering England with pace Down Under in 2013-14, it seems highly unlikely that twin spin will be employed during the Ashes series, slow pitches or not.”We know it spins here traditionally but at the end of the day we thought the three quick options were the best way to go considering we’ve got Smith, Clarke and Voges who can all bowl left-arm spin or wrist spin,” Lehmann said. “So with Lyon we think that gives us enough spin options and with the three quicks it lets us go pretty hard at them.”The practice wickets have played pretty well, they’ve taken spin but also had a little bit of carry. We think the option with Smith, Clarke and Voges doing the bowling covers that. It was a really tough decision. Time will tell but we’re really comfortable with that side. Fawad might get his opportunity next Test.”Fawad had arrived in Dominica thinking he was more than likely to win Australia’s 442nd baggy green cap, and was the subject of enormous media coverage. However his chances faded with each passing day, and by match eve he cut a disappointed figure as he bowled in the pace net with Lehmann while Voges and Lyon served as the prime spin tandem.Intriguingly, the captain Michael Clarke had appeared to be in favour of Fawad’s inclusion, writing extensively about Fawad in his Australian newspaper column. Clarke also spoke at some length about their growing relationship and thought the legspinner shared some traits in common with no less a master of the art than Shane Warne.”I’ve known Fuzz for a while now,” Clarke had said. “We spent a bit of time together even before he was playing for Australia. He came and bowled to us regularly when we were in Melbourne. I’ve got to know him over the last couple of years. I said in my column today that one of his greatest strengths is his consistency. For a wrist spin bowler to be able to be so consistent is a great strength to have.”Fawad is experienced. He knows his strengths, He knows his weaknesses. We speak daily about field settings in different conditions all around the world. I’m confident if he gets an opportunity that he will be able to have success, and we’ll be able to work together to get the appropriate fields to take wickets.”Clarke, though, is not a selector, and Lehmann’s desire to hunt the West Indian batsmen with pace was vindicated on the series’ opening day. Fawad could only look on from the boundary, and wonder whether his chance had gone.

David Willey’s celebration of an England call-up seemed to whisk away Leicestershire’s hopes of a first Championship win in 34 games

Press Association28-Apr-2015
ScorecardDavid Willey’s late intervention gave Leicestershire much pain•Getty ImagesAll-rounder David Willey celebrated his call-up to England’s one-day squad by smashing 88 from just 79 balls and then took a late wicket to undermine Leicestershire’s fleeting hopes of securing a first Championship win for more than two years..When the visitors lost Rob Newton for 58 shortly after lunch, bowled by a Ben Raine delivery that seamed back to knock out the batsman’s off-stump, Northants were 220 for 6 and leading by just 166 with only four wickets remaining, with Leicestershire looking to have an excellent chance of ending their drought at the 34th attempt.Leicestershire’s head coach Andrew MacDonald refused to accept the game was up. “If we’d taken a couple of opportunities the game may have been slightly different, but I still think the game is in the balance, 332 off 96 overs, if it’s a full day’s play we’re right in this.”If you look at the trend of the game the scores have risen with each innings, and I think what you’ll find is the surface is becoming better and better, so day four shouldn’t hold too many demons. If we bat deep we’ll probably be on the right side of the ledger. If we bat the day, we win. It’s a matter of applying ourselves.”Willey, initially in company with former Leicestershire batsman Josh Cobb, took the attack to the Leicestershire seamers in destructive style. Cobb, who was dropped before scoring, went on to 56 before being caught down the leg-side by wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien off Charlie Shreck, but Willey was then joined by Rory Kleinveldt in a match-changing partnership of 97 for the eighth wicket, hit off just 11.4 overs.Kleinveldt hit seven fours and two sixes in going a half-century off 32 balls before top-edging an attempted pull at Clint McKay and being caught by Tom Wells running in from the deep midwicket.Olly Stone, with a first-class career best 28, provided solid support for Willey in a partnership of 49 for the ninth wicket. Soon afterwards, Willey, having hit 15 fours and a six, skied Shreck to third man, where Ned Eckersley held the catch.Faced with the task of making what would be the fourth highest run chase in their history, Leicestershire quickly lost Dan Redfern, the left-hander steering a delivery from Willey straight into the hands of Cobb at backward point.Eckersley and Angus Robson then saw the Foxes to the close, still needing another 332 runs for their first championship win since September 2012, and Northants needing another nine wickets for their first championship win since September 2013.

AB de Villiers ripped up the record books with the fastest century in ODIs, off just 31 balls to beat the previous quickest set by Corey Anderson off 36 balls little more than a year ago

The Report by Firdose Moonda18-Jan-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:01

De Villiers smashes ODI record

AB de Villiers ripped up the record books with the fastest century in ODIs, off just 31 balls to beat the previous quickest set by Corey Anderson off 36 balls little more than a year ago, as South Africa beat their own record at the Wanderers and racked up 439, four shy of the world record total of 443.De Villiers’ was the third hundred in a towering South African total – the first time three had been scored in an ODI innings – which also saw Rilee Rossouw register his maiden century and Hashim Amla his 18th, a career-best 153 not out, in the highest opening stand South Africa have ever posted of 247.In less than an hour, de Villiers took an innings which was building well and turned it into a skyscraper. He clobbered 16 sixes, the most by a South African and the joint-highest number of sixes overall in an ODI innings, and dominated a 192-run second-wicket stand with Amla which lasted just 67 deliveries and in which runs were scored at 17.12 to the over. Amla only faced 30 balls and contributed 33. Such was de Villiers’ dominance.None of the the West Indian bowlers were spared as de Villiers put on his full range of strokes. There was the pull, the scoop, the lofted drive and the good old slog and Jason Holder, given the toughest of examinations as a young captain, was hardest hit. De Villiers plundered 45 runs off the nine balls he faced from him, including six of his sixes.By the time Holder could even consider launching a counter-attack of his own, West Indies’ challenge was over. Although they may have had hopes of pulling off something similar to what they did on the same surface last week, when they successfully chased the highest T20 score of 232, West Indies lost Chris Gayle in the fifth over and even though Dwayne Smith and Denesh Ramdin both scored half-centuries, the South African attack were much more difficult to get away than the West Indian one.Jerome Taylor had the most expensive return for a West Indian bowler in ODIs when his 10 overs cost 95 and Holder was not far behind. His nine overs went for 91. Dwayne Smith also took punishment and finished with an economy of 17 after one of his overs went for 30. Contrastingly, Dale Steyn’s 10 overs went for just 29 runs and Morne Morkel’s for 43 as the pair demonstrated how to operate on a batsmen-friendly surface. They used the short well sparingly and bowled at good pace but ultimately West Indies did not have the same structure to their innings as South Africa did.Rossouw and Amla were circumspect upfront with Rossouw feeding off Amla’s patience to script a knock he really needed. A yo-yo start to his international career saw Rossouw collect as many ducks as he did starts and he could count them both on one hand. Five noughts would not have infused the man who may be tasked with opening at the World Cup should Quinton de Kock be unfit at the start with confidence but a century will change all that.After seeing off a testing early period, in which he was given out lbw to a ball he bottom-edged off Sulieman Benn and successfully reviewed, Rossouw showed his ability off the backfoot with a selection of strong pulls and a good understanding of timing and placement. Amla kept the scoreboard moving while Rossouw settled and South Africa had 100 inside 20 overs before they began to accelerate.Samuels helped them in that cause. Twelve runs came off each of his first and third overs as South Africa took 41 off the five overs between 20 and 25 and took the Powerplay two overs later. Benn enforced a squeeze and South Africa managed just 29 with the fielding restrictions on but the opening stand was unbroken and both batsmen were closing in on centuries. Rossouw’s came first off 102 balls and Amla’s three deliveries later, off 103.More worryingly for West Indies, it was only the 35th over.Rossouw chipped a catch to mid-off shortly after that to bring de Villiers and carnage to the crease. At No.3, with a platform laid, de Villiers dictated terms and knocked West Indies off their lines, lengths and plans. His 50 came up in 16 balls, the first world record, before he raced to 100 after facing just 15 more. The bigger he hit, the fewer answers West Indies had and they couldn’t find them in the second half either.Gayle tried to force the pace of the chase but ran out of luck early on when he miscued a pull. Farhaan Behardien had to move quickly but judged the catch well to immediately dent West Indies’ already slim chances. At least they did not fold and ended nine runs short of 300, which in different circumstances would be considered a decent total. But against the backdrop of the de Villiers show it paled in comparison as South Africa took centre stage and best of all, they did it pretty in pink. It was the third match dedicated to breast cancer awareness in the country and to date, South Africa have won all of them.

Last season, the constant reshuffling within the team cost Rajasthan Royals a spot in the playoffs. This season, with select buys and key players in form, they will look for a better finish in the table

Arun Venugopal06-Apr-20152:14

Rajasthan Royals team preview

Likely first XI1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Karun Nair, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Sanju Samson (wk), 5 Shane Watson (capt), 6 Stuart Binny, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Chris Morris/Tim Southee/Juan Theron, 9 Rajat Bhatia, 10 Pravin Tambe, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni
Click here for the full squad2014 finishBotched up a strong start to finish fifth.Big pictureFor a team that has often delivered more than promised, Rajasthan Royals left fans exasperated at the end of the last season. Royals usually build themselves up incrementally, hitting top gear as the tournament reaches the business end, but when they sprinted to six wins in nine games – they were ahead of eventual champions Kolkata Knight Riders at that stage – a place in the knockouts seemed within reach. They didn’t, however, qualify. In the last league game against Mumbai, despite the insurance of a tall total behind them, their bowlers wilted en masse.The story of their 2014 campaign wasn’t so much about implosion as the effect of relentlessly shuffling personnel: 22 players took the field for Royals, the highest for any team last year. Add to this the less-than-optimal utilisation of Steven Smith and James Faulkner, and you can see how a promising plot went kaput.They were typically prudent with their budget in the 2015 auction, finishing with an unspent sum of Rs 10.65 crore (approx. $1.77 million) from the allotted purse of Rs 63 crore.Paddy Upton, the side’s head coach, said Chris Morris, Royals’ costliest buy at Rs 1.4 crore (approx $233,000), was acquired for his all-round skills and to enable his pairing with another allrounder, James Faulkner. With the ball, Morris produced a record performance for Lions in the Ram Slam T20 last year. With captain Shane Watson and Stuart Binny playing all-round roles as well, Morris’ inclusion leaves Royals “with lots of options.” They have also brought in two legspinners in Dinesh Salunkhe and Pardeep Sahu, recognising that such bowlers are becoming a “valuable asset in this format.”Since their victory in the inaugural edition, they haven’t done enough to consistently be serious contenders for the title, and this year is another opportunity at correcting that. To do so, they will need a versatile unit, especially with them not playing in Jaipur for the second year in succession; their home fixtures have instead been drawn up at two venues: the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad and the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.Big playersLast season, Smith was seen as an exciting batting talent, whose breathtaking attempts on the field made for great highlight reels. This season, he returns to the IPL on the back of a remarkable run of form. In the past year, he has scored 2096 runs in 31 international matches across formats at 69.86, including eight hundreds. During this period, he captained Australia’s Test side and was also the leading run-scorer (402 at an average of 67, including an unbeaten fifty in the final) in their victorious World Cup campaign. The Royals management would likely want him to take ownership of the No.3 spot, and replicate the success he has had for Australia in the position.Like Smith, Faulkner, too, has enhanced his credentials over the last two years. His audacious finishing skills with the bat and slippery back-of-the-hand deliveries make him important to the team’s balance. There were question-marks over his death-bowling skills last year – his economy rate of 9.74 was the poorest in the team – but he has strengthened this area in recent times.Bargain buyJuan Theron had a memorable IPL debut, producing a nerveless spell to bowl Kings XI Punjab to a victory against Chennai Super Kings. A seasoned player in the T20 format with strong death-bowling skills, Theron’s inclusion at Rs 30 lakh ($50,000) looks like a smart deal.AvailabilityKane Richardson has opted out of the IPL citing personal reasons. Tim Southee will miss the last phase of the tournament with New Zealand touring England in May.CoachesMentor – Rahul Dravid, Head coach – Paddy Upton, Director of cricket – Zubin Bharucha, Coach – Monty DesaiQuote”When we pick players, we look a lot at their Ranji Trophy performance as well. Of course there are specific T20 skills that we are looking for but we also want to see hunger, we also want to see consistency and we also want to see somebody who can deliver under pressure.”
Rahul Dravid on what his franchise looks for in potential recruits

Darren Sammy has been added to the West Indies squad for the five ODIs against South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Dec-2014Darren Sammy has been added to the West Indies squad for the five ODIs against South Africa.He, along with Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, had been excluded by the WICB when they had announced a 14-member side earlier in the week which had led to severe criticism.Michael Holding, the former West Indies fast bowler, wrote that the board was punishing the players without looking into its own faults and agreed with Ralph Thorne, who had been appointed the players’ counsel to negotiate the contracts dispute that lead to West Indies pulling out of the India tour in October, that the three players were being victimised.Sammy is currently in Australia playing for Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League. The ODI series is set to begin on January 16 in in Durban.