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Tottenham have enquired over the future of a promising new attacker alongside their interest in Manchester City winger Savinho.

Spurs line up replacements for Johnson and Tel

Brennan Johnson has completed his £35million move from Tottenham to Crystal Palace. The Wales international, 24, has signed a four-and-a-half year deal at Selhurst Park.

Johnson, who fell out of favour under Thomas Frank at Spurs, despite being the north London club’s top scorer last season, is set to make his debut for Palace in their Premier League match against Newcastle at St James’ Park on Sunday.

Mathys Tel could also leave the Lilywhites having dropped down the pecking order under the former Brentford boss, which has reportedly led to a rift between the pair.

Spurs are set to allow Tel to leave on loan amid interest from Galatasaray, and have been linked with Savinho as a possible replacement for the outgoing duo.

The Brazilian has found playing time hard to come by at the Etihad due to the form of Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki, but having lost his place in Manchester he could also now lose his next move to one of his teammates.

Related £55,000-a-week Tottenham star now set to leave after internal dispute with Frank

The forward is not happy with the Spurs boss.

Posts 2 ByBen Goodwin Spurs eyeing Omar Marmoush in January

Indeed, according to TeamTalk, Tottenham have enquired about the availability of a different City star in the shape of Omar Marmoush, who is also attracting interest from Aston Villa.

Man City have shown no desire to lose the Egypt international mid-season, so it will be interesting to see how seriously Spurs try to test their resolve just 12 months on from his £63m move from Eintracht Frankfurt (add-ons included).

The winger/forward is currently away at AFCON, where he has scored once as the Pharaohs topped their group, but has seen a mixture of form and fitness issues limit his effectiveness at City this season.

Despite this, the numbers paint a much prettier picture for Marmoush than Savinho, with the former Frankfurt star scoring 0.46 non-penalty goals per 90 over the past 365 days.

Subscribe to the newsletter for Spurs transfer insight Get expert transfer analysis in our newsletter: subscribe for stats-backed player profiles, transfer context, and what each Marmoush or Savinho rumour could mean for Spurs’ squad planning.

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Savinho meanwhile has mustered up just 0.05 per 90, which is over 800 per cent less than his City co-star and in the bottom two per cent of all attacking midfielder/wingers in the big five European leagues.

Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Marmoush earlier this year, offering some insight into what he could add to Tottenham’s attack.

Marmoush is under contract at City until the summer of 2029.

Afghanistan Under-19s inflicted a 101-run defeat on Ireland Under-19s, after bowling Ireland out for 156 in the Under-19 World Cup warm-up match in Brisbane. Ireland were pegged back early by twin strikes from pacer Yamin Ahmedzai, who, with captain Javed Ahmedi, ended up with three wickets as Ireland were not allowed to get away. The only resistance came from middle-order batsman Shane Getkate’s innings of 45.Half-centuries by Hashmatullah Shaidi and Najibullah Zadran, and decent contributions by the middle-order enabled Afghanistan to reach a platform from where they launched an attack in the final overs. An unbeaten seventh-wicket partnership of 74 runs in the final five overs propelled Afghanistan to 257.Bangladesh Under-19s took just 58 overs to rout Scotland Under-19s by seven-wickets in a warm-up match played in Brisbane. Scotland, who were put in to bat, were under immediate trouble as right-arm seamer Abu Jayed struck thrice in his first spell to remove Scotland’s top three with only 23 runs on the board. Scotland staged a mini recovery as Ross McLean and Freddie Coleman strung together a fourth-wicket partnership worth 44 runs. However, the batsmen soon collapsed to the left-arm spin of Nasum Ahmed, who picked up four wickets, and Bangladesh were left with a relatively simple 107-run target to chase from 50 overs. Bangladesh took just 20.1 overs to complete the win with Salman Hossain (37 off 45 balls) and Asif Ahmed (16 off 25) sharing an unbeaten 51-run stand.England Under-19s edged out Pakistan Under-19s by five wickets in a high-scoring match, courtesy a 133 by Essex wicketkeeper Ben Foakes and a 91 by Daniel Bell-Drummond that helped them chase down 282 with six overs to spare. England’s innings revolved around two partnerships of 116 runs each- for the second and fourth wicket – both stands coming in quick time as Pakistan’s bowlers proved expensive. Left-arm pacer Ehsan Adil and spinner Zafar Gohar gave away 51 and 45 runs respectively in their six overs.Middle-order batsman Saad Ali, who scored 100, and Imam-ul-Haq, 79, were the bedrock of Pakistan’s innings as the duo scored 174 runs for the fourth wicket. An unbeaten stand of 54 between Salman Afridi and Usman Qadir in 5.3 overs at the end of the innings took Pakistan to 281. Right-arm seamer Jamie Overton registered the best figures for England with 3 for 22 in seven overs.India Under-19s bowlers played a strangled Sri Lanka Under-19 batsmen and pulled off a 33-run win after scoring 191 runs. Hanuma Vihari scored 64, putting on 98 for the fourth wicket with Vijay Zol, but India kept losing wickets as the next highest stand in the innings was an unbeaten 30 for the ninth wicket that took India close to the 200-mark. Sri Lanka’s opening bowling pair of Chamod Pathirana, who gave away 13 runs in his seven overs, and captain Sanitha de Mel started positively for their side, ending with two wickets each. India, however, came back well to regularly claim wickets and contain Sri Lanka, as apart from left-hand batsman Angelo Jayasinghe, who scored an unbeaten 64, none of the other batsmen lasted long enough to guide Sri Lanka to a successful chase.Australia Under-19s offspinner Ashton Turner picked up a five-for and then later gave West Indies Under-19s a scare with a hard-hitting 80 down the order, but it went in vain as West Indies won by 13 runs in Buderim. Chasing 236, Australia were almost down and out at 133 for 8 after a tight spell by left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein. But Turner took the attack to the bowlers and brought Australia close. West Indies, in their innings, lost six wickets to get to 235, five of them to Turner. The total was set up by opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who fell four runs short of his century in the last over of the innings.In Buderim, a four-wicket haul by fast bowler Curthbert Musoko helped Zimbabwe Under-19s to reduce Namibia Under-19s to 180, as they completed a comfortable seven-wicket win through half-centuries by opening batsmen Kevin Kasuza and Luke Masasire. The duo put on 112 to take Zimbabwe towards the target, which they reached with more than 16 overs to spare.Namibia stuttered throughout their innings, having been reduced to 112 for 7, before a 55-run partnership between Christopher Coombe and Zhivago Groenewald allowed them to briefly recover. Middle-order batsman Stephen Baard top-scored with 36.Seamer Chad Soper, who took five for 22, helped Papua New Guinea Under-19s to reduce Nepal Under-19s to 213, before a 106 from opening batsman Lega Siaka took them to a comfortable eight-wicket win. Siaka added 126 with No. 3 Christopher Kent as his team reached the target in the 41st over, as left-arm spinner Rahul Vishwakarma, who took two wickets, was the only wicket-taker.Nepal’s innings was based on a 90-run partnership between captain and opening batsman Subash Khakurel and middle-order batsman Hasim Ansari. Both scored half-centuries but batsman Pradeep Airee was the only other batsman who provided a resistance as all others scored departed for single figures, as Soper destroyed the middle and lower order.Quinton de Kock and Chad Bowes shared a 127-run opening stand to help South Africa Under-19s ease to a six-wicket win over New Zealand Under-19s in Brisbane. Chasing 185 to win, de Kock led South Africa’s reply with a 65-ball 80 and was well supported by Bowes’ sedate 36. Both batsmen retired when 58 runs were needed and South Africa cantered to the total with 20 overs still remaining. New Zealand had made a slow start in their innings, but Vincent Moore’s double-wicket blow in the eleventh over put South Africa firmly in control. Regular wickets never allowed New Zealand to increase their scoring rate as they finished with 184 in 50 overs.

Mumbai were in sight of their first win this season after reducing Odisha to 93 for 4 in pursuit of 413 in Bhubaneswar. Seamer Akash Parkar dismissed Subhransu Senapati and Deepak Behera off successive deliveries, but captain Govinda Poddar (48*) remained firm at stumps.In the morning, Mumbai were in trouble as they slumped to 84 for 6 in their second innings, losing nightwatchman Dhawal Kulkarni, vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav and captain Aditya Tare in the space of five overs. However, Siddhesh Lad played the role of the ‘crisis man’ to perfection with his fifth first-class century to bail them out.During the course of his 153-ball effort, he notched up partnerships of 57 and 76 with Abhishek Nayar and Parkar respectively. Lad was the ninth batsman to be dismissed, and Mumbai declared their innings soon after on 268 for 9. Seamer Suryakant Pradhan finished with three wickets to add to his two in the first innings.Smit Patel’s sixth first-class hundred led Tripura’s strong response as they finished the day on 327 for 4 against Baroda in Vadodara. Smit remained unbeaten on 123 at stumps, but Tripura still trail Baroda’s first-innings total by 194.Resuming on 63 for 1, Tripura lost opener Bishal Ghosh in the sixth over of the day to seamer Sagar Mangalorkar, who also had Udiyan Bose caught and bowled soon after. At 94 for 3, Tripura were in trouble, but Smit found an ally in the experienced Yashpal Singh, who made 90 in a stand worth 181. It wasn’t until tea that the partnership was broken when Vishnu Solanki, Baroda’s centurion in the first innings, removed Yashpal. But, Smit and Rajat Dey (20*) ensured with an unbroken 52-run partnership that Tripura didn’t go off track and remained on course to secure the first-innings lead.Seamer Bandaru Ayyappa’s three-wicket burst reduced Madhya Pradesh to 67 for 5 after Andhra had secured a crucial first-innings lead of 55 runs in Vizianagaram. Ayyappa first struck in the seventh over to trap opener Aditya Shrivastava in front and then cleaned up Shubham Sharma two overs later. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt joined in the act, as he had Rajat Patidar caught behind to leave Madhya Pradesh tottering on 16 for 3.Ayyappa then returned to dismiss Harpreet Singh Bhatia, his third wicket in his third successive over. Captain Devendra Bundela and Ankit Sharma riefly restored calm, but Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari had Ankit lbw off what was the last ball of the day.Resuming their first innings on 177 for 5, Andhra surged ahead thanks to a 143-run partnership between Ashwin Hebbar (77) Ravi Teja (58). Legspinner Mihir Hirwani, however, dismissed Sumanth to break the partnership, and despite an unbeaten 36-ball 32 from Ayyappa, ran through the lower order. Hirwani, who picked up 5 for 22 in the previous game, finished with five wickets again.

Anil Kumble is well aware of the need to keep the batsmen quiet in case they hit a roadblock © Getty Images

You hear the bowling machine clank, hear the ball thud onto bat, and voices echo around the walls. You see Anil Kumble calmly compose himself and hear him answer every question patiently. There’s a calm about the indoor nets at the MCG, an air of assurance almost. All until Ricky Ponting walks in, rattles answers as if he’s at an examination, laughs, and fills the room with an energy that was missing earlier. And all this without a microphone.Both are tremendously aggressive cricketers but while Kumble exudes a quiet sort of energy, Ponting is more animated. It’s a possible sign for the series: Australia going all out for the kill, India preferring the silent ambush; one side intent on coming out swinging, the other hoping for the crucial, fatal, counter-punch. You feel it in the answers: one gushing about the quality of his side, the other saying, wait and watch.Both are colossal figures for their respective sides – one arguably the country’s greatest bowler, the other being mentioned in the same breath as the Don [Bradman] – and it’s fitting that they will walk out to toss in a gigantic arena that is the MCG. Kumble’s priority was predictable: “put runs on the board”. He’s spent most of his career traveling with a batting line-up that has unraveled abroad. He himself is a different bowler when he has the comfort of runs on the board. He thrives on applying pressure, revels in bogging the opposition down. He’s also clear that he’s “first a bowler and then a captain”. One cannot afford to come in the way of the other.Ponting’s career has coincided with Australia’s golden age. He knows the conditions, knows the pitfalls, more importantly knows how to win. He holds forth on the Melbourne weather, the pitch and the conditions. Occasionally he throws in an ‘aw, look mate’ but never does he let up on the speed. He’s spent the previous two hours in an optional net session, joined by around ten kids frolicking around. He mainly faced throw downs but the Christmas cheer was unmistakable – his team-mates’ children having a go in the side nets.Ponting is mostly dead-certain. The pitch isn’t just damp, it’s “very, very damp”. He remembers Shane Warne’s dictum for the MCG – “If it seams, it spins” – but knows he possesses the ammunition of work around it. “Mitchell Johnson impressed everybody against Sri Lanka. Stuart Clark’s Test record at the moment is as good as any going around. I’m very confident we’re going to take 20 wickets in every Test we play this summer.”Occasionally they both echo the same sentiment. India will first try and plot a means to get 20 wickets but Kumble is well aware of the need to keep the batsmen quiet in case they hit a roadblock (“We have plans and bowlers to hit the right areas”). Ponting also knows, from past experience, that Australia will have to refrain from over-attacking. “Last time [in 2003-04] we did over-attack some of their players just the little bit … If you look to the way we played against India last time [2004], we bowled a bit differently.” He knows the dangers of a bouncer barrage. “It’s not how many you bowl, but when you use them.”And just once in a while they drop their guard. Ponting, for all his aggression, knows the importance of a tempered approach. He feels they over-attacked in Adelaide last time around and “probably let them score a few too many runs”. Kumble, for all his guarded responses, bursts through forcefully towards the end: “I am positive that we will be able to do well here on this tour. I don’t see any reason why we can’t win.” No Indian team has managed to do so in the last 60 years, and this one is up against it, but Kumble will know a thing or two about scaling barriers.

ScorecardIslamabad started the Silver League final of the 49th Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Championship on just the right note, as they had Multan nine down for a modest 211 runs on the board, by stumps on the opening day of the five-day encounter at the Iqbal Stadium on Thursday.Bilal Asad, the Islamabad captain, won the toss and put Multan in to bat. He must have rued his decision to do so as the openers went off to a bright start of 132 runs in a little over three hours.Then, however, the nine Multan wickets fell only for the addition of 69 runs. Eight of the next nine batsmen failed to reach double-figures while Kamran Hussain, the allrounder, is still at the crease with an unbeaten 29, that’s come in about an hour and three-quarters off 64 balls with four fours.Usman Tariq and Saeed Anwar Junior, the two left-hand batsmen, gave their team a sound start. Saeed top-scored with 71 runs off 157 balls with 10 fours. Usman’s contrbution was 36 off 137 deliveries with the help of four boundaries.By the end of the day, Rauf Akbar, Saad Altaf and Zohaib Ahmed had all had the Multan players rattled. They took three wickets each for 43, 58 and 54 runs, respectively.Multan’s applecart was upset when the first five wickets fell within the space of 18 runs. Only the last pair now remains at the crease and Islamabad will look forward to dominate from here on in a bid to gain promotion to next season’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold League circuit.This match is actually a replay of the original final that was played last month in Islamabad. Due to rain no play was possible on the last two days of the five-day game and the first innings issue remained unresolved.In that match Multan had the upper hand as the toothless Islamabad attack was hammered to the tune of 514-9 declared. In reply, Islamabad were five down for 212, still needing another 103 runs to avoid the follow-on.Islamabad are again without the services of their three leading bowlers, as was the case in the February final. Skipper Rao Iftikhar, Azhar Mahmood and Shoaib Akhtar are again unavailable, the first two being part of the Pakistan team in World Cup 2007.Yesterday’s match started an hour late, due to the aftermath of the rains during the days leading up to the fixture.

North Zone
Points tableDinesh Mongia and Uday Kaul blasted hundreds in Punjab’s 76-run win against Jammu and Kashmir at the Harbax Singh Stadium in Delhi. Arriving at the crease at 22 for 1, Mongia slammed 24 fours during his 159 off 135 balls, equalling his highest score. He added 258 runs for the second wicket with Kaul, who played the anchoring role and notched up 105, to propel the score to 327 for 3. Under pressure because of a high chase, Jammu and Kashmir lost two early wickets and though Kavaljit Singh was unbeaten on 106, they could only manage 251 for 5 in 50 overs.Himachal Pradesh decimated Delhi for 108 and completed a 141-run victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. HP were relentless in their defence of 249 and all the bowlers contributed to Delhi’s misery and wickets fell frequently. The knock out-punch was when Mithun Manhas, P Bhist and Gaurav Chabra all fell in the space of 11 balls (66 for 6). Vishal Bhatia was the most successful bowler with 3 for 17. After being asked to bat, HP built on a decent start through half-centuries to Sandeep Sharma (78), Sangram Singh (58) and Maninder Bisla (54) and posted 249 for 6.Haryana’s 271 proved too much for Services to chase as they fell short by 43 runs at the Palam A Stadium at Delhi. After winning the toss, Haryana’s openers, Sumit Sharma (52) and Mahesh Rawat (66), added 110 runs. Useful middle-order contributions and a 17-ball 30 from Sachin Rana took the score to 271 for 8. For Services’ Yashpal Singh top-scored with 75 but three run-outs derailed the chase. Amit Mishra took 3 for 41 as Services were dismissed for 228 in the 46th over.Central Zone
Points tableA strong bowling performance set up a comprehensive seven-wicket win for Railways against Madhya Pradesh at the KL Saini Ground in Jaipur. Railways’ bowlers took full advantage of winning the toss and dismissed MP for 124 in the 47th over. Jai P Yadav returned excellent figures of 2 for 11 from 10 overs but it was Harvinder Singh’s three-wicket burst that reduced MP to 22 for 4. In their chase, Railways lost Amit Pagnis for 14 but Shankara Rao (43) and Tejinder Pal Singh (47) reeled off 97 runs for the third wicket as they coasted to 125 for 3 in just the 20th over.Ratnesh Mishra starred with 5 for 34 as Uttar Pradesh routed Rajasthan by 154 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Chasing 278, Mishra had Rajasthan reeling at 33 for 4 from which they crumpled to 123 all out. Only R Bishnoi, making his debut, offered resistance with 35 beore he became Mishra’s fifth scalp. In the first innings, Uttar Pradesh accumulated 277 for 9 through solid top-order contributions. Shiva Shukla top-scored with 66 and he added 91 runs with Jyoti Yadav (61) for the second wicket. For Rajasthan, S Mathur took 4 for 62 and Vivek Yadav chipped in with 3 for 55.South Zone
Points tableVenugopal Rao’s century was in vain as Andhra Pradesh were restricted to 274 for 7 while chasing Tamil Nadu’s 313 for 8 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Andhra started well after winnign the toss by dismissing the openers cheaply (26 for 2) but Tamil Nadu recovered through Dinesh Karthik’s 79 and attacked with Subramaniam Badrinath’s 95 off 82 balls and Vasudevadas’s 59 to post 313. Andhra also began their chase badly, losing their openers for 39. Venugopal’s run-a-ball 103 propped up the innings but the steadly fall of wickets deprived the innings of much-needed momentum and they could only manage 274.Somasetty Suresh’s 107 and Sony Cheruvathur’s 4 for 38 were the highlights of Kerala’s seven-wicket win against Hyderabad at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad. Kerala ran riot after putting Hyderabad in, reducing them to 66 for 6. A 100-run stand for the seventh wicket between Amol Shinde (61) and Syed Quadri (49) saved Hyderabad the blushes and took the score to 189 for 8. Though Abhishek Hegde fell early, Suresh controlled Kerala’s chase and remained unbeaten as Kerala eased home in the 36th over.A collective batting performance boosted Karnataka before Sunil Joshi’s five-for helped complete a 123-run win against Goa at Secunderabad. Stuart Binny’s run-a-ball 74 was the highest score in an innings that surged at the death through Joshi’s 47 off 21 balls and a five-ball 20 from NC Aiyappa to finish on 299 for 9. Joshi ran amok with the ball as well, skittling the top and middle orders, and finished with 5 for 20 as Goa were dismissed in the 48th over.West Zone
Points tableMumbai romped home to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Saurashtra after a fine bowling performance dismissed Saurashtra for 170 at Vadodara. Wasim Jaffer (75) and Amol Mazumdar, who remained unbeaten on 70, shared a 130-run partnership for the fourth wicket to take Mumbai home in style. Shitanshu Kotak steered Saurashtra, struggling at 43 for 5, out of ignominy with an unbeaten 139-ball 63. He got support from Pratik Mehta (41) but no other batsman crossed 15 as the Mumbai bowlers – Aavishkar Salvi starred with 3 for 27 – stamped their authority.The pressure of a run chase did Baroda in as Gujarat squeezed out a 17-run victory at the IPCL Sports Complex Ground in Baroda. Chasing a target of 233, Baroda were well placed at 140 for 3 in 32 overs before A Makda caught Kiran Powar off his own bowling to bring Gujarat back into the game. Two crucial blows put Gujarat on top – Jacob Martin (43) fell to SG Patel (43) and Yusuf Pathan (33) was run out – and the lower order could only push the score to 215. Earlier, half-centuries from Bhavik Thaker (83) and Anant Brahmehatt (57) powered Gujarat to 232 for 7 in their allotted overs.

Scorecard

Ruchira Perera starred with a hat-trick as 14 wickets tumbled on the opening day of the Provincial Final© CricInfo

Wickets tumbled on the opening day of the Provincial Tournament final, with Ruchira Perera first jogging the memory of the selectors with a five-wicket haul that included a hat-trick and helped Central Province bowl out North Central Province for just 175. Nuwan Kulasekera, an emerging talent, then struck back in the evening with a four-wicket spurt to leave the match evenly poised in the evening with Central Province still 91 runs adrift on 84 for 4.North Central Province, the form team of the group stage, struggled from the start after being put into bat by Kumar Sangakkara, the Central Province captain. Priyankara Silva, a 28-year-old right-armer, chipped in with three wickets to leave North Central 83 for 6. But Upul Chandana (37 not out) and Kumar Dharmasena (42) stopped the freefall for a while with an 89-run stand before Tharanga Lakshitha bowled Dharmasena.Perera, still trying to rebuild his career after his action was called into question during Sri Lanka’s Lord’s Test in May 2002, then took centre stage with a dramatic hat-trick. Farveez Maharoof was caught and bowled and then Kulasekera and Channaka Welegedera were both adjudged leg-before.Fortunately, for North Central, Kulasekera struck back in the evening with the important wickets of Sajith Fernando (16), WMB Perera (5), Kumar Sangakkara (0) and Thilan Samaraweera (4), the in-form double centurion in the last game. Opener Nishad Paranavitana was unbeaten at the close on 27 with Hasantha Fernando on 21.

East Zone 243 for 9 (Dhoni 65, Kiran Powar 65, Nair 5-29) beat South Zone 240 for 5 (Venugopal Rao 104*) by 1 wicket with 1 ball to spare
Scorecard
East Zone maintained their winning streak as they recorded their second one-wicket win of the campaign against South Zone at Agartala. Venugopal Rao slammed an unbeaten 104 and held the South innings together as wickets fell at regular intervals. Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sridharan Sriram, the formidable duo from Tamil Nadu, didn’t kick on to a big score and it was left to Ajay Kudva (34) to provide Venugopal with some support. Venugopal stroked six fours in his 123-ball innings. But it went in vain due to two breezy 65’s from Mahendra Dhoni and Kiran Powar. Nikhil Haldipur (30) and Devang Gandhi (21) chipped in and at 142 for 3 East were cruising towards a comfortable win. That is when Sreekumar Nair, the left-arm spinner, turned on the heat and his five wicket haul almost derailed the East innings. But Anirban Chatterjee (10) held his nerve and East scraped home with a ball to spare.Central Zone 250 (Khoda 76, JP Yadav 62) beat North Zone 199 (Chopra 50, Dave 5-33) by 51 runs
Scorecard
Gagan Khoda and Jai Prakash Yadav posted half-centuries before Anup Dave did the trick with the ball to lead Central Zone to an easy win over North Zone at Cuttack. Chasing 251 for victory, North began disastrously as they were reduced to 2 for 2, but Aakash Chopra steadied the ship with a steady 50. Mithun Manhas (35) and Ajay Jadeja (44), his two team-mates from Delhi, kept North in the hunt before Dave dashed their hopes. The left-arm spinner finished with 5 for 33 and he picked up the important wickets of Chopra and Jadeja. Two run-outs didn’t help matters and Central romped home by 51 runs. Central had begun confidently with the bat when Tejinder Pal Singh and khoda, the captain, put on 91 for the opening stand. After Tejinder was run-out, Yadav joined Khoda and they realised 77 runs. Amit Mishra and Dinesh Mongia collected two wickets each as wickets tumbled towards the end and Central finished on exactly 250.

With group leaders Karachi Whites and Lahore Blues not in action, Sheikhupura, Peshawar, Faisalabad and Bahawalpur will be anxious to close the gap on the points table in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I cricket championship.The fifth round of matches, starting Saturday, therefore assumes great importance for the team lying below Karachi Whites and Lahore Blues in the two pools.Sheikhupura are in excellent position to topple Lahore Blues at the top of Group-II if they can overcome Rest of NWFP at Sheikhupura Stadium with maximum points. Sheikhupura will then also have a psychological edge of the Blues because both of them are pitted against each in the next round from Feb 1.In the other group, Karachi Whites, who were runners-up to Lahore Blues last season, have a comfortable lead on the ladder with a difference of 24 points over four teams.Fifth round schedule (Jan 26-29):*Hyderabad v Gujranwala at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (Umpires: Sadiq Mohammad and Nadeem Ghauri. Match referee: Naeem Ahmed).*Sargodha v Karachi Blues at Sports Stadium, Sargodha (Umpires: M. Nazir Junior and Iqbal Butt. Match referee: Khalid Niazi).*Faisalabad v Rest of Sindh at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (Umpires: Asad Rauf and Siddique Khan. Match referee: Musaddeq Rasool).*Bahawalpur v Rest of Balochistan at Bahawalpur Stadium. (Umpires: Athar Zaidi and Ijaz Ahmed. Match referee: Fahimuddin Alvi).*Lahore Whites v Rest of Punjab at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (Umpires: Salim Badar and Khalid Mahmood Sr. Match referee: Shafiq Ahmed).*Sialkot v Rawalpindi at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot (Umpires: Mian Aslam and Afzaal Ahmed. Match referee: Azhar Khan).*Peshawar v Islamabad at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: Islam Khan and Aleem Dar. Match referee: Ehteshamuddin).*Sheikhupura v Rest of NWFP at Sheikhupura Stadium (Umpires: Feroz Butt and Z.I. Pasha. Match referee: Azmat Rana).

Wherever the Sri Lankan women’s cricket team go, the crowds should follow. Entertainment is virtually guaranteed. If they are not treating every run between the wicket as if it were their last (and it often is), they are hurling themselves around the field as though their lives depended on it. And, in between times, they can play some pretty good cricket.Today at Hagley Oval was no exception. In virtually guaranteeing themselves the winning of their mini-world cup within the CricInfo Women’s World Cup with a 26-win over the Netherlands, they contributed to making a low-scoring affair a highly entertaining spectacle.Being put in to bat on a Hagley Park pitch having its first use at the tournament, the Sri Lankan batsmen put supporters, opponents and neutral observers on a roller-coaster ride of emotions as they began by expertly accumulating a total of 94 for two in the 34th over, mainly courtesy of what turned out to be a match-winning innings by their captain, Rasanjali Silva. And then crashed to 113 for eight before the last two wickets added 26.It was almost as if the rest of the batsmen were in a different match from Silva. It took a special demonstration of keeper-bowler co-operation to snare the Sri Lankan captain, stumped Rowan Milburn, bowled Tessa van der Gun for 53 off 95 balls with the score at 94.Silva’s departure started the slide. The next highest score off the bat was 11 and that was from Hiroshi Abeysinghe. She was looking promising until she became the sacrificial lamb when the only case of the Sri Lankan disease in the innings struck. She found herself keeping company with Chamani Seneviratne at one end of the pitch while the Netherlands fielders were focusing with considerable pleasure on the other end.However, there was one other major contribution to the Sri Lankan score. Extras, through the generosity of the Netherland bowlers, contributed 37, 34 of those runs coming from wides. In a loss by 26 runs, it is a figure that will haunt them.While the Sri Lankans were going through their batting highs and lows, the procession from the batting crease was almost matched by that at the bowling crease. Van der Gun was the best of the eight bowlers used, picking up three for 18 off four overs, including another stumping collaboration with Milburn, while Maartje Koster’s six overs conceded eight runs for one wicket and Caroline Salomons rose above having her action scrutinised to return one for 13 off four.The boost to the Netherlands batting with Koster and Helmien Rambaldo returning from injury half worked. Koster departed in the first over, the first in a tough lbw day for Umpire Dave Quested. Rambaldo, however, went through to 38 and looked the best of the batsmen on offer from either side.The Sri Lankan’s were very keen on the possibility of lbws; their frequent demands would have been intimidating if it were not for Umpires Quested and Peter Williams towering over their tormentors. It at times looked like the Lilliputians advancing on Gulliver as they pleaded for deliverance from the batsmen.As it was, they received their quota in the space of four balls. Seneviratne was the beneficiary as Umpire Quested answered the call on the third, fourth and sixth balls of her second over. The hat-trick ball was a wide. That was the end as 43 for two suddenly became 44 for five.But the Netherlands never lie down. Amid a continuous cacophony of imploring appeals, they tried to accumulate the necessary runs. De Boer was the most defiant, her 26 coming off 67 balls. But it was just too much for the lower order to withstand the enthusiastic fielding and accurate bowling of Silva (CricInfo Player of the Match), three for 24 off eight, Seneviratne, four for 23 off 10 and Jayamali Indika, three for 14 off 6.2.A very happy Sri Lankan manager, Chandra Munaweera, said the team had done well under pressure. The bowling in particular had been very good.As far as the batting was concerned, she said, “losing the toss was a blessing in disguise. Other teams do not expect us to get runs.”And, of course, given previous performances, “just one run out was very good.”She said the team had gained a big boost from the highly vocal support from the local Sri Lankan community, who had turned Hagley Oval into a little bit of Asia with their lively contribution to proceedings.Now, said Mrs Munaweera, “we are looking forward to England.”Result: Sri Lanka 139; the Netherlands, 113. A win to Sri Lanka by 26 runs, barring miracles or disasters, depending on the points of view, guaranteeing them sixth place and a berth in the next World Cup in South Africa in 2004.