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R Smaran, meanwhile, turned a maiden first-class ton into a double as Karnataka ground Punjab into the dust

Shashank Kishore24-Jan-2025

Thakur Lords over J&K after Rohit misses out again

Rohit Sharma briefly caused bursts of excitement among early-morning office-goers in Mumbai’s financial district with a typically attractive start. He hit three sixes and two fours as Mumbai began their second innings against Jammu & Kashmir with a half-century stand between Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The pair wiped out more than half their 86-run first-innings deficit, before Rohit fell for 28, mistiming a heave to midwicket. The two shots that stood out were a hooked six off Umar Nazir and a flat-bat hit down the ground for six off Auqib Nabi, who eventually dismissed him.Related

• Another day, another audacious rescue act by Shardul Thakur

• Day 1: Siddharth Desai misses perfect ten

• Thakur on his rescue act: 'I like batting in difficult situations'

Rohit’s dismissal opened the floodgates as Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube fell in quick succession. Then, from what was effectively 15 for 7, Mumbai roared back thanks to an outstanding hundred from Shardul Thakur; his unbroken eight-wicket stand of 163 with Tanush Kotian leaves Mumbai with a lead of 188 going into day three.A win for either side will take them a step closer to the playoffs. A loss won’t mean the end of the road either. But J&K have a tougher next opponent in Baroda, who are the current table-toppers, as compared to Mumbai, who play minnows Meghalaya.Ravindra Jadeja picked up 7 for 38 in the second innings to go with 5 for 66 in the first•PTI

Jadeja takes 12; Pant endures unhappy Ranji return

Few teams in domestic cricket have used home advantage as well as Saurashtra. They had spoken of the need to get two outright wins in the back-end of the group stage, and had decided that ‘spin to win’ was the way to go at home. Ravindra Jadeja duly unleashed himself on a brittle Delhi batting line-up, and picked up five-wicket hauls in each innings to secure a bonus-point win that vaulted Saurashtra from the bottom half of Group D into third position.Jadeja bettered his first-innings figures of 5 for 66 with 7 for 38 in the second innings after they had taken a first-innings lead of 83. Jadeja’s haul included the wicket of Rishabh Pant, who made 17 to go with 1 off 10 in the first innings. Pant, who began by reverse-sweeping Jadeja for his first boundary, was the second-highest run-scorer for Delhi in their capitulation; they were bowled out for just 94 before Saurashtra knocked off their 12-run target inside three overs to complete a two-day victory.

Smaran’s time in the sun

Last week, R Smaran, 21, hit a match-winning century in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Vidarbha. This week, he converted his maiden first-class century into a double to open up a 420-run first-innings lead for Karnataka against Punjab at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.In the first half of the season, Smaran had scored 145 runs in seven innings without a half-century. But the selectors kept faith in him and other youngsters, and phased out a key senior player in Manish Pandey ahead of the white-ball leg of the season. Smaran took Pandey’s position at No. 4, and played an innings that hinted at a bright future.Smaran’s initiation into the Karnataka set-up comes on the back of plenty of runs at the Under-23 level. In 2023-24, he hit 872 runs in the CK Nayudu Trophy, including a match-winning hundred in the final against Uttar Pradesh. He also enjoyed a stellar run at the Maharaja Trophy, the state’s local T20 competition.

What to look forward to on Saturday

• He was preparing for a Test debut at this time last year, but Rajat Patidar now finds himself lower down in the pecking order after missing out even on the India A tour of Australia. But a strong back end of the first-class season, and a good IPL, could propel him back. For starters, he will look to covert his unbeaten half-century into a big innings as Madhya Pradesh look to build a sizeable lead after conceding first-innings honours to Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram.
• In Bengaluru, Shubman Gill will face a stern test against a young Karnataka pace attack after Punjab have been run ragged for nearly two days. Having begun their second innings facing a 420-run deficit, they are 24 for 2. Gill, who was out to an inside-edge to the keeper while attempting a drive off left-arm seamer Abhilash Shetty in the first innings, is batting on 7.

Pakistan will kick off the tournament against New Zealand in Karachi on February 19

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2024India will play their Champions Trophy 2025 matches in the UAE. The decision, though widely expected, was finalised after Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chairman, met with Sheikh Nahyan Al Mubarak in Pakistan. Sheikh Nahyan is a senior UAE minister and also the head of the Emirates Cricket Board.”The PCB has picked the UAE as a neutral venue for the Champions Trophy,” PCB spokesperson Amir Mir said.The Pakistan vs India league match will be played on February 23, a Sunday. Apart from Pakistan, the other two teams in India’s group are Bangladesh and New Zealand. India will face Bangladesh on February 20, and New Zealand on March 2. All these games are likely to be held in Dubai.

Champions Trophy 2025 groups

Group A – Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and New Zealand
Group B – Afghanistan, Australia, England and South Africa

Pakistan, the defending champions, will kick off the tournament on February 19, against New Zealand in Karachi. Pakistan’s last league match, against Bangladesh, will be played in Rawalpindi on February 27.The second group has Afghanistan, Australia, England and South Africa. The matches for both groups – apart from the India games – will be played across Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.The two semi-finals are scheduled for March 4 (without a reserve day) and March 5 (with a reserve day). The final on March 9 also has a reserve day. The first semi-final, if India make it to that stage, will be played in the UAE. If India don’t qualify, the game will be held in Pakistan. The final is slotted for Lahore, with the provision of holding it in the UAE if India make it that far.The hybrid model was finalised after the parties involved agreed that, in return, Pakistan’s matches at ICC events hosted by India till 2027 will also be at a neutral venue. In all instances, knockout games such as the semi-final and the final will also be held at neutral venues.The agreement begins with the Champions Trophy, and will apply to the 2025 women’s ODI World Cup in India, and the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. It will also apply to the 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup, the first tournament of the next events cycle that has now been awarded to Pakistan.

Australian batter targets return in Sheffield Shield next month ahead of English season

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2025Cameron Bancroft expects to have fully recovered from his shoulder injury to captain Gloucestershire at the start of the 2025 County Championship season, and is targeting a return for Western Australia next month.Bancroft was involved in a sickening commission with Daniel Sams while fielding for Sydney Thunder in the BBL in January, and has revealed that he has suffered from a level of “trauma” since the injury. He has not played since after breaking his nose and shoulder, but is hoping to be back involved in the Sheffield Shield in March before heading over to England.Gloucestershire announced on Wednesday that he will captain their Championship side this year, stepping into the role after Graeme van Buuren stepped down at the end of last season. Bancroft told the club’s channels that he is recovering “pretty well” and “getting close” to full fitness.Related

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“The shoulder’s tracking alright. Obviously [there was] a little bit of trauma there to deal with and manage,” Bancroft said. “I’m definitely learning some things that I’ve seen a lot of other players experience. It takes time for the body to heal… I’m getting really close and looking forward to playing some cricket at the start of March.”Bancroft impressed across formats for Gloucestershire in 2024, scoring three Championship hundreds and finishing as their leading run-scorer as they won the T20 Blast. He is due back for the full season in 2025, and head coach Mark Alleyne said that his attitude last year made him the ideal choice as captain.”Cameron had an impressive year with us in 2024 and led by example in everything he did,” Alleyne said. “I love his dedication to preparation and his subsequent transference of that in the middle. His experience of playing Test match cricket and winning four-day titles gives him a broad base of experience which our players can feed off.”Gloucestershire finished second-bottom of Division Two last year, but Bancroft believes they can push for promotion. “We had great lessons last year,” he said. “We’ll draw on those lessons, keep working on our strengths and the things we’re really good at. If we can do that, we’re going to be a team that’s going to be really hard to beat and be really competitive.”

England aim for 2-0, while India look for a turnaround with only one Test win in their last nine outings

Karthik Krishnaswamy01-Jul-20251:48

Prasidh Krishna or Mohammed Siraj for Edgbaston?

Big picture: What selection decision do India take?

India have won just one of their last nine Tests. You have to go back a decade to find a nine-Test sequence this barren. From Southampton 2014 to Galle 2015, India didn’t win any of their nine Tests.That period was one of transition. So is this one. Both have featured matches where India failed to capitalise on promising or even dominant positions. The 2014-15 sequence culminated in India losing a seemingly unlosable contest in Galle. The ninth Test of the current sequence was last week’s loss of a seemingly unlosable Test at Headingley.So many similarities.But we’re looking back at 2014-15 from a decade’s distance, and we know what happened next. We know that India bounced back from 1-0 down, beat Sri Lanka 2-1, and began their most successful decade in Test cricket.We’re looking at 2024-25 while we’re living through it. We don’t know the next chapter of this story.Whatever that chapter is, it will begin at Edgbaston. India have never won here, in eight previous attempts, the most recent of which was three years ago when they seemed on the cusp of a 3-1 series win only for fourth-innings centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow to drive England to a thrilling victory.Related

• India to make the Bumrah call 'at the very last minute'

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• India's bogey venues: Can they break the duck at Edgbaston?

• Gill wants top order to take 'more responsibility' after Leeds loss

That Test was England’s fourth win in their first four Tests under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. There have been bumps in the ride since then, but Bazball has built, along the way, a compelling body of evidence that this way of playing Test cricket puts oppositions under immense pressure, particularly when conditions suit the strengths of England’s players.It’s instructive that England’s most telling defeats in this era have come when their opponents have had control of the conditions, sometimes to the extent – as in Pakistan last year – of tweaking them to an extreme, out-of-character degree.India cannot control the pitch or the weather at Edgbaston, and they cannot control the way the Dukes ball is made. They can, however, control their selection – at least to a large degree. Whether they include Jasprit Bumrah – who is expected to play only two of the four remaining Tests – and whether they are bold enough to forsake batting depth and pick Kuldeep Yadav, the other world-class wicket-taker in their squad, remain to be seen.Kuldeep’s introduction, at the cost of an allrounder, played a significant role in India turning things around after they went 1-0 down to Bazball at home. They put other considerations aside, and forced England to try their approach against India’s best bowling combination.The same sort of thinking underpinned much of India’s success after that barren nine-Test run of 2014-15. After a similar run of results, what sort of thinking will the India of 2025 adopt?

Form guide

England WWLWW (last five Tests, most recent first)
India LLLDL1:23

Harmison backs Woakes despite lukewarm first Test

In the spotlight: Stokes and Sai Sudharsan

Ben Stokes the bowler is back. Fitness concerns restricted him to a batting-only role during the tour of India last year, and that hampered England’s balance severely on their way to a 4-1 defeat. He’s bowled regularly since then, though, and has sent down at least 35 overs in two of his last three Tests – in Hamilton against New Zealand and at Headingley last week. Headingley was also his first five-wicket match haul since 2022. With the bat, though, Stokes showed signs of an issue that had dogged him right through last year’s India tour: a seeming lack of trust in his defence against spin. His reverse-sweep-everything approach brought him a fluky 33 in the fourth innings, but it will also have given India an idea of what and how to bowl to him.At Headingley, B Sai Sudharsan became the first India batter to make a men’s Test debut with a sub-40 first-class average since another Tamil Nadu left-hander, WV Raman, in January 1988. He showed why the selectors had picked him despite that – and trusted him to bat at No. 3 – meeting the ball right under his eyes while scoring 30 in the second innings, but his dismissals in both innings to half-volleys on or outside leg stump showed he may still have work to do to hold his own against the planning and ruthlessness of Test-match attacks.

Team news

With Jofra Archer’s long-awaited return to Test cricket deferred by at least one match, England have named an unchanged XI for Edgbaston.England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 Shoaib Bashir.Shubman Gill was non-committal on India’s selection in his pre-match press conference. Bumrah is “definitely available”, but it’s unclear if he’ll play, and India will take a final call on their combination after having “a final look” at the conditions at Edgbaston. Gill felt India may have missed a second spinner in the second innings at Headingley, and indicated that they could pick one here, but did not say if it would be the wicket-taking wristspinner Kuldeep or the offspin-bowling allrounder Washington Sundar.India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Karun Nair, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar/Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Jasprit Bumrah/Arshdeep Singh/Akash Deep, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Prasidh Krishna.

Pitch and conditions

The series began at Headingley, where the team batting second won for the seventh Test match in a row. It now shifts to another bowl-first ground; the team batting second has won each of the last four Tests at Edgbaston – this includes England’s win over India in 2022, when they pulled off their highest-ever successful chase.The warm summer that the UK has enjoyed could potentially even things out a little for the team batting first – as it can be argued it did even at Headingley where India were on top at many points – with the dry look of the pitch prompting India to suggest they will most likely play two spinners.For all that, though, this has not been a happy hunting ground for spinners in recent years. Of the seven English venues to have hosted Test cricket in this decade, Edgbaston has been the third-worst ground for spinners as well as fast bowlers, but while the quicks have averaged 30.00 here, spinners have taken their wickets at 44.45.Will we have a full five days of Test cricket? Maybe, maybe not. The forecast for Birmingham has rain in it, particularly on days four and five.

Stats and trivia

• Six of England’s 17 successful chases of 250-plus targets in their Test history have come in the Bazball era.
• Joe Root is 73 runs away from becoming the first batter to score 3000 against India in Test cricket.
• Since the start of the 2024-25 Australia tour, Jasprit Bumrah has picked up 29 Test wickets at an average of 16.75. Their other bowlers have taken a combined 46 wickets at 47.22.
• Kuldeep Yadav has the best strike rate (37.3) of all spinners in Test history to have taken at least 50 wickets.

Quotes

“[India] always fight hard, come hard. Very passionate team. I think it’s pretty clear that there’s always pressure on the shoulders of international sportsmen. But playing for India, especially in cricket, there’s probably a bit more of it than any other nation. So, yeah, look, very proud nation. Don’t take anything for granted from last week. As I said, we start at 0-0 again. We tried to put in a performance there. Hopefully, we can put one in here that take us to 2-0 this week.”
“In these conditions, the ball isn’t swinging much after 30-40 overs. The wickets are also good for batting. If fast bowlers are not able to create too many chances, we feel a second spinner, on these kind of wickets, even if he doesn’t create chances, he will at least help you contain runs until the second new ball is available. After the last match, I feel that if the wicket is going to be similar, a second spinner won’t be a bad option.”

He suffered the injury while attempting a catch on July 26 against Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2025Rovman Powell, the West Indies batter, was officially ruled out of the T20I series against Pakistan following the wrist injury he suffered during the preceding series against Australia. West Indies will not name a replacement.Powell, 32, sustained the injury while attempting a catch in the fourth T20I against Australia on July 26 in St Kitts. He did not feature in the fifth T20I against Australia following the injury, and neither was he part of the first T20I against Pakistan in Florida’s Lauderhill on July 31 that West Indies lost by 14 runs.West Indies and Pakistan face off again on August 2 and 4 in Lauderhill in the three-match T20I series. The two teams then fly to Tarouba in Trinidad & Tobago for a three-ODI series starting August 8. Powell is unlikely to feature in the West Indies ODI squad as he last played in the format in 2023.

Teenager gives glimpse of potential to leave Derbyshire winless in thriller

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 24-Aug-2025Teenager Ben Mayes gave a glimpse into the future with a match-winning 62 not out as Hampshire kept Metro Bank One-Day Cup men’s competition progression in their own hands.England Under-19 star Mayes, just 17, mesmerised with a catalogue of power, guile and switch hits for his second List A fifty.Mayes put on 111 in 72 balls with James Fuller (54 off 39) to take Hampshire to their fifth win in the competition, after fifties for Fletcha Middleton and Ben Brown.Derbyshire Falcons had been in control after posting 339 thanks to 98 for Caleb Jewell and 76 for Brooke Guest but they were eliminated from the One-Day Cup, and are still yet to win a List A match at Utilita Bowl in seven attempts.Hampshire now know a final fixture win over Gloucestershire will see them into the knockout stage for a fourth straight season.Mayes and Fuller had joined at 206 for five, with Derbyshire boasting a tight grip on the match.Ali Orr and competition top-scorer Nick Gubbins had leaned into the chase with relish, finding boundaries with glee to put on 55 in the first seven overs.But fell in quick succession to Aitchison. Gubbins ended a 257 run, across three innings, without being dismissed when he was bowled and two overs later Orr chopped on.Middleton and Brendon McMullen straightened things back out with a flowing 66-run stand, but McMullen tamely chipping back to Joe Hawkins, drew the Falcons back to favourites.Middleton and Brown both posted their first fifties in the One-Day Cup but neither kicked on but just as Hampshire’s hopes were fading, their wonderkid arrived at the crease.Having scored four off his first 11 balls, he got moving with a cut boundary before a ludicrous reverse paddle found his groove.Mayes scored a fifty on his debut against Glamorgan to stick his name in the limelight, and played off that with a masterclass of modern shot-making. His second half-century came in 39 balls.At the other end, Fuller used brute power to clear the ropes four times in his 38-ball fifty before he was caught and bowled by Hawkins and Felix Organ was bowled.Andrew Neal took out the jitters by middling through midwicket as the hosts took the four points with five balls to spare.Derbyshire were given the first go on a batting paradise, and despite Kyle Abbott’s miserly opening spell, found runs flowed easily throughout.Jewell was the sparkle in the innings as he lusciously and repeatedly drove through the covers during a 99-run stand with former Hampshire batter Harry Came.It was just the start of a series of bulky partnerships that underpinned the visitor’s hefty 339 – stands of 46, 44, 94 and 39 all delivered in quick time.Wickets came in decade intervals, and when they did it often required either magic, or batter error.In the former category, Came was sensationally caught at midwicket by Nick Gubbins and Matt Montgomery had his off-stump glanced by an Abbott pearler,Jewell looked on course for a second century in the competition as he strode through 400 runs in the One-Day Cup.But having been fluently batting at a strike-rate around 120, he slowed up with the milestone in sight, and on 98 he missed a paddle sweep and was bowled by Felix Organ.Brooke Guest and Martin Andersson regained the sweet-striking momentum, the latter with an excellent eighth List A fifty but for the eighth time he couldn’t convert.Any chance of Derbyshire flittering at the end of their innings was kyboshed by Amrit Singh Basra – with 90 runs coming off the last 10 overs. The SACA graduate who signed a two-year contract this week showed off his range of shots in a breathless 15-ball 34 – but it wasn’t to be enough.

Superchargers will progress to Sunday’s final to face Brave if rain scuppers Saturday’s showdown

ECB Media26-Aug-2025Northern Superchargers 96 for 2 (Sutherland 30*, Davidson-Richards 30) beat Manchester Originals 94 (Monaghan 26, Sutherland 3-15) by eight wicketsIn the battle to reach The Hundred Eliminator this Saturday – with Southern Brave having already secured their spot in The Hundred Final – it was the Northern Superchargers who came out on top at Headingley as Manchester Originals, targeting the huge score that would have significantly bumped up their run rate, ended up being bowled out for just 94, a score that the Superchargers knocked off with ease to win by eight wickets and ensure second place.With the runners-up in the table going through to the final in the event of an Eliminator wash-out, the Superchargers will be pleased with their afternoon’s work, their win guaranteeing them that second spot and ensuring London Spirit would join them in the Eliminator.Electing to field first, Hollie Armitage’s side saw Beth Mooney get off to a flyer but once she had gone for 20 off 13, the rest of the innings was something of a procession.Kate Cross put the disappointment of her non-selection for England’s World Cup squad behind her, showcasing the enduring qualities of line and length in conceding just six runs from her 15 deliveries.Annabel Sutherland also starred with 3 for 15, while Nicola Carey took 2 for 13, both off their full allocation. Only Alice Monaghan sparkled, her 26 in 17 balls containing the innings’ only two sixes.Faced with the nigh-on impossible task of restricting the Superchargers to 38 in order to finish in third place or 35 to claim second, the Originals tried hard but the task was simply too great.Those two targets came and went as Alice Davidson-Richards went on the charge, hitting 30 off 18 with six boundaries, before she hit the competition’s quickest bowler Lauren Filer to Deandra Dottin on the edge.Sutherland (30* off 17) carried on attacking, hitting Dottin down the ground exquisitely for four then six, Phoebe Litchfield (26* off 20) at the other end working the gaps and unfurling the occasional well-timed sweep and pull shot.The result was beyond doubt well before the end as the Australian pair eased to victory by eight wickets with 35 balls to spare.The Meerkat Match Hero Annabel Sutherland said: “It feels great. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into the next two games. We love it at Headingley and I guess it shows in the results we’ve got here.”Everyone’s really keen for Saturday, and hopefully we will put our best foot forward. We honestly just have a blast out there. We really enjoy each other’s company. It’s a great tournament, lots of fun.”

Devine and Amin have also moved up, to No. 8 and joint No. 10, after their exploits with the bat at the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2025

Tazmin Brits goes rough-and-tumble to hit the ball fine during her century•Getty Images

Tazmin Brits’ match-winning 89-ball 101 against New Zealand in the women’s ODI World Cup on Monday night has placed her in the top five of the ODI rankings for women batters, where she is joined by Ash Gardner, who scored a century of her own, 115 in 83 balls, also against New Zealand at the World Cup, last week. Gardner is at No. 5.For Brits, it was a jump of two spots, while for Gardner, there was a seven-spot gain. Smriti Mandhana, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Beth Mooney remain the top three, but the rise of Brits and Gardner has pushed down Ellyse Perry, Laura Wolvaardt, Amy Jones, Hayley Matthews, Alyssa Healy and Marizanne Kapp.Also on the rise are Sophie Devine, up seven places to No. 8, and Sidra Amin, who has moved up three positions to joint No. 10 with Chamari Athapaththu. Amin is in sixth place on the World Cup run-scorers’ table following her 81 against India.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

For the record, Brits, Gardner and Devine are the only century-makers at the World Cup so far, and Devine is currently the leading run-scorer, despite New Zealand losing both their games in the tournament, with 197 runs in two innings. Gardner is a distant second with 115 runs.It was the fifth century in 2025 and fourth in five innings for Brits. Her prolific run-scoring form took shape in April when, in her first ODI of the year, she scored 109 against India in Colombo.Five games followed without a three-figure score, though there was a 57 against West Indies in Cave Hill in June, but then came the magical sequence of 101, 101*, 171*, 5 and 101, the blip coming against England in South Africa’s World Cup opener. No woman has scored five centuries in ODIs in a calendar year before Brits.

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Reported Southampton target, according to The Mirror, Che Adams impressed and scored a brilliant goal in Birmingham City’s 3-3 draw with Swansea City in the Championship at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday night, and Blues fans were quick to react to his display on Twitter.
Despite being reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time and subsequently falling 2-1 behind in the second half in south Wales, the visitors bounced back with quick-fire goals from Michael Morrison and Adams, who cut in from the left on his right foot and sent a curling effort into the far corner from outside the penalty area, but were denied three points thanks to Oliver McBurnie’s injury-time leveller.
It was the 22-year-old’s 15th league goal of the season, as per WhoScored, and it was the fourth consecutive Championship match that he had found the net in, meaning it is no surprise that a club fighting against relegation like Saints, as per The Mirror, are looking to bring him to the Premier League before Thursday’s transfer deadline.

While Ralph Hasenhuttl has the in-form Nathan Redmond in his ranks, the south coast outfit still lack that depth and quality in wide areas as well as up top, and Adams would be a perfect addition seeing as he can cover both positions.
Southampton fans should be hoping their club manages to get the deal over the line, based on how highly Birmingham fans rated his latest performance…
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Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

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West Ham bounced back from their apathetic showing against Wolves as they held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium, despite the absence of Marko Arnautovic.

Hammers fans may have bemoaned their star striker’s failing of a late fitness test but were boosted by goalkeeper Lukas Fabianski passing his, meaning he continued in net.

The Poland international was reliable between the sticks and gave a hashed-together defence – Manuel Pellegrini made two changes to the back four that was battered by Wolves last time out, while the previously sketchy Angelo Ogbonna deputised again for the injured Fabian Balbuena – some much-needed assurance.

Who is West Ham’s worst ever signing? Check out the video below for a pretty strong candidate for the dubious honour…

West Ham brought the custodian to the London Stadium in the summer for just £7m after his Swansea side suffered relegation and he has hardly allowed back-up ‘keeper Adrian a look-in – the Spaniard has yet to make a start in the Premier League.

Fabianski has arguably been the Irons’ most consistent performer this season and his display against Liverpool was no exception – the 33-year-old was rarely forced to make any outstanding saves but, with the likes of Mohamed Salah buzzing around his box, it was vital that he held onto the ball or parried into a safe area, both of which he did effortlessly time after time again.

Here’s how West Ham fans reacted to the shot-stopper’s showing…