England's 1-0 win over Serbia was possibly the least exciting clash of the Euros so far and one fan nodded off at the game, waking up at 4am.
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England win 1-0 over SerbiaFan falls asleep during clashWakes up at 4am in empty stadiumWHAT HAPPENED?
The fan allegedly fell asleep in his seat at Arena AufSchalke during England's win over Serbia, and was not woken up at all after a rather dull ninety minutes. The fan posted a video to TikTok as he woke up around 4am the next day, still in his seat, to a completely vacant stadium.
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There has been a lot of criticism aimed towards Gareth Southgate for his overtly cautious approach against Serbia despite the side being one of the easier ones they will face in the tournament. Following Jude Bellingham's opener, England stopped taking risks and tried to ease to a win. However, they could have been pegged back on two occasions but Jordan Pickford's awareness saved the side from dropping points.
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WHAT NEXT FOR ENGLAND?
The Three Lions will play their next match against Denmark at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt and will hope to secure their passage to the Round of 16 with a second consecutive win.
Tottenham Hotspur have already added two new faces to their playing squad during the January transfer window and are now reportedly closing in on a third – but with a twistr.
Tottenham blow Chelsea away in £25m Nusa chase
The Lilywhites are set to win the race to sign Club Brugge forward Antonio Nusa ahead of their rivals, although he would not be available to Ange Postecoglou until the 2024/25 campaign. According to Football Insider, Daniel Levy has blown Premier League rivals Chelsea, as well as Fulham, away with a swoop for the talented teenager.
The report claims that Spurs are working hard to seal a £25m deal for the 18-year-old wizard and are now in 'pole position' to secure an early agreement before the window slams shut at the start of February, rather than waiting until the summer.
It states that Tottenham have stolen a march on Chelsea and Fulham as they have offered to send Nusa back to Brugge on loan for the remainder of this season, which is similar to the tactic they used with Destiny Udogie when they signed him from Udinese.
The Italy international remained with the Italian side on loan before linking up with his new teammates last summer, and the 21-year-old dnamo has hit the ground running as a regular starter for Postecoglou this term.
Appearances
18
Starts
18
Sofascore rating
6.91
Goals
One
Assists
Two
Ball recoveries
115
That proposal is said to have convinced Nusa as he is keen to remain with his current club until the summer, which this offer from Spurs would allow him to do. Football Insider add that the club are prioritising the signings of players under the age of 24 as they look to bolster the squad with young talent.
Nusa's potential is off the charts
The 18-year-old wizard is a promising gem who could arrive as a long-term project rather than a player to make an immediate impact on the pitch when he joins in the summer, should this deal go through.
He has plenty of time left to develop and improve over the years to come, with his 19th birthday not until April of this year, and Postecoglou could look to bed him in slowly in the hope that the talented dynamo eventually develops into a regular first-team starter.
As articulated by Sky Sports producer Dougie Critchley, Nusa could continue to grow whilst playing consistent minutes for Brugge in Belgium during the second half of the campaign. The left winger, who U23 scout Antonio Mango claimed has "ankle breaking" agility, caught the eye with his impressive displays during the first half of the season with three goals, two assists, and five 'big chances' created in 15 appearances and six Pro League starts.
He also made a few appearances for Norway during their European Championship qualifying campaign and produced three assists across three outings, despite being a starter in just one of those matches.
The Brugge starlet has shown plenty of promise with his contributions at the top end of the pitch for club and country and Spurs fans may keep a watchful eye on his performances between now and the rest of the season if Levy wins the race to land him ahead of next season.
Tom Helm claims two wickets to put Worcestershire on the back foot
ECB Reporters Network27-May-2019Middlesex struck back with the ball after being dismissed for 221 on the opening day of their County Championship match against Worcestershire at Blackfinch New Road.The visitors were bowled out in 66.2 overs after being put into bat with Charlie Morris and Josh Tongue continuing their impressive start to the season. Morris, the leading wicket-taker in Division Two, picked up three more scalps to take his tally to 23 and Tongue also added a further trio of wickets to lift his total to 15.Only Middlesex skipper Dawid Malan, who had recovered from a groin injury suffered on England duty earlier in the month, and keeper John Simpson batted with much authority, scoring 45 and 35 respectively.Tom Helm bowled a fine new-ball spell for Middlesex, which brought him two wickets, and then Callum Ferguson fell just before the close for an aggressive 37, meaning Worcestershire will restart tomorrow on 64 three 3.Batting was a challenge for the bulk of the day in the first meeting between the two counties since 2015 with the ball nibbling around sufficiently to keep the bowlers interested and occasionally keeping low.It is the start of successive home games for Worcestershire against three of the pre-season favourites for promotion along with themselves in Middlesex, Lancashire and Sussex.They were without all-rounder Wayne Parnell (hamstring) but welcomed back Tongue after a one-game injury absence while fit again Malan and Tim Murtagh – available after international commitments with Ireland – returned for Middlesex.Morris broke through in his first over of the day as Max Holden played half forward and nicked through to Ben Cox for no score.Sam Robson was lbw to a Tongue delivery which kept low and Nick Gubbins was bowled by Ross Whiteley.Malan, who suffered his injury blow in the ODI against Ireland, and Steve Eskinazi, looked to be repairing the pre-lunch damage during a partnership of 62. But Whiteley enjoyed a second success when Eskinazi was leg before for 27 and then Malan departed in the same fashion to Morris after striking six fours in his 91-ball knock.James Harris became another lbw victim in the next over from Ed Barnard. Simpson and Toby Roland-Jones added 31 before the latter went for a cut against Joe Leach and fell to a sharp first slip catch by Riki Wessels.Tongue accounted for Helm (1) and Nathan Sowter – the fifth player of the innings to fall lbw.Simpson was largely responsible for taking Middlesex past the 200 mark until he ballooned a simple catch to Whiteley on the off side against Morris, who finished with figures of 15.2-2-53-3. Tongue took 3 for 49, with Whiteley, Leach and Barnard the other wicket-takers.When Worcestershire batted, Daryl Mitchell and George Rhodes were both caught behind off Helm during a fine opening spell.Ferguson reeled off a succession of boundaries, including three in an over from Harris. He dominated a partnership of 53 with Tom Fell but after making 37 was lbw to Roland-Jones to leave the game evenly poised. Fell remained defiant and was unbeaten on 18 from 86 balls by the close.
An animated conversation ensued between Capitals’ consultant Sourav Ganguly and the head groundsman of Feroz Shah Kotla after Capitals lost their second home match
Sidharth Monga in Delhi05-Apr-20195:46
Need to learn to be better at home than the opposition – Ponting
After Delhi Capitals lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday night, even as presentations and handshakes and selfies and interviews went on, Capitals’ consultant Sourav Ganguly took the head groundsman of Feroz Shah Kotla to the match pitch. An animated conversation went on for 10 minutes or so. Hands were pointed towards the practice nets repeatedly, and also to the pitch and the square.This was Capitals’ third defeat in five games, two of them in three home matches. In a highly competitive league where teams look to maximise home advantage, Capitals have had to deal with a slow turner against sides whose strength is spin: Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers. Their coach Ricky Ponting was at pains to emphasise his batsmen should be doing better and reading conditions much better, but he was also bemused at the surfaces his side has been getting.After game one – the defeat to Super Kings where they couldn’t get to 150 – Ponting said they would have to bat smartly because their home surfaces were now going to low and slow. Then in the next game both sides pushed 200, and Capitals won in the Super Over. The pitch was back to type in the third game.Asked if he was disappointed with “home” conditions, Ponting said: “At the end of the day, it’s the same pitch for both teams. But if you would have asked me, would I have wanted to play the Sunrisers on that type of pitch, there’s no [more] polar opposite wicket that you want to play the Sunrisers on. That absolutely suits them to the end of the ground. They’ve got spinners, and all their seamers all bowl slower balls. On that wicket when you bowl slower balls it’s not even possible [to hit big].”If the wicket’s going to keep being like that here, we need to think about selections in our team as well, because maybe our bowlers weren’t best suited to the wicket today. But as I said, it wasn’t expected. It wasn’t what the groundsman told us was going to be so we were all surprised as anybody else.”Ponting said they were told to expect the best of the pitches so far in Delhi. “I thought they bowled smartly on that wicket,” Ponting said giving credit to the Sunrisers bowlers. “I think it’s fair to say that that wicket surprised us a lot. Talking to the groundsman before that game, he expected it to be the best pitch out of the three wickets so far. By far and away, it was the worst. You saw how little it bounced and how slow it was. I thought their bowlers adapted to the conditions really well. They have got very skilful bowler in those conditions.”Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting have a tough task ahead of them as team advisor and coach•BCCI
Having said that, Ponting said the onus was on them to find a way because neither the home ground nor the square can be changed. “This is our home ground,” Ponting said. “We need to learn how to play in these conditions better than the opposition, and in two of the three games so far, the opposition has played these conditions better than us so we definitely have to improve there.”Ponting was also left disappointed by his batsmen. It started with a Prithvi Shaw slog to an offcutter from Bhuvneshwar Kumar that left his off stump flattened. “I don’t think Prithvi Shaw played a great shot, considering how low the ball was bouncing,” Ponting said. “To try to hit across the line early on wasn’t a great shot. Some of our senior players probably didn’t bat long enough into the innings as well, to let us post a total that was going to be defendable. I mean, 130 was sort of short of what we were expecting. Even on a slow wicket, we expected our batting group to be able to get 160-165 on any surface when we bat first, and obviously, today we came a long way short. We need to talk about that. We need to find a way to get better there.”Ponting made it clear this performance was not acceptable. “I love the group of players that we’ve got here,” Ponting said. “I love the youthful exuberance of some of those youngsters we’ve got and we’ve got a good mix of experience around them. We’ve got Shikhar and Morris and Ingram and these guys. We haven’t got a completely young team by any stretch of the imagination. Even Rishabh and Shreyas have played four or five or six seasons of IPL themselves. They’re not inexperienced players.”But we all have to play better. It’s as simple as that. As a coach, I can’t accept a performance like that tonight. For a batting group as good as ours, to be able to get a 129, that’s not acceptable as far as I’m concerned as a coach. Our players have to accept that and we’ve got to find ways to get better next time.”
The two-time IPL-winning captain feels the India skipper isn’t shrewd or tactically smart enough to lead in the T20 league
ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2019Gautam Gambhir has questioned Virat Kohli’s tactical nous in the lead-up to the latest edition of the IPL, a tournament Kohli’s side Royal Challengers Bangalore have never won. Gambhir said Kohli should be thankful that his IPL franchise has not sacked him as captain despite his continued failure to win them a title. Gambhir won two titles as captain for Kolkata Knight Riders; as India’s vice-captain, he impressed whenever he stepped in to lead in MS Dhoni’s absence.The evolution of IPL tactics – batting
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On Star Sports’ show ‘Game Plan’, Gambhir identified the lack of quality bowlers in the Bangalore side as the main reason for their failure to win an IPL, and didn’t hold back when asked to analyse Kohli as captain. “Still a long way to go,” Gambhir said of Kohli’s captaincy. “I don’t see him as a shrewd captain. I don’t see him as a tactful captain [tactician]. And he hasn’t won the IPL. So ultimately, a captain is only as good as his record.”There are people who have won the trophy three times. MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. So I think he has a long way to go. You cannot compare him to someone like Rohit or Dhoni at this stage because he has been part of RCB, and captaining RCB for the last seven to eight years, and he has been very lucky and should be thanking the franchise that they stuck with him because not many captains have got such a long rope where they haven’t won a tournament.”ALSO READ: RCB look strong as ever, but might struggle with team balanceUnder Kohli, Bangalore have won 44 and lost 47 matches. He took over the captaincy full-time in 2012; in seven seasons under Kohli, they have progressed to the play-offs on just two occasions. In recent years, the Royal Challengers have featured the most star-studded batting line-ups in all IPL, and in 2016, Kohli himself broke all records by scoring 973 runs, with Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers not far behind. Yet, the title has eluded them.Kohli recently blamed poor decision-making for the team’s failures. “The failure lies where decisions aren’t made properly,” Kohli said. “If I sit here and say our luck was bad, that won’t be right. You make your own luck, and if you make poor decisions and the other team makes good ones, you will lose. When we played big matches too, our decision-making wasn’t right. When your decision-making is spot on and balanced, those teams win the IPL. The teams that are more relaxed, don’t take the pressure too much, and take good decisions in pressure moments – they should get the credit for winning.”
Absolute champion. And he deserves to be captain of RCB for whatever period of time. I am sure he will turn it aroundSOURAV GANGULY ON VIRAT KOHLI
When Gambhir said Kohli should be thankful he has held on to the captaincy, he possibly alluded to the IPL’s evolution into a tournament that has less space for sentiment than international cricket.Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils/Capitals remain the only sides without a title, but Bangalore are the only ones to have shown faith in their leadership.The Delhi franchise has even changed the name of the team for the upcoming season. However, Sourav Ganguly, former India captain, has suggested that consistency leads to success and not the other way around. “I believe in consistency,” Ganguly, who was recently unveiled as the Delhi Capitals advisor, said at a franchise event.”This format requires a clear head and free-hitting. I am a firm believer in consistency and keeping players together. Chennai Super Kings has succeeded with that policy. Mumbai Indians have succeeded with that policy. I am a firm believer in that policy.”If you talk about Virat Kohli and keeping him as a captain, just look at what he has done. What he has done with the bat in every format of the game. Absolute champion. And he deserves to be captain of RCB for whatever period of time. I am sure he will turn it around.”
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland will miss the match with Brighton on Thursday as he remains injured.
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Norwegian striker still carrying injuryGuardiola stresses problem not seriousCity now trail Arsenal in title raceWHAT HAPPENED?
Haaland missed City's FA Cup semi-final tie with Chelsea after coming off injured in the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid. And Guardiola confirmed he is unavailable for the trip to the Amex Stadium.
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"Erling is not ready for tomorrow," Guardiola told a press conference. "It's not a big issue but he's not allowed for this game."
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City have fallen behind Arsenal and Liverpool in the title race but have two games in hand on the Gunners and one on Jurgen Klopp's side. Yet any slip against Brighton or in their next trip to Nottingham Forest could prove fatal in their attempt to win a fourth consecutive Premier League crown.
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DID YOU KNOW?
Haaland has missed just six games this season in the Premier League. He was out for nearly two months with a foot injury between December and February, while he was also rested against Aston Villa earlier this month.
Jadon Sancho claimed that he is still in the dark on a possible permanent move from Manchester United amid reports that Erik ten Hag could be sacked.
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Sancho shining on loan at DortmundWinger has yet to decide on his futureCould potentially stay on in GermanyWHAT HAPPENED?
After a public spat with Ten Hag, Sancho was shipped off on loan to his former employers at Borussia Dortmund. After a slow start to his second innings in Germany, tallying three goals and two assists across 17 appearances, Sancho sprung back to his best against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday evening.
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Sancho's exceptional display, which saw him become the first English player to execute more than 11 take-ons in a single Champions League match, has sparked interest in his stock. The German outfit are guaranteed Champions League football for next season which could further prompt them to seek a permanent transfer for the winger from United.
WHAT SANCHO SAID
Reflecting on his time at Dortmund, Sancho expressed his pleasure at being back in Germany but remained uncertain about his future.
"Obviously, I came here at 17, and they gave me the opportunity to play professional football, so I'm just delighted with all staff and players that welcome me back," he said.
When former goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, further pressed on his future, Sancho replied, "Who me? I really don't know. I'm just focused on the present right now."
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Sacnho's brilliant run in Europe makes him a strong contender for England's Euro 2024 campaign. However, the forward is not taking anything for granted and remains determined to keep giving his best, adding: "I take it game by game and performances like today I hope it carries on."
Former Chelsea player Pat Nevin has compared Blues star Cole Palmer to Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
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Palmer compared to De Bruyne
Scored a hat-trick against Everton
Equalled Haaland's tally of 20 league goals
WHAT HAPPENED?
The ex-Blues winger claimed that Palmer can surpass City legend De Bruyne as he suggested that he has been taken aback by the youngster's sudden rise this season. The England international scored four times in the club's 6-0 win over Everton on Monday in the Premier League.
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WHAT PAT NEVIN SAID
Speaking to , the Scot said, "I'm not surprised that Cole Palmer is this good, I'm just surprised he's this good this quickly. When he was at Manchester City I covered a few of his first games and I remember I almost shocked myself by saying that this guy could be the next Kevin De Bruyne. Just looking at him technically, as a player, he's got everything.
"But that's not the thing. The thing was that his teammates kept giving him the ball. He was playing for Manchester City coming off the bench and they were feeding him the ball, they were giving him the ball all the time. They'll know if somebody's not up to their standard from training. If they know you’re good enough it doesn't matter if you're aged 15 or 45 they'll give you the ball. I thought Chelsea won the biggest watch imaginable by getting him. But I didn’t think he would be this good this quick. That would be too much to ask for."
He added, "You have a look back at the likes of Kevin De Bruyne when he was at Cole Palmer’s age, was he as good? Was he at the top level in the Premier League scoring 20 goals? I'm not saying he's going to be a better player than Kevin De Bruyne – but he's got what it takes.
"He's absolutely got what it takes to be one of the very best in the business. Whether that's going to continue Chelsea all his career we don’t know, certainly it's the perfect place for him now. Some people crumble under that pressure and some people just flower – he's the latter."
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With the hat-trick against the Toffees, the 21-year-old has now equalled Erling Haaland's tally of 20 goals in the Premier League this season. In his last five league games, Palmer has netted 10 goals which include two trebles. Overall, he has netted 25 goals in the current season in 41 appearances across all competitions and has provided 13 assists.
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WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?
Mauricio Pochettino's side will now shift their focus to the FA Cup where they are set to face reigning champions City in the semi-final on Saturday. Palmer and De Bruyne should square off in that one.
The feel-good factor at Tottenham Hotspur has taken an almighty hit after Ange Postecoglou's nine-man side fell to defeat against Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday night.
Now, second-placed Spurs travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers to get back to winning ways, but will have to do so without multiple players in that injury and anarchy-strewn fixture.
Tottenham team news vs Wolves
Where to start? Tottenham are set to be without a heap of first-team stars for the trip to Wolverhampton, with Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie both suspended after red cards against the Blues.
To compound the woes, impressive summer signings James Maddison and Micky van de Ven are both set to be sidelined until the new year, which hits Postecoglou's fluid system with the force of a steel hammer.
Richarlison is also going to be unavailable for around one month after undergoing a groin operation, but Postecoglou will at least welcome defender Ben Davies back to the fold following injury.
Eric Dier's stats vs Chelsea
It is unfortunate that the absentees are all some of the most crucial cogs for Postecoglou, but such is the way of football and Tottenham will now need to improvise and overcome.
Davies was hooked at half-time during his only Premier League start of the season a few weeks ago against Crystal Palace, but the Welshman will now be required to partner Eric Dier in central defence, who has played a similarly peripheral role.
However, Dier was impressive off the bench against the Blues and won 100% of his duels, made three clearances and one interception, as per Sofascore.
The 29-year-old also came oh-so-close to restoring unlikely parity in the closing stages after his second-half goal was ruled out by VAR, but he proved that he has what it takes to impress in this ambitious Spurs side at present.
It was a stoical display that lived up to previous praise from pundit Jermaine Jenas, who once called him “sensational”, but there is no disputing the fact that Dier is second-choice – with Monday's defeat just his first appearance of the campaign.
Nonetheless, the 6 foot 2 defender has been presented with a big opportunity to steer the Spurs ship back on course at Molineux.
Why Eric Dier should start vs Wolves
The obvious reason that Dier deserves a starting spot against Wolves is simply that Postecoglou's side is rather threadbare following the chaotic contest against Chelsea.
But the England international can certainly play a convincing role over the weeks to come, having previously been described as "reliable" by former Spurs manager Antonio Conte.
As per FBref, he ranks among the top 18% of central defenders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for blocks and the top 11% for aerial wins per 90, highlighting the strengths that Postecoglou will strive to utilise.
Former Tottenham defender Eric Dier
The £85k-per-week ace has also won four of his six matches against the Old Gold, and his experience and leadership at the back could be integral today.
Postecoglou's preference to keep Dier on the sidelines has been clear; after all, the experienced asset is only going to start in exceptional circumstances, and were Van de Ven and Romero to be available it is possible that he would have reached the winter transfer window with a shadow of a role in the squad.
But now, Dier has the perfect opportunity to impress, and he must grasp it with both hands if he is to preserve Tottenham's renaissance and potentially even salvage his career in north London.
A centre-back partnership of the former Sporting CP man and Davies may not inspire too much confidence, but as it is, needs must for Postecoglou and his high-flying outfit.
Tallawahs put up the highest-ever T20 total at Providence, on the back of a superb century from Glenn Phillips, but Devcich ensured the mark lasted less than two hours, before Ben Cutting sealed it off with a six
The Report by Peter Della Penna13-Sep-2018Glenn Phillips celebrates a hundred•Getty Images
Ben Cutting provided a sense of at Providence, striking a six off the penultimate ball to clinch a nailbiting two-wicket victory, the second time in two nights a win had been registered by that margin at this venue. This time, the result went in favour of St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, as the 2017 finalists knocked out Jamaica Tallawahs in a record-breaking chase.Tallawahs had posted the highest-ever T20 total at Providence, making 191 for 5 on the back of a fantastic Glenn Phillips century. But the mark lasted less than two hours as Anton Devcich sparked a middle-order revival following Ish Sodhi’s three-wicket haul. Cutting, who had dropped Phillips during the course of his century, then turned from goat to hero by smashing the decisive blow over the midwicket boundary to put Patriots on the plane to Trinidad, where they’ll take on Trinbago Knight Riders on Friday night for the right to face Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final.Kiwi Phil-harmonicPhillips batted all 20 overs to become just the eighth batsman in CPL history to record a century, and just the second overseas batsman to do so, following in the footsteps of Colin Munro, another South African-born New Zealand international, who achieved it in 2016.Phillips played second fiddle to his senior New Zealand team-mate, Ross Taylor, through the first half of the innings. After the fall of Johnson Charles, caught at backward point off Fabian Allen’s left-arm spin in the third over, Taylor controlled a 70-run second-wicket stand with 33 off 23 balls, before being deceived by a slower ball from Cutting.Phillips finally got his motor revving in the 13th over, bashing Cutting for two sixes and a four to bring up his half-century in the 20-run over. Rovman Powell fell in the following over, slogging Tabraiz Shamsi to Cutting at long-on, and Andre Russell didn’t last long either, skying a catch to deep point off Carlos Brathwaite.Phillips kicked on past 100 with a helping hand from Cutting, who spilled him on 79 at long-on off Shamsi. Phillips became more adventurous as he closed in on three figures, ramping Brathwaite over the wicketkeeper for four, before shuffling all the way across his stumps to a ball almost off the pitch outside off stump, and flaying it over wide long-on for six to move to 97. He brought up his century off 58 balls in the 18th over, cutting Shamsi behind point for a four.However, Phillips lost steam thereafter, as a wheezing finish to the innings arguably cost them in the end. Phillips and David Miller added just 17 runs in the final two overs, underwhelming after the position they had got into, which made a record total suddenly appear far less daunting to chase.Ben Cutting clinches the eliminator with a six off the penultimate ball•Getty Images
Sod’s lawPatriots’ chase got off to a sluggish start as Devon Thomas was caught in the deep off Steven Jacobs in the second over. Sodhi continued to trouble the Patriots, striking twice in the 10th over. Rassie van der Dussen fell trying to force the pace, as he top-edged a slog sweep, which wicketkeeper Phillips collected by running to his right.Chris Gayle drove straight to long-on two balls later to make it 62 for 3. When Allen creamed a flat, low chance that was expertly taken by Russell at long-on in the 14th over, Patriots needed 74 off the last 38 balls. Unfortunately for the Tallawahs, their most potent threat with the ball – Sodhi – was two balls away from finishing his spell.Dev-con OneWith alarm bells ringing, and the season on the line, Devcich stepped up to steal the Man-of-the-Match award away from Phillips with a clinically-devastating spurt. Having swatted Jacobs for four and six over wide long-on in the 13th over, he pulled two fours off Colin de Grandhomme in a 17-run 15th over that took the required run rate down to 10 an over for the first time since the third over.Devcich continued peppering the leg side by starting the 16th over with another pulled four off Russell, and brought up his half-century off 22 balls with a single later in the over. A double-strike by Oshane Thomas in the 17th over accounted for both Devcich and Brandon King, swinging the momentum Tallawahs’ way before Cutting’s heroics.Cut through the heartTallawahs needed 27 off 12 balls with four wickets in hand, when Cutting’s six over long-on off Thomas brought the equation down to 16 off eight balls. Lewis fell two balls after the six to another sharp effort from Russell on the boundary, and Powell was tossed the ball for the first time on the night to defend 14 off the final over.Brathwaite followed a swing and a miss on the first ball with a six when he smashed a full toss over square leg. But Russell snapped up his third sensational low catch of the night, diving forward at long-on on the third ball, to leave Cutting on strike with nine needed off the last three balls.The next ball arrived with the perfect width, just inside the tram lines outside off, but was controversially signalled wide. The decision appeared to rattle Powell, who followed it up with two more clear-cut wides. Cutting turned down a run to mid-on off the fourth legitimate delivery, putting the onus on himself, instead of tailender Hayden Walsh Jr, to get Patriots across the line. Another wide down leg was followed by a juicy length ball that was heaved over the midwicket rope to end the Tallawahs season and put the Patriots one win away from returning to the CPL final.