All posts by n8rngtd.top

By now, you've probably heard about everything the Los Angeles Dodgers do to add talent at all costs, ballooning their opening day payroll this season to $321 million in present-day dollars, the second-most in MLB (first: Mets). Off a World Series win in 2024, the Dodgers want to keep winning, and they added and re-signed players for a total of $450 million this winter after a $1 billion offseason last year. Luxury tax will push that cost for ownership even higher.

But Los Angeles is also looking for ways to spend outside of payroll to position the team for improved performance. One tactic highlighted in a recent article was the travel itinerary, which now includes a second chartered plane for the Dodgers. One plane takes players, the other takes manager Dave Roberts, his staff, and other team personnel.

That shift has allowed players to get to road cities earlier so they have a true day to themselves instead of spending their off day traveling, something Dodgers players have lauded as hugely helpful for recovery. Additionally, roomier planes have made for a more comfortable travel experience, a luxury particularly important for long bicoastal trips.

The dollar amount of a second plane is easy to imagine as costly, but incidental costs rack up as well: Not only do they need hotel rooms for an additional night in those day-early cases, but also the Dodgers senior director of travel Scott Akasaki has had to hire additional staff to help manage the complex logistics of the operation, according to the LA Times' reporting.

Another possible benefit for the Dodgers? These dollars aren't as punitive as player payroll dollars because they fall outside of the team's payroll, which means they aren't subject to the luxury tax. Dollar for dollar, they're "cheaper" ways to spend than adding more talent at this point.

The Dodgers clearly understand that winning takes everything and everyone, even your travel planning staff.

This has been a whirlwind four days for Liverpool Football Club.

The problems engulfing Arne Slot and his side are no secret; they’re well-documented, but things have only got worse in recent days.

The pressure on Slot has never been greater. That 3-3 draw with Leeds was rough, but Mo Salah’s post-game comments lit a fire that’s been burning away since Saturday.

Liverpool chose to drop him from the squad and who knows whether we’ll see the great Egyptian in the famous red shirt again.

Salah posted a picture of himself in the gym as the rest of his teammates prepared in Milan for their Champions League clash with Inter.

Slot’s side, however, were resilient, they showed an improved attitude and it got them over the line on Tuesday night. They kept things tight to seal a late 1-0 win inside the San Siro.

How Slot's tweaks improved Liverpool

With Salah absent from the squad, Federico Chiesa out with illness and Cody Gakpo missing through injury, it meant that Slot decided to operate with a diamond formation.

Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak operated as the two central strikers with Alexis Mac Allister behind and while the forward line was still largely non-existent, the defence was hugely improved.

As Slot said a few days ago, Ibou Konate has been a “little too much at the crime scene” this season, referring to his mistake-riddled performances.

Well, the Frenchman and indeed club captain, Virgil van Dijk, looked back to their best against Inter. They did so against two menacing centre-forwards in the shape of Marcus Thuram and Lisandro Martinez.

The Liverpool centre-backs reduced the two strikers to just one shot on target. Konate and Van Dijk also won seven of their 11 duels, competing on average 92.5% of their passes.

The midfield three in front of them got through plenty of work to aid the defensive cause. As a consequence, Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch and match winner Dominik Szoboszlai look undroppable.

Add Florian Wirtz into the equation at the weekend too, and you would sense that the German is tailor-made for a diamond formation at the front of the midfield.

That being said, not everyone in red did their duties well. Some might say Liverpool’s big-money summer signing is as much a problem as Salah right now.

Liverpool's big problem after Inter

While Salah has been excluded from the squad, Slot needs to find a way to get more goals from his side.

Starting Isak and Ekitike together is a start but there is one huge problem; the Swede hasn’t been good enough.

His fellow striker has been one of Liverpool’s most impressive players this term, bagging eight goals in all competitions. In many senses, he looks like the £100m plus addition, not Isak.

We can no longer make any excuses for the £125m man. Of course, with no pre-season, he needed several weeks to get up to speed but we are now in December, he should be at full fitness, playing like a man who cost more money than any English club has ever spent on a single player.

Chalkboard

Two goals later and he looks like one of the biggest flops in football history. There is still time for the former Newcastle United attacker to come good but judging by his display in Italy this week, it won’t be anytime soon.

Once again, Isak lacked the energy and desire to press hard from the front. He also lacked the ability to link the play and most vital of all, he didn’t have any goal threat.

Liverpool World’s Will Rooney handed the record buy a 5/10 rating, noting that he ‘faded’ as the first 45 minutes wore on, bemoaning the fact that the club are still ‘failing to make the most of his attributes’.

That bit may be true, but he’s not doing enough himself either. He registered fewer touches than Alisson (45) and also only completed ten passes against Inter.

While you don’t always need your centre forward to have too many touches to impact a game – Erling Haaland is the prime example of that – they need a higher degree of influence from Isak now.

If Salah is going to leave Merseyside behind then they’ll need someone to step up as soon as possible. Sadly, Isak doesn’t look capable of doing that.

It’s likely Slot will keep the same formation he operated with on Tuesday when Liverpool face Brighton in the league at the weekend but that team shouldn’t include Isak. Perhaps it’s time to give Chiesa a run in the team.

FSG can keep Salah at Liverpool by hiring "the best young coach in Europe"

Arne Slot has only a tenuous grasp on his position in the Liverpool dugout.

By
Angus Sinclair

6 days ago

Mohamed Salah has been brutally reminded that he is not Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, with the Liverpool forward accused of “tricking himself” into believing that he has become “untouchable”. The Egyptian superstar has delivered an explosive rant, having been benched recently, in which he accused Premier League heavyweights of throwing him under the bus.

• Unhappy Salah: Liverpool superstar speaks out after bench duty

  Salah’s stunning comments came after being named among the substitutes by Reds boss Arne Slot for a third successive game. He failed to make the starting XI against West Ham and Sunderland, before seeing no game time again in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Leeds.

  The 33-year-old, who only signed a contract extension at Anfield over the summer, chose to air his frustration in public after being forced to watch on from the sidelines as Liverpool allowed two more points to slip on a dramatic evening at Elland Road.

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  Nobody bigger than the club: Salah is not Messi or Ronaldo

  He has hinted at making a January move away from Merseyside, admitting to having no working relationship with Slot, with it suggested that he has become an unfortunate scapegoat for the Reds’ struggles this season. The comments have been met with widespread criticism, with Salah being informed that nobody is bigger than Liverpool Football Club.

  Stan Collymore, who once represented the Reds, has posted on social media after seeing Salah air his grievances very publicly: “I think I know a little about LFC, its supporters and how they view their club. Shaped of course by [Bill] Shankly then [Bob] Paisley, Kenny [Dalglish], Jurgen [Klopp] and now Slot. One thing remains constant, perhaps more than any other English club, it's always the club first and last, players and managers add their DNA to the club, but the club trumps the individual.

  “Now, Mo Salah has left plenty of winners DNA at Anfield and has taken his place in the pantheon of greats. So it's interesting to see his interview, dropping a grenade into the club because if I know Liverpool and it's supporters at all (I think there may be even a generational difference in responses, younger supporting the grenade, older shaking their heads) then their first reaction will be – Club, first and last, don't care who it is. It's a living and breathing mantra and one that even Mo Salah will find it difficult to duke it out against.

  “Now, could Arne Slot be less pally with players than Jurgen? Absolutely, he's a calm, relaxed, tad detached guy who (if you remember) was unimpressed with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] early doors and showed a nonchalant attitude in season one to ‘one of their own’ who'd won everything there is to win. I think that's impressive, but not as impressive as winning the title in your first season. So he's earned his respect too.

  “The team are playing well in spurts, comedy defending and decision making at other times. That includes everyone, and if you ask 99.9% of players if they'd accept 2 or 3 games on the bench for not hitting levels, all will say yes. Only in the madness of 2025 modern football would the cult of personalities not only question a reasonable conclusion of 'you're not playing well, here's a spell on the bench', but Mo maybe has almost tricked himself onto elevating himself to the untouchable status of Messi or Ronaldo, players who could, if they chose, literally do and say as they pleased in the last decade. Mo isn't them, and Liverpool as I said, isn't that club either.”

• Solution to problem: How Liverpool can fix Salah issue

  Collymore went on to say of how Liverpool can fix an unfortunate situation that nobody saw coming: “The solution to what is now a very open sore is simple (ish) 1. Player and manager talk privately. 2. Manager tells player what he wants from the player. 3. Player commits or tells manager he wants out. 4. If player wants out, make it happen quickly. If not, pick the player and let him be judged by his continued performances. If they're poor, manager can't lose, ‘I told you so’. If they're great, manager can't lose. So Slot playing Mo is a very good starting point, especially as 2 very big signings have yet to make Mo ‘yesterday's man’.

  “Arne Slot can help himself a little by using his natural openness to say ‘maybe I'm not Jurgen but I love my players and they couldn't have won a spectacular title last season without reacting to me and my methods a little too, but I hear Mo's comments and I can tell you all now, I love him to bits and he's ours to keep’. That heads off any ‘seniors’ with similar grenades to throw.

  “But one thing's for sure, I don't think there will ever be a Liverpool player past, present or future with valid gripes that would jeopardise the ‘club first and last’ ethos of Liverpool, and those who've had legitimate concerns I'm sure aired them at an appropriate time, not a flash interview when emotions are high. Liverpool FC have done as well for every player who's played for them as players have done for the club, so the institution has earned that private, rather than public critique. Whoever that's from.”

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  January transfer: Salah sees Anfield exit mooted

  Liverpool are currently in the process of deciding what to do next with Salah, with it possible that he will face punishment for speaking out against the club. Questions will also continue to be asked of his long-term future.

  He is due to represent Egypt at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, with another transfer window opening during that tournament. There has been talk of renewed interest from the Saudi Pro League, with big-spending teams there ready to offer Salah starting berths and a clean slate if professional bridges at Anfield prove to be beyond repair.

The fan who taunted Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte about his deceased mother on Tuesday night at Rate Field has been banned by the Chicago White Sox, sources told Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Additionally, the fan has been banned indefinitely from all MLB ballparks.

MLB commended the White Sox for its handling of the situation, which occurred during Marte's fourth at-bat of the game in the top of the seventh inning.

"We commend the White Sox for taking immediate action in removing the fan," the league said in a statement, according to Rogers.

Marte was in tears after the fan yelled something at him about his deceased mother Elpidia Valdez, who passed away in a car accident in the Dominican Republic back in 2017. When the Diamondbacks made a pitching change in the bottom of the seventh inning, a tearful Marte was consoled by his teammates.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was among those who had heard the comment and lobbied for the fan's ejection from the game. After the contest, a 4–1 Diamondbacks win, Lovullo had his player's back.

"I just reacted as a dad would when I went out to change pitchers,” Lovullo said postgame. “I could see he was sobbing. It hurt.

"I love you and I’m with you and we’re all together and you’re not alone. No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you heard, that guy is an idiot. It shouldn’t have an impact on you."

According to Rogers, the fan expressed remorse for his actions and admitted his comments had been inappropriate. The Diamondbacks and White Sox will play the third and final game of the three-game series on Wednesday at 2:10 p.m. ET.

Stats highlights from the Champions Trophy match between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Rawalpindi

Sampath Bandarupalli24-Feb-2025 • Updated on 25-Feb-2025178 Number of dot balls in Bangladesh’s innings against New Zealand – the most by any team in this Champions Trophy, and the second most for Bangladesh in a 50-over men’s ODI innings since 2012. They had played 185 dot balls against South Africa in a Johannesburg ODI in 2022.12 Number of aggressive shots attempted by Bangladesh batters in 22 overs bowled by the New Zealand spinners. The spinners conceded only 80 runs at an economy of 3.63, while New Zealand’s quicks went for 153 runs in 27 overs at an economy rate of 5.46Bangladesh tried to attack only four balls from Mitchell Santner in ten overs, and seven balls from Michael Bracewell, who took 4 for 26 in ten overs.4 for 26 Bracewell’s bowling figures against Bangladesh are the best for a New Zealand spinner at the Champions Trophy, bettering Paul Wiseman’s 4 for 45 against Zimbabwe in 2000.All four wickets Bracewell took were of the top-six Bangladesh batters. The only other New Zealand spinner to dismiss at least four of the opposition’s top six in a men’s ODI in the last 20 years is Ish Sodhi – also against Bangladesh in 2023.22 Runs conceded by New Zealand through wides against Bangladesh, their second most in a men’s ODI. They conceded 29 runs in wides against Australia in the 2011 World Cup game in Nagpur.2017 Previous instance of Kane Williamson getting out for single-digit scores in consecutive ODI innings, before his 1 and 5 in this Champions Trophy. Williamson scored 6 and 3 in successive matches against India in 2017.40 Difference in the runs scored by New Zealand and Bangladesh during the middle overs (11-40) on Monday. New Zealand scored 154 runs for the loss of two wickets in this phase, while Bangladesh scored only 114 and lost five wickets. Bangladesh played out 107 dot balls in this phase, while New Zealand only had 79.6.09 Economy rate of Bangladesh’s spinners – they conceded 123 runs in 20.1 overs they bowled on a pitch where New Zealand’s spinners went at 3.63 and took four wickets.On the other hand, Bangladesh’s pacers made early inroads, taking three wickets and ending up with an economy rate of 4.34 in the 26 overs they bowled, which was much better than the New Zealand pacers, who went at 5.46 runs per over.1 Rachin Ravindra became the first batter to score a hundred in his debut match at both the ICC’s global ODI events (the World Cup and the Champions Trophy). He scored an unbeaten 123 against England on his World Cup debut in 2023, and now 112 against Bangladesh on his Champions Trophy debut.Ravindra’s four ODI hundreds have all come at the ICC’s global events so far, the most at such events by any man for New Zealand, surpassing three by Kane Williamson and Nathan Astle.

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has brilliantly described what makes his former club’s rivalry with Liverpool different from others in three words.

Slot looking forward to Liverpool-Man Utd clash

The biggest fixture in English football dominates the weekend’s Premier League matches, with the Red Devils making the trip to Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

It promises to be the next great chapter in a huge rivalry between the two clubs, and speaking ahead of the match, Reds boss Arne Slot assessed a much-anticipated occasion.

“I look forward to every single Premier League game but maybe even more towards the United one, because I know how special it is and I’ve experienced last season how special a game it is. We know that it’s probably the game that’s been watched the most all over the world. It’s special to be part of it but in the end it’s also a game where we have to be at our best, because United, in my opinion, has had a better start of the season than maybe the league table is showing.

“A very interesting game and a game to look forward to, especially because it’s played at Anfield. I think our fans have been so supportive for us as long as I’m here and long before I was here. I think they understand that the team that has lost three times in a row, they need to be ready, our team, but I think our fans can help us and will help us on Sunday as well.”

Rooney perfectly nails Man Utd-Liverpool rivalry in three words

Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show [via Rousing The Kop], Rooney explained the “deep, deep hatred” that exists between Manchester United and Liverpool, and why that makes it different to the Merseyside derby with Everton.

Rooney is spot on in his assessment, with family members supporting both Liverpool and Everton, giving the rivalry a little less nastiness, even though the Merseyside pair still clearly dislike each other.

With United, it is different, though, with the two clubs having respect for what they’ve achieved throughout history, but also detesting each other most of the time, and wanting to get one over the other every time they play, with bragging rights unrivalled in the English game.

Sunday’s clash at Anfield will be no different, and for the Red Devils, they know that victory would put a major dent in Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes.

Gary Neville's hilarious Liverpool claim in 2023 continues to haunt him

This is one of his worst!

By
Henry Jackson

Sep 21, 2025

On the flip side, a Reds victory would heap further pressure on Ruben Amorim, especially if they lose heavily, so there is an enormous amount to play for this weekend, as always.

During the Padres' game against the Red Sox on Saturday, the broadcast captured a glimpse of a Red Sox coach using two side-by-side pictures to denote the difference between Padres closer Robert Suarez's fastball and changeup setups.

The Padres led 4-3 until Suarez, a two-time All-Star closer and the current MLB leader in saves, came in during the 9th inning and gave up a run. Though the Padres went on to win the game in extra innings, Suarez was credited with a blown save and concerns emerged from the outside that Suarez tipping pitches allowed Boston to tie things up.

It's unclear if the Red Sox were actually able to take advantage of Suarez's cues, but the Padres still got the win and are not overly concerned.

“I think it’s overblown," Padres manager Mike Shildt said, via Dennis Lin of "You can look at it and slow it down, and you can take a picture of it. Go do it in front of 40,000 people in real time and with an athlete that’s moving and see how successful you are. I do think there’s people and there’s teams and players that are good at it, but I also think that even if it’s slightly there, it’s really hard to pick up in live competition.”

The Padres were also aware of the possibility of Suarez tipping pitches before Saturday's game, and had already worked on adjusting his tendencies throughout the season.

“The whole year,” Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla said, via Lin. “That’s one of our things in spring training where we’re like, ‘Hey, this is what you do to tip pitches.’ And … through the course of the year, when you’re working through battles or however you want to put it, some tendencies start showing back up. And we’re always cross-checking, cross-checking, cross-checking.

“In the heat of the battle, sometimes that’s the last thing (pitchers) might be thinking about," Niebla added. "You know, it might show up. But overall, I think we’ve been really good as a team.”

And what’s the lowest fourth-innings total by a team that won a Test with nine wickets down?

Steven Lynch25-Aug-2020There were six Tests in England this summer but not a single Test debutant – how often has this happened? asked Dominic Wood from Turkey

That’s a good spot, because actually this is the first English summer ever that has had Test cricket but no new caps at all. There have been two previous Test summers with no debutants for England – 1953 and 2011 – but both of those featured new players from the visiting teams. In 1953, Australia blooded Alan Davidson and legspinner Jack Hill in the first Test, at Trent Bridge, and batsman Jim de Courcy in the third, at Old Trafford. In 2011, Sri Lanka introduced
Thisara Perera in the first Test of the season, in Cardiff, and Lahiru Thirimanne in the third, in Southampton.What’s the lowest fourth-innings total by a team that won a Test with nine wickets down? asked Narasimhan Vuruputoor from India

There have now been 14 Tests that ended in one-wicket victories for the side batting last. The lowest total involved, by quite a distance, is 104 for 9 – by New Zealand against West Indies in Dunedin in 1979-80. Next is England’s 173 for 9 against South Africa in Cape Town in 1922-23.The highest such score came in a match fresh in the memory – England’s Ben Stokes-inspired 362 for 9 to beat Australia at Headingley last August.I noticed that Everton Weekes reached double figures in his first 14 Test innings, and when I checked Frank Worrell he did too (sadly, Clyde Walcott didn’t). But is 14 the Test record? asked Samuel Harris from Barbados

You’re right about the Three Ws: Everton Weekes reached double figures in his first 14 Test innings (going on to hundreds in five of them) before falling for 1 in his 15th, against England at Old Trafford in 1950, while Frank Worrell also had 14 before he fell for 6 in Adelaide in 1951-52. Clyde Walcott, however, was out for 8 in his first Test innings, against England in Bridgetown in 1947-48.Tamim Iqbal holds the one-day record of most runs scored at a single venue: 2619 at the Shere Bangla, Mirpur•AFPTwo players, both openers, started their Test careers by reaching double figures in 15 successive innings – Sid Barnes of Australia, and England’s Geoff Pullar. But the leader on this particular list, with 16 double-figure scores from debut, is another Australia opener, Colin McDonald: he won his first cap in 1951-52, and did not have a single-figure score until he finished with 7 not out as Australia beat West Indies in Kingston in 1954-55. McDonald was not actually dismissed in single figures until his 24th innings, when Tony Lock removed him for 1 in the opening match of the 1956 Ashes series, at Trent Bridge.The England opener Brian Bolus, who died earlier this year, holds the record for a whole career with no single-figure scores: he had 12 innings in his seven Tests, with a lowest of 14.Does Sanath Jayasuriya still hold the record for most runs in ODIs at a single ground? asked Neville de Alwis from Sri Lanka

Sanath Jayasuriya scored 2514 runs in one-day internationals at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, which remained a record for a single ground from 2009 until January 2018, when Tamim Iqbal passed it: he now has 2619 runs at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.Seven other batsmen have made 2000 runs on a single ground in ODIs. Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim so far have 2472 and 2351 respectively at Mirpur, while Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saeed Anwar scored 2464 and 2179 in Sharjah. Kumar Sangakkara amassed 2156 runs at the Premadasa, Ricky Ponting 2108 at Melbourne, and Brendan Taylor so far has 2067 at the Harare Sports Club. Here’s the list of most runs at a venue by a player.Don Bradman figured in 11 Test series – did he score centuries in every one of them? asked Joel Pojas from the Philippines

I’ve included this one as it’s the birth anniversary of Don Bradman in a couple of days’ time. Test cricket’s greatest batsman did feature in 11 Test series in all – eight against England – and made a century in every one of them, as this list shows. In nine of his series, the Don scored two or more hundreds – the only ones in which he managed just one apiece were the Ashes of 1928-29 (his first series, aged 21), and the Bodyline tour of 1932-33, when he missed one of the matches.Use our
feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Smart Stats puts Archer well ahead of others, while Trent Boult was the true leader in terms of wickets

ESPNcricinfo stats team13-Nov-2020Jofra Archer is the clear and undisputed MVP of IPL 2020, according to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats. Archer’s conventional numbers speak for themselves: 20 wickets at 18.25, conceding 6.55 runs per over. The economy rate was the best among the 40 seamers who bowled at least 15 overs in the tournament. Archer’s powerplay economy rate of 4.34 was among the best by any bowler in any T20 tournament. As if that wasn’t enough, he also exceeded expectations with the bat, scoring at a strike rate of 179 and hitting ten sixes – fourth-highest for the Rajasthan Royals – off the 63 balls he faced.ESPNcricinfo LtdHowever, even these incredible numbers don’t do full justice to his performances this season. For that, we need to look at Smart Stats, which looks at every batting and bowling performance through the prism of match context, and the pressure on the batsman and bowler at each delivery when they batted or bowled.Archer’s 20 wickets included ten in the powerplay, and among the batsmen he dismissed were Faf du Plessis and David Warner (twice each), Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock, Shikhar Dhawan and Chris Gayle. Fifteen of his 20 wickets were of batsmen in the top three batting positions; eight times he dismissed batsmen for single-digit scores, and 14 times before they reached 20.Because Smart Wickets takes into account the quality of the batsman and the score at which they were dismissed – getting a good batsman out early before he can inflict any damage fetches higher points – Archer’s 20 wickets were worth nearly 27 Smart Wickets.ESPNcricinfo LtdAlso, Archer was incredibly consistent with his economy as well: only four times in 14 innings did he concede more than seven runs per over. While the overall powerplay economy rate in the tournament was 7.46, Archer went at 4.34. All this with hardly any support at the other end.These factors ensured that Archer’s impact per game was 76.2 points, an incredible 47% higher than the second-placed Rashid Khan, who also took as many wickets as Archer and had a fantastic tournament. His economy rate of 5.37 was the best among all bowlers – without any qualifications – while his Smart Wickets tally was 22.5.There is little to separate the rest of the top five, with Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Tewatia and Sam Curran taking up those positions. The first specialist batsman in the list is Mayank Agarwal at No. 7, with an impact rating of 42.3. Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Jason Holder and Pat Cummins are the others in the top ten.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhile bowlers and allrounders took the top positions in terms of overall impact, the match-wise top impact position went to a batsman: KL Rahul’s outstanding unbeaten 132 off 69 balls against the Royal Challengers Bangalore took pole position, followed by the all-round contribution of Ben Stokes against the Kings XI Punjab, when he scored 50 off 26 deliveries and also took 2 for 32. The highest bowling performance is Lockie Ferguson’s 3 for 15 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad: his three victims were Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey – two of them for single-digit scores – and he went at 3.75 per over when the other bowlers in the game had a collective economy rate of 8.39.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe list of bowlers with the highest Smart Wickets deviates from the list of top wicket-takers, because Smart Wickets takes into account the quality of batsman dismissed, his score at the time of dismissal and the match context at that point.Taking all those factors into account, Trent Boult, who is third on the wicket-takers’ list with 25, tops the Smart Wickets tally with an aggregate of 31. He is well clear of the others because of his powerplay haul of 16 wickets, which is six more than the next-best in that phase. Powerplay wickets often tend to impact the course of the game significantly, because most of those wickets are of top-order batsmen dismissed cheaply. Of Boult’s 25 wickets, 14 were of openers – and 18 of batsmen in the top four – while 19 of his dismissals were before the batsmen reached double digits.On the other hand, only seven of Kagiso Rabada’s 30 wickets were of batsmen in the top three positions, while 14 were of batsmen batting at No. 6 or lower. While late wickets can sometimes be crucial when the match is in the balance, often they come about when the result is a formality.In Rabada’s case, a couple of examples illustrate this. Against the Royal Challengers, he took 4 for 24, but three of those wickets – of Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube and Isuru Udana – came in the last 25 balls after the asking rate had touched 20 runs per over, and the Delhi Capitals had already pocketed the match. Four days later, against the Rajasthan Royals, he took 3 for 35 in a match that the Capitals won comfortably by 46 runs. Two of those wickets came in the last over, and all three were taken when the Capitals were already well on top. These wickets add to the conventional wickets tally, but don’t add much to the Smart Wickets count.Among those who bowled at least 25 overs, R Ashwin had the highest ratio of Smart Wickets to conventional wickets: his 13 wickets counted for 20.6 Smart Wickets, a ratio of 1.58. That is because the batsmen he dismissed included de Kock (twice), Kieron Pollard, Jos Buttler, Virat Kohli, Nicholas Pooran and Gayle. Seven of his 13 dismissals happened before the batmen reached double digits.ESPNcricinfo LtdSimilar to Smart Wickets, the Smart Runs leaderboard also varies from the list of top run-getters. Rahul got the Orange Cap, but Shikhar Dhawan is the leader in terms of Smart Runs despite scoring 52 fewer runs. That is because Rahul often played the anchor’s role for the Kings XI Punjab; in several innings, he scored at a conservative pace, with others scoring faster than him in matches that the Kings XI lost. Dhawan’s runs came at a faster rate, and in his big innings, he scored a higher share of the team’s runs. Rahul’s opening partner Agarwal is in the top ten in terms of Smart Runs despite being 14th in terms of his aggregate runs, because of his key contributions – both in terms of runs and strike rate – under high pressure.

He can score runs up the order. He can take wickets at the death. Where would Delhi Capitals be without him?

Karthik Krishnaswamy09-Nov-20201:51

Ponting spoke to me a few times before about opening – Marcus Stoinis

Where would the Delhi Capitals be without Marcus Stoinis?It’s a rhetorical question, but if you really wanted an answer, they probably wouldn’t be in the IPL final without him. He has brought explosiveness to a batting line-up that has often struggled to get out of second gear, and he has been a handy plugger of gaps with the ball, regularly bowling the difficult overs.On Sunday, against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Stoinis pulled off yet another hugely influential all-round performance, and he did not just score runs and take wickets. He also made the Capitals look like a better-structured, better-balanced team.It began with Stoinis opening the batting, which he has done before – most notably on his way to topping the BBL run charts last season – but only three times in the IPL, back in 2016. At the start of the season, it had seemed unlikely that he would get a chance in that role again, given the Capitals’ wealth of top-order options. However, with Prithvi Shaw’s form falling away and Ajinkya Rahane not providing the necessary dynamism when he opened, the possibility opened up.It might have come to nothing if Jason Holder had caught Stoinis off Sandeep Sharma when he was batting on 3 off 5 balls. The move might have gone the way of the Royal Challengers Bangalore opening with Virat Kohli in their Eliminator on Friday – a good idea that got just one, belated chance, and didn’t come off.But Holder couldn’t hold on, and we got to see exactly what Stoinis the opener can do. It was much the same as Stoinis the end-overs hitter, as it turned out, but with the added benefit of powerplay field restrictions. The baseball-style swat over midwicket in the fourth over, off Holder, would have brought him six runs in any phase of the game, but the field restrictions also allowed Stoinis to pick up boundaries in other situations that might have only brought him singles or twos outside the powerplay.Sandeep, for instance, bowled inswing to him with a 5-4 leg-side field, but with only two fielders allowed on the boundary, he had fine leg and midwicket up in the circle. When he strayed off-line in the third over, Stoinis could flick him for back-to-back boundaries. In the fourth over, Holder bowled with his mid-on up, and Stoinis gave him the charge and clubbed him to the left of that fielder even when he tried to pull his length back.The stillness and balance that have characterised Stoinis’ batting right through the season pervaded his game on Sunday too, and that form combined with serious attacking intent to create a potent cocktail.Stoinis did not survive for too long against Rashid Khan, though, and that was not unexpected. In the IPL, Stoinis’ record against spin (average 26.08, strike rate 123.71) is significantly worse than his record against pace (32.00, 147.55). But by opening with Stoinis, the Capitals can ensure he faces less spin early in his innings, or force their opposition into bowling spin at him and shield other batsmen down the order from unfavourable match-ups.Marcus Stoinis biffs one through the on side•BCCIStoinis has performed this shielding role quite often with the ball – in the game against the Kolkata Knight Riders, for instance, Axar Patel bowled just one over against a left-hander-heavy line-up – and he did so again on Sunday, when the Sunrisers had two right-handers at the crease for long periods and R Ashwin bowled just one of the first 14 overs.When that happens, one of the fingerspinners often does not complete his quota, leaving Stoinis to bowl at the death. His economy rate has suffered as a result, but he has also made crucial interventions – the miraculous (or lucky, depending on your point of view) final over against the Kings XI Punjab in the Capitals’ season-opener, for example, or the final-over yorker to bowl Rahul Tripathi in a high-scoring contest in Sharjah. Stoinis, in fact, has taken wickets this season in the last over of the innings – only one other bowler from any team, Kagiso Rabada, has taken as many.Stoinis did not have to bowl the 20th over on Sunday, but of his three overs, one was in the powerplay, and one at the death. It was in those two pressure overs that he made his biggest impact.When he came on to bowl the fifth over, the Sunrisers seemed to be shrugging off the early loss of David Warner, with Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey having put on 24 in 17 balls. By the end of that over, Stoinis had dismissed both of them.Marcus Stoinis celebrates a wicket•BCCIWickets often fall for no rhyme or reason in T20s, but Stoinis can take some credit for those two dismissals. Garg had looked comfortable on the back foot through his brief innings – he had even hooked Anrich Nortje for six – but his front-foot stride had been minimal when the ball was pitched up. Stoinis tested this with a full ball delivered at 135kph – a significantly quick delivery by his standards – and burst between bat and pad.Pandey looked to loft Stoinis straight and ended up hitting straight to mid-on, and this was at least partly because Stoinis had bowled an offcutter that gripped and deviated into the batsman, causing him to hit the ball with the inside half of his bat.When Stoinis began the 17th over, the Sunrisers needed 51 off 24. Kane Williamson and Abdul Samad had put on 49 in 26 balls. Off the fifth ball of the over, Stoinis made his most decisive breakthrough, with a full, wide slower delivery that began just inside the tramline at his end and finished just outside the tramline at the other. The ball was floating away from Williamson throughout, and if he had left it alone, it probably would have been called wide.Williamson did not leave it, though. The required rate in such situations often compels batsmen to keep going hard, and Williamson reached out to try and pick the gap to the left of deep cover. In reaching out so far from his body, however, he lost control of his shot, hitting it straighter than he wanted and too close to the man on the boundary.Stoinis roared, arms in the air, fists clenched, veins popping in his granite forearms. He looks like a comic-book superhero, and sometimes he bats and bowls like one too.