Manchester United outcast Donny van de Beek has sensationally offered himself to Barcelona as potential cover for the injured Gavi.
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Dutch midfielder struggling for game timeEndured a testing spell at Old TraffordLikely to be on the move in January windowWHAT HAPPENED?
The Liga giants are exploring their options heading towards the January transfer window. The intention at Camp Nou is to bring in another midfielder that can help to bolster Xavi’s ranks while teen sensation Gavi recovers from a season-ending ACL injury.
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A loan deal could be done in the winter window and, according to , Van de Beek is ready to answer the call in Catalunya. The Netherlands international midfielder has played just 21 minutes of football for United this season through two substitute appearances in Carabao Cup and Premier League competition.
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Van de Beek has struggled to make an impact since moving to Old Trafford from Ajax in 2020 and desperately needs a new challenge in order to get his faltering career back on track. He has already spent time on loan at Everton amid struggles for game time in Manchester and has made Barca aware that he would jump at the chance to join their cause.
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Van de Beek is, however, already being lined up for a move to Serie A giants Juventus. Talks are said to be taking place there regarding a six-month loan in Turin, but the 26-year-old could shun interest from the Bianconeri were Barcelona to decide that he could slot into their squad alongside fellow countryman and former Ajax team-mate Frenkie de Jong.
Glasgow Rangers made the decision to part ways with manager Michael Beale earlier this month after the English tactician endured a difficult start to the season.
The Light Blues lost three of their opening seven Scottish Premiership matches and were knocked out of the Champions League by PSV during the play-off round, which meant that the club moved into the group stages of the Europa League.
This came after the former Chelsea youth coach was allowed to oversee an overhaul of the playing squad over the course of the summer transfer window.
Jack Butland
Free
Dujon Sterling
Free
Leon Balogun
Free
Kieran Dowell
Free
Jose Cifuentes
Permanent
Sam Lammers
Permanent
Cyriel Dessers
Permanent
Danilo
Permanent
Abdallah Sima
Loan
As shown in the table above, the former Rangers chief was able to snap nine new recruits to bolster the team after the likes of Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, Scott Arfield, Antonio Colak, Fashion Sakala, and Ianis Hagi moved on, either on loan or permanently.
The results on the pitch did not justify the mass changes and the board made the decision to ditch the English tactician, who has since been replaced by Belgian boss Philippe Clement.
However, not all of Beale's deals were to the detriment of the club as one player who has been a standout performer on the pitch since his arrival is goalkeeper Jack Butland.
How much did Rangers pay for Butland?
Rangers did not pay a penny for the former England international as they agreed a pre-contract deal for the shot-stopper back in June, ahead of his contract with Crystal Palace expiring at the end of the month.
Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland.
At the time of the move, Beale claimed that the club had signed an "excellent" goalkeeper who is now in the prime years of his career at the age of 30.
His performances so far this season have backed up that claim but there may have been some doubts over how it would pan out at the time due to his difficulties in England in recent years.
How many Premier League appearances did Butland make?
He racked up 87 Premier League appearances throughout his time down south with various clubs but none of those came during a loan spell with Manchester United last season.
Butland spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Old Trafford but Erik ten Hag did not feature him in a single competitive match before his return to Palace, and eventual move to Ibrox.
That came after the 30-year-old ace only played ten top-flight games in two-and-a-half seasons with the Eagles as he failed to displace Spanish titan Vicente Guaita to earn a regular spot in the starting XI.
He did play nine times during the 2021/22 campaign. However, the Englishman was unable to catch the eye as 43% of the shots on his goal found the back of the net and his side only kept one clean sheet, as per Sofascore.
Former Crystal Palace goalkeeper Jack Butland.
His troubles at Palace, and United, came after an impressive start to his senior career with Birmingham and Stoke in his younger days. He racked up 214 competitive appearances for those two clubs combined and kept 60 clean sheets in total.
Butland became the youngest goalkeeper in England history when he made his debut against Italy in 2012 at the age of 19 and has earned nine caps for his country to date.
The 6 foot 5 colossus enjoyed a fantastic spell with Stoke after coming through the academy system at Birmingham as he won their Player of the Year award for the 2015/16 and 2018/19 campaigns.
He kept 18 clean sheets and saved 71% of the shots on his goal across 45 Championship starts during the latter season but failed to build on his form for the Potters as his career fell by the wayside at Palace after a move to Selhurst Park in 2020.
How has Butland performed for Rangers?
Rangers now appear to have benefitted from Butland's declining career as they swooped in to sign him for £0 and the towering gem has been a revelation this season.
The former England international has hit the ground running at Ibrox and already established himself as a star and key player for the club with his fantastic performances between the sticks.
He has averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.11 across nine Scottish Premiership starts and kept an eye-catching six clean sheets to date, with an impressive 77% save percentage.
Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland
Whereas, Allan McGregor only saved 57% of the shots on his goal and kept eight shutouts in 24 top-flight appearances for the Light Blues last season.
This suggests that Rangers have secured a huge upgrade in goal by replacing the veteran Scotsman with Butland, who was hailed for his "outstanding" goalkeeping by journalist Josh Bunting in August, over the summer transfer window.
The former Stoke star has also enjoyed a strong start to life in Europe with an average Sofascore rating of 7.35 and a save percentage of 75% across two Europa League group stage outings.
How much is Butland worth now?
Football Insider recently reported that the Light Blues value the 30-year-old colossus at a fee of at least £5m amid interest from Championship side Birmingham.
The outlet claimed that his former club are keen on a deal for the Gers star, just months on from his move to the Scottish giants, but also add that the Ibrox side will not entertain any offers for his services during the upcoming January transfer window.
They have also stated that his internal valuation at Rangers will only increase further beyond £5m if his impressive performances on the pitch continue throughout the rest of the 2023/24 campaign.
The interest from Birmingham highlights how much of an impact Butland has made for the club this season as he has done enough to attract attention from elsewhere after three months of competitive football.
His valuation has quickly soared from £0 to £5m since Beale snapped him up for nothing from Palace and the former Gers boss, therefore, deserves credit.
The ex-QPR head coach hit the jackpot for the club with his move to sign the giant stopper, who now looks set to play a key role for Clement moving forward.
Jadon Sancho's Manchester United career could come to an end in the near future, and journalist Fabrizio Romano has now suggested a potential replacement at Old Trafford.
Will Jadon Sancho leave Man United?
Sancho made the move to Old Trafford in 2021, with big things expected of him after he completed a big-money transfer from Borussia Dortmund. He was arguably seen as one of the most promising young players in Europe at the time, but he has been a huge disappointment since returning to England.
In total, the 23-year-old has scored just 12 goals and registered six assists in 82 appearances for United, with his performances too often feeling forgettable rather than influential. Not only that, but he now finds himself completely frozen out of the squad by Erik ten Hag, following disciplinary issues in recent weeks, and there is currently only one direction that his Red Devils career is heading in.
Things can change in football, of course, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see Sancho leave United in the January transfer window, should the problems with the manager not be resolved. If that happens, a new attacker would need to come in to aid squad depth, and one potential addition has been name-checked.
Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho.
Who could replace Sancho at Old Trafford?
Speaking to Caught Offside, Romano claimed that Wolves star Pedro Neto would be a perfect replacement for Sancho at United, should he move on, even though there isn't concrete interest in him at the moment:
"Just one final point on Man United and Jadon Sancho – at the moment there is no significant update to report, and I’m not aware of any decision on a potential new winger signing in January.
"There are many good opportunities around such as Pedro Neto who I’ve already mentioned and who is a fantastic player, but it’s absolutely not sure or guaranteed that Man United will spend big money in January."
Neto could be a wonderful signing for United if they strike a deal for him in January, or next summer for that matter, with the Portuguese speedster clearly a fabulous young player with so much long-term potential.
The 23-year-old has made a superb start to this season for Wolves, already getting four assists in seven Premier League outings, as well as playing a key role in Ruben Dias' own goal for Manchester City on Saturday, as Wanderers ran out surprise 2-1 winners over the champions at Molineux.
Admittedly, Neto has had some serious injury problems in the past, which could make signing him a gamble for United, who already have lots of players unavailable, but he is fit and firing at the moment, and he looks unplayable at times.
Capable of playing on either flank, the Wolves winger is fast, direct and possesses end product, being hailed as a "superstar" by Jamie Carragher in the past, and at just 23 years of age, there is still so much more to come from him.
Put bluntly, he simply looks like a better player than Sancho at this point – they are the same age – and could ultimately be an upgrade on him if he leaves Old Trafford sooner rather than later.
After sleepwalking through to a series win, Pakistan raised the tempo courtesy Fakhar Zaman’s double century. What does Sunday have in store?
Umar Farooq21-Jul-2018Big Picture After sleepwalking to a series win, Pakistan blew life into a dull series courtesy Fakhar Zaman’s record-breaking double-century. This sparked tremendous interest momentarily on Friday afternoon in Pakistan. There’s little to suggest the joyride won’t continue on Sunday, but only a performance of Fakhar’s kind again can elicit the same level of interest.Zimbabwe have shown no fight whatsoever. If 67 all out wasn’t the nadir, they were blown away in the fourth ODI by 244 runs – Pakistan’s second-biggest ODI win in terms of runs. The batsmen have shown little resolve, and the bowlers have lacked consistency or potency. About the fielding? Less said, the better. Whatever can go wrong, has.As such international fixtures are few and far between for Zimbabwe. Finances don’t allow them the luxury of staging multiple home series. That said, this year has been a bumper one, but even so, the hope with which they began the World Cup Qualifiers has long dissipated. The walloping in the T20I tri-series against Australia and Pakistan has spilled over, and there’s a pall of gloom around the state of cricket, as it has been for a better part of the last decade and a half. On Sunday, they can’t erase the pain of the home summer, but at least try and put up a fight and give the 500-odd faithful that turn up every match day whether or not there’s something to cheer about.Form guideZimbabwe LLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first) Pakistan WWWWLIn the spotlightUsman Khan went onto to play the entire tri-nation series and all four straight ODIs without aggravating any injury. This has been a longest streak for him in international cricket since he made his debut in 2013. He had been battling against injury, but every time he bounced back, some part of his body broke down again. He is back to full fitness now, and looks stronger than ever. He is the joint leading wicket taker with 9 at a strike rate of 16 in four games so far. He has made the most of his opportunities while Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali are being rested, and will have an eye on nailing down a World Cup spot as soon as possible.Usman Khan celebrates a wicket•AFPTarisai Musakanda was tipped to be captain for the tri-series and this bilateral contest against Pakistan. While in the end the job went to the vastly more experienced Hamilton Masakadza, Musakanda has shown glimpses of what he could offer Zimbabwe in the long term. Frustratingly for Zimbabwe, most of his contributions have been in the form of cameos; he has reached double figures in all but one of the last eight innings, but only once crossed 40. You could chalk it down to inexperience, but Zimbabwe desperately need a standout performance to have a chance of pushing Pakistan in this final game, and have something positive to take away from a nightmare series.Team newsZimbabwe don’t have too many options on the bench that are likely to make a difference, or they’d have tried them out by now. They have lost with each combination they tried, evry game more convincingly than the last. They may make one or two changes, but a change in the result would be one of the upsets of the year.Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Hamilton Masakadza (capt) 2 Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 3 Tarisai Musakanda 4 Ryan Murray (wk) 5 Peter Moor 6 Elton Chigumbura 7 Donald Tiripano 8 Liam Roche 9 Wellington Masakadza 10 Blessing Muzarbani 11 Tendai ChisoroPakistan played two combinations across four games, and have played nearly every batting reserve on the bench other than Mohammad Hafeez and Haris Sohail – who had to return home after his daughter’s illness. Mohammad Nawaz is the only bowler unused throughout the ODIs. There is a chance Hafeez and Nawaz could be given a chance, but Pakistan are doing so well anything they do looks like it might come offPakistan (possible): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Shoaib Malik/Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Asif Ali, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Junaid Khan/Mohammad Amir, 11 Usman KhanPitch and conditionsThe weather remains cool in Bulawayo, but the pitch has dried out since the first game, and another runfest could be on the cards, particularly if Pakistan bat first.Stats and trivia Fakhar Zaman is 20 runs away from becoming fastest to reach 1000 runs in ODIs. If he does so tomorrow, he will have reached there in 18 innings. The fastest at present are five players who got there in 21 innings: Viv Richards, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Quinton de Kock and Babar Azam.Quotes”It’s not like the guys (Pakistan) are bowling anything amazing, it’s about us not applying ourselves,” Donald Tiripano thinks the reasons for his side’s underwhelming batting come from within”It does hurt me quite a lot and it’s very disappointing to see. I see a lot of guys putting in their best efforts but when you lose half of your team, especially with the resources that Zimbabwe have, it’s hard to be competitive against a very good Pakistan side at the moment,” Pakistan coach Grant Flower takes no pleasure from his country’s struggles
United States Women's National Team star Alex Morgan let rip at the Boston Celtics for an embarrassing mistake on social media.
Boston Celtics guilty of embarrassing mistakeFace backlash on social mediaMorgan joins in with blunt replyWHAT HAPPENED?
The Boston Celtics came under fire for a social media post showing guard Jrue Holiday arriving for their home game against the Philadelphia 76ers in a United States kit wearing the No. 12. Holiday was clearly paying tribute to his wife Lauren, who enjoyed a stellar career winning the World Cup, two Olympic gold medals and the NWSL, and wore the No. 12 for the USWNT. However, the Celtics blundered in spectacular fashion, posting the photo with the caption "Reppin' @USMNT tonight."
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The post was swiftly met be a fierce backlash by supporters. Morgan also waded in with a terse response to the Celtics. "Let me help you with this – @USWNT," she posted.
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The mix-up is all the more embarrassing given the USWNT's incredible success. The Stars and Stripes have been crowned world champions four times, while the USMNT are yet to win a World Cup and have not been past the quarter-finals in over 90 years. The Celtics' post also serves to illustrate the lack of recognition for female athletes, no matter how successful they may have been during their career.
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The USWNT are due to return to action in April in the SheBelieves Cup. Twila Kilgore's side will face Japan on April 3 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
Self-belief gained from Rajasthan Royals stint helped England batsman regain his uncomplicated approach
George Dobell04-Jun-20182:59
Jos Buttler shines, but has much really changed for England?
Jos Buttler has credited the confidence gained from his recent spell in the IPL, and the relaxation gained from accepting the inevitability of occasional failure, for his impressive return to England’s Test team.Buttler, who followed his 67 at Lord’s with an unbeaten 80 in Leeds, was something of a surprise selection for the series against Pakistan. He hadn’t played a first-class game this year and hadn’t made a first-class century since January 2014.But he feels the self-belief gained from his time with Rajasthan Royals – where he signed off with five half-centuries and a 39 in his final six innings – has helped him regain the uncomplicated approach – or the ‘F*** It’ attitude, as he might put it – he originally took to Test cricket.Buttler’s innings in Leeds was his highest – and, arguably, his best – in Test cricket since he made 85 on debut against India in July 2014. He followed that with innings of 70, 45, 0 and 59 not out in his next five innings at that level to give the impression he had made the step-up to Test cricket with some ease.But, once the Ashes series started in 2015, his form fell away and he was unable to reach 50 in his next 12, ever more tentative, innings.As a result, he was dropped towards the end of the year after four innings in the UAE had realised just 34 runs. And, while he made a brief and partially successful comeback against India in late 2016 (he made 76 in Mumbai and 43 in Mohali), it looked, for a long time, as if his excellence in the limited-overs formats would prevent him having the time to make the adjustments to his game required to prosper in first-class cricket.It is only now, having found a way to bring the freedom he has in T20 cricket to his Test game, that he has been able to silence the doubts in his own head and gone some way to unleash his obvious talent in the longest format. And it is probably no coincidence that the most eye-catching part of Buttler’s innings in Leeds came when he had only the tail for company and the license and freedom to take the attack to the bowlers.”Those couple of weeks in the IPL gave me huge amounts of confidence,” Buttler said. “To be in those pressure situations in India, playing in front of crowds, the pressure of being an overseas player. That showed me a lot about where I was at and where I can get to, so that gave me a lot of confidence. For me, not trying to worry about the colour of the ball definitely helps. Having put in good performances elsewhere and not putting as much pressure on myself.”In T20 there’s generally another game soon after, so you know you’ve got another opportunity coming up. You probably just move on if you fail. But in Test cricket, if you get out early, you have a long time to think about it.Jos Buttler swings one over the leg side•Getty Images”I started to think too much about how to not get out, as opposed to how to score runs. I got in a really bad rut that I just couldn’t get out of. The only real way to get out of it was to be dropped. And actually, being dropped released a lot of pressure. It wasn’t very long after that that I made an ODI hundred in Dubai, which was a turnaround for me after a long and hard six months.”It was just ahead of that century in Dubai that he first took to writing “F*** It’ in marker pen on the top of his bat handle. It was a phrase that was picked up again by the cameras in Leeds during a break in play on Sunday and, as Buttler explains, provides a reminder not to over-think the game or fret about the outcomes.”It’s just something that reminds me of what my best mindset is,” Buttler says, “when I’m playing cricket and probably in life as well. It puts cricket in perspective. When you nick off, does it really matter? It’s just a good reminder when I’m in the middle or when I’m questioning myself and it brings me back to a good place.”Now my mentality is quite similar to my first few Tests. I’m not worrying about external factors. I’m just trying to play the game and trusting myself.”These are early days, but Buttler has already gone some way to justifying Ed Smith’s faith in him.
Bangladesh’s bowling coach wants the team to have faith in their young fast bowlers and give them a run of matches to gain experience and build their skillsets
Mohammad Isam08-Sep-2018More faith has to be placed on Bangladesh’s young pace bowlers if the best is to be brought out of them, Courtney Walsh has said. Walsh, who last week completed two years as Bangladesh’s fast-bowling coach, said the tendency to drop a pace bowler after one bad performance has hampered the team’s progress in international cricket.Walsh took over after Heath Streak had completed exactly two years as the pace bowling coach in 2016. The one constant across both coach’s reigns has been Mashrafe Mortaza leading the ODI attack superbly. The output of the Test pace attack, however, has deteriorated.During Streak’s tenure, Bangladesh’s fast bowlers averaged 44.73 in Test cricket and took a wicket every 90.8 balls. Under Walsh, their strike rate has been slightly better (87.5) but their average is significantly worse, at 53.66.Walsh has acknowledged that more work needs to be done.”It is still a work in progress,” Walsh said. “There is a lot of youngsters coming through. If they don’t get selected to play, you won’t know what they are. It is one of the things we have to look at a little bit more. We can’t be too afraid to give the youngsters a chance to express themselves a bit more. If they are kept waiting in the wings, they will never get a chance to play.”The more you play the best chance you will get to learn. You will get more experience by playing in the middle. Sometimes you have to throw these youngsters in the deep to see what they are made of. But if you keep protecting them and say they are not ready, they might never get ready. Sometimes you have to expose talent, you have to give them a chance.”Walsh’s first experience of seeing the pace bowlers getting few opportunities came as early as his first Test series in October 2016, when Bangladesh prepared spin-friendly tracks in Chittagong and Dhaka against England. Shafiul Islam and newcomer Kamrul Islam Rabbi only bowled 31 overs between them in the Test series, picking up one wicket, while the debutant offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz took 19 wickets.The most wickets any Bangladesh fast bowler has picked up in a series during Walsh’s tenure is Mustafizur Rahman’s eight, at an average of 27.50, in Sri Lanka in early 2017.The fast bowlers have especially struggled outside the subcontinent, where they have had to bear the bulk of the bowling workload. In New Zealand, they returned a combined average of 63.54. In South Africa, Mustafizur, Shafiul, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain and Subashis Roy combined to average 81.11.In helpful conditions in the West Indies, the quicks averaged 36.62, but that figure must be viewed against the host seamers’ average of 11.31. Rabbi, Rubel and newcomer Abu Jayed were no match for Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder and Miguel Cummins, who led West Indies to a 2-0 series win.AFPWalsh said giving the young quicks a longer stretch of matches could give them more confidence and help them build their skillsets.”I don’t think they lack the hunger,” he said. “They haven’t been given that opportunity to play consistently. It is where the difference might come from. Some of the youngsters we have, they need to get a good run. Not just one or two games and then get dropped. You can have good and bad matches.”I have seen that as soon as you have a bad game, everyone wants you to be dropped. It is not going to help a youngster.”All of us can have a bad game, and when that happens, we need to be given a chance to redeem yourself. It is a case of striking the right balance. Youngsters are keen and want to perform at the highest level. They just need to be given a chance.”Walsh praised Mashrafe for continuing to use his experience to lead the ODI attack, having taken 41 wickets at 31.41 in the last two years. Rubel and Mustafizur too have been more comfortable in ODIs. Taskin’s stocks have declined, meanwhile, and Al-Amin Hossain, a fairly frequent limited-overs participant under Streak, has not featured under Walsh.”Mash’s experience and skillset is much different and much better than the other guys,” Walsh said. “Experience has been carrying him through but he was always a very good fast bowler. If he wasn’t injured, he’d be playing Test cricket. The first time I saw him, I told him that he was good enough to play Test matches.”He is a high-class fast bowler for Bangladesh for a number of years. It is up to the youngsters now to have that hunger. Mash takes pride in his performance. It is the big difference. He wants to do well and compete, and that’s what we need.”Bangladesh’s immediate assignment is the Asia Cup, and Walsh hoped the likes of Mashrafe, Mustafizur, Rubel and Abu Hider would be able to adapt quickly to conditions in the UAE.”I don’t think it will be perfect for pacers in the Asia Cup,” he said. “I think the wickets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are normally pretty flat and docile. Some are expecting the pacers will adapt and be able to use their variations.”Whenever the bowlers do well in one-day cricket, we have to give them the credit because it is not easy to bowl in these good batting wickets.”Bangladesh will depart for Dubai on September 9.
Joe Davis is calling the National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. The heated matchup has resulted in some interesting comments both on and off the field, but it's the way that Davis is calling the action that has some fans crying foul.
Davis, who has been the full-time voice of the Dodgers since 2017, has been accused of homerism, the same way that Bob Costas has been during the Yankees-Royals ALDS for Turner. The only difference is, fans screaming favoritism with Davis seem to be mostly grasping at straws.
For instance, here's a post showing Davis apparently forcing himself to smile through an interview with Fernando Tatis Jr. after Game 3.
And here are some reactions to the post:
"It’s ridiculous to put Joe Davis on a Dodgers series." "Joe wanted the Dodgers to win it all again 😭 " "I swear they don’t wanna see us shine" "He is crying on the inside" "That man is HURTING" "Cope Joe"
The thing is, Davis doesn't seem uncomfortable at all during the actual interview with Tatis. It looks more like an announcer making the same faces anyone would make during a player interview.
Not to mention Davis's call of Tatis's second inning home run that broke the game open for the Padres.
That's an announcer caught up in the postseason drama who sure sounds like he's enjoying one of the best players in baseball doing something awesome. If this is how well Davis is disguising his bias, he's doing a great job faking it.
Kent beat Somerset for the 11th successive time in a high-scoring affair at Canterbury – a remarkable sequence which put them alongside Somerset in the knockout stages
ECB Reporters Network16-Aug-2018 ScorecardKent Spitfires downed South Group leaders Somerset by five runs in a high-scoring thriller at Canterbury to book their place in the last eight of this year’s Vitality Blast T20.Kent’s seventh south group win inflicted Somerset’s fourth defeat in their final game of the campaign and extended the West Country county’s woeful, winless T20 run against Kent to 11 matches dating back to 2011.Batting first, Kent posted their highest short-form score against Somerset and equalled their best ever T20 total, matching their 231 for 7 scored against Surrey at The Oval in 2015.Somerset chased manfully throughout, and needed a six off the last ball to tie only for Mitch Claydon to send down a near perfect yorker to seal the triumph.Talking T20 podcast
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Kent captain Sam Billings led the run spree with an unbeaten 57 from 35 balls, but Sean Dickson’s cameo 20 from nine balls and a belligerent 42 from 22 deliveries by Alex Blake after a sloppy display in the field by the south group leaders.With their place in the last eight already assured, Somerset elected to bowl after winning the toss, but Jerome Taylor’s second over conceded a brace of boundaries to Daniel Bell-Drummond and 14 in total.Joe Denly, Kent’s leading T20 run-getter, plundered a straight six in Jamie Overton’s first over that ended with a deft late cut for four, as the hosts, aided by six Somerset wides within five overs, raced to 50 after only 4.3 overs.Taylor had Denly caught at short third man for 26 from the penultimate delivery of the powerplay to make it 67 for one then, with 37 off 21 balls to his name, Bell-Drummond pushed inside the line of a Max Waller legspinner that clipped off stump.Waller and Roelof van der Merwe, the slow left-armer, stemmed the flow of Spitfires’ boundaries until Heino Kuhn broke the stranglehold with a reverse sweep for six against Johann Myburgh as Kent reached the mid-point on 99 for 2.Kuhn perished attempting to repeat the shot against a Waller full toss, picking out Corey Anderson at point, but Blake opened his boundary account with a straight six off Waller and greeted Overton’s return with another maximum into the retirement complex adjacent to the ground.Waller finished his stint with 2 for 29 as Kent reached 150 in their 16th over with Blake and Billings posting a 50 stand in 4.4 overs.Billings unfurled his ramps, paddles and pulls to collect three successive boundaries in a Taylor over that cost 25 in total, but the partnership ended for 82 when Blake was superbly caught overhead by Overton at long-off for 42.Kent’s skipper reached his third 50 of the campaign from 31 balls, Taylor was taken out of the attack for his second beamer and the visitors conceded six penalty runs for failing to bowl their overs in the alloted time.Chasing 232 at 11.55 an over, Somerset lost Myburgh after 15 balls to a stunning over-the-shoulder catch by Imran Qayyum that gave T20 debutant Grant Stewart his maiden wicket.Steve Davies and Peter Trego, the former Kent allrounder, clattered a quickfire 59 in five overs before Trego holed out to deep square leg then Davies blotted his copybook by chipping Qayyum’s second ball of the night straight to extra cover.Qayyum conceded a huge leg-side six to James Hildreth as Somerset reached 102 for 3after 10 overs but, with the required rate rising to almost 13, Corey Anderson heaved against Calum Haggett to see Billings cling onto a skier running back towards third man.With 82 needed from 30 balls, James Hildreth hooked a Mitch Claydon bouncer to long leg and despite late clubbing from Gregory and Tom Abell Somerset just fell short.
The allrounder has picked up a side strain and will be replaced in the squad
ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2018Allrounder Liam Dawson has been ruled out* of the rest of England’s tour of Sri Lanka after suffering a side strain. Joe Denly, who is in the Test squad, has been called up as his replacement.Dawson, who has been in the XI for the opening two matches, sat out training on Monday, ahead of the third one-day international against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. After the injury was assessed by medical staff, the decision was taken to send him home, with PCA Players’ Player of the Year Denly coming out to Sri Lanka early.Denly has been preparing for his return to the England set-up after more than eight years, having been selected for the Test party following two impressive seasons with Kent in which his batting has been rejuvenated and his legspin a surprise success across the formats. He will arrive in Pallekele on Wednesday, hours before the third ODI, and could at some stage win his first one-day cap since the 2009 Champions Trophy.England have fielded three frontline spinners at the start of the series – Dawson joining Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid in the side – so unless Denly steps off the plane and straight into the side, it will likely mean a different balance and the chance for one of the other seamers to come into the team. Joe Root’s offspin could help cover for Dawson’s absence if required.Mark Wood, Tom Curran and Sam Curran have been carrying the drinks so far after England opted for a spin-heavy attack and also preferred Olly Stone to share the new ball with Chris Woakes.Dawson claimed one wicket in England’s victory in Dambulla, hustling through the overs alongside Moeen to ensure the 20-over mark was reached before rain arrived, meaning the result would stand without needing the reserve day. Early wickets for Woakes and Stone, during an impressive first spell at international level, had left Sri Lanka well behind the DLS target.
A surprise visitor to training this morning… pic.twitter.com/ETdHFMuQ2x
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 15, 2018
There was an extra visitor to England’s training session on Tuesday when a cobra was spotted by groundstaff behind the pavilion. It was removed with the help of a drain pipe and a sack. England’s players had spent some of their downtime in Dambulla getting up close with local wildlife around their hotel and on safari – some posted on Instagram holding a python – but it’s unlikely many would be volunteering to get too close on this occasion.It isn’t the first time, however, that England’s cricketers have encountered snakes in Sri Lanka. On the 2007 tour, two were spotted on the boundary’s edge during a warm-up match in Colombo. Matthew Hoggard was among the players keen for a closer look that day.*6PM BST – This story was updated with news of Denly replacing Dawson