Tag Futebol

From 54 for 5, the duo fought back in bowling-friendly conditions

Shashank Kishore15-Jun-2022Fifty-four for five.Manoj Tiwary is batting with an injured right cartilage. He is struggling to sprint but is willing himself to survive. Bengal’s Ranji Trophy campaign is on the line. They are trying to enter their second straight final, but the top order has been blown away after Madhya Pradesh’s 341. A huge first-innings lead could mean curtains.A delayed start, a moisture-laden surface, overcast conditions and stiff breeze – everything points to the fast bowlers having a massive role to play early on. MP medium-pacer Puneet Datey certainly thinks that way as he sends down a few deliveries on the side pitch during changeover. To the surprise of many, Bengal most certainly, let-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya is handed the ball.You saw him bowl the carrom ball, the slider, his wristspin, googly and quicker one – left-arm everything – in his maiden IPL season for Mumbai Indians. In red-ball cricket, he sticks to his left-arm orthodox, and boy, he bowls them with immaculate control. In his very first over, he nips out two big wickets.Related

• 'Play late, leave more' – how Shahbaz Ahmed adapted to red-ball cricket

• Tiwary: 'This desire to win the Ranji Trophy is still burning bright'

Left-hand batter Abhishek Raman is beaten by sharp turn. He shapes to cut but sees it wickedly spinning in and tries to bail out. That split-second indecision costs him because that’s all it takes for the ball to roll back onto the stumps off the inside edge. Sudip Kumar Gharami, fresh off a career-best 186 in the quarter-final against Jharkhand, is squared up as the ball rips across the surface and whizzes past the edge to knock his stumps.After 105.3 overs on the field, Tiwary may have hoped for some time to rest his aching knees, but even before he could imagine, he is in the heat of the battle. There are five fielders around him – slip, short leg, silly point, short cover and short midwicket. It’s game on.Tiwary takes guard at 11 for 3 in the fourth over, surveys the field carefully and quickly gets down on one knee to paddle his first ball for four past short fine leg. In the same over, he reverses Saransh Jain for two more boundaries – wrists nicely rolled over the ball to keep it down and send it scurrying behind point. This is a calculated tactic of throwing the offspinner off gear.The idea was perhaps to have Tiwary stretching. In reverse sweeping him, Tiwary has immediately given the bowlers something to think about. It helps that there is Abhimanyu Easwaran at the other end, but he falls soon after to become the fourth wicket when Datey, introduced in the ninth over, nicks him off for 22. When Abishek Porel, the young teenaged wicketkeeper, flicks a length ball to the deep square leg fielder, the Bengal dressing room appears resigned to fate.File photo – Manoj Tiwary rescued Bengal yet again•PTI Yet again, it was down to Tiwary to do the dirty job. Or so you thought. Except, there was Shahbaz Ahmed coming in. An orthodox left-hand middle order batter who goes to any length to remind people he is first a batter and then a left-arm spinner. While bowling isn’t an afterthought, he admits to being work in progress, never mind the three wickets he picked up in the first innings. Never mind the 35 wickets he picked in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy.Four years ago, Tiwary watched Shahbaz bat in a league game at the Kalighat Club grounds and asked for his stats. At the selection meeting the next day, to pick the squad for 2018-19 season, Tiwary carried a printout that had Shahbaz’s numbers in club cricket. Tiwary wouldn’t have even an inkling of the opposition he was to face from certain quarters, because the boy was an “outsider.””Then I’m an outsider, too,” he is believed to have said, pointing to his Uttar Pradesh roots. Tiwary eventually had his way. A senior player fighting for a talented rookie and shielding him from the scrutiny – which he was getting for no fault of his – told you how much he was valued.It’s this early promise that Shahbaz carried with him then that he is slowly repaying now. The Shahbaz of today is a more confident individual who understands his game better. He has already graduated to become an important member of the set-up within three years of his debut, and the confidence of three IPL stints with Royal Challengers Bangalore only shining bright.Here, Tiwary and Shahbaz had a job to do. They were the last recognised pair. They couldn’t have gone hard because of the inherent risk of losing a wicket and exposing the lower order with a massive deficit. They couldn’t have just blocked out the bowling, because of the time left in the game. They chose the in-between route and along the way, kept reeling off runs every time the bowlers erred.As tea approached, MP went flat, and Tiwary brought out a neat shuffle from middle to off and reached out to meet half-volleys that he caressed through covers and down the ground. It didn’t occur to him until after he played the shot that this is the very position he wasn’t entirely comfortable getting into because of his injury. He was batting on instinct.Tiwary got to his half-century off 121 balls; Shahbaz got there a tad faster, off 108. By the time they got to their individual landmarks, the century stand had been raised and the deficit had been whittled down to 144. Tiwary was unbeaten on 84; Shahbaz on 72. As they walked off, tired, and very satisfied, overcast skies had given way to bright sunshine and Bengal’s hopes had brightened significantly. There was still a glimmer of hope. The Ranji Trophy dream was alive.

Tarik Skubal dominated on the mound for the Tigers yet again Friday night in a decisive Game 5 against the Mariners. Unfortunately for Detroit, it wasn't able to capitalize on the Cy Young Award front-runner's latest impressive start, which is a trend that became all too familiar toward the end of the Tigers' season.

The Tigers went 1-4 over Skubal's final five starts of the year, which includes the regular season and postseason. That poor record is no fault of his own, though, as the big lefthander allowed just six earned runs over 32 2/3 innings pitched in his last five starts. Other than a nine-run outburst in Game 4 against the Mariners to keep their season alive, the Tigers' offense sputtered down the stretch, giving Skubal little run support and leaving his quality starts hanging in the balance once he hands the ball to the bullpen.

Nobody could have expected a 15-inning marathon in the winner-take-all Game 5, which saw a full nine innings after Skubal's night was done. However, the Tigers can only wonder what could have been after they fell in another critical game in which the ace started. Plus, the franchise may have limited opportunities left to capitalize on his dominance.

Detroit's ace remains under team control through the 2026 season. After that, he's slated to become a free agent where he's in line for the richest contract ever for a pitcher. That is, unless the two sides can work out a long-term contract extension in the meantime, which looks less and less likely with Skubal's astronomical value on the open market. After the disappointing end to the Tigers' season, Skubal spoke to his uncertain future and the direction ahead for the franchise, although he left it fairly open for interpretation.

"My job is to play," he said after Game 5 against the Mariners via Evan Petzold of the . "That's not my job—to do anything other than play. Those questions should be asked toward the front office and the people that make those decisions, but my job is to play."

He's represented by Scott Boras, who will undoubtedly try to get the best contract for his client who's one of the best pitchers on the planet. And it's a fair assumption that the best contract out there likely isn't from Detroit, which hasn't necessarily been the biggest spenders as of recent. Skubal's goal is to win a World Series, and he may have only one more shot to do so in a Tigers uniform.

Big picture – India can’t be complacent despite recent dominance in ODIs

We can sometimes forget the unfortunate part injuries play in a team’s fortunes. India are now going into a third straight international match with a third different captain after Shubman Gill’s neck injury in the Kolkata Test forced him out of action following non-stop cricket for India’s newest three-format obsession. Their ODI vice-captain, Shreyas Iyer, is also out with a rib injury he sustained while taking a catch back in Australia.This format, though, is still the ideal sweet spot for India. Or at least this generation of players, up until the injured full-time captain and vice-captain. India have been dominant in ODIs, winning the last Asia Cup and the last Champions Trophy, and losing only the final in the last World Cup.Related

• 'Look forward to enjoying responsibility' – Rahul steps into the hot seat

• South Africa prove they can win the hard way, anywhere

• Watch out for Jaiswal's return, Bavuma and de Kock up top

• Morkel: Gill is recovering well, Iyer has started rehab

However, they are careful not to be complacent because the next World Cup takes them to South Africa. So they are always going to be wondering if Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will still be good to go in late 2027, how to find a seam-bowling allrounder, how to manage workloads. And this is the format teams play the least of.India’s opponents are nowhere near as dominant in ODIs in recent times but they will be riding the high of having beaten India 2-0 in the Tests. This is a rare full tour as nowadays home teams prefer to split Tests and shorter formats to allegedly maximise the earnings. However, all-format tours have their own charm of one side trying to dominate the other team completely and the other looking for some redemption in the other formats.Also, South Africa are closer to full strength now with the exception of Kagiso Rabada’s injury-enforced absence. The return of Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma should add heft to their batting, and Keshav Maharaj should provide them the spin control they missed in Pakistan.These are just three ODIs and they will be forgotten quickly, what with more focus on T20Is right now, but they promise to be cracking contests while they last.

Form guide

India WLLWW
South Africa LWLLWMatthew Breetzke comes to India with a huge reputation to live up to•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight: RoKo and Matthew Breetzke

KL Rahul will take over India’s leadership as the selectors have resisted the temptation to go back to Rohit Sharma, who returned to the ODIs, his only active international format, with a century in the third match against Australia. It is a clear sign that Rohit and Virat Kohli will forever remain under extra scrutiny just by the virtue of how old they will be by the World Cup in 2027.Matthew Breetzke comes to India with a big reputation to live up to. He is the only player to have scored 50 or more in each of his first five ODIs, and he averages 67.75 while playing the difficult role of batting in the middle order.

Team news: Shubman Gill and Kagiso Rabada are out

Yashasvi Jaiswal should be the natural replacement for Gill at the top of the order with Ruturaj Gaikwad primed to take Iyer’s slot in the middle order. If Gaikwad gets the nod, Rishabh Pant, who is back in the squad, will struggle to make the starting XI because India will need two allrounders. It remains to be seen if one of those allrounders will be a seam bowler in Nitish Kumar Reddy. In Australia, they played all three while the series was live because they wanted batting depth. If they repeat the formation, all three will get in.India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ruturaj Gaikwad/Rishabh Pant, 5 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 9 Harshit Rana, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Prasidh Krishna1:09

Karim: An opportunity for Jaiswal ‘to cement his place’

Markram should slot back into the opening role, something South Africa have tried since the last World Cup where he batted at No. 4. Bavuma should take his No. 3 position.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Temba Bavuma (capt), 4 Matthew Breetzke, 5 Dewald Brevis, 6 Rubin Hermann, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Pitch and conditions

This is only the sixth ODI Ranchi is hosting. There has been only one score of over 300, which was defended successfully, but chases of 270-280 haven’t quite been cakewalks either. The pitch generally is on the slower side; in the last ODI there, Washington Sundar opened the bowling for India. The weather will be perfect to play cricket in, but a lot will depend on dew. Without dew, batting first is not a bad shout in Ranchi.

Stats and trivia

• Since 2006, India and South Africa have played ten bilateral ODI series against each other. The scoreline is 5-5.
• Bavuma needs 59 runs to become only the 22nd South Africa player to score 2000 ODI runs.

Quotes

“Rutu, obviously, is a top-class player. We have all seen it. With whatever opportunities, limited opportunities he has got [with India], he has really utilised it and shown what he can do. Unfortunately, in ODI cricket, the top six or top five is quite settled. And they are performing really well.”
“When you add those two names to the line-up, we expect to see a full house tomorrow and that’s exciting. I think obviously two vastly experienced and dangerous players and they can cause a lot of damage to us, but we tend to try to focus on what sort of damage we can cause the opposition.”

SA will also have to contend with playing the same team that bowled them out for 69, at the same venue, in their opening game

Vishal Dikshit28-Oct-20253:47

Do England have an advantage playing at Guwahati?

Big picture: Ghosts to bury for South AfricaWe often have poignant memories of certain places that come rushing back when we return to them. As much as they would want to avoid it, South Africa could experience this on their return to Guwahati, where they began their World Cup 2025 campaign by being dismantled for 69 in just 20.4 overs. On Wednesday, they will play a semi-final at the same ground, against the same opponents, England.South Africa’s batters had seemed to overcome that opening-match shock, firing in five successive wins, until they ran into Australia in their last match of the league stage. If they had succumbed to Linsey Smith, Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean in the game against England, it was spin again that undid them now, the magic right wrist of Alana King sending them hurtling to 97 all out.Related

Tactics board: Kapp vs Knight and Sciver-Brunt and SA vs spin

For Nonkululeko Mlaba, cricket was a means to a better life but then she fell in love with it

South Africa take hurt, hope and hard lessons into the semi-finals

Powerplay Podcast: Can anyone stop Australia?

If their net sessions on Tuesday were anything to go by, South Africa will look to counterpunch, whether England throw spin or pace at them. Their batters had a hit in the sun, hitting uninhibitedly in the air, getting plenty of appreciative yells and thumbs up from head coach Mandla Mashimbyi.It isn’t just spin demons that South Africa must exorcise to reach their maiden ODI World Cup final. Their only semi-final appearances so far came in the last two editions of the tournament, and England shattered their dreams both times, heartbreakingly in 2017 and more comprehensively in 2022.At the start of this year, England themselves wouldn’t have expected to be the second-best team at this World Cup, having changed their captain and coach after a 7-0 blanking in the Ashes. But they buried their own ghosts, overcame wobbles against Bangladesh, snatched a game from hosts India, and crashed Sophie Devine’s farewell party before flying to Guwahati.Despite their volatile results in recent times, England have a lot more World Cup pedigree: they are four-time champions, they have made the semi-finals in each of the last six editions, and have turned out in all but one of the last four finals. If South Africa want to beat their nemesis, they will hope to make the most of a helpful Guwahati strip to break open England’s middle order. This is perhaps the only base England haven’t covered yet; they tried to fix it in their last league match, bringing in the experienced Danni Wyatt-Hodge.2:33

Kapp vs Knight, and other key match-ups to watch out for

Form guideEngland WLWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
South Africa LWWWWIn the spotlight: Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Marizanne KappDanni Wyatt-Hodge, 34 and in her fourth ODI World Cup, brings a wealth of experience that she finally brought to the XI when she came in for Emma Lamb well after England had booked their semi-final berth. She got all of seven balls to face in a modest chase of 169 against New Zealand, and will hope to channel the 2022 semi-final, which she dominated with a 125-ball 129 as opener. She has since moved down the order, hasn’t scored another hundred yet, and has gone past 50 just twice in 24 innings. She will hope she can put her hand up on Wednesday and put behind her an English summer during which she was dropped from the ODI set-up.Marizanne Kapp has hardly been herself at this World Cup, at least in terms of numbers. Barring her two half-centuries against Pakistan and Bangladesh, she hasn’t gone past 20 yet, and her seven wickets so far don’t quite reflect her body of work and skills with the ball. Having finished the 2017 edition with 13 scalps and the 2022 one with 12, she would definitely want to get into double-digits in her fifth ODI World Cup.Team newsSophie Ecclestone bowled just four balls against New Zealand and hurt her left shoulder while fielding. An MRI scan showed a “minor injury” close to her collarbone, and she trained on Tuesday evening, but bowled for barely 15 minutes before she switched to batting. While Ecclestone may not yet be 100% fit, England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt said she would be “wanting to get out onto that pitch regardless of how she’s feeling.” If she doesn’t make it, England could bring in legspinner Sarah Glenn, who has so far only featured in the rain-hit match against Pakistan.England (possible): 1 Amy Jones (wk), 2 Tammy Beaumont, 3 Heather Knight, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 5 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 6 Sophia Dunkley, 7 Alice Capsey, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Linsey Smith, 11 Lauren Bell.South Africa may not feel the need to make any changes to their XI from the Australia game, unless they want to bring in a third frontline spinner for the slower conditions in Guwahati.South Africa (probable): 1 Laura Wolvaardt (capt), 2 Tazmin Brits, 3 Sune Luus, 4 Annerie Dercksen, 5 Marizanne Kapp, 6 Sinalo Jafta (wk), 7 Chloe Tryon, 8 Nadine de Klerk, 9 Masabata Klaas, 10 Ayabonga Khaka, 11 Nonkululeko Mlaba.2:55

‘SA will be confident in their batting unit’

Pitch and conditionsGuwahati has not had a game in over two weeks, which effectively makes the pitch for the semi-final a fresh one. The surfaces here so far have offered plenty of purchase for the spinners, with grip, turn and a lack of pace that has made run-scoring more challenging than it has been in Indore, Visakhapatnam and Navi Mumbai. The weather in Guwahati looked ominous a few days ago, but has mostly cleared since.If there’s not enough time to complete the game on Wednesday, the reserve day will come into effect on Thursday.Stats and trivia Marizanne Kapp needs four more wickets to go level with Jhulan Goswami (43) at the top of the overall list of wicket-takers in ODI World Cups. Kapp and Megan Schutt are on 39, along with the retired Australian Lyn Fullston. England dominate the head-to-head between these two teams, with a 36-10 win-loss record. Laura Wolvaardt is 48 runs away from becoming the first South African woman to reach the 5000 mark in ODIs. Nonkululeko Mlaba needs just one wicket to reach 50 in ODIs Heather Knight (944) Tammy Beaumont (897) are closing in on 1000 ODI World Cup runs.Quotes”I think we were a totally different-looking side. They’ve got a lot of different players as well. So I think it’s sort of a fresh opportunity and it starts from zero. So I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we’re able to learn from those semi-final victories that we’ve got and maybe stay a bit calmer under pressure.”
“That was obviously a long time ago in the tournament and I guess since then we’ve played a lot of games. But, yeah, South Africa obviously have had some brilliant games since then and are a dangerous side.”

Newcastle United have now reportedly made their first contact to sign Ruben Neves from Al-Hilal, as they look to find a solution for their current problems under Eddie Howe.

The Magpies were in dire form before the international break and defeat at the hands of Brentford just about summed things up. For the first time in his tenure at St James’ Park, Howe is under pressure to get things right and turn things around as soon as possible, but with Manchester City up next there’s no doubt that’s easier said than done.

The manager admitted that Newcastle’s Premier League form has “not been good” at a recent charity dinner, saying: “Our Premier League form has not been good, and our away form has not been good. [But] our home form’s been strong, been good in the Champions League and we’re still in the Carabao Cup, so it’s a mixture of things.

Related Dream for Woltemade: Newcastle could hire "one of the best managers" in England

Eddie Howe could soon be axed at Newcastle United as this exciting name is linked to the St James’ Park dug-out.

Posts ByKelan Sarson Nov 20, 2025

“It’s been difficult to pinpoint one thing but certainly, we know we have to improve the general performances. We’re looking for more consistency – we’re looking for more goals.

“We’re looking for a big response in this moment and we’re going to need them because we have got game after game. Our schedule for the next two months is relentless, so we can’t allow any sort of negative trend to continue. It’s a really important few weeks for us.”

It’s form that has arrived off the back of a fairly chaotic summer transfer window, in which Newcastle missed out on almost every top target before turning elsewhere.

Under new sporting director Ross Wilson, that simply cannot happen in January and the Magpies have already set their sights on stars such as Elliot Anderson and Neves in a midfield rebuild as a result.

Newcastle make contact to sign Neves

As reported by Caught Offside, Newcastle have now made contact to sign Neves from Al-Hilal in 2026. The midfielder has just over six months left on his current contract and will be available for just €20m (£18m) in the January transfer window.

Whilst PIF, who hold a majority stake in Al-Hilal, could be about to lose Neves in Saudi Arabia, they could use their existing relationship with the Portuguese star to bring him to Newcastle.

Unlike Al-Hilal, however, the Magpies could struggle to meet his current wage demands. As things stand, the 28-year-old earns £15m-a-year in Saudi Arabia, which would instantly make him Newcastle’s highest-earner by around £7m. It’s simply not doable unless he brings his demands down.

Putting those wage demands to one side, though, there’s little doubt that Neves would be an excellent signing. Dubbed “fantastic” by former manager Nuno Espirito Santo during his time at Wolves, Neves would ease Newcastle’s fears of struggling in the face of a potential Sandro Tonali exit and could even form an impressive partnership using the Italian.

Find a way past his salary demands and those in Tyneside should go all out to bring Neves back to the Premier League in 2026.

Newcastle hold strong interest in Elliot Anderson amid Thomas Tuchel comments

Big picture

As expected, the group stage of this Asia Cup ends with a high-stakes clash in Group B, and a dead rubber in Group A. India and Oman contest this dead rubber, and their aims are wildly different.For India, this could be about getting some of their bowlers match time, and some of their middle- and lower-order batters crease time, ahead of the Super Four stage. Four members of their squad are yet to play a match, and three members of their top eight have played both their matches so far but are yet to face a ball.For Oman, this is their last match against a Full Member team before they host a tournament of serious consequence next month – the T20 World Cup Asia & East-Asia-Pacific Regional Qualifier. They are one of nine teams taking part in that tournament, of whom three will make it to next year’s T20 World Cup. Oman will want to be one of those three teams, and learnings from this Asia Cup, and this final game against India, could well help them in that quest.Related

• Fun and banter but no drop in intensity at India training

• Oman's Sufyan Mehmood is living his dream after defying his family

Form guide

India WWWWL (last five T20Is, most recent first)
Oman LLLLL

In the spotlight

India have retained Sanju Samson as their wicketkeeper ahead of Jitesh Sharma, trusting him to play an unfamiliar role in the middle order. He has not had a chance to play that role yet in this tournament, though, with DNBs against both UAE and Pakistan. Will he get a chance to bat against Oman?He’s returned an economy rate of just 4.71 through this Asia Cup, and he’s been even more frugal in the powerplay, going at just 3.50 across four overs. Shakeel Ahmed has had an excellent tournament so far, but now he’s set to face a real pressure test: will Oman continue to use their left-arm spinner with the new ball, with the marauding, left-handed Abhishek Sharma waiting at the top of India’s line-up?

Team news

India have played just the one frontline fast bowler in their two matches so far, but the shift from Dubai to slightly less spin-friendly conditions in Abu Dhabi, and the context of this dead rubber, could cause them to change their strategy. In any case, Jasprit Bumrah could be rested, and either one or both of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana could get a look-in. With the middle-order batters not having got much of a chance in the middle so far, India might find it a little harder to give Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma a game.India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Kuldeep Yadav/Varun Chakravarthy2:27

Bangar: India unlikely to tinker with in-form top order

While India played the same XI in their first two games, Oman have used 14 players across theirs. Given how their tournament has panned out so far, with batting collapses against both Pakistan and UAE, it’s hard to predict who stays in and who goes out of their XI.Oman (probable): 1 Jatinder Singh (capt), 2 Aamir Kaleem, 3 Hammad Mirza, 4 Wasim Ali, 5 Aryan Bisht, 6 Vinayak Shukla (wk), 7 Jiten Ramamnandi, 8 Shah Faisal, 9 Shakeel Ahmed, 10 Hassnain Shah, 11 Samay Shrivastava

Pitch and conditions

Recent history suggests that the pitches in Abu Dhabi don’t have quite as much help for spin as those in Dubai do. Since the start of 2023, spinners have averaged below 20 in Dubai and gone at less than 6.5 per over in T20Is; they’ve averaged over 38 in Abu Dhabi and conceded more than 7.5 per over. The two teams’ selections could well reflect this.

Stats and trivia

• This is the first meeting between India and Oman in any format.
• Abhishek (195.40) currently has the best strike rate of any batter with at least 500 T20I runs.
• Arshdeep is India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is. He currently has 99 in 63 matches. If he remains on the bench through this tournament, Hardik Pandya (95) and Jasprit Bumrah (92) have a chance of catching up with or going past him.

Quotes

“I feel these wickets are perfect for spinners. Because you get bounce and the zip. If you compare to the Champions Trophy, the wickets [then] were very slow and you had to put a lot of revs on the ball to get the extra bounce and the pace as well. Those tracks, it was difficult for a batter to score runs. For wristspinners, to get bounce and turn on those wickets was tough.”