As the Manchester United pursuit of Sofyan Amrabat heats up on transfer deadline day, director of football negotiations Matt Hargreaves has reportedly flown to Italy.

What is the latest transfer news on Man United and Sofyan Amrabat?

The Red Devils have been chasing the Fiorentina midfielder for some time but don't appear to be able to pay full price for the player.

Indeed, as per The Times, Man United "cannot afford to meet Fiorentina’s £30 million asking price" but they are trying to loan the Morocco international instead.

That same report notes how Amrabat himself doesn't even know what the future holds as he said this week: “If I go away, I don’t know . . . maybe I could stay."

As per The Athletic, the Premier League outfit did make a €2m (£1.7m) loan bid but it was unsurprisingly turned down by Fiorentina.

Read the latest Man United transfer news HERE…

But in a fresh update, shared by David Ornstein on Twitter, "Manchester United director of football negotiations Matt Hargreaves has flown to Italy" to try and complete a deal. However, there is "no agreement" between the clubs for the 27-year-old as of yet.

Interestingly enough, there were reports in the Manchester Evening News about a private jet which has been booked from Florence to arrive at Manchester Airport on Friday afternoon at 12.52pm (UK time).

That article also noted that: "United have not denied the possibility they have arranged the private jet".

And while, after Ornstein's latest update, it might seem unlikely that another flight would be booked quite so soon after Hargreaves' has arrived in Italy, as it is a private flight, it is possible the scheduled time could be pushed back to allow for protracted negotiations.

Now, in a further update from Fabrizio Romano, the player is "on his way in order to undergo medical tests as new Man Utd player after agreement reached."

How many goals has Sofyan Amrabat scored?

As per The Athletic, Hargreaves is a former executive at Adidas and was only appointed to his role at United in March, starting work this summer. So this will be one of the first major deals he would have been involved with for the club.

With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if he returns to Manchester alone, or if he can successfully complete a loan deal for the 27-year-old midfielder.

In Amrabat, United certainly won't be getting an attacking player. After all, in 107 games at his current club, he has scored just one goal, while also picking up only one assist. In fact, across his entire senior club career, he has only netted five times having made 228 appearances for four different teams.

However, the Red Devils should be landing a pretty feisty defensive midfielder if they can get this deal across the line. Indeed, during the 2022 World Cup, Moroccan journalist Amine El Amri called the player a "raging bull" when speaking to TalkSPORT.

"Sofyan Amrabat is a great footballer in addition to being a raging bull," they said. "I’m trying to be as objective as I can, but I think he’s been the best midfielder in this World Cup.

“I have nothing but respect for guys like Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Rodrigo De Paul and many others, but I think he’s been absolutely the best player in midfield in this World Cup.”

حققت ميار شريف فوزًا صعبًا على الصينية يوي يوان المصنفة 36 عالميا بمجموعتين دون رد (6-1، 6-3) في اللقاء الذي جمع بينهما ضمن منافسات بطولة رولان جاروس للتنس.

وتواصل ميار شريف تحسين تصنيفها العالمي لمحترفات التنس من أجل خطف بطاقة دورة الألعاب الأولمبية باريس 2024.

وتقدمت ميار شريف الأسبوع الماضي، 14 مركزًا في تصنيف محترفات التنس لتحتل المركز الـ 66 بعدما كانت في المركز الـ 80.

ميار شريف تتأهل إلى الدور الثالث من بطولة روما المفتوحة للتنس

يذكر أن ميار شريف خسرت مؤخرًا أمام اللاعبة الأميريكية بيتون ستيرنز والمصنفة رقم 81 عالميا في نهائي بطولة الأميرة للا مريم بمجموعتين دون رد 6-1 6-2 .

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany could be set to enter the market once again at Turf Moor to add a defensive addition to the ranks at Turf Moor, according to reports.

What's the latest news involving Burnley?

The Clarets have endured an unfortunate start to their Premier League return despite being competitive in both opening games, with Manchester City and Aston Villa claiming maximum points at Turf Moor, as per Sky Sports.

Cited by The Daily Mail, Burnley manager Kompany defended his decision to field youth over experience in his side's 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa in his post-match press conference, stating:

"Learning comes at a price in the Premier League. It's a conscious choice. We want to move forward and I have seen enough from us to see something is there. Villa are a good opponent. The goal we scored to make it 2-1 helped us build momentum but at the peak of that, we conceded a third. If you get punished, you have to learn from it."

Learning the ropes in the English top-flight is never an easy feat, especially when factoring in that Kompany is still trying to integrate new signings Lawrence Vigoroux, Zeki Amdouni, Aaron Ramsey, Jordan Beyer, Sander Berge, Wilson Odobert, Dara O'Shea, Hannes Delcroix, Luca Kolesho, Nathan Redmond and Jacob Bruun Larsen into his squad and priorities where they all fit into his tactical framework, as per Transfermarkt.

According to Foot Mercato journalist Santi Auona on X, Burnley could be set to enter the market for yet another addition to their ranks, as he stated: "EXCL: Burnley made an offer to Genk for Mike Trésor. The player of KRC Genk wants to sign in Premier League.

Negotiations are progressing. It's a loan with option."

Next up for Burnley is a trip to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest in the second round of the Carabao Cup as Kompany looks to avoid losing three consecutive fixtures.

Who could Burnley sign?

According to RMC Sport journalist Fabrice Hawkins, Burnley are in the mix to sign Marseille youngster Isaak Toure alongside a host of clubs from France and Belgium, as he explained:

"Isaak Touré interests Clermont, Lorient, Nantes, Metz, Anderlecht, Burnley. In Lorient, we could witness a crossover with Bamo Meïté. Lorient wants it but offers a loan. OM want a transfer for him as for BMeïté. The other tracks are less concrete."

Toure is highly-rated in his homeland and is a colossus in the heart of Marseille's backline and is one of the tallest players in world football, standing at 6 foot 9 tall. Last term, he made 25 appearances for his current employers across all competitions, registering a solitary goal in the process, as per Transfermarkt.

Labelled as "very promising" by Football Talent Scout – Jacek Kulig, Toure ranks highly among his positional peers across Europe's top five divisions in the art of blocks, having successfully made around 1.79 per 90 minutes across the last 365 days, putting him in the 94th percentile for this metric, as per FBRef.

Kompany is known to be willing to give youth a chance at Turf Moor and Toure could be the latest installment of promising talent to arrive at Burnley before the window closes.

Chelsea could end up making a January move for one "£100 million" star and his transfer is a "real possibility".

Who have Chelsea signed 2023?

Mauricio Pochettino saw his squad significantly reinforced over the summer window by Blues transfer chiefs Todd Boehly, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

Indeed, Chelsea sealed eight major arrivals in total with Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi, Nicolas Jackson, Lesley Ugochukwu, Robert Sanchez, Romeo Lavia, Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer joining the club.

Project signings like Djordje Petrovic, Angelo and Deivid Washington also put pen to paper on moves to Stamford Bridge, with their outlay totalling £397 million.

To balance the books and abide by financial fair play laws, Chelsea saw Kalidou Koulibaly, N'Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Cesar Azpilicueta, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ethan Ampadu and Callum Hudson-Odoi all move in the opposite direction.

How are Chelsea doing?

So far, Pochettino's start to life in west London has been a really mixed bag. Chelsea won their first game of the new Premier League season with a 3-0 home victory over newly-promoted Luton Town.

However, they've dropped points in all of their other encounters; drawing at home to Liverpool on the opening day while losing to both West Ham and, most recently, Nottingham Forest.

"Very frustrating result and everyone is very disappointed in the changing room right now," explained defender Ben Chilwell after their 1-0 loss to Forest.

"If you look at the stats we dominated the game, had the possession, but the most important stat is the goals. We lost in that department and lost the game, that is the black and white of it and we need to improve."

Who are Chelsea linked with?

Despite their serious summer spending yet again, the Blues could move to make further signings in the winter transfer window, which opens in little under four months.

Chelsea didn't sign a star, out-and-out centre-forward in the summer but could move to rectify that swiftly.

That is according to journalist Pete O'Rourke, who writes for Football Insider that they may well make a move to bring in Brentford star Ivan Toney.

The Englishman is currently serving a ban for gambling breaches but is set to return soon after the new year; something which has seemingly attracted Pochettino's interest.

Toney is also set to resume first team training on September 17, and Chelsea are "interested" in bringing him to the club next year.

There was apparently no chance of the striker departing over the summer, given his ban, but now a January switch is considered a "real possibility".

How good is Ivan Toney?

Scoring 20 goals in 33 starts for Brentford in the top flight last season, Toney stands out as one of England's most prolific strikers when playing.

Bees boss Thomas Frank has even said he's worth £100 million; having also heaped praise on the 27-year-old's intelligent style of play.

"Ivan is very intelligent, because he’s reflecting, and he deserves a lot of praise himself for also coming into a well-run club and listening to all the small bits and adding extra layers to his development and performance," Frank said in 2021.

"If you want to be a top player you need to work hard, constantly reflect and want to learn and then of course you need to have that confidence that he’s got so naturally.

"He’s coming across so fantastically: he’s humble, calm, but with a mindset of a lion."

Arsenal have undergone a remarkable transformation in recent seasons. From missing out on the Champions League to arch-rivals Tottenham in 2021/22 to running Manchester City close to the Premier League title in 2022/23, the Gunners' meteoric rise has seen them shift their spending up a gear in the transfer window.

In the summer of 2022, Mikel Arteta was allowed to open up the chequebook and raid his former club for Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus for a combined £82m, with the pair becoming vital cogs in the Spaniard's footballing machine.

With the aim of challenging Man City for the title once more, Arsenal have turned their volume of spending up a notch, replacing the likes of Matt Turner, Rob Holding, Granit Xhaka and Florian Balogun with David Raya, Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz for a combined £208m.

Out of that quartet, it is Rice who has made the most impressive start to life in north London, etching his name into Gunners folklore by scoring the winner in a pulsating 3-1 victory over Manchester United.

The Englishman is forming a strong partnership with Thomas Partey in the engine room and despite the qualities the latter possesses, Arsenal could have upgraded on the Ghanaian by signing Federico Valverde in 2016.

Did Arsenal almost sign Fede Valverde?

According to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Arsenal had the opportunity to sign Valverde in 2016 when he was plying his trade in Uruguay for CA Penarol.

While the 25-year-old has become one of the best midfielders in Europe, his path to the top could have been a lot different.

The Gunners took the 50-cap Uruguay international on trial for a week seven years ago but Arsenal's manager at the time, Arsene Wenger, declined the opportunity to secure his services with Real Madrid swooping for him instead in a £4.5m deal.

Despite being rejected by the Frenchman, Valverde spoke fondly about his brief stint at the club and particularly, the impact Alexis Sanchez had on him as a youngster.

He said: "I have always been grateful to him. When I went to train at Arsenal, Alexis was there and he was one of the few who came up to help me.

"I will always be grateful to him because, being a nobody, I was well-received by him. He was there to help me when I was a kid. As a footballer, he is an incredible player."

What has Valverde achieved at Real Madrid?

Lauded as "untouchable" by manager Carlo Ancelotti, Valverde has enjoyed a glittering career so far in the Spanish capital, winning two La Liga titles and a Champions League in 2022. Such sparkling form and honours have seen his value rise to a meteoric £129m, as per Football Observatory.

The versatile midfielder, who can operate box-to-box, as a number 10 or on either flank, has become an important player in the Italian's system due to the fact he can play in a variety of positions, but it isn't just his versatility that has caught the eye.

Speaking on BT Sport after Real's 5-1 demolition of Celtic in the Champions League last season, Joe Cole heaped praise on Valverde for the array of technical and physical attributes he brings to the party while putting him in the same bracket as Jude Bellingham, saying:

"He's standing right at the top of the tree with Bellingham in the young players, and he's on the verge of becoming the best.

"He's box-to-box, he scores goals, he's a technician he was the unsung hero in the final, I thought he was outstanding against Liverpool.

"His stats this year are unbelievable, his goals, assists, goal involvements, incredible player and we talk a lot about Bellingham in this country, but this kid is every bit as good as Bellingham."

The departure of Casemiro to Manchester United was the catalyst for the £134k per-week star to grasp more opportunities to impress next to the untouchable duo of Luca Modric and Toni Kroos, doing so by becoming the driving force in that midfield, covering ground quickly and making lung-bursting runs to contribute further forward.

In the 2022/23 season, Valverde scored more goals than he managed in his previous five seasons for the club, amassing 12 goals in 56 appearances, compared to a total of six in the seasons prior, demonstrating that his influence on this Real side grows fast as he continues to play more regularly.

Valverde's former teammate Casemiro always believed in the Uruguayan's ability and predicted he would stand tall among the world's elite.

Speaking in 2020, the Brazilian said: "He's going to be one of the best No 8s in the world in two years"

According to FBref, Valverde is backing up that claim by producing frighteningly good metrics when compared against players positionally similar to him across Europe's top five leagues. He ranks in top 8% for progressive carries, top 10% for non-penalty goals, top 10% for expected assists and top 13% for progressive passes recorded.

For as long as Valverde continues to have a growing influence at Real by producing in every department, Arsenal will continue to rue their decision to let the 25-year-old slip through the net who is now worth a whopping £129m, as per Football Observatory.

Essex have secured a return for Neil Wagner, the New Zealand left-armer who played a key role in their 2017 Championship title. Wagner has signed for an initial spell from May until July, with the possibility of it being extended depending on his international commitments.Although Wagner’s 31 wickets came at 35.32 last season, he sent down more than 300 overs – behind only Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter – and added experience to a youthful seam attack. His aggressive style complimented the nagging lines provided by Porter, and his best figures of 6 for 48, at Taunton in April, helped set up Essex’s first win in what was to become a memorable season.Currently ranked the No. 7 Test bowler in the world, Wagner will take over from Peter Siddle as Essex’s overseas player in May, after a five-match Championship stint for the Australian. Wagner is set to play in all formats until the end of July.”Once I knew there was an opportunity to come back to Essex, I was very keen to get back to Chelmsford and build on the hard work and success of last season,” Wagner said.”Everyone at the club made me feel welcome last year, from the members to the commercial team, and I absolutely loved my time there. The squad and coaching staff were brilliant with me and I am looking forward to catching up with the friends I made and bringing more success to such a special club.”Wagner was Essex’s main overseas signing in 2017, joining for a second stint later in the season after Mohammad Amir returned to Pakistan. As well as helping Essex to their first Championship in 25 years, he claimed 14 wickets in the Royal London Cup before their semi-final exit. The 31-year-old has also played county cricket previously for Lancashire and Northamptonshire.He claimed his best Test figures of 7 for 39 against West Indies in December and should play a key role in New Zealand’s two-Test series against England starting next month. New Zealand are then due to have a six-month gap before touring the UAE to play Pakistan in October.Anthony McGrath, Essex’s head coach, said: “We have been working hard on bringing Neil back for a while. His performances were excellent last season and he offers something to the squad with both bat and ball.”Off the field he was very much a popular member of the squad and he brings international experience to our exciting group of young bowlers. He showed great commitment to the club last year and was integral to what we achieved. From the minute he joined he understood exactly what Essex is all about, and we are looking forward to welcoming him back this year.”

عبّر لاعب وسط النادي الأهلي، عمرو السولية، عن احترامه الكبير لتصريحات محمود عبدالرازق شيكابالا الأخيرة، مؤكداً على أنّه نجم كبير وأسطورة من أساطير الزمالك.

وقال عمرو السولية، في تصريحات عبر برنامج “الكورة مع فايق”، على قناة “mbc masr 2”: “تصريحات شيكابالا الأخيرة محترمة، تصدر من نجم كبير وأسطورة من أساطير نادي الزمالك، أنا على المستوى الشخصي أحبه منذ أن كنت لاعبًا في الإسماعيلي”.

وتابع: “90% من الناس لا يعرفون شخصية شيكابالا خارج الملعب، شخص هادئ محترم لا يخطئ في حق أحد وابن بلد، ويخاف على قميص الزمالك”.

طالع أيضًا | شيكابالا يكشف كواليس إشارته لجماهير الأهلي بعد خسارة كأس مصر في السعودية

وأضاف السولية: “ما يحدث في الملعب يكون فعل ورد فعل، وما قاله بداية صفحة جديدة مع جمهور النادي الأهلي”.

وأشار: “أتمنى الفترة القادمة الأمور تهدأ بينه وبين الجمهور، وتكون البداية قبل مباراة السوبر الإفريقي، التعصب أخرنا سنين للخلف، والعالم كله يتقدم ويتخطانا ونحن في مكاننا والتعصب موجود”.

واختتم: “في الآخر هي كرة وكل لاعب يدافع عن شعار ناديه، لكن خارج الملعب نحن أصدقاء”.

After six consecutive seasons in the Premier League, Burnley were finally relegated back to the Championship during the 2021/22 season.

Although throughout his time at Turf Moor the English man was constantly praised for getting the most out of players on a limited budget.

Who did Burnley sign under Dyche?

Following Sean Dyche’s sacking as Clarets boss, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville believed Dyche did an amazing job, considering the little resources he was given.

He said:

"He had a bantamweight budget and yet punched hard against the heavyweights for years."

Under Dyche, Burnley had a very clear transfer policy as eight of their 10 most expensive signings under the 52-year-old were all from the Championship.

1

£16m

Wout Weghorst

2

£15m

Ben Gibson

3

£15m

Chris Wood

4

£13m

Robbie Brady

5

£13m

Maxwel Cornet

6

£13m

Nathan Collins

7

£11m

Andre Gray

8

£11m

Matej Vydra

9

£11m

Jeff Hendrick

10

£9m

Josh Brownhill

Since Dyche was sacked and Burnley promoted back to the Premier League only their 10th most expensive signing Josh Brownhill remains at the club.

One of the players who has moved on is Chris Wood, who left for Newcastle in January 2022, however, the decision to let him leave during their relegation battle looks like it could have been a stroke of genius by Dyche.

How much did Newcastle pay for Chris Wood?

Wood joined Burnley from Leeds United in the 2017 summer transfer window for a then-club-record fee of £15m.

During his time with Leeds, the now 31-year-old made 88 appearances, scored 44 goals and provided nine assists.

However, after joining Burnley he revealed that he couldn’t wait to play for Burnley in the Premier League.

He said:

"I've had tastes of being in there but I've never had the chance to give it a proper bash.

"Coming here I feel I've got a proper opportunity to do that. I've never started a Premier League game and this is what I want to do.

"This is a club that wants to stay in the Premier League for years to come and it's going that way."

Eventually, after four and half years at Turf Moor, the striker left Burnley to join Newcastle for £25m.

This was a significant fee for a forward who had only scored three goals all season.

Why did Newcastle sign Chris Wood?

Despite only scoring three goals for Burnley before joining the Magpies, Wood was part of a Burnley team that struggled to score goals throughout his time with them.

In all four of his full Premier League seasons for Burnley, the New Zealand international hit over 10 goals, with his highest tally being 14 in the 2019/20 season.

In total Wood made 165 appearances for Burnley, scoring 53 goals and registering nine assists, this goal-scoring form meant that the forward finished as Burnley’s top goalscorer in three of his four full seasons.

Following Burnley’s 2-0 win over Fulham, Neville, speaking on Sky Sports, was full of praise for the West Bromwich Albion academy graduate after his first-half goal.

He said:

"It's almost like a player you've been watching for a few years and then all of a sudden you wake up to the fact that he's better than I thought he was.

"He's been a big handful tonight. It's a brilliant strike. It's one of those where he hits across it and it's more difficult for the goalkeeper, it's fading away from him.

“The little bit of skill doesn't quite come off to start with but it's a brilliant finish."

During his final full season in 2020/21 with the Clarets, Wood proved himself as the focal point and main man of the team, as he almost single-handedly kept up a Burnley side that finished 17th.

This was shown through his stats, per Sofascore.

Despite only having the ninth-highest average rating in the team of 6.8, Wood scored 12 goals, nine more than anyone else in the team.

He also provided the second most assists (three), took the second most shots per game (2.1) although in first place was Jimmy Dunne who only played in three games, and finally he had the most shots on target per game (1.2).

For context, Wood’s 12 goals equated to 36.36% of Burnley’s 33 goals during the 2020/21 season, and last season Haaland’s 36 goals contributed to 38.29% of Manchester City’s 94 goals, showing just how important the Kiwi was to the Clarets.

What happened to Chris Wood after Burnley?

After moving to Newcastle, Wood couldn’t find the form he discovered while at Burnley, in his first year with the club, he made 35 appearances in the league, playing a total of 1.8k minutes, however, he was only able to find the back of the net on four occasions.

However, after not scoring for his first four Newcastle games, Neville confirmed on his podcast that he still thought Wood was still a good signing.

He said:

“I like the signing of Wood.

"He had a big impact on that game today

“For me, I think that fixed presence, I don’t think Newcastle have had that for a few years whereby they’ve got someone to be able to play up to.

“Yes, he’s not going to score a great amount of goals. I don’t really care about that to be honest with you.”

Despite the praise from the Manchester United legend Wood was sold to Nottingham Forest for £15m, after just a year at St James’ Park.

This means the Magpies made a loss of £10m, as well as the striker costing them £6.5m per Premier League goal and £714k per appearance.

Since moving to Forest Wood has again failed to find his form of old, so far, he has made just 11 appearances in the league, scoring only two goals.

Furthermore, he only had an average Sofascore rating of 6.64 for Forest last season, which placed him as their 25th best-performing player, out of 33.

This has caused his market value to drop by £21m since his move to Newcastle, per FootballTransfers, who now estimate his worth to be just £4m.

Overall, selling and cashing in on Wood when he did proved to be a stroke of genius by Dyche as since leaving Burnley, the New Zealand international has seen nothing else other than his game time cut and his scoring rate drop dramatically.

The 33-year-old fast bowler, on PSL debut, carved open the heart of Islamabad’s batting and led Peshawar’s defence of 176

The Report by Arun Venugopal24-Feb-2018PSL

Islamabad United’s tactic of bowling first backfired as defending champions Peshawar Zalmi mounted a strong total and let their bowlers run amok. It was a 33-year-old fast bowler, on PSL debut, who carved open the heart of Islamabad’s batting and helped his team banish memories of their defeat to Multan Sultans. Umaid Asif picked up two wickets each in his first two overs to remove Chadwick Walton, Luke Ronchi, Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed and reduce Islamabad to 25 for 4 in four overs. Their innings descended into a permanent freefall as wickets at regular intervals saw them finish 34 runs short.Umaid, who finished with 4 for 23, could have had a five-for had Tamim Iqbal held on to Faheem Ashraf’s catch at third man off the last ball of his spell. Peshawar’s catching otherwise was impeccable, with Mohammad Hafeez and Ibtisam Sheikh showing remarkable composure in latching onto swirlers to dismiss Asif Ali and Shadab Khan respectively. Ibtisam, the 19-year-old bespectacled legspinner, also produced a polished performance to return figures of 3 for 20. Faheem’s unbeaten 30-ball 54 was Islamabad’s lone bright spot on the evening.That Peshawar captain Darren Sammy and his bowlers could launch an all-out attack right from the outset was thanks to a cracking batting show led by Kamran Akmal. Akmal’s clear-the-leg-and-whack approach meant not only a rush of boundaries but also a disoriented Islamabad attack. His assault also helped Tamim Iqbal slip under the radar and knock the ball around as Peshawar scored 57 in the Powerplay. After Akmal was out in the eight over, with 46 of his 53 runs having come in boundaries, Sammy persisted with the aggressive route and promoted Dwayne Smith ahead of Mohammad Hafeez. Despite slowing down markedly after being 100 for 1 in 10 overs, Peshawar’s positivity eventually paid dividends. Comeback man Andre Russell had a forgettable night, finishing with figures of 1 for 37 from three overs before contributing only 11 with the bat.Where the match was wonWhile the contributions of the Islamabad top order can’t be overstated, the game was swung irreversibly in their direction by the bowlers upfront. Peshawar, missing the services of their injured captain Misbah-ul-Haq, lost four wickets inside the Powerplay to score a meagre 38 runs, and in due course slumped to 73 for 8 to lose whatever grip they had on the match. Umaid’s penetrating bowling early on was as responsible for the slide as some poor shot selection that led to the departure of no less than three top-order batsmen.The men that won itOver the years, Akmal has acquired a notoriety for his inconsistency with the bat and gloves. Despite scoring a duck in the previous game, Akmal laid into the Islamabad bowling right from the start. The frontal attack caught the bowlers off guard and invariably set things up the rest of the batsmen. Umaid had exactly the same effect with the ball, as he collected scalps with regularity to rattle Islamabad.Moment of the matchRussell made a belated appearance with the bat when he came in at No. 8. Not long after his arrival, Chris Jordan sent down a sharp bouncer that rushed Russell. Harried and having taken his eyes off the ball, Russell ducked and involuntarily thrust out his bat like a periscope. The ball caught the edge and flew over the slip cordon to the fence. At once, both Samit Patel at the non-striker’s end and Sammy cracked up even as Russell could only manage a faint smile.Where they standThe win takes Peshawar to third on the points table, while Islamabad are on fifth, ahead of Lahore Qalandars.

The former Australian legspinner will be joined by another old Royals hand Zubin Bharucha, who has taken over as head of cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-20181:00

Warne announces Royals arrival

Shane Warne has returned to the Rajasthan Royals franchise as its mentor ahead of the 2018 IPL season. Warne, 48, will renew his association with the side he led to a title in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008. The former Australian legspinner went on to lead the Royals for the next three editions, before retiring after the 2011 season. Warne, who has mentored the side in the past, remains the Royals’ third-highest wicket-taker of all time, with 58 scalps from 56 matches.”I am very happy and excited to be back with the Rajasthan Royals, who I believe hold a very special place in my cricketing journey,” Warne was quoted as saying in the Royals website. “I am overwhelmed by the love and affection showered on me by the franchise and fans of Rajasthan Royals. We have a strong, young and energetic bunch of boys, and I am looking forward to work with them.”While Warne has worked with India batsman Ajinkya Rahane in the past, he will work with compatriot Steven Smith – the frontrunner to lead the side – for the first time in the IPL. Warne will also be joined by another old Rajasthan Royals hand Zubin Bharucha, who has now taken over as head of cricket. Bharucha and Warne had worked together during the early years of the Royals. Manoj Badale, co-owner of Royals, said bringing back Warne was a way of giving back to the fans “who have stood by us in trying times.””As we are looking to build a strong team that can be in contention for the title, we believe Warne is the right person to mentor the Rajasthan Royals,” Badale said. “Zubin has also contributed immensely to the growth of the team, and we are happy to have both back on board. We are excited and looking forward to a successful comeback.”According to the Royals website, Warne will have a “multitude” of tasks on and off the field. “His main role will be to work closely with the senior leaders in the team, particularly the captain, to ensure all areas of strategy and tactics are covered. In addition, he will be working with all the spinners to impart technical knowledge in the art of spin.”