Aaron Judge is a matchup nightmare for virtually any pitcher in MLB. At some points, teams are better off simply not pitching to him. That has been the case relatively often in 2025, as Judge was intentionally walked twice on Thursday night against the White Sox, bringing his tally to 36 on the year.

That's an American League record, as no player in the AL has been walked as many times in a single season. Of course, it still pales in comparison to Barry Bonds's 2004 campaign in which he was intentionally walked an absurd 120 times.

Judge was intentionally walked in both the second and sixth inning on Thursday, though the Yankees still came away with a 5–3 win, keeping their hopes of winning the AL East alive.

Judge has led MLB in intentional walks in each of the last two seasons. He received 20 free passes in 158 games last year, and is now at 36 in just 149 games in 2025. He has 104 intentional walks in his career.

Trailing Judge in the category this season are Jose Ramirez (22), Shohei Ohtani (20), Cal Raleigh (17) and Juan Soto (13).

MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo de Thiago Carpini sofreu para vencer o Ituano por 3 a 2, neste domingo (10), pela última rodada do Paulistão. Com o gol marcado nos últimos minutos, o Tricolor evitou o que seria uma desclassificação histórica.

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➡️ Tudo sobre o Tricolor agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso novo canal Lance! São Paulo

Após o jogo, o treinador cutucou o fato de que o clube poderia estar eliminado mesmo com uma das melhores campanhas do Estadual e ressaltou que o grupo do Tricolor é o mais complicado do torneio. Além disso, ele afirmou que poderia ter mais pontos, como uma indireta sobre a suposta arbitragem prejudicial à equipe do Morumbis em alguns jogos do Campeonato Paulista.

– Vejo a campanha satisfatória. (…) Implementamos ideias novas, suprimos algumas ausências no elenco com lesões. Não tivemos o Pablo Maia, Calleri saiu por lesão. Se colocarmos um panorama para o futuro tendo que nos reinventar, fomos a terceira melhor campanha. O sufoco foi porque caímos na chave mais complicada, com São Bernardo e Novorizontino. O São Paulo poderia ter ficado fora com 20 pontos, é o regulamento. Apesar de que poderíamos estar hoje classificados, vocês sabem o que estou falando. Poderíamos estar em uma situação em que o aspecto emocional não tivesse interferido tanto.

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➡️ Veja os grupos e datas dos confrontos no Paulistão

Sobre o jogo, Carpini explicou que tentou manter o resultado favorável quando ainda estava 2 a 1 para o São Paulo, com a entrada de novos nomes. Ele ficou satisfeito com o desempenho.

– Optei em fortalecer o setor defensivo e controlar o jogo com Rafinha e James. Ficaria um jogo seguro com 25, 30 minutos. Caminhava para um jogo mais tranquilo, com o Ituano sem pressionar muito a nossa saída. A ideia era proteger a entrada da área, tirar as dobras pelos lados. Em muitos momentos aconteceu. Daquilo que pensamos para proteger, aconteceu. Foram mais falhas em tomadas de decisões. Fiquei contente, mas claro que são situações a serem melhoradas – disse.

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➡️O QUE VEM POR AÍ?

As quartas de final estão marcadas para domingo (17), e o São Paulo jogará contra o Novorizontino, no Morumbi.

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São PauloThiago Carpini

حدد اتحاد الكرة، مواعيد مباريات دور الستة عشر والمباريات المؤجلة من دور الـ32 من بطولة كأس مصر الموسم الجاري 2025-2026.

وأخطر الاتحاد، الأندية المشاركة في المباريات المؤجلة من دور الـ32 والفرق المتأهلة إلى دور الستة عشر بالمواعيد المقررة.

طالع.. الأهلي يعلن تفاصيل إصابة أفشة وكريم فؤاد

وحسمت أندية سموحة والبنك الأهلي وبتروجيت وكهرباء الإسماعيلية وفاركو وإنبي حرس الحدود وطلائع الجيش والجونة تأهلها إلى دور الستة عشر حتى الآن.

وتتبقى مباريات الأهلي ضد المصرية للاتصالات، والزمالك ضد بلدية المحلة، والمصري ضد دكرنس، ومودرن سبورت ضد القناة، وبيراميدز ضد مسار، وسيراميكا كليوباترا ضد أبو قير للأسمدة، ونادي زد ضد نادي جي. مواعيد المباريات المؤجلة في دور الـ32 من كأس مصر

المصري ضد دكرنس – الإثنين – 22 ديسمبر – الساعة 2 ونصف ظهرًا

بيراميدز ضد مسار – الإثنين – 22 ديسمبر- 5 مساءًا

سيراميكا كليوباترا ضد أبو قير للأسمدة – الثلاثاء – 23 ديسمبر – 2 ونصف ظهرًا

زد ضد ألو إيجبت – الجمعة 26 ديسمبر- الساعة 2 ونصف ظهرًا

مودرن سبورت ضد القناة – السبت 27 ديسمبر – الساعة 7 ونصف مساءً

الزمالك ضد بلدية المحلة – السبت 27 ديسمبر – الساعة 2 والنصف مساءً

الأهلي ضد المصرية للاتصالات – السبت 27 ديسمبر – الساعة 5 مساءً مواعيد مباريات دور الـ16 من كأس مصر

طلائع الجيش ضد كهرباء الإسماعيلية – السبت 27 ديسمبر – الساعة 5 مساءً

البنك الأهلي ضد إنبي – الأحد 28 ديسمبر – الساعة 2 ونصف ظهرا

حرس الحدود ضد سموحة  – الأحد 28 ديسمبر – الساعة 2 ونصف ظهرا

Glasgow Rangers made two huge decisions on Monday as they announced that both CEO Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell had been removed from their posts at Ibrox.

Chairman Andrew Cavenagh revealed to Sky Sports, in the post below, that the Gers need different people in those two leadership positions moving forward in order for the club to be successful.

The Rangers chief was careful not to throw mud at Stewart and Thelwell for their work at Ibrox, but suggested that it was down to their performance in their respective roles, as he stated that they still aligned with the overarching project.

Given that Russell Martin’s tenure lasted 17 matches and several summer signings do not look up to scratch, it is hard to disagree with the club’s decision to part ways with both of them, particularly Thelwell.

Looking at the list of summer signings in the graphic above, it is easier to pick out the players who have flopped or struggled than it is to pick out the successes from the summer transfer window.

The summer signing that Thelwell may go on to be infamous at Ibrox for is Youssef Chermiti, as he arrived from his former club Everton in a big-money deal.

Why Rangers should not have signed Youssef Chermiti

To preface this, supporters and those at the club will, of course, be hoping that the Portugal U21 international goes on to prove everyone wrong and becomes a consistent goalscorer for the Light Blues.

However, at this moment in time, it looks like a deal that the Scottish giants should not have done, particularly for the reported money that was involved in the move.

Thelwell signed Chermiti for Everton from Sporting in a deal worth up to £15m in the summer of 2023, but he did not score a single competitive goal for the Toffees in two years during his time in England.

Then, after moving to Rangers in April, the sporting director signed the centre-forward for a second time, splashing £8m to bring him to Ibrox, in the most expensive Gers deal since Tore Andre Flo joined for £12m in 2000.

It is fair for supporters to expect a player to make an immediate impact in Glasgow when signed for that kind of money, as Chermiti is the club’s most expensive player in 25 years, but that has not been the case.

The former Everton marksman has scored one goal in 13 appearances in all competitions for the Light Blues, per Sofascore, which shows that the forward has failed to deliver much in the way of quality in the final third.

Starts

4

xG

1.29

Goals

0

Big chances missed

4

Big chances created

0

Assists

0

Pass accuracy

59%

Duel success rate

35%

As you can see in the table above, Chermiti has been incredibly underwhelming in the Europa League so far this season, failing to score from 1.29 xG after starting all four of his appearances in the competition.

The 21-year-old striker’s dismal form for the club so far suggests that Thelwell made a mistake when he signed the forward for £8m, because he has not made the kind of impact that Rangers should expect from such an expensive signing.

Chermiti, though, is not the only one of the summer signings you could argue that Thelwell should not have signed because of their performances in the 2025/26 campaign.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

The former Rangers sporting director swooped to bring in Jayden Meghoma on loan from Brentford to bolster Russell Martin’s full-back options, as the ex-Gers boss had worked with the youngster during their time together at Southampton.

Why Rangers should not have signed Jayden Meghoma

During the summer window, Thelwell decided to cash in on the two senior left-back options at Ibrox, selling Jefte to Palmeiras and Ridvan Yilmaz to Besiktas.

Whilst those respective sales were not horrendous decisions in isolation, this issue is that Meghoma was the only signing brought in to replace those two senior players.

4 Lads Had A Dream covered Ally McCoist’s claim that Rangers have “downgraded” across the pitch since last season, and referenced Meghoma in comparison to Jefte as one of the areas in which the team have failed to improve.

It is not the 19-year-old defender’s fault that he has been brought in to be a first-choice option for a team that is expected to win consistently and compete on the European stage, when his experience last season was playing 12 matches on loan at Preston in the English Championship.

Meghoma, unfortunately, does not look ready to be a first-choice left-back at this level at the moment, as evidenced by his statistics in comparison to Jefte’s at Scottish Premiership level.

Appearances

33

9

Key passes per game

1.0

0.7

Assists

4

1

Tackles + interceptions per game

3.3

3.3

Clearances per game

2.9

1.3

Duels won per game

5.5

4.0

Aerial duel success rate

57%

25%

Error led to shot or goal

1

2

As you can see in the table above, the Brazilian defender’s performances in the league last season were far more impressive than what the English teenager has produced in the division this term, offensively and defensively.

These statistics back up the claim that Rangers have “downgraded” by selling Jefte to sign Meghoma on loan, which adds more fuel to the fire surrounding the criticism of Thelwell’s summer recruitment.

Like Chermiti, it seems like Meghoma has been signed to fill a role that he is not ready to fill at this point in his development. They are both young players who have time to develop and improve, but neither of them look ready to be key players for Danny Rohl in the present.

Therefore, the signing of Meghoma was one of Thelwell’s worst clangers of the summer, alongside Chermiti, because he has failed to adequately replace Jefte at left-back, and it remains to be seen if either of them will end up being good enough this season.

Thelwell signing is a bigger waste of time than Chermiti & Miovski at Rangers

This Glasgow Rangers flop is a bigger waste of time this season than both Bojan Miovski and Youssef Chermiti.

ByDan Emery Nov 24, 2025

It has been a rough few days when it comes to sports fans acting normally when gifted a souvenir from an athlete.

At the U.S. Open, a man was spotted snatching the hat of Kamil Majchrzak out of the hands of a child. While Majchrzak made things right the next day, it was still an odd moment to behold.

On Friday night at LoanDepot Park, that awkward moment got its sequel. After Phillies centerfielder Harrison Bader hit a solo shot to put his team up 5–1 over the Marlins, a mini fracas broke out in the stands.

One Phillies fan hustled to retrieve the ball, nabbed it after a brief moment on the ground, and went back to his seat to give the ball to the young fan he was sitting with, presumably his son. But another fan, whose seat was closer to the initial landing spot of the ball, took issue with the move, and went over to give the fan that got the ball the business. Eventually, the fan who got the ball appeared to say, “fine, okay, whatever sheesh” and gave the ball back.

You can watch the scene unfold below.

On the one hand, we cannot see the moment that the ball was initially possessed, so it is possible that there were some dastardly moves done behind the seats that would offer more clarity to the scene. On the other hand, once a kid has the home run ball, it’s usually best policy to let the kid keep the home run ball.

Thankfully, the Marlins’ stadium staff went out of their way to make things right, hooking up the fan who was briefly without the home run ball with a new ball and a prize pack.

After the game, the Phillies made sure to give the fan an unforgettable moment as well, with Bader coming out to meet the family and offer up a signed bat.

A great gesture by the Phillies, but really a huge shoutout to the Marlins staff for acting in the moment to make sure everyone left the stadium with a happy memory instead of an awkward one. Seeing one team make such a gesture for opposing fans is just a nice reminder that a love of baseball can transcend a particular fandom or rooting interest.

All of that said, please, if you or a loved one happens to be in the stands when a home run ball is hit, or a player offers a fan their hat, or anything of the sort occurs and puts you in a position to possibly nab a souvenir, please just be normal about it.

The Philadelphia Phillies hosted the Detroit Tigers over the weekend in what could very well be a World Series preview. They were able to break out shiny new trade deadline acquisition Jhoan Duran twice over the three game set and both times he showcased why he was such an attractive asset.

Duran, who was part of the Minnesota Twins' sell-off, closed Friday night's victory in his debut in front of a raucous crowd and then did the same on Sunday night in front of a national television audience.

Of the 12 pitches he threw en route to picking up the save, four were among the five fastest ever hurled by a Phillie since the StatCast era began in 2008. Two at 102.5 mph, including the one that struck out Riley Greene to end the game, tied the previous record set by Jose Alvarado.

Duran added one at 102.7 mph and 103.3 mph for good measure.

Now, all of that is very exact and scientific. It's nice to have the actual numbers that prove no one's thrown this fast in a Phillies uniform in a long, long time. On the vibes side, one can understand why Philly fans are fired up to watch a new guy really zoom it in there as they compete for the National League East and hope to play deep into October.

Hard to think of a better welcome for the new closer at the end of the bullpen and hard to think Duran could have been more impressive in his new debut.

The 2025 MLB playoffs are heating up as teams battle for a shot at the World Series title.

While 12 teams entered the postseason bracket, 18 went home early. Of those teams on the outside looking in, eight are in search of new managers. What follows is a look at all the available managerial openings across the league, ranking them by their attractiveness to potential applicants.

8. Colorado Rockies

There is not much here to love, and manager Bud Black was mercifully let go in the middle of the season.

The Rockies lost 119 games in 2025 and had the worst run differential (-424) MLB has seen since 1899. The team has lost 100-plus games in three straight seasons and has a .356 winning percentage over the past four years. The bad part? The Rockies haven't taken advantage of their awful play to build for the future. MLB Pipeline ranks their farm system 24th in baseball, meaning there isn't much help on the way.

Catcher Hunter Goodman had an excellent season, so there's a plus, and former first-rounder Charlie Condon isn't too far away. But this year's first-rounder, Ethan Holliday, is just 18 and likely years from the big leagues, and the team's ownership doesn't seem interested in spending to improve the current roster. This isn't quite a dead-end job, but any manager taking it would be smart to get long-term job security.

7. Minnesota Twins

The Twins sold hard at the deadline and wound up finishing 70-92, and looking like a team trending in the wrong direction. Rocco Baldelli was fired following the season, but, honestly, this was not his fault.

There isn't much to be excited about here. Byron Buxton hit 35 home runs, Luke Keaschall had a nice debut season, and Joe Ryan has become a real frontline starter. Top prospect and former No. 5 overall pick Walker Jenkins is in Triple-A and clearly not far from making his debut. Beyond that, the Twins do have a deep farm system ranked No. 2 in baseball, but it will take time to see that come to fruition.

The biggest issue here is the unstable ownership situation. The Pohlad family tried to sell the franchise for about a year, then all of a sudden flipped a switch and opted to keep it. Instead, they took on minority owners in an attempt to pay down more than $425 million in debt. The roster might be better in the future, but right now things up and down the franchise look bleak.

6. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels are this high simply because the other two spots are abysmal right now. Ron Washington is out after a 72-90 season, but he didn't have much to work with. Owner Arte Morenos's club has one of the worst farm systems in baseball, the worst contract in the sport, and already has $126.9 million committed for 2026 for a roster that isn't any good.

The Angels had a bad season, and don't have much to be excited about. Mike Trout had the worst year of his career, Taylor Ward hit 36 home runs but doesn't offer much upside, and Rendon is still an active major leaguer and will make $38.6 million in 2026 to essentially be an empty uniform. Fans can get excited about 24-year-old shortstop Zach Neto, but… yeah, that's about it.

Moreno's franchise needs a complete overhaul from top to bottom.

5. Washington Nationals

The Nationals aren't close to winning a title, but there are a lot of solid building blocks in place. Washington should have been better than 66-96, which is why Dave Martinez lost his job in July.

James Wood, C.J. Abrams, and Dylan Crews can create the core to a really nice middle of the order, third baseman Brady House should hit once he's adjusted to the bigs, and with the right guidance, MacKenzie Gore could turn into a legit No. 1 starter. Meanwhile, righty Travis Sykora and shortstop Seaver King should supplement that group soon.

On top of that, the team only has $47.2 million in payroll committed for 2026, but $32.8 million of that is going to Stephen Strasburg, who retired in August of last year. Yikes. They currently only have $14.4 million committed to their active roster, which is the lowest in baseball. There's plenty of room to add here.

4. San Francisco Giants

The Giants looked like a playoff team for a chunk of the 2025 season, then they traded for Rafael Devers and fell apart. A late-season run almost got them into the postseason, but it didn't save Bob Melvin's job. There's some good stuff here. Devers, Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and youngster Bryce Eldridge fill out what can be a dangerous lineup, while Logan Webb and Robbie Ray are expensive, but can still get it done on the mound.

The issue here is depth: San Francisco doesn't have it. With Eldridge moving to the big leagues, the team's best prospects are all years away from joining him. The franchise has money and isn't afraid to spend, which means free agency could be the route to contention.

3. Texas Rangers

This job has been filled by Skip Schumaker, but it's worth going over the positives here. This is a team ready to compete now, but the future doesn't look great. The Rangers won the World Series in 2023, but have struggled to a .491 winning percentage over the past two seasons. Bruce Bochy parted ways with the franchise after the 2025 season.

The lineup boasts some juice with Corey Seager, youngster Wyatt Langford, and Marcus Semien, while the rotation is led by Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom. Evan Carter and Jack Leiter are both young talents who could emerge more consistently as well.

The downside here is that the Rangers' system boasts the No. 6 prospect in baseball, Sebastian Walcott, and not much else. The future third baseman or corner outfielder could reach the big leagues next season, but 2027 is more likely. Other than that, help is most definitely not on the way, so Texas will need to look outside the franchise to find the help it needs.

2. Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles were the most disappointing team in baseball during the 2025 season, which is why Brandon Hyde was fired in May. Despite a rough season that ended with a 75-87 record, there's a reason expectations were so high.

Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo, and uber-prospect Samuel Basallo combine to create the best young core in the game. On the mound, Trevor Rogers, Dean Kremer, Grayson Rodriguez, and Kyle Bradish front a crop of excellent starters. Talent is not the problem here.

It's also worth noting, new owner David Rubenstein seems willing to spend to win, which should come in handy when the team needs to supplement its roster. Don't be shocked if Baltimore is active this offseason.

1. Atlanta Braves

Injuries played a big part in the Braves flopping to a 76-86 record in 2025, but the team never seemed to get off the ground, even when healthy. Brian Snitker retired at the end of the season and will move into an advisory role as a result.

Still, with a rotation fronted by Spencer Strider, backed up by Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, and Grant Holmes, good things should be coming in the near future. On offense, Matt Olson remains an All-Star slugger, rookie catcher Drake Baldwin looks like a cornerstone, and the team still has Ronald Acuna Jr. and Austin Riley.

While that all sounds great, there are some downsides. One is the $214 million in payroll already committed for 2026, which likely limits the team's ability to build. The 28th-ranked farm system in baseball is also a drag on the organization. But any manager taking this job knows he has an excellent general manager in Alex Anthopoulos. This is a job where a new hire could win quickly.

The Guardians, despite their perennially small payroll, are a team that deals in outsized superlatives—the longest World Series drought, the longest no-hitter drought, and the largest in-season comeback in baseball history.

Despite accomplishing the last of those feats this season, Cleveland's 6–3 loss in Game 3 of its wild-card series against the Tigers Thursday ensured the first will continue. The Guardians had a runner on third in the ninth inning of Game 1 trailing by one run and won Game 2—only for the wheels to come off in a Game 3 that laid out the team's litany of flaws.

When the dust settles, Cleveland—rudderless and sub-.500 in early July—can reminisce fondly on essentially stealing a quality year as it phases in a new generation of talent. Here's a look at the problems that cost the Guardians against Detroit and the lessons the losing team can draw from them.

1. An already threadbare offense disappeared

The number ".226" followed Cleveland around like a specter during its short playoff stint—that was the team's batting average this year, the worst in the franchise's long history. The Guardians' .296 on-base percentage was a 53-year low; their .373 slugging percentage was a low for any full season this century. Even in September and October, the team hit just .242.

Lazy an observation as it may be, it is almost impossible to hit as poorly as Cleveland did all year and do protracted damage in the playoffs—even with a pitching staff as effective as the Guardians'. Thus, a one-run lead for the Tigers in Game 1 became insurmountable, and only a big eighth inning could save Cleveland in Game 2.

The Guardians, zealous platoon advocates, gave a glut of at-bats early on to some of their worst hitters: right fielder Johnathan Rodriguez (.197), first baseman Jhonkensy Noel (.162), and catcher Austin Hedges (.161) took seven at-bats combined (Hedges drew two walks in Game 1). When they rolled the dice on young talents such as right fielder George Valera and center fielder Chase DeLauter from Game 2 onward, the offense seemed to receive a modest jolt—perhaps a preview of coming attractions for 2026.

2. Small mistakes proved costly

Cleveland's defense-and-fundamentals-first approach—while undeniably entertaining to watch—had the adverse effect of shrinking the Guardians' margin of error to near zero. The trouble began for Cleveland in the first inning of Game 1, when Rodriguez misplayed a fly ball that opened the door for Detroit to score the first run of the series. Noel, too, made a costly error while playing out of his natural position (though manager Stephen Vogt correctly gave him credit for ensuring the play didn't go even more haywire).

Even third baseman José Ramírez—the Guardians' nerve center for over a decade now and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer—wasn't immune to the blunders Cleveland so carefully avoided late in the season. He ran into a crucial out in the ninth inning of Game 1, and in Game 3 appeared to slow up running to second base after a Tigers error—only for pitcher Will Vest to throw him out and extinguish the Guardians' last significant threat.

3. The Tigers beat them at their own game

On Sept. 23, Cleveland beat Detroit during its furious push for the division title with the help of a classic display of small ball. The Guardians stitched together two bunts, an infield hit, a wild pitch, a balk and a groundout to scrounge out three of their five runs in a 5–2 victory. It was part of a streak where every break in the American League seemed to be vacuumed into a black hole on the shores of Lake Erie.

As it turns out, the Tigers—a team, as ESPN announcers Sean McDonough and Todd Frazier pointed out, had five sacrifice hits —are quick learners. Detroit turned that formula back on Cleveland on multiple occasions this series, taking the lead in Game 1 on a well-placed bunt by third baseman Zach McKinstry (dubbed the "Zachrifice" by the Tigers' X account). Center fielder Parker Meadows, too, chipped in with a critical bunt in Game 3. The moral of this story for the Guardians may be the sheer fungibility of their luck-centric approach over the long term—but Cleveland fans can take heart in the knowledge that their front office's eagerness to control every variable has kept the Guardians one of baseball's most vital organizations for a decade and counting.

They didn’t have a batsman or bowler in the top five, but they have the trophy, which is what matters

Sreshth Shah in Potchefstroom10-Feb-2020At the end of the Under-19 World Cup 2020 final, India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal (400 runs) and Ravi Bishnoi (17 wickets) finished as the most successful batsman and bowler of the competition respectively, but the title of world champions went to Bangladesh. That’s because, on the big day, it was teamwork that made Bangladesh’s dream work.Like in the whole tournament, Jaiswal and Bishnoi were the best individual performers on the day, the opening batsman scoring 88 and the legspinner picking up a four-wicket haul to give India a sniff. But there were at least five performances from the Bangladesh players, none of which as sparkling as Jaiswal’s or Bishnoi’s, but added up to more on the day.When Bangladesh captain Akbar Ali walked out to bat in their chase of 178, Bangladesh were 65 for 4 – all four wickets going to Bishnoi – and in the midst of an epic Indian comeback. Entering the match, Akbar had scored only 26 runs in three games and Bishnoi was turning the ball sharply both ways. Akbar had to not only get himself in, but navigate the game while protecting the lesser batsmen at the other end. He did so for 6.5 overs, guiding bowling allrounders Shamim Hossain and Avishek Das, but when both of them were sent back in quick succession, Bangladesh were tottering again at 102 for 6.ALSO READ: Akbar Ali, and a slice of Bangladesh historyBut Akbar had one trump card in his ranks. Parvez Hossain Emon, the opener who had retired hurt on 25 due to cramps in the 13th over, had looked in control against the new ball. And he was going to come out if needed. When they met in the middle following Das’ dismissal, they could see the clouds overhead turning greyer by the moment. They needed 76 more, and Akbar and Parvez had to score most of them. So they went for the counter-attack with Bishnoi out of the attack. Helped by wides and byes from the Indians, they eked out 41 runs in the next nine overs. As Bangladesh went ahead of the game again, they went from aggressive to defensive. And so, when Jaiswal, the part-timer, was introduced, Parvez looked to break the shackles, only to be caught at cover to depart for 47. But Bangladesh were 143 for 7 by then.”Emon showed his character,” Akbar said after the game. “He wasn’t even at his 30%. When Emon came to the dressing room during cramping, that was the crunch moment with two new batsmen and India dominating. After the sixth wicket when Emon returned, the way he batted… I am really proud of him.

Shoriful’s 40th over changed the climate. Was a fantastic bowling effort to restrict India below 180. At the toss, we would’ve accepted anything under 220Akbar Ali

“We wanted to keep things simple in the chase. Wanted to maintain the process. [Openers] Tanzid Hasan and Emon gave us a very good start, but Ravi bowled exceptionally well, so need to give credit to him.”When I entered the chase, I knew we needed one big partnership from us. And we came to the party. When I was batting, the plan was to not lose many wickets since rain was around, so had to keep one eye on the DLS.”But it wasn’t over. In walked Rakibul Hasan at No. 9, his previous highest score in top-flight cricket being 1 not out. With the team ahead of the DLS par score – albeit marginally – and plenty of overs to go, the objective changed for Akbar and Rakibul – stay put. The 35 runs needed, a win would come if they played their cards right. So, through the next 11 overs, Akbar blocked and blocked and blocked. He ran only if he could take twos, and if things went according to plan, Rakibul would not face more than one delivery per over.Over by over, Akbar and Rakibul inched closer to the target. As the partnership grew, so did Rakibul’s confidence, and Akbar began to rely on his partner a bit more. From facing one ball an over, Rakibul was facing three – he even played out a whole over from the dangerous Bishnoi. Every run took Bangladesh closer to the target, and they were all met with applause that increased in intensity.A joyous Bangladesh team after winning the Under-19 World Cup•ICC via GettyWith 15 runs to win and the team 18 ahead of the DLS par, the rain came down – in the 41st over. But that worked in Bangladesh’s advantage because of how slow India’s over-rate was. When the teams returned, eight runs were shaved off Bangladesh’s target. They came on cue, from Rakibul, and sent the Bangladesh crowd – and players – into ecstasy. For his composed batting in the midst of pressure he had never faced before, Akbar collected the Player-of-the-Match award along with the big trophy.”In the first half of the tournament, I wasn’t getting much runs. In the final, opportunity came to me. I had to be the chase-man, the finisher, so happy to do that for my team,” he said.Akbar also praised Bangladesh’s bowling attack, particularly left-arm seamer Shoriful Islam, who finished with 2 for 31 and ran Bishnoi out, doing the job in his follow through as the Indians were looking to steal a single in the 44th over. Two overs before that, Shoriful had delivered a double-blow, dismissing Jaiswal and Siddhesh Veer in consecutive deliveries. It triggered a collapse of epic proportions with the defending champions losing seven wickets for 21 runs to fold for 177.”After winning the toss, we wanted to take early wickets,” Akbar said. “We got the opener (Divyaansh Saxena), but Tilak Varma and Jaiswal had a very good partnership.”In the middle of the innings, we thought we had to chase 240, but Shoriful’s 40th over changed the climate. Was a fantastic bowling effort to restrict India below 180. At the toss, we would’ve accepted anything under 220.”It was this teamwork and togetherness than helped Bangladesh clinch the crown. Bangladesh’s highest-run scorer of the tournament – Mahmudul Hasan Joy – finished at No. 15 on the list of highest run-scorers. But, importantly, Nos. 18 and 19 were also from Bangladesh – Tanzid and Shahadat Hossain, respectively. Their highest wicket-taker, Rakibul, finished joint sixth on the list of highest wicket-takers with 12 strikers, but Shoriful had nine, Tanzim Hasan Sakib had seven and Shamim Hossain five.The Bangladesh players didn’t necessarily produce performances that would dominate the World Cup highlights reel, but you don’t need be there to be champions. That’s what worked for them and, perhaps, proved the difference between victory and defeat for India.

Neil Wagner wasn’t playing, but he was there in spirit, as NZ quicks employed the short-ball tactic with success

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Wellington23-Feb-20200:52

Short-ball plan against Kohli was a good one: Boult

Neil Wagner wasn’t at the Basin Reserve, but he was there in spirit.New Zealand had hardly missed him in the first innings, when Kyle Jamieson had proved to be a dissimilar but able replacement, and when the pitch gave their fast bowlers all the assistance they needed to bowl in mostly conventional Test-match fashion.But now, on day three, when India began their second innings, New Zealand might have noted the absence of their hatchet man as they trooped onto the field. They were 183 ahead, yes, but that’s not necessarily a watertight position on pitches in this country, which often flatten out around the time when both teams have completed their first innings.This pitch still had something in it, but it quickly became evident, as Tim Southee and Trent Boult got into their new-ball spells, that that something wasn’t necessarily seam movement off a good length. Once the swing subsided, the biggest ingredient for the fast bowlers to work with was bounce – or its vagaries, to be more precise.This wasn’t the kind of up-and-down pitch where some balls rear up and others scoot through low. The short ball, instead, was coming off the pitch at unpredictable pace. Some were skidding through quickly, others were stopping on the pitch and rising a little more steeply than expected.Wagner may well have bowled all day here, if he’d been around. He wasn’t, so Southee, Boult and Kyle Jamieson took turns bowling like him: hitting the middle of the pitch hard, from over and around the wicket, creating awkward angles by varying their positions on the crease.”I think the luxury is that I have played a lot of cricket at the Basin Reserve,” Boult said at his end-of-day press conference. “Generally, the wind is the biggest thing to deal with. But if I can chop and change those angles and not let a batsman get familiar or get set with what I’m trying to do, then I hope that will interrupt them.Trent Boult is pumped up after accounting for Virat Kohli•Getty Images”That’s the luxury of being a left-armer and being able to use those subtle changes. The red balls here in New Zealand haven’t been swinging as much as they have in the past, and if that’s not happening for me then it comes down to changing angles and using different parts of the crease.”Given the length New Zealand’s quicks bowled, the fields were heavily leg-side-oriented. Typically, there would be a long leg and a deep forward square leg on the boundary, and a leg gully and a forward short leg close to the bat. Occasionally, there would be something a little more unusual.For the first seven overs of India’s innings, Southee and Boult had bowled normal new-ball lengths, looking for swing and edges to the cordon. Mayank Agarwal, solidly, and Prithvi Shaw, less so, had moved India to 22 for no loss in that period.Then, in the eighth over, Boult went around the wicket to Shaw, stationing three fielders square on the leg side. He moved his fine leg to deep backward square leg, and then stationed two fielders at almost handshaking distance some 20 yards from the bat, a square leg and a square midwicket..Shaw dealt comfortably with the first two balls from the new angle, getting on top of the second one and chopping it between second slip and gully. The third ball, though, came out exactly as Boult wanted it to. It was short, angling into the batsman’s left shoulder, and skidding through quickly off the surface. Shaw had no room to pull, and just about managed a weak flick, which popped up to the fielder at catching square leg, Tom Latham, who took it smartly diving to his left.If he had been watching, Wagner would have nodded his approval.The thing about Wagner, though, isn’t so much that he bowls short to take bursts of wickets in the full-frontal, Mitchell Johnson way. He doesn’t have the pace for it. He’ll get the ball up to awkward heights, get it to come off the pitch at a hard-to-predict pace, and make life exceedingly difficult, but at Test level, quality batsmen can still survive this sort of examination.Boult, Southee and Jamieson aren’t Mitchell Johnson either. Their short bowling, therefore, was of the Wagnerian sort: nasty and brutish, but primarily defensive in intent.You can bowl like that when you’re sitting on a big lead. When India’s fast bowlers had bowled short earlier in the day, New Zealand’s lower order could afford to pull and hook with abandon, because they were already ahead and were looking to stretch their lead with a smash-and-grab approach. It was a high-risk, high-reward strategy, and on another day, they may have lost their last three wickets for not as many while taking the same approach, and not lost too much sleep over it.Hanuma Vihari evades a bouncer•Getty ImagesIndia, however, were trying to overcome a sizeable deficit, and could not afford to lose a clump of wickets playing low-percentage shots. Not on this pitch. So Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara, Agarwal and Virat Kohli, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, and then Rahane and Hanuma Vihari – all these pairs embarked on the painful path of trying to survive the short ball – ducking, weaving, or riding the bounce and playing with soft hands – and wait for mistakes.New Zealand’s bowlers hardly made any. This pitch gave them a bigger margin for error than one with truer bounce might have, but even so, it was a remarkable effort from the three fast bowlers to offer up nothing that sat up to pull, and very little that could be cut or slashed.”With the luxury of playing a bit of cricket on this wicket, we know it’s a very good wicket generally and day three and four is the best time to bat,” Boult said. “It’s slightly drier than what we’re used to but we know accuracy is a big thing.”Playing against Indian batsmen, they like to feel the bat on ball and free their hands. Being a left-armer – I’m not giving you all my secrets but I’m going to bowl around the wicket to change that angle.”Another factor that allowed the three quicks to bowl this way was a man who ended the day with figures of 0 for 25, having bowled 14 overs of naggingly accurate, into-the-wind military-medium outswing. Colin de Grandhomme remains a hugely underrated Test cricketer, but not for too much longer if he keeps batting the way he did on Sunday morning with the lower order – playing classically straight, timing the ball like a dream when he had to, but otherwise curbing his attacking instincts – and bowling the way he did later on – he was almost unerringly accurate, wobbling the ball just enough, and incredibly hard to score off, with two short covers – three when Pujara was on strike – and a short midwicket to complement mid-on and mid-off in cutting off the straight-bat shots.”He has found a way to be very defensive but very aggressive at the same time,” was how Boult described de Grandhomme’s bowling. “He almost plays the role like a spinner, and being able to bowl a few overs and control the run rate nicely. He has been very good for us and has been very frustrating for some oppositions.”How frustrating, exactly? Well, of every bowler who’s taken at least 20 wickets since de Grandhomme’s debut, only one, James Anderson, has a better economy rate than his 2.42.The presence of this metronomic fifth bowler allowed Boult, Southee and Jamieson to mostly bowl with the wind at their back – with Southee doing the into-the-wind role when needed – and usually while relatively fresh.Together, it was a masterclass in the waiting game. And India responded mostly in kind. It was an achievement, in a way, to only lose four wickets in 65 overs against bowling this relentless, but the runs came at a drip.Tim Southee and his team-mates celebrate Mayank Agarwal’s wicket•Getty ImagesFrustratingly for India, they lost wickets in avoidable ways. Cheteshwar Pujara suffered a momentary lapse of judgment with tea imminent, and shouldered arms to a Boult inswinger that didn’t start from all that wide outside off stump. Agarwal did all the hard work and got to 58, reaping the rewards for his patience against the fast bowlers by cashing in during a brief spell of left-arm spin from Ajaz Patel, before getting caught behind off a half-volley outside leg stump. Virat Kohli was the one batsman out while trying to hook a short ball. It was a low-percentage shot, given the field Boult had set, but such errors aren’t unusual when a batsman is under constant pressure.Boult acknowledged the pressure from Jamieson at the other end while talking about Kohli’s wicket.”In terms of Virat, he likes to feel the bat on ball like a couple of their guys,” he said. “Definitely almost we miss [our lengths and lines], he hits, and he hits it well and gets boundaries. From our point of view we were trying to dry that up and for me personally using the wicket and the shorter ball was a good plan to try and control his run rate.”It is nice to draw the error out of him but I think the way that Kyle has been bowling the whole match, especially that spell he bowled to him and not letting him get away to a racing start was a big part of it.”At stumps, India were 144 for 4, still trailing by 39 runs. They’ve gotten through two extended sessions of waiting game against waiting game, suffering a significant but not yet grievous loss of resources in the process, and they’ll have to get through a whole lot more of it if they are to make anything of this Test match.