HYDERABAD: Abhishek Sharma lit up the IPL on Saturday with a spectacular 141 off 55 balls to steer Sunrisers Hyderabad to the second-highest successful chase in tournament history of 246 as they downed Punjab Kings by eight wickets.
Earlier, Nicholas Pooran continued his incredible form with 61 to help Lucknow Super Giants end Gujarat Titans’ winning streak of four matches, coming out on top by six wickets.
The 24-year-old Abhishek put on the best stand so far this season of 171 with opening partner Travis Head, who hit 66, in a chase achieved with nine balls to spare.
“We didn’t talk (about) anything,” Abhishek said of the mood ahead of the chase. “It was just natural play for us. The partnership boosted me up.”
Punjab hold the record winning chase of 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens last year.
Abhishek’s individual score is the third highest in IPL history behind Chris Gayle (175 not out for Bengaluru) and Brendon McCullum (158 not out for Kolkata) and the largest in 12 years.
“This one is very special, because I wanted to break that losing streak,” added Abhishek. “Losing four matches back to back was very tough. But we never talked about it in the team.”
Shreyas Iyer’s 82 and a late blitz of 34 by Marcus Stoinis steered Punjab to 245-6, but the total proved inadequate as the Sunrisers openers took their team off the bottom of the 10-team table with just a second win in six matches.
Abhishek started as he meant to go on, reaching his fifty in 19 balls.
Australia’s Head fell to leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal after hitting nine fours and three sixes in his 37-ball knock.
But Abhishek raised his century in only 40 balls as he roared, punched the air and waved a piece of paper with a message reading “this one for the orange army,” referencing the Sunrisers fans.
Arshdeep Singh eventually dismissed Abhishek, who hit 14 fours and 10 sixes, with 24 to win and Heinrich Klaasen saw Hyderabad home with an unbeaten 21 off 14 balls.
Earlier in Lucknow, opener Aiden Markram, who hit 58, and the in-form Pooran set up the home team’s chase of 181 before they secured victory over Gujarat with three balls to spare.
Markram shared partnerships of 65 with fellow opener Rishabh Pant and 58 with Pooran, who struck his fourth half-century of the campaign to go past Gujarat opener Sai Sudharsan as the leading runscorer this season with 349, at a remarkable strike-rate of 215.
“I think one thing is for sure is that we are happy to have Nicholas Pooran in our team,” said Pant of the West Indies star.
“You want someone like him on your side and not batting against you. The way he is reading the game right now, the way he is batting is phenomenal.”
Gujarat lost top spot in the 10-team table, with Lucknow behind in third with four wins from six matches.
South Africa’s Markram stepped up in the absence of his in-form opening partner Mitchell Marsh, who missed the match due to the illness of his daughter.
Skipper Pant was promoted to open but failed to strike form despite an early reprieve when Gujarat wicketkeeper Jos Buttler dropped a catch down the leg-side.
Pant hit four boundaries before he lofted fast bowler Prasidh Krishna to deep third man, falling for 21 from 18 balls.
Pant is still waiting to justify his record auction price of $3.21 million and has only managed 40 runs in five innings.
Pooran hammered his fifty in 23 balls before falling to Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
But he had already done the damage with one four and seven sixes in his 34-ball blitz.
Impact substitute Ayush Badoni hit an unbeaten 28 and sealed the win with a four and six after a late wobble.
Abhishek plunders 141 as Hyderabad pull off second-highest IPL chase
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Abhishek plunders 141 as Hyderabad pull off second-highest IPL chase
- 24-year-old Abhishek put on the best stand so far this season of 171 with opening partner Travis Head
Fatigued Barca look to extend lead over Real ahead of Clasico
Flick told reporters: “When you play every three days, it is not easy to work on certain things”
BARCELONA: After Barcelona salvaged their treble hopes in a thrilling Champions League semifinal against Inter Milan, Hansi Flick’s side will turn their attention back to LaLiga where a victory would put them in a strong position before another Clasico.
The LaLiga leaders came from behind twice to earn a 3-3 draw with Inter in the first leg on Wednesday but continued to show defensive frailty.
“We conceded a lot of goals at home again and it’s unacceptable,” Barca forward Raphinha said.
Flick’s side have scored over 150 goals in all competitions this season but a hectic schedule has taken its toll on the home stretch and Barca have kept only one clean sheet in their last five games.
“Of course, every team has its strengths and weaknesses,” Flick told reporters.
“When you play every three days, it is not easy to work on certain things. But at the moment the situation is this: these are things that happen.”
Barcelona have less than 72 hours to rest before they play Real Valladolid on Saturday, an easy fixture on paper since LaLiga’s bottom side were relegated from the top flight last week.
Barca thrashed Valladolid 7-0 in August as the team with just four wins and the worst defensive record (81 goals conceded in 33 games) welcome the leaders with nothing to lose but their pride.
KOUNDE BLOW
Barcelona were dealt another injury blow after Jules Kounde went down with a calf injury against Inter and had to be replaced.
No Barca player has played more minutes in LaLiga and the Champions League this season and the Frenchman had played more than 100 successive games for club and country since November, 2023.
Victory would give Barca a seven-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, whose defensive problems are far worse as they prepare to play Celta Vigo a day later.
Real have nothing left to play for apart from the league title after they lost to Barca in the Copa del Rey final and were knocked out by Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Their recent form has rung alarm bells at the Bernabeu and Spanish media have reported that manager Carlo Ancelotti is on his way out of the club at the end of the season, with Brazil keen on securing his services.
Real must find a way to close the gap or risk handing Barcelona the LaLiga title when they face each other on May 11.
The Spanish giants have faced off three times this season in domestic competitions and Barcelona have come out on top each time, scoring 12 goals.
Third-placed Atletico Madrid kick off the weekend’s action at Deportivo Alaves and although challenging Barcelona for the title is next to impossible with a 10-point gap, they could reel in their city rivals.
Athletic Bilbao are safe in fourth spot for the time being as they focus on the Europa League semifinal first leg against Manchester United on Thursday before a trip to Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Flintoff proud as Afghan refugee protege plays for Lancashire second team
- The Afghan refugee was the breakout star of Flintoff’s television reality show
- Miakhel scored 25 not out batting at number 10 in the first innings
LONDON: Andrew Flintoff has revealed his pride at seeing ‘Field of Dreams’ protege Adnan Miakhel, a refugee from Afghanistan, make his first appearance for Lancashire’s second team.
The former England cricket captain, who made his name in cricket as a hugely talented all-rounder while playing for Lancashire, his native county, has been back in the public eye lately following the release of a new documentary detailing the painful recovery from his life-changing car crash.
The program sees Flintoff speaking about how returning from show business to cricket has helped him gain fresh meaning in life, with Miakhel’s appearance in a three-day friendly against Yorkshire — the traditional arch-rivals of northwest county Lancashire — uniting the worlds of entertainment and sport.
The Afghan refugee was the breakout star of Flintoff’s television reality show about a scratch team of would-be cricketers based in Preston, Lancashire, and was awarded asylum in the United Kingdom after his mentor wrote to the Home Office (Britain’s interior ministry) supporting his application.
Flintoff, reflecting on Miakhel’s elevation from Lancashire’s Under-18s last season to the second string this year, posted on X: “Some journeys are longer and harder, I’m so proud of this fine young man.”
Miakhel scored 25 not out batting at number 10 in the first innings and dismissed first-teamers Jonny Tattersall and Matt Revis as he claimed figures of 2-72 from 13 overs.
The game at Liverpool’s Northern Cricket Club is a friendly match which does not restrict teams to the usual standard 11 players and Miakhel is not listed to bat in the second innings.
Rossall School, which awarded Miakhel a scholarship, paid its own tribute, adding on X: “Amazing to see current Y13 and 1XI (first team) cricket Captain Adnan M being presented with his 2XI (2nd XI) cap as he made his debut against Yorkshire.
“It is fantastic to see all of the hard work Adnan has put in paying off and we wish him all the success in the future with @lancscricket,” added the message from Rossall, whose former pupils include Liam Botham, the son of England cricket great Ian Botham, who also played cricket and both codes of rugby at a professional level in his own right.
Qatar replaces Garcia as national coach with Lopetegui
- Former Real Madrid and Spain boss Julen Lopetegui signs contract until the 2027 Asian Cup
- Lopetegui’s last two jobs were in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham
DOHA: Qatar appointed former Real Madrid and Spain boss Julen Lopetegui as the national coach on Thursday.
Lopetegui, 58, has signed a contract until the 2027 Asian Cup, where Qatar will go for a third consecutive title. His first game in charge is on June 5 at home to Iran, and then in Uzbekistan five days later.
“Ready for a new chapter. Welcome Lopetegui,” the Qatar Football Association wrote on social media. “We’re excited to embark on this journey together.”
Lopetegui replaces fellow Spaniard Luis Garcia, who took the job only last December and whose departure was also announced on Thursday.
“The QFA extends its deepest appreciation to Mr. Garcia for his professionalism and dedication throughout his time with the team,” the QFA wrote on social media.
After poor results in World Cup qualifying, Qatar is fourth in Asia Group A and already out of the running to finish in the top two spots that guarantee a place at the 2026 tournament. But there is still a chance for the 2022 host to qualify for the first time through a playoff route.
Lopetegui’s last two jobs were in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham, where he was fired in January.
Hussein Ammouta U-turn leaves Iraq still without a coach as big games loom
- 7 candidates in the running to be in charge when World Cup qualifiers resume in 5 weeks
AMSTERDAM: No coaching carousel spins faster than those in West Asia.
Since World Cup qualification began in October 2023 all 12 Arab nations in the Asian Football Confederation have changed managers.
The latest tactician to be given his marching orders was Jesus Casas who recently left the Iraq post after two years and five months at the helm.
It was widely tipped that the Iraq Football Association would bring in a big name to replace Casas and lead the team to the World Cup finals for the first time since 1986.
A leading candidate quickly emerged — Al-Jazira manager Hussein Ammouta who earned plaudits by leading Jordan to the 2023 Asian Cup final.
The Moroccan has strong links to the country’s top brass.
The IFA’s President Adnan Dirjal coached Ammouta at Al-Sadd in the late 1990s. And when Ammouta became manager of the club a decade-and-a-half later he recruited the IFA’s Vice President Younis Mahmoud to lead the line for the Qatari powerhouse.
Everything was set to unveil the 55-year-old this week, according to the Iraqi media and Twitterati. Then it was off, leaving the Lions of Mesopotamia without a manager with less than five weeks before their next World Cup qualifier.
Addressing the media in the aftermath, Mahmoud said there were seven candidates, amongst them three foreigners. He was coy about the details and played up the virtues of having an Iraqi in the role.
“We are still in negotiations and we will announce in the coming days. It could be Ammouta. I don’t know anything about what has been said, I leave these details to (president) Adnan (Dirjal) as he is a former manager and knows more than me.”
It was not supposed to be like this for Iraq. A new board at the IFA led by Dirjal had wanted to put in place a process and foster stability. They had turned to former Spain assistant Casas to overhaul the team.
In spite of his early departure, Casas has the third-longest tenure as Iraqi manager, with only Ammo Baba and Srecko Katenac lasting longer. This indicates why this football-mad nation has underachieved since lifting the 2007 AFC Asian Cup title.
Early success brought the Andalucian time. Winning the Gulf Cup on home soil and ending a 35-year drought won the fans over. A year later, when Iraq was eliminated at the hands of Jordan at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, Casas was spared criticism due to the controversial decision by referee Alireza Faghani to send off Aymen Hussein in the final quarter of the match.
The Spaniard also won plaudits due to the team’s expansive style which generated a famous win against Japan at the tournament.
Ten goals in four games at the continental showpiece papered over the fact that The Lions of Mesopotamia did not keep a single clean sheet and conceded an average of two goals a game.
That lack of control precipitated a change of thinking on the bench. Casas’ Iraq reemerged in qualification intent to assert control even if it meant boring supporters to death.
It was effective.
Iraq kept a clean sheet in eight of the 10 World Cup qualifiers contested in 2024. They breezed into round three, collecting 16 of 18 points on offer in a group comprising Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
When round three started, the results kept coming in the form of binary scorelines, with only a 3-2 loss away to Korea Republic breaking up the string of 0-0 draws, and 1-0 wins against Kuwait, Jordan, Oman and Palestine.
Iraq sat in sole possession of second place, and an automatic World Cup berth, at the conclusion of Matchday Six in November.
That is when Iraq’s momentum came to a screeching halt. A pitiful defense of their Gulf Cup title in December was a harbinger of things to come.
Team selections became ever more unpredictable, as if Casas was trying to address critics vis-a-vis his lineups. In goal, sometimes Ahmed Bassil would start and others would be excluded from the squad altogether.
Equally bizarre was the chopping and changing of center-backs and midfielders.
Ahmed Yasin and Saad Abdulameer returned from extended international exile to captain the side against Oman and Jordan only to be dropped once again. In defense, Rebin Sulaka has started with seven different center-backs in the space of 12 months.
In a desperate attempt to solve the riddle of who should anchor his defense and pull the strings in attack, Casas changed his formation in what would prove to be his last match at the helm.
Hussein’s 34th minute goal gave Iraq a lead and a switch to a 3-4-3 seemed to be vindicated. Iraq’s defensive frailty however could not be masked like it was in the three other 1-0 wins they had registered in round three.
Palestine pushed and when the equalizer came in the 88th minute so did a mental collapse similar to the one suffered at the hands of Jordan in the Asian Cup Round of 16 encounter.
Following the 2-1 loss, Casas blamed the defeat on a “lack of character” and an inability to see out a result. Whether or not a coaching change will remedy those problems for Iraq is very much an open question.
Casas might have a point about the mental aspect of Iraq’s game. The players, administrators, and media have been engaged in a battle against a perceived conspiracy against them.
Hussein’s first words to the media following the loss to Palestine were used to complain about Amman as a neutral venue and the number of fans in the stands.
Perhaps the favorite tag proved too much for the team and a full embrace of the underdog role while eschewing victimhood is needed.
Iraq can draw on the 2007 Asian Cup win for inspiration when a team led by an interim coach shocked the world.
How Matthias Jaissle weathered a storm to take Al-Ahli to the AFC Champions League Elite final
- The German coach looked on his way out in January when famous journalist touted Massimiliano Allegri for his job
- Al-Ahli stunned rival Al-Hilal with a 3-1 win to reach their third final of Asia’s top club competition
AUSTRALIA: Fabrizio Romano is rarely wrong.
The gold standard on reporting on football’s off-field wheeling and dealing, when Romano says something is happening it is usually just a matter of when, not if.
So when, on Jan. 17, he posted that Al-Ahli had agreed “in principle” to appoint Massimiliano Allegri, and Gabriele Cioffi as interim coach until June, it seemed certain that incumbent Matthias Jaissle would go.
This came on the back of a disappointing start to the season in which they won just three of their first nine games, to all but end their title hopes before the season had even reached the one-third mark.
But at the point of Romano’s postings, Al-Ahli managed to turn their form around, going on to win seven out of nine and surging up the table.
But it seemed like it was too little, too late for the 37-year-old German.
This story, however, has another twist. The Al-Ahli faithful were having none of it. For them, the failings were with those above Jaissle.
So when word came out he was to be moved on, they mobilized to support him. Diehard fans picketed outside Al-Ahli’s training ground, with one banner directed at senior management reading: “Enough failure … LEAVE!”
Within two days of Romano’s tweet, Al-Ahli confirmed that Jaissle would remain as head coach “with full support from the management to achieve the club’s aspirations and future ambitions.”
It was quite an about-face, but one that showed the positive power fans can have when they mobilize in the right way.
Just over three months on from that saga, it is hard to imagine this Al-Ahli side without the German at the helm.
He has guided them to the final of the AFC Champions League Elite courtesy of a demolition of Al-Hilal, the standard bearers of Asian club football, in the semifinal on Tuesday night.
The scoreline was 3-1 but make no mistake this was a demolition and a vindication for the fans and Jaissle.
When he demanded the club sign a left-winger in the summer to replace Allan Saint-Maximin, the club instead signed a striker, in this case Ivan Toney.
Jaissle made his frustrations known through the media, and reiterated his desires ahead of the winter window in January
Twelve days after his position was assured, the club signed Brazilian winger Galeno from FC Porto, which has transformed their season.
Prior to Galeno’s arrival, Al-Ahli had scored 32 goals in 18 games at about 1.78 per game on average. Since the Brazilian’s arrival, they have netted 28 in just 11 games at 2.55 a game.
Galeno gave the squad more balance and structure, and transformed their attacking threat. It is no coincidence that Toney has scored 12 of his 19 goals this season since Galeno’s arrival.
It is what the German knew would happen all along, but his demands to those above him were falling on deaf ears.
Their performance at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium on Tuesday night was about as close to perfection as Jaissle could have imagined.
Right from the opening whistle, spurred on by the very fans who had saved his job months earlier, Al-Ahli took control.
Their forward pressure was relentless, which was not a surprise coming from a coach schooled in the Red Bull philosophy. Riyad Mahrez pulled the strings as always, and Galeno buzzed about creating havoc.
And Roberto Firmino, consigned to playing in just the ACL Elite after not being registered for the league after Galeno’s arrival, looked every bit the motivational leader wearing the captain’s armband.
At the back, meanwhile, Merih Demiral and Ibanez were ferocious in defense and closed down the spaces in which Al-Hilal’s attacking threats normally like to operate.
While it finished 3-1, it could easily have been more after Al-Ahli hit the woodwork three times, had two goals disallowed and saw a penalty save, all in the second half.
This was a humbling for Al-Hilal who only days earlier had dished out a similar lesson to Gwangju FC in the quarterfinal.
“It was a fantastic evening. I’m so, so proud,” Jaissle told reporters after the game.
“The performance from each player, the team, and the unit — and by unit I also mean the fans in the stadium — it was a totally deserved win.
“These games are usually decided by details. There are some strengths and weaknesses in each team. We tried to identify the best ways to exploit them and they worked perfectly.
“We handled it marvelously and everybody did it in a brilliant way and we managed to achieve a great result. I’m really happy with the way the goals were scored.
“Now we focus on the final. Now we are there and we have to make the final step successful as well.”
As Jaissle and the Al-Ahli faithful celebrated wildly after the game, the dramas of January felt like another lifetime.
