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Jason Roy is aiming to combine his free-spirited batting with “tactical nous” as he and England seek to put behind a forgettable limited-overs series in South Africa going into the World T20

Arun Venugopal13-Mar-2016Jason Roy is aiming to combine his free-spirited batting with “tactical nous” as he and England seek to put behind recent limited-overs defeats in South Africa going into the World T20. England went down 3-2 in the ODIs – after holding a 2-0 lead – and lost both their T20 fixtures, but have started their build-up to the World T20 with a rousing six-wicket win over New Zealand. Roy’s 36-ball 55 set in motion England’s racy chase, and he hoped to replicate that touch without going for broke every time.”I have got to realise I need to give myself time, I’m not a robot,” he said. “It is [fun to go flat out] when you stay in longer than 10 balls. As well as enjoying myself and whacking it I need to give myself a chance, work hard and accumulate runs. A bit of tactical nous instead of just trying to bludgeon the ball is something I have learned a huge amount about in the last two and a half weeks. Mentally I have been getting myself ready for that back at The Oval.””The ball came on nicely,” he added of his productive start in India. “It was my first experience of playing T20 cricket at this stadium. The seamers were coming on nicely in the first few overs. The boundary being smaller one side helped.”Roy managed a meagre 96 runs from five ODI innings in South Africa and scored 15 and 9 in the T20Is but his role in the limited-overs set-up has been defined more by the impact he can provide at the top along with Alex Hales. Roy, however, admitted to being weighed down by the pressure of having to live up to such an image during the South Africa series where he felt England were “mostly poor.””It’s a nice role to have, however you can put too much pressure on yourself like I did in South Africa,” he said. “I put too much pressure on myself to go out there and whack it from ball one. I think I might have expected myself to score more runs than I did and I didn’t really reach my expectations as well as I should have.”I should have just freed myself and enjoyed myself instead of expecting to get runs. That’s what I’m doing now, just going into each game and going ball by ball. I don’t want to think about the game the night before or on the morning. I just want to have no pre-conceived ideas and not think too far ahead. My expectation was I was playing the bowlers before the game started I was doing that wrong.”We didn’t really do as well as we had hoped in South Africa. We played some poor cricket in amongst some good cricket, but mostly poor. The next couple of weeks are huge for us to turn it round. The squad’s been really gelling well together and the training has been high intensity.”Roy dismissed suggestions of insecurity over his place in the side and spoke about the futility of looking over the shoulder, saying it would only reflect poor work ethic. “If you are questioning your place, you are not working hard enough,” he said. “I just take each game as it comes and work as hard as I can in the nets. If I’m not picked, I’m not picked and there’s another player who has earned himself the right to play instead of me. I’m never kind of too worried about whether I’m going to be picked or not.”He said England would aim to sustain the intensity displayed during the New Zealand game as they play a local side, which will feature a few players from the English squad, at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday.”It doesn’t really matter who you are playing against, it is just the environment of being in the middle of the stadium and taking it in, and there are four of our guys playing against us so no doubt they will be putting a huge shift in too. We have had inter-squad games and it does get very feisty, very aggressive. You might fall out for the night but we’re all mates so it’s all good.”From an English perspective there has been a significantly warmer attitude towards the shorter formats of the game following the appointment of Andrew Strauss as the director of England cricket. That Strauss has encouraged coaches and players to partake of the experience of overseas franchise T20 leagues augurs particularly well for the likes of Roy and Hales who have built their reputation in white-ball cricket.”It’s just that in the next few years you have got a huge amount of one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket coming up. Especially now with the World Cup, we are realising that white-ball cricket is important now. And the more experience the better, the boys getting up to the IPL, playing there and playing all over the world is only positive. There probably is a bit of a change.”My first Lions tour was to India, a lot of A tours have been played in the sub-continent, we went to Dubai, won against Pakistan. So we’ve made huge improvements and huge headway and the next couple of weeks will show just how much headway we have made.”

Erling Haaland made history when he scored his 50th Premier League goal to give Manchester City the lead against Liverpool on Saturday.

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Haaland fired in opener against LiverpoolNow has 50 Premier League goals to his nameNeeded just 48 matches to reach milestoneWHAT HAPPENED?

The striker took on a Nathan Ake pass and smashed it beyond Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson to give City the lead after 27 minutes. The effort takes the Norwegian's tally up to 50 goals in just 48 games – no one has ever reached the milestone so quickly in the Premier League.

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Haaland has now broken Manchester United legend Andy Cole's record as the fastest to reach 50 Premier League goals. Cole managed to reach half a century of goals in 65 matches. Haaland now has 70 goals for Pep Guardiola's men in all competitions, needing just 72 games to hit that figure.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR HAALAND?

Haaland and his City team-mates will attempt to hold onto their lead at the Etihad Stadium and ensure they stay top of the Premier League by collecting the three points against the Reds.

Lionel Messi is earning more at Inter Miami than the entire payroll of 25 MLS clubs, with the full cost of acquiring the Argentine ace being revealed.

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Argentine chasing the American dreamMoved to the States as a free agentSalary topped up by profit share deals

WHAT HAPPENED?

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner completed a stunning move to the United States over the summer when becoming a free agent at Paris Saint-Germain. Manchester United and England legend David Beckham – who is now a co-owner in Florida – helped to put that deal in place after 10 years of work behind the scenes.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Messi has made an immediate impact in America, helping Inter Miami to a historic Leagues Cup triumph, and ended the 2023 campaign with 11 goals through 14 appearances. He has attracted A-list guests to MLS and domestic cup fixtures, while ticket prices soar whenever he takes to the field.

DID YOU KNOW?

Messi is helping to generate plenty of revenue, but he is also being handsomely rewarded financially. The 2023 MLS players salary guide has revealed that the all-time great earns a $12 million (£10m) base salary, with a guaranteed compensation of more than $20m (£16m) – making him the highest-paid player in the league – while he reportedly pulls in between $50m (£41m) and $60m (£49m) from agreements with MLS and Apple TV. In total, the 36-year-old is said to be earning around $135m (£110m), which dwarfs the payroll at rival outfits.

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GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

As things stand, only four sides in MLS – Inter Miami, Toronto FC, LA Galaxy and LAFC – have total payrolls bigger than what Messi earns by himself. The World Cup winner has insisted that he did not move to the States for money, having also received eye-watering offers from the Middle East, and said upon his arrival in Florida: “My decision went through many things, we thought about it with my wife, my children were also part of the decision, the family in general. I just came to play and enjoy football, which is what I've liked all my life. I chose [Miami] for that, above all else, and I'm very happy with the decision we made.”

Billy Godleman is standing in as captain of Derbyshire, winning cricket matches, scoring runs and enjoying life again

Tim Wigmore at Canterbury09-Jun-2015
ScorecardBilly Godleman, shown here applauded off by Cheteshwar Pujara [file picture]•PA PhotosThere was an understated satisfaction to Billy Godleman as, a little sheepishly, he raised his bat leaving the field. Derbyshire’s captain had engineered a remarkable turnaround in the match. Resolute and undefeated until the end, he had underpinned Derbyshire’s successful chase of 232.Just twelve months ago, Godleman’s very future as a professional cricketer was uncertain. He had not scored a first-class century since 2012. In mid-summer he was marooned in Derbyshire’s second team, a precarious existence for a 25-year-old who was out of contract in the winter.When Godleman was recalled for Derbyshire’s final six Championship games, he returned “100% playing for my career,” as he reflects. “There were times when I was very concerned about what would lie ahead in the future and whether it was actually going to be in the professional game.”No one would have envisaged such struggles when, as an 18-year-old opening batsman, Godleman scored 842 runs at 38.27 in 2007; that remains both his highest first-class aggregate and average in a campaign.”I was reasonably successful straight away from a young age. Then when I started not to do very well I didn’t quite know how to deal with that,” he admits. “I also realised that I wasn’t quite as good as I thought I was when I was 18, 19, 20.”Twice he suffered the pain of being released, by Middlesex in 2009 and again by Essex in 2012. Nine matches for Derbyshire in 2013 brought a miserable average of 17.18. When 2014 began equally badly, Godleman faced “accepting I wasn’t at the level that I thought I was. And then working out a method of dealing with disappointment and looking at every experience as an opportunity to learn something.”Of one thing Godleman was certain: he was not ready to abandon the game. With Derbyshire faring miserably, Graeme Welch sounded Godleman out. “You’ve got our full support, go and show us what you can do,” he was told.And then something seemed to click. At The Kia Oval last September, Godleman finally scored a century – and it was a match-winning one to boot. After his recall, Derbyshire won five of their last games. He earned a new one-year contract. After an encouraging start to the season and an injury to Wayne Madsen, Godleman was even entrusted with the captaincy, quite a turn-up for a man with a somewhat chequered past.It has evidently sat easily with him. Last week Godleman saved Derbyshire from defeat with an unbeaten 64 of 228 balls against Gloucestershire. Here, once again, Godleman’s defence was unbreachable in the fourth innings.Adhesiveness is integral to Godleman’s game. He knew that trying to mimic Chesney Hughes or Tillakaratne Dilshan when they were smiting Kent’s attack would be fool’s gold. Yet, as he showed with a series of rasping cuts and neat pushes through mid-on, he has also expanded his repertoire. Five half centuries at an average of 62.14 so far in 2015 are testament to that.”Previously he used to be a survivor, trying just to get through, and now he’s starting to develop the game to actually influence the play and put the bowler under more pressure and look to be more assertive,” says Neil Burns, who has worked extensively with Godleman.When Essex released Godleman, Burns devised a 60-month programme to turn his game around. “He’s had lots of ups and downs but the great thing about Billy is he’s prepared to look inside himself and do the tough learning.”Here Godleman’s assiduousness was rewarded with Derbyshire’s first victory at Canterbury since 1999; quite the reversal after Kent had cruised to 63-1 in their second innings, a lead of 182, before lunch on day two.Even a bumper crowd of school children on the third day would have done little for Kent’s mood. Darren Stevens was immediately whisked away to Maidstone, to play for the second XI, hoping to find some semblance of form after 16 runs in his last six first-class innings. On the evidence of this game, in which Kent hemorrhaged 20 wickets for just 317 runs, perhaps some of his teammates here should join him.

Plays of the day from the Champions League match between Cape Cobras and Hobart Hurricanes in Hyderabad

The Report by Alagappan Muthu21-Sep-2014Ramela’s opposite day
Omphile Ramela strode out at No. 3 for the second time in T20s. Danny Morrison, from the commentary box, tipped him as preferring long-format cricket. A T20 strike rate of 88.16 corroborated that. But the fourth over from Doug Bollinger amended that impression. Ramela dispatched a bouncer over the square-leg boundary. If that wasn’t emphatic enough, the next ball, which was fuller, was pummeled to the mid-off boundary. Bollinger’s length was like a pendulum – it went short again – and lacked pace. Ramela’s pull did not. Three balls, three different plans and 16 runs later, it was time for the slower ball. Ramela was on too much adrenaline not to slog and lost his middle stump and walked back with more than twice his career strike rate – 190.90. Opposite day had begun.Levi’s opposite day
Joe Mennie had had foiled Richard Levi’s intention to make room for himself. A slower ball forced the batsman to reach outside off, so far that his bottom hand slid off the bat. The loft should have been mistimed. It flew up and both men tracked it’s progress, all the way over the extra cover boundary. Levi continued on his way to 42 off 28 balls before another slower ball arrived from Ben Laughlin. This time it was hammered with both hands, but today was opposite day for Levi as well and he holed out at deep midwicket.Laughlin and Peterson’s opposite days
Hobart Hurricanes had caught on that slower balls were the way forward and had robbed Cobras of their early momentum. They were 143 for 6 in the 18th over when Robin Peterson spurned his definition as a left-handed batsman. Laughlin had seen the switch early and slid a slower ball down the leg side of the temporarily right-handed Peterson. For a second time on the day, the bowler’s deception ended up in the batsman’s favour as Peterson nailed the sweep to the boundary behind him. It seemed opposite day had caught on to Laughlin and Peterson as well.Amla’s opposite day
Hashim Amla was the biggest name in the Cobras batting line-up. However, his contribution of 8 was less than the extras. Ben Hilfenhaus induced an ambitions drive down the ground, the kind a power hitter would resort to when under pressure, not a batsman who can look effortlessly stylish in Test cricket. Amla’s mistake allowed the ball to clang into his stumps. His day wasn’t quite over though. Amla, who has never bowled in T20 cricket, was put in charge of wrapping up the seventh over when frontline spinner Dane Piedt had to go off the field after injuring his right arm. The first one ended up a wide, the second one was a full toss drilled to cover.

A pair of teenagers and a trio of New York Red Bulls headline Goal's selections as the best values, based on salary, in Major League Soccer

Salaries in Major League Soccer continue to rise, and have seen a considerable spike since the infusion of targeted allocation money in the past two seasons. That has led to a near doubling of the number of million-dollar salaries in the league, and a sizable jump in the number of players making more than $500,000.

That doesn't mean there still aren't some super-sized bargains to be had. Players signed via homegrown player deals and those who enter the league via the MLS draft continue to give MLS teams a steady stream of bargains, several of which make up the squad chosen by Goal to be part of the MLS Bargain XI, the best values in the league.

Here is the 2018 MLS Bargain XI, with salaries based on guaranteed compensation as released by the MLS players union last week .

Greg BartramGK Alex Bono, Toronto FC, $102,200The 24-year-old goalkeeper is in the midst of his second full season as Toronto FC's starter and is continuing to show improvement, building on his MLS Cup-winning 2017 season. His exploits in TFC's CONCACAF Champions League run turned heads, and he has also broken into the U.S. national team picture. Still playing on his rookie contract, Bono should be securing a new contract soon, assuming he doesn't head to Europe via transfer.AdvertisementRB Julian Gressel, Atlanta United, $111,250A midfielder who has thrived this season since being moved into a right wing-back role, Gressel has carried over the success from his MLS Rookie of the Year award-winning 2017 into the 2018 season. He has been one of the key reasons Tata Martino has seen his team enjoy such success playing in a 3-5-2 formation. The 24-year-old German-born standout should be drawing attention from scouts and will have a strong case for a new contract this winter.Mark J. RebilasCB Tim Parker, New York Red Bulls, $115,935How is Parker so underpaid? He's still playing on his original rookie contract, which expires at the end of this season. He is in line for a big payday this winter, either in Europe or in a new MLS deal. The Vancouver Whitecaps traded him rather than making him one of the league's highest-paid defenders. Since joining the Red Bulls, Parker has been outstanding and has helped his new team forge the best defense in club history.ENJOYED THIS STORY?

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CB Aaron Long, New York Red Bulls $73,125A repeat selection on the MLS Bargain XI, Long has followed up his breakout 2017 season with a strong start to 2018. His skill on the ball, coupled with an improving defensive skill set, make him one of the league's most underrated defenders. It shouldn't be long before the 25-year-old central defender secures a new contract with the Red Bulls.

A hamstring injury has ruled New Zealand fast bowler Adam Milne out of the IPL, adding to Royal Challengers Bangalore’s growing bowling worries

Nagraj Gollapudi06-May-2016A hamstring injury has ruled Adam Milne out of the IPL, adding to Royal Challengers Bangalore’s growing bowling worries. The New Zealand fast bowler did not report for training on the eve their match against Rising Pune Supergiants on Saturday. Although no franchise official was available for a comment, it is understood Milne left India a few days ago having picked up a Grade 2 hamstring tear in his right thigh. Royal Challengers are yet to seek a replacement for him.A weakened bowling attack has been a factor in Royal Challengers’ below-par performance in the first half of the season, and Milne’s exit only exacerbates the issue. Milne is the third overseas bowler the franchise has lost to injury. Royal Challengers have already had to replace Samuel Badree with Tabraiz Shamsi and Mitchell Starc with Chris Jordan.Milne has only played one match in the IPL since Royal Challengers acquired him last year for Rs 70 lakh. Bowling consistently at speeds in the 145-150 kph range, Milne is one of the fastest bowlers in contemporary cricket. But the 24-year-old has been constantly sidelined by injury over the last few years.Essex, where Milne is scheduled to arrive for the NatWest Blast season, will also be desperate to learn the extent of the injury which depending on its severity can take either a few weeks or a couple of months.He missed the 2015 IPL after failing to recover from a heel injury picked during last year’s World Cup, where he missed New Zealand’s last two matches.At the start of the 2016 season, Milne’s former New Zealand team-mate Daniel Vettori, Royal Challengers’ head coach, had said he expected Milne to take the opportunity to fill the vacancy created by Starc’s absence. Starc, Royal Challengers’ best bowler last year, was ruled out of this year’s edition with a foot injury. But Milne has only managed one game so far, Royal Challengers’ first of the tournament, against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He picked up a wicket in that game while conceding 43 in his four overs.With Milne gone, the Australian pair of Shane Watson and Kane Richardson, the England allrounder Jordan, and the South African allrounder David Wiese are the main overseas seam bowlers left on the Royal Challengers bench.

A huge number of American stars are facing up to summers of speculation regarding their futures – but which will be in new homes come September?

It's going to be a busy summer for Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun and the rest of the U.S. men's national team's young stars. And it's not just because of international duty, although the USMNT's participation in both the Nations League and Gold Cup will certainly lead to many players suiting up for the U.S. with trophies on the line.

No, it's a summer where many American stars find themselves at a crossroads on the club level. Transfer season is upon us, and there are plenty of American players with uncertain futures as the window prepares to open.

Some will make mega-money transfers this summer, having earned them with standout play. Others will tumble down the ladder a bit after failed moves. Some will go on loan or to a new league or return to a parent club. There are plenty of scenarios at play here.

With that said, GOAL has you covered with a look at which USMNT stars could be playing for new clubs next season:

(C)Getty ImagesFolarin Balogun

The USMNT's newest star looks set for a new club. Balogun set Ligue 1 ablaze while on loan with Reims, scoring 20 goals for the French side. Those goals are what make his USMNT commitment so damn exciting. The U.S., finally, has a goalscorer.

However, it remains to be seen what club will benefit from those goals next season. A return to Arsenal is possible, although they seem set with the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah at striker. AC Milan are the club that has been most heavily linked, although their crosstown rivals Inter have been mentioned too.

RB Leipzig, Marseille and Monaco have also been listed as options, while Premier League clubs may also look to make a move for a player that has no shortage of suitors heading into the summer.

AdvertisementGettyChristian Pulisic

Chelsea have a bloated squad, and Pulisic needs minutes. It isn't hard to put two and two together here.

Pulisic has been linked with plenty of clubs, with Juventus the most recent team said to be in the market for the American winger. AC Milan and Napoli have been named as potential suitors, as have Newcastle, who have money and the Champions League on their side.

It'll all come down to what Pulisic wants. Is he willing to take a step back to try and take two steps forward, or does he have the confidence to move laterally in an attempt to prove that it's Chelsea, not him, that is missing out?

It'll be one of the transfer sagas to watch, and one that will have a lasting impact on a player that is still the face of the USMNT.

GettyWeston McKennie

Well, we know Mckennie won't be back at Leeds, that's for sure. McKennie will, at least temporarily, return to Juventus, a club that is dealing with its own crisis at the moment. Leeds' relegation ensured that McKennie's move would not become permanent, not that anyone involved would want it to after his failed loan spell.

Prior to his Leeds move, McKennie had been linked with Fulham and Aston Villa, the latter of which earned a European place next season. Brighton are also said to be interested, offering McKennie another Premier League option should he choose to remain in England.

Few would blame him if he opted to go somewhere else, either back to Italy or Germany, perhaps. The Leeds experiment was a total failure, and now McKennie is tasked with getting his next move right after missing the mark with his winter loan.

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GettyTyler Adams

The only member of the Leeds' American trio to come out of this season looking better than he did when he went in, Adams will have options this summer.

Much will depend on what price Leeds sets, of course, but Adams is far too good for the Championship. Manchester United are among the clubs linked, but minutes could be hard to come by for Adams at Old Trafford.

Several top-10 Premier League clubs will no doubt be interested, as Adams is a prime candidate to remain in the Premier League. The question, ultimately, will be where, but whichever team gets him will get a solid, high-level No.6 that has proven himself in the Premier League, Bundesliga and Champions League.

R Ashwin has said he is in the “best frame of mind” and has not been thinking too much about his recent lack of wickets

Abhishek Purohit in Hamilton27-Jan-20140:00

‘Tie could be the turnaround for us’ – Ashwin

When he bowled Corey Anderson in Auckland, it was the first wicket R Ashwin had taken for close to 80 overs. The previous one had come seven weeks earlier, on December 8, when he dismissed Quinton de Kock in the second ODI against South Africa in Durban. Thereafter, he had gone wicketless in the Centurion ODI, the Johannesburg Test and in Napier and Hamilton on the current tour of New Zealand.It was not as if he was being taken apart each time he went without a wicket, but such a run can easily play on your mind. But Ashwin said he was in the “best frame of mind” and was not thinking too much about the lack of wickets. He had been dropped in favour of Ravindra Jadeja for the Durban Test after his failure to break through in Johannesburg, and said he had learned a lot from that tour.”Honestly I was not reading or looking into anything,” Ashwin said. “This is probably the best frame of mind I have been in. I have locked away a few things. I had a tour of South Africa which was quite a learning curve for me. I have decided if I am giving my best that is all I can do. I cannot go back reading articles and what people are saying about me. It does not make sense. I just locked myself out. I spoke to Dhoni about a couple of things, to the coach, had chats with a few people I trust. I thought things were going alright. It can happen, you cannot keep taking wickets or making runs all the time. The frame of mind I was in helped me perform the way I did.”Ashwin said he was feeling satisfied with the way he was bowling and had worked out how he had to go about the job away from home. “I have sorted out what length and what kind of bowling needs to be done. There are certain ways you need to construct a spell abroad. I have learnt that and put that into practice.”R Ashwin: “I had a tour of South Africa which was quite a learning curve for me”•BCCIThe new fielding restrictions have made it harder for bowlers in general. With lesser help available for spinners in overseas conditions, Ashwin said it had become difficult to look for wickets even if the batsmen were playing their shots and taking risks. “That particular thing falls out of the window with the current scenario. If there is spin and you are playing with the conditions helping you, then of course there is an opportunity to look to get a wicket but if it is stacked against you then you are fighting against something which is like a wall. You cannot box against a wall. You cannot fight against the conditions and go head on and take it on.”You definitely tend to be targeted as a spinner away from home. With the five-fielder [within the circle] rule you can only look to give a single. You cannot err on lengths. The batsman knows if you have your sweeper up you are not going to err on the shorter side so you are giving away some cues to the batsman in terms of what field you are setting, and you cannot be foolish enough to try and fool the batsman. They are going to look for boundaries. You have to be really smart and try and make sure you do what the team requires. It is easy to say wickets are not coming so I will look for wickets, but you end up giving 20-30 runs extra and you have to get it back at the end of the day.”Before the Auckland game, Dhoni had said one also had to look at what stage of the innings India were making Ashwin bowl. “I am using him in the Powerplay, in the slog after the 40th over also. You have to see all these things,” Dhoni said. “If you keep saying he is not getting wickets, then that will put pressure on him and in turn what may happen is he will be bowling the 42nd or 43rd over and look for a wicket and it may add another 6-10 runs. I am quite happy with how he has been bowling. If I try to use him upfront, he will be slightly less expensive. As of now both spinners are doing their job quite well. Looking at the conditions, I am practically judging them.”

A round-up of Momentum One Day Cup matches played on October 19, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Oct-2014
ScorecardFile photo – Justin Ontong hammered four fours and seven sixes•Gallo ImagesA hammering of 83 off 37 balls from Justin Ontong and fifties from Andrew Puttick and Stiaan van Zyl charged the unbeaten Cape Cobras to a 53-run win against Lions in Paarl. Cobras amassed 337 for 3 and the Lions middle order collapsed in the chase despite a strong start.Put in to bat, Cobras were given two solid stands from Puttick – first of 101 for the first wicket with Omphile Ramela and then of 82 with van Zyl. Puttick was given six lives for his knock of 94 and when he was finally dismissed in the 39th over, the score was 183 for 2. The third-wicket stand between Van Zyl and Ontong gave them the final throttle to go past 300. Van Zyl struck 10 fours and a six during his unbeaten 91 off 74, and Ontong clobbered four fours and seven sixes before falling in the last over. From the 41st over to the last, the duo struck at least a four in every over and scored 137 runs in the last 10.Lions got a strong opening partnership of 97 from Stephen Cook and Alviro Petersen, but both fell within five overs. The middle order got a double-blow from Sybrand Engelbrecht, who finished with 2 for 55, and Robin Peterson stifled the innings further with his figures of 2 for 30, reducing Lions to 162 for 6 after 32 overs. Dwaine Pretorius and Hardus Viljoen revived the innings with a stand of 121 to steer them past 250 and denied Cobras a bonus point. With the help of an unbeaten 77 from Pretorius and 52 from Viljoen, Lions scored 284 for 7.
ScorecardAn unbeaten 16-ball 30 from Christiaan Jonker gave Warriors their first points of the tournament despite losing two wickets in the penultimate over of their chase against Dolphins in Pietermaritzburg. A knock of 118 off 99 from Vaughn van Jaarsveld helped Dolphins put on a competitive 274 for 8, but Warriors chased it down on the back of fifties from JJ Smuts and Michael Price, with three balls to spare.Warriors needed 29 runs in the last three overs and with two fours and six, Jonker brought it down to 10 off 12. They lost two wickets in the next over to Craig Alexander, but scored six off the first three balls of the last over to register a four-wicket win.Dolphins, who were put in to bat, lost their openers early before Cody Chetty and van Jaarsveld put on 100 for the third wicket. Van Jaarsveld was running out of partners towards the end but his century, with eight fours and five sixes, and a useful 21-ball 42 from Robbie Frylink charged them to 274. Andrew Birch bowled an economical spell of 3 for 31 and Basheeru-Deen Walters bowled two maidens in his 2 for 55.Warriors were given a robust opening stand of 127 by Price and Smuts. Price was dismissed for 70 and Smuts fell short of his hundred by six runs, and cameos from Colin Ingram and Ryan Bailey kept them in the hunt. They needed 44 from five overs and Jonker held his nerve in the end to take them home, and to fourth place in the points table.