Pre-season friendlies are always an enjoyable watch as we get familiar faces up against each other, and new players coming through the ranks to impress out of nowhere.

It’s not a time when results should play too much of a part in future predictions, however, with teams simply getting up to speed before doing their best work when it really matters.

That’s not to say that certain players don’t have the chance to embarrass opponents, of course. And that’s exactly what happened to Cristiano Ronaldo up against former Real Madrid teammate Angel Di Maria, as Al-Nassr took on Benfica this week.

Angel Di Maria’s skill leaves Cristiano Ronaldo Bemused

Di Maria is one of the most elegant players of his generation, with the ability to pluck the ball from impossible angles, controlling it expertly. Even at 35, the Argentine winger has still got plenty to offer, too, as he looks to star once more after swapping Paris Saint-Germain for Benfica this summer.

The World Cup winner wasted no time in showing off that elegance against Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr side, either, with his former teammate left bewildered by his clever flick.

As you can see in the footage above, with two quick movements, Di Maria expertly controls the ball, before flicking it over the head of the incoming Ronaldo to remind us all why the Al-Nassr man was never a defender, before CR7 then hauled his former teammate to the ground in a flash of frustration.

The moment summed up a day to forget for Ronaldo, who could do nothing as his side were defeated 4-1 by Benfica, with Di Maria even scoring on his debut for the club.

So far, it’s been a pre-season to forget as a whole for Ronaldo’s side, who were also defeated by Celta Vigo 5-0, to make an aggregate score of 9-1 up against European sides.

It is perhaps ironic that Al Nassr have been smashed by two European sides after Ronaldo recently said: “I won’t return to European football, the door is completely closed.

“I’m 38 years old, also European football has lost lot of quality… only valid one is Premier League, they’re way ahead of all the other leagues.”

How much is Cristiano Ronaldo paid per week?

Setting the trend of making the move to Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo earns a reported £3.6m per week at Al-Nassr, in what is an eye-watering amount.

If the wage was to be calculated per minute, then the star forward earns £357 every 60 seconds, meaning that by the time his side have had the chance to ship five goals against a mid-table La Liga side, Ronaldo would have earned a whopping £32,130.

It remains to be seen whether or not Al-Nassr will be among those competing for the title in the Saudi Pro League. After all, others around them have strengthened a significant amount, particularly current champions Al-Ittihad.

Indeed, last season’s title winners have so far welcomed N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, and Jota, as they look to defend their crown.

Fans have been quick to react to Al-Nassr’s pre-season, and particularly Di Maria’s fantastic piece of skill that left Ronaldo frustrated and bewildered up against Benfica.

You can see some of the reactions below:

Overview

Fifty-over cricket has delivered New Zealand only one global trophy – the 2000 edition of this tournament, when it was called the ICC Knockout Trophy – and almost gave them the greatest success in their history in 2015. Riding on a surge of home support and home advantage, they reached the World Cup final that year, unbeaten, only to be overpowered (and overawed) at the MCG.

Squad

Kane Williamson (capt), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Neil Broom, Colin de Gradhomme, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, James Neesham, Jeetan Patel, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor

In some ways, the team has been regenerated since then. The talismanic Brendon McCullum, the wily Daniel Vettori and the heroic Grant Elliott have retired. However, within this squad, there is an element of trying to rekindling that 2015 spirit: Corey Anderson, Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne have been recalled after lengthy periods on the sidelines, while in Mitchell Santner they also have someone doing a very fine impression of Vettori.This is, though, a side in Kane Williamson’s image; a little less gung-ho and a touch more considered than the McCullum model, much like his batting. Since taking over full-time, Williamson has had two series against Australia and one apiece against India, Bangladesh and South Africa. The toughest of those – India away, Australia away and South Africa at home – have been lost, and while there is no disgrace in any of that, there is a sense that this New Zealand team is a notch below the side of 2015.There is also a lingering concern about burnout among some key figures, notably the captain and coach. With a smaller pool of resources to call on than some nations, Williamson – who did not travel to Ireland but was still active at the IPL – and Mike Hesson are involved in virtually every aspect of New Zealand’s cricket, and it’s been almost non-stop cricket for them since August 2016. After this tournament, they do have a significant break until October, thereby giving them a chance to take stock at the mid-point cycle to another World Cup.

Champions Trophy history

1998 – Quarter-final
2000 – Winners
2002 – Group stage
2004 – Group stage
2006 – Semi-final
2009 – Runner’s up
2013 – Group stage

Form guide

Half the members of the Champions Trophy squad have been warming up with a tri-series in Ireland, while key figures completed their IPL campaigns. It all went swimmingly until the final match when they slipped up against Bangladesh, but it could yet prove a useful exercise for New Zealand’s fringe players – should they be needed as reinforcements. In their previous home season, New Zealand lost 2-3 against South Africa, having cleaned up Bangladesh and Australia, although they lost the away Chappell-Hadlee series.

Strength

As has been touched upon, a core of senior players remain from the 2015 side – each of them in their prime and looking to make it to the World Cup in 2019. There is the big three in the top four – Martin Guptill, Williamson and Ross Taylor – while Trent Boult and Tim Southee are impressive white-ball bowlers. They are all among the finest one-day cricketers in the world. Guptill’s unbeaten 180 off 138 balls against South Africa earlier this year was a stunning innings, Taylor had a resurgent home season with two match-winning hundreds in his last eight matches, and Williamson is rightly bracketed alongside Virat Kohli, Steven Smith and Joe Root as this generation’s outstanding batsmen across formats.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Weakness

New Zealand have got themselves into a bit of pickle over the wicketkeeping situation, and it has had a knock-on effect. They are keen to balance their side by having the gloveman open the innings. It led them to giving Tom Latham a chance behind the wicket during the home season, but that – whether as a result or a coincidence – saw Latham’s runs dry up so much that he was briefly dropped. They have now gone back to Luke Ronchi, and signs suggest that he will open the batting – having had that role in the tri-series. There remains huge faith in Latham, who captained the side in Ireland and also churned out the runs. That could make it difficult to fit Ronchi into the full-strength XI – he has not scored an ODI half-century since January 2015, when he made 170 not out against Sri Lanka. However, his runs in Ireland came at a strike-rate of 113.48, and he could be used with the licence to cut loose.

Key stats

• Since the beginning of the 2015 World Cup, Martin Guptill is the second highest run-scorer in ODIs with 2222, just behind David Warner (2244).
• Kane Williamson has the highest average (45.90) of any New Zealand batsman to have played 50 ODIs. If the qualification is trimmed to 40 matches, Glenn Turner (47.00) sneaks ahead.
• Of players to have bowled 100 ODI overs since the start of 2016, Mitchell Santner has the lowest economy rate (4.59) of anyone who will appear in the Champions Trophy.

Leeds United supporters would love Liverpool defender Nat Phillips should he complete a move to the Championship, according to reliable journalist Neil Jones.

What position does Nat Phillips play?

Phillips is naturally a centre-back who has been at Anfield ever since 2016 when he initially joined the U23s side, but despite having since been promoted to the senior fold, he’s fallen significantly out of favour having been handed just one top-flight start last season by Jurgen Klopp.

The Reds boss already has Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez as his preferred options at the heart of the backline so the 26-year-old isn’t likely to get a look in moving forward, hence why it’s been reported that they are happy to listen to offers for him.

The Athletic’s Phil Hay was the first to credit the Whites with an interest in the 6 foot 2 colossus just last month and he revealed that the Merseyside outfit are looking to receive a fee of £10m in order to sanction his sale, and the admiration makes sense because the journalist claims that the player was previously wanted by Daniel Farke during his time at Norwich.

Are Leeds signing Nat Phillips?

Writing in his column for CaughtOffside, Jones claimed that Leeds would be a perfect fit for Phillips, but insisted that it could prove difficult to complete a deal should he also be targeted by more high-profile clubs overseas. He said:

“Leeds have been linked as well, and if I was a Championship team looking to get back into the Premier League, I’d definitely go for him as a reliable performer at centre-back. I think Leeds fans would warm to him – he’s that kind of no-nonsense, body-on-the-line kind of player that crowds love, he does the basics of defending well, and he’s underrated on the ball as well.

"So I think he’d be a great signing for someone like Leeds, but if he’s also getting offers from clubs in the Champions League or Europa League that’ll obviously appeal as well."

How good is Nat Phillips?

Leeds will know that Phillips hasn’t been given a fair chance to prove what he’s capable of at Liverpool but he’s more than shown his potential when handed the rare opportunity to play, having been dubbed a “monster” in the air by Klopp himself, so the centre-back could definitely excel further under the guidance of Farke.

The PLG client averaged two aerial wins per top-flight outing last season so is strong at using his height off the ground to win physical battles, but he’s also calm and composed in possession having recorded an 86.6% pass success rate, which was higher than any of the regular starters at Elland Road.

Phillips, who has previous experience of competing in the Champions League, would also provide the boss with some versatility with his ability to operate out at right-back alongside his usual role, which would be great quality to have in the building considering the long-term injury to Stuart Dallas, so all in all, this move would be a risk worth taking.

Making his debut for MLS club Inter Miami, Lionel Messi did what Lionel Messi does and completely stole the show with a stunning last-minute free-kick to win the match.

Did Messi score on his Inter Miami debut?

Having chosen to leave Europe for the first time in his club career earlier this summer, all eyes with be on the ageing Argentine to see how he fares during his spell with David Beckham’s franchise team.

And when we say all eyes, we mean all eyes. Indeed, the official Major League Soccer Twitter feed posted a replay of his free-kick and it already has over 14 million views.

The 36-year-old was making his first appearance for his new club as they came up against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup. He didn’t start, though, and only came off the bench at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the 54th minute.

Inter Miami were actually 1-0 up at this stage, with a first-half goal from Robert Taylor giving them a lead. However, Cruz Azul’s Uriel Antuna pulled things level with an equaliser in the 65th minute.

Not to be upstaged on his big night, of course, Messi stepped up in the dying seconds of the game to remind everyone why he is quite probably the greatest footballer of all time.

Indeed, with 93 minutes and 47 seconds on the clock (beyond the allotted two minutes of injury time) he connected sweetly with his free-kick to curl the ball over the wall and find the top corner.

You can see the footage below in which he scores the winner to make for a fairy tale debut in Florida.

What celebrities were at Messi’s Inter Miami debut?

Of course with it being such a huge occasion, and with it being America, there were obviously some A-list celebrities in attendance at the DRV PNK Stadium.

The likes of Kim Kardashian and Serena Williams were there, while co-owner Beckham was also watching along with his wife Victoria.

Footage shared on Twitter, captured the emotional reaction of these stars the moment Messi’s freekick hit the back of the net as they were all understandably left stunned and delighted in equal measure.

Beckham was even left in tears at the sight of it all.

Incredibly, Inter Miami are currently bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference, with 18 points from their opening 22 matches and this was their first win in seven matches – albeit coming in a different competition, the Leagues Cup.

Promisingly, however, for the club’s fans, it shows that Messi still has plenty of magic left in his boots and so he may well be able to drag them up the table.

And he will also be helped by his new teammate Sergio Busquets, who also happens to be a former Barcelona teammate, while potentially Andre Iniesta and Jordi Alba could be involved too.

Speaking directly after the game, Messi told the Apple TV broadcast (via Yahoo): “What I saw was the goal. I saw the goal, I knew that I had to score.

“It was the last play of the game and I wanted to score so we didn’t go to penalties. So it was very important for us to get this win, because it’s a new tournament this is going to give us confidence moving forward.”

حقق برشلونة فوزًا هامًا على نظيره قادش، في المباراة التي جمعت بينهما ضمن الجولة 31 من الدوري الإسباني، على ملعب تويفو ميرانديلا.

برشلونة دخل المباراة بالعديد من التغييرات، مع جلوس اللاعبين الأساسيين على مقاعد البدلاء، والاعتماد على عدد من البدلاء، لإراحة القوام الأساسي لمواجهة باريس سان جيرمان.

وفاز برشلونة بثلاثية مقابل هدفين على باريس سان جيرمان بملعب بارك دي برانس، قبل أن تتكرر المواجهة يوم الثلاثاء المقبل في إياب دور الثمانية على ملعب لويس كومبانيس.

طالع أيضًا | أنشيلوتي: حققنا فوزًا يقربنا من اللقب قبل الكلاسيكو.. ولن أكرر خطأ روديجر أمام مانشستر سيتي

برشلونة ظل يبحث عن الهدف خلال شوط المباراة الأول، قبل أن يأتي عن طريق جواو فيليكس بطريقة رائعة بمقصيه من داخل منطقة الجزاء لترجمة الركنية في مرمى لاديسما في الدقيقة 37.

انتهى الشوط الأول، وفي الشوط الثاني، ظل برشلونة يتحمل عبء المباراة بضغط كبير من أصحاب الأرض، مع تغييرات مدرب قادش ماوريسيو بيليجرينو.

ظل تشافي يتابع المباراة من المدرجات بينما كان أوسكار هيرنانديز واقفًا على الخط، قبل أن تأتيه التعليمات بإقحام اللاعبين الأساسيين، ليقحم بيدري ورافينيا وكوندي ولامين يامال، بالإضافة إلى مارك كاسادو.

بعد التغييرات بدأ برشلونة يظهر بشكل أفضل ويخرج من مناطقه، في ظل ضعط كبير من قادش متسلحين بالصخب الجماهيري في المدرجات الصفراء.

الدقيقة 77 حصل مارك أندريه تير شتيجن على كارت أصفر لإهدار الوقت، وهو ما يؤكد الضغط الهائل لأصحاب الأرض، قبل أن يتألق الألماني ببراعة لتسديدة صاروخية من البديل ديادي ساماسيكو وينقذ مرمى البلوجرانا من الهدف الأول.

اعتراضات لاعبي قادش استمرت في ظل مطالبات بركلة جزاء ثم مخالفة على حدود منطقة الجزاء، مع مواصلة تألق كوبارسي وكوندي في الدفاع عن مرماهم.

حكم المباراة أضاف 4 دقائق وقت محتسب بدلًا من الضائع، ولكن لم يتمكن قادش من معادلة النتيجة، وخرج برشلونة بنقطة صعبة خارج ملعبه، وبدون إصابات، بالإضافة للحفاظ على اللاعبين المهددين بالإيقاف عن الكلاسيكو.

هذه النتيجة ترفع رصيد برشلونة إلى 70 نقطة بفارق 8 نقاط عن ريال مدريد الأول، بينما قادش توقف رصيده عند 25 نقطة في المركز الثامن عشر.

برشلونة تمكن من الحفاظ على نظافة شباكه للمباراة السادسة على التوالي في الدوري الإسباني، واستعد بطريقة مثالية لمواجهة ريال مدريد يوم الأحد من الأسبوع القادم 21 أبريل على ملعب سانتياجو بيرنابيو، والتي في حالة خسارتها سيفقد الأمل في المنافسة على لقب الدوري، أما الفوز سيعيد احياء آمال تشافي في الحفاظ على اللقب. هدف فوز برشلونة على قادش في الدوري الإسباني

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire will want to "stay and fight for his place" in Erik ten Hag's team, but fans should "keep an eye on Chelsea" as the Blues' need for defensive cover could facilitate a move.

Is Harry Maguire joining Chelsea?

It has been a fantastic transfer window for the West Londoners this summer; not only have the club cleared out practically an entire squad of players they no longer want, but they have also completed the signings of several promising youngsters like Nicolas Jackson and Diego Moreira.

That said, not everything has gone their way, with the recent confirmation that young defender Wesley Fofana will likely miss a large portion of the season after he required surgery following an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

This development has left the Blues looking somewhat light in defence, with only Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile, and the ageing Thiago Silva ready to play come the season's first game.

Unsurprisingly, the club have started to look for reinforcements for the position, with the Sun reporting earlier this week that England international Maguire is a player they're considering following his 'shock' that he was removed as United's captain.

That said, there is still every chance the former Leicester City star will want to remain and fight for his place at Old Trafford, but anything could happen from here, per journalist Alex Crook.

He explained the situation live on air, which was posted to TalkSPORT's YouTube channel, saying:

"I don't think it's a given that he leaves Manchester United. I think there is still part of him that wants to stay and fight for his place, but just keep an eye on Chelsea. He was linked with them a year ago, I think they are paying close attention to the situation. Obviously, they lost Fofana to another serious injury, so they're pretty short on defensive cover.

"I think it would have to be a permanent deal. I don't necessarily see a situation where Manchester United would loan Maguire to Chelsea because they could be competing for the same goals next season."

Would Harry Maguire be a good signing?

There is no getting around the fact that the last few years at United have been poor for Maguire and that the removal of the captaincy looks to be the closing of that chapter in his career, but would he be able to rediscover his best form at Stamford Bridge under Mauricio Pochettino?

According to WhoScored, Maguire has only achieved a season rating of over seven in two of his four years at United, with both of those coming in his first two campaigns with the club. In the years after, he has only managed an average of 6.59 and 6.65.

However, during his time with the Foxes in the top flight, he was able to average a rating of 7.01 and 7.08, suggesting that within the right setup, he can be a consistently good performer at this level.

His underlying numbers help to show that he likely isn't as bad a player as recent narratives have come to suggest either.

According to FBref, who compare players in a similar position across Europe's top five leagues, the 6 foot 4 titan sits in the top 11% for blocks, the top 12% for aerial duals won, the top 13% for touches in the opposition's penalty area, the top 17% for attempted passes, and the top 19% for progressive carries, all per 90.

It seems only fair to consider the Sheffield-born "colossus'" performances in an England shirt as well.

Despite falling out of favour with ten Hag, Gareth Southgate has always stuck by his centreback, and it's easy to understand why.

In the last World Cup, he was voted in as one of the starting defenders in Sky Sports' team of the tournament, and he was also picked for the official team of the tournament for Euro 2020.

It may not be a glamorous signing, or one that's even popular with the fans, but if it's at the right price, Maguire could be a great option to help Chelsea with their lack of defensive options.

Usman Khawaja will captain Australia A’s four-day team and Travis Head will lead the one-day side for a series of matches in South Africa in July and August

ESPNcricinfo staff19-May-2017

Usman Khawaja will captain Australia A’s four-day team and Travis Head will lead the one-day side for a series of matches in South Africa in July and August. Glenn Maxwell, who scored his maiden Test century on the recent tour of India, will be vice-captain to Khawaja in the first-class games and will have the chance to push his case for retention in the Test side when Australia next play.Moises Henriques was initially named in the one-day squad but the selectors later stated that the allrounder will continue his county stint with Surrey, instead of playing the tri-series.* CA said the selection panel had “considered both Henriques’ experience along with future Australian tours in making this decision”, and that a replacement player will be named in due course.South Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey has been chosen in both squads after a remarkable summer in which he broke the record for most dismissals in a Shield season, while also scoring nearly 600 Shield runs. Queensland allrounder Jack Wildermuth has als been named in both squads, his first call-up for Australia A, while New South Wales batsman Daniel Hughes has the chance to debut for Australia A in the one-day format.The selectors decided against choosing the experienced batsmen Ed Cowan and George Bailey, who were two of the top three Shield run scorers last summer, as well as Cameron White, who topped the Ryobi Cup run tally. However, national selector Trevor Hohns said that while some senior players had missed out, it would “certainly not detract from their chances of representing Australia in the future”.Also absent from the squads were the opener Marcus Harris, who had a prolific Shield season for Victoria and finished fourth on the run tally with 808 runs, and the spinner Jon Holland, whose 50 Shield wickets placed him second only to swing bowler Chadd Sayers on the competition list. Ashton Agar and Mitch Swepson, both of whom toured India with the Test squad this year, were preferred as spin options in both formats.”We have opted for a well-balanced squad featuring some experience blended with younger players, with an emphasis on building our depth for the future,” Hohns said. “This is a great chance for these players to experience foreign conditions against a quality international sides and really test their skills.”With an upcoming Test Series in South Africa early next year it is also an opportunity to impress with their performances and put their names forward for consideration. Khawaja is a proven leader and has captained Australia A before, he will gel nicely with Glenn who recently had some captaincy experience in the IPL and we believe will respond well to this extra responsibility.”Australia A will play two four-day games against South Africa A from July 12 to 22, and then a one-day tri-series involving South Africa A and India A from July 26 to August 8.Four-day squad Usman Khawaja (capt), Glenn Maxwell (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Jackson Bird, Alex Carey (wk), Hilton Cartwright, Travis Head, Kurtis Patterson, Chadd Sayers, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth.One-day squad Travis Head (capt), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Hilton Cartwright, Sam Heazlett, Daniel Hughes, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth.*Friday, May 19 0759 GMT. This copy was updated to reflect a change to Australia A’s one-day squad

كشف مصدر داخل نادي سيراميكا كليوباترا، عن وجود اشتباه في إصابة الظهير الأيسر للفريق الأول لكرة القدم، محمد شكري، بقطع في الرباط الصليبي.

وكان محمد شكري تعرض لإصابة قوية خلال مباراة فريقه مع المصري، التي أقيمت بين الفريقين مساء الأحد، ضمن مؤجلات الجولة العاشرة لبطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز وانتهت بالتعادل الإيجابي 1-1.

وقال المصدر لـ بطولات: “هناك اشتباه بإصابة محمد شكري بقطع في الرباط الصليبي، سيجري اللاعب صباح الأربعاء فحوصات طبية من أجل التشخيص النهائي للإصابة”.

وكان نادي سيراميكا كليوباترا قد كشف أنه يوجد بند في عقد محمد شكري يمنح الأهلي استعادته بداية من الموسم المقبل مع دفع مقابل مادي 9 ملايين جنيه.

يذكر أن شكري كان قد انتقل من صفوف الأهلي إلى سيراميكا كليوباترا في بداية موسم 2022- 2023.

ويحتل فريق سيراميكا كليوباترا المركز السادس في جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري الممتاز، برصيد 23 نقطة. 

Jacques Rudolph scored his first County Championship century for more than two years as Glamorgan turned the Specsavers County Championship clash with Worcestershire on its head at New Road

ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2017
ScorecardJacques Rudolph has regained form with a century at Worcester•Getty Images

Jacques Rudolph scored his first County Championship century for more than two years as Glamorgan turned the Specsavers County Championship clash with Worcestershire on its head at New Road.Rudolph and Chris Cooke created a new seventh wicket record of 168 in 50 overs for Glamorgan in matches against Worcestershire.Then Andrew Salter and Lukas Carey piled on the misery for the promotion-chasing home side with a 124 partnership for the ninth wicket in 27.1 overs.Their efforts enabled Glamorgan to recover from 58-6 at one stage yesterday evening and total 381 all out in 101.5 overs – a lead of 114.It was in sharp contrast to the problems caused yesterday by Worcestershire paceman Josh Tongue with his five wickets in four overs although he still was able to return career best figures of 6-97 from 25 overs.Worcestershire suffered an early setback in reply when Daryl Mitchell on 18 nicked skipper Michael Hogan to Colin Ingram at first slip as they closed on 34-1 after bad lighted halted play with seven overs remaining.Rudolph reached three figures in the competition for the first time since his hundred against Leicestershire at Grace Road in April 2015.It was a welcome tonic for the 36-year-old after a poor run of form and having recently relinquished the captaincy of the Championship side to Hogan.Rudolph and Cooke batted in confident fashion in surpassing the previous seventh wicket record of 106 by Jonathan Hughes and current head coach Robert Croft at the same venue in 2002.Tongue was the only bowler to cause them any worries in his initial two spells and Rudolph completed his 51st first class hundred – off 158 balls with 13 fours – with a cut for four off Nathan Lyon.Cooke had a let off on 48 when Daryl Mitchell at first slip failed to hold onto a chance off Lyon.The stand was finally broken with Leach dismissing the pair in the same over.Cook, having made 93 off 113 balls with one six and 11 fours, was caught at short mid on and then Rudolph, whose 111 spanned 209 deliveries with 14 boundaries, was bowled after attempting a cut.Glamorgan were still 40 in arrears at that juncture but Salter and Carey earned them a sizeable advantage as they both posted career best scores.Salter deliberately upper cut Tongue over third man for six to bring up the fourth batting point as the runs flowed against the second new ball.Tongue finally ended the stand when Carey (54) popped a simple catch up to Brett D’Oliveira at point and then Leach removed Hogan (13) to leave Salter unbeaten on 80.

India’s win over Sri Lanka in 2015 set the template for the team’s success since then, said Virat Kohli

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-20172:02

‘Last series in SL changed Test fortunes’ – Kohli

When India were last in Sri Lanka, they were a team in transition. They had a new captain and the scars of back-to-back series defeats away from home were still fairly fresh. “We still remember, for us a as a squad, after the tour of Australia in 2014-15, we found ourselves at No. 7 in the world and from then on the transformation started,” Virat Kohli said as he cast his mind back.India began that series in promising fashion, taking a 192-run first-innings lead in Galle, and then had Sri Lanka teetering on 95 for 5 in the second innings. But they squandered that position of strength to eventually lose by 63 runs. Yet another tour was starting to follow a painfully familiar pattern for India.Only they went to Colombo and won both matches there – even the decider on a fast-bowler friendly pitch to secure their first series in Sri Lanka in 22 years. After landing in the country on Thursday, Kohli said that victory had given the team “belief”. It taught them “how to come together as a team” and “within I think 12 or 15 months from Australia, we were the No. 1 side in the world, we’d just touched it, but from then on we have solidified it. But I still believe, and so do everyone in the team, that this [Sri Lanka] is where it started for us. That particular series, after losing that Test in Galle, which was quite a dent for us, the way the team came together, I think was iconic, as far as where we’ve come in the last two years has been concerned.”Some of Kohli’s pride stemmed from the fact that India had beaten a well-drilled Sri Lankan side. “What we told our group was, ‘what matters is how much you believe more than the opposition’. You might have played 100 games, but if a guy who has played 10 games has more belief than you, then he’s going to end up doing better on the field’.”The core of that 2015 squad has once again come to the island, for three Tests, five ODIs and and a T20I, but there are question marks hanging over some of them. M Vijay, originally picked among the touring party, was forced to withdraw after a recurrence of his wrist injury. As a result, India’s openers are likely to be two of Shikhar Dhawan, who has not played Tests since October 2016, KL Rahul, who has spent the best part of 2017 with a shoulder injury and Abhinav Mukund, who made 0 and 16 in his first Test in five years in March.”Injuries are an unfortunate part of sport, any sport in the world,” Kohli said. “Vijay was back with his rehab, but he played a game and he felt he wasn’t up there and that’s credit to him for conveying it to the selectors and being honest in telling us that he wouldn’t be able to be match fit because there’s a lot riding on a Test match.”Abhinav has done really well in domestic cricket. Shikhar, when he came here last time, he got a hundred as well. Then he had to miss a couple of games. [Cheteshwar] Pujara opened in the last Test in the last series that we played here. So guys have started seeing such scenarios as opportunities and not as pressure scenario because now they feel privileged and they want to have any opportunity to play for the country and everyone wants to make a mark. No one wants to sit on the sidelines and watch other people go on with their business. I’m sure these guys are hungry”And Shikhar’s coming back as well after being left out of the Test squad. He’s done really well in the Champions Trophy, he’s batting beautifully. Abhinav is very solid in his technique and Rahul, obviously, has been a champion opener for us. So all these guys are coming back really hungry because we haven’t played any Test cricket after February.”But rust is a thing in world cricket, so is switching formats – India have been playing ODI and T20 cricket for the past five months. India will have to overcome these complications quickly and one way to do so, according to Kohli, is to make sure a player trains rigorously in the lead-up to the first match.”I feel you need to physically condition yourself before Test matches, and then as soon as the game starts, the mental preparation, whatever you’ve done, you can sit down and think about the game. You have to put in the hard yards, thinking if you have to bat for four sessions, five sessions, physically you have to be up there, because playing limited-overs cricket, that can drop down because the demands are not that high.”Playing short-format cricket, you can still think about Test cricket, but you won’t prepare in that manner because you are not prepared to do so because you don’t have to do so much work. But in Test matches, it’s a different ball game altogether, the way you eat, the way you hydrate, most importantly, the way you practice.”As a professional cricketer, you have to jump from format to format. But I’m sure the guys who’ve only played Test cricket till February, and who haven’t had so much cricket after that, I’m sure they’ve had long sessions back home. Pujara has played some [county] games, all these guys have been batting for a while, training hard as well. So once the game starts, the groove kicks back in. You just need the game to start and everything falls into place.”