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There were no bigger sellers at the MLB trade deadline than the Minnesota Twins. Identifying a seller’s market and with solid assets to offer to contenders, the Twins unloaded the roster in hopes of building the foundation for a better future.
One of their biggest deadline deals was trading away electric closer Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies. Duran is a flamethrower, and his aura was all the greater thanks to the electric entrance that the Twins had put together for him when he took the mound.
It wasn’t clear how that entrance would carry over to Philadelphia, but when Duran stepped up for his first career save as a Phillie over the weekend, the lights went down, the phones came out, and the bell of the Undertaker tolled.
It was epic.
How were the Phillies able to recreate the magic of Duran’s entrance? Mostly thanks to the Twins. As Matt Gelb reported in a story for , the Twins had worked with the Phillies, providing digital assets and music, to ensure that his first moment on the mound with his new team was a memorable one.
Dustin Morse, the Twins vice president of communications, had asked Duran what he wanted to do regarding his entrance shortly after news of the trade broke, and the closer said it was simply too good to give up. Morse agreed, and took the idea to the rest of the team’s top officials. Not long after, they were trading emails with their counterparts on the Phillies to make sure they could put together a similar entrance at Citizens Bank Park.
“We collectively thought, ‘This is for the greater good of baseball fans,’” Morse told Gelb. “This is a fun atmosphere. All baseball fans should get to see it and experience it. We all know that the atmosphere at Citizens Bank is already nuts. This would go over well.”
It certainly did. A crowd of 43,241 Phillies fans roared for Duran in his debut, and he secured the save with just four pitches.
Morse texted Duran after the save congratulating him on his success, and noting that the entrance still looked great. “Thank you so much, Dustin,” Duran replied. “Thank you for being a part of that creation.”
Duran’s first few days in Philadelphia have already been memorable. On Sunday, he was able to secure another save for the Phillies, this time on the airwaves of ESPN, and threw a few of the fastest pitches in team history in the process. The entrance still looked stellar.
The Twins certainly didn’t have to do what they did to help the Phillies recreate Duran’s theatrics—the entrance represented hundreds of hours of work Minnesota’s team put into ideation, creation and execution. But as Morse said, it was a move that was made for the greater good of baseball fans, and that truth has already been proven plenty after just a few days in Philadelphia.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani commited a so-called cardinal sin of baseball during the club's 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and reigning World Series MVP Freddie Freeman at the plate, Ohtani found himself on second base after swiping the bag moments before. As Blue Jays lefthander Brendon Little delivered a strike to Freeman, Ohtani took off for third in another stolen base attempt but was caught stealing for the last out of the inning.
One of baseball's oldest adages is, never make the last out of an inning at third base. Effectively, the logic is, don't kill a potential two-out rally. While one can quibble about the veracity of this statement, it seems that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts at least partially subscribes to the thinking..
"That was his decision," Roberts, addressing the sixth-inning play, told reporters after the game. "Not a good baseball play."
Aside from the baserunning blunder, it's difficult to pin the blame for Sunday's loss on Ohtani, who belted his 41st home run of the season, tied for the National League lead, while collecting another hit and a pair of walks.
Roberts's frustration with Ohtani's aggressiveness gone wrong on the basepaths was likely a microcosm of how he felt about the game as a whole. Los Angeles had chances to add to its thin 3-2 lead throughout the game, stranding 16 baserunners and going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers' struggling bullpen then surrendered the lead in the top of the eighth inning when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger both homered off of Blake Treinen.
"This is frustrating because I just felt there’s no way we should lose this game today," Roberts said. "We had them on the ropes numerous times. And for us not to win is so frustrating."
The Dodgers, clinging to a two-game lead in the NL West, will next take on the Los Angeles Angels before a pivotal divisional face-off against the surging San Diego Padres.
Manchester United’s defeat against Everton on Monday night once again highlighted the issues of Ruben Amorim’s reluctance to move away from his 3-4-2-1 system.
The Red Devils spent 77 minutes playing against just 10 men, but he refused to budge from his philosophy, which no doubt cost the side a chance of claiming all three points.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s first-half strike was enough to secure all three points for the Toffees, with the hosts’ impressive five-game unbeaten run coming to an abrupt end.
Since the final whistle, the manager has come under fire for his stubbornness in implementing a more attacking system, especially after the visitors’ early dismissal.
During the loss to David Moyes’ men, one first-team member massively failed to take advantage of the rare starting opportunity that was handed his way in the Premier League.
Joshua Zirkzee’s stats against Everton for United
After Benjamin Sesko’s knee injury against Tottenham Hotspur, Joshua Zirkzee was handed his first Premier League start of the campaign against Everton yesterday.
The Dutchman had previously had to settle for minutes off the substitutes bench, but the clash at Old Trafford was his maiden start of the 2025/26 league season.
However, he was unable to take advantage of the opportunity that was handed his way, with the 24-year-old struggling to match the demands of the manager’s system.
He featured for the entirety of the contest, but was only able to post a measly tally of 35 touches, with only five of his total touches coming within the opposition’s penalty area.
Zirkzee also completed just 15 passes at a success rate of just 60%, which resulted in the forward gifting the ball back to the opposition on 12 separate occasions.
His lack of quality was further outlined in his tally of one big chance missed and just four duels won, with James Tarkowski often pocketing the stand in centre forward.
Not just Zirkzee: United star must not start again under Amorim
In the 12 months since Amorim’s arrival, many United players have often struggled to match the expectations placed upon them – ultimately leading to their lowly Premier League finish last season.
Their performances, as seen by Zirkzee yesterday, will have led to the £200m spending spree during the summer window, but it should only be the start of the overhaul.
The midfield department should be next on the hierarchy’s agenda, with the manager no doubt wanting added reinforcements in such an area of the pitch.
Casemiro is getting towards the end of his current deal at Old Trafford, with Kobbie Mainoo seemingly not fancied by the manager after failing to start a single league game in 2025/26.
However, the defensive unit should also be one that the board are targeting, especially given the failures in that area over the past couple of seasons at Old Trafford.
Luke Shaw is one player who remains in such an area, but like Zirkzee, he’s often failed to deliver when called upon by Amorim over the last 12 months.
The Englishman has now spent over a decade on the books of the Red Devils, but ultimately, he’s entering the latter stages of his career – something which is starting to show.
He’s started every league game to date in 2025/26, but that’s not without question, with his performance against Everton one that failed to catch the eye for the right reasons.
The 30-year-old featured for the entire contest, but was only able to win 50% of the aerial duels he entered and was even dribbled past on two separate occasions.
Minutes played
90
Touches
110
Passes completed
83
Aerials lost
50%
Dribbled past
2x
Interceptions
1
Clearances
1
Crosses completed
0
He also only made one interception and one clearance, subsequently being unable to keep the side’s second clean sheet of the Premier League campaign.
Shaw’s tally of zero completed crosses out of his attempted four showcases his inability to find a teammate in attacking areas, which led to criticism from Gary Neville.
Manchester United's Luke Shaw.
The former United star, now turned pundit, stated that the player is becoming a “waste of time” at United and that his performances at Old Trafford aren’t fooling anyone.
His latest showing under Amorim is further evidence that he’s unable to match the levels he did during the early years of his career – with Amorim needing to exclude him from his starting eleven.
Shaw and Zirkzee are certainly nowhere near the levels the club need if they are to be successful in the Premier League, with the hierarchy needing to offload them to free up funds in January.
Not just Zirkzee: Man Utd man who was among the 'world's best' must be axed
Manchester United’s flaws were brutally exposed in Monday’s dismal defeat to Everton.
Liverpool were comprehensively beaten by Manchester City on Sunday. That’s five defeats from six in the Premier League for Arne Slot’s side, and the crisis switch has been flicked back on.
As things stand, there are fears that the eighth-place Reds face an uphill battle to seal a top-four (or top-five, depending on UEFA coefficients), much less challenge against Arsenal and the resurgent Citizens for the throne they so spectacularly won last year.
This is a pale imitation of that title-winning team, and though Pep Guardiola tactically dismantled Slot and his men at the Etihad Stadium, Liverpool continue to come unstuck by their own self-destructive tendencies.
So sluggish and limp against City on Sunday. Liverpool’s press was non-existent, and neither has the stable framework of recent years been in sight since the summer.
But, right at the very epicentre of all this is Ibrahima Konate, who was targeted by the Sky Blues at the weekend and it worked out for them and then some as they sent Liverpool packing, having shipped three.
Why Konate is such a big problem for Liverpool
Against Manchester City, Konate took 88 touches of the ball, whereas captain Virgil van Dijk was in possession 58 times, data via Sofascore.
That tells the tale. Guardiola set his side up to put pressure on Liverpool’s France centre-back and he was unable to respond, having been at fault for the early penalty that Giorgi Mamardashvili saved and then again when Erling Haaland rose and scored soon after.
This is a defender whose form has gone beyond out of sorts. Konate is failing to do the basics, and he is now being preyed upon by opposition coaches. Sky Sports fan voice Lewis Anderson commented after the match that the 26-year-old “needs dropping like a hot stone”, given his consistent inconsistency this season.
But who to replace him? In spite of Liverpool’s thrilling transfer window success this summer, the lateness of their concerted effort to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace ended with FSG empty-handed, for the Eagles played hardball after struggling to find a suitable replacement.
Konate is one of the biggest flashpoints within Slot’s squad right now, and he needs to be dropped. Options are slim, admittedly, but there’s one man who will fancy his chances of taking the powerful defender’s place in the starting line-up in the future, albeit not for a while as he recovers from injury.
The teen who can end Konate's Liverpool career
There was a real buzz around Anfield when sporting director Richard Hughes swept over to Italy and returned with one of the region’s most prodigious talents in Giovanni Leoni.
The 18-year-old joined for a £26m and had also been sought after by the likes of Manchester United and Newcastle United.
However, this fairytale move to Liverpool quickly devolved into a nightmare for the Italian centre-back, who ruptured his ACL on his debut against Southampton in September, the severity of which is so great that Slot said afterwards that he would be sidelined for around a year.
From a wider perspective, this has been a damaging blow for a Liverpool backline lacking depth and balance. Moreover, Konate’s abject performances have left him droppable, save for the threadbare defensive line that is now forcing Slot’s hand.
With Konate out of contract at the end of the season and attracting interest from heavyweights such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, Liverpool chiefs face a decision as they continue to probe in discussions to try and make a breakthrough, extending the £70k-per-week talent’s stay on Merseyside.
However, could Konate’s departure on a free transfer actually be a scenario that would not prove detrimental? After all, Van Dijk is sticking around for a while longer, and when Leoni returns, he could establish himself as the next big thing.
After all, he caught the eye against Saints before that bitter injury.
Giovanni Leoni vs Southampton
Match Stats
#
Minutes played
81′
Touches
102
Accurate passes
88/91 (97%)
Possession lost
3x
Recoveries
3
Tackles won
0/1
Interceptions
3
Clearances
6
Ground duels
1/2
Aerial duels
3/3
Data via Sofascore
Hailed as a “Rolls-Royce” of a defender who can “be the leader of that defence” in spite of his youth by one content creator, Leoni’s season-ending injury on his senior debut for Liverpool can only be described as agonisingly unfair.
But it has happened, and nothing can change that. The defender’s road to recovery is long indeed, but there remains every expectation on Merseyside that he will bounce back and realise his potential.
Liverpool centre-back Giovanni Leoni
And, with the data analysts sure to be mulling over Konate’s future as the end of his contract edges ever nearer, we might even see that stance on the Les Bleus star slacken.
Crystal Palace’s Guehi remains a top target, and Leoni showed a glimpse of his quality in less than 90 minutes of football this season, proving he has what it takes to slip into his struggling senior peer’s seat.
Van Dijk must rally his Liverpool forces across the remainder of the campaign and ensure that this brutal dip in form does not fester and linger as a wider, more damaging issue.
However, this acclimatisation period of new signings struggling to bed into life under Slot’s wing will not go on forever, however interminable it seems right now.
But there’s no denying more is needed, and if Konate cannot bring himself together over the coming months, it’s hard to envisage Liverpool offering new and improved terms.
And given Leoni took to his Liverpool role like a duck to water before disaster struck, there’s every chance he will respond next season in a more stable tactical set-up, quickly vindicating the potential decision to let Konate leave when his contract expires this summer.
As bad as Salah: Liverpool flop who lost 100% duels must be on borrowed time
This Liverpool star who was as bad as Mo Salah against Manchester City must be on borrowed time in the starting XI.
After largely eschewing outside improvement last offseason en route to a fourth-place finish in the National League East, the Braves have suddenly become one of MLB’s most active teams in free agency over the last 24 hours.
Atlanta signed relief pitcher Robert Suarez, who led the National League with 40 saves in 2025, to a three-year, $45 million contract on Thursday and inked outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to a two-year, $23 million deal Wednesday night. Both deals were somewhat surprising; the Braves had retained incumbent closer Raisel Iglesias on a one-year, $16 million pact last month and already rostered three starting outfielders in Ronald Acuna Jr., Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar. But the front office clearly felt more talent was needed after the Braves’ win total decreased by 13 wins last season as they slumped to a 76–86 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
The Braves have now signed three of ’s top 40 free agents; the Orioles (Pete Alonso, Ryan Helsley) are the only other team to sign more than one so far. Atlanta signed just one free agent to a contract worth more than $1.5 million last offseason; Profar agreed to a three-year, $42 million deal and was suspended for 80 games due to PED use less than a week into the season. That was one of many things that went wrong for the franchise this year, and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos is clearly hoping a shake-up will lead to drastically different results in 2026.
Atlanta fielded MLB’s ninth-highest payroll last season at $220 million, about $21 million below the luxury tax threshold. As of now, they have the third-highest projected 2026 payroll at $227 million, per Spotrac, behind only the Dodgers and Mets.
Suarez has made the All-Star team in each of the last two years; he and Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz are the only relievers to do so. The soon-to-be 35-year-old recorded a 2.97 ERA and career-best 2.88 FIP in 2025, striking out 75 batters and walking 16 in 69 2/3 innings. But the righthander is nevertheless expected to work as a setup man for Iglesias, who recorded a 1.76 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in the second half of last season after an ugly first half.
Yastrzemski was traded from the Giants to the Royals at the trade deadline and put up much better power numbers away from San Francisco’s famously homer-averse home field. He slashed .237/.339/.500 in 50 games for Kansas City—a small sample size, but the Braves would be thrilled if the 35-year-old could replicate those results in Atlanta’s hitter-friendly Truist Park.
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos has a number of other moves he could make to improve the roster this offseason. / Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images
This week’s moves almost certainly won’t be the only major additions Atlanta makes before spring training. While new manager Walt Weiss could platoon Yastrzemski and Profar in left field, it’d be quite expensive to do so since they’re making a combined $24 million (Profar for $15M, Yastrzemski for $9M). In addition to their four starting-level outfielders, the Braves also have two catchers in Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy who are too good for part-time duty. That should give Anthopoulos the flexibility to trade for a shortstop—he already dealt for former Astro Mauricio Dubón last month, but he’s best in a utility role—or further upgrade the pitching staff. Murphy, who has three years and $45 million remaining on his contract, in addition to a $15 million 2029 club option, seems like the most likely candidate to be moved after Baldwin burst onto the scene last season and was named the NL Rookie of the Year. That would free up the designated hitter slot to rotate the outfielders through.
When the Braves entered the 2022 postseason as defending World Series champions and five-time reigning NL East champs, it seemed they were set up to dominate the decade. They had Harris, Murphy, Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies all under team control through at least 2027. Instead, they’ve yet to win another postseason series since triumphing in the Fall Classic, going 2–6 in two NLDS losses to the Phillies and a wild-card loss to the Padres. Even those results were a far cry from last season’s disaster.
Anthopoulos has come to the realization that the core he locked up a few years ago isn’t good enough on its own to win another championship. Suarez and Yastrzemski alone won’t push the Braves back into the postseason, but their additions are a sign that more changes are coming in Atlanta.
DETROIT — One game. One pitcher. One legacy. As if using a geodetic coordinate system, the American League division series between the Tigers and Mariners has arrived at a pinpoint of a place. Game 5 Friday in Seattle is about Tarik Skubal.
The Tigers ace has made his case over the past two and a half years that he is the best pitcher on the planet. Great. But it’s not enough.
Now, for the second time in 363 days, he will have the ball in his hands in a winner-take-all game. The last time was a bust.
Given a 1–0 lead in the fifth inning against Cleveland in Game 5 of the 2024 ALDS, Skubal coughed up the game in a horrific six-batter sequence: single, strikeout, single, single, hit by pitch, grand slam. Five runs. Lead and game gone in 18 pitches. Drive home safely.
His teammates rustled up a mulligan for him with a syzygy of a rally in ALDS Game 4 against the Mariners Wednesday. Just when the Tigers appeared dead, looking at a 3–0 deficit and staring at the last 15 outs of their season, they came together as weirdly and powerfully as an alignment of celestial bodies. Out of nowhere, they ran off nine unanswered runs to win, 9–3.
Skubal could join sudden death legends
Game 5 is a career-defining game for Skubal, given his loss last season and that his team is 0–3 this year when he faces Seattle. It’s no longer about “pitching well” or “keeping my team in the game.” It’s about going all Jack Morris on Seattle. On the night Morris’s Twins won Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, Morris, the Game 7 starter, walked into the interview room and announced, “In the immortal words of the late, great Marvin Gaye, let’s get it on!” The following night, Morris put the team on his back, throwing 10 shutout innings while refusing to come out of the game.
It was an all-time double elimination pitching performance by a future Hall of Famer. In more recent years, pitching greats who have risen to greater heights in sudden death games include Justin Verlander (2012 and '13 ALDS), Madison Bumgarner ('14 NLWC and World Series, '16 NLWC) and Gerrit Cole ('19 ALDS). This is Skubal’s moment.
Skubal has allowed eight runs in 33 2/3 postseason innings for a sparkling 2.14 ERA—but he allowed five of those runs in the game that sent the Tigers home last year. / David Richard-Imagn Images
Skubal played the preamble to his statement game much differently than did Morris. He walked into the interview room after Game 4 and swatted away a question about personal redemption as if it were an annoying fly.
“I'll let you guys create the narrative,” Skubal said. “I'm just going to do what I do best, and that's play baseball and create pitches. The game is still the game. I'll let you guys write the stories and do your jobs, but you're not going to get anything from me.”
Every game, he said, presents him with an opportunity to compete at his best, no more in Game 5 than it did in the Mariners’ 3–2 win against him in Game 2.
“But the game stays the game, and that’s kind of what you’re going to hear me reiterate,” he said, “[that] is I just need to be focused on pitch by pitch and execute the game plan that we will create. So that’s all I’ve got for you.”
Skubal’s Seattle ties deepen stakes
Another delicious layer to this start is that in happens in Seattle, where a kid from Kingman, Ariz.—a small town in the northwest corner of the state better known for its turquoise lode and its kitschy status as the heart of Route 66 than as a baseball factory—took his 80-something mile per hour fastball to Seattle University, the only school to offer him a scholarship.
“Dad, I'm not going to school there,” he said to his father.
“No, you need to call them, son,” his father replied.
Said Skubal, “And I was like, ‘All right.’ I called them. I committed two weeks later. And the rest is history.”
When he pitched in Seattle in ALDS Game 2, he bought tickets for all 34 players of the Seattle University baseball team and talked to them about following their dreams.
“It’s not a fantasy,” he said. “You can actually accomplish what you put your mind to.”
No, this is not another game, not with what’s at stake and where it is. Skubal may treat it as such from his uber-competitive mind. How, he reasons, can I possibly care or try more than my very best? But the stakes are higher. The venue is more meaningful. The reputation on the line more epic.
“I think it means the world to him,” said pitching coach Chris Fetter. “Especially going back to a place where he went to school and that environment. Yeah, I think it's going to be pretty special. And you're going to see a competitive, fiery guy out there and that’s what we need. And he's going to compete his ass off.”
Said Detroit first baseman Spencer Torkelson, “I don’t have the words. My vocabulary doesn’t have the words to tell you how much this opportunity means to him. If you have one game to win, there’s nobody I’d rather have than Tarik. And if you asked most guys around baseball, not just in this clubhouse, you’d probably get the same answer.”
The Mariners are the only team to beat the Tigers three times this year in games Skubal has started. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Skubal made two mistakes in Game 2: two center-cut pitches to Jorge Polanco, who blasted both for home runs. It seems unfathomable that the Tigers could lose four games in one year to the same team with Skubal on the mound. But that is what is at stake.
“I think at the end of the day, he's going to be himself,” Fetter said. “You know, most of the time we're going to go to his strengths as opposed to trying to dissect it too much or overthinking too much. Yeah. Go out and be himself.
”And that’s where we talk about not trying to overthink. If you go execute, be yourself, at the end of the day we’re good.”
Skubal wound up at Seattle University only after other schools dropped interest in him after a poor showcase performance on a Saturday morning. They didn’t know that Skubal had played center in a football game Friday night and drove three hours to the Phoenix area the next morning to get on the mound and throw in front of coaches. His velocity dipped to an unappealing 84 mph.
Now Skubal throws a hundred. He has hit 100 mph 43 times this year. Every other lefthanded starter combined has done so eight times. His changeup is the single best pitch in baseball as determined by run value. There is nobody like him. That is not in dispute.
What is in the balance now is whether Skubal can deliver a season-saving, career-defining game. It should require Skubal pushing himself like never before.
Skubal has pitched in 142 major league games, including five in the postseason. Incredibly, he has never thrown more than 108 pitches in a game. His postseason high is 107, in wild-card Game 1 this year. In Game 2 of this series, Skubal threw 97 pitches over seven innings before indicating he was just about done. So, manager A.J. Hinch handed the ball to Kyle Finnegan for the eighth. The Mariners scored three batters later to win, 3–2.
In 1995, in Seattle, a lefthanded, soon-to-be Cy Young Award winner took the ball with his team facing elimination in his first postseason game. Randy Johnson of the Mariners threw 117 pitches over seven innings to beat the Yankees in ALDS Game 3. After one day of rest, he came out of the bullpen in Game 5 to throw three innings and another 44 pitches to win that game, too. It was legendary stuff. They still talk about it today.
Now, 30 years later in the same city, the best lefthander in the game has the ball in his hands for a winner-take-all game. To save the Tigers’ season and to lessen the pain of the last time he found himself at these coordinates, Skubal may have to give more than he’s ever given.
He has scored five centuries at No. 4 or lower since 2014 in his team’s successful chases
Bharath Seervi05-Feb-2020348 – The target successfully chased down by New Zealand, is their biggest ever in ODIs. Their previous biggest chase was a target of 347 against Australia, also at Seddon Park in Hamilton, in 2007. New Zealand’s previous best chase against India was 281 at the Wankhede Stadium in 2017 in which also Ross Taylor and Tom Latham were the stars in the chase.Ross Taylor has starred in New Zealand’s big chases in ODIs•ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 – Bigger successful chases against India than the 348 by New Zealand on Wednesday. Australia had chased down 359 in Mohali last year, which is the highest.5 – Number of times Taylor has scored a century in successful chases batting at No. 4 or lower since 2014. No other batsman has scored more than two centuries in successful chases at those positions in this period. Two of Taylor’s centuries have come against India and three against England. In three of the top-four chases for New Zealand, Taylor has scored hundreds. In the top-three successful chases for New Zealand against India, Taylor has scored two hundreds and a 95.10.48 – Run rate of the Taylor-Latham partnership for the fourth wicket – 138 runs in 79 balls. It is the second-quickest century partnership while chasing for the fourth wicket or lower in ODIs (where balls are known). The only quicker stand was of 120 off 55 balls at 13.09 between Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina against Sri Lanka in Hobart in 2012.369 – Runs scored by Nos. 4 and 5 in this match, the second-highest aggregate in any ODI. Shreyas Iyer (103) and KL Rahul (88*) from India and Taylor (109*) and Latham (69) were the Nos. 4 and 5. The third and fourth-wicket partnerships for both sides combined to 438 runs, which is the third-highest in any ODI. It was only the third instance of both the No. 4 batsmen scoring centuries in the same ODI.111 – Runs scored by New Zealand in a span of eight overs between the 34th and 41st overs, at a run rate of 13.88, which tilted the match towards them. Latham scored 54 off 24 and Taylor got 48 off 25 in that phase. Since 2001, where ball-by-ball information is available, only once a team has scored more runs in those overs – 115 by South Africa against Netherlands in the 2007 World Cup.84 – Runs conceded by Kuldeep Yadav in his 10 overs, his most expensive figures in ODIs. His previous most expensive figures were 75 against Australia in Indore in 2017.
With the T20 World Cup this year all but postponed, here are ten games from past editions to reminisce about
Himanshu Agrawal01-Jun-2020Australia v Zimbabwe, 2007, group stage
In 2007, the Zimbabwe cricket team was still reeling from the mass exodus of players in 2003 for political reasons. They had taken a hiatus from Tests and had not won a single game in the ODI World Cup the same year, so it was not surprising that when they took on four-time world champions Australia in the inaugural World T20, the odds-makers had Australia as 50:1 favourites.Australia posted 138, with Andrew Symonds and Brad Hodge scoring quick 30s as Prosper Utseya, the Zimbabwe captain, juggled his medium-pacers and spinners effectively on a sluggish pitch. Brendan Taylor was the main man in the chase, getting to 60 not out off 45 balls. With 12 needed off the final over, he swept the first ball for four, leaving four more runs to get from two balls. The penultimate delivery brushed past Taylor’s pad and reached the boundary, but not before the entire Zimbabwe dugout was on the field celebrating.India v Pakistan, 2007, final
After their group-stage match ended in a tie and bowl-out, India and Pakistan met again in the final. The game was another thriller. Gautam Gambhir scored 75, and a 20-year-old Rohit Sharma got a rapid 30 to help India reach 157. Imran Nazir replied with a breathtaking 33 off 14 balls before a direct hit from Robin Uthappa dismissed him and turned the match. India’s seamers took regular wickets, but Misbah-ul-Haq kept Pakistan in it. A six off the second ball of Joginder Sharma’s final over brought the equation down to six needed from four with one wicket in hand. Misbah went for the scoop, found short fine leg, and India became the first T20 world champions.England v Netherlands, 2009, group stage
Netherlands baffled Lord’s in the first game of the second edition of the World T20. England squandered a century opening partnership, reaching only 162. The chase didn’t start well, but a rapid half-century stand between Tom de Grooth and Peter Borren put Netherlands ahead of the required rate. Stuart Broad was left to defend six from the last over and nearly did it but made a costly mistake at the end. With two needed from the final ball, he fielded the ball in his follow-through as the batsmen tried to scamper a single to tie the match. Broad went for the run-out but missed the stumps, and an overthrow resulted, giving Netherlands the win. Five years later, Netherlands would repeat the upset, beating England in Chittagong.Double Dutch: The Netherlands upset England not once, but twice•PA PhotosSri Lanka v India, 2010, Super 8s
Sri Lanka were in a tricky spot in their final Super 8s game. An outright win would put them in the semi-final, but they also had the option of simply denying India a win by a big margin and then hoping Australia beat West Indies, which would have put Sri Lanka through on net run-rate. Chasing 164, they went for the more daring option, despite being 6 for 2. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara staged the initial recovery, and then Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedera put together a rapid fifty partnership. Mathews was run-out off the penultimate ball, leaving Kapugedera three to win from the last ball. He stepped out and sent Ashish Nehra sailing over cover for a six to finish on 37 not out off just 16 deliveries.Australia v Pakistan, 2010, semi-final
“Michael Hussey is an absolute freak” was how Michael Clarke, Australia captain, described this thrilling win that put Australia in their first, and only, World T20 final. The fifties from Kamran and Umar Akmal had given Pakistan an imposing total of 191. Australia floundered in the chase and needed 87 off 45 balls when Hussey joined Cameron White in the middle. White hammered five sixes in his 43, but there was still 53 needed off 21 when he was dismissed. Hussey hit Saeed Ajmal for a six next ball, then got 16 runs in the 19th over, with two boundaries and four twos. There were still 18 runs needed from the final over, bowled by Ajmal. Mitchell Johnson took a single, then Hussey went 6, 6, 4, 6 to win it with a ball to spare. He ended with 60 not out off 24, in what is still considered one of the greatest T20I innings.West Indies v New Zealand, 2012, group stage
Super Overs begun haunting New Zealand long before 2019. They actually played their first one ever in the 2012 World T20, and lost it to Sri Lanka. Four days later, they were in the same position, but this time it was more painful as they had been in a strong position in what was a must-win for both sides. They had restricted West Indies to 139 despite Chris Gayle’s early surge. In the chase, they had brought the equation down to 27 needed from four overs. Sunil Narine took two wickets for just five runs in his next two overs, and it needed some big hitting from Ross Taylor, who ended with 62, to take the game to the Super Over. Taylor hit more big shots, but West Indies chased down 18 to dump New Zealand out of the tournament.Carlos Bathwaite provided unforgettable final-over drama in the 2016 World T20 final•Getty ImagesEngland v South Africa, 2016, group stage
After a disastrous 2015 World Cup, England had pledged to radically change their approach to white-ball cricket, and they showed signs of that change by breaking the record for the highest chase in World T20s, getting 230 thanks to Jason Roy’s 43 off 16 balls and Joe Root’s 83 off 44. They were cantering home, needing one from the final over with four wickets in hand, when a double strike created a bit of late drama. They got home in the end and made it all the way to the final.India v Bangladesh, 2016, group stage
One of the great escapes in modern cricket history. The Bangladesh batsmen were already celebrating when Mushfiqur Rahim hit consecutive fours off Hardik Pandya in the 20th over to leave two to win from three balls. India were on the brink of elimination in the first World T20 on their home patch. Rahim and Mahmudullah just needed singles to give Bangladesh their first T20I win over India. Instead, they both went for big shots and holed out in the deep, leaving Shuvagata Hom to get two off the final ball. Pandya bowled it short outside off, Hom missed, and, as the batsmen tried to steal a bye to tie the game, a nerveless MS Dhoni sprinted to the stumps to effect the run-out.India v Australia, 2016, group stage
In a virtual quarter-final, Australia got off to a flyer, with openers Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch getting 54 off 4.1 overs. They set a target of 161, leaving India with a tough chase on a pitch offering spin and some uneven bounce. Then, Virat Kohli played one of his finest T20I knocks, getting 82 not out off 51. One of the most impressive things about his innings was the seven twos he ran in the Mohali heat. Those kept India in the hunt, but with 43 to get off 19, boundaries were needed. Dhoni got one off Shane Watson, and then Kohli went 4, 4, 6, 2 against James Faulkner to swing the game India’s way. Four more boundaries in the next over meant India got home with five balls to spare.West Indies v England, 2016, final
“Carlos Brathwaite, remember the name!” Ian Bishop bellowed on commentary as Brathwaite went 6, 6, 6, 6 off Ben Stokes in the 20th over at Eden Gardens to give West Indies their second World T20 trophy. The final was high drama from the off, with England slipping to 23 for 3 early before Root (54 off 36) and Jos Buttler (36 off 22) resurrected the innings and got their team to 155. Root was not done. Given the second over, he got two wickets, including the massive one of Gayle. Marlon Samuels then played one of the great T20I innings, getting 85 not out off 66 as wickets fell around him. But West Indies still needed 19 from the final over, and Brathwaite stepped up to provide one of the most iconic moments of the decade.
How Kotak, Pujara and Unadkat have inspired players to dream big and stay honest to the game
Shashank Kishore in Rajkot09-Mar-2020″I’m always asked about the IPL auction, about how many crores I’ve gone for, am I happy or sad at my price tag, retained, not retained. Now, it’s pleasant to be giving interviews because of our Ranji Trophy exploits. This is about team Saurashtra, so it makes me that much more happy and I have been delighted to take time off to speak about our journey.”Jaydev Unadkat’s “take time off” reference is no joke. He may have picked up 65 wickets this season. Four more wickets and he will have the record for most wickets in a Ranji Trophy season ever, but his role at Saurashtra has gone far beyond just plotting dismissals. He’s Saurashtra’s captain, a bowling mentor, and also the team’s de-facto trainer.While not at the gym or in his room, on non-match days, Unadkat plans net sessions, monitors his bowlers’ workloads, analyses videos to devise plans for the opposition, talks to players he thinks may not fit the XI for the upcoming game. And, texting his best friend, even if he is across in New Zealand playing Test cricket, to discuss plans and strategies.”Chintu [Cheteshwar Pujara] has been like an elder brother of this team, (and) we’ve been best of best friends,” Unadkat says. “He cares about the team as much as I do. He feels it’s time he gives back to the team. He also knows that our players don’t get the guidance or other facilities to develop and become better cricketers. So he understands the lessons will have to come from someone who is playing at the highest level. Because his nature is such that he wants to help people, they feel free to talk to him whenever he’s around. There can’t be a better person to fit into the role. He knows the game in and out, knows the players very well, and he wants them to grow as players.”
One big performance is all we need, but even that, we aren’t stressing about like we did two or three years agoCheteshwar Pujara
Unadkat, 28 now, has witnessed Saurashtra’s evolution over the last 12 years as a player. He comes from the port town of Porbandar, known worldwide as Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace. For all the development of facilities in Rajkot, the biggest city in Saurashtra, the other centres have remained ignored. The lack of cricketing infrastructure hampered players during the off-season, but Unadkat didn’t want that to become an excuse as they prepared for the 2019-20 season.Luckily, Unadkat has carried forward the traditions established by his seniors – former captain and domestic stalwart Sitanshu Kotak and Pujara – to guide the players. “We belong to a region where there isn’t a lot of cricketing infrastructure. There are people from Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Porbandar. These guys don’t even get enough match practice,” Unadkat points out. “District cricket structure isn’t in place most of the time. When it happens, it happens during Vijay Hazare Trophy or Mushtaq Ali Trophy. So the guys don’t get any match practice outside our domestic set up. There are no big fitness training camps.ALSO READ: Unadkat savours captaincy masterstroke and unforgettable wicket“So from there, to handle the pressure and grind of a domestic system, you have to have a support system. That system is each other. Sitanshu Kotak did a great job in the last four-five years, he used to guide them during the off-season. Now, he’s with India A, so the players do take a lot of help from me. The bowlers will come and ask me about their fitness methods, training methods, etc. The batters will go to Cheteshwar and ask him about how they want to go about working on certain things, like trying to tune your mind to a specific shot or countering bowlers on certain type of pitches. Apart from that, the guys support each other. I sense that isn’t the case with many other teams.”In this day and age of professionalism, it’s hard to believe that Saurashtra don’t have a trainer in their support staff. Unadkat has had to bank on his experience of working with trainers with the Indian team and at the IPL to help make plans. Juggling several roles has been challenging for Unadkat, but he has thrived in that position.Jaydev Unadkat sends one down•Shailesh Bhatnagar”I’m enjoying it now, but it did get intense at some point,” he reflects. “During this season, I felt I lost a bit of balance, but I am enjoying the responsibility. Not everyone will be as fortunate as I am to have so many responsibilities.”Earlier this season, the association appointed former India bowler Karsan Ghavri as the head coach. However, Ghavri, a Mumbai resident, was more of an outsider, forcing Unadkat to become the pointsperson.”In our team, in the culture that we have, I do have a free hand at those things, about how to plan training sessions, fielding sessions. Kotak was there last season, and Karsan joined after four games. He’s also new to the circuit, so the responsibility I have, I’m used to it. I want things to be under my control types, I like it when people get the benefit of the good work that I put in, the energy I put in to plan a session. When those guys come and tell me that this helped them, I feel motivated. That helps bring the best out of me.”My personal schedules are set, I have been working on them in the off-season; I know a lot about my body and bowling, so I don’t need to devote much time, it’s set. I just need to fine tune, more energy goes into how well I can plan for the team so that everyone gets something out of it. Thinking of XI, talking to guys not playing, involved in training of guys not playing – those things I enjoy. I sleep well at night because of all this.”‘Not just a team that has Cheteshwar or Ravindra’ This will be Saurashtra’s fourth Ranji Trophy final in eight seasons. Jaydev Shah was the captain until midway through the previous season (2018-19), but retired and is now the president of SCA. He is the son of Niranjan Shah, a former Saurashtra player and one of the oldest cricket administrators in India.Jaydev Shah captained Saurashtra in 110 games•ESPNcricinfo LtdJaydev Shah has seen Unadkat go from being a wiry teenager in the trials in Porbandar in 2009 to the bowler he is today, and only has words of appreciation.”People used to say, ‘oh, he’s getting ten crore in the IPL, he’s not interested here’, or ‘he’s not taking wickets’. But if they’ve seen Unadkat this season, the effort he has taken to go out of his way to not just work on his game but also on the team has been incredible,” Shah says. “He has Pujara’s support. They are great friends and he asks for inputs from time to time. They feed off each other. Ravindra (Jadeja) is consulted when he is around too.”For all talks of the administration being run by one family, the SCA resonates vibes of a close-knit group. And the president’s closeness to the players by virtue of him having led many of them for half-a-decade or more – he captained in 110 games over 12 years overall – has helped bridge the gap somewhat.”Anyone can walk in anytime,” Shah says. “Now that I am away from the dressing room, I don’t disturb them too much. I don’t like to disturb cricketing intuitions. If Jaydev takes a call, it’s his call. If he makes a mistake, he will know, he will learn. We don’t judge or hold them to ransom, asking why you did this or that. That comes with trust.
I’ve never seen a Saurashtra team being this clinical in my ten years as a first-class cricketerSheldon Jackson
“If you see our selection also, we believe in giving players a long rope. Three games they fail, no problem. You will never see us make five-six changes. The seniors are as important as juniors. If you see over the years, if one senior goes away, one junior comes in. Sheldon Jackson spent four seasons on the bench before he got his chance. Today, he is a senior player. Kotak retired, Arpit Vasavada took his place. He handles the middle-order and gives Jackson the freedom to express himself.”We aren’t just known as a team that has Cheteshwar or Ravindra. No one has mentioned that this season. For that, credit goes entirely to the team. We’ve developed a good combination. It’s a homely atmosphere, with no rules. I believe the captain needs his space to plan. That is how it was when I led. I don’t see it changing now.”Jackson has seen Saurashtra struggling earlier to even compete. In Mumbai, where he played corporate cricket, he sensed there used to be a perception about Saurashtra, of being bullies at home but poor on the road. He’s seen them slowly shed that tag. Last season, they beat Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka away in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. This year, they beat Baroda in Vadodara for the first time in 15 years. They beat Himachal Pradesh on a green top in Dharamsala without a score of substance from Pujara. For this, Jackson credited a change in mindset.”With both Jaydevs [Shah and Unadkat], there is no pressure,” he says. “If we win, it’s the best thing. If we don’t, it’s totally okay. You can’t let one bad patch or one bad session undo the good work done through the season. That is the bottom line. In the semi-final, we were 15 for 5. Our No. 11 [Chetan Sakariya] was promoted up the order, he batted expertly. Our lead spinner – Dharmendra Jadeja – got two wickets on a dead track where the ball wasn’t turning at all.The Saurashtra players celebrate a win•Shailesh Bhatnagar”Our captain comes from nowhere and suddenly cracks open a game we all were slowly beginning to worry about. For this, you have to credit the management for their selection consistencies. Yes, there are changes, but they aren’t drastic. When players feel secure, they are confident. Their way of moving around and interacting with you is totally different.”Why do they stress on family? Because they know no matter what mistakes you make, your family won’t throw you out. That is the feeling we get with this group now. I’ve never seen a Saurashtra team being this clinical in my ten years as a first-class cricketer.”Such freedom and clarity in selection and thought process has lent a relaxed vibe to the dressing room. Players aren’t bound by rules too much, there are unwritten laws that everyone abides by. They aren’t big on team activities for the sake of it, but respect individual space. Which is why two days before a final, five players can enjoy a movie, a few others can step away to meet friends, and others can X-box away, when they could well be asked to attend compulsory team meetings or team dinners.”I was part of the team for five games, before I left for the New Zealand tour. Now also, I see that same excitement and enthusiasm,” Pujara says. “There is no tiredness, no nerves, no anxiety. Everyone is confident in their own space. One big performance is all we need, but even that we aren’t stressing about like we did two or three years ago.”‘This final won’t be only game that matters in our life’ For Unadkat, winning would be the best thing, but it isn’t the end goal. “Winning would be the icing on the cake, but icing on cake is a small metaphor for how big it would be for us,” he says philosophically. “This is a state that actually has produced greats like [KS] Ranjitsinghji.”The cricketing culture is great, the legacy is great. I keep telling them to not have this worry of ‘oh, what if we don’t win’. This is the group that will do it for a number of years to come, so I tell them, we are going to win, but that won’t be our ultimate goal. Even if we win, we want to sustain it next year, and continue it for five years to come. Saurashtra has never had a better team, but this final won’t be only game that matters in our life.”