Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...
I Dig Sports

I Dig Sports

Haaland dazzles in Dortmund win over Frnakfurt

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 14 August 2021 15:55

Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland scored twice and set up another three goals as the hosts steamrolled past Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2 on Saturday to put down a marker in their Bundesliga opener.

It was captain Marco Reus who put new coach Marco Rose's team in the driving seat in the 23rd minute, scoring from a Haaland assist, with Dortmund fans returning in limited numbers to the 81,000-capacity stadium.

- Bundesliga on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only)

A Felix Passlack own goal four minutes later did nothing to slow them down as Thorgan Hazard rifled them back into the lead in the 32nd after Reus combined with the 21-year-old Haaland, who had scored a hat-trick in their German Cup first round win last week, for yet another counter attack.

The hosts, who face champions Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup on Tuesday, completed their first half goal rush with Haaland pouncing on a Stefan Ilsanker mistake to charge into the box and slot in for a two-goal lead in the 34th.

Gio Reyna added a fourth goal with a tap-in on the hour with Eintracht at the complete mercy of the bursting Dortmund runs that kept on coming. Another Haaland run earned him his second goal of the evening following a VAR review.

Fellow Norwegian Jens Petter Hauge scored late on his Bundesliga debut to somewhat improve the scoreline for Frankfurt. Bayern slipped up on their season opener on Friday with a 1-1 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach.

Oval Invincibles 147 for 8 (Evans 67*, Jacks 44) beat London Spirit 146 for 7 (Morgan 41, Denly 35, Shamsi 3-25) by two wickets
Laurie Evans rescued a tough chase with 67 not out off 37 balls to put Oval Invincibles second in the table heading into the final round of group games, ensuring they will qualify for the Hundred's knockout stages if they beat Southern Brave on Monday night.
Invincibles slipped to 14 for 3 in pursuit of 147 on a slowish pitch, and were wobbling at 52 for 4 when Evans came in at No. 6 to join Will Jacks. With three genuine tailenders from No. 9-11, there was no margin for error, but he launched a stunning counterattack to relieve the scoring pressure.
Jacks' dismissal, pulling Ravi Bopara straight to long-on, precipitated another stumble. Evans continued to score freely but Alex Blake and Tom Curran were both bowled, and Saqib Mahmood was run out looking for two with six needed off six balls. When Blake Cullen missed his yorker, Evans smoked him for six over long-on, keeping Oval's perfect home record intact and lifting 19,000 home fans off their seats.
Spirit, the Hundred's runaway horse after losing their first four completed games, had scrambled up to a par score thanks to Eoin Morgan's 41 - which included five sixes - and a late cameo from Roelof van der Merwe, with Tabraiz Shamsi and Sunil Narine again coming to the fore in the middle phase, as they have throughout Invincibles' unbeaten home run.
While Invincibles are guaranteed a knockout spot if they win their final game, they can still qualify with a defeat if other results go their way.
Evans' epic
Evans has spent the last four years batting almost exclusively in the top three for his various teams around the world, but has been forced into the middle order due to Invincibles' top-order strength. He was stranded at No. 8 in their last game, much to his frustration, and admitted that his position had changed so many times in the competition that he wasn't sure of the score when he came in.
He signalled his intent early with a perfect one, two, three off van der Merwe - a fierce slap through point off the back foot sandwiched between two lofted sixes over wide long-off - and scored the only boundary of the night off Mason Crane's bowling with a monstrous slog-sweep over midwicket. His strike rate of 181.81 owed much to his ability to hit the gaps and run hard, as well as his boundary-hitting: he hit seven of the 37 balls he faced for two, playing clips and pushes with soft hands to hit the fielders in the deep.
"It's one of the hardest things to do, particularly when guys at the top of the order haven't really got going," Morgan said. "You need to focus on process-driven things in order to take you where you need to be and Laurie did that. He constructed his innings really well, adapted to situations - they ran twos and ran us around the field when they needed to, and then attacked the boundary when it was appropriate. It was as well as I've seen him play."
Evans said: "I've been up and down the order in this side. My mindset is that if you're there at the end, you're going to win the game. I've done that throughout my career and I take pride in doing it. I haven't really got going in the Hundred so it's nice to put a match-winning knock in - I'm grateful to Moods [Tom Moody]. You work as hard as you can to improve year on year and I've experienced a lot of things now, so it's just nice to produce it in this tournament."
Jacks in a box
Evans was quick to praise Jacks' innings and without it, the chase would have been over before it had begun. Jason Roy and Narine had holed out to fielders in the deep in the space of three balls from van der Merwe and with Colin Ingram falling cheaply, seemingly suffering some discomfort after being hit on the elbow, Jacks' 44 was a vital knock.
He was crucial in making use of the Powerplay: Invincibles were 14 for 3 with eight balls left of it, but he hit four boundaries in five balls by clipping Brad Wheal off his pads, then cutting and sweeping van der Merwe for three in a row. He also pulled two sixes - one out of the screws, the other fumbled over the rope by an off-balance Joe Cracknell - and offered some support for Evans in a stand of 57; the next-highest score of the innings was Sam Billings' 9.
Morgan's moment
Morgan was a long-term advocate of a city-based short-form competition in England to rival the Big Bash and IPL and has been vocal in his praise of the Hundred throughout its first season, suggesting 10 days in that it was "already better" than the T20 Blast.
But on the pitch, he had struggled to make much of an impact: his first five innings brought 85 runs with a top score of 27, and his Spirit side were eliminated at the earliest possibility opportunity after four consecutive defeats. His own struggles with the bat were an extension of a wider pattern, too: his top score across 14 innings in the Blast, England's T20Is and the Hundred this summer was 38, and he had only scored at a 140+ strike rate in three of them.
"I've had a slow start to this competition and it's been disappointing, to be honest," he said afterwards. "As a senior player you want to score runs earlier in the tournament and contribute more, and I haven't done that."
This was a welcome return to form. Billings tried to sneak in five balls of Jacks' offspin, with him turning the ball away from the left-hander, but Morgan decided to take him on and flay him for four over extra cover, then six over square leg. His best shot was a cross-batted swat down the ground for six off Saqib Mahmood, skipping down the pitch and taking on an 88mph short ball, and he eventually fell for 41 off 20, top-edging a catch while trying to slog-sweep Shamsi for a third consecutive six.

Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98

Dak's shoulder is healing well, second MRI shows

Published in Breaking News
Saturday, 14 August 2021 16:12

FRISCO, Texas -- The second MRI on Dak Prescott's right latissimus strain showed what the Dallas Cowboys expected: Their quarterback is healing well.

Well enough to practice when the Cowboys get back on the field at Ford Center at The Star on Monday night for the first time this summer, or potentially see some preseason action Aug. 21 against the Houston Texans? Remains to be seen.

Prescott went through a third throwing session before the Cowboys' 19-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals without any issue. He pulled himself from practice on July 28 because of soreness and was shut down from throwing for two weeks.

He did some light throwing on Aug. 7 and stepped up his passing on Aug. 10 off to the side with wide receiver Amari Cooper before going through the pre-practice quarterback school the next day that also included some routes on air to running backs, tight ends and receivers.

After Wednesday's practice, Prescott said he has not felt any residual or unexpected pain after his first two throwing sessions, and he would like to play against the Texans.

"But I've got to keep progressing the right way," he said. "As long as I don't have any setbacks, when we get to that crossroads we'll obviously talk to the doctors and coaches and figure out what's best."

At the start of training camp, the Cowboys said they would like Prescott to get some work in the preseason so that his first live action following last year's dislocated and compound fracture of his right ankle would not come Sept. 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Executive vice president Stephen Jones said last week that would not be that important and the decision to play Prescott would also be determined by who else plays along the offensive line in the preseason game.

The strain was labeled a "baseball injury," which is why the Cowboys consulted with the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees, but all along Prescott said he could have played had the Cowboys been in the regular season.

"I think that's because people that know me, the people who know the competitor I am, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure I'm out there," he said. "But as I've said, this is something we want to nip in the bud and not let continue to linger. And I think the best way we do that is stay on the pace that I am and progress through it the right way, and once Sept. 9 comes I'll play that game and move forward without ever thinking about this again."

Fields trips, regroups for 2 TDs in Bears debut

Published in Breaking News
Saturday, 14 August 2021 16:12

CHICAGO -- Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields reminded everyone on Saturday that it's not how you start, it's how you finish.

Fields, the 11th overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft, entered the game against the Miami Dolphins in the second quarter to thunderous applause at Soldier Field. But he mostly struggled to find a rhythm until the end of the half, when he and the offense moved the football enough for Chicago to kick a long field goal as time expired.

"I was calm as could be today," Fields said.

Fields flipped the switch at halftime and led Chicago on a 77-yard scoring drive to open the third quarter that he capped off with an 8-yard touchdown run. On the play, Fields showcased both his strength and speed, fighting off a Dolphins defender before leaving the pocket and going virtually untouched until he crossed the goal line.

"It was awesome," Fields said. "Definitely a dream come true, first NFL touchdown and have my teammates celebrate, it was a nice moment."

He later found tight end Jesse James wide open for a 30-yard touchdown strike, the final touchdown in a 20-13 Bears win.

"I thought that Justin did a great job of worrying about today and he played smart football," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "He made plays, and again like what you just said, it is preseason, and we all understand that there's variables involved in all that. But at the same time, if you go back and look, is he doing what you want him to do, absolutely."

Fields -- the No. 2 quarterback behind veteran Andy Dalton, who played two series Saturday -- finished 14-of-20 for 142 passing yards and one touchdown along with five rushes for 33 yards and one touchdown.

"Everybody here is super excited about the way that he played today," Nagy added. "You know, we all want the same thing. We understand the buzz. We understand the excitement. That's why we drafted him you know what I mean. That's why we drafted him.

"We want to make sure that we continue to go through this thing and we understand the process and this is one game that he came in here and now the beautiful thing is we get to get more practices in and get to see how he comes back next week, you know, against Buffalo and he's going to have another chance."

Matthew Wolff took home $1 million at the Wyndham Championship, the second most of anyone in the field, despite missing the cut.

That's because Wolff won the AON Risk Reward Challenge, a season-long competition on Tour that averages a player's two best scores on a designated hole, which this week at Sedgefield Country Club was the  545-yard, par-5 15th. Wolff parred the hole on Day 1 and birdied it on Day 2. 

"Yeah, it means a lot," Wolff, who finished the tournament at 1 under, said. "I think, you know, obviously there's a lot of money to be made out on Tour, but I'm new out here and every little bit helps. And AON puts on a great contest, year-long contest. Just happy that I got it done. And I knew about it kind of the last couple months, so on the AON holes I was a little more nervous than I usually am, but played them pretty well and just came out on top." 

Wolff, 22, averaged 10 AON Risk Reward holes this season at -1.105. Louis Oosthuizen trailed Wolff in the competition and would have needed two eagles to tie Wolff before he withdrew from the Wyndham Championship with a neck injury. 

"I mean, I'm not happy when anyone pulls out," Wolff said. "If I'm going to win the challenge, I want to win it because I play the best golf, not because someone gives it to me. I feel like I did that and on those holes, I happened to play them really well. I think I was averaging like a stroke under par every single week or according to the contest, so I played those holes correctly, just got to play the rest of the holes right."

Pulisic fires Chelsea to victory over Crystal Palace

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 14 August 2021 10:27

Christian Pulisic fired Chelsea to a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday against Crystal Palace.

Marcos Alonso opened the scoring for Thomas Tuchel's side and it was a memorable Premier League debut for Trevor Chalobah who scored in front of the home crowd.

- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)

"It is a dream for a boy like me being here and to play for my home club is unreal," Chalobah said after the game.

"As I was getting closer to the goal I though I might as well shoot and just went for it.

"I didn't know the ball went in, I did not know what to do. I was over the moon.

"I have been training with the team in preseason and the manager said I was playing and I was ready. I was surprised by the Super Cup game too and I have taken the opportunity with both hands."

Alonso put Chelsea ahead on 27 minutes with a free kick. He swept the ball over the Crystal Palace defence with his left foot.

United State men's national team international Pulisic added Chelsea's second 10 minutes later when Vicente Guaita saved a Mason Mount shot. The goalkeeper only managed to push the ball as far as Pulisic, though, who tapped it into the net.

Chelsea's third came from Chalobah -- who used to be a ballboy at Stamford Bridge -- on 58 minutes. He struck the ball into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.

The result means Patrick Vieira starts his tenure at Crystal Palace with a loss. The ex-New York City FC boss was appointed coach after Roy Hodgson stepped down during the summer following four years in the role.

LIVE: Liverpool open season at promoted Norwich

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 14 August 2021 12:30

Saves 3

  • Shots 0
  • 0 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 0
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 0

  • Shots 1
  • 0 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 0
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 0

  • Shots 1
  • 1 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 1
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 0

  • Shots 2
  • 1 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 4
  • 1 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 0

  • Shots 2
  • 0 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 1
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 0

  • Shots 0
  • 0 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 2
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 1 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 0

  • Shots 0
  • 0 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 3
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 0

  • Shots 0
  • 0 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 0
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 0

  • Shots 2
  • 0 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 1
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red
61' 3  Fabinho

Goals 0

  • Shots 0
  • 0 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 0
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red
20 Diogo Jota  26'

Goals 1

  • Shots 2
  • 2 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 1
  • 1 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red
61' 9  Roberto Firmino  65'

Goals 1

  • Shots 1
  • 1 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 0
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 0

  • Shots 3
  • 1 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 0
  • 1 Fouls Against
  • Assists 0
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red

Goals 1

  • Shots 5
  • 2 Shots on Target
  • Fouls Committed 1
  • 0 Fouls Against
  • Assists 2
  • Offsides 0
  • Discipline
    • 0 Yellow
    • 0 Red
Essex 317 for 7 (Rymell 121, Hill 3-51) beat Yorkshire 188 (Westley 3-33, Plom 3-34) by 129 runs
Not since Dan Lawrence made such an impact in his first season in 2015 had a graduate of the Essex academy made a hundred for the county. That shortfall has now been addressed by two century-makers in this season's Royal London Cup - Feroze Khushi and now Josh Rymell, both of them encouraging hopes of a new dawn. But how to regard it? The challenge of this tournament is to distinguish the false dawn from the true.
Rymell's 121 from 130 balls was the centrepiece of Essex's trouncing of Yorkshire in the first RLC play-off - a 129-run victory that secured them a semi-final place on Monday. For Yorkshire, the last six weeks of the season still bring hopes of success in the T20 Blast and Championship, although as far as four-day cricket is concerned they carry forward a considerable points deficit in to the final group stage.
When Lawrence became Essex's third-youngest Championship century-maker, taking Surrey for 161 at the age of 17, county cricket was still confident in its value and it gained considerable attention. Khushi and now Rymell have taken their chance in a much-devalued tournament, but not to recognise that 50-over cricket is now largely developmental is to abandon attempts at proper evaluation.
Nevertheless, with county debutants in List A cricket this season now well past the hundred mark, Essex's batting pair look more persuasive than many. Khushi failed on this occasion, George Hill's inswinger bowling him through a sizeable gate, but Rymell, who has been promoted from the middle order to opener as the tournament has progressed, produced an expertly-paced innings that belied his years. He now has 287 runs at 57.40, although he would have had considerably fewer has Dom Bess not dropped him off Hill on 36.
Bess was one of a handful of Yorkshire players who could confidently expect to get into a full-strength side, but he failed to produce the turn that Essex's spinners - the part-timer Tom Westley among them - found in reply. Yorkshire were routed by a trio of Essex spinners on a worn surface as they set sail for 318.
Their start was secure enough, as they reached 68 for 1 in the 15th over, but Will Fraine and Will Luxton fell to lofted legside hits in successive overs as Simon Harmer and Aron Nijjar enforced a grip that was never relinquished. In seven overs, they shared four wickets at a cost of 20 runs to leave Yorkshire reeling on 88 for 5. Westley then had Gary Ballance lbw on the back foot and picked up a three-for. The margin of defeat could have been much higher were it not for a spot of window dressing from Matthew Revis and Matthew Waite.
Yorkshire held Essex for much of their innings: Khushi was the third batter to fall at 108 in the 27th over and Paul Walter's scratching around thereafter told of an unrewarding season. But Mathew Pillans, a curio among Yorkshire signings, bowled Walter into form with five overs which went for 50.
Although Walter departed at mid-off to a leading edge against Revis, Essex added 141 from the last 83 balls. Rymell was motoring by then and found willing accomplices in Adam Wheater (34 from 20) and Harmer (31 not out from 13) as Yorkshire's bowling fell apart. Only Hill, who floated his medium-pace into the blockhole to good effect, and emerged with 3 for 51, came out with much credit. It was such a delivery that did for Rymell as he attempted a flat-batted scrape to third man.
Ballance, back in a captaincy role that has not always sat easily with him, suggested that Yorkshire had bowled well for the entire innings and that everybody would be much better for the experience. Which was nice, even if it did not stand up to scrutiny. Essex, meanwhile, are one game away from their first List A Final since 2008. That is even nicer. But maybe that doesn't stand up to much scrutiny either.

David Hopps writes on county cricket for ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps

London Spirits crushed after 8 for 23 collapse

Published in Cricket
Saturday, 14 August 2021 10:30
Oval Invincibles 107 for 2 (Adams 37*) beat London Spirit 103 for 9 (Beaumont 42, Knight 34) by eight wickets
Oval Invincibles will play in Friday's eliminator at their home ground unless they lose their final group game and other results go against them, after a remarkable fightback with the ball helped them cruise past London Spirit with 13 balls to spare.
Playing with a full complement of overseas players for only the second time in the competition after injuries to Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, Invincibles were on the ropes with Spirit cruising at 80 for 1 after 61 balls. But a disastrous collapse of 23 for 8 saw them post a below-par 103.
Georgia Adams anchored the reply with an unbeaten 37 off 34 balls, with useful cameos from Fran Wilson and Kapp keeping them ticking. The asking rate was never a problem and with Spirit's attack lacking incision or bite, the chase turned into a cakewalk in front of over 11,000 fans basking in the late-afternoon sun.
Invincibles now have a two-point cushion on Northern Superchargers and Trent Rockets with a superior net run-rate. They can only miss out on qualification for the knockout stages if they lose to table-topping Southern Brave in their final group game, and both other teams win by a significant margin.
Spirit are mathematically still in contention, but are likely to be eliminated before their final group game against Welsh Fire on Wednesday barring a string of results falling in their favour.
Spirited start
Spirit lost Naomi Dattani early, caught slashing to extra cover. They would have been two down inside the Powerplay if wicketkeeper Sarah Bryce had held onto a thick edge from Heather Knight, who flashed at a 119kph length ball from Shabnim Ismail which cramped her for room. But after that early chance, when she had only managed one off her seven previous balls, Knight began to find her rhythm, pulling and punching consecutive boundaries to get up and running.
She pulled and swept Mady Villiers through square leg with disdain, and Tammy Beaumont went through the gears in the middle phase, scoring freely on both sides of the ground en route to her highest score of the Hundred so far. At 79 for 1 off 60 balls, Spirit were well-placed to accelerate at the death and press on towards 140, not least with all three of their overseas players waiting in the dugout.
Capsey + Kapp = Capitulation
Capsey only turned 17 this week but has already made a significant impression on Knight in this competition. It could lead many to wonder how long it will be before England give her an opportunity. At Lord's in the reverse fixture, she lofted her inside-out over extra cover on her way to a match-winning 59, and here, she broke a 76-run stand by inducing a top-edged sweep.
Kapp, on her return to the Invincibles XI after missing five consecutive games through injury, then returned for her third set of five. Beaumont punched her first ball to mid-off, where Jo Gardner's direct hit saw her stranded short of her ground despite a full-length dive, and Danielle Gibson was trapped lbw first ball as 80 for 1 turned into 85 for 4.
Deandra Dottin became Capsey's second victim, bowled on the sweep, and a flurry of late wickets at the death as Spirit's middle and lower order struggled to get themselves set saw them subside to a paltry 103 for 9. They have struggled for runs throughout the season - Knight, with 180 in seven innings, is their leading scorer - and their total always looked short of par.
Ominous Adams
Adams was the breakout player in English domestic cricket in 2020, leading Southern Vipers to the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy with a glut of runs while captaining the side, but struggled for form in the early rounds of the Hundred, with scores of 12, 0, 26 and 0 in her first four innings of the season.
But something has clicked in the last 10 days. She made 42 off 30 balls to set up a comfortable chase at Edgbaston in Invincibles' last completed game, and while she was not at her fluent best in making 37 not out off 34 balls in the south London sunshine, she grew into her innings after a slow start. Her best shot was a disdainful pull between the boundary-riders at midwicket and long-on off Knight, and with support from the rest of the top four, she led a cruise to victory.

Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98

Lunch Pakistan 217 and 56 for 2 (Abid 31*, Roach 2-8) lead West Indies 253 (Brathwaite 97, Holder 58, Afridi 4-59, Abbas 3-43) by 20 runs
Pakistan made short work of the West Indies tail before roughing it out with the bat, but they should feel they have had the better time of it in the first session of the third day. In their second innings, after conceding a 36-run lead, Pakistan shook off the early loss of Imran Butt as Azhar Ali and Abid Ali put together a 55-run stand, before the loss of Azhar on the stroke of lunch brought West Indies back.
In bright sunshine, Shaheen Afridi allowed just two more runs to the West Indies batters before cleaning them up for 253. The prodigious inswing he found was much better directed than anything he had managed the previous day. Jomel Warrican had his stumps knocked back first, before, on the 16th ball of the day, Joshua Da Silva was trapped dead in front. Part One of Pakistan's plan had been executed to perfection.
West Indies struck early themselves after the changeover, getting rid of the struggling Butt for nought as he pushed his pad out at one that was crashing into middle stump. Thereafter, though, Abid and Azhar settled down, seeing off the pace bowlers without much trouble. Abid looked to take the attack to Jayden Seales early on, smashing him for two off-side boundaries with shots that showed more intent than he had displayed in the first innings. When Warrican came on, he danced down the pitch to deposit the ball over his head for the first six of the match; it was the shot that erased Pakistan's deficit.
Azhar was more circumspect, and more uncertain through the early part of his innings. He found the fifth-stump line targeted as the pacers tested his footwork and his judgment, with the outside edge beaten on a number of occasions. When Kemar Roach finally induced the edge, Jason Holder put him down at second slip. Azhar followed it up with two aggressive boundaries either side of the wicket off Warrican as the shackles began to come off.
Roach, however, had the last laugh in the last over before lunch, bringing one back in sharply to breach Azhar's defence and crash into his leg stump. It was a wicket West Indies needed desperately, and a match that has swayed both ways multiple times is finely poised once more.

Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000

Soccer

Man Utd wrap up worst ever Premier League spot

Man Utd wrap up worst ever Premier League spot

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsManchester United's miserable season ended with confirmation of the...

Arteta reassures Arsenal fans: 'We'll win it' in end

Arteta reassures Arsenal fans: 'We'll win it' in end

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsMikel Arteta has urged Arsenal not to be satisfied with being runne...

As it happened: Man City beat Arsenal to title

As it happened: Man City beat Arsenal to title

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe final day of the 2023-24 Premier League saw Manchester City win...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

Anunoby, Hart starting for Knicks in Game 7

Anunoby, Hart starting for Knicks in Game 7

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNew York Knicks forwards OG Anunoby and Josh Hart were both in the...

Murray 'feels great', 'hungry' for big Game 7

Murray 'feels great', 'hungry' for big Game 7

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsDENVER -- Nuggets star guard Jamal Murray is "feeling great" and we...

Baseball

Twins RHP Jackson DFA'd after May struggles

Twins RHP Jackson DFA'd after May struggles

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsVeteran Jay Jackson was designated for assignment by the Minnesota...

Rangers' Garcia scratched with forearm soreness

Rangers' Garcia scratched with forearm soreness

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers slugger Adolis Garcia was scratch...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated