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Five players, all between 20 and 26 of age, have given the visiting side a rare day to remember in New Zealand

Mohammad Isam02-Jan-2022Bangladesh were desperate to have their batters go about their work in a (calm) way, and find some joy in the process after a tough 2021. Appropriately, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mahmudul Hasan Joy, with a patient 104-run second-wicket stand, did the needful in the first Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.New Zealand are the Test world champions, especially formidable at home. Therefore, to bowl them out for 328 and then finish the second day on 175 for 2 – just 153 short – with the runs coming from two young batters means a lot for a struggling Test side like Bangladesh.”The younger guys today played phenomenally,” Neil Wagner, who has picked up both the Bangladesh wickets to fall so far, said after the day’s play. “I thought they played patiently. They didn’t really give too many opportunities. They hung in there. They were prepared to dig in. They left the ball quite a lot. It made us ask more questions, and take wickets. It gave them the opportunity to score.Related

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Mominul wants to set 'small goals' for 2022

Gibson proud Bangladesh bowlers 'kept going all day'

“I thought that they played really well. Full credit to them. I thought when the ball was there to be scored, they scored. They also left well and defended well.”But, to make it Bangladesh’s day, it needed more than just those runs. Shoriful Islam, the 20-year-old left-arm quick, added Rachin Ravindra’s wicket to the two he had on the first day to get Bangladesh going on the second morning, and offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz, very experienced despite being just 24, got rid of most of the tail. This was the first time New Zealand were bowled out for less than 350 by Bangladesh on home turf.That put the onus on the batters. If they failed to build on the bowlers’ work, the pressure would be right back on the top four, who were woeful at home against Pakistan recently.Shadman Islam, older than the others at 26, 23-year-old Shanto and 21-year-old Joy were part of the top four that looked incapable of buying a run against the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali, and were expected to be under fire against New Zealand’s quicks. On the day, they were not.Shadman and Joy added 43 for the first wicket to set a platform, but Shanto batted like the ideal No. 3, mixing defence and attack smartly. He was the aggressor of the two during their big stand, driving beautifully – he hit Neil Wagner, Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson for fours straight down the ground.Shoriful Islam picked up three crucial wickets•Getty Images”Joy and Shadman gave us a nice platform. It was handy for me. When I joined Joy at the crease, we just focused ball-by-ball, over-by-over and then on to the number of hours,” Shanto said. “We didn’t want to force the issue. We didn’t set big goals, like runs or overs. Joy batted well, but I think it would have been a better day had I remained unbeaten at the end too.”Joy did survive a close lbw shout off Wagner – the New Zealanders thought he had inside-edged the ball, but a review would have sent the batter back. But otherwise, it was a chanceless 211-ball stay for Joy, who ended the day on 70. Shanto got out for 64, but he had done the job before that.Mehidy, who has come up through Bangladesh’s Under-19 system like Joy, Shanto, Shadman and Shoriful, said that the batting performance had given the team a lot of confidence.”It was a very good partnership,” he said. “Our top order wasn’t getting these partnerships recently, so this has given us a lot of confidence. We have to bat well in the first session tomorrow. I think we have a long way to go.”Mehidy was particularly effusive in his praise for Joy’s performance. “His innings is definitely a positive sign for our team,” he said. “His batting definitely helped the team. Joy batted well, took his time. He didn’t look like he was a new player. He adjusted well to the conditions and situation.”He is a member of the Under-19 World Cup-winning team [in 2020]. He did well in South Africa last year, and also made runs in domestic cricket before coming into the senior side. I think he has a lot to give to Bangladesh. The whole team has appreciated his batting.”

Juventus are ready to cash in on talented teenager Kenan Yildiz, with a handful of Premier League clubs interested in the Turkish winger's services.

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Juve could part ways with YildizPremier League clubs keeping tabs on Turkish playerYildiz keen on staying in TurinFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

With a potential finish outside the top four looming, Juventus are ready to offset the financial loss from missing out on Champions League qualification by cashing in on star player Kenan Yildiz. Juventus football director Cristiano Giuntoli is prepared to make sacrifices in order to ensure they remain financially stable during the 2025-26 season.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

That comes from a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Il Bianconero), who state that Juventus are set to leverage Yildiz's development into one of the best young players in the world and sell him for a figure close to €80-90 million.

The 19-year-old recently signed an extension with the Bianconeri, which will see him remain in Turin until 2029. Yildiz is eager to remain with the Old Lady to follow in the footsteps of Alessandro Del Piero, his idol. However, Juve are strategically positioning themselves to generate funds, fully aware that Yildiz is their most valuable asset.

DID YOU KNOW?

Jorge Mendes' recent trip to Turin, including meetings with Giuntoli and Yildiz's parents, has raised eyebrows. Although no offers have been made — given that he is not the Turk's official agent — Mendes has informed Giuntoli about interest in Yildiz from Premier League clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR KENAN YILDIZ?

Following Juventus' elimination from the pre-Round of 16 Champions League knockouts at the hands of PSV, Yildiz and his team-mates will be fully focused on ensuring they help Thiago Motta secure a top-four finish in Serie A. They have won four of their last five league games and are currently positioned in fourth place, 10 points behind league leaders Napoli.

There is no sugar-coating it, Arsenal are in a serious slump at the moment.

Mikel Arteta’s side are supposed to be fighting for the Premier League title this season, but following their loss to Newcastle United last week, they are currently seven points behind leaders Liverpool.

Moreover, their defeat to Inter Milan during the week was their third in six games, and while the defence looks shaky, the attack looks blunt. In short, the Gunners need to change something and quickly.

Inter Milan (A)

1-0 (L)

Newcastle (A)

1-0 (L)

Preston North End (A)

3-0 (W)

Liverpool (H)

2-2 (D)

Shakhtar Donetsk (H)

1-0 (W)

Bournemouth (A)

2-0 (L)

So, fans should be excited about recent reports that have suggested the club now have a golden opportunity to secure the services of an exceptionally gifted number nine, even if that would impact Kai Havertz’s game time.

Arsenal transfer news

According to a recent report from GIVEMESPORT, Arsenal will have the chance to launch an early bid for Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres in January.

The report has revealed that there is a gentlemanly agreement between the player and club that he can leave in the summer for around £62.5m, but should clubs wish to jump ahead of the ever-growing queue, then they can opt to pay £71m in January.

While that’s good news, the bad news is that, alongside the Gunners, the report also claims that Paris Saint-Germain and several clubs from the Saudi Pro League are now keen on the Swede, meaning there could even be significant competition in January.

In all, it could still be a complicated and costly transfer to get done, but due to Gyokeres’ incredible ability, one worth pursuing, even if that negatively impacts Havertz’s game time in North London.

How Gyokeres compares to Havertz

So, if Arsenal are going to spend up to £71m – or more – on Gyokeres in January, it certainly won’t be with the intention of making him warm the bench, meaning he’ll be in direct competition with Havertz for a place in the starting lineup.

With that said, how to the pair stack up against one another? Is it an easy win for the Sporting ace?

Well, unfortunately for the former Chelsea man, it very much is, as across his 51 appearances for Arteta’s side last season, he racked up a reasonable tally of 14 goals and seven assists, meaning he averaged 0.41 goal involvements every game.

However, in his 50 appearances for the Portuguese giants last season, the former Coventry City star, whom ex-teammate Maxime Biamou dubbed “unplayable”, scored 43 goals and provided 15 assists, equating to an obscene average of 1.16 goal involvements every game.

Things remain just as one-sided when we look at this season as well.

In just 17 appearances for the Lisbon side, the Stockholm-born goal machine has found the back of the net on 23 occasions and provided four assists to boot, meaning he’s currently averaging 1.58 goal involvements every game.

In contrast, the Gunners’ number 29 has got on the scoresheet seven times in 16 games and has one assist to his name, which works out to a still impressive but significantly worse average of 0.50 goal involvements per match.

Appearances

50

51

Goals

43

14

Assists

15

7

Goal Involvements per Match

1.16

0.41

Appearances

17

16

Goals

23

7

Assists

4

1

Goal Involvements per Match

1.58

0.50

Ultimately, even when you account for a slightly weaker league, the difference in goalscoring ability between Havertz and Gyokeres is enormous, and if Arsenal want to claw back lost ground on Liverpool and Manchester City in the new year, then they must sign the Swedish goalmachine in January.

Arsenal flop who was sold by Edu for £5m just silenced Sesko in the UCL

The former Arsenal dud has been sensational for his new team this season.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Nov 7, 2024

Everton have suffered some howlers over the years, but the Friedkin Group’s forthcoming club takeover will hopefully signal a new era and indeed a fresh take on transfer activity.

It sure is needed, with Farhad Moshiri failing to match the fanbase’s expectations with the performances on the pitch – indeed, the Toffees have been stuck in a bog of struggle for the past several years, and though results have recently improved under Sean Dyche, big change is needed to sculpt a future of promise in the Premier League.

The strategy needs changing, to be sure. Let’s take a look at some of the worst signings since Moshiri took the head seat back in 2016, and remind ourselves why.

Everton's decline under Farhad Moshiri

Iranian businessman Moshiri acquired a 49.9% stake in Everton back in February 2016, having previously owned a minority slice in fellow Premier League club Arsenal.

The deal was soon ratified, and the 69-year-old’s role as principal shareholder was projected as a watershed moment for Roberto Martinez’s side, which had found comparative success over the years but wanted to ascend to a regular position in and around the Champions League spaces.

What happened was the inverse. Slowly, Everton’s lifeblood has trickled away, with the success of recent years merely that of preserving top-flight status, pitted against the relegation fodder.

There have been some pretty notable howlers. Cenk Tosun joined in a £27m deal after Romelu Lukaku was sold for what is still a club record, but flattered to deceive and scored just seven times across his two full seasons at the club – having promised so much upon his January 2018 arrival, notching four Premier League goals from his opening 14 fixtures.

Davy Klaassen’s another, moving from Ajax for £24m in 2017, billed as one of the most talented midfielders in the Netherlands. He failed to adapt and started just seven league games before fleeing to Germany and joining Werder Bremen after one lonely year.

Chuck in Sandro Ramirez, Salomon Rondon, Yannick Bolasie and more. If TFG can succeed in purchasing Moshiri’s majority stake, getting the venture over the line, then there’s every chance that the slate will have been wiped clean and Everton can begin anew.

There are too many blunders to count with two hands, but undoubtedly the deal at the nadir of Moshiri’s transfer failures is that of Jean-Philippe Gbamin, who endured a wretched spell at Goodison Park.

Jean-Philippe Gbamin's cost to Everton

Later down the line, Gbamin’s agent would describe his client’s time at Everton as a “nightmare”, which is probably an apt summation of a wholly forgettable time for all parties involved.

Alex Iwobi

Arsenal

£35m

Moise Kean

Juventus

£25m

Jean-Philippe Gbamin

Mainz

£25m

Andre Gomes

Barcelona

£22m

Fabian Delph

Man City

£9m

Dijibril Sibide

AS Monaco

Loan

Jonas Lossl

Huddersfield

£0

Branded “the worst signing of the Moshiri era” by journalist Paul Brown, the Ivorian midfielder was purchased from German club Mainz for a £25m fee, with the whole ordeal at least financially mitigated by Idrissa Gueye – who he was replacing – transferring to Paris Saint-Germain in a £30m deal.

Gbamin had certainly made a good impression with Mainz, featuring 95 times for the Bundesliga outfit and leading the club’s sporting director Rouven Schröder to declare that the centrepiece was totally unsellable, such was his importance.

Earning a reported wage of £75k per week, Gbamin was supposed to bring steel and dynamism to the centre of the park, but his catastrophic injury failure led to the most miserable of fringe roles, scarcely showing his face on the Premier League pitch at all before seeing his contract cut short in 2023, then joining French Ligue 2 club Dunkerque later that year until the end of the campaign.

Gbamin had reportedly attracted interest from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in the lead-up to Everton’s acquisition, illustrating the calibre of prospect that Marco Silva had attracted to his project.

But he didn’t so much fall as was thrown with force to the wayside, shockingly featuring just six times for the Premier League side.

Though he sought to bring himself back from the ditch, the Argentina-born midfielder was simply unable to meet the rigours of the Premier League, beset by injuries that prevented him from finding his feet across two loan spells while at Everton too – with Russian side CSKA Moskow and Trazbonspor in Turkey.

Indeed, it proved to be a total calamity. When considering the now 29-year-old Gbamin’s wages, alongside that lofty transfer fee, it can be seen that he drained Everton of £33m, something that really puts into perspective how dreadful Moshiri’s deal was – claiming around £4m from the Merseysiders for each appearance made.

It’s somewhat ironic that Everton re-signed Gueye in a £2m transfer in 2022, something that proved a good financial venture but contextualises the gravity of the whole thing – Moshiri effectively swallowing his pride and moving back to his erstwhile number six, who had by that point turned 32.

Fans don’t mind running the gamut of emotions. Football is like that, cyclical, up and down. But Everton need to reach a level beyond that which has been provided to them over the past several years; it’s not befitting of the raucous Goodison Park crowd.

Blundered transfer moves like that of Gbamin must not be repeated. A little more due diligence would be good, with a revised take allowing the Blues to sign players who will actually raise the bar on the blue side of the River Mersey.

£27m profit: Everton struck gold by selling Moyes' "special talent"

Everton sold one former hero for a sizeable fee under David Moyes.

ByJoe Nuttall Oct 29, 2024

Surprised by the outcome, the Australia captain has declared the appeal verdict sets a troubling standard for allowable physical contact in the game

Daniel Brettig in Cape Town21-Mar-20183:24

Brettig: Can sense surprise over Rabada decision from Australia

Australia captain Steven Smith has declared that the Kagiso Rabada appeal verdict sets a troubling standard for allowable physical contact in the game. He also indicated that Australia’s long-time policy of not contesting the charges of ICC match referees may well change after South Africa’s successful legal challenge.Clearly surprised by the outcome, Smith questioned why he had not been asked for his version of events as the other party in the incident, for which the match referee Jeff Crowe had found Rabada guilty of making “inappropriate and deliberate” physical contact with the batsman after dismissing him on day one of the Port Elizabeth Test. Either way, Smith said a precedent had been set.”The ICC have set the standard, haven’t they? There was clearly contact out in the middle,” Smith said in Cape Town ahead of Thursday’s third Test. “I certainly won’t be telling my bowlers to go out there and after you take a wicket go and get in their space. I don’t think that is on and part of the game.”I certainly think he bumped me a little bit harder than it actually looked on the footage. It didn’t bother me too much. I guess the emotion after you get out you don’t really … he’s won the battle. What’s the point of over-celebrating? And getting in the face of a batter, you’ve already won the battle. But they’ve obviously decided what’s deliberate contact and what’s not, and apparently it wasn’t.”Since 2011, Australia have only once asked for a hearing to contest a sanction, ironically for physical contact between Mitchell Johnson and Ben Stokes when Crowe was also presiding as match referee, and chose to drop the charges against both players for their mid-pitch collision during the 2013 Adelaide Test. However, Smith said the Rabada case had changed the landscape considerably, both in terms of allowing physical contact and opening up the possibility of further challenges.”You always want your best players available to play so maybe, particularly now that we know people can get off, that’s for sure. That’s a possibility in the future,” Smith said. “They obviously appealed this one and it looked like a pretty long process in the courtroom. But if you see guys getting off then perhaps guys will appeal a bit more in the future to try and get off certain things.”

“I think we’ve played in a pretty good spirit the last game and again it’s about continuing to play our hard, aggressive brand and making sure we stay within the parameters of the game.”

Looking at the code of conduct process, Smith said he was mystified as to why he was never called to give his account of the confrontation.”The other person involved not getting asked about it is pretty interesting, I thought,” Smith said. “You still want to come up against the best players. That’s part of playing the game and Kagiso is No.1 in the world. It was interesting the way things played out and that he was able to get the charge brought down with an appeal.”South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis was at the hearing and said it was a fair process, before quipping that “I wish I had this judge with me in Australia,” in reference to his previous unsuccessful appeal of a ball-tampering charge in 2016 and the New Zealand QC Michael Heron, who overturned Rabada’s ban. “I think it’s really good for the game, I don’t see a problem where a neutral guy sits and makes a decision and listens to both parties.”I was there and said to our people that even if we didn’t win the case I was very impressed with the judge and how he listened to both sides. He was very fair in the questions he asked. I think the process is good. You should have a platform if you feel you haven’t done something wrong, and have someone who sits in the middle and has a fair, objective point of view of listening to both sides and making a decision. “Du Plessis also disputed Smith’s contention that he should have been called to give evidence. “He wasn’t charged, if he was charged probably he would have been asked, KG was charged so he’s defending himself,” du Plessis said. “The judge has to decide if he sees it as intentional. Nothing I was going to say was going to have any impact on that, I wasn’t even needed to talk. His decision was made on the deciding factor if it was on purpose or not.”Having already met with the incoming match referee Andy Pycroft for the final two Tests of this series, Smith said he would seek further clarification of the appeal decision, and stated that Crowe had the right to feel “annoyed” that his deliberations had been cast aside by the appeals commissioner Michael Heron.”The way he handled both sides throughout the two Test matches, I thought he did a terrific job,” Smith said of Crowe. “I’d be feeling a bit annoyed if I was him, to be perfectly honest.”A new match referee coming in so he wanted to have a chat with the senior players so myself, Davey and Nathan Lyon. I think he’s going to chat to Faf [du Plessis], AB [de Villiers] and Hashim [Amla] as well. Just to ensure that the series is continued to be played in pretty good spirit.”I thought it was pretty good last game, after couple of isolated incidents in the first Test match and just to make sure cricket is still the winner. I might have a chat to him around what’s gone on. Obviously they’ve deemed the contact not to be deliberate and set the line in the sand of what is appropriate and what’s not. We’ll see what he has to say.”As for the “hacked” tweet from the account of Vernon Philander, Smith described claims that he had tried to “draw the contact” from Rabada as “a load of garbage”. However, he said he would ensure his players stayed in line at Newlands, after Cameron Bancroft had indicated the tweet may be used as material with which to go after Philander.”I think that’s a bit over the top,” Smith said. “I was just going down to chat to Shaun [Marsh]. I had just been given out. So trying to see whether I could find a way to still be out in the middle. Unfortunately, I couldn’t. I think that’s all a load of garbage to be honest.”I think we’ve played in a pretty good spirit the last game and again it’s about continuing to play our hard, aggressive brand and making sure we stay within the parameters of the game. Hopefully, we can do that and get ourselves up 2-1 in the series.”

Newcastle United failed to secure a summer move for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, but BBC pundit and club legend Alan Shearer would love to see him at St. James’ Park in the future.

How long does Victor Osimhen have on his contract?

The Nigeria international’s deal isn’t set to expire until 2025, but having established himself as Rudi Garcia’s overall best-performing player last season with a WhoScored match rating of 7.45, his impressive form caught the summer eye in the Premier League.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are the three clubs to have been the most heavily linked with a swoop for the 24-year-old, but they weren’t the only ones with PIF and Eddie Howe also being credited with an interest according to reports from overseas.

Back in June, Italian outlet Gazzetta Dello Sport reported that the Magpies boss wanted to add more firepower to his attacking ranks and had identified the centre-forward as an ideal target having even made contact with his agent, and whilst the boss didn’t take his interest any further, it could potentially be a move that he revisits in the new year.

What has Shearer said about Osimhen?

Speaking on The Rest Is Football Podcast, Newcastle icon Shearer was asked by his co-host Micah Richards whether he’d like to see Osimhen make the switch to the Northeast. As quoted by TEAMtalk, he believes the striker would be a big time addition:

“Yeah, they already have [Callum] Wilson and [Alexander] Isak, but I do not think you can ever have too many up top, you can change and rotate, he would have been a very good signing yeah. They have done it differently than we thought, a more measured way rather than going out and buying that big name.”

How many goals has Victor Osimhen scored?

During his time at Napoli, Osimhen has racked up a total of 76 contributions (62 goals and 14 assists) in 104 appearances, form which has seen him dubbed a “goal-scoring machine” by journalist Josh Bunting, so it’s clear to see the prolific threat that he could bring if he was to ever join Newcastle.

The Lagos native also ranks in the 98th percentile for most touches in the opposition’s penalty area and has recorded 17 shots so far this season, which is more than any of his fellow teammates, via FBRef, showing what a standout performer he is and his desire to hit the back of the net in the final third.

The towering striker, who also has the versatility to operate everywhere across the frontline, knows what it takes to compete and be successful at the highest level having been crowned 2022/23 Serie A Champion, alongside winning the division's award for Best Young Player as his individual efforts were recognised, per Transfermarkt.

Napoli are believed to have set a staggering €200m (£171m) price tag for Osimhen which isn’t at all affordable for most clubs, but should his employers reduce the sum that they are demanding as he starts to edge towards the end of his contract, this would be a no-brainer of a deal to pursue.

An update has emerged on Celtic and their attempts to bolster the playing squad before the summer transfer window deadline passes on Friday.

What's the latest Celtic transfer news?

According to Football Scotland, the Hoops have Southampton central defender Lyanco on their shortlist of options to bring in to improve their options at the back.

The report claims that the Brazilian enforcer has been dropped from the Championship outfit's squad ahead of a possible move away from St. Mary's before the window slams shut.

Brendan Rodgers was directly asked about a swoop for the former Torino brute and stated that he is hoping to have an update on that particular pursuit over the next few days.

How good is Lyanco?

Despite Southampton's relegation from the Premier League, Lyanco showcased some promising qualities in and out of possession throughout 21 league appearances during 2022/23 campaign.

The 26-year-old titan has the potential to be a strong, experienced, addition to Rodgers' squad and his arrival could allow the Northern Irish head coach to ruthlessly ditch Liam Scales before the end of the window.

He has been touted with a possible return to Aberdeen, potentially on a permanent basis, this summer after his loan spell with the club last season.

Signing Lyanco could then free up the Irish defender to move on as the Hoops would have adequate cover in place with Gustaf Lagerbielke, Stephen Welsh, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Maik Nawrocki, which could make it difficult for the former Shamrock Rovers ace to find minutes on the pitch.

The Southampton defender made 3.36 tackles and interceptions per 90 for the Saints in the Premier League last season, whilst Scales made 2.9 tackles and interceptions per game across 31 Scottish Premiership matches for Aberdeen. This suggests that the 6 foot 2 ace could win possession back more frequently for the side with his defensive interventions.

Celtic's backline could be less prone to making big mistakes with the £18k-per-week battler as he only made two errors leading to a shot or goal for the opposition and did not concede a single penalty last term. Scales, however, made two blunders leading to shots for the other team and gave away three penalties in that time, as per Sofascore.

Lyanco also ranked within the top 3% of his Premier League positional peers for successful take-ons per 90 (0.61).

Whereas, the Dons loanee completed 0.2 dribbles per match, which suggests that the Brazilian colossus could offer more in possession in terms of being able to drive forward with the ball to bypass an opposition press.

The ex-Serie A tank, who made 59 appearances in the Italian top-flight, could progress Celtic up the pitch by taking on attackers to then create space for the midfielders and attackers to work their magic at the top end of the pitch, rather than stagnating the build-up by being safe on the ball.

Therefore, Lyanco, who was hailed as a "fantastic" character by his former Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, could be an upgrade on Scales in and out of possession and that is why Rodgers could ruthlessly bin the 25-year-old warrior after completing a swoop for the Southampton centre-back.

A half-century and a five-for, it was all in a day’s work for the 18-year old offspinning allrounder

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2018
ScorecardAfif Hossain flays the ball through cover•International Cricket CouncilThere were performances aplenty in Lincoln, but perhaps the most decisive one came from Afif Hossain. The 18-year old, who has already had a taste of top-flight cricket playing in the Bangladesh Premier League, and at the Under-19 World Cup he made a bigger name for himself by striking a half-century when his team was flagging and then picking up a five-for to seal the game.Canada had done quite well, at least at the start of each innings. Seam bowler Faisal Jamkhandi struck in the second over of the match, eventually finishing 5 for 48, and the captain Arslan Khan made 63 at No. 3. The end, though, was a problem. They gave up 84 runs in the last 10 overs, with Towhid Hridoy striking a magnificent 122 off 126 balls. And while batting, after being 170 for 4 in a chase of 265, they were bowled out for 198.Afif’s offspin was the major reason behind such a collapse. He began his first spell by dismissing a Canadian opener. Randhir Sandhu gone. His second spell followed a similar script. Pranav Sharma gone. Coming back to bowl a third, he took out their top-scorer Arslan and finished his spell with a double-wicket over. Considering Afif had also lifted Bangladesh from 91 for 3 to 202 for 4, he was an easy choice for Man of the Match.

Everton's transfer window looks to be drawing to a close, and while several enterprising signings have been made, judgment will be reserved until the season's narrative unravels after the early-season scramble simmers down.

The Toffees narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League for the second successive season last year, and with two defeats kicking off Sean Dyche's first full term at the club, early alarm bells are already ringing around Goodison Park.

The club will be emboldened by Che Adams' imminent arrival, with the Southampton striker set to join Everton for £15m, while Youssef Chermiti, Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison have already made the move to Merseyside.

There could still be room for another acquisition, however, with FC Porto winger Goncalo Borges at the centre of recent links to a move to Everton.

What's the latest on Goncalo Borges to Everton?

That's according to Portuguese outlet A Bola, who claim that Porto are acceptant of Borges' likely departure this month, with Everton joined in their interest by West Ham United.

Read the latest Everton transfer news HERE…

The 22-year-old winger is valued at €15m (£13m), but the report hints that this is well within Dyche's grasp and he could be the man to kickstart a new chapter on Merseyside.

How good is Goncalo Borges?

Primarily featuring on the right wing but also finding success on the alternate flank, the two-cap Portugal U21 international has yet to quite cement a regular starting berth in the Porto first-team, but the mounting interest in his signature is evidence enough that he is blossoming into a talented phenom.

This term, he has registered an assist from one substitute appearance and was previously hailed by talent scout Jacek Kulig for his role in a "superb" Porto U19 side that triumphed in the UEFA Youth League in 2018/19.

Borges also made 3.85 take-ons per 90 last season, as per FBref, highlighting his aptitude as a progressive presence – for reference, Vinicius Jr., who ranks among the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues for the same metric, recorded an average of 3.86.

Of course, such comparisons must be taken with a pinch of salt after Borges completed just ten matches in the Primeira Liga last year, but it does illustrate the brilliance of his ball-carrying and the kind of player he could become if nurtured aptly.

More recently, Kulig highlighted his strength in "pace, dribbling, technique, ball control, creativity", also listing him as a comparable player to Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry, and if Everton could unleash their own version of the Germany international it would be quite a boost to Dyche's side's season.

Gnabry signed for the imperious German Bundesliga champions from Werder Bremen in 2017 for just €8m (£7m), since making 219 appearances, scoring 81 goals and supplying 51 assists, also winning one Champions League trophy and the Bundesliga in each of his five campaigns with the club.

The former Arsenal starlet ranks among the top 2% of attacking midfielders and wingers for goals and the top 14% for assists per 90, though given that he only records 1.21 successful take-ons per 90 (bottom 29%), it's clear that Borges can pump far more energy and life into the flank than his distinguished positional peer does at present, marauding up and down the Toffees wing and wreaking havoc.

Everton must sign Borges, though he is inexperienced on the major stage, the Portuguese prospect is burgeoning and could burst into prominence with a central role under Dyche's stewardship.

Victoria lost opener Travis Dean off what became the last ball of the day in Melbourne

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2017
ScorecardD’Arcy Short plays the pull shot•Getty ImagesVictoria spinners Fawad Ahmed and Jon Holland picked up three wickets each as Western Australia were bowled out for 243 having chosen to bat at the MCG. At stumps on the first day, the Bushrangers were 1 for 20 in reply, with Marcus Harris on 17 and set to be joined by a new partner after Travis Dean was bowled for 3 by Jhye Richardson from what became the last ball of the day.Western Australia recovered from early trouble after they fell to 2 for 8 in the fourth over of the match. Opener Jon Wells was brilliantly caught at third slip by Aaron Finch diving to his right off the bowling of Chris Tremain, and discarded Test batsman Hilton Cartwright followed in the next over when he was bowled by Scott Boland for a duck.Mitchell Marsh and Will Bosisto steadied the Warriors with a 65-run partnership before the spin bowlers started to make an impact. Marsh was bowled by Fawad for 43, Marcus Stoinis was caught off Holland’s bowling for 24, and Bosisto was also caught off Fawad for 57 shortly before tea.Wicketkeeper Josh Inglis contributed a valuable 46 before he was lbw to Tremain. Holland finished with 3 for 60 and Fawad picked up 3 for 58. Victoria, who have won the past three Sheffield Shield titles, entered this round in the unfamiliar position of being last on the table, and are searching for their first win of this summer’s tournament.