Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino have questioned the high prices and travel costs that supporters face to attend the Champions League final.

The two English clubs reached the June 1 showpiece thanks to dramatic comeback wins, but supporters making plans to attend the match in Madrid face huge costs.

Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Klopp hit out at "crazy" hotel prices and said he had sympathy with fans who are being charged such high rates.

"One hundred percent," Klopp said. "Obviously travel agencies and hotels are not silly. Maybe these cities before they get the final they have to agree to a price cut and say [the prices] can't be more than [a certain figure].

"I heard about a room which usually costs £100 and it now costs £2,700, it's just crazy. I sympathise a lot."

Pochettino said he was having trouble finding accommodation for his family.

"Yesterday I was calling some hotel in Madrid to try to book some rooms because I don't know if my family is going to be there, friends, people from Argentina," he told a news conference. "But it was very difficult.

"The prices are crazy. It's not normal, but it's normal that people take this opportunity to benefit and I am suffering for both sets of fans, ours and Liverpool's."

Liverpool and Tottenham supporters have called for an end to "cashing in on fan loyalty" amid rocketing prices for flights and hotel rooms for the Champions League final.

The price of some flights to the Spanish capital in the days around the match has risen to more than £1,500, while rates for hotel rooms in the city and surrounding towns have soared to over £1,000 a night.

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The two clubs have been allocated 16,613 tickets for the match at Atletico Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano stadium, with the cheapest of those costing around £60 and the most expensive £513.

Liverpool fans' group Spirit of Shankly and the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust have issued a joint statement calling for a crackdown on exploitation of supporters and hitting out at UEFA's "measly" allocations.

"This has been a sensational Champions League campaign for Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, with fans of both clubs now looking forward to the final in Madrid on June 1," the statement said.

"But supporters' joy has been tempered by the extortionate costs of travel, accommodation and tickets -- if they get a ticket at all with the measly allocation from UEFA.

"Prices of flights to Madrid and surrounding towns have rocketed by up to 840 percent. Hotel rooms are more than £1,000 a night, with stories of room bookings being cancelled and resold at vastly inflated rates.

"Tickets in excess of £500 are exorbitant. There needs to be transparency from UEFA and both clubs in how tickets are priced and allocated."

The joint statement from the Liverpool and Tottenham fans also called for consumer protection measures to be applied to the repricing of flights and hotel rooms in the days around the final.

"For many, the final is not a one-off event," it added. "It is the culmination of a season-long journey for fans, who have spent thousands of pounds already travelling to support their team, bringing the spectacle and atmosphere that is a key part of the game so prized by television.

"It is time to stop cashing in on fan loyalty."

Klopp also questioned the selection of Baku, Azerbaijan, as the site of the Europa League final between London rivals Chelsea and Liverpool.

"I think with Madrid it's unbelievably expensive that's clear, but going to Baku for a Europa League final, that's really funny," Klopp said.

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"I think these guys who made these decisions, I don't know what they had for breakfast really when they did it.

"Last year we went to Kiev [for the Champions League final] which is a wonderful city but it was not really likely a Russian team or a team from that part of the world would be involved."

With no direct flights to Baku from London, fans face journey times of up to 14 hours depending on connections.

"These decision they must be much more sensible," Klopp said. "It looks irresponsible, I don't know how they do it and I sympathise a lot with the fans."

Chelsea's Supporters' Trust described the allocation as "totally inadequate" while board member Tim Rolls told the BBC his journey would involve a seven-hour bus ride from Tbilisi.

"Baku is one of the most inaccessible cities in Europe from the UK," said Rolls. "There are few flights and those there are are prohibitively expensive."

UEFA defended the choice of venue, saying it was impossible to predict in advance which clubs will reach the final.

It also said it would have been irresponsible to offer more tickets with limited transport options to Baku.

"Taking into consideration the geographical location and logistical capacity of airports in and around the host city, it was deemed that around 15,000 spectators would be able to travel from abroad with Baku as the main hub," UEFA said.

"Offering more tickets to fans of the participating teams, without any guarantee that they would be able to arrange suitable travel, was therefore not a responsible option."

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

Tim Weah made the United States roster for this month's FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Poland, while Joshua Sargent and Tyler Adams were left off Friday, making it likely they will be with the senior national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Alex Mendez heads the 21-man roster after scoring eight goals with six assists at last year's CONCACAF Under-20 Championship. Mendez left the LA Galaxy youth system last fall to sign with Germany's Freiburg.

Weah, a son of Liberia President and 1995 FIFA Player of the Year George Weah, scored three goals against Paraguay in the round of 16 at the 2017 Under-17 World Cup. He has one goal in eight appearances with the senior national team. Weah has spent this season on loan from Paris Saint-Germain to Scottish giants Celtic and has four goals in 17 matches.

In an Instagram post, Weah said Celtic manager Neil Lennon told him "that it is in the best interest of the team that I collect my things and go home rather than be apart of the game on Sunday," referencing Celtic's Old Firm derby against rivals Rangers.

Weath thanked the Celtics fans for their support, adding: "It was a true honor playing for this club and also having the opportunity to interact with legends who paved the way for us."

Sargent scored five goals at the 2017 Under-17 World Cup and twice at the 2017 Under-20 World Cup. He made his debut for Werder Bremen this season and has two goals in 10 games.

Mendez is among 14 players on coach Tab Ramos' roster who played at the CONCACAF tournament.

Goalkeeper Brady Scott is the loan holdover from the 2017 Under-20 World Cup roster.

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The U.S. opens against Ukraine on May 24, plays Nigeria three days later and closes the group stage against Qatar on May 30. The Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2015 and 2017. Weah may miss the opening match to remain with Celtic, which plays in the Scottish Cup final May 25.

Ramos, who played for the U.S. at three World Cups, will be coaching the Americans at the Under-20 World Cup for the fourth straight tournament.

Full U.S. roster:

Goalkeepers: C.J. Dos Santos (Benfica, Portugal), David Ochoa (Salt Lake), Brady Scott (Cologne, Germany)

Defenders: Sergino Dest (Ajax, Netherlands), Chris Gloster (Hannover, Germany), Aboubacar Keita (Richmond), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia), Matthew Real (Philadelphia), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich, Germany)

Midfielders: Edwin Cerrillo (Dallas), Chris Durkin (D.C,), Richard Ledezma (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Alex Mendez (Freiburg, Germany), Paxton Pomykal (Dallas), Brandon Servania (Dallas)

Forwards: Ayo Akinola (Toronto). Konrad De La Fuente (Barcelona, Spain), Ulysses Llanez (Wolfsburg, Germany), Justin Rennicks (New England), Sebastian Soto (Hannover, Germany), Tim Weah (Celtic, Scotland)

Week 11 in MLS is jam packed with storylines, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the LA Galaxy battle another team from the Big Apple (vs. New York City FC on Saturday; 4 p.m. ET, ESPN)) while the Revolution host surprising San Jose without Brad Friedel at the helm. To cap it all off, Marco Fabian and Michael Bradley get set for Round II when Toronto FC host Philadelphia.

Zlatan and the Galaxy come back to earth

Guillermo Barros Schelotto's tenure as LA Galaxy boss was going pretty smoothly, until Saturday, that is, when a seven-match unbeaten streak came to a sudden halt with a 3-2 loss to the New York Red Bulls. That was then followed up by a fatigued 3-1 loss to the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night in Columbus.

While perturbed superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic was not about to concede that the Red Bulls kept him under wraps, telling reporters that New York "did not make things difficult for us," the same can't be said for the Columbus loss. After a 2018 season that had more ups and downs than a roller coaster, this is the first time the Galaxy have faced adversity in 2019.

To add insult to injury, midfield lynch pin Jonathan dos Santos had to exit Wednesday's game, so the Galaxy will have to summon a little something extra with a quick turnaround on Saturday afternoon against NYCFC.

After a rough start, NYCFC is starting to come together with new arrivals Alexandru Mitrita and Heber finding their stride in MLS. Coach Domenec Torrent is off the hot seat for now and will be coming off a full week of rest to prepare for Zlatan & Co. Whether NYCFC has enough to overcome an angry Ibrahimovic is another question.

Revs begin life after Friedel

Brad Friedel was a fantastic goalkeeper for both club and country, but his first foray as a manager in MLS with the New England Revolution was a complete disaster. On Thursday, the Revs mercifully parted ways with Friedel after the team followed up a 6-1 shellacking by Philadelphia last weekend with an embarrassing 5-0 loss to the Chicago Fire on Wednesday. Friedel departs with the Revs rock bottom in the Eastern Conference, with 30 goals conceded in 12 games.

Perhaps reflecting the nature of things in New England, this week the team had a deal in place to land Congolese winger Paul-Jose M'Poku, but it fell through because the Standard Liege man said he didn't want to join the team. Can you blame him? This is a side in desperate need of some housecleaning.

It's ironic that New England's next opponent is the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+). For the past several seasons, the exact same thing could be said about the Quakes, but new coach Matias Almeyda has changed everything.

Things started roughly for the Earthquakes with four losses, but since then, the change of attitude instilled by the Argentine boss has San Jose in a playoff spot. Teams know that when they go up against San Jose, they'll be in a battle for 90 minutes against arguably the fittest team in the league. Watching Almeyda's Earthquakes in action on Saturday can serve as a healthy lesson for New England ownership.

Bradley vs. Fabian, Round II

Historically, a Toronto FC-Philadelphia Union matchup has never been one to get the juices flowing, that is until now. Back in the first week of the season, TFC left the City of Brotherly Love with three points, but that wasn't the story.

Evoking misty, water-colored memories of USA-Mexico rivalry in MLS -- Landon Donovan vs. Rafa Marquez anyone? -- Michael Bradley "welcomed" Marco Fabian to MLS with a shove to the ground during TFC's 3-1 win.

Those two international rivals will renew pleasantries on Saturday in Toronto (3 p.m. ET, ESPN+) in what also could be an Eastern Conference final preview. Despite a 2-0 loss in Atlanta on Wednesday night using a reserve-heavy squad, Toronto FC appears to be back to its 2016 and 2017 level. Alejandro Pozuelo has been a revelation, and once Jozy Altidore returns from injury, perhaps in the next week, TFC should be humming nicely entering the summertime stretch.

Meanwhile, for just the second time in their history, the Union are in first place at this point of the season. This will be Fabian's first match in a month after an injury kept him out of Philadelphia's past four contests, so he'll be plenty motivated to not only return with a splash, but also hand out a little payback to Bradley.

None of this is supposed to happen anymore.

Liverpool and Manchester City have traded uppercuts for eight grueling months. Neither one has missed a punch, and now we're left with two of the best teams in Premier League history separated by just one point with just one game to go. It's the closest title race since Sergio AGUEROOOOOO's 94-minute winner against Queens Park Rangers on matchday 38 in 2012; it's also worth noting that both of this year's championship chasers surpassed that City side's points total weeks ago.

If Man City beat Brighton on the South Coast, they will win a second straight league title. Anything less and a Liverpool win at home to Wolves would mean that Jurgen Klopp's side are champions for the first time ever in the Premier League era. It's a title race unlike any other -- it's literally the only thing at stake on Sunday as the three relegation spots have been settled, as has the jostling for Champions League and Europa League qualification -- but it's unique to England.

In Germany, no one's going to confuse Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich with an all-time great side, but Dortmund held onto first place from the end of September through the beginning of April. A stunning 5-0 victory over Dortmund moved Bayern back into first last month, but they're clinging to a tenuous four-point lead with a pair of remaining games against third-place RB Leipzig and fourth-place Eintracht Frankfurt.

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In the Champions League, Real Madrid, the three-time defending champs, were knocked out by little old Ajax in the round of 16. Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus befell the same fate in the quarterfinals, while Bayern Munich were also sent packing in the first knockout round. Then Liverpool, incredibly, toppled Barcelona in the semis and Tottenham, incredibly, did the same to Ajax.

Given the growing inequality at the top of the European game, where wealth begets success begets more wealth begets more success in a cycle with no end in sight, uncertainty seemed like it had become a thing of the past.

Will anyone outside Europe's elite teams get a shot at league glory in the future?

Coming into this season, Juventus had won seven Serie A titles in a row. Bayern's streak was at six. PSG were winners of five of the past six Ligue 1 championships, and Barcelona had lifted the La Liga trophy in three of the past four. Somehow, none of them were even the most dominant team in Europe; no, that was Manchester City, who'd won the Premier League with 100 total points and a 19-point gap from second place. On top of that, the Champions League, a competition partially designed to create randomness through its abbreviated knockout-round structure, had been won by either Bayern, Real, or Barcelona in seven of the previous eight editions.

It might not look like it, but despite two down-to-the-wire title races and a Champions League that will produce a champion that hasn't won since at least 2005, not much has changed, although maybe it should. Ultimately, things are still pretty imbalanced in Europe's top leagues.

"The general trend is that weaker leagues have always been uncompetitive -- sometimes due to political/socioeconomic reasons, sometimes due to wealthy owners. Sometimes the top team has managed to reinforce their dominance by playing in Europe," Omar Chaudhuri, head of football intelligence at the consultancy 21st Club, told me. "But the Big Five leagues are moving more and more towards competitive inequality, to the extent now that they're the most imbalanced leagues."

At the end of 2018, the CIES Football Observatory released a report detailing Europe's growing competitive inequality over the past 10 seasons. The study found that among the Big Five leagues, the percentage of points won by the champion and the top three teams is increasing. Winners took an average of 73 percent of the total points in 2009; that number jumped all the way up to 83 percent last season, while the top three teams increased their share from 70 to 73 percent over that same span. The imbalance also shows up on a game-to-game level. The study found that the average goal differential per game in the Big Five leagues increased from 1.294 to 1.408 since 2009, while the percentage of games won by at least three goals rose from 14 to 18 percent.

"I think on the whole we should expect to see the same teams competing in title races," Chaudhuri said, "though the likelihood is that each year you'll probably have at least one competitive title race, as one team had a bad year and a rival team has a good one."

That's pretty much what's happened in England and in Germany this season. Liverpool's expected goal differential, according to Opta, is 20 goals lower than their actual goal differential: plus-45 to plus-65. And Dortmund are about 14 goals ahead of their underlying numbers: plus-19.9 to plus-34. Meanwhile, City (plus-59.3 xGD, plus-69 GD) and Bayern (plus-55.7 xGD, plus-52 GD) have significantly better underlying numbers than the teams chasing them, but they haven't been as efficient in converting and preventing the shots they create and concede.

Most title-winning teams do it on the back of some hot finishing and great goalkeeping, but expected goals are a better predictor of future success than, well, goals. And even with Liverpool and Dortmund pushing their performances to their absolute limits, it still might not be enough.

"We can expect season-long title races in England, where the financial gaps between the wealthiest teams aren't as marked as [they are] in the other top European leagues," Dr. Raffaele Poli, head of the CIES Football Observatory, told me. "In Spain, there are also two very rich teams, Barcelona and Real Madrid, while there is no more real competition in Germany, France and Italy. There is some hope in Italy if Milan and Inter recover some of their past glory, but Bayern in Germany and Paris Saint-Germain in France have no real rival in the current situation."

Of course, recurring dominance isn't unique to soccer. The Golden State Warriors have won three of the past four NBA titles. The Los Angeles Dodgers have won the National League West in six consecutive seasons and the NL title in the past two. And the New England Patriots have won three of the NFL's past five Super Bowls. Those leagues are all doing just fine.

"People love to hate on a big fish -- the Yankees in baseball, Bayern in German football," Chris Anderson, a soccer industry strategy and investment consultant based in London, told me. "Stadiums are full when the big boys come to town. I think sports economists would say that having a big fish by itself isn't bad, but it's bad if the overall competitive balance becomes really skewed so that you never have challengers to the top teams."

Barcelona have now won four of the past five La Liga titles. Juventus have extended their streak to nine consecutive Serie A crowns. PSG just clinched Ligue 1 title No.6 in seven seasons. If Bayern hold onto their lead over Dortmund, they'll make it six Bundesligas in six, while a win on Sunday over Brighton will give Man City the two highest point totals in Premier League history, in consecutive years. The home-and-away, play-everyone-twice structure seems like the best way to determine the best team, but it's certainly not the best way to ensure excitement and unpredictability -- at least, not anymore.

"The formats and structures we're used to are essentially either directly or indirectly from the Victorians, 150 years ago," Chaudhuri said. "There is a fair argument that these formats are no longer fit for purpose, and that we need to find new ways of ensuring games remain entertaining, in the context of everything else we have and enjoy in the 21st century, and maintaining competitive balance within and across leagues."

There are smaller leagues around Europe trying something different with regard to format. In Poland's first division, there are 16 teams. They play 30 games and then split up into two divisions made up of the top and bottom eight. Everyone keeps their points totals. Then, the top eight all play each other once more and the team with the most points wins the title, while the same happens with the bottom eight; teams with the two lowest totals are relegated. In Belgium, 16 teams contest a 30-game season and then the top six separate out into a mini-league. Their point totals are halved, they play each other twice and whoever has the most points at the end of it is crowned champion.

Both of those systems do a nice job of valuing season-long performance while adding in some end-of-the-year volatility. Wouldn't you rather watch Serie A championship round, rather than Juventus playing another meaningless game in mid-April?

However, the forces that create the inequality in the first place are the same ones that will likely prevent any structural fixes from happening. "Are attendances down?" Anderson said. "Are viewership figures down systematically? If not, why change?"

Big picture

Ireland wanted points on the board and they got two of them, but things couldn't have been worse. A 196-run hammering in the tournament opener against West Indies followed by a washout against Bangladesh leaves them bottom placed and means that another defeat would put them on the brink of elimination. They have plenty of problems but they start at the top. Captain William Porterfield averages a shade over 11 this year from six innings, less than even Boyd Rankin. It's not that he has been terribly out of nick but in his last four innings he has contrived to fall in different ways after getting a start.

But the greater concern remains the impenetrability of their bowling attack, particularly on flat surfaces with an older ball. Since January 2018, they have taken the least number of wickets between overs 15 and 40 among Full Members: 55. Even UAE have done marginally better than them. Keeping that in mind, and despite the fact that they conceded 381 against West Indies in the first match, their best bet might be to chase down a score, much like Bangladesh did in the second match of the series.

Bowling hasn't been West Indies' strong suit either, as they have the worst average, least number of wickets and third-highest economy rate among Full Members since January 2018. However, they at least have pace, which proved to be a major difference between the two teams in the first match. Another key and admittedly obvious difference was the top order, despite the absence of Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer. Shai Hope, perhaps the best batsman in the tournament, already has two hundreds, but that has also meant that the middle order hasn't had much of a hit, which showed in the last match against Bangladesh where they finished with an under-par261 for 9 from 205 for 2 in the 41st over. Apart from that, a better fielding effort than the one against Bangladesh would go a long way in securing a spot in the final.

Form guide

Ireland LLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies LWWLW

In the spotlight

Darren Bravo is averaging just a shade over 28 since his return to the side against Bangladesh in December. It isn't much lower than his career average of 31 but for a player of his class, it has to be considered paltry. Furthermore, he has only one fifty during this period which suggests that he has tended to squander starts. So far, he has had only one decent opportunity in the tri-nation series and in that he meekly prodded forward and edged a straight ball from Shakib Al Hasan to the keeper. West Indies need him to step up.

After Andy Balbirnie, Paul Stirling has been the second-best batsman among active players for Ireland since 2018. However, he hasn't scored a hundred in 12 innings since March 2018. He was cleaned up lazily playing down the wrong line to a Kemar Roach loosener in the last match and before that against England, perished to another soft dismissal off Tom Curran for 33. In his last 12 innings, he has passed double figures on nine occasions, but only three of those are 50-plus scores. Ireland need their opener to start converting his starts into substantial scores to consistently compete against strong batting sides.

Team news

The change Ireland could consider is roping in Boyd Rankin for Tim Murtagh, who was economical against England, expensive against West Indies but averages 63 with the ball this year - although majority of those matches were in spin-friendly Dehradun.

Ireland (probable): 1 William Porterfield, 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Andy Balbirnie, 4 Lorcan Tucker, 5 Kevin O'Brien, 6 Gary Wilson, 7 George Dockrell, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Josh Little, 10 Tim Murtagh/Boyd Rankin, 11 Barry McCarthy

After smashing 179 in the tournament opener, John Campbell missed the last match against Bangladesh with a sore back and Sunil Ambris opened in his place. Campbell should be back for the clash against Ireland, with Ambris likely to drop down the order again.

West Indies (probable): 1 John Campbell, 2 Shai Hope, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Jonathan Carter, 6 Sunil Ambris, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Ashley Nurse, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Shannon Gabriel

Pitch and conditions

Heavy rain washed out the Ireland-Bangladesh clash on Thursday but a clearer day is expected in Dublin on Saturday. With all the rainfall lately, there could be something on offer for the seamers, which might suit Ireland more than West Indies, who have quicker bowlers, thus bowl a slightly shorter length than what would be ideal on a moisture-laden pitch.

Stats and trivia

• The 196-run defeat against West Indies was Ireland's heaviest batting second since 2015, overall their fifth heaviest.

• Another hundred from Shai Hope on Saturday will make him the tenth batsman to score three consecutive centuries in ODIs, and the only West Indian on that list

Chennai Super Kings 151 for 4 (Watson 50, du Plessis 50) beat Delhi Capitals 147 for 9 (Pant 38, Bravo 2-19, Jadeja 2-23) by six wickets

It will be Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians again. The two most successful franchises in the IPL will fight it out for the trophy once again after MS Dhoni's men produced a clinical performance in a must-win game.

They chose to bowl, so they had to keep the runs down, and they did thanks to Dwayne Bravo, Imran Tahir and Harbhajan Singh. Their 12 overs cost only 78 runs and brought five wickets.

And needing 148 to win, they had their openinng partnership come good as Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson both hit fifties to turn an iffy chase into a cakewalk in the end.

The specialist

Prior to this game, Harbhahjan had bowled 22 of his 36 overs in the Poweprlay this season. And he's been effective, picking up eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.80. It was strange not to see him open the bowling but as soon as there were two left-handers at the crease - one of them was Colin Munro, whose strike rate against spin this season is 66 (188 against pace) - it was time.

The offspinner eventually took out Shikhar Dhawan, which was even more useful considering he has been Capitals' most prolific batsman of the season. At the end of a good shift - 4-0-31-2 - the 38-year old felt happy he could still keep up with the younger spinners in the IPL.

DJ's in da house

Capitals were 54 for 2 after eight overs. And since they had Shreyas Iyer at the crease, with plenty of firepower to follow, ESPNcriicnfo's forecaster had them reaching a total of 168 at that point.

But you know that thing with Dhoni and data, don't you? You know, who wins that battle.

Capitals could make only 26 runs off the next 30 balls they faced, losing three wickets. And they were suddenly 80 for 5.

A major reason for the slide was Dwayne Bravo, who finished with figures of 4-0-19-2. He is often criticised for being too predictable; going slower balls all the time. But here, he got his variations just right. Not simply changes of pace but of length. His first wicket came off a bouncer that Axar Patel guided to deep third man. And his second was a yorker at 139 kph, from round the wicket, taking out Keemo Paul's leg stump. He signed off by bowling an 18th over that cost only three runs.

Pant bats like Dhoni

He was 17 off 14. He saw wickets fall around him but he wasn't panicking. And because of that, the captain of the team that was on top, was anxious. Rishabh Pant was batting like Dhoni and Dhoni knew how dangerous that can be.

It seemed like time to celebrate though when the left-hander mis-hit a Tahir googly all the way to long-off. Deepak Chahar was there, right on the edge of the boundary, but as he took the catch, he carelessly went over the rope. Fielders in the IPL have been pulling off those catches like it was routine and considering this was the wicket that could break the game - at a time when Pant was only 24 off 18 - that was a big mistake.

Dhoni immediately shook his head, instincts over-riding his captain cool persona, and yanked Chahar out and replaced him with du Plessis.

Pant couldn't bat through the innings, finishing with 38 off 25 balls, and with the big-hitter gone and only Nos. 9, 10 and 11 to face the eight balls still left in the innings, Forecaster suggested Capitals would only make 134.

But out came Trent Boult, Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma and they contributed 22 runs together, with two fours and as many sixes, to drag them up to 147.

The CSK top order finally steps up

It had been a problem all through the tournament. They'd been slow. Capitals made as many runs in one over - 16 - as Super Kings did in their first four. They'd lost wickets - the worst of all the teams - and here du Plessis and Watson began with a mix-up so bad that both of them were running to the same end. Twice.

Also, they were playing on a pitch where it was best to get a lot of runs in the Powerplay because it would get slower (and tougher) as the game went on. That's easy to do when you have confidence coming into a must-win game, but when you don't, the only way forward is conserving wickets and hoping for the best. That's probably why 27 for 0 after five overs might well be in line with Super Kings' plans. The final over of the Powerplay went for 15 runs as du Plessis hit Ishant for a hat-trick of boundaries and began the surge that took him to a half-century off only 37 balls. Watson took a little longer to bring out the big shots and so well were they batting together that as early as the 10th over, Forecaster was predicting a Super Kings victory at 98%.

Somerset 337 for 8 (Banton 112, Parnell 3-50) beat Worcestershire 190 (Azhar 5-34) by 147 runs

Just to turn up to the right ground for the Royal London Cup play-offs is enough of a challenge, so hurried is this stage of the competition. To turn up and produce the best score of your county career is even more impressive. Tom Banton did just that and his immensely impressive 112 at New Road gave Somerset a semi-final berth against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on Sunday.

There was a good contingent up from the West Country and they revealed themselves with roars of approval in front of the pavilion as Banton reached his hundred, his second of the competition, indeed the second of his life. Worcestershire pulled off county cricket's record run chase in List A cricket on this ground a year ago - 377 against Leicestershire - but at no stage did they come to terms with Somerset's 337 for 8 and crashed to a 147-run defeat.

Their demise was quickened by Azhar Ali, who entered the attack after 25 overs and conjured up 5 for 34 with seven overs of legspin, the forth five-wicket return of his career. He is no mug with the ball, having 12 international wickets for Pakistan and now 130 in all forms of senior cricket, but as he offered up legspinners, googlies and a quicker ball to confound Ross Whiteley, Worcestershire's lower order were blown aside like apple blossom in a mean May wind.

Banton deserves to be prominent in the rush of daring young opening batsmen entering the county game. Warwickshire's Ed Pollock briefly possessed the fastest strike rate in global T20 cricket, although his star has been waning. Philip Salt's blast-offs for Sussex won a call-up to England's T20 squad. Aneurin Donald can benefit from an opportunity at the head of Hampshire's order. But the classiest of them all appears to be Banton.

Like all the starburst openers, with shots bursting to all points, with excitement flaring and dying, Banton tends to be all or nothing. After his maiden hundred against Kent at Taunton last month, he had six scores in this competition of 18 or less. But there was a self-possession about this innings which augured well. He keeps wicket, too, and is keeping no less a player than Steve Davies out of the side.

He might have failed again, escaping two tough chances to Callum Ferguson at first slip, off Pat Brown, the first bursting high through his hands, the second opportunity at ankle height, before he had reached 20. Give him too many chances and, increasingly, the likelihood will be that you suffer. Thereafter, he drove and ramped the seamers with aplomb and swept Daryl Mitchell's offspin without a care in the world. His brother, Jacques, is a member of Worcestershire's academy.

Two successive boundaries against Brown late in his innings were perhaps his highlight - a ramp followed by a flamingo on-drive when he picked with a slower ball with ease: no mean feat as Brown's variations made him the leading wicket-taker in the T20 Blast last summer. He was caught at deep square, attempting a leg-side pick-up against Wayne Parnell, who finished with 22 wickets in the competition in an otherwise moderate display by Worcestershire with the ball and in the field.

County cricket's 50-over competition has been crammed into a four-week period in early season and, although it fits quite naturally into such a time frame, the condensed finale to the tournament does it no favours. Considering that the group stages only finished on Tuesday night, to stage the second and third-placed play-offs on Friday was ambitious to say the least. Worcestershire did well just to make sure the groundstaff put some stumps out.

To make matters worse, the ECB insist on calling the play-offs "quarter-finals", which would properly demand four ties not two, and so confuses everybody. There is no anticipation, no build-up, no interviews, no time for teams to plan or spectators to arrange free days. The fixtures were conspicuous by their absence in at least one broadsheet. The result is reduced attendances and falling interest in a tournament that is patently no longer on the ECB's list of priorities.

Banton was third out with Somerset 203 in the 35th over, Parnell having earlier caught Azhar's inside edge and a restrained innings from Peter Trego ending to an uninhibited pull and another wicketkeeper's catch.

As Somerset wickets began to tumble, it appeared they might not make Banton's innings pay; Ed Barnard held excellent catches at point to dismiss Tom Abell and running in from long-on to silence Lewis Gregory. But the Overton twins teamed up with 32 from the last 16 balls and their dominance was reasserted.

Worcestershire's innings never fired. Riki Wessels drove Craig Overton loosely to point and Tom Fell looked a mite unfortunate to be adjudged lbw to Gregory, the ball possible missing leg stump. Ferguson, the South Australian, had ground to make up after his fielding lapses, only to be run out by Abell's direct hit from point as Mitchell called him for a quick single.

Worcestershire's captain, Brett D'Oliveira, is also having a thin time. He recorded his fifth single-figure score in a row when Roelof van der Merwe turned one to strike his off stump. He allowed his legspin a solitary over which cost 12 and seemed to jar a shoulder in the field. His Championship place is far from automatic in this form.

South Africa coach Ottis Gibson put in a request to withdraw "key players" from the IPL in early May to prepare for the World Cup. But Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Thabang Moroe did not bring up the issue with the BCCI, ESPNcricinfo understands, worried of the consequences of doing so.

A report by TimesLIVE has suggested that the status of India's scheduled tour to South Africa in 2021-22 may have prompted Moroe's action - or rather inaction. A tour by India would provide a major financial boost to an organisation that has forecast losses of R 654 million over the next four years, with any change to the scheduling of such a lucrative tour likely to worsen those losses.

Captain Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Quinton de Kock and Chris Morris - who replaced the injured Anrich Nortje in South Africa's World Cup squad earlier this week - are all still in India, with du Plessis and Tahir both part of the Chennai Super Kings squad that will play in Sunday's final against Mumbai Indians - for whom de Kock plays - after their six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on Friday night.

Before the tournament started, CSA had confirmed to the BCCI that its players would be available for the full duration of the IPL. Gibson, however, had requested to CSA that key South Africa players part of the World Cup squad return in the first week of May, which would have likely ruled them out of the IPL playoffs.

Kagiso Rabada was also part of Delhi Capitals' squad until just over a week ago, when he returned to South Africa under something of an injury cloud, having complained of a stiff back and been sent for scans that prompted CSA to call him home. But it is also understood that the return of Rabada from the IPL was not a smooth process. The IPL is understood to have not thought his back issue serious enough to merit an early exit, but CSA's medical team insisted he return to South Africa after Proteas physio Craig Govender, who happened - by chance - to be travelling through Delhi at the time, saw the scans.

For his own part, Rabada said via social media channels that his return was purely "precautionary".

"Ipl was really fun!," Rabada said on Instagram. "Extremely glad for the opportunity! Sad to leave but good to be home! Bittersweet. Regarding my back, I'm good - precautionary is all."

At the time of writing, CSA had not responded to ESPNcricinfo's request for comment on the issue of Gibson's request to have his players back early, though TimesLive quoted a spokesperson as saying: "We are not aware of such a request made to the executive."

"Our understanding is that, as is the case with New Zealand, the Windies, etcetera, we as CSA do our best to assist our players in maximising their IPL income," the spokesperson added. "It is only Australia and England who can afford to pull their players out."

The members of the England squad who had been active in the IPL - including Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Sam Billings and Jonny Bairstow - were all directed by the ECB to return to England on or before April 26. The four members of Australia's World Cup squad who had been part of the league returned by April 30.

But, given that the IPL pays national boards a fee for each foreign player taking part in the league, and CSA's precarious financial position, it was not in a position to risk ruffling any feathers by calling South Africa's World Cup players back early. CSA said that "discussions" around the departure date of its players from the IPL were still happening in March, and by the middle of April, CSA told ESPNcricinfo, the plan was "for guys who make the final to join us on the 13th."

South Africa's pre-World Cup camp begins on Sunday, May 12, the day of the IPL final that du Plessis and Tahir will be part of. South Africa will then depart for England on May 19.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone still has not spoken with linebacker Telvin Smith, but he wants Smith to know that he and the rest of the organization are there to support him if he wants to reach out.

That was his immediate reaction when Smith announced on Instagram on Thursday that he would not be playing in 2019 because he needs to take time off for his family and his health.

"I kind of put football to the side," Marrone said Friday after the first day of the Jaguars' rookie minicamp. "I think that [football], to me, is an afterthought right now. I really believe in my heart that Telvin knows that we're here to support him in any which way -- not just myself, the coaches, the organization, his teammates, and I'm sure he's aware of that.

"All we can do is just make sure we pray, and he knows that if he needs some support, obviously we're here for him."

Marrone would not speculate why Smith would not be willing to speak to the team and said he had no idea when he last spoke with Smith after the 2018 season ended.

"We just want to make sure that everyone knows that we're there to support them and if they reach out -- and hopefully each player does, not just Telvin -- that to know that they don't have to do anything alone," Marrone said. "We're here for them."

Smith said in his statement on Instagram on Thursday afternoon that he would not play in 2019, but Marrone said the door would certainly be open for him to return if he were to change his mind.

"Hopefully we'll have some communication before that and if we do, yeah, it'd be great," Marrone said.

Smith was due to make $9.75 million this season and would have counted $12.56 million against the salary cap. If Smith does not play only the prorated portion of his signing bonus ($2.81 million) will count against the salary cap in 2019.

The Jaguars drafted Smith in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. A positive marijuana test at the NFL combine contributed to him dropping and per league rules also placed him in the NFL's substance abuse program. However, he missed only four games -- all because of injuries -- in his five seasons.

Per ESPN Stats & Information, Smith has had more solo tackles (445) than any player since he entered the NFL and his 586 total tackles ranks fourth over that span. Smith also has nine interceptions (three of which he returned for touchdowns) in his career.

Smith, who had a career-high 134 tackles last season, was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro in 2017 as a key part of a Jaguars defense that finished second in the NFL in sacks and turnovers forced and led the league in pass defense. The Jaguars scored seven defensive touchdowns that season and Smith had two, as well as another in the postseason.

PITTSBURGH -- New Steeler Justin Layne promised on draft night "we're taking all the Browns stuff down" from his Cleveland home.

Layne wasn't lying, and his dad had his back.

"Yes sir. Oh yeah, Browns everywhere, my dad took it all down and replaced it -- literally everything, every flag I had," said Layne, a cornerback picked in the third round, on Friday from Pittsburgh's rookie minicamp. "So, it's all done. We are fully committed."

How's this for commitment: Deondre Layne transformed a Browns-themed bathroom into a Steelers theme, documenting the process on Instagram. Layne's dad was seen painting over the orange colors with yellow and posing from inside the finished product, beside a Steelers logo on the wall.

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That simple...

A post shared by D. Layne (@_gods_favorite_1) on Apr 28, 2019 at 3:48pm PDT

Justin Layne played college ball at Michigan State but was a basketball and football standout at Benedictine High School in Cleveland. Layne said he attended Browns games as a child and isn't sure what to think of the Browns' recent roster upgrades leading to offseason buzz.

Layne is only concerned about his new colors now.

"I don't know what (dad) did with it, but all my stuff is gone," Layne said. "I threw all my stuff away. I don't have no use for it. So, yeah."