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Ashleigh Gardner has insisted Australia remain the world’s best team despite their back-to-back World Cup exits, confident another overhaul is not required to win back cricket’s two major global trophies.Winners of every T20 and ODI World Cup between 2018 and 2023, Australia are now without either trophy after semi-final exits in both events in the past 15 months.Related

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Australia will return to the field in 50 days at the SCG, with a blockbuster home multi-format series against ODI World Cup champions India in February and March.That series will be followed by another multi-format series in the West Indies, before the first chance to reclaim a major prize with the T20 World Cup in England in June.When Australia were shocked in the T20 World Cup semi-finals by South Africa in 2024, it prompted a concerted effort to be more attacking with their batting.The result was an historic domination of England in last summer’s home Ashes, winning all three T20Is, all three ODIs and the Test match at the MCG.This year’s semi-final defeat to India in the ODI World Cup was largely down to ill-discipline, with several spilled catches costing the Australians dearly.Australia are yet to have a large-scale full-squad review of that exit, with that likely to come when the team regathers in February. But Gardner said that meant a focus would likely be on performing under pressure, rather than bigger changes to Australia’s approach.”I think there’s not going to be too many dramatic changes,” Gardner told AAP.  “I don’t think there necessarily needs to be. It’s more those small moments that I don’t think we won and kind of letting the game go in ebbs and flows.”That’s going to happen at times, but making sure that if those things do arise, we have the tools and capabilities to recognise it and the tools to get out of that.  Everyone’s going to probably respond differently. But I would say overall it’s a pretty, standard thing that we’re trying to achieve.”Gardner will play a key role in Australia’s push to reclaim the trophies and has every chance to be vice-captain or captain when Alyssa Healy retires in the next four-year cycle.Outside of their semi-final defeats, Australia won every group game at both the T20 and ODI World Cups, and remain well clear in top spot of the ICC rankings in each format.All leaving Gardner’s eyes firmly on June and the chance to win back a trophy, from the moment this year’s World Cup ended.”You have to think about that, don’t you?” Gardner said.  “The last couple of World Cups have been frustrating because of the way that they’ve ended.”But I can sit here comfortably and say that I still believe that we’re the best team. It’s just making sure that we’re showing that in those moments where it really matters.”So I’m certainly thinking about June next year, it seems like a long time away but it realistically isn’t and it’ll come around very quickly.”

West Ham have moved in with an offer to sign a highly-rated forward wanted by Man United after opening talks with his club, according to a new report.

West Ham set to back Nuno in January

The Hammers find themselves in desperate trouble, sitting eighteenth in the Premier League table with just 13 points from 18 matches following their latest defeat to Fulham.

West Ham are five points adrift of safety and displaying alarming relegation form, having taken just three points from their last seven games without registering a single victory in their previous six league games.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have managed only three wins all season and have won just two matches at home, while their defensive record has proved catastrophic with 36 goals conceded and only one clean sheet managed throughout the entire campaign.

The numbers paint a bleak picture.

Related "Could happen" – Player admits he may join West Ham as agent works on transfer

He’s made a January admission.

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West Ham currently have fewer points after 17 matchdays than they did during the 2010/11 season when they were relegated to the Championship under Avram Grant, and the London Stadium atmosphere has turned toxic.

Supporters are regularly protesting David Sullivan and Karren Brady’s running of the club after an alarming slide which has seen them go from regular European contenders under David Moyes to relegation candidates, with some reports even suggesting that Nuno is no longer safe in the West Ham hot seat.

However, the Portuguese will be given some more time to turn things around, and West Ham are set to back him in January.

One of the items on West Ham’s transfer agenda is a new forward.

The Irons quite simply need a new number nine with Niclas Füllkrug departing for AC Milan, and there is a belief that Fulham winger Adama Traore is expected to join West Ham next month as well.

West Ham make offer for Moussa Yeo after opening talks

Now, according to Africa Foot, they also have their eyes on young RB Salzburg winger Moussa Yeo.

As per their sources, West Ham have submitted a £7 million offer to Salzburg for the Malian forward as Nuno desperately seeks attacking reinforcements to aid the club’s relegation battle.

AfricaFoot reports that West Ham have contacted Salzburg’s directors about the 21-year-old and discussions remain ongoing over a potential January deal, with the east Londoners looking to sign him ‘as soon as’ the window opens.

Subscribe for Exclusive Transfer Coverage and Analysis For fuller transfer-market context, subscribe to our newsletter for clear, evidence-based coverage of transfer targets, negotiations, and club strategy — perfect for following stories like West Ham’s search for attacking reinforcements.

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The Austrian club are open to sanctioning his departure next month too. However, Salzburg are also demanding a ten percent sell-on clause as part of any agreement.

The Mali international has made 19 appearances this season across all competitions for Salzburg, contributing one goal and three assists while demonstrating his ability to play as a dynamic wide forward.

Africa Foot state that Yeo is also on Man United’s radar, showcasing how highly-rated he is in Premier League circles, with Nuno’s side now joining the hunt and looking to get ahead of them.

Related West Ham offered La Liga's 2024 top scorer as club tell him to find new club in January

The Irons have a potentially interesting opportunity.

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Brendon McCullum was in imperious form during his 81, which set up New Zealand’s big win © Getty Images

New Zealand, led by scintillating half-centuries from Brendon McCullum and Jamie How, dismantled South Africa with clinical efficiency and brought the one-day series alive with a seven-wicket victory in the second one-dayer at St George’s Park. The target of 210 was seen as fairly competitive under lights but McCullum and How tackled it with a level of confidence rarely seen from New Zealand in this series.There was a refreshing consistency with which New Zealand dominated the game for most parts. The 89-run rescue act for the sixth wicket between Shaun Pollock and Mark Boucher was the only lengthy passage of play dominated by South Africa – who had won eight of the last ten day-night games here – but the momentum was with New Zealand from the second ball of the match.Lou Vincent’s run-out got the chase off to a rocky start but that brought McCullum and How together. McCullum was in imperious touch against Nel in particular and dented his confidence in one over. Nel pitched up outside off, McCullum lofted through the line and deposited the ball straight back over his head for the first six of the innings. The next ball was heaved over point before How got into the act with a streaky inside edge past short fine leg, but the intent with which the pair picked up 16 in that single over sent out a statement that New Zealand weren’t going to be trampled upon again.Both showed a fondness for horizontal bat shots – some met with thin air, some off the toe edge while some rocketed off the meat of the bat. The confidence in the strokeplay rubbed off on the running between the wickets as the pair rotated the strike judiciously. The fielding was sharp, characteristic of the South Africans, but not sharp enough. The number of direct hits didn’t deter How or McCullum from applying further pressure on the infielders. Gaps were bisected with precision and there wasn’t much Graeme Smith could do to plug them.The ploy of bowling slower balls, adopted by Charl Langeveldt, had the right intention – to confuse the batsmen – but not the desired effect. The ball often landed short of a good length, allowing the batsmen time to plan their strokes. The partnership looked ominous for South Africa and the bounce and sideways movement in the evening was barely seen under lights. As the pair stretched the stand to 150, the shoulders drooped and South Africa ran out of ideas, with the chase progressing at the rate of knots.Despite the running, it was ironical that two of the three dismissals came by way of run-outs. Dale Steyn, on the field as a substitute, set a fine example with a flat throw from deep extra cover to send back McCullum for 81 and How was trapped playing across the line to Langeveldt for 76. But it was a little too late for inspiration as Scott Styris and Ross Taylor played neat cameos and reached the target with 68 balls to spare.New Zealand’s batsmen were simply carrying on the team’s effort in the field. South Africa’s top order wilted under the pressure created at the start by an incisive opening burst from Kyle Mills, backed by restrictive spells from the two-pronged spin attack of Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel.The catching and anticipation was sharp and agile, and New Zealand, sensing an opportunity to make further inroads, threw themselves in the field, plugging the gaps in the first Powerplay. At 20 for 3, the pressure began to tell, particularly on Jacques Kallis, who was uncharacteristically scratchy in a situation tailor-made for him. Attempts at shuffling across the stumps to unsettle the bowler’s rhythm were met with little or no success and the fielders patrolling the inner circle were kept busy each time Kallis attempted something different.JP Duminy, who promised plenty with a couple of smooth drives on the front foot, fell to an untimely slog off Patel. And as the usually festive crowd turned quiet, New Zealand celebrated Kallis’ wicket as well.The rebuilding act by Boucher and Pollock wasn’t electrifying but effective as they rotated the strike against Patel and Vettori. The first ten overs of the stand had little in runs value -only 26 came off it – but the passage of play after the drinks interval followed a slightly different script. Pollock was fed with three gifts in succession by Gillespie – scooping two over backward point and dispatching the third back past the bowler – and suddenly the next ten overs yielded 58.The late fireworks were reserved for Nel. He picked on Mills, one of New Zealand’s least-effective bowlers at the death, slashing past gully, smoking one over square leg, and then following it up with a six over deep cover. Nel finished the innings in style with a six off Gillespie, giving South Africa hope. However, there weren’t too many smiles in the South African camp after that.

Losing Kevin Pietersen is a ‘big blow’ for England © Getty Images

It was not quite a Steve Harmison wide-to-second-slip moment, but AndrewFlintoff’s first over of the opening CB Series match at the MCG was anembarrassing start to England’s limited-overs bowling efforts. A wideoutside off stump, a leg-side wide that went for four and another thatwent to the boundary outside off gave Australia 11 from the first over -and none off the bat.It was a clear indication that not all the demons England carried throughthe Ashes series had been exorcised and Australia were keen to continuehurting the tourists as much as possible. Adam Gilchrist, who facedFlintoff’s wayward deliveries, said Australia would aim to use England’sweaknesses to humiliate them further.”That first over was quite telling of maybe their mindset at the moment,”Gilchrist said. “That’s a big bonus for us, a little launching pad to workfrom. They’re relatively inexperienced in comparison to a lot of teamsaround the world at the moment. They didn’t quite get it right and theyallowed us a little bit of freedom to free our arms up and hit over thetop a little bit.”Gilchrist’s “little bit” included seven fours and one six on the way to 60 from 61balls. Australia required only four batsmen to reel in England’s 242and it rarely looked like wickets were around the corner, which was further evidencethat England lacked the killer instinct required to challenge Australia.”Any team that’s been on the receiving end of losses like they have, theirconfidence is going to be dented and morale is probably a bit low,”Gilchrist said. “Their body language probably shows that. The challengefor us is not to let them come out of that and it can happen in aninstant, particularly in one-day cricket, so there’s still plenty ofmotivation and incentive for us.”But Kevin Pietersen’s tour-ending rib fracture will almost certainlylessen the chances of England breaking their two-month winless streak inAustralia. Ricky Ponting said although England’s other top-order batsmenwere capable of making a big score “on their day”, the injury to Pietersen,who top-scored for England with 82, was a massive boost to Australia.”That’s a really big blow to them,” Ponting said. “He looked really goodtoday. He has been right through the summer their best batsman and lookedvery comfortable today. I think a lot of their one-day cricket’s basedaround him so they’ll miss him a lot.”Ponting was keen for Australia to keep improving ahead of the World Cup,but he admitted there was little more his fast bowlers could have done torestrict England further. “Our bowling in particular was excellent,” hesaid. “It was a really good wicket, probably one of the fastest outfieldsI’ve seen at the MCG for quite some time. It was pretty conducive tohigh-scoring.”After all the praise lavished on him – justifiably – during the Ashes,Stuart Clark was the one fast man who proved costly. His ten overs wentfor 58 and it was the newest face in the attack, Mitchell Johnson, whoimpressed the most with 2 for 34. Having encountered such a strong bowling performance, England still have Brett Lee to worry about when he recovers from a chest infection.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Shane Bond marked his return to the side with three wickets as New Zealand cruised to victory at Queenstown © Getty Images

A year which went so poorly for New Zealand ended on a sparkling note as they notched up only their sixth victory in 19 one-day internationals with a convincing seven-wicket win against Sri Lanka at Queenstown. More than the victory itself, though, it was the manner in which it was achieved that should hearten New Zealand supporters. Jamie How, a 24-year-old opener, made a fluent 58 on debut while Peter Fulton, playing in only his second ODI, remained unbeaten on 70 as New Zealand chased down their target of 165 with 12.4 overs to spare.The last time Sri Lanka played an ODI in this country – on Boxing Day last year, on a tour cut short by the tsunami – they were thrashed by seven wickets, and the script for this game ran along remarkably similar lines. Dilshan, top-scorer for the Lankans in that match with 48, was the main man here as well with an aggressive 42, but apart from his 64-run stand with Marvan Atapattu (35), Sri Lanka were never in the game.On the other hand New Zealand, bolstered by the return of Shane Bond, made excellent use of their decision to bowl first after winning the toss, reducing Sri Lanka to 41 for 4. Their strategy was a simple one: on a pitch offering some bounce and seam movement, the fast bowlers peppered the batsmen with short stuff, then pitched it up and invited the drive. With the Sri Lankan batsmen lacking in confidence, wickets began to tumble in a hurry.Sanath Jayasuriya, back in the team after missing the Tests in India, and Upul Tharanga lasted eight overs, but Jayasuriya’s dismissal triggered a collapse as four wickets went down in the next six overs. Kyle Mills, who bowled with impeccable control, triggered the collapse, while Bond’s pace and swing was too much for Kumar Sangakkara to handle. When Jacob Oram nailed two wickets in successive overs, Sri Lanka were staring down the barrel, but then came the brightest moments of their innings, as Dilshan decided to respond to the crisis in typically belligerent fashion. He thrashed a square-drive and a straight-drive off successive balls from Oram, and when Chris Cairns drifted onto leg stump, Dilshan responded with a crisp hoick which cleared the square-leg boundary. His first 24 runs came off just 14 balls, and with Atapattu playing steadily at the other end, all wasn’t yet lost for Sri Lanka.New Zealand, though, kept chipping away, with Vettori bowling another excellent spell, replete with superb variations in flight and pace. And when Atapattu flicked a catch to square leg, Sri Lanka’s brief fightback was over. Dilshan perished soon after, and New Zealand wasted little time in tightening the noose.The target wasn’t an imposing one, but the task was made even easier by two players who, before this match, had a combined experience of one ODI. Organised in defence with a tight technique, and fluent in strokeplay, How’s performance suggested he could be the answer to New Zealand’s woes at the top of the order. Despite losing two senior partners fairly early, How remained unruffled. Chaminda Vaas tested him with deliveries that nipped back, but How was balanced enough not to fall over, defending comfortably with a straight bat. After getting a good idea of the pace and bounce in the first five overs, How unfurled three scorching boundaries in the sixth, off Lasith Malinga – two flicks, and a gorgeous straight-drive. When Malinga came back for a second spell, he repeated that stroke, and brought up his fifty with a magnificent pulled six off the same bowler. It was the highest score by a New Zealand opener on debut – beating Jock Edwards’s 41 against India in 1975-76.Fulton was more uncertain against Murali at the start, but gradually grew in confidence and unfurled some meaty blows, many of them down the ground. Atapattu tried all the bowling options available, though Dilhara Fernando’s absence – he was subbed out by Farveez Maharoof earlier in the day – left him with one less option. Fulton took his time to settle in, but he soon turned it on, getting to his maiden half-century as authoritatively as How, slog-sweeping Murali for six over square leg. Though How was finally dismissed, he had enough to ensure that the result was never in doubt.How they were outSri LankaSanath Jayasuriya c Vincent b Mills 12 (23 for 1)
Kumar Sangakkara c Fulton b Bond 0 (25 for 2)
Mahela Jayawardene c McCullum b Oram 1 (34 for 3)
Upul Tharanga c McCullum b Oram 17 (41 for 4)
Marvan Atapattu c How b Mills 35 (105 for 5)
Tillakaratne Dilshan c Vincent b Bond 42 (132 for 6)
Chaminda Vaas c Vettori b Oram 1 (139 for 7)
Russel Arnold b Mills 25 (150 for 8)
Farveez Maharoof b Cairns 18 (162 for 9)
Muttiah Muralitharan c Vettori b Bond 0 (163 all out)
New ZealandLou Vincent c Sangakkara b Vaas 15 (32 for 1)
Nathan Astle lbw b Muralitharan 2 (41 for 2)
Jamie How b Jayasuriya 58 (136 for 3)

Western Province Boland 233 and 279 for 3 (Puttick 87, Strydom50, Duminy 68*) lead Dolphins 325 by 187 runs
ScorecardWestern Province Boland made a poor start to the day at Newlands when Derrin Bassage, their first-innings centurion, was caught behind for 10 off Andrew Tweedie. Andrew Puttick and Gerhard Strydom then added 93 in 46 overs before Lance Klusener trapped Strydom in front for 50 (132 balls, eight fours). Puttick was bowled by Tweedie for a painstaking 87 off 267 balls. JP Duminy, who added 106 with Puttick, remained unbeaten on 68 at the close. The action of the day was supplied by Paul Adams, batting well up the order, as hestuck seven fours and a six in his 27-ball 47 not out. Western Province Boland ended the day with 279 for 3, an overall lead of 187.Warriors 422 for 9 dec and 29 for 1 lead Eagles 368 for7 dec (van Wyk 106, van der Wath 83, Jacobs 51, Kops 5-122) by 83 runs
ScorecardAt Buffalo Park in East London the Eagles, in the hope of extracting aresult out of the game, declared their innings closed at 368 for 7, stilltrailing by 54 runs. Morne van Wyk and Johan van der Wath put together 175, but both fell with the score on 352. van Wyk left for an excellent 106, a knock which came off 228 balls and included 15 fours. van der Wath struck ten fours and two sixes in his 83. Brent Kops made sure that the Warriors got a lead by taking 5 for 122. In their second innings the Warriors lost the wicket of Mark Bruyns for 7 and finished the day at 29 for 1.Lions 350 for 8 (Ontong 98, Ackerman 129, Nel 4-85) playingTitans
ScorecardFor the second day running a waterlogged outfield at Willowmoore Park inBenoni ensured that no play was possible.

Australia’s former swing bowler, Terry Alderman, has suggested that an international draft ought to be created to hasten the development of Test cricket’s minnows. Speaking ahead of Zimbabwe’s arrival in Australia for their maiden Test tour of the country, Alderman pointed out that the gulf in experience between the two nations – not to mention Bangladesh, whom Australia beat in a two-Test series in July – could be bridged by the inclusion of overseas players.”I like this idea of drafting players," said Alderman, who cited the example of Mark Waugh – a batsman whose 128-Test Australian career is over, but who could conceivably have played on for another two years at the highest level. “I can’t see anything wrong with that in helping the fledgling nations, it is never going to happen, but I would like to see them do something like that."”No frontline Australian player is going to put his name in the hat to go and play for Bangladesh," admitted Alderman. “But someone coming towards the end of a career or some of our one-day players who are on the periphery who want to play at the highest level. They have got a chance to have a Test career playing in another country.”Alderman, who played 41 Tests between 1981 and 1990-91 and twice took 40 wickets in an Ashes series in England, believes the ICC could fund such moves to ensure competitiveness throughout the Test-playing nations. “People are going to throw up all sorts of things to rejuvenate the lower teams,” he said. “It is almost accepted that Zimbabwe, like Bangladesh, are not going to win a game, but it is seen as almost an ambassadorial role for Australia to help them along.”They would probably need two or three players drafted into these teams. Instead of having just [foreign] coaches, you actually need players for the on-field experience, to encourage the bloke who has the potential. If the guy up the other end himself has never made a hundred or been successful at Test level, they are never going to improve.”Alderman, who is currently employed as a radio summariser in Australia, believes that Zimbabwe will be less competitive than the Bangladeshis were earlier in the year, and the absence of both Flower brothers – Andy has retired while Grant has broken his thumb – would hit them extremely hard. “They have just got to try and get something out of it.”

India may have one important, if unpredictable, ally in their bid to save the second Castle Lager/MTN Test match against South Africa at St George’s Park on Tuesday – the unsettled Eastern Cape weather.When play was finally called off on Monday evening, the Indians, who need to score 395 to win, were 28 for one in their second innings. They had batted for 75 minutes which brought the total play possible during the day – in three separate periods – to 109 minutes during which 25 overs in all were bowled.They need to bat through the last day to save the match and stay in the three-Test series, but as onerous as this task might seem, there is always the possibility that the weather might have the last say.It was, in fact, a little surprising that as much as 105 minutes play was possible on the fourth day. All day a thick covering of cloud hung over the ground, periodically unloading itself on St George’s Park and it is testimony to the drainage of the ground that play resumed remarkably quickly after each rain break.The forecast for Tuesday is more "heavy rain" in the area, in which case the focus of interest for the day will turn to the fate awaiting the five Indian players, together with captain Sourav Ganguly, who were called before match referee Mike Denness on Monday.Sachin Tendulkar had to go before the beak as a result of television footage which allegedly showed him tampering with the ball (lifting the seam, to be precise) while Harbhajan Singh, Shiv Das, Deep Dasgupta and Virender Sehwag have been carpeted for excessive appealing and dissent. The captain is there because he’s the captain.Denness held a hearing at 8.30am on Monday and another after the close of play in the evening. A statement, however, will not be issued before Tuesday morning, according to United Cricket Board officials.Of course, there might well be more cricket than expected on Tuesday, to follow Monday’s 25 overs, during the course of which South Africa advanced their second innings score to 233 for five before declaring and then had Shaun Pollock nip out Das with the fifth ball of the Indian second innings.Das hadn’t scored at that stage, and it was left to Dasgupta and Rahul Dravid to see their side through to the close with Dasgupta, who has made a decent fist of his new job as an opening bat, is on 22 with Dravid on 3.The other consequence of the South African declaration was to leave Jacques Kallis unbeaten on 89 and Pollock on 55. It was Pollock’s ninth Test 50 and Kallis’s 18th, although Kallis will not be entirely happy at having been denied his 10th Test century.The odds are still stacked heavily in South Africa’s favour, with the pitch still behaving unpredictably, but if India can show the resolution offered by Dasgupta and Dravid on Monday evening and the weather plays it part, the tourists could still go Centurion Park later this week with a chance of levelling the series.

Group A

Mukhtar Ahmed’s record-breaking 123 off 67 deliveries, the highest individual score in domestic T20s in Pakistan, helped set up Sialkot Region‘s thrilling seven-run win over Karachi Region Whites, as the latter narrowly missed out on chasing down a target of 199.Sialkot, led by Shoaib Malik, opted to bat and got off to a flying start as Ahmed and his opening partner Nauman Anwar added 125 runs in 12.1 overs. After Anwar’s dismissal for 51 off 34 deliveries, Ahmed maintained a brisk scoring rate despite little support from the batsmen at the other end – apart from the openers, none of the Sialkot batsmen managed a double-figure score. Ahmed was dismissed off the last ball of the penultimate over, after striking 18 fours and three sixes, and his innings ensured Sialkot finished at a strong 198 for 5.Karachi Whites responded cautiously and lost three wickets for 45 runs within the first six overs. Opener Ahsan Ali – who scored 76 off 46 balls with seven fours and four sixes – shared an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Saifullah Bangash to keep the chase ticking over. The side, however, struggled to keep pace with the asking rate and went into the final over needing 30 to win. Tariq Haroon smacked two sixes and two fours off the first four deliveries but the side was eventually restricted to 191 for 6. Sultan Ahmed and Bilawal Bhatti were the best bowlers for Sialkot with returns of 3-0-26-2 and 4-0-22-2 respectively.Sharjeel Khan’s brisk 45-ball 91 helped Hyderabad Region rout Multan Region by eight wickets and eight balls to spare at the Marghzar Cricket Ground, Islamabad.Put into bat, Multan lost their first three wickets for 32 runs, with openers Imran Farhat and Kamran Akmal falling for 13 and 4 respectively. A 109-run stand between Sohaib Maqsood (77 off 50 balls) and Naved Yasin (55 not out off 31), however, led Multan’s strong recovery and took the side close to 150. Kashif Naved’s quick 26 off 13 balls helped push the score to 186 for 4.Hyderabad were unfazed by a formidable target as Sharjeel struck 13 fours and four sixes to give his team a sound start after the early loss of opener Azeem Ghumman. After Sharjeel’s dismissal, Faisal Athar (56 off 41 balls) and Lal Kumar (23 off 15 balls) remained unbeaten to take the side home in 18.4 overs.Three wickets from Mohammad Amir, and half-centuries by Nasir Jamshed and Naved Malik powered Rawalpindi to a comfortable seven-wicket victory against Bahawalpur with 29 balls to spare.After choosing to bat, Bahawalpur had got to 28 for 0 before they lost three wickets in the space of 12 balls and slumped to 32 for 3 in 6.2 overs. Aamer Ijaz was the only batsman to make it past 20 – scoring 33 off 29 balls – as the rest of his team-mates fell like nine pins. Amir finished with figures of 4-0-23-3 while Hammad Azam took 2 for 22 to restrict Rawalpindi to 125 for 9.Rawalpindi started poorly by losing Awais Zia off the first ball of the chase but Jamshed made 62 off 36 balls and Malik smashed four sixes in his 51 off 43 deliveries to ensure the target was achieved in the 16th over.

Group B

Karachi Region Blues thumped Abbottabad Region by seven wickets in their opening group match of the Haier Mobile T20 Cup.Karachi Blues’ decision to put Abbottabad in to bat proved vital as Mohammad Sami dismissed the openers and reduced the side to 1 for 2 early in the innings. Younis Khan tried to anchor the innings through the wobble and shared a 78-run stand for the third wicket with Sajjad Ali, and the partnership helped Abbottabad reach a competitive total of 153 for 8. Apart from Younis’ 34-ball 51, which included five fours and three sixes, Adnan Raees played a cameo of 30 off 23 balls while Sohail Akhtar scored 21 off 13 balls to lift the side towards the end.Karachi Blues lost opener Khurram Manzoor cheaply but Shahzaib Hasan (36 off 20) and Khalid Latif (65* off 36) shared a 54-run stand to keep the chase on course. Hasan and Asad Shafiq fell in quick succession but Latif and Fawad Alam, who scored 45 off 31 deliveries, took the side to victory with 20 balls to spare.Riding on a knock of 48 by Ahmed Shehzad and a cameo from Saad Nasim, Lahore Region Whites clinched a thrilling contest against Islamabad Region, acing a 169-run chase with three wickets and a ball to spare.Shehzad and Azhar Ali provided the side with a powerful start, cracking up a 50-run opening stand within four overs. Lahore lost the pair in quick succession, but Mohammad Hafeez’s patient 34 off 29 deliveries provided much-needed steadiness that Nasim later built on. Nasim controlled the chase, bringing the equation down to 11 off the last over with four wickets in hand. He struck successive boundaries in the final over to turn the game in favour of Lahore Whites, finishing unbeaten on 28 off 19 deliveries with two fours and a six.Earlier, Islamabad made a promising start after opting to bat, the impetus coming from opener Shan Masood’s knock of 32 off 19 deliveries. Babar Azam (59 not out off 50) shared two fifty-plus stands – first with Masood and later with Imad Wasim – to help his side to reach a competitive total of 168 for the loss of only three wickets. Shahid Yousuf also struck a handy 30 off 25 as Wahab Raiz and Aizaz Cheema clipped one wicket each.

Wolves defender Nelson Semedo won’t play again this season because of a hamstring injury, according to expert Ben Dinnery.

The Lowdown: Semedo’s injury-plagued season

The right-back joined Wanderers from Barcelona back in 2020 but his second season at the club has been negatively affected by fitness issues.

Semedo has been limited to 25 Premier League starts, which while still a healthy amount, would be comfortably higher if he had remained injury-free.

The Portuguese ace suffered a second hamstring problem in last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at home to Brighton and a key update has now emerged regarding the situation.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/all-the-latest-from-wolves-5/” title=”All the latest from Wolves!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Defender’s campaign over

Taking to Twitter, Dinnery confirmed that Semedo’s season is over, meaning he will miss Wolves’ remaining Premier League fixtures against Chelsea, Manchester City, Norwich City and Liverpool:

“Having already lost Max Kilman for the remaining fixtures. Nelson Semedo quickly follows suit… after he was forced off against Brighton with a hamstring injury.”

[freshpress-poll id=“388780″]

The Verdict: Season fizzling out

This is another blow to add to Max Kilman’s season-ending injury of his own – Semedo has been described as ‘unbelievable’ by journalist Tim Spiers – as Wolves’ season threatens to peter out after such a promising campaign overall.

Bruno Lage’s men have a tough-looking final four matches, especially without two key defenders fit, and the aforementioned defeat to Brighton was worryingly lethargic.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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There is still the lure of European football, however, which has to act as inspiration – they are three points behind seventh-placed West Ham with a game in hand -and the hope is that Wolves can re-capture their previous good form in the next few weeks.

In other news, Wolves have been handed a transfer setback. Read more here.