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England stay on the front foot as Pakistan crank up the spin settings again
Big picture: Rawalpindi? Rawalspindi
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
Has a team ever taken Mike Tyson's famous aphorism more literally than Ben Stokes' England? Their jutted-jaw attitude to risk and reward has served up a glut of remarkable Test matches in recent years, but in Multan last week, their fifth defeat out of seven in the subcontinent was a stone-cold knock-out.
Ordinarily, forewarned would be forearmed for the rematch, especially with the series now very much on the line. But that's not how this England team roll. They see a clear logic in taking the aggressive approach in bowler-friendly conditions, to get their runs on the board before that ball with their name on it arrives. For, as England showed in going into their shell at the back end of their India tour earlier this year, dying in a hole isn't really a better option either.
And that's the sort of punch in the mouth that Pakistan themselves will be hoping to avoid, as they carry their own cunning plan forward from Multan.
There could yet be a significant difference between last week's reused surface, one that had already seen five days of hard-fought Test action in England's extraordinary victory in the series opener, and this one, which has undergone an emergency de-laying in the four days between matches.
Form guide
Pakistan WLLLL (last five Tests, most recent first)
England LWLWW
In the spotlight - Kamran Ghulam and Rehan Ahmed
It was one of the great debuts in Multan, as Kamran Ghulam came in from the cold, after a decade of service on Pakistan's domestic circuit, and in place of one of their modern greats in Babar Azam. His resolute and measured century proved to be ideally paced for the conditions, as he absorbed the pressure from England's attack, hit back when the opportunity arose, and drove his side towards a first-innings total of 366 that proved decisive as the pitch began to heat up over the final three days of the match. The challenge, of course, is to back that effort up, especially if Pakistan lose the toss this time around and find themselves chasing the game on a wearing surface. But one advantage of his years in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy is that he's seen all these surfaces before, and as that debut showed, he's unfazed by the step up to Test level.
Second-season syndrome is a familiar challenge for many young cricketers, but young England spinners have it tougher than most. Rehan Ahmed was the toast of England cricket after his fairytale debut in Karachi two years ago, but he has since had to wait eight months between international opportunities, having made an underwhelming impression on the tour of India in February, with 11 wickets at 44.00 in three losing appearances. He's been mothballed by the white-ball set-up too, with Adil Rashid showing no sign of relinquishing his crown, and at the age of 20, Rehan has also had to contend with the sense that he's no longer the most acclaimed cricketer in his family, with his offspinning younger brother Farhan, 16, making a splash in the County Championship for Nottinghamshire after his impressive displays for England Under-19s. But if Rehan's Pakistan counterpart Zahid Mahmood felt like a spare part during the second Test in Multan, there's little danger that England's captain Stokes will be as unaccommodating in his captaincy. Expect him to be trusted for key breakthroughs with attacking fields, and he'll be itching to repay the faith.
Team news: Rehan returns, Pakistan unchanged
Why change a winning formula? Pakistan didn't look perfectly balanced in the second Test, with Sajid and Noman bowling more than 87% of their overs across two innings, but it worked a treat, and if the Pindi pitch behaves as intended, a repeat performance will more than suffice. Aamer Jamal's batting provided important balance in the lower-middle order, even if his six overs of seam were an afterthought, while Zahid the legspinner is returning to the scene of his debut in 2022, where he claimed the eyewatering figures of 4 for 235 in 33 overs.
Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Kamran Ghulam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Agha, 8 Aamer Jamal, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Noman Ali, 11 Zahid Mehmood
England have rolled the dice on a surface that has clearly been tailored towards spin, and recalled Rehan as part of a three-spin attack. It's an echo of their approach in the third Test of their last tour of Pakistan, when he was again called up for the series finale and stole the show with a second-innings five-for. On the seam-bowling front, Atkinson returns after sitting out the second Test, in place of both Carse - the outstanding quick on either side in this series - and Matthew Potts, and ahead of Olly Stone, back in the country after his wedding and maybe wishing he'd gone on honeymoon after all. Stokes, who bowled just five overs after returning to the team last week following a hamstring tear, may need to up his workloads if there's any assistance off the pitch or, more likely, through the air.
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir.
Pitch and conditions: Rake and ruin?
Pakistan's cunning plan worked a treat in Multan, so out come the industrial fans once more, in another bold gambit to inject life into one of the flattest, most run-laden surfaces in existence. Brook was talking about the pitch having been "raked" as well, as the groundstaff attempt to exacerbate whatever rough may exist on a pitch that clearly suited England's Bazballers just fine on their last visit two years ago. The relatively lush outfield may not aid reverse-swing to the same degree as was evident in last week's second Multan Test. The more northerly venue, allied to the onset of winter, means that a few early finishes for bad light may be in prospect.
Stats and trivia
Quotes
"Adding Rehan's free spirit and desperation to change the game every time he's got the ball in his hand is a massive bonus for us this week. Legspinners have an amazing ability to break a game open You'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it."
Ben Stokes, England's captain, is ready to back Rehan Ahmed despite a quiet season for Leicestershire.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
Mehidy 87*, Jaker 58 help Bangladesh fight back on truncated third day
Bangladesh 106 and 283 for 7 (Mehidy 87*, Jaker 58, Rabada 4-35) lead South Africa 308 by 81 runs
Play was stopped at 3.17pm after 17 minutes of play under floodlights at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. There was earlier a 78-minute stoppage due to rain from 1.42pm onwards. This is unseasonal rain in Bangladesh due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal, which is forecast to turn into a cyclone on Wednesday.
Mehidy was Bangladesh's saviour on the day with his fourth half-century this year, once again saving the team's blushes from a difficult position. They were 112 for 6, from where Mehidy and Jaker added 138 runs for the seventh wicket. It is Bangladesh's third century stand from the seventh wicket in their last five Tests.
Mehidy struck nine fours and a six in his 171-ball stay on the third day, batting confidently enough to pass some of that confidence to Jaker, who had got only 2 in the first innings. But the day had started horribly for Bangladesh, who lost three wickets in the first 30 minutes of play, with a Test to save.
When Litton Das was caught behind off Keshav Maharaj shortly afterwards, Bangladesh slipped to 112 for 6, and were in danger of an innings defeat on the third day. Mehidy and Jaker then stepped in, battling through a tough first session, and helping Bangladesh go past South Africa's 202-run first-innings lead.
Jaker, who played second fiddle to Mehidy, struck the ball nicely through the covers. He pinched two fours through fine leg too, one of them getting him to a half-century. Jaker hammered Rabada with a confident pull shot too. He also took three fours off Rabada, twice through the off side and once through a pull.
Mehidy, meanwhile, was mainly effective against Maharaj, hitting him for four boundaries through the covers - sometimes even lofted ones, but mostly along the ground. He generally handled spin well, as Bangladesh got within one run of South Africa's lead at lunch.
An hour into the second session, rain stopped play for 78 minutes. Before the rain break, Jaker reached had his maiden Test fifty. He fell lbw to Maharaj after getting beaten trying to turn the ball on the leg side. The umpire gave it out despite a casual appeal from the visitors, but replays showed it was the correct decision. Jaker struck seven fours in his 111-ball stay.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
Theekshana in as Sri Lanka opt to bowl in 44-over contest
Toss Sri Lanka chose to bowl vs West Indies
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first in the rain-shortened second ODI. The toss was delayed by two hours and 15 minutes, and the match curtailed to a 44-overs-a-side affair by drizzle.
Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka said his decision at the toss was influenced by his team's preference to chase, in what could be a match in which Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations play a role. West Indies captain Shai Hope said he would have bowled first as well.
West Indies are 1-0 down in the series, but have made no changes to the side that lost on Sunday, also in a rain-affected match. Sri Lanka have left out legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay, and brought back the mysery spin of Maheesh Theekshana.
Sri Lanka: 1 Nishan Madushka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Janith Liyanage, 7 Kamindu Mendis, 8 Wanindu Hasranga, 9 Dunith Wellalage, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Maheesh Theekshana
West Indies: 1 Alick Athanaze, 2 Brandon King, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Shai Hope (capt, wk), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Hayden Walsh, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Jayden Seales, 11 Alzarri Joseph
Sources: Chiefs finalizing deal for Titans' Hopkins
The Titans and Chiefs are working to finalize a trade that would send wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Kansas City, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The trade is expected to be completed Wednesday.
The Chiefs have had a need at wide receiver since Rashee Rice suffered a right knee injury in Week 4 that required season-ending surgery. The team also lost Marquise "Hollywood" Brown to a shoulder injury in the preseason, and JuJu Smith-Schuster suffered a hamstring injury last week.
Hopkins, a 12-year veteran, is in the final season of a two-year deal he signed with the Titans in July 2013. He suffered a torn MCL during the offseason but recovered in time for the season opener.
He has 15 receptions for 173 yards and a touchdown in six games this season. The five-time Pro Bowler has also played for the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals in his career.
The addition gives quarterback Patrick Mahomes another target. Mahomes had said last week that he had "extreme confidence" in the Chiefs' receivers following the marquee trades of Davante Adams and Amari Cooper.
But Kansas City's two remaining healthy wideouts, rookie Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson, have a combined 22 receptions this season through Week 7.
NEWARK, N.J. -- Brandon Hagel produced his first career natural hat trick, Victor Hedman scored twice and the Tampa Bay Lightning outlasted the New Jersey Devils 8-5 on Tuesday night in an offensive tussle between two teams that are trying to be more defense-minded this season.
Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel and Janis Moser also scored to help the Lightning end a two-game skid. Anthony Cirelli had four assists and Jonas Johansson stopped 28 shots for the Lightning, who were on the back end of back-to-back games.
A natural hat trick -- when a player scores three consecutive goals -- is rare, especially for Hagel, who had only one hat trick, the traditional kind, in his career. But he's off to a solid start this season, and how has five goals this season.
"I think I've got to give credit to everyone playing the right way," Hagel said on the game broadcast aired on the FanDuel Sports Network. "We're just doing the right things out there, making the right plays."
Timo Meier scored two goals and Jack Hughes, Nathan Bastian and Stefan Noesen each had one for the Devils, who have lost three of four (1-2-1) after winning four of their first five. Jake Allen finished with 29 saves.
New Jersey led 2-1 early in the second period before Tampa Bay scored five straight goals later in the period, three from Hagel.
"Everyone's coming together as a team here," Hagel said, "and I'm just happy that some of them ended on my stick."
Hagel worked quick, too, scoring at 9:27, 13:01 and 15:52 of the second period.
"We need to continue to grow as a team," Hagel said. "This is our sixth game here, it's still just the little details, and teaching points."
Moser's third period short-handed goal carried 136 feet, ricocheting off the side boards past Allen to push the Lightning's lead to 8-4.
New Jersey is now 1-2-1 at home, getting outscored 18-15 in those four games. New Jersey has given up 14 goals in the past two games, both home losses.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After a 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings Saturday night, his team's fifth to open the season, Steven Stamkos, the headline addition in a summer full of them for the Nashville Predators, tried to keep it all in perspective.
"We're going to have to watch some film and do some work," he said. "By no means is the season lost."
If the season is to turn around, Tuesday was a good start, as Juuse Saros made 33 saves and the Predators ended their losing streak with a 4-0 victory over the Boston Bruins.
Ryan O'Reilly and Luke Evangelista had a goal and an assist each while Tommy Novak and Gustav Nyquist also scored for the Predators, who entered the game as the only team in the NHL without a win.
"I've been trying, I mean, I've hit a couple of posts, and a bar, so far," Nyquist said on the FanDuel Sports Network, after scoring his first of his season. "So, I tried to switch it up and do something different."
The shutout was the 25th of Saros' career, while across the ice, Jeremy Swayman made 38 saves for Boston. In his only two previous starts in Nashville, Swayman posted shutouts, stopping all 70 combined shots he'd faced in those games.
O'Reilly scored the game's first goal with 2:44 left in the opening period, ending Swayman's Bridgestone Arena shutout streak at 136:34.
With the Predators on a power play, Roman Josi fired a slap shot from above the right faceoff circle and O'Reilly tipped it past Swayman on the short side.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Atlanta survives shootout, advances to face Miami
Atlanta United FC eliminated CF Montréal 5-4 in a penalty-kick shootout on Tuesday night in the opening game of the MLS Cup playoffs after the two clubs played to a 2-2 draw.
Atlanta won its second road playoff game in club history and the first since Nov. 4, 2018 at New York City FC.
United will start a best-of-three series on Friday against Supporters' Shield winner Inter Miami CF, which is hosting a playoff game for the first time in club history.
Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan denied Tom Pearce on Montreal's second attempt in the shootout. Saba Lobjanidze sealed it for United.
Atlanta led 2-0 at halftime before former United star Josef Martínez scored two second-half goals to tie it.
Brooks Lennon scored his first goal of the season when he headed in a beautiful cross from Pedro Amador in the 29th minute. Atlanta defender Stian Gregersen made it 2-0 in the 44th by heading in Alexey Miranchuk's free kick.
Martínez pulled Montreal within 2-1 in the 63rd with an easy tap-in after Guzan spilled a long shot.
Montreal was awarded a penalty kick in the 87th and Martínez converted for his eighth goal in the last six games. Martínez and his former goalkeeper Guzan exchanged a few words after the goal.
Ancelotti hails Vini Jr.'s 'energy' in comeback win
Carlo Ancelotti praised Vinícius Júnior's "extraordinary character" and "energy" after the Ballon d'Or contender scored a second-half hat trick in Real Madrid's 5-2 Champions League comeback win over Borussia Dortmund.
Madrid trailed 0-2 at halftime at Santiago Bernabeu -- after Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens scored for the visitors -- before goals from Antonio Rüdiger, Vinícius and Lucas Vázquez put the European champions in front.
Brazil international Vinicius scored two more goals to complete his hat trick and leave Madrid in a positive mood ahead of Saturday's Clásico against Barcelona.
"It's unusual for a player to have a second half like he did," Ancelotti said in his post-match news conference. "He played with energy and intensity, with extraordinary character."
Vinicius' hat trick came less than a week before the winner of the 2024 men's Ballon d'Or will be confirmed at a ceremony in Paris.
"I think [Vinicius] will win it, but not because of what he did tonight," Ancelotti said. "It will be because of what he did last season. The three goals tonight will help him win the next Ballon d'Or!"
"We know that at home, with our fans, anything can happen," Vinicius told Movistar. "When we got to the dressing room [at halftime] we were very quiet, we just listened to the boss.. And he said one thing: if we score the first goal, we're going to come back. And we did it."
"It's something you feel sometimes on the pitch," goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois -- who made five saves in the game -- said. "I don't want to say that you feel the opponent's fear, but you feel that after the first goal, with the stadium, we'll score goals."
Ancelotti criticised his team's attitude in the first half, but said they had delivered "our best second half this season."
"We started the first half without much intensity," he said. "We were too timid. We can play with more energy, taking risks."
Real Madrid forward Rodrygo exited the match in the 85th minute with a muscle injury and he is doubtful to face Barcelona next Saturday.
Vinícius Júnior's hat trick showcases Ballon d'Or credentials in comeback win
MADRID -- "Our crown, our trophy," read the banner, held up by fans behind the Santiago Bernabeu's south goal before kickoff.
Real Madrid are the reigning European champions, the 15-time UEFA Champions League winners, and, of course, the comeback kings, as they showed once again in this unpredictable, wildly entertaining 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund.
This is a strange Madrid team, full of elite players, but often malfunctioning as a unit. They flirted with embarrassment against Dortmund before they decided to play the hits, and turn the game around, roared on by the Bernabeu crowd.
In the first half, they were poor: fragile in defence, non-existent in midfield and hesitant in attack. In the second half, they looked like an unstoppable force of nature, led by the irrepressible Vinícius Júnior. The Brazilian scored a hat trick, in what's a contender for his career-best performance to date. This was Ballon d'Or-worthy. By the end of this month, he might have one.
In the old Champions League format, Madrid never failed to qualify from the group stage, ever. Here, they faced a real risk of starting the new league phase with two defeats in three games. Their 1-0 loss at Lille on matchday two could have been dismissed as an anomaly -- Madrid created nine chances there, with an xG (expected goals) of 2.18, but lost 1-0 -- but Tuesday's first-half performance, going 2-0 down to Dortmund and conceding twice in four minutes, made it look more like a trend.
Madrid have not been playing well this season, but they've still been winning games, and are unbeaten in LaLiga. There was optimism, excitement and expectation ahead of kickoff here, the feeling of a big European tie, and a repeat of last season's Wembley final. The atmosphere generated by Dortmund's thousands of travelling fans helped. Midway through the first half, their coordinated, mass bouncing had the desks in the Bernabeu press box moving gently up and down, all the way across the stadium. On the pitch, their team gave them every reason to jump up and down.
Donyell Malen's opening goal after 31 minutes was well worked, a team move that ended with Malen on the ball, in space, in front of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Three minutes later, Malen crossed for Jamie Bynoe-Gittens to score Dortmund's second, sprinting past a dozing Lucas Vázquez at the far post.
It didn't take long for Madrid to spark into life, Rodrygo -- back in the XI here in his favourite competition after three consecutive games on the bench -- and Jude Bellingham both hitting the woodwork within seconds of each other. But then it was Dortmund who again came closest to adding a third before the break, Courtois saving at full stretch from Julian Brandt.
The Bernabeu crowd whistled their team off the pitch at halftime, their pride stung. In the second half, a reaction felt almost inevitable. It arrived in the 60th minute when Antonio Rüdiger's powerful header from Kylian Mbappé's cross made it 2-1, before Vinícius made it 2-2 minutes later, after a nervous wait for an on-field offside call to be overturned.
Then, Madrid had to wait. They pushed for a winner, as Dortmund tried to hang on, and occasionally threaten, if they could, on the break. When it came, Madrid's third goal arrived from Vazquez, before a breathtaking late double from Vinícius left the result in no doubt. By the final whistle, Madrid's poor first half felt like a distant memory, the win ultimately so comfortable, so overwhelming, that what came before it could almost be dismissed as an irrelevance.
Vinícius carried the match ball off the pitch and will take the headlines as the game's outstanding player. As preparation for Saturday's El Clásico against Barcelona in LaLiga, it doesn't get much better, even if Madrid's first-half shortcomings suggest there are still plenty of reasons for concern.
The nature of this new Champions League format, with only 12 of the 36 teams being eliminated after the league phase, means that even with a defeat, Madrid might well have qualified for the knockout phase anyway. And it's worth remembering that they weren't immune to the occasional group stage slip-up -- remember Moldova's Sheriff Tiraspol winning 2-1 at the Bernabeu in 2021? Madrid went on to lift the Champions League that season.
But in the end, there was no slip-up here. There was business as usual. After this second half, Madrid will be talked about as being among the favourites to win the competition again in 2025. And with Vinicius in this kind of unplayable form, it's hard to argue.
Victoria steamroll New South Wales but Starc primed for India
Victoria 272 and 246 (Harper 72, Rogers 59, Starc 6-81) beat New South Wales 136 & 241 (Philippe 88, Konstas 43, Elliott 4-44) by 141 runs
Elliott broke a stubborn 63-run stand between Philippe and Starc when the wicketkeeper got a thin edge trying to thrash a cut behind point to fall 12 short of a deserved century. Philippe finished with scores of 45 not and 88 for the match. Starc fell for 18 top edging an attempted pull shot. Nathan Lyon also fell to the pull shot, miscuing to a catching man who was placed not far behind the square leg umpire. Elliott cleaned bowled Jackson Bird shortly after to finish the game.
While all eyes had been on the performances of two Test hopefuls in Marcus Harris and Sam Konstas, the buzz from both rooms post-match was how well Starc had bowled after taking 1 for 35 and 6 for 81 in 36.5 overs across the match, including Harris in both innings. NSW coach Greg Shipperd believes India will face a stiff challenge from Starc if conditions are similar to the pitch that was offered at the MCG.
"His pace, his rhythm, all of those things that go to engineering the sort of pace he was dealing with," Shipperd said. "He did change the game once he decided to go short and really change the dynamic of the match. And second innings again, we thought perhaps he'd done enough, but he kept coming. And so that's a good sign for Australia and troubles ahead, perhaps, on the right wicket for India."
"Against a very good bowling attack for a 21-year-old kid [Kellaway] to get 50, along with Pete, I said to Pete, that's right up there with some of the best batting I've seen him do," Rogers said. "To put on that 100, if you look back now, you probably say that that was pretty critical in us winning the game and having a first innings lead.
"And in the second innings, when they had us four for not many and Mitch Starc's got his tail up, we needed a couple of people to stand up, and two guys who were making names for themselves in Sammy Harper and Tommy Rogers played absolutely out of their skins, and that 130-run partnership, that was as good as I've seen from a partnership for a long time. Just absolutely fantastic."
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