Rob Smyth's Blog, page 60

New Zealand v England: second Test, day two – as it happened

Jimmy Anderson and Jack Leach took three wickets apiece as England reduced New Zealand to 138-7, still 297 runs behind

70th over: England 341-4 (Root 113, Stokes 12) Root takes a single off Henry, whereupon Stokes steps away to leg, twice – first driving to mid-off for no run, then lofting a cut over the ring for four. Then he misses a scoop. “He’s trying absolutely every trick in the book here,” says David Gower. “Danger is if you overdo it, you lose a couple of wickets and lose that momentum.” My guess is that Stokes is even more relaxed about that than usual, because, with 300 in the bank already, he may be thinking of declaring before long.

“Personally,” says Paul Griffin, “I thought it was quite a streaky triple-century stand, and wonder whether Baz has taken this team as far as he can, or perhaps even lost the dressing room.”

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New Zealand v England: second Test, day one – as it happened

A serene century from Joe Root and a spectacular 184 not out from Harry Brook took England to 315-3 on a rain-affected day

1st over: England 0-0 (Crawley 0, Duckett 0) First ball, Southee beats Zak Crawley on the inside edge and appeals for LBW. Going down, it seems. Second ball, he finds the outside edge, but Crawley’s hands are soft enough to keep it down. Third ball, cartoon outswinger, left alone, ends up between first and second slip. Fourth ball, swinging away again, in the channel but safely left. Fifth ball, thick outside edge, again controlled. Sixth ball, left again. It’s a maiden! Something NZ didn’t manage for 40 overs in the first Test.

Some correspondence! “OK Tim...” says Brendan Large on Twitter. “I heard the pitch was green but WTAF. It looks like the groundsperson had a few too many last night & painted the pitch on the outfield. Will it play as stupidly as it looks? If it does is that good or bad for NZ? Surely Bazball is made for a crazy wicket?”

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Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid: Champions League last 16, first leg – as it happened

Vinicius Jr and Karim Benzema scored two apiece as Real recovered from a shambolic start to humiliate Liverpool

“Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “It’s too soon to call Stefan Bajcetic Stevie B, isn’t it?”

It is if you remember the UK top 40 in March 1991.

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Football Daily | Liverpool get another chance to unfreeze against their Klopptonite

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You can sum up Jürgen Klopp’s Big Cup story at Liverpool in one word. It’s not “heavy”, or “metal”; it’s not even “heavy-metal” when it’s used as an adjective. It’s “Madrid”. Liverpool beat Spurs at the Estadio Metropolitano, aka the House of Simeone, in 2019 to win their sixth title. In the other four seasons, from 2018-22, they were eliminated by Madrid’s finest: Real three times, including two finals, and Atlético in a just-before-Covid night that gets weirder with every recall. So it was no great surprise when Liverpool, who had a one-in-four chance of drawing Real Madrid in the last 16, drew Real Madrid in the last 16.

Does anyone else’s memory drift back to 1978 and a short BBC2 series called The Pickersgill People? Episode one (if I remember correctly) featured ‘the Sheik of Pickersgill’, who would hold his red and white shemagh while chanting ‘United, United’. Of course, this would never happen in reality” – Peter Storch.

Postings regarding sightings of famous players off the pitch (Football Daily letters passim) reminded me of many not really seen at all. In the 1990s, when hope was still part of the repertoire of Evertonians, on a once-important news discussion group, there were regular claims of sightings. Many of these were along the lines of ‘my auntie’s window-cleaner knows a bloke who lives next door to a woman whose cousin is on the ground staff of [insert any team]’, followed by a ‘revelation’ about a player from said team who was said to be desperate to join Everton’s ‘Dogs of War’. My most cherished memory of those days goes back to the outpouring of euphoric debate that ensued when one of our number claimed to have witnessed Fabrizio Ravanelli coming out of the Goodison Road Supper Bar with a very big portion of chips wrapped in the (now defunct) Football Echo” – Paul Preston.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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Manchester United 3-0 Leicester City: Premier League – as it happened

Marcus Rashford continued his volcanic streak, scoring the first two goals in an ultimately comfortable victory for United

“England has shown that only money counts,” says Jeff Sax, “and they will find a way to let Qatar buy Man Utd ... just like they let Saudi Arabia buy Newcastle. Enjoy the game.”

Well, I was hoping to until that email.

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New Zealand v England: first Test – as it happened

Late wickets by Jimmy Anderson put England in the driving seat after quick-fire runs from Harry Brook and Ben Duckett and a bold declarationl

Okay, I’m off to get a coffee, so I’ll see you in a bit for the first session. If you’re going to stay up all night, it might as well be to watch England bat. One way or another, it’ll not be dull.

New Zealand Latham, Conway, Williamson, Nicholls, Mitchell, Blundell (wk), Bracewell, Kuggeleijn, Southee (c), Wagner, Tickner.

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Liverpool 2-0 Everton: Premier League – as it happened

Goals from Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo, his first for Liverpool, settled a one-sided Merseyside derby

“The good news about tonight’s game,” says David Horn, “is that, as we know, form goes out the window in a derby. So we should be in for a cracker.”"

Honk!

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Manchester City 3-1 Aston Villa: Premier League – as it happened

Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez scored as an affronted Manchester City overwhelmed Villa in the first half at the Etihad

The players are on the field, and the Premier League anthem is being roundly booed by the home fans. I’m all for a good siege mentality, but grown men (sic) booing an anthem, nah.

“I’m tuning in and hoping for the Villa win that would help Arsenal,” says Shane O’Leary, “but more importantly, tip Pep into full Howard Beale mode.”

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Tottenham 1-2 Manchester United: Women’s Super League – as it happened

United went top of the WSL after a deserved but hard-fought win at Spurs, in which Ella Toone was sent off for violent conduct

7 min England beats Le Tissier superbly on the halfway line and charges down the left, but she has very little support and eventually her cross is cut out by Blundell.

4 min Toone’s cross deflects across goal, and Korpela does well to save the corner with a slightly awkward charge from her goal. It’s all United thus far.

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Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal: Women’s Super League – as it happened

The majestic Chloe Kelly made the first goal for Lauren Hemp and scored the second as City moved above Arsenal with an impressive victory

2 min: So close from Maanum! Hasegawa’s loose pass goes straight to the in-form Maanum, 25 yards from goal. She takes a touch and whistles a superb drive that flashes just wide of the near post with Roebuck scrambling desperately across her line.

2 min Arsenal have indeed started with a back three of Rafaelle, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Leah WIlliamson.

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