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Sam Allardyce has named a Crystal Palace star in his Premier League Team of the Season so far, with an Arsenal counterpart snubbed.

Palace pushing for Europe once again

Off the back of winning the first major trophy in their history last season, Palace have started the current season in style, having taken 20 points from their opening 12 Premier League games, which leaves them just three points adrift of second-placed Chelsea.

Oliver Glasner has made his side very difficult to beat, with only Everton and Arsenal chalking up wins against the Eagles so far this season, and a solid defensive record has been the key to their success, keeping clean sheets in four out of the last five matches in all competitions.

Having managed to retain the services of Marc Guehi in the summer, despite deadline-day drama, Glasner’s side have shipped just nine goals in the Premier League this term, the second-fewest of any side, behind only league-leaders Arsenal.

However, Guehi hasn’t been the only player to catch the eye, with Allardyce recently naming another Crystal Palace star in his Premier League Team of the Season so far.

Speaking on the ‘No Tippy Tappy Football’ podcast, the former manager chose Dean Henderson ahead of David Raya between the sticks, while also adding: “He’s so confident in himself, he believes when someone’s got a penalty he’s gonna save it – you can see, it’s bordering on a bit arrogant.”

The 71-year-old justifies his decision by asserting that Raya doesn’t face enough shots to make it into the team, given the Gunners’ fantastic defensive record, most recently limiting Tottenham Hotspur to an xG of just 0.06 in the 4-1 North London derby thrashing.

Henderson must be in Tuchel's thoughts ahead of World Cup

Jordan Pickford has been England’s first-choice goalkeeper for quite some time, having now amassed 81 caps, and it is difficult to envisage Thomas Tuchel dropping him for the World Cup next summer, but the Palace shot-stopper is certainly pushing the Everton star all the way.

Player

Club

Premier League clean sheets

David Raya

Arsenal

7

Robert Sanchez

Chelsea

7

Dean Henderson

Crystal Palace

6

Nick Pope

Newcastle United

5

Gianluigi Donnarumma

Manchester City

4

Robin Roefs

Sunderland

4

Jordan Pickford

Everton

4

Guglielmo Vicario

Tottenham Hotspur

4

Djordje Petrovic

AFC Bournemouth

4

The 28-year-old has already picked up six clean sheets in the Premier League this season, two more than Pickford, while also saving two penalties in the shoot-out against Liverpool to help the Eagles clinch the Community Shield for the first time in their history.

Raya may have kept more clean sheets than the Englishman, but the Spaniard won’t be happy by Richarlison recently lobbing him from distance in the North London derby…

As such, Henderson’s selection is fully justified, and the goalkeeper has a huge part to play as Palace look to qualify for Europe for the second year running.

Crystal Palace star who "they don't want to lose" now has his agent testing an exit

The Eagles must look to keep hold of their star striker.

ByHenry Jackson Nov 25, 2025

Tottenham travel to Arsenal on Sunday facing their toughest challenge of the season so far, knowing a positive result could transform their campaign but fully aware that history is stacked firmly against them.

Thomas Frank takes charge of his first North London derby as Spurs manager, inheriting a team whose season has been defined by mixed fortunes.

Spurs sit fifth in the Premier League table and owe that to their extraordinary away form, averaging a competition-high 2.60 points per game, with four wins and a draw from their five matches on the road.

This remarkable record places them top of the Premier League away form table and represents a real bright spot in an otherwise inconsistent campaign. Since their opening day victory against Burnley, Spurs have lost three and drawn two at home, averaging just 0.83 points per game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season.

Tottenham shared the spoils in a thrilling 2-2 draw against Man United in their last outing, and boast impressive away stats with the joint-most goals scored (12) and the fewest conceded (three) on their travels.

The numbers suggest that when the Lilywhites play on enemy turf, they transform into a different proposition entirely. That being said, their record away to Arsenal is truly abysmal, having won just twice there in the league since the Premier League began.

The timing of this game could hardly be worse from an injury perspective either.

While star winger Mohammed Kudus should recover from a knock to face Arsenal, and Lucas Bergvall could be available after completing concussion protocols, we are still waiting for official confirmation on Randal Kolo Muani, Archie Gray, Ben Davies, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Yves Bissouma and Kota Takai’s availability.

James Maddison is a certainty to miss the clash, and likely won’t return until June next year.

Dejan Kulusevski

Knee

29/11/2025

James Maddison

ACL

01/06/2026

Radu Dragusin

Knee

22/11/2025

Ben Davies

Thigh

23/11/2025

Kota Takai

Ankle/Foot

23/11/2025

Mohammed Kudus

Knock

23/11/2025

Randal Kolo Muani

Jaw

23/11/2025

Yves Bissouma

Ankle/Foot

23/11/2025

Lucas Bergvall

Concussion

23/11/2025

Dominic Solanke

Ankle

23/11/2025

Archie Gray

Calf/Shin/Heel

23/11/2025

via Premier Injuries

Tottenham are also waiting to discover whether Pape Sarr will be fine to play after he picked up a knock on international duty with Senegal, but apart from that incident, Frank will be relieved to come through the break fairly unscathed.

Rodrigo Bentancur gets 2/10 in 'nightmare' Uruguay performance after 5-1 USA defeat

However, another player who endured a non-ideal international break was midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.

Frank has been urged to ditch the defensive midfield partnership of Bentancur and summer signing Joao Palhinha, despite their exceptional performances individually.

The former was recently awarded a brand-new contract after his promising start to 2025/2026, but a slump in form for Bentancur appears to have come at the worst time.

Bentancur endured a nightmare in Uruguay’s 5-1 defeat to the USA in Tampa, with South American news outlet El País handing him a lowly 2/10 rating for his performance, despite being given the captain’s armband by Marcelo Bielsa.

El País states that the 28-year-old was overrun in midfield and could never get a foothold against Mauricio Pochettino’s USA side, who eventually ran rampant on a real night to forget for him.

The former Juventus star was left out of Frank’s starting eleven to face United in favour of Sarr, but given the African’s knock against Brazil, Bentancur could well return to the line-up against Arsenal depending on developments.

Frank will be praying that Bentancur can put that Uruguay showing behind him and help to keep Arsenal at bay this Sunday.

Celtic are in the process of attempting to make Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy their permanent successor to Brendan Rodgers, who left the club last month.

Fabrizio Romano claims that the Hoops are in talks with the French manager over a move to Parkhead, as they look to get a deal done in the days and weeks to come.

Celtic are due to play St Mirren away from home in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday and the club have already confirmed that Martin O’Neill will take charge once again as the interim manager.

Once Nancy is in the building, should a deal get done, it will be interesting to see which players fail to make the cut if he goes with the system he has played in the MLS.

Players Wilfried Nancy might drop from Celtic's squad

Per Transfermarkt, the Frenchman’s preferred formation is a 3-4-2-1 and that would be interesting to see play out with the wide and full-back options that Celtic have.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Jahmai Simpson-Pusey played at right-back last time out, but is a centre-back by trade, and could drop into a back three alongside Auston Trusty and Liam Scales.

That would free up a right wing-back spot. Anthony Ralston, who has no assists in 11 appearances this season, does not have the offensive quality to play in that role, so Nancy could use a player like Forrest to be an attack-minded wing-back.

That could see Ralston drop out of the squad, as he is not suited to playing as a centre-back or as a wing-back in that system, but he was only on the bench against Kilmarnock, so it would not be a major change to the squad.

An even bolder move that could be made by Nancy would be to instantly ditch Sebastian Tounekti from the starting line-up for his first match in charge, whenever that ends up being.

Why Wilfried Nancy should drop Sebastian Tounekti

It may seem like a bold call to suggest that the winger should be dropped from the team, because he has provided the supporters with some excitement since his move to the club from Hammarby in the summer.

Earlier this season, pundit Michael Stewart described the Tunisia international Celtic’s “danger man” and claimed that he “unsettles defences”, thanks to his direct and aggressive play out wide.

However, Tounekti has only scored two goals and has failed to provide any assists in 13 appearances in all competitions for Celtic, per Sofascore, which shows that there has been a lack of quality in the final third to back up his exciting build-up play.

The 23-year-old forward started on the left flank against Kilmarnock for O’Neill last time out in the Premiership, and put in a rather dismal display for the Hoops.

Minutes

78

Shots

2

Goals

0

Key passes

0

Big chances created

0

Assists

0

Crosses completed

0/2

Dribbles completed

2/10

Possession lost

23x

As you can see in the table above, Tounekti lost the ball a staggering 23 times in 78 minutes on the pitch, without creating a single chance for his teammates in that time.

A wasteful performance like that could see Nancy immediately remove him from the starting line-up, on top of it potentially being a sensible decision for tactical reasons.

If the Frenchman goes with the aforementioned 3-4-2-1, Kieran Tierney or Marcelo Saracchi would offer the width as the left wing-back and Celtic would need a player to play more centrally as a left-sided ten behind the striker, which is not Tounekti’s style.

Instead, those two ten roles may be more suited to Arne Engels, as explained in the linked article below, and Daizen Maeda. This, along with his performance against Kilmarnock, is why Nancy should instantly ditch Tounekti from the starting XI if and when he has his first game in charge.

Nancy could turn "world-class" Celtic star into the new Matt O'Riley

Celtic have a “world-class” star who could explode under Wilfried Nancy at Parkhead.

ByDan Emery Nov 16, 2025

تقدم فريق جيرونا بهدف أول في مباراته أمام ريال مدريد، حيث يتواجه الفريقان ضمن مباريات بطولة الدوري الإسباني موسم 2025-2026.

ويحل ريال مدريد ضيفًا على جيرونا بملعب “مونتيليفي” في إطار مباريات الجولة الرابعة عشر للدوري الإسباني “الليجا” للموسم الجاري.

وتمكن جيرونا من التقدم بهدف أول في الدقيقة 45 قبل نهاية شوط المباراة الأول، عن طريق لاعبه عز الدين أوناحي.

اقرأ أيضًا | روديجر يلمح بذهابه إلى الدوري السعودي ويوضح: اللعب لريال مدريد حلمي الأعظم

الهدف جاء بعد لعبة جماعية متقنة للاعبي جيرونا، انتهت بتمريرة من فيكتور إلى عز الدين أوناحي، الذي سدد تسديدة صاروخية رائعة في شباك تيبو كورتوا.

وكان ريال مدريد سجل هدفًا عن طريق كيليان مبابي قبل هدف أوناحي، لكن لم يحتسب بعد العودة لتقنية الفار. هدف أوناحي في مباراة ريال مدريد وجيرونا

Arsenal have made a blistering start to this season, and the theme of their success continues to be squad depth.

On Wednesday night, it was substitutes that made all the difference, as the Gunners beat Bayern Munich 3-1 in the Champions League.

Riccardo Calafiori set up Noni Madueke to score the go-ahead goal, before Gabriel Martinelli raced around Manuel Neuer to stroke home the clincher soon after, all three doing so off the bench.

In recent seasons, most notably last year, Arsenal’s title hopes have been derailed by injuries, simply not possession-requisite deputies, in terms of quality, quantity and sometimes both, to cope with key absentees.

Well, this time round, numerous key figures have been or are currently still sidelined, and this has not hampered the Gunners one bit, so do Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta now have their eyes set on further new recruits in January?

Arsenal target a new attacker

Those who thought Mikel Merino up front had been confined to the past were very much mistaken, the Spaniard forced back into the emergency centre-forward role because, well, in recent weeks there haven’t been any other options.

Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Viktor Gyökeres remain sidelined, Martin Ødegaard, Madueke and Martinelli have all made their returns this week, but Leandro Trossard is a doubt for Sunday’s trip to Stamford Bridge after suffering a knock against Bayern, the severity of which is not yet known.

So, could Arteta request the arrival of a new attacker in January?

Well, according to reports in Spain, Arsenal are interested in signing Karim Adeyemi from Borussia Dortmund, with Manchester United also in the race to secure his signature.

They add that die Schwarzgelben value the German international at £75m, but could be under pressure to sell, considering that his contract expires in 2027, hence why there is ‘intensifying’ interest from the two Premier League giants.

So, could he become the 13th German to feature for Arsenal, following in the footsteps of Jens Lehmann, Per Mertesacker, Mesut Özil, Bernd Leno, Lukas Podolski and others?

What Karim Adeyemi​​​​​​​ would bring to Arsenal

After beginning his senior career at RB Salzburg, Adeyemi joined Dortmund in the summer of 2022 for €38m (around £33m), scoring 31 goals and registering 22 assists for the club to date.

Analyst Ben Mattinson praises his “electric pace” and labels him a “transitional monster”, which is possibly best demonstrated by this goal he scored in the Champions League against Graham Potter’s Chelsea at the Westfalenstadion​​​​​​​.

Meantime, according to the Bundesliga, he is one of the fastest players in the division’s history, reaching a top speed of 22.77 miles per hour, which would result in an £80 fine if he ran that fast up Holloway Road parallel to the Emirates.

He is very much a key player at Dortmund, as the table below documents.

Adeyemi 2025/26 stats
Stats	Adeyemi	Dortmund rank
Goals	5	2nd
Assists	3	2nd
Shots	31	2nd
Key passes	12	3rd
Shot-creating actions	39	2nd
Goal-creating actions	7	2nd
Big chances created	4	2nd
Attempted take-ons	54	1st
Successful take-ons	24	1st
Progressive carries	35	1st
Top speed	32.2 km/h	1st
Touches in box	65	1st
Average rating	7.31	2nd
Stats via FBref & SofaScore

The table underlines Adeyemi’s importance to Dortmund.

Only Serhou Guirassy has scored more goals, with wing-back Julian Ryerson the only player boasting better creative numbers, but Adeyemi is currently combining the two.

The attacker also leads the way at die Schwarzgelben for all the dribbling statistics as well as top speed, registering the most touches of any Dortmund player in the opposition penalty area.

This emphasises how he is currently able to combine all the things that make both Madueke and Bukayo Saka elite – the two players noted as among the five most stylistically and statistically similar players to Adeyemi among those in their position across Europe’s top five leagues, as per FBref.

Madueke is a direct dribbler who is a major goal-threat, underlined by the fact that he ranked third in the Premier League last season for progressive carries and fifth when it came to touches in the attacking penalty box.

Saka meantime is the creator in chief, registering more shot-creating actions and big chances created than any other Arsenal player so far this season, despite a spell on the sidelines due to injury.

Well, right now, Adeyemi is able to combine all of these qualities into one, seemingly fulfilling his full potential at the age of 23, suggesting he would be an excellent addition to Arteta’s team and could be the man to fire them to that elusive first Premier League title since 2002.

Shades of Declan Rice: Arsenal expected to move for £80m "superstar"

Arsenal are ready to add the final flourishes on their high-flying squad.

By
Angus Sinclair

Nov 29, 2025

Already an England great, Joe Root is still hungry for more – and Sachin Tendulkar’s record may not be safe

Matt Roller25-Jul-20254:14

Manjrekar: ‘Serious chance’ for Root to break Tendulkar’s record

“Just the one more to go now,” Ricky Ponting declared, as Joe Root jogged a single to overtake him as Test cricket’s second-highest run-scorer. Root has never paid much attention to personal milestones but after this innings, only Sachin Tendulkar is ahead of his 13,409 Test runs; Tendulkar is still a long way off, but nobody has ever come closer.This was a rare day, as Manchester basked in the greatness of a Yorkshireman. The 6000 fans in Old Trafford’s Party Stand rose to their feet when Root glided Anshul Kamboj to deep point to reach 120 and surpass Ponting, then serenaded him by singing his name to the tune of “Hey Jude”. Root grinned sheepishly, then waved his hand as though knocking their applause back.Root was met by another standing ovation when he was finally dismissed for 150, which he turned to acknowledge as he walked off. But first, with his left hand, he briefly imagined a shot that he could have played instead, shaping to work the ball into the leg side. It was a moment that epitomised the hunger and attitude that will keep him going for some time yet.Related

• Bazball has lit a fire under Joe Root. Will he overtake Tendulkar in about 27 Tests?

• Root revels in 'pinch-yourself moment' after moving to No. 2

• Stats – Root second only to Tendulkar for most Test runs

• Record-breaking Root arms England with control of Manchester Test

• Root surpasses Ponting to become the second-highest run-getter in Tests

Ponting’s arrival in the Sky Sports commentary box was perfectly timed: he witnessed what he described as “a magnificent moment in history” on only his third day of work in the series. He will not lose sleep over slipping down to third: when the golf brand Callaway sent him a putter inscribed with 13,378 at the end of his career, he was oblivious that it was his final run tally.It is a trait that Root shares: he has long insisted that he is motivated only by team success and has constantly played down his individual achievements. “I’ve never really been one to have goals because I just feel like if you miss them, then you’ve failed – and this game is full of failure anyway,” he explained in Multan last year, when he became England’s leading Test run-scorer.Alastair Cook, the man he overtook, obsessed over becoming the first Englishman to reach 10,000 runs but struggled to find another motivation thereafter and called time on his Test career two years later. At 34, Root is already a year older than Cook was then, but has expressed his ambitions to play in the 2027 World Cup – and may not stop there.His success has relied upon a hunger to keep improving: in his 40 Tests since stepping down as captain, Root has averaged 57.70, with 13 hundreds. “It’s just about wanting to keep the enjoyment element of it, to keep finding ways of improving and getting better, to make sure you don’t stand still and get stuck in playing one way,” he has said.Joe Root walks off after scoring 150•Getty ImagesWhere some batters – Cook and Ponting among them – struggle when they relinquish the captaincy, Root has attained new heights since he returned to the ranks. He scored heavily in his final years in the role, often shouldering the burden of run-scoring almost single-handedly in a poor side, but has been even better under Ben Stokes’ leadership.His innings in Manchester underlined why. It has often seemed as though Root has spent his entire Test career walking in with England 30 for 2, but their top three – if still imperfect – are far more dependable than they once were. This time, he came out at 197 for 2 and picked off runs against an underwhelming Indian attack, and ticked off landmarks like items on a shopping list.Even if Tendulkar’s record is unlikely to be a major source of motivation for him, Root still has a genuine chance to break it: he is 2,512 runs behind but, for context, has scored 2,556 in his last 50 innings dating back to February 2023. Since England play an average of 12-14 Tests per year, Root could feasibly overtake him by the end of 2027.”I wouldn’t be surprised if he can chase him down,” Ollie Pope said after the third day. “He loves playing for England in Test cricket more than anything… I think he just wants to keep playing as long as he can. The excitement he still has to play Test cricket [is huge]. Whenever we rock up at the start of a series, he’s always got the biggest smile on his face.”The most remarkable, yet least remarked upon, aspect of Root’s sustained brilliance is his fitness. England have played 159 Tests since Root’s debut at Nagpur in 2012 and he has only missed two, once when dropped, the other on paternity leave; despite his occasional back issues, he has never missed a match through injury across a 13-year Test career.Root avoided media duties on Friday evening citing cramp but in truth, his batting has already said more than enough. He has already secured his status as one of England’s all-time greats, and that position will become undisputed if he scores his first hundred in Australia this winter. If he can achieve that, then it would be brave to bet against him catching Tendulkar.

As Curtis Jones admitted on Wednesday, Liverpool are "in the sh*t" right now. The humiliating 4-1 Champions League defeat at home to PSV means the ragged Reds have now lost nine of their last 12 games in all competitions and the common consensus is that Arne Slot is only still in a job because he won the Premier League last season. But how have Liverpool gone from champs to chumps in just six months?

The impact of Diogo Jota's death on the friends he left behind certainly can't be overstated, with left-back Andy Robertson publicly disclosing his ongoing torment in the midst of the joyous celebrations that greeted Scotland's qualification for the World Cup last week. It's clear, though, that there are other factors at play – not least Slot's ongoing inability to come up with any tactical solutions to Liverpool's plethora of problems in every area of the pitch.

However, it certainly isn't all the manager's fault. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher is among those presently pointing the finger at the players for a perceived lack of leadership and captain Virgil van Dijk has admitted that they are letting themselves down at the moment.

Below, GOAL ranks the Reds' biggest under-performers during their rotten run of results…

• Getty Images Sport
  

  10Virgil van Dijk

  For the first few months of the season, Van Dijk was the only thing holding Liverpool's brittle backline together. Indeed, after the fortuitous 3-2 win over 10-man Newcastle all the way back in August, Carragher admitted that he didn't even want to imagine where the Reds would be without their inspirational skipper.

  Unfortunately, we now have a little bit of an idea, because while Van Dijk is still there, at the heart of the defence, he's looking like a cheap imitation of the colossus that led Liverpool to the title last season. Indeed, judging by his ludicrous handball against PSV (the third penalty he's given away this season – more than any other Premier League player in all competitions), Van Dijk has become another victim of the general malaise on Merseyside.

  Nobody can fault Van Dijk's commitment – he's been visibly hurt by the Reds' rapid fall from grace – but he actually seems to be trying too hard to turn things around, which is why we're now seeing the captain making uncharacteristically rash challenges. If Van Dijk doesn't rediscover his composure, Liverpool really are done for.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  9Florian Wirtz

  Florian Wirtz has been nowhere near as poor as many critics have tried so desperately to make out. Indeed, the Germany international was integral to arguably Liverpool's best three performances of the season so far, against Atletico Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Madrid. Wirtz's creativity was also seriously missed in the three-goal losses at home to PSV and Nottingham Forest.

  However, there is no denying that Liverpool supporters expected a hell of a lot more from the £100 million signing from Bayer Leverkusen than three goal involvements in 16 appearances in all competitions. Even allowing for the fact that it often takes time for overseas players to get to grips with the physicality and intensity of English football, Wirtz has often looked out of his depth.

  When he returns from injury, the attacking midfielder will be under immense pressure to prove that he can cut it in the Premier League – although it might help if he were given a regular run of starts in his preferred position behind the centre-forward.

• AFP
  

  8Jeremie Frimpong

  Liverpool were never going to be able to find a like-for-like replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold. The former Kop idol has a unique set of skills for a right-back. Consequently, the Reds recruited Jeremie Frimpong, a diminutive Dutchman with different but no less dangerous attacking attributes.

  The problem is that we've seen very little of them, for two reasons. Firstly, Frimpong has proved worryingly injury-prone and is once again out of action after damaging his hamstring for the second time this season, in the Champions League win in Frankfurt. Secondly, even when he has been available for action, Frimpong has not looked a good fit for the right-back berth at all. He has instead looked like what he was at Bayer Leverkusen: an offensively-minded wing-back.

  So, whenever Frimpong returns to action, Slot really needs to show us what he intended to do with his compatriot, who has contributed one flukey goal and zero assists in nine appearances to date.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  7Alexis Mac Allister

  One could easily make the argument that Alexis Mac Allister was Liverpool's most consistent performer during his first two seasons at the club following his 2023 arrival from Brighton. The World Cup winner never produced anything less than a seven-out-of-10 showing. He was Liverpool's multi-purpose midfield dynamo; no matter where he was placed, he drove the team forward with his mix of tenacity and technique.

  Mac Allister, though, is currently paying a heavy price for his slower than expected recovery from the injury issues that brought a premature end to his 2024-25 and ruined his pre-season preparations. We've seen flashes of the old Mac Allister and, as a result, the old Liverpool – most notably in goal-scoring displays against Aston Villa and Real Madrid – but he's regressed again over the past week. 

  It was genuinely startling to see how easily Nico Williams went through Mac Allister to set up Forest's second goal at Anfield last Saturday before he almost completely disappeared after Liverpool went 2-1 down against PSV in midweek. Mac Allister is far too good a player to struggle all season along, but one cannot help where the Reds will be by the time he gets back up to full match speed.

Two bands at the venue accompanied the batters’ feats as the 1700 spectators rose as one

Firdose Moonda29-Nov-20243:30

Takeaways: Stubbs, Bavuma complemented each other very well

In an innings with two centuries, it’s unusual for the first bit of praise to be written about a batter who made 15. But bear with us.Wiaan Mulder, ruled out of the rest of the series against Sri Lanka with a broken right middle finger, wanted to have a final say on the first Test on the second afternoon of the game. He asked to bat at No. 3 in the second innings in the hope he could ease things for Tristan Stubbs and Temba Bavuma. And the scorecard will tell you how well he did that.”I was at the hospital, and then I thought [batting at No.3] was the only way I could impact the game,” he said on Friday, the third morning. “I knew I had no power in my bottom hand. I only really had top-hand shots. At No. 3, which is the hardest time to bat at Kingsmead with the ball moving, I can pretty much play with a straight bat. I don’t really need that much bottom hand.Related

• Bavuma overcomes nerves to bring up his third Test hundred

• SA quicks leave SL on the brink after Stubbs, Bavuma centuries

• Injured Mulder ruled out of remainder of Sri Lanka Tests

“And if I can face 30 to 70 or 80 balls, that just gives the other guys a better chance to come in with a little bit of an older ball, to be a bit freer, and get the lead as big as we can.”In the end, Mulder faced 31 balls, which was on the lower end of what he was hoping for, but he took some of the shine off the ball. By the time Stubbs came to the crease, it was the 22nd over. Bavuma came in in the 25th, and South Africa, with more than 200 runs in the lead, were already far ahead of the game. With no overnight rain, neither Stubbs nor Bavuma could have asked for better conditions to cash in on day three.Their half-centuries came up in the first session, and they continued more or less in exactly the ways we have come to know them for. Stubbs played in a slightly more attacking fashion to Bavuma’s, used his feet well to take on the spinners, and found boundaries down the ground. But he took the most pleasure out of his defensive strokes and dots, of which they were 148.”There’s a lot more satisfaction in that than any T20 shot: batting long there, and making the fielders toil,” he said later.Together, Stubbs and Bavuma built South Africa’s biggest fourth-wicket partnership against Sri Lanka by “feeding off each other quite well”, Stubbs said.”When I get to the middle, I’m quite energetic, and he actually calms me down and I keep getting him up,” he said of Bavuma. “When you bat with someone in a big partnership, it’s always nice. You get into the rhythm.”Tristan Stubbs brought up his second Test century•Gallo Images/Getty ImagesAnd by the middle of the second session, on the last Friday afternoon in November with summer holidays on the horizon and a festive atmosphere in the air, they both approached major milestones with a vibe to match.The band from Northwood School, the alma mater of Keshav Maharaj and Shaun Pollock, arrived just after 1pm, with Stubbs into the 90s. By the time they had settled in and were ready to start, he was on 96 and facing. A slightly slower version of than Eddy Grant’s version started. Stubbs was not even a thought in his parents’ minds when the song was released in 1988. He would have heard it many times since at his home ground at St George’s Park in Gqeberha.As the first bars sounded, Stubbs defended. The band got louder. Stubbs worked Asitha Fernando off the back foot for two. Slow claps added some bass, and they continued as Stubbs left a wide one. He thought about running when he worked the next one to the leg side but opted not to challenge mid-on’s arm.And then, as the song reached its second chorus, Stubbs carved Asitha through square leg and called for two. hit the high notes as Stubbs completed the second, and leapt up in his signature way. Bavuma let him own the moment and waited on the other end until the time was right to join in.”Hope before the morning comes” are the last words of the song, which dared to dream of democratic South Africa, the only one Stubbs has ever known. It’s also what he has given a South African batting line-up that struggled to score hundreds before last month with two in two Tests. Add to that his first ODI century, against Ireland last month, and Stubbs is in a rich vein of form. He maintains that he has “no idea” how it came about.

“He said to me, ‘Listen, please get me one here, I need to get on strike.’ That was the most nervous I felt in the day”Stubbs reveals the chat with Bavuma when the latter was near his hundred

That kind of century-making frequency is what Bavuma has craved for in his entire international career. In 60 Tests, he has had seven scores above 50, five in the 60s, five in the 70s, two in the 80s, and two in the 90s, including one at Kingsmead two and a half years ago. The majority of those have come with South Africa in trouble, and one of the most common phrases you would have heard about them is that they were as valuable as hundreds. But they still weren’t hundreds, which is a number that hits different.When Stubbs got there, Bavuma was still 11 runs away. He entered the 90s with a boundary, but it was a streaky one: a thick edge that flew between slip and gully. Then Bavuma added one more with a quick single to get off strike. The next over was laced with danger. Asitha beat Bavuma with a delivery that nipped away, hit him on the hand, and beat him again. What might have been going through his head? Something like, “Will I ever get there?”Bavuma got to 95 and 96 with singles off successive balls to find himself one shot away. Later in the over, he was bounced as he tried to play that shot – a pull – and missed. Two more singles came, bookended by an over change, and on 98, the band started again. It was not . That felt a little too personal given Bavuma’s home in Johannesburg and the many times people from there – and from all over the country – have hoped for more from him. Bavuma had a word with Stubbs.”He said to me, ‘Listen, please get me one here, I need to get on strike,'” Stubbs said. “That was the most nervous I felt in the day because I was like, ‘S***, I have to get one here.'”When Temba Bavuma reached his hundred, he let out what can only be described as pure joy•AFP/Getty ImagesAn upbeat cover of a local band called Mi Casa accompanied Bavuma’s paddle to fine leg. As he and Stubbs ran three, Sri Lanka appealed for a potential lbw, and the crowd noise dissolved into a mass of confusion. Another batter, especially one who knew he had gloved it, might have started the celebration mid-run, but Bavuma got to the non-striker’s end and turned his eyes to the big screen. Heart in the mouth. Hand on the bat handle. Maybe tears in the eyes.After waiting 87 innings and 48 Tests between his first and second Test hundred, and 18 injury-riddled months between the second and the third, it probably didn’t matter that Bavuma had to wait an extra few minutes to celebrate. And when UltraEdge confirmed the runs were his, he let out what can only be described as pure joy. Not relief. Not a pressure release. Joy, as his one-year-old son might know it.Bavuma pointed his bat at the change room as the band restarted, and the 1700 people at Kingsmead rose to enjoy the moment with him. He heard them chanting his nickname, Malume, the Xhosa word for uncle. He hopes it’s a moniker earned through wisdom, but if he can keep going there, there may soon be another reason.South Africa are looking for what Stubbs called “big-daddy hundreds”, which are obviously more than a hundred – or even a daddy hundred – and which, in South Africa, are basically the same as a hundred.”Hundreds don’t win you first-class games. We call it big-daddy hundreds when you win games,” Stubbs said. “A hundred in South Africa might be a really big score somewhere else.”

Don MacKinnon, who heads the NZ20 Establishment Committee, believes the game needs to look beyond the Super Smash

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Nov-2025

The Super Smash is the currently domestic T20 competition in New Zealand•Getty Images

New Zealand is finally set to enter the world of privately owned T20 leagues, with plans afoot to start NZ20, a tournament comprising six privately owned franchises in January 2027. The league’s operating model would be similar to that of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with the tournament receiving the license from New Zealand Cricket (NZC), but managed independently.Plans don’t currently have NZC approval, but if they do secure that, NZ20 will replace the Super Smash, the current six-team competition. That tournament is now two decades old and is played by the local cricket associations in New Zealand: Auckland, Northern Districts, Wellington, Central Districts, Canterbury and Otago. It is managed by NZC, whereas NZ20 will have teams with private owners.According to Don MacKinnon, who heads the NZ20 Establishment Committee, the concept for the league originated from former New Zeeland greats including Stephen Fleming who then engaged with the New Zealand Players Association (NZPA} to gauge whether the time had come for a franchise-based league. MacKinnon, a professional lawyer who heads the country’s Sports Integrity Commission, and has served as a director on the NZC Board, was approached about three months ago to see if the concept was feasible.In a conversation with ESPNcricinfo, MacKinnon said NZ20 was an “extremely viable” project and it was the “ideal” time to launch.”The concept is a pretty simple one really. It’s to see if New Zealand cricket could provide us with a clean window, which in our mind is absolutely essential for a very short privately owned competition, ideally in the peak of summer in New Zealand,” MacKinnon said. “So ideally for a men’s competition in the month of January at potentially a lot of our holiday venues, some of our beautiful grassbanks ground and a short fan-centric, fun type competition, but one played by the very best players in New Zealand and hopefully some internationals.”‘Super Smash not working’The absence of a New Zealand T20 league until now has been notable, especially as its players and coaches have been popular in leagues across the globe. But MacKinnon said collective belief among former players was that the time was ripe for New Zealand to create its own domestic brand.Back in 2014 the NZC Board had turned down the idea of such a league because it did not believe it could create a successful product and would “struggle” to compete with the likes of the IPL and BBL. MacKinnon agreed with that decision but pointed out the time now was right to “develop our own unique competition.” He said that NZ20 would not be aping the IPL or BBL.”We are looking at something very boutique, very New Zealand centric, a unique experience for players who come here, as I said, small grounds, a great lifestyle, something that we think players would love to be involved in.”Finn Allen is among the New Zealand players who play overseas in the January league period•Sarah Reed – CA / Getty Images

MacKinnon said the Super Smash was “not really working with the fans” and has become more of a “development” competition for players. NZ20, MacKinnon believes, has the potential to “reenergise domestic cricket” in New Zealand. “What’s different about it? Well, it’s partly driven out of private investment and so you get the ability to be very innovative. You have the ability to have greater capital, to invest in better fan experience both at the ground but also whether you are watching on television or online. We also think that if we get this right, we will attract the very best New Zealand players back into our domestic competitions.”MacKinnon did not disclose whether IPL franchise owners were looking to invest, but said there was strong interest both from India as well as other investors globally. “We’ve also looked really closely at some of the models around the world and particularly the CPL where the league owners and the team seem to have done a great job in moving that competition not only into a point of profitability but also has really engaged fan interest. So that’s one of the models we’re looking at very closely. But by no means the only one.”NZ players ‘would desperately love’ to play NZ20The current plan involves starting the men’s tournament in January 2027 followed by the launch of the women’s league in December 2027. The biggest challenge remains finding a clear window with the BBL, SA20 and ILT20 running simultaneously in January. Those tournaments generally involve the participation of several New Zealand international.MacKinnon acknowledged that hurdle, but believed current New Zealand players were keen to participate. “We appreciate we won’t be able to attract everybody that we’d like to have, but the feedback from current New Zealand players is they would desperately love for this tournament to go ahead and would do everything to participate in it.There would be plans to launch a women’s edition later in 2027•Getty Images

“So that’s the first goal. We are designing this competition very much along the lines that we want the Lockie Fergusons and the Finn Allens of this world and the Kane Williamsons playing in it. So that’s the most important goal because at the moment a lot of those players aren’t playing in our Super Smash.”MacKinnon is confident NZ20 can attract “marquee players” if they get the right owners. MacKinnon also highlighted one of its USPs would be to allow players to own a stake in the league. “We also are looking at a model where the players may well have an ownership share of the league,” he said. “And we are doing that because we want an extremely high level of access to player intellectual property. We want to be able to open our players up to the wealth. And to do that, that intellectual property needs to be very readily available.”NZC approval</h2.NZC approval will have to come swiftly if NZ20 is to take off by January 2027. MacKinnon emphasised that his committee wanted to work with NZC. In fact, the NZ20 committee comprises two members from NZC's board along with representatives from NZPA and members associations.MacKinnon said that NZC had told the NZ20 Committee they were looking at various options. "We have been in constant discussions with the New Zealand Cricket Board over the last two to three months. They have been excellent to deal with. They have been very clear to us that while they're excited by this project, they have other options they're looking at including quite clearly whether they wish to consider trying to get a team into the Big Bash."MacKinnon said he would obviously like NZC to pick NZ20 as the "preferred option" but admitted ideally he would want the final decision to be made as soon as possible. "At the same time we are proceeding on the basis that we believe we will get a license and we are continuing to talk to investors and making progress in that regard. We would love to be in a position by the end of January [2026] to have some real certainty about whether we can make the competition start in January 2027 and that's our timeframe."

Sri Lanka were unable to chase down a target of 242

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2025Bangladesh edged out Sri Lanka by the narrowest of margins – one run – in the Women’s World Cup warm-up match in Colombo on Saturday.Sri Lanka stumbled early in a chase of 243, slipping from 56 for 1 to 86 for 4, but Kavisha Dilhari and Nilakshika Silva steadied the innings, both scoring half-centuries. Dilhari’s 63 came to an unfortunate end when her bat slipped off her hand and hit the stumps after a shot over midwicket. Nilakshika continued the fight, making 75 off 78 before falling in the penultimate over.At 218 for 5 with 46 overs gone, Sri Lanka seemed in control, needing 25 from 24 balls. However, a collapse followed, left-arm spinner Nahida Akter triggering the slide, dismissing Piumi Wathsala and Anushka Sanjeewani in the 47th over before removing Nilakshika in the 49th. In the final over, Marufa Akter defended nine runs as Sri Lanka lost three wickets, including a run out, and fell short.Earlier, Sri Lanka made an early breakthrough with Udeshika Prabodhani dismissing Fargana Haque in the second over. Rubya Haider and Sharmin Akhter rebuilt with a 90-run stand, but Dilhari struck twice to remove both. Dewmi Vihanga, Malki Madara, and Dilhari all took two wickets as Sri Lanka restricted Bangladesh to 242 for 8, with Sharmin’s 71 being the highlight.