Leeds United have made contact with a Premier League club over signing a teenage gem alongside attacking target Jonathan Rowe.
Leeds hold talks over Rowe deal
The Whites and the 49ers Enterprises are currently on the search to replace star winger Crysencio Summerville after he officially joined West Ham on the weekend.
The Dutchman cost the Hammers in excess of £25m and Daniel Farke admitted after Leeds’ final pre-season game against Valencia on Saturday that the club are working to find “good solutions to compensate his loss”.
Leeds showing interest in "incredible" £10,000-a-week Premier League talent
It would be a loan move with no option or obligation to buy.
ByHenry Jackson Aug 5, 2024
"Obviously he was not just named but also in general I would say the best player in this league last season, with many goals and assists, it will never be easy to replace him, especially one on one. We have to be aware to bring a player in, in his position definitely, but as a team and a group we have to make sure we share his goals and assists.
“To bring a new player in who will be the new best player in this league will be pretty difficult, you can't have so much money as you need to spend in order to bring in a new Summerville. I've spoken about how much I like and value him and of course we'll miss him but a club never relies on just one person, not on player, one coaching staff member or even the manager, the club and the team is always bigger.
“We work to find good solutions to compensate his loss and try to be in other areas perhaps even a bit stronger. This is what we will do once this business happens but I expect this to happen."
One player now heavily linked with a move to Elland Road is Norwich City’s Rowe, with reliable reporter John Percy revealing there have been talks over a deal.
However, Rowe isn’t the only addition Leeds are working on behind the scenes by the looks of things.
Leeds make contact with Liverpool over Clark loan
According to Football Insider in the last 48 hours, Leeds have registered their interest over a move for Liverpool midfielder Bobby Clark.
There have been links of Leeds’ interest, but now contact has seemingly been made over a loan deal. The report adds that Sheffield United and Norwich City are also keen, whereas RB Salzburg want a permanent move, with the Reds wanting £12m for the player.
Liverpool are more likely to let Clark go on loan rather than a permanent exit, so Leeds could be in a good place to get a transfer done following the departures of Archie Gray and Glen Kamara.
Joe Rothwell has been the only midfield addition so far this summer, so adding Clark, who was once described as "very impressive" by journalist Josh Bunting, could be a shrewd move.
Sheffield Wednesday are very much attempting to get the old band back together this summer when it comes to their transfer dealings in through the door, with former loan star Ike Ugbo near the top of their extensive shopping list.
A move for the former Chelsea youth striker to sign on the dotted line could well be on the cards, but there's one reunion that has been stopped in its tracks now, involving fellow ex-loanee Ian Poveda.
Leeds forward Ian Poveda.
The South American attacker opted to join Sunderland over returning to South Yorkshire, but Danny Rohl and Co won't want be too downbeat for too long about the former Leeds United man turning down the chance to come back to the Owls, knowing they have another attacking star at their disposal already.
Anthony Musaba's time at Sheffield Wednesday
It's fair to say Anthony Musaba was a slow burner when first donning an Owls strip, with plenty of intrigue in the air after he initially joined under the doomed tenure of Xisco Munoz, having previously played for AS Monaco.
The 23-year-old forward would only score one Championship goal under the Spaniard's terrible reign in charge, before coming into his own under the far more popular German, as the goals started to flow more easily – having subsequently been hailed as a "weapon" by his manager.
Sheffield Wednesday forward Anthony Musaba.
He would finish his 2023/24 campaign with eight total goals next to his name, with a mini purple patch of vital strikes and assists towards the back end of the topsy-turvy season for Wednesday as a whole allowing his side to keep their heads above water come the final match day.
Therefore, everyone with connections to the South Yorkshire titans will be hoping their electric number 45 has even more up his sleeve this season, as the Owls aim to make strides in the division as opposed to battling towards the foot of the league again.
Poveda, on the other hand, never really consistently delivered in terms of output for Rohl's men during his short stay, with Musaba's value far higher than his ex-Leeds counterpart's as a result, according to Football Transfers.
Musaba's transfer value at Wednesday
Wednesday fans would have wanted to see Poveda back in their beloved blue and white stripes purely to see what Rohl could get out of him over a full season, with zero goals registered by the diminutive winger last season in South Yorkshire, despite showing signs of his trickery and flair on the ball.
As stated, Musaba managed to bag eight strikes in all competitions on the contrary, which is two times more than what Poveda has managed to tally up across his up-and-down time in the men's game in total, having also previously been on the roster of Manchester City as a fresh-faced youngster.
Value/Stat – per 90 mins*
Musaba
Poveda
Value
£1.6m
£337k
Games played
43
17
Goals scored
7
0
Assists
5
1
Shots*
1.1
0.6
Shots on target*
0.4
0.1
Looking at the table above, Poveda's value of £337k pales into insignificance lined up next to Musaba's bumper £1.6m price tag, with the ex-AS Monaco attacker also sweeping the floor with the new Sunderland recruit in terms of their head-to-head numbers.
Poveda will just hope he can shine at Sunderland away from failing to spark in life at his previous clubs, which could end up in his value shooting up subsequently.
Back at Hillsborough, however, and Rohl will hope Musaba can be equally as crucial this coming season alongside the barrage of new signings strengthening the side, with Wednesday aiming to shock the Championship top spots as a surprise package.
Forget Poveda: Sheffield Wednesday can land star with shades of Forestieri
Sheffield Wednesday could land their next Fernando Forestieri with this capture.
Crystal Palace are interested in making a move for a 22-year-old who matched Eberechi Eze's assist tally last season, according to a new update from renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Crystal Palace transfer news
Life under Oliver Glasner could barely have got off to a better start at Selhurst Park, with the Eagles impressing so much towards the end of last season in the Premier League. The key now is to show that it wasn't simply a flash in the pan with some new signings to ensure that doesn't happen.
Jaden Philogene is one player who has been linked with a summer switch to Palace, with the Hull City youngster viewed as an ideal replacement for Michael Olise, who is on the verge of completing a move to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. Philogene registered 18 goal involvements (12 goals and six assists) in the Championship in 2023/24 and should only improve with age, with the Eagles tabling a bid for him.
It has also been claimed that the south London club currently lead the race to sign ex-Tottenham winger Ryan Sessegnon, who is looking to rebuild his career after a tough time of things, not yet reaching the high level many predicted he would when he was a teenager bursting onto the scene.
Arsenal's Emile Smith Rowe is another rumoured summer target for Palace, as the Englishman potentially looks to enjoy a fresh challenge rather than warming the substitutes' bench most weeks at the Emirates. He could be a hugely exciting signing, possessing quality in the final third.
Crystal Palace want to sign 22-year-old ace
According to Romano on X, Crystal Palace are keen on signing Monaco midfielder Maghnes Akliouche in the summer transfer window, with Paris Saint-Germain also one of the clubs interested in snapping him up:
"Maghnes Akliouche's also on the list of Crystal Palace after Paris Saint-Germain and more clubs as he's attracting lot of interest. AS Monaco director Thiago Scuro said that he's "confident to keep Akliouche and talks are ongoing to extend his contract."
It does feel as though Palace are trying to recruit some brilliant young talent this summer and Akliouche certainly falls into that bracket, having caught the eye in a Monaco shirt since emerging from the youth team.
The 22-year-old has made 53 appearances in total for his current club, and last season's tally of four assists in Ligue 1 was the same as Eze managed in the Premier League – within less game time, too.
Akliouche is also a two-cap France under-23 international, showing that he is a promising talent at international level, and the fact that he can shine in both an attacking-midfield role and out wide on the right is something that could appeal to Glasner, who will want fluidity on the pitch, as well as versatility and depth within his squad.
Bid: Crystal Palace make their move for "unbelievable" Olise replacement
The Eagles have wasted no time.
1
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Jul 7, 2024
PSG being in the mix to sign the Frenchman does act as a threat, and Monaco clearly don't want to let him go, but Palace should look at him as an eye-catching addition who could add an extra dimension in attacking areas.
As he looks to welcome his first Liverpool signing, Arne Slot is reportedly in contact with one particular summer target who enjoyed an excellent season at club level before featuring at Euro 2024.
Liverpool transfer news
With Michael Edwards back making transfer decisions at Liverpool and a new sporting director to work alongside in the form of Richard Hughes on top of a new manager in Slot, it's hardly a surprise that the Reds are taking their time with incomings this summer. Slot needs time to evaluate his new squad, including those who are still at the Copa America and the Euros, which may well see those at Anfield strike late in the window.
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That hasn't stopped the rumours from coming, however, be it for Anthony Gordon, Adrien Rabiot or even Joshua Kimmich. And whilst there's no doubt that all three would make significant impacts on the current Liverpool side, it remains to be seen whether Edwards and Hughes will complete such deals in the coming months.
Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich.
Instead, they could choose to welcome a player who Slot is already familiarising himself with this summer. According to Bild, Slot is now personally in contact with Jeremie Frimpong over a potential deal. He and Liverpool aren't alone in their interest though, with Manchester United manager and fellow Dutchman Erik ten Hag also making the same contact.
With a reported release clause of just €40m (£34m), the interest in Frimpong hardly comes as a surprise, given that he's also coming off the back of a historic unbeaten season in the Bundesliga for champions Bayer Leverkusen. The right-back very nearly completed an entire season unbeaten, of course, only to be defeated by Atalanta in the Europa League final.
As Trent Alexander-Arnold's best position remains up for debate, Slot could welcome the perfect player to accommodate the academy graduate's move into midfield once and for all.
"Incredible" Frimpong can unlock Alexander-Arnold
Whilst Alexander-Arnold's midfield experiment is yet to work at international level, he would far more suit the role that he could play at the heart of Slot's midfield compared to Gareth Southgate's.
The England boss was seemingly looking to replace Kalvin Phillips when asking the Liverpool star to step into midfield. As everyone at the Euros saw for themselves, however, the limited, far more rigid role is not one made for the likes of Alexander-Arnold, who would likely have a far less restricted position at Anfield. Before anything though, the Reds must welcome a right-back replacement in the form of Frimpong.
Goals
9
3
Assists
7
4
Key Passes
45
64
Ball Recoveries
94
176
Without Alexander-Arnold down the right-hand side, Liverpool's concern may well be recreating his attacking output, but those worries would be eased almost instantly by the arrival of Frimpong, who even outperformed the England international in that regard last season.
Dubbed "incredible" by former Celtic boss Neil Lennon, a big decision awaits Frimpong this summer, which could yet end with a move to Anfield and the chance for Alexander-Arnold to finally step into midfield.
Derby County have been building a much-talked-about reputation of being a club willing to give their up-and-coming youth stars a chance for some time now, before allowing them to blossom into top first-team performers.
The likes of Eiran Cashin, Max Bird and Louie Sibley all had to make their way up the food chain at Pride Park from playing youth football to becoming settled senior players from recent memory, with Bird even winning himself a move to Bristol City off the back of a positive few years in and around the first-team in Derbyshire.
Cashin has also been touted for a major Premier League move away from Paul Warne's men in the past, with Brighton and Hove Albion once eyeing up the promising Irish defender according to reports.
Whilst selling on Cashin down the line will no doubt add significant money to the spending kitty at Pride Park, much like Bird leaving will have made the club some pretty profit, Derby will be laughing at the prospect of one of their forgotten youth gems making them serious cash away from those mentioned.
Omari Kellyman's major move to Chelsea
Many with loose connections to Derby might well have pushed the fact Omari Kellyman was once on the books at Derby to the back of their heads, with the current Aston Villa starlet playing at a youth level for the Rams for ten years, before Villa Park beckoned.
The Derby-born attacking midfielder has only made six first-team appearances for Unai Emery's men since joining in 2022, but has clearly left a lasting impression on the wealthy Chelsea hierarchy, with Kellyman sealing an extraordinary £19m move to Stamford Bridge.
There have been many questioning this excessive price tag being put above Kellyman's head, considering his lack of experience in the Premier League for his current employers, but Chelsea will continue to flex their financial muscles in whatever transfer market is open, with the 18-year-old their next audacious capture.
Nobody would have expected back in Derbyshire that Kellyman would demand such an extortionate fee just two years on from his exit from Pride Park, with the England U20 international sold on before he could fully explode into the men's game for the Rams, alongside the aforementioned Cashin and other well-known Derby youth products.
Kellyman's rise since Derby
Kellyman was very much an unassuming youngster trying to cut his teeth in the senior mix when still on the roster of the Rams, patiently waiting for some first-team opportunities to come his way.
The Villa number 71 would only end up making five appearances for the Derby U18s before Villa swooped in to steal his services, in the midst of Derby's financial troubles, but the teenager's name would have been on the lips of many a Rams supporter when he was gifted a space on the bench by Wayne Rooney, during the ex-Manchester United legend's time in the Pride Park dug-out.
Derby County's former manager Wayne Rooney.
That rare shot in the senior picture would come about in November of 2021, with Kellyman watching on from the bench as Derby beat AFC Bournemouth 3-2, jealous of the likes of Max Knight – who is another off the youth production line at the Rams – performing front and centre, whilst the 18-year-old watched on wide-eyed and eager to make an impression from the sidelines.
Villa's gamble to sign Kellyman for £600k has more than paid off, however, with Emery and Co pocketing a ludicrous £19m now that his move to Chelsea is confirmed, which should trickle down to Derby gaining some considerable cash too, with a reported amount of £4.75m coming the way of the Championship side.
23/24
14
8
0
22/23
21
5
5
21/22 (Villa)
9
1
1
21/22 (Derby)
5
0
0
Scoring eight goals playing for the U21s last season, it wasn't a shock to see the exuberant bright spark be given first-team chances here and there therefore, with Kellyman even featuring in the Europa Conference League under Emery's watchful eye.
Those were only fleeting appearances, however, with the left-footed 18-year-old averaging only 18 minutes of action from those two Premier League chances, and so Chelsea splashing out a huge fee has rightly raised a few eyebrows.
Still, Derby won't really care too much whether their former Academy jewel struggles at Stamford Bridge or ends up thriving with all the pressure on his shoulders, knowing that they will be seeing some significant cash come their way regardless, with Kellyman's £19m worth making him more expensive than the entire combined Rams squad, as per Transfermarkt,
The accumulated worth of the Derby camp stands at a lesser £10m in stark contrast, really showcasing how hefty of a price Chelsea have paid for the unproven teenager.
Derby's injection of cash from Kellyman sale
The reported £4.75m Derby could pocket off-the-back of Kellyman's major move to West London is also more money than what any player in the Rams camp is currently worth, as per Football Transfers, with Cashin the Championship side's most valued asset at a lesser £1.4m according to the site.
Moreover, the predicted cash flow would also not be far off breaking into the top five record departures that have left Pride Park in recent times, with Tom Ince breaking into that last spot in the list below having left for £7.5m.
Player
Sale price/money given to Derby
1. Matej Vydra
£10.3m
2. Jeff Hendrick
£9.9m
3. Seth Johnson
£9.7m
4. Will Hughes
£7.5m
5. Tom Ince
£7.5m
6. Omari Kellyman
£4.75m
Villa are the obvious winners from this sale, however, as Emery and Co eye up some impressive fresh recruits ahead of their Champions League adventure next campaign, putting their newly obtained £19m to good use.
The Rams will also be keen to use the money they're set to receive on adding in new stars to the building ahead of a step-up in quality, knowing those millions could go a long way in getting in experienced Championship players, to help keep the club afloat again in the second-tier.
There might well be some regret on Derby's end that they didn't keep Kellyman around for longer, but with their hands being tied behind their back when he was snapped up by Villa owing to their off-the-field insecurities, they'll willingly take the money they will receive from Kellyman joining Enzo Maresca's men without complaining too much.
Derby could boldly repeat Hourihane decision by selling £8k-p/w star
Paul Warne could boldly get rid of this ageing Derby County gem soon.
Rebekah Vardy has been ordered by a court to pay £100,000 to Coleen Rooney in the wake of the pair's infamous legal battle.
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Rooney won legal case against Vardy
Fallout over Wagatha Christie trial continues
Vardy told to pay an extra £100,000
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WHAT HAPPENED?
Rooney, the wife of ex-Manchester United star Wayne, won a legal case against Vardy, who is married to Leicester star Jamie, in 2022. After Rooney took to social media to accuse her of leaking private information to the press five years ago, Vardy sued for libel but ended up losing the case.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
After the verdict was delivered, Vardy was ordered to pay 90 per cent of Rooney’s legal fees, with an initial payment of £800,000. However, the Leicester City forward's wife has then told by senior costs judge Andrew Gordon-Saker to provide an additional £100,000 within the next 21 days.
DID YOU KNOW?
The trial between Rooney and Vardy has been the subject of documentaries and dramatisations. Disney+ produced a documentary called Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story, while Discovery+ released a two-part series called Vardy vs Rooney: The Wagatha Trial.
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WHAT NEXT?
Rooney and Vardy were both absent from the courtroom as the hearing took place, but the latter has three weeks to pay the money owed to her adversary.
أدرك فريق رايو فاليكانو التعادل مع ريال مدريد خلال المباراة المقامة بين الفريقين ببطولة الدوري الإسباني.
ويلتقي ريال مدريد ورايو فاليكانو، في إطار منافسات الجولة السابعة عشر من الدوري الإسباني، وذلك على ملعب “تيريزا ريفيرو”.
الهدف جاء بعد عرضية طويلة من خلف المدافعين الغافلين عن لاعب الخصم، بالازون، المتمركز أمام تيبو كورتوا، استغل الكرة التي وصلت إليه ليسددها في الشباك من لمسة واحدة بالدقيقة 64. هدف رايو فاليكانو الثالث أمام ريال مدريد
وكان أوناي لوبيز سجل الهدف الأول لصالح رايو فاليكانو، في الدقيقة 4، ثم أضاف عبدول مؤمن الهدف الثاني في الدقيقة 36.
وبحلول الدقيقة 39 أحرز فيدي فالفيردي هدف ريال مدريد الأول، ثم تعادل جود بيلينجهام بهدف ثاني بالدقيقة 45، ثم أحرز رودريجو الهدف الثالث في الدقيقة 56.
ويمكنك متابعة التغطية المباشرة لمباراة ريال مدريد ورايو فاليكانو لحظة بلحظة بالفيديو من خلال الرابط.
أعلن ستيفانو بيولي، المدير الفني لفريق النصر التشكيل الرسمي لمواجهة نظيره الاتحاد، بعد قليل، ضمن منافسات مسابقة الدوري السعودي للمحترفين 2024-2025.
يستضيف الاتحاد نظيره النصر على ملعب مدينة الملك عبد الله الرياضية (الجوهرة المشعة)، ضمن مواجهات الجولة الثالثة عشر من بطولة دوري روشن السعودي.
طالع.. “يحثنا على الصلاة”.. حارس النصر يثير الجدل حول «إسلام» كريستيانو رونالدو
الاتحاد يدخل المباراة متصدرًا جدول الترتيب برصيد 33 نقطة، بعد أن خاض 12 مباراة، حقق الفوز في 11 منها وتلقى هزيمة وحيدة.
النصر يحتل المركز الثالث برصيد 25 نقطة، جمعها من 12 مباراة، حيث فاز في 4 لقاءات وتعادل في 4 أخرى وخسر مرة واحدة. تشكيل النصر اليوم أمام الاتحاد في الدوري السعودي
حراسة المرمى: بينتو ماثيوس.
الدفاع: سلطان الغنام، ايمريك لابورت، محمد سيماكان، نواف بوشل.
Bangladesh allrounder says he has matured into someone who is calmer and “understands life better”
Mohammad Isam24-Jul-20201:53
Shakib Al Hasan: ‘I was given responsibilities early in my career. I was bound to make mistakes’
Shakib Al Hasan has admitted to having “made mistakes” that led to his ongoing ban from international cricket. In an interview on ESPNcricinfo’s series, hosted by Deep Dasgupta, Shakib said he wanted to serve as a cautionary tale for other players.Last October, Shakib accepted three charges of breaching the ICC anti-corruption code, for failing to report corrupt approaches in two tournaments in 2018: an ODI tri-series in January and an IPL match when he turned out for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He will be free to return to international cricket from October 29.”You have to be honest,” Shakib said. “You just can’t lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can come back from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths.ALSO READ: Shakib on the lesson his ban has taught him”It could have happened to someone else and I would have learned from him, but it happened to me so other people can learn from me. I wanted to be honest from the first day. I didn’t hide anything from the guys when they were asking me questions. I will say the straightforward things. I made mistakes. It shouldn’t happen for a player like me. I apologised for it, and I want to move forward, I want everyone to learn from it and never make these mistakes.”Shakib said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010. He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.”I think [it’s] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent.”Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won’t see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely.”Shakib also spoke about his experience in the Bangladesh dressing room as captain, during a period when he had to lead other seniors like Mohammad Ashraful and Mashrafe Mortaza. Mashrafe and Shakib exchanged captaincy stints during a difficult phase for Bangladesh cricket over 18 months leading up to the 2011 World Cup.Shakib also spoke about his experience in the Bangladesh dressing room as captain, during a period when he his team included the likes of Mohammad Ashraful and Mashrafe Mortaza, senior players and past leaders.Mortaza and Shakib exchanged captaincy stints during a difficult phase for Bangladesh cricket. Mortaza suffered from a fair few injuries between 2009 and 2010, which meant a young Shakib found himself taking charge in the middle of matches or series. BCB never named anyone captain for more than a series at a time, leaving Shakib fuming with several decisions. Even after he was named captain in 2011, he lasted only seven months after an indifferent World Cup campaign and series losses to Zimbabwe.”I never had to face difficulties due to senior players,” Shakib said. “It was never a problem. We were a team struggling to win consistently, so our focus was to improve our game. Off the field, there were always issues. If you say something in the media, it diverted into another direction. I feel that I needed those things in that time, and it helped me to bring me where I am now.”Shakib will likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh’s proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October.
Just two days on from hi 143 amid swirling stands, he smashed 134 in the final – on his 25th birthday
RetroReport by Karthik Krishnaswamy24-Apr-2020
Sachin Tendulkar and his team-mates celebrate beating Australia and winning the Coca Cola Cup•AFP
#RetroLive Is sport at its best when it throws up the unpredictable? Or does it reach its heights when a genius shows up and makes the improbable look utterly predictable? It would be the cheesiest of movie scripts: our hero bats out of his skin against the world’s best team to drag his struggling side into the final of a tournament where they meet the same opponents, and beat them thanks to another masterful effort from our hero, who, hang on, happens to be celebrating his 25th birthday.When it happens in real life, it’s breathtaking.Two days on from his 143 amid swirling sands, Sachin Tendulkar scored another majestic hundred in a tall chase, to almost singlehandedly put the Sharjah tri-nations cup in India’s hands. More than that, the quality of his batting ensured that this tournament – a cola-flavoured tri-series in an ocean of cola-flavoured tri-series – will transcend its immediate context and live in the memory well beyond the careers of those involved in it.Decades from now, highlights of this tournament will fill our TV screens whenever April 24 comes along, bringing us the gleeful faces, fated never to age, of the fans who – as Tony Greig put it two days ago – danced in the aisles. We’ll still be talking about Shane Warne going round the wicket, and Tendulkar greeting the move by jumping out of his crease, exposing all three stumps, and launching the ball out of the footmarks and over long-on for six. The cover drives, the back-foot punches, the paddle-sweeps, the straight drives off Damien Fleming and Warne, respectively, that left Sourav Ganguly and Steve Bucknor, respectively, on their backsides; these will remain seared in our memories.But for all that, Tendulkar has scored – and will score – hundreds far more challenging than this 25th birthday bash. Australia’s attack contained only three frontline bowlers, leaving batting allrounders Tom Moody, Mark Waugh and Steve Waugh to fill at least two-fifths of their bowling quota. During certain stretches of Tendulkar’s innings, all he had to do was milk these lesser bowlers for singles to the deep fielders, singles that Australia were happy to give away in the low-intensity waiting game that the middle overs of ODI innings often are.Australia’s lack of genuine wicket-takers, apart from Warne and Fleming – who, incidentally, was celebrating his 28th birthday – forced them to play this waiting game and hope for India to crumble under scoreboard pressure. This could have happened had India lost a couple of early wickets, or – as they did in the last round-robin game two days ago – a couple of quick wickets midway through their chase, but they didn’t, as Ganguly, Nayan Mongia – once again promoted to No. 3 – and Mohammad Azharuddin all played useful hands around Tendulkar. Without those wickets, the target Australia set – 273 – was challenging but not nearly enough given their bowling resources, and given Tendulkar’s astonishing form.Australia could have set a bigger target had not lost clumps of wickets at inopportune moments. There were three within the first six overs of their innings, when the naggingly accurate Venkatesh Prasad and the nippy but far more erratic Ajit Agarkar got the ball to nibble around off a surface with a bit of moisture in it. There were two more following a 59-run fourth-wicket partnership between Adam Gilchrist and Michael Bevan, both against the run of play. Gilchrist top-edged a loose cut off the part-time offspinner Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Bevan was run-out after a mix-up that left him and Steve Waugh at the same end.Shane Warne greets Sachin Tendulkar•AFP
Being five down with 23 overs remaining didn’t hurt Australia immediately, as Steve Waugh and the brilliantly inventive Darren Lehmann put on 103 off just 96 balls, clinically milking the part-timers and taking toll whenever Agarkar – who still showed signs of the groin strain that kept him out of India’s previous game – erred in line or length. But even the exaggerated depth of Australia’s batting – the flip side of playing only three frontline bowlers – was tested when Waugh holed out in the 43rd over. Lehmann pressed on – the highlight of his innings a pair of back-to-back boundaries off Anil Kumble, a muscular leg-side six that he followed up by making room to carve a middle-stump ball through point – but his dismissal for a 59-ball 70, followed by the needless run-out of Damien Martyn, ended the chances of an explosive Australian finish. Only 67 came off their last ten overs.India have always been nervy chasers, though. Before this game, they had only won five of the 27 ODIs in which they had been set a target of 270 or more. Their nerves must have eased when Ganguly hit the first two balls of India’s innings to the boundary, even though Australia kept him in check thereafter, and kept him on strike. By the time he fell to a mis-controlled pull for 23 off 42 balls, Tendulkar had only faced 11 balls.But those 11 balls had already whetted the appetite of the packed crowd, containing drives of pristine timing as well as a moment of the sort of early luck – an inside-edged attempt at shouldering arms, off Fleming, that missed off stump by half an inch – that tells everyone this could be the batsman’s day.And it was. Tendulkar put Moody under pressure as soon as he came on, pulling a good-length ball for a boundary over midwicket, and a thumping straight four from Mongia at the end of the over – the 14th – forced Steve Waugh to take the allrounder off. Moody’s replacement, Mark Waugh, then got the Tendulkar treatment, with three fours in his second and third overs – an inside-out loft over extra-cover, a leg glance and a paddle-sweep – forcing another change.At the other end, Warne was getting through his overs without causing either Tendulkar or Mongia to worry unduly, and a switch to round the wicket in his sixth over further reduced his threat. The return of Fleming brought the immediate wicket of Mongia, but he gave way after only two overs – which Tendulkar saw off with almost exaggerated care – following which Tendulkar and the new man Azharuddin milked the twin medium-pace attack of Moody and Steve Waugh for six straight overs. The required rate crept up above six an over in this time, but it meant little without wickets falling.Then came the acceleration: there was a boundary in each over from the 35th to the 38th, and then the flicked single that brought Tendulkar his hundred – his 15th in ODIs. Then came a brace of fours from Tendulkar in Warne’s final over, the 42nd – unstoppable drives down the ground and through cover – a fitting finish to an extended contest that Tendulkar has thoroughly dominated over these last two months, beginning at the Brabourne in the last week of February.Tendulkar’s increased aggression in this phase also caused him to play and miss at four slower balls from Moody, but this was his day and no one could do anything about it. As if to stress that point, he walloped Moody for a straight six that brought the equation down to 39 from 43 balls. This match was done and dusted.When Tendulkar finally departed, it was to a shocker of an lbw decision from Javed Akhtar – the ball, delivered from round the wicket by Michael Kasprowicz, pitched outside leg stump and would have missed off stump. Tendulkar’s 143 two days ago also ended with a questionable umpiring decision. It was fitting, in a way; Australia could get his wicket, occasionally, but to borrow lines written years ago in praise of another Mumbai batsman, they couldn’t out him at all. RetroLive