Man Utd open talks to sign "magnificent" star who's been compared to Yaya

Manchester United have now reportedly opened talks to sign a young midfield gem who’s been compared to Manchester City legend Yaya Toure.

Amorim aims dig at Man Utd academy prospects

Before the football could steal the headlines against Bournemouth, Ruben Amorim found himself at the centre of several debates after he name-dropped three academy players in an unexpected rant.

The Man United boss has been questioned for how little he’s used Kobbie Mainoo this season and the midfielder’s brother even turned up at Old Trafford wearing a “free Kobbie Mainoo” T-shirt on Monday night. Amorim’s response was ruthless in the build-up to the Bournemouth game, however, and has since split opinions.

He said: “It’s like any other player, the door is open for any player to change my mind. But in the end, it’s going to be the training, the games… Of course, he’s not playing so many games, but Kobbie had opportunities, especially last year.

“Everyone had… [Harry] Amass is now struggling in the Championship [at Sheffield Wednesday].

“Chido [Obi] is not always a starter in the U21s. All these guys played when a lot of people were saying, ‘Sack the manager’, so you can see that I’m not worried. I just look at the team and try to win the next game, and try to think about the team. I will do that until the end.”

If recent reports are anything to go by, then Mainoo is among those who are likely to be heading for the exit door in January, at least on loan for the rest of the season amid interest from the likes of Bayern Munich.

But what should concern the young midfielder the most is Amorim’s reported admiration for Christ Inao Oulai – another young midfielder who could end Mainoo’s Old Trafford career altogether.

Man Utd open talks to sign Inao Oulai

According to TeamTalk, Man United have now opened talks to sign Inao Oulai, establishing contact in an attempt to get one over on rivals Manchester City.

As bad as Shaw: Man Utd star had his worst game for the club vs Bournemouth

Manchester United drew again at Old Trafford in a frantic 4-4 draw with Bournemouth.

1 ByAngus Sinclair

The 19-year-old Trabzonspor midfielder has reportedly been compared to Yaya Toure by those in the Ivory Coast thanks to his dominant displays as well as his ability to score and create goals.

Dubbed a “magnificent” prospect among several others by talent scout Jacek Kulig earlier this week, Inao Oulai could provide Amorim with the young midfielder that he prefers over Mainoo, who continues to watch on from the bench.

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Before the Red Devils can even think about welcoming the 19-year-old, however, they will have to fend off interest from Man City, who are looking to land their next Toure.

Dalot upgrade: Man Utd looking to sign "the best right wing back in the PL"

Despite losing, India Pistons enters semifinals

India Pistons on Saturday joined Chemplast, Pentasoft and India Cements to setup an all Chennai semi-final line up in the Moin Ud Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament. India Pistons made it to the semifinals despite losing the last league contest against Indian Oil Corporation. They went through by virtue of a better run quotient.Electing to bat first, Pistons in their quota of 50 overs put up 213 for 9. Pistons owed its score to KS Sahabuddin (64 not out) after the top order struggled to find their footing and were tottering at 110 for 7 in the 29th over. Shabuddin added 66 valuable runs with P Muthupandian (20) for the eighth wicket in 15.2 overs. Then with WD Balaji Rao, he added a further 37 runs for the ninth wicket when Pistons ran out of overs to end up at 213. Shabuddin during his 82 minute stay at the crease faced 65 balls and sent five balls to the signboards and twice managed to clear the ropes.In reply, Indian Oil Corporation started on a bad note when RS Sodhi struck thrice in his first three overs. He had Amit Dani (1) caught by Vasudevan in the second over of the innings and then in his third over, he dismissed Mithun Beerala (7). Hemant Kinicker (29) took the score to 80. But it was captain Mandhar Phadke (43) who held the IOC innings together with three useful partnerships with Jai P Yadav, RV Pawar and IR Siddique. After his dismissal Siddhique in the company of Zaheer Khan took IOC to victory.

What has happened to Greg Lamb?

Greg Lamb, one of Zimbabwe’s most promising young players, has not been heard of in Zimbabwe this season and several readers have asked what has happened to him. One of them, Robin Mence of England, tracked him down in his own country. Robin has written a brief article for us.Greg Lamb, one of the inaugural intake into the CFX Academy, is currently in the UK. After two successful Logan Cup seasons and an `A’ Tour to Sri Lanka, he is currently awaiting a shoulder operation to have a screw inserted into his shoulder joint after a dislocation which occurred whilst fielding in a match during the English summer season.Greg has now had three consecutive summers in England, all in Surrey with Brook CC, Walton on Thames CC and Cheam CC respectively. His exploits at club level have brought him to various counties’ notice and this year he played second-eleven cricket for Kent CCC, Hampshire CCC and Gloucestershire CCC. He played mostly for Kent and is doing some winter training with the county. Always known for his batting, his off-spin is also developing well and, whilst once considered the most talented young batsmen in Zimbabwe, is now most certainly an all-rounder of huge potential.Greg is currently undertaking a Business Studies and Human Biology Course at Guildford College of Education. He is also working for Majestic, the Wine Merchants, but assures me that these two disciplines have not made him consider converting his parents’ tobacco farm to a vineyard despite the buoyant South African wine industry. After his operation Greg will be visiting his parents over Christmas and the New Year.With the current injury preventing any cricket for the foreseeable future, he is intent on regaining fitness and completing his current academic course. The injury is to his left shoulder and therefore should not hinder his bowling or throwing in the future. He expects to be fully fit for the 2002 English summer season with Cheam CC and Kent 2nd XI.Then he plans a return to Zimbabwe to compete for further representative honours. He feels frustration at his inactivity, particularly with Doug Marillier and Barney Rogers currently playing well. Indeed, with these three young talents Zimbabwe should be well covered, for the next decade, in the off-spinning all-rounder department.

Sam Curran helps secure quarter-final berth

ScorecardAlthough Jason Roy fell for 99 he had set up Surrey for an imposing total•PA Photos

Surrey secured themselves a place in the quarter-finals of the Royal London Cup after beating Worcestershire by 36 runs at the Kia Oval.A second-wicket partnership of 144 in 25 overs between Jason Roy and Kumar Sangakkara set Surrey on their way to a fifth win in six Group A matches, although they were given a scare by rock-bottom Worcestershire, who are now without a win in five games and effectively out of the competition.Roy made 99 and Sangakkara, playing his last game for Surrey before going home to Sri Lanka for his final Test against India, 76 as Surrey, who also had useful contributions from Rory Burns and Gary Wilson, made 328 for 7 after winning the toss.It seemed to be too many for Worcestershire but they responded magnificently, inspired by their captain Daryl Mitchell, who defied a pulled hamstring to score 59 off 63 balls with nine fours.Youngsters Tom Fell and Joe Clarke kept up the chase by putting on 98 in 17 overs and Surrey were starting to fret until Sam Curran, Surrey’s 17-year-old fast bowling prodigy, had Fell caught behind for 63.Clarke went on to make 54 and Worcestershire were still in with a chance when Ross Whiteley was thrashing 35 off 24 balls, but when he was caught at long-on off James Burke it was the beginning of the end as they lost their last five wickets for 34 runs. Sam Curran finished with 3 for 49 for the hosts, while Burke took 3 for 51.Earlier, Steven Davies, who had scored 99, 39, 98 and 115 in his previous four cup games, fell early to Jack Shantry for 13 and Roy was not as fluent as usual, but Sangakkara picked up the pace with a six off Saeed Ajmal.Sangakkara cruised past fifty for the 115th time in 509 List A matches and was firmly on course for his 36th century when he was brilliantly caught by Mitchell, diving to his left at short extra cover but grasping the ball in his right hand.Roy, who had reached 99 off 95 balls with 11 fours but was surprisingly nervous on the brink of his seventh one-day hundred, also fell to a superb catch. He got an edge trying to drive Joe Leach and wicketkeeper Ben Cox dived a long way to his right to snaffle the chance.Surrey were stuttering at 201 for 3 but Burns and Wilson picked up the tempo. Burns had made 61 off 50 balls with seven fours when he was beaten by Ajmal’s last ball, a sharply-turning off break, and swiftly stumped by Cox, whose impressive glove work also featured in three runs outs, including that of Wilson for 34.

Atapattu resigns as Sri Lanka coach

Marvan Atapattu has resigned as Sri Lanka coach, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced. His resignation was accepted by the board. Neither the board, nor Atapattu has offered a reason for the decision.Atapattu had officially held the position since September last year, but had effectively been head coach since April 2014, after Paul Farbrace’s departure. Before that, he had worked as batting coach of the team since 2011. During his term as interim coach, he had overseen Sri Lanka’s first Test series win in England in 16 years. He was Sri Lanka’s first full-time local coach in 15 years.In the past 10 months, however, significant concerns over his coaching style have arisen. Atapattu is reputed to be an excellent technical coach, but is understood to have been less impressive as a man-manager – which was seen by the board as a particularly worrying trait, in Sri Lanka’s transition period.This perceived weakness, coupled with consistently poor results at the top level have likely paved the way for Atapattu’s exit. He has departed of his own volition, but did so after Sri Lanka failed to win a single series this year. The home ODI series victory against England late in 2014 remains the only trophy the team has won since Atapattu was formalised as head coach.The resignation comes two days after the completion after a particularly dispiriting home season. Sri Lanka were defeated in four Tests out of six since June, losing to Pakistan and India. The only other time Sri Lanka lost two home series in a calendar year was back in 1993.Sri Lanka’s next international begins against West Indies in mid-October, but the board is unlikely to appoint a permanent coach before then. Some members of SLC’s interim committee are understood to have a favoured candidate in mind, but the board is likely to field applications. In the meantime, a local coach may take over in a temporary capacity. SLC’s head of coaching Jerome Jayaratne would seem to be the obvious choice.Atapattu’s exit follows the resignation of Chaminda Vaas as fast-bowling coach following the World Cup this year. In his time as batting coach, Atapattu has overseen substantial improvement in Angelo Mathews’ batting, but has had mixed results with other young batsmen. In addition to the Test series win in England, Sri Lanka also won a World T20, and Asia Cup, and a Test match in South Africa during his time with the side.Atapattu led Sri Lanka in 18 Tests during his playing career. He has 90 Test matches and Test 5502 runs to his name.

Surrey win race for Footitt

Mark Footitt, the left-arm quick who has been one of English cricket’s most sought-after close-season signings, has agreed a four-year contract with Surrey.Footitt, who trained with England ahead of the Ashes series without managing to make his Test debut, will add new potency to Surrey’s bowling resources as they return to Division One of the ChampionshipDerbyshire have released Footitt, who has a year left on his contract, with immediate effect after agreeing compensation with Surrey.Derbyshire had no wish to lose Footitt but they had to bow to the reality – now well established despite the resentment of a few battle-hardened traditionalists – that a struggling Second Division club can rarely hang on to its most ambitious players.Only a year ago, Footitt had insisted that he could win England honours at Derbyshire, but that view has shifted. It leaves Derbyshire with a 13-year gap since they last provided an England player – Dominic Cork at the end of his career – and with no immediate prospects of ending the run.Footitt said: “It was a difficult decision to leave, but I felt that at this stage in my career, now is the right time to move on and the opportunity to play First Division cricket at a Test ground whilst working with another strong coaching set-up is the ideal next step.”The impression was that England did not quite have the confidence that Footitt would prosper against high-quality opposition – even allowing for the fact that much of the series was played on bowler-friendly surfaces – and a move to the Kia Oval as part of a vibrant, young Surrey side gives the bowler a chance to challenge the notion.Simon Storey, the county’s chief executive, said: “We obviously regret that Mark has decided to move on. Having rejected a contract extension on improved terms, Mark and his agent made it clear he was keen to explore options elsewhere and in these situations, it is better for all parties to find a solution professionally.”Derbyshire have already strengthened their seam bowling resources by signing Andy Carter from neighbours Nottinghamshire and completing the signing of Tom Milnes, who was on loan last season, from Warwickshire, but Storey suggested that more money would be made available to Graeme Welch, their elite performance director.”It is now important that we support Graeme as he develops the current group of Derbyshire bowlers,” Storey said. “We will also be ensuring the finance is in place to augment our bowling line-up with potential replacements.”Derbyshire ar left to hide their frustration as best they can. Elite Performance Director, Graeme Welch commented: “Mark has made great progress since joining the Club and in particular over the last two seasons which got him the call-up to the England Ashes squad.”We of course would have liked him to stay, but we wish him well for the future and our attention is now on working with the promising crop of young fast bowlers at the club while continuing to look to strengthen our squad further.”Welch resists the label; of a struggling county for Derbyshire, who were expected to challenge strongly for promotion only to finish second bottom as well as suffer a lean time in limited-overs competitions.”We are totally focused on developing a side that will be capable of competing in all formats and pushing for silverware,” he said.

SCA gears up for possible disruption to Rajkot ODI

The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) is on the alert against any disruption of the third ODI between India and South Africa in Rajkot on October 18, as threatened by followers of Hardik Patel, the young leader of a new movement demanding quotas for the Patidari community. The state of Gujarat has witnessed severe disruptions and incidents of violence in the past few weeks, with curfew imposed in some areas, including the biggest city of Ahmedabad.Niranjan Shah: ‘We will have top security arrangements – 2500 policemen – to maintain order.’•AFP

Newspapers in Rajkot have reported, quoting sources close to Hardik, that his supporters were planning to buy around 10,000 tickets for the ODI and use the high-profile match to send out a political message.The threat follows the events at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, where the Twenty20 match was held up for a while because of water bottles thrown on the ground by spectators.The SCA is confident the match will go ahead without disruption, but is going to follow procedures strictly to ensure the ODI isn’t hijacked by political protest. A total of 11000 tickets are going to go up for sale for the general public, 9000 at ticket windows and 2000 online. No person will be allowed to buy more than two tickets, and every buyer will be asked to produce his national identity proof, a copy of which will be kept in the SCA records and matched with seat numbers, Niranjan Shah, the president of the association, told ESPNcricinfo. Shah said the association will coordinate with Rajkot rural police to make sure strict security arrangements are in place.However, there is no stopping buyers from handing over their tickets to others: there is no stipulation that tickets are not transferable. “If by some way they still manage to form clusters of protestors, we will have top security arrangements – 2500 policemen – to maintain order,” Shah said.”We are not going to stop them shouting slogans or revealing clothes with political messages, but we can ask the BCCI production to not give them any play during the broadcast.”Online tickets have already been sold out, and the ticket windows open on October 12.Rajkot is no stranger to crowd disruption. In 2002-03 an ODI between India and West Indies had to be stopped only 27.1 overs into India’s chase of West Indies’ 300. Water bottles hit Vasbert Drakes and narrowly missed substitute Ryan Hinds, while Pedro Collins, who was not even playing, was struck by a small sandbag. India were 200 for 1 thanks to a Virender Sehwag special at the top, and a curious decision was made to award India the match based on Duckworth-Lewis calculations. Wisden reported: “Local rumour was that bookmakers had sabotaged the match to stop India winning, and had been floored by the outcome.”

West Indies' last shot at silver lining

Match facts

November 11, 2015
Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)Dinesh Chandimal continued his sparkling form in Sri Lanka’s win in Pallekele•AFP

Big Picture

West Indies may not have expected to blow the hosts away but, five weeks in, many of their worst fears for the tour have been realised. Not only are they without an international win, they’ve also had two bowlers – one a crucial limited-overs player – reported for suspect actions.They have one final chance to yank a silver lining out of this cumulonimbus tour. Darren Sammy has spoken of his team’s happy memories at Khettarama from the 2012 World T20, and perhaps nostalgia can be the spark that sees them catch fire after a damp first outing.Mediocre T20 bowling formed the basis of their loss on Monday, as the visitors continued to deliver length towards the back end of the innings. Sunil Narine was outstanding, as usual, but had scant support from the legion of West Indies seamers, who as a unit, were a little light on variation and surprise. The power in their batting seemed as if it might bail the bowlers out in portions of the chase, but there is perhaps no tougher place in the world to chase tall limited-overs scores than Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka, for the little it’s worth, protected their top T20 ranking with that victory. More importantly, they seem to be putting together a top order, which, after a little bit of spit-shine and elbow grease, could form the cornerstone of a decent title defence at next year’s World T20. This year had seen a sharp return to the troposphere after 2014’s astronomical highs, but the West Indies tour has suggested the team is bouncing back. Sri Lanka might not always be a world-beating outfit, but their lows have not tended to last long either.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: WLLWWWest Indies: LLWWW

In the spotlight

Now seemingly relieved of the gloves in all formats, Dinesh Chandimal has a little added responsibility with the bat. This has been a season of rebirth for him. Following rejuvenating Test and ODI hands, on Monday, he displayed aptitude in the T20 format he struggled in last year. One of the cleanest hitters in the team when the mood strikes, Chandimal has the potential to play a key role in the 2016 World T20.On an evening in which all West Indies’ seamers went at more than 10 an over, Kieron Pollard managed at least to cause a few problems, and take two wickets. He took pace off the ball to exploit the slow Pallekele surface, and with the Khettarama pitch likely to be even slower, he may be similarly effective there. Too much was required of him with the bat but, nevertheless, he made his presence felt with a few mighty blows off the spinners.

Teams news

Sri Lanka may be tempted to play the same XI, particularly now that Binura Fernando has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. Batsman Dasun Shanaka has been named in his stead.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Kusal Perera (wk), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Shehan Jayasuriya, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Milinda Siriwardana, 7 Chamara Kapugedara, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Sachithra Senanayake, 10 Lasith Malinga (capt), 11 Dushmantha ChameeraRavi Rampaul may come into the side, displacing the expensive Jerome Taylor. Elsewhere, West Indies are likely to be unchanged.West Indies (probable): 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Andre Fletcher (wk), 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Jason Holder, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Devendra Bishoo, 11 Ravi Rampaul

Pitch and conditions

Rain may again delay or interrupt this match. The Khettarama surface is historically slow and given to spin.

Stats and trivia

  • Sri Lanka have lost eight of the nine T20s they have played at Khettarama.
  • If West Indies win this match, they move up to third in the T20 rankings.
  • Having crossed the 1500-run threshold in his last innings, Tillakaratne Dilshan now sits second on the T20 internationals run-scorers’ list, behind Brendon McCullum.

Quotes

“Because I bowled well in these few matches, people might say I am back. But personally – having played internationals for more than 11 years – I feel I’m not at my best. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to bowl at my best again, with the injuries that I have. But if the selectors still think I’m in the best 15 in Sri Lanka, I’m happy.”
“It would be good to go home on a winning note. We believe we can be victorious in Colombo – a place that is very special to us. In 2012, they defeated us here [in Pallekele] in the group matches, and we beat them there in the finals. It’s the same scenario.”

South Africa rely on the K factor to beat late England charge

Cape Town – South Africa’s reliance of the K factor emerged during the WorldCup last year when mostly Lance Klusener engineered victory out of any number ofimprobable situations. On occasions we also had Jacques Kallis embroidering afew fancy touches.At Newlands on Wednesday both combined to give England a double barrel blast inone of the more sensational finishes to a slogs event as we are going tosee in this particular triangular series.And at the end of it all, with four needed off the last ball to win, DarrenGough swings at a Kallis delivery and the best he can gallop is a two as SouthAfrica scrape home by one run.No doubt it will go down in the column of matches won by one run or less insome esoteric book of records and close finishes in LOIs; and yes, for many itwas a tad like the players enclosure being knee deep in chewed finger-nails(yet again). Even the Barmy Army pals were arguing whether or not to singthe “Run, Allan, run …” ditty they love trotting out so much on this tourThis time the refrain might be transferred to “Oh no, Goughie, we needed afour …” as Kallis, man of the match, bowled the last delivery in an over which had even a touch of Shakespearean drama as the finger of fate flicked first England’s way then South Africa’s.In the 49th over bowled by Shaun Pollock, five deliveries went for 16 runs asMark Ealham and Chris Read almost slogged their way into history. Two Pommiewins in this series over South Africa may have triggered an identity crisis.When did England last win consecutive matches is one question which suggeststhey are the sort of side which doesn’t know how to perform such miracles.Read clobbered a six and a four as well as a single as Pollock was pasted allover Newlands. Ealham swung and picked up a boundary. When he swung again andgot a delivery high on the bat (as near to the splice you are going to get) anJonty Rhodes took as pretty a safe catch as you are going to see.Andrew Caddick arrived and Read swung again grabbed a single, facing Kallisand the start of the last over. South Africa’s captain, Hansie Crone, seemed tohave trusted his instincts as well as gut feel on this one and declined tobowl himself or Pieter Strydom. He relied on his front five and backed them andthat was enough. Cronje admitted, though “the game was all too close”.Winning the toss and deciding that reputations being what they are after duskat Newlands batting first was the best option and the best way to turn aroundthat dreadful nine wickets thrashing in Bloemfontein on Sunday.The pitch was about as snail pace as was Goodyear Park in Bloem last Sundayand the outfield even slower than it was during the fourth Test. Boundaries werefar from easy and galloping threes was almost a compulsory exercise. So it wasno mean feat for the likes of Nick Knight to slap the first and Ealham tochalk up the second to bring England that little closer.Building partnerships was far from being an exercise as the slow puncture weexperienced in the South Africa innings all but repeated itself. Kallisknuckled down and built an innings of 43 as he watched the procession ofHerschelle Gibbs, Jonty Rhodes and his captain come and go. There had beenspeculation Rhodes would be ready for the game and he came in at four in theorder with Dale Benkenstein left out as the selectors made three necessarychanges: Mornantau Hayward for Nicky Boje, Rhodes for Benkenstein and Williamsfor David Terbrugge who had such a disappointing game in Bloemfontein.There was the suspicion Terbrugge was in need to a re-evaluation of hisbowling form having missed out at the Wanders and being pushed in against England in Bloemfontein. He should have played in the first game against Zimbabwe at the Wanderers to see what he can do. But the selectors have no doubt now got the idea that it was not a good idea in either Bloem or Newlands.Kallis was run out by an Ealham throw for 43: running slap into the rotundNatal umpire Wilf Diedricks and failing to make good his ground. It was atouch bizarre and ironic.Klusener took over, but as with Kallis runs were not easy: chipping away atold myths and new theories seemed to go hand in glove. He did what he could before the run out.It Kallis did what he could to nurse the total along Klusener looked forpartners to build the innings and take the score past the 200 mark. It was apsychological thing; South Africa needed to get their act together. Klusenerdid it with a typical flourish.What happened next is typical slogs flare. Every time South Africa startedbuilding a total new crisis would arise. On the face of it they were lucky toget to a pick up 200; after that it was a bonus. Gough bowled tidily with swing and seam and awkward angles.While Nasser Hussain went quickly to a peachy delivery; it was a question ofcollecting other wickets. There was some care, stubborn and solid resistancefrom Nick Knight and Graeme Hick with the pair building a partnership of 68.Then the two fell quickly (within in three balls as it were) with Hick fallinglbw to Kallis and Knight getting an edge. The rest of the innings started to lose its drive with some outstanding bowling and fielding which reduced their areas of frustration for South Africa.Chris Adams looked the part of a batsman trying to save the innings butonce he went the charade South Africa kept on plugging away and the result was in doubt until that final delivery – the crowd’s cheering drew attention that either side could win – it was that sort of uncertainty which comes over the game as the bowlers are hard to get away and the batsmen fret about putting runs on the board.England seemed to win and then lose the scent in their quest for runs. As the wickets fell the moon was just that extra too high to reach and Polly and Kallis were that much better than they had been in Bloemfontein.South Africa though proved to on top of the situation and with more slog thannudge and push, England almost got there before Kallis bowled that final over – in the end pushing the hosts into the log lead and silencing the Barmy Army.

UP women maintain unbeaten record

Uttar Pradesh’s women cricketers maintained their unbeaten record inSri Lanka with an exciting five run victory over a Young Women’s XI atthe Colts Club in Colombo on Thursday.In scorching heat, the Young Women XI made the surprise decision tofield first after winning the toss. They may well have thought thatthey had made the correct decision at the half way stage, afterbowling out UP for just 116. However the tourists had defended a lowtotal on Tuesday and they repeated the trick again, by bowling outtheir opponents for just 111 in 45 overs.Having been put into bat, the mainstays of the Uttar Pradesh inningswere the opener, Priyanka Shally, with a breezy 22 off 34 balls (Shewas the top scorer in the last match with a fine 34), and Rahul Singhwith a not out 26. Apart from these contributions none of the batsmengot to grips with the bowling and wickets fell at regular intervalsthroughout the innings. Wasanthi and Janakanthi were the pick of thebowlers for the Sri Lankans, both picking up three wickets.In reply, the Sri lankan openers made a positive reply, putting on 26for the first wicket. When the second wicket partnership took thescore to 48, the visitors must have feared the worst. However this UPside appears to never give up. Once again it was the mid-inningsbowlers that did the damage, Rahul Singh following her fine battingwith a match winning 4-24 off her allotted 10 overs.When the ninth wicket fell with the score on 99, UP believed that theywere home and dry. However a nail biting last wicket stand edged theSri Lankans towards their target before Preethi Dimri took the lastwicket and UP had squeezed home again.

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