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Western Province beat Border by 77-runs in their Supersport Series match at Buffalo Park in East London on Monday. The win moves Western Province to the top of the log in pool B with the 17 points they earned for victory.After batting first in the match, the visitors were able to declare on Sunday and left the hosts needing 321 to win the match off 106 overs. It was a game declaration by HD Ackerman, but Border were unable to seriously give chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals.Starting the day on three for one, Border progressed slowly to 31 in the first hour of play. Nightwatchman Geoff Love was the first scalp of the morning when he was caught by Herschelle Gibbs at cover point for 24, off the tiring left-arm seamer Charl Willoughby, who had given great effort in hot conditions in the morning.The wicket appeared to lift his spirits and in his next over he had opener Craig Sugden caught by Alan Dawson for 11 tooth-achingly dull runs. It reduced the home side to 36 for three.Steven Pope and Wayne Wiblin negotiated the next stage comfortably, but when Dawson returned to the attack with his aggressive right-arm seam he achieved a timely breakthrough. Pope mistimed a drive and was caught by Ashwell Prince in the covers for 22.Wiblin was then clean bowled for 22 by South African international wrist-spinner Paul Adams, and Border were once again in the quagmire.They survived without further loss until tea, but when Ian Mitchell and Vasbert Drakes resumed after the interval Western Province made the decisive move with the wickets of Drakes and Tyron Henderson in short succession.Border, however, still had some fight left in them. Mitchell and number 11 Liam Graham embarrassed the top order with their application as they frustrated the visitors bowling with a 53-run stand.With eight overs left in the day a draw that had seemed impossible after lunch looked like a possibility. Dawson had the final say however, when Graham eventually edged a ball to Ackerman at slip for a well played 19 that took over an hour.Mitchell was not out on 46 to add to his first innings score of 61 while Willoughby was the pick of the bowlers with three for 57 in 20 overs.

Despite Rodrigo de Paul having been linked with a move to Leeds United for the best part of a year – with Marcelo Bielsa’s outfit reportedly seeing a €35m (£30m) bid rejected for the Argentina international in the summer of 2020 and Phil Hay claiming in February 2021 that the 27-year-old remained interested in a switch to Elland Road – the central midfielder ultimately sealed a move to Spain, with Atletico Madrid landing De Paul in a €35m (£30m) deal.

And, since his switch to the Spanish giants, the £42m-rated dynamo has gone from strength to strength, highly impressing over his 26 LaLiga appearances for Diego Simeone’s side this season, scoring one goal, registering two assists and creating six big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.2 key passes, 0.7 interceptions, 1.4 tackles and winning 4.5 duels per game.

These returns have seen the player who Julio Velazquez claimed “lacks absolutely nothing” and “could play in any club in the world” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.00, ranking him as Atleti’s seventh-best performer in the top flight of Spanish football.

However, it has not only been in domestic competitions that the £28k-per-week has shone for his new club, as, over his six appearances in the Champions League, De Paul has been in similarly spectacular form, scoring one goal and creating three big chances, in addition to making an average of 1.2 key passes, 0.8 interceptions, 2.3 tackles and winning 5.2 duels per fixture.

These metrics have seen the Argentine average a quite extraordinary SofaScore match rating of 7.15, ranking him as Simeone’s joint third-best player in the tournament.

Furthermore, in recognition of his astonishing level of performance for Atleti, the 27-year-old was recently named as the 46th-best footballer in the world by The Guardian, ahead of the likes of Chelsea’s Kai Havertz, Real Madrid’s David Alaba and West Ham United’s Declan Rice.

Meanwhile, since missing out on the signing of De Paul last summer, things have gone in quite the opposite direction for Leeds, with Kalvin Phillips having been ruled out of action since December with a hamstring injury and the club’s status as a Premier League side looking increasingly uncertain – with the Whites now being just two points above the relegation zone.

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As such, it very much feels as if Victor Orta’s decision not to up his bid for the player who Smarterscout’s Dan Altman claimed no midfielders “can match” was something of a sliding doors moment for the Whites, with De Paul’s form since his move to Spain only further highlighting the club’s nightmare on missing out on his signature.

AND in other news: Marsch can seal instant Leeds masterclass by unleashing £16.5k-p/w “wrecking ball”

Sri Lanka have asked Pakistan to schedule their bilateral one-day series, which was proposed to fill the gap caused by Australia’s pull-out, so that the dates do not clash with those of the Indian Premier League (IPL).Arjuna Ranatunga, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chairman, had agreed in principle to a one-day series in Pakistan after Australia postponed their tour due to security concerns but the reported dates were between April 23 and May 5, which coincide with the IPL, which runs between April 18 and June 1.”We have told Pakistan that we are keen to help Pakistan only if it [the series] did not clash with the IPL,” Duleep Mendis, the chief executive of the SLC, told AFP. He said that the SLC had already released players for the IPL.Cricinfo had reported that the IPL could affect the series because several Sri Lankan and Pakistan players had been bought by the franchises during the first auction on the basis of their availability, and a newly scheduled series would be an inconvenience. The PCB said that it was willing to offer SLC $800,000 for the five ODIs but only if they sent their full team.Player sources denied any pressure was placed on SLC by the cricketers to delay the tour: “Media speculation over the weekend that some of Sri Lanka’s players might have been considering an early retirement or a series boycott to play in the IPL rather than tour Pakistan is totally unfounded. Playing for Sri Lanka is the No 1 priority.”Meanwhile, Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI, which is running the IPL, told Cricinfo he had contacted officials of the PCB and the SLC regarding the proposed series. “But it was just at the proposal stage. So we didn’t go any further into it,” Shah said.

Mushtaq Ahmed cries after learning of Bob Woolmer’s death © Getty Images

After Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, Mushtaq Ahmed, the caretaker coachand Talat Ali, the manager, were questioned by police on Saturday over Bob Woolmer’s murder, it’s now the turn of Brian Lara, the West Indies captain. Lara was staying in the room opposite to Woolmer’s in the Pegasus Hotel and the questioning, which may be followed by DNA testing, is believed to be part of the routine process of eliminating suspects.After the questioning of Inzamam and the other two, the Pakistan team flew out of Jamaica to home as scheduled.Pervez Mir, the team’s spokesperson, told Cricinfo that the three Pakistan players werequestioned for about half an hour. “They were questioned over a coupleof things that were previously overlooked.” But he was keen to stressthere was “nothing out of the ordinary” about the questioning andreiterated that “no one from the team is involved – this is all justmedia hype.”The team is planning to leave as per our original plan and there isno change in that,” added Mir. The team is due to fly from Jamaica toHeathrow and onwards from there to Karachi.Later, addressing a press conference, Mark Shields, deputy commissioner of Jamaican police, said: “This really continued the process of cooperation that we have had with the Pakistani team throughout. We need to be absolutely thorough and clear and ensure if there is any ambiguity in anyone’s statements we should clear up that ambiguity as soon as we can.”The Pakistan team are free to go and are on their way to the airport. There is no reason at all why they shouldn’t leave the island.”All of this, Shields said, was “standard police procedure when you consider any serious crime investigation.” The important thing, he added, “is that we keep an open mind. What we need to do is look at all of the options, all of the suspicions people have.”Sources close to the team told Cricinfo that Mushtaq was questionedabout his nose injury (which is likely to be the one he picked up inpractice before Woolmer’s murder) and Inzamam and Ali about roomchanges.Inzamam told AFP that the questioning was routine and that they hadbeen told by police that they were free to leave for home as plannedlater Saturday. “It was nothing, just one question, nothing special,”Inzamam said. “There have been so many rumours but we are going hometonight and everything is clear. The police said we are free to gohome.””The police are doing their work and they ask lots of guys differentquestions,” Mushtaq told Sky News. “It is not a big issue, just amatter of timing. It was little things they wanted to know. We have to follow police policies and everything is calm and OK. Weare supporting the police. We are leaving and they wanted to cleareverything up.” reported that investigators were yet to hand over Woolmer’s room on the 12th floor to hotel authorities and that the police were examining the electronic key to Woolmer’s room to find out the number of times the room was opened in the few hours leading to his death.Sayed Hafiz, first secretary at the Pakistani embassy in Washington,attended the media briefing at the Pegasus Hotel. He said: “The team was never under detention. They are understandably traumatised. But this is a serious crime, and we wanted to cooperate. We’re very satisfied with the professionalism shown by theJamaican police.”He added that Murray Stevenson, the trainer, and Asad Mustafa, the chiefoperations officer, would be staying back in Jamaica – Stevenson to escortWoolmer’s body back to South Africa, and Mustafa to “tie up any looseends.”Neither he nor the diplomats would say for sure whether the players wouldbe asked back to Jamaica if required – “We’ll cross that bridge when wecome to it,” said Shields – and it’s still unclear when the coroner willallow for Woolmer’s body to leave the country.Shields said that DNA swabs and fingerprints had been taken from severalpeople, apart from the Pakistan players, and added that CCTV footage wasbeing analysed by his officers. He was also in touch with a representativeof the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit, saying: “We will look at all theoptions.””Everybody in some ways is a suspect,” said Shields, when asked if he andhis investigating team had made any headway in identifying the culprit.”There are no clear suspects at the moment.”

Imran Khan: ‘Fielding cannot be improved by appointing coaches’ © Getty Images

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, has blamed the team management’s “atrocious” strategies for the side’s recent slump in one-dayers. He also criticised the decision to appoint Jonty Rhodes as fielding coach and their decision not to play Mohammad Sami in the recently concluded tour of Sri Lanka.Although Pakistan enjoyed a successful ODI season last year – which included away victories in West Indies (3-0) and India (4-2) – they have appeared a little inconsistent since then. Though they beat England at home, they were thumped by India in February 2006. Including the series against England, Pakistan’s success rate has dropped considerably, and they have lost as many matches as they won (seven out of 15 with one winning as one no-result. “In one-day cricket, other teams put their best batsmen at No. 2, 3, 4 and 5. But Pakistan keeps its best batsman at No.6 and 7,” Imran told the Press Trust of India. “Inzamam-ul-Haq ran out of partners in Abu Dhabi because he was batting lower down the order. I don’t know who is behind these atrocious decisions.”While criticising the Pakistan board’s decision to keep Mohammad Sami out of the Sri Lanka tour, Imran said that, Pakistan will need fast bowlers like Sami, Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar to be fit, to maintain their winning streak against England. Pakistan has not lost a series in England since 1982, when Imran side was beaten 2-1 by David Gower’s men.When asked about the team’s need for a fielding coach, Imran said, “The Pakistan cricket team has a bowling coach. Now they have a fielding coach and the skipper himself is a batsman. I don’t understand what will Bob Woolmer do.” Rhodes is set to spend two weeks with the Pakistan cricket team and work on their fielding skills before their departure for the tour of England in July.”Fielding cannot be improved by appointing coaches”, he continued. “The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has to understand that Australia and South Africa are good fielding sides because their players play [domestic cricket] on good grounds and in near perfect structure.”

Wright joins Ganguly in wishing the wickets would help a bit more © AFP

John Wright has asked Indian officials in charge of preparing wickets to be more thoughtfulwhen they set their job. In the drawn Test at Ahmedabad, Anil Kumble and HarbhajanSingh could not force the issue despite giving their best. “It is the responsibility of peoplepreparing the wickets to keep these things in mind. Sometimes you probably need to raisethese points with the people responsible,” said Wright at a press conference in Mohali,where the second Test starts on Thursday.”It’s unusual in India that the team batting first scores 500 runs in the first innings andthere is no assistance to the bowlers in the later stages of the match,” said Wright. “Wehave to play on wickets that are given to us. Sometimes you hope for a little bit of homeadvantage. It is the case in all the countries. In Australia, they make sure that theirwickets never turn.”Sourav Ganguly has publicly defended his bowlers for their effort in Ahmedabad, and Wrightechoed these thoughts. “There were three world-class spinners — [Anil] Kumble, Harbhajan[Singh] and [Daniel] Vettori – playing in the match. They all struggled on the track. But thelong spells will help them in the subsequent match.” However, he did not cite this as anexcuse. “You have to play on whatever wicket that is given to you. You have to approachthe game and adapt accordingly. We played good cricket but we could not finish the matchin the way we desired”Wright believed that four bowlers could do the job adequately, unless specialcircumstances demanded the inclusion of an extra bowler. He also had a comforting wordfor Akash Chopra. “It is important to give some space to the newcomers. You have to havefaith in them and show it. You have to allow these players to settle down.”Wright also downplayed calls for preparing fast tracks in India. “Trying to change the basicnature of Indian pitches will not be good for the game. India should keep its tradition. Ifwe start making pitches like the ones in Australia, it will not be good for the game. Thediversity of the game is also important.”

Hundreds for Benjamin Hector and Boeta Dippenaar entertained a small crowd in Bloemfontein, as Griqualand West and Easterns made up ground on Western Province in the latest round of Standard Bank Cup matches.PointsTableGriqualand West 307 for 5 (Hector 126, Bosman 80) beat FreeState 300 for 9 (Dippenaar 111, Beukes 64, Kruis 3-58) by 7runs
ScorecardIn a high scoring match in Bloemfontein, Griqualand West won a close encounter against Free State. When the last over started Free State needed 14 runs for the win. Three wickets in that over, from Deon Kruis, made sure that the work Benjamin Hector and Loods Bosman had done with the bat did not go unrewarded.Boeta Dippenaar top-scored for Free State, and in the process sent a timely reminder to the national selectors. He was ably supported by Johann Beukes.Easterns 191 for 3 (Seymore 74, Hall 59) beat North West189 (De Vos 50, Morkel 3-40) by 7 wickets
ScorecardEasterns ran away with a comfortable seven-wicket win at Benoni againstNorth West. Batting first North West could only muster 189 with Dirkie deVos top-scoring with 50. Bowling honours were shared with Albie Morkeltaking three for 40.A 116-run partnership between Andre Seymore, who made 74, and Andrew Hall (59), was enough to see Easterns home in 43 overs.Eastern Province 200 for 7 (Bryant 46) beat Boland 170(Ontong 65, Hayward 4-36, Love 3-26) by 30 runs
ScorecardBoland went down by 30 runs at Paarl after Eastern Provincehad set a modest target of 200 runs. James Bryant kept Province in thegame with his 46 while too many batsmen got starts and then lost their wickets.Boland looked set to win but when Justin Ontong was dismissed at 142 the team lost momentum, with Mornantau Hayward and Geoff Love sharing seven wickets. Hayward’s return of four wickets earned him a bowling award while Love produced his best List A figures.

The following players have been named by the WA Selectors to represent the Western Warriors in a Pura Cup game v the Victorian Bushrangers at the MCG, from Thursday 28 February to Sunday 3 March 2002.

• SIMON KATICH (Capt.)
• JO ANGEL
• RYAN CAMPBELL
• MICHAEL CLARK
• KADE HARVEY
• BRAD HOGG
• MICHAEL HUSSEY
• SCOTT MEULEMAN
• MATT NICHOLSON
• MARCUS NORTH
• CHRIS ROGERS
• BRAD WILLIAMS

SelectionsThe only selection change from the Western Warrior s previous Pura cup team is Matt Nicholson for Shaun Marsh.

England all-rounder Mark Ealham claimed season’s best figures of five for 35 to dismiss Yorkshire for 145 and leave Kent a last day victory target of 230 in their intriguing championship clash with Yorkshire in Canterbury.The hosts, who trailed by 84 on first innings after being polished off for 317 earlier in the day, rolled the Tykes over inside three and a half hours with Ealham and Martin Saggers ruling the roost.In humid conditions and under solid cloud cover Ealham’s away swingers accounted for Michael Vaughan and Anthony McGrath early on, then Saggers, who trapped Simon Widdup in his opening burst, returned to claim three for one in 10 balls during a crucial second spell from the pavilion end.He had Darren Lehmann, who was dropped at second slip by Martin McCague when on seven, caught behind for a top score of 42 then, in his next over, removed Gary Fellows and Gavin Hamilton to take his championship tally to 57 for the season.Ealham returned to claim the last three as Yorkshire lost their last six wickets for 43 runs.Earlier Kent – who need nine points from this game to ensure their Division 1 survival – notched a vital third batting bonus point courtesy of a patient 42 from Matthew Walker and steady contributions from the tail that took them past 300 for only the second time in a championship first innings this year.

With his first Premier League campaign nearing its conclusion, Brentford striker Ivan Toney has proven to the array of clubs that have previously shown interest in the forward what they’ve missed out on.

One of those clubs is West Ham United, who were confirmed to be a potential suitor for the English striker by Peterborough United owner Darragh MacAnthony on the Hard Truth Podcast before he eventually signed for the Bees.

The 25-year-old scored 24 goals in 32 appearances in the 2019/20 League One season for the Posh before his move to West London, leading Brentford to their first-ever Premier League season the following campaign with 33 goals in 48 appearances.

It was Toney’s efforts in the third-tier that attracted so much interest from numerous clubs before Thomas Frank’s side paid an initial £5m with the fee rising to £10m with add-ons to replace Ollie Watkins who had joined Aston Villa.

Now, after almost a season in the top-flight, in which the striker has netted nine goals in 23 appearances following his first Premier League hat-trick against Norwich City on Saturday, Toney is showing West Ham what they could’ve had.

It’s no secret that the Hammers have been in need of a striker for numerous transfer windows now, having missed out on a centre-forward once again in January.

31-year-old Michail Antonio is currently the club’s only senior striker, meaning that without the Jamaica international, manager David Moyes has to fit square pegs into round holes as the solution.

Moreover, the forward hasn’t scored in the league since New Year’s Day, further highlighting how big a blow missing out on Ivan Toney really turned out to be for the East London club.

Currently valued at £28.8m by Transfermarkt, Toney is worth almost six times the initial fee Brentford paid Peterborough in 2020 and, should the Bees secure top-flight survival, the 25-year-old’s value will surely excel.

When the West London outfit signed the Englishman, it seemed as though they were heavily overpaying for Toney’s services with the striker valued at just £360,000. However, that soon increased heavily to £4.05m in October 2020, although still under the transfer fee.

As Brentford’s talisman kept finding the back of the net, his value kept soaring, with Toney worth £16.2m by March 2021 just before Frank’s side secured a playoff spot.

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Following promotion, the striker’s value sharply increased once again to £25.2m before rising slightly to the current figure of £28.8m in October after bagging 44 goals for the Bees.

Labelled as “exceptional” by Barry Fry when he was in the lower leagues, there is no doubt that the 25-year-old belongs in the English top-flight and could well be onto even better fortunes beyond Brentford.

With their striker issues and a majorly important final set of fixtures to contest, there is no doubt that West Ham will be kicking themselves on what is clearly a prized asset.

In other news: West Ham handed another big fitness blow that’ll have Moyes livid