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If Tottenham Hotspur finish in the top four at the end of the season they will have multiple people to thank.

Heung-min Son and Harry Kane have been as dangerous as they have ever been this term but ultimately the gratitude must go to Daniel Levy, a man whose cut-throat decision making allowed for Nuno Santo to depart after a matter of months before being replaced by a serial winner in Antonio Conte.

The Italian has made this Spurs team a more regimented and organised side, one who has both benefitted from his tactics but also his eye in the transfer market, with Dejan Kulusevksi and Rodrigo Bentancur improving the starting XI considerably.

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The former wasn’t required on Sunday until appearing as a late substitute but the latter was important and reliable once again.

Couple the Uruguayan’s aggressive but calming influence in the middle of the park with Kane’s composure from the spot and Tottenham had secured a 1-0 win.

The awarding of the penalty may have been fortunate but the performances don’t matter at this stage as all Spurs need are results.

In order to qualify for next season’s Champions League, they will need all of the resources and all of their squad to get there.

That has been seen over the last few days with Davinson Sanchez stepping in admirably for Christian Romero who will miss the rest of the season.

That injury blow was a blessing in disguise for not just the Colombian who has now registered clean sheets in successive games, but also Joe Rodon, who starred for a brief few moments as the clock wound down in the capital on Sunday.

Rodon has found game time hard to come by since signing for the Lilywhites and has played just 86 minutes in the Premier League throughout 2021/22. Yet, his most vital minutes were arguably this weekend.

It’s safe to say the Welshman hasn’t pulled up too many trees at Tottenham but his late header to stem a Burnley attack in the dying embers was crucial. He stood firm, planted himself underneath the ball and powered a header away from the danger zone.

It was a passage of play that Football.London journalist Alasdair Gold was quick to pick up on, taking to Twitter at full-time to say: “Might go unnoticed but a big late header there from Joe Rodon to clear the lines at a vital moment as Burnley probed in the final moments.”

Rodon didn’t have much to do when he was on the pitch but his contribution was vital, winning his one and only defensive duel with that aforementioned header and completing 100% of his passes too.

It was a backs to the wall finish from Conte’s army but he will be delighted to have got over the line thanks to Rodon’s late efforts.

Perhaps he ought to get more opportunities next season?

AND in other news, Sold at £21.2m, then became a “Rolls-Royce”: Levy made big error on Spurs’ next Modric…

Faf du Plessis’ team is all about breaking stereotypes, and if that means going into a Cape Town Test without a spinner for only the third time in 25 years, so be it

Liam Brickhill in Cape Town03-Jan-2019Castle Lager picked up the sponsor’s tab for this Test series against Pakistan, and the outfield at Newlands is adorned with the beer company’s #SmashTheLabel campaign ads. The gist is to break down the stereotypes South Africa’s disparate groups and peoples have created for each other, and using the hashtag you can nominate someone on social media to win a free ticket to the cricket, provided they’ve never been to a match before.Castle, and Cricket South Africa, are trying to attract people other than the stereotypical cricket fan to the ground. The common or garden Capetonian is pigeonholed as a laidback, dope-smoking, driving-slowly-in-the-fast-lane-on-the-way-to-the-beach, knocking-off-at-3-o’clock-on a-Friday-to-go-surfing, cooler-than-thou hipster. An afternoon stroll around the ground showed that a lot of the people attending this match still fit the cliche. But a whole lot didn’t, and South African cricket is slowly but surely stretching beyond its traditional boundaries. The recentMzansi Super League was a signifier of that transformation, and South African cricket crowds – Newlands included – are increasingly diverse.That wasn’t the only label smashed today. The stereotypical Newlands track has a bit of wobble and a five-for for Vernon Philander in it, and starts to turn on day four. Three quicks and a spinner is the standard arrangement for both visiting and hosting teams here, and examples of any deviation from that formula are few and far between. South Africa had no specialist spinner in their XI here five years ago against Australia, but that plan backfired as JP Duminy and Dean Elgar bowled a combined 61 overs in that game, and South Africa lost by 245 runs.You’d have to go back to well before the turn of the millennium to find another Newlands Test that South Africa played without a specialist spinner – or someone like Nicky Boje or Robin Peterson, who perhaps weren’t quite ‘specialist’ in the truest sense, but were the next best thing in the South African context. So conducive can the Newlands track be to spin that Paul Adams once opened the bowling here, against England way back in 2000. Paul Harris won a Player-of-the-Match award here, for goodness sake.South Africa thus broke down a major stereotype at this ground when they decided on four fast bowlers this morning, which is a combination normally reserved for the Wanderers or Centurion. Indeed, Philander has played 55 of his 56 Tests with either Dale Steyn or Kagiso Rabada to share the new ball with, but day one at Newlands was only the seventh time all three had operated together, and the very first time that they had all been together in an attack wholly centered around pace.Dale Steyn made the opening incision•AFPThe decision to go against the grain in selection clearly worked. Steyn and Philander. Rabada and Olivier. Rabada and Steyn. Philander and Olivier. No matter which way South Africa’s four quicks were combined, there was no let-up in the pressure exerted on Pakistan, and they were blasted out by tea.Philander is regarded as the undisputed King of Cape Town, but perhaps that’s not a label that fits either: Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock have all taken more wickets here. Or maybe it does: Philander took his 50th wicket in his 10th Newlands Test this morning, while Pollock took 51 in 11 and Ntini 53 in 13. Steyn has 70 but has played five more Tests than Philander here, and Philander has, by far, the best strike rate of the four, taking a wicket every 35.7 balls under the mountain.Philander is part of a South African squad that is embracing change, and smashing labels along the way. Indeed, they’ve come a long way since the aloof, burly-man clique of the noughties that had a reputation for making the team rookie feel like a fuzzy-lipped 13-year-old being hazed into his first day of big school.Things have changed. The world has moved on. And the label no longer fits. Current captain Faf du Plessis welcomed the uncapped Zubayr Hamza to the Test squad with an invite to come and stand in the slips if he gets a chance to take the field as 12th man.”I’m looking forward to him coming on to the field as 12th man and getting one of those high ones that just test you as a youngster, just to see where you are with a bit of swirl in the wind here in Cape Town,” du Plessis said of Hamza. “Hopefully he takes it. He’s a good fielder. I made a joke with him yesterday, to say is he ready to come and field in the slips there with the big boys. And he said yes, he’ll come, he’s ready for it.”One doesn’t like to stereotype, but it’s hard to imagine the Smith-Kallis-de Villiers cordon inviting a fresh-out-the-box greenhorn into the slips with them.But I digress. Life is different under Faf. As a captain, he is not above a bit of 21st century PDA to thank his players for a good performance, as when he said he’d give Steyn a kiss on the cheek to congratulate him on the Test bowling record, or when he enveloped Dean Elgar – lying prone having held a blinder at third slip – with a bear hug this morning.Tabraiz Shamsi, who was not at Newlands but was clearly watching, tweeted: “U will know you’ve found ur soul mate when u find somebody who hugs u the way @faf1307 hugs his bowlers when they take an important wicket lol.” Du Plessis is willing to experiment, smash labels, and be different. Hell, he’ll even play four quicks on a pitch that traditionally has something for the spinners if he needs to.

A fitter, faster Bangladesh will focus on showing up well-prepared to face New Zealand as they look for their first series win in the country

Mohammad Isam24-Dec-2016Little can be gleaned about a rivalry where the teams have played only two times in the last three years, but a look back at bilateral records between Bangladesh and New Zealand throws up interesting numbers. While Bangladesh have been on the losing side between 2001 and 2010 at home and away, in the recent past they have had the wood on New Zealand, especially in ODIs.Bangladesh’s 3-0 win in the 2013 ODI series was a follow-up to the surprising 4-0 result in 2010. Bangladesh had a quiet 2014. But since 2015, they have become a fitter, faster and smoother team. In the 2015 World Cup, New Zealand’s bowlers were made to work hard by Bangladesh in one of their closest matches during the group stage.Bangladesh followed that up with a hot streak at home, beating three top sides in ODIs. They have played six matches in 2016, with three wins and as many losses, but still enjoyed success with a maiden Test victory over England recently.The trip to New Zealand is Bangladesh’s first bilateral away tour after visiting the West Indies in August 2014. Since that West Indies tour, Bangladesh have won 21 out of 29 ODIs and have an average scoring rate of 5.48 per over, compared to an overall rate of 4.44. That improvement in the run rate is telling as it has meant bigger scores, and, thus, more cushion for the bowling unit.Along the way, they have discovered match-winners like Mustafizur Rahman, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and Mehedi Hasan Miraz, even as senior players like Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah have gone deeper into their roles in various formats.To gain all-round balance, head coach Chandika Hathurusingha has put in place a stringent training regimen since the 2015 World Cup, stressing on a high degree of preparation before every competition. This approach has been followed for the New Zealand tour too. Bangladesh trained in Sydney for nine days, playing two practice matches, and arrived early in New Zealand where they played another practice match.Although they lost in Whangerei on Thursday, Bangladesh have shown they are a better-prepared side, with long pre-series camps and practice games in conditions similar to the ones likely for the matches. Allrounder Mahmudullah is perhaps the best example of how a cricketer can improve by leaps and bounds even after playing international cricket for eight years.During the training camp at home and in Australia prior to the 2015 World Cup, Mahmudullah’s constant use of a granite slab to master shots on the up helped him score two centuries in the tournament. Earlier this year, his work during training camps in Khulna and Chittagong made him Bangladesh’s designated hitter in T20s.Hathurusingha and limited-overs captain Mashrafe have also put in much effort to build a strong pace attack. During the World Cup, Rubel Hossain and Taskin Ahmed bowled well before Bangladesh discovered Mustafizur, whose bag of tricks has changed the way opponents think about the side’s bowling.For the ODIs against New Zealand, they have seamers Subashis Roy, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and the raw Ebadot Hossain in the mix. Subashis was picked for the Test against England but did not get a game. Rabbi is proficient at bowling yorkers, while little is known about Ebadot, who at this time last year, was playing volleyball for the Bangladesh Air Force.Bangladesh would also want their skilled batting unit to carry their form at home into the matches overseas. Tamim is currently the team’s best batsman and he will be expected to bring his experience into the fold against New Zealand’s vaunted pace attack.Imrul Kayes has developed into a more aggressive opener while Sabbir, Mahmudullah, Shakib, and newcomer Mosaddek Hossain will look to provide stability at different stages of the innings. Sabbir and Mosaddek also have their own challenges: while Sabbir will look to get over his off-field actions during the BPL, Mosaddek has yet to pass the short-ball test.Fans in New Zealand would remember a tame Bangladesh unit touring the shores in previous years, notching up losses like the one in the Queenstown ODI in 2007, which remains the largest margin of defeat in a match between Full Members in terms of balls remaining. This time, however, a different team will walk out to play – one that crushed New Zealand at home, one that runs faster, and bats and bowls with more heart and mind in the contest.

Statistical highlights from day two of the second Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies at the P Sara Oval

Shiva Jayaraman23-Oct-20152006 The last time before today when Sri Lanka took the first-innings lead after making 200 or fewer while batting first in Tests. They had bowled out Pakistan for 176 in the first innings at the SSC, after they themselves were dismissed for 185. Overall this is only the fourth such instance for Sri Lanka in Tests. This is also the seventh time that West Indies have conceded a first-innings lead after bowling out their opposition for 200 or less. The previous such instance for West Indies had also come in 2006, against India in Jamaica, when they had bowled out the visitors to 200 and then got bowled out for just 103.4/34 Dhammika Prasad’s returns in West Indies’ first innings – his second-best bowling figures in an innings in Tests. This is the third four-wicket haul he has taken in his last three Tests at the P Sara Oval. He had taken 4 for 43 against India and 4 for 92 against Pakistan in the previous two Tests. Prasad has 23 wickets at the P Sara – the most he has at any venue – at an average of 21.78.55 Partnership runs between Kaushal Silva and Kusal Mendis for Sri Lanka’s second wicket, the highest of the match and only the first fifty-plus stand. As many as five partnerships of between 30 and 39 runs have come in this Test of which 16 have gone into double-digits, but the second-wicket stand in Sri Lanka’s second innings was the first to reach 50 runs.2001 The last time before this Test when two openers of a team got at least one golden duck in each innings. Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne were dismissed for a duck off the first ball they faced in the first and second innings of this Test. Incidentally, the previous instance too had happened in a match between the same teams, but on that occasion it had been the two West Indies openers – Daren Ganga and Chris Gayle – who had got out off the first ball. This was only the sixth such instance and the second for Sri Lanka: both their openers had got out without scoring on the first ball they had faced in the first innings of the Kandy Test against South Africa in 2000.8 Total runs added by the opening stands in three innings in this Test. Only seven other Tests have had eight or fewer runs scored for the opening stands from three or more innings. The previous such instance came in the Cape Town Test between South Africa and New Zealand in 2012. However, there is one more innings left to be played in the ongoing Test.13 Runs Marlon Samuels scored in West Indies’ first innings. Samuels has now failed to score more than 15 runs in his last 12 Test innings against Sri Lanka. His 16 innings against them have produced just 151 runs at an average of 10.06. Only two other batsmen have averaged lower against an opposition from 15 or more innings batting in the top-order (No. 1 to No. 7). Ken Rutherford averaged 6.78 from 15 innings against West Indies and Charlie Turner averaged 9.85 against England from 15 innings.222 Runs scored from 90 overs that were bowled in the second day of this Test, the fifth-lowest on any day at P Sara Oval in Tests since 2000. This is also the second-lowest total on the second day of any Test since 2000 at this venue. Only 191 runs were scored in the second day of the Test between the hosts and England in 2012.0 Boundaries by Kaushal Silva in his 90-ball unbeaten innings of 31. He has batted out 66 dots and has taken 17 singles and seven twos. This is only the second time in his last 11 innings that he has managed more than 30 runs.

Andrew Flintoff deserves a chance to try and find out if he can still hack it, for his body was broken in the service of England

George Dobell31-May-2014It would be easy to be cynical about the return of Andrew Flintoff. It would be easy to dismiss his comeback as a publicity stunt, or the symptom of a mid-life crisis. It would be easy, and probably quite legitimate, to point out that his return will displace a younger man in the Lancashire team who might have been working towards this opportunity his whole career.But none of that stuff matters. Not really. Not in the grand scheme of things.The purpose of the relaunched NatWest T20 Blast is to fill grounds and inspire new supporters and players. And the fact is that Flintoff, even aged 36 and nearly five years into retirement, remains one of very few Englishmen to have broken out of the confines of cricket to become something approaching a household name.His return will guarantee wider media coverage for the tournament and should help bring more people to games. In the context of an event fighting for limelight amid a football World Cup and myriad other rivals, Flintoff’s return is cause for celebration.There is a lesson here, though. Flintoff’s fame was cemented by his Man-of-the-Series winning performance in the Ashes of 2005; a series in which he bowled with pace and skill, batted with bravado and skill and showed the sort of grace in victory that portrayed the game in a flattering light.But crucially, that Ashes series was the last shown on free to air TV in the UK. So while other players since have had periods of outstanding form, none have quite gone on to make the crossover from cricket to mainstream media personality. Flintoff’s all-round excellence was one reason for his popularity and fame, but that fact that he had a larger stage and a bigger audience was also relevant.The fear has to be that, for all the benefits of the finance pumped into the game by selling TV rights to one subscription broadcaster, it is almost impossible to replace the reach of a free to air coverage.It is almost impossible the recapture the public imagination in the same way as it was in the summer of 2005. And for that reason, the English game is still looking for new heroes to replace those that have retired.The interest generated by Flintoff’s return only underlines the difficulty the modern game has in appealing to a new audience and remaining relevant. It also underlines the need the game has to exploit the stars it has; the failure of the ECB to fully utilise Kevin Pietersen this way remains a regret.Who knows if Flintoff’s body can handle the demands of a return? Who knows if his batting – so modest towards the end of his career – can prove destructive or his bowling rediscover the pace it once had? But, had his body not failed him, Flintoff would have been a T20 specialist long ago.He deserves a chance to try and find out if he can still hack it, for his body was broken in the service of England. It was broken when bowling 40 overs in an innings against South Africa at Headingley in 2008; when bowling 68.3 overs in a match against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in 2006. It was broken in finding one more spell, again and again, on the flattest of pitches and with the softest of balls, in helping England back to respectability after years of mediocrity.He deserves a bit more credit than he is sometimes given. And, if there were times when he had to let off steam… well, all that bowling must have been thirsty work.

Modern coaches speak of the importance of executing plans, but Mike Hesson left plenty to be desired in the execution of his plan to split New Zealand’s captaincy.

Brydon Coverdale07-Dec-2012When Mike Hesson took over as New Zealand’s coach in July, he was lauded for his man-management skills. But it’s hard to imagine a clumsier handling of the team’s captaincy over the past month. Ross Taylor, New Zealand’s leader and best batsman, has been left feeling so alienated that he is taking a break from the game, Brendon McCullum has been thrust into a job that not even Hesson intended him to have, and Hesson must now find a way to unite the squad ahead of a series against the world’s No.1 Test side.The crux of the problem appears to be Hesson’s failure to communicate one key point to Taylor during a meeting on November 13. That was the day after Sri Lanka completed a 3-0 series victory in the ODIs, and four days before the first Test in Galle. Hesson was unhappy with the direction New Zealand had been heading in the shorter formats; they had slipped to ninth in the ODI rankings, below Bangladesh, and had been knocked out of the ICC World Twenty20 at the group stage.In Hesson’s mind, there was one obvious solution: splitting the captaincy. Taylor, who had taken over the leadership in the middle of 2011 and presided over the Test team’s first win in Australia in a quarter of a century, would retain control of the Test team. He would play in the shorter formats but would hand the reins there to Brendon McCullum, allowing Taylor to focus all his leadership attention on the Test side.It was a plan that might have had merit, but as modern coaches like to say, plans are only as good as their execution. Hesson’s execution was about as precise as a bowler who leaks 30 runs in the last over of a World Cup final. At that meeting on November 13 – remember, this is the Tests in Sri Lanka – Hesson told Taylor that he would recommend leadership changes after the tour. He meant in the short formats. But he didn’t tell that to Taylor.”The news and the timing was distressing,” Taylor said in a statement on Friday. He went on to lead New Zealand through the two Tests, presumably under the impression they would be his last as captain. In response to Taylor’s comments on Friday, Hesson attempted to clarify what had happened at the meeting in Sri Lanka, at which the assistant coach Bob Carter and team manager Mike Sandle were also present.”During that meeting I advised Ross that I would be recommending that we make change to the leadership,” Hesson said. “My decision to make him aware of that was the fact that I wanted to make sure he didn’t find out through another source. I was going to make that recommendation to the board, and I felt I wanted to be honest and up front with him in regards to that.”The meeting was a review of the one-day series, but I didn’t mention … whether that was one form, two forms or three forms [that would be changed]. I alluded to the fact that I would be making a recommendation to make change to the leadership. I’m unsure how Ross felt regarding that discussion. I certainly regret if he felt that that was in relation to the Test side. The review was following the one-day series.”The fact that Hesson was unsure how Taylor felt speaks volumes. Taylor was about to captain New Zealand in two Tests. Did Hesson not think to ask Taylor what he thought about a leadership change? Did he not think to clarify that his intention was for Taylor to stay in charge of the Test side. On Friday, Hesson went on to say that during the discussion Taylor had the opportunity to seek clarification and didn’t do so. But this wasn’t Taylor’s plan, it wasn’t up to him to do the communicating.”As soon as we returned to New Zealand, I advised Ross that the recommendation had been placed with the board and I would like him to remain on as captain of the Test side and to share the load and for Brendon McCullum to be captain of the one-day and T20 Black Caps sides,” Hesson said.As soon as the team returned to New Zealand? So, in other words, only Taylor had scored a match-winning 142 and 74 in Colombo, where he led New Zealand to their first Test victory in Sri Lanka since 1998. It’s easy to imagine how Taylor felt. If he’d spent the Test series thinking he was to be removed as Test captain, a post-tour offer to stay on might have felt a little insincere.What is lost in the confusion is that Hesson’s plan to split the captaincy between Taylor and Brendon McCullum might have worked. Since Taylor took over the leadership in the middle of 2011, he led them to only two one-day international victories from eight completed games, and both wins were against Zimbabwe. In Tests, he has now led them to wins in Australia and Sri Lanka, both extremely rare achievements for New Zealand.Ironically, McCullum now finds himself in charge of all three formats, the very burden that Hesson wanted to relieve Taylor of. But the messy process, and the way it played out in the public, has left Taylor unwilling to tour South Africa, leaving New Zealand without their finest batsman against Dale Steyn and Co, the world’s best attack. It will take some serious man management, and execution of plans, for Hesson to get everyone back on the same page.

Plays of the Day on day three of the Wellington Test between New Zealand and Pakistan

Andrew Fernando17-Jan-2011Nude sprint of the day
Perhaps it is because five-day cricket is a relatively sedate pursuit or because Tests attract a more refined breed of spectator, but streaking is a rare occurrence in the longest form of the game. A young Wellingtonian, though, proved that even cricket’s proudest incarnation wasn’t above being besoiled by the naked human form with a somewhat commendable streaking effort just after lunch. Sidestepping the guard at fine leg, the poorly covered intruder sprinted onto the field, donning nought but a cape and wielding a plastic sword. He circumvented the pitch as he ran towards the opposite end of the ground, shaking his sword at the security personnel who were closing in. He ran into trouble at long-on though, as he was cornered by three guards who tackled him to the ground, forcibly covered his genitals and escorted him out of sight.Shot of the day
Misbah-ul-haq played a number of attractive strokes throughout the day, but perhaps the best of the lot was his gorgeous cover drive off the first ball of the evening session. Tim Southee pitched full and wide, and Misbah went down on one knee to caress it languidly through the infield for four.Miser of the day
In a match where spinners have been resigned to bowling into the wind, Vettori produced the meanest spell from the scoreboard end, just before tea. He began with five consecutive maidens to Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, bowling an immaculate line to his packed off-side field, before the batsmen managed to break free with a spate of ones and twos. By the break his eight-over spell had cost 12 runs.Howler of the day
Given the number of umpiring howlers so far, the Test at the Basin Reserve has been a painful exercise in proving just how much Test cricket needs the UDRS. Seven bad umpiring decisions had been made by stumps at day three and perhaps the cruelest of them was Younis Khan’s dismissal on the stroke of tea. Younis came forward to a Vettori arm ball and failed to get bat on ball. The ball struck his pad and popped up to Jesse Ryder at short-leg, and almost before Younis had had time to look up, he had been given out. Pakistan, who had cruised for most of the day towards a handy first-innings lead, lost their remaining six wickets for 90 runs.Lacklustre appeal of the day
Reece Young may have been impressive with the bat and tidy with the gloves, but his appealing behind the stumps may not be at the level required for an international wicketkeeper. He failed to join in with his teammates after Umar Taufeeq had edged one behind yesterday and his half-hearted effort when Tim Southee demanded Adnan Akmal’s wicket after tea was a dead giveaway that the batsman had not touched it. Perhaps the New Zealand coaching staff could get him onto videos of Kumar Sangakkara or Kamran Akmal to show him what he should be doing.

George Binoy29-Dec-2006

Graeme Smith scored a chunk of his runs against Sreesanth © AFP
354 – India’s target in this match is also the highest total a team has scored in the final innings of a five-day Test against South Africa. West Indies also scored 354 for 5 to draw at Cape Town in 2004. England scored 654 for 5 at Kingsmead in 1939 but that was a timeless Test . The highest fourth-innings total to win a match against South Africa is Sri Lanka’s 352 for 9 at Colombo this year.340 for 5 – The highest successful run-chase at Durban. South Africa achieved this against Australia in 2002.406 for 4 – India’s highest ever successful run-chase against West Indies at Port of Spain in 1976. However, the next highest successful chase is only 264 for 3 against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 2001 followed by 256 for 8 against Australia at Mumbai in 1964.128 – The number of runs South Africa scored in the morning session on the fourth day. It is the highest for any session in the series so far. South Africa’s 98 runs in the second session on day one of this Test is the second highest.141.66 – Graeme Smith’s strike-rate against Sreesanth whom he hit for 34 runs off 24 balls during his 59. AB de Villiers, on the other hand, scored only 15 off 54 Sreesanth deliveries.44 – the number of runs for which South Africa lost their first six wickets today. Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers added 99 for the first wicket before South Africa were reduced to 143 for 6. They declared on 265 for 8.2 – Ashwell Prince’s zero today made him the second South African to score a century and a duck in the same Test against India. Gary Kirsten was the first when he scored 103 and 0 at Cape Town in 1997.70 – the number of runs out of 265 that South Africa scored between third man and backward point.4 – the number of times Sehwag has been caught behind the wicket in two Tests. His average after four innings is 11.25.

Ange Postecoglou could reportedly leave Tottenham despite Europa League glory as Spurs stars "do not expect" the Australian to remain in charge.

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Tottenham savoured Europa League gloryLifted their first trophy in 17 yearsYet, Postecoglou's job might not be securedFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Despite leading the North London side to a Europa League triumph over the Red Devils, whispers around the club suggest the Australian might not be in charge come next season, as revealed by The 2-1 victory not only brought them their first piece of silverware in 17 years, but also ended a 41-year wait for a European title. The win secured a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League and set up a UEFA Super Cup clash in August against either Inter Milan or Paris Saint-Germain.

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With one year still left on his deal, Postecoglou’s continuation as head coach appears to hinge entirely on chairman Daniel Levy's judgement. It has been reported that the top boss has already begun exploring other managerial options, including Fulham’s Marco Silva, hinting that a managerial change could be on the horizon.

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In the aftermath of their Europa League success in Spain, many Tottenham players were tight-lipped about their manager’s future. Most avoided addressing Postecoglou’s potential departure directly, instead offering supportive words and stressing that the night was a moment for joy, not speculation. Still, reports from inside the dressing room indicate that many squad members do not expect Postecoglou to remain in charge beyond the summer. While there’s admiration for what he achieved, the feeling of finality seems to be growing.

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If this season does mark the end of Postecoglou’s time at Tottenham, he leaves on a high note. The 58-year-old has developed a reputation for achieving silverware in the second season of his managerial stints — a pattern he extended with Spurs. He has publicly expressed his desire to see through the project he began upon arriving from Celtic in 2023, and hasn’t closed the door on continuing his work in North London. For now, though, all eyes will be on Sunday’s Premier League finale against Brighton — what could be his last outing in the Spurs dugout.

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Nas partidas contra Red Bull Bragantino e Ferroviária – marcadas respectivamente para quarta-feira (22), às 21h35, e domingo (26), às 18h30, pelo Paulistão –, caixas serão colocadas nos acessos da arena para a arrecadação de alimentos não perecíveis, cobertores, produtos de higiene e limpeza, e roupas. A ação ocorrerá também na estreia da equipe feminina de futebol na temporada de 2023, diante do Real Ariquemes-RO, pelo Brasileiro, neste domingo (26), às 11h.

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As doações serão entregues a entidades que prestam auxílio às centenas de famílias desabrigadas, como o Instituto Verdescola, localizado na Barra do Sahy, em São Sebastião, um dos municípios mais impactados pelos temporais dos últimos dias. Segundo balanço divulgado na manhã desta terça-feira pelo governo estadual, 45 pessoas morreram e mais de 40 estão desaparecidas.

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– Mais do que um vitorioso clube de futebol, o Palmeiras é uma instituição comprometida com o desafio de promover a cidadania. Por meio do programa Por Um Futuro Mais Verde e com o apoio da Família Palmeiras, vamos nos unir ainda mais para ajudar as comunidades que necessitam de apoio neste momento dramático – disse a presidente do Verdão, Leila Pereira.

Vale lembrar que, no início deste ano, em parceria com a Central Única das Favelas (Cufa), o Palmeiras doou mais de três toneladas de alimentos arrecadados durante a Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior ao povo Yanomami, que passa por uma grave crise humanitária em Roraima.