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The start of the year has brought with it the beginning of another new era for Chelsea Football Club.

The Blues announced the departure of Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day, and then just a few days later, announced Liam Rosenior as his permanent replacement.

The former Strasbourg boss has quite the challenge on his hands, with qualification for next season’s Champions League surely the objective.

Fortunately, the transfer window is now open, and if reports are to be believed, Chelsea are planning to bring in some top-quality players to help their new manager, including one who’d be a monster upgrade on Pedro Neto.

Chelsea target Neto upgrade

While he’s certainly not a known quantity among Premier League fans, Chelsea supporters have reason to be excited about Rosenior’s appointment.

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The 41-year-old might not be the most experienced of managers, but his record in France was impressive: in 63 games, he oversaw 32 wins, 14 draws and just 17 losses.

Moreover, he has proven himself capable of working with young players, with Strasbourg being the first team in Europe’s top five leagues to field a lineup of players born in the 21st century earlier this season.

However, to help the Blues push on, he’s going to need some more ready-made stars in the squad, which is what the club seem intent on providing him.

At least, that is according to a recent report from Spain, which claims Chelsea are interested in a ‘big name’ in the form of Rafaël Leão.

In fact, the report has revealed that the club intend to spend €150m on the AC Milan star and Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez.

The report states that the West Londoners are planning to spend €75m of that money on the Spaniard, leaving as much to be spent on the Portuguese star, which converts to about £65m.

It could be a complicated deal to get over the line, but given Leão’s immense ability, it’s one Chelsea should fight tooth and nail for, especially as he’d be a dream upgrade on Neto.

How Leão compares to Neto

Now, throughout his career, Neto has spent more time on the right, but not by much.

For example, in his club career, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers star has made 78 appearances on the right, 69 on the left, and 25 up top.

Moreover, with Estevao being the sensational talent he is and Cole Palmer probably being more effective on the right, the Portuguese international is going to be more of a left-sided player for Chelsea, as he was in the game against Manchester City.

Neto’s positional versatility

Position

Games

Gs

As

Right Winger

78

12

18

Left Winger

69

10

8

Centre-Forward

25

1

5

Second Striker

17

5

5

Attacking Midfield

11

3

1

All Stats via Transfermarkt

Unfortunately, this would then put him in direct competition for gametime with Leão if BlueCo get their man, which is a competition he’s not going to win for several reasons.

First of all, he’s not as reliable a source of output.

For example, since the start of last season, he has scored 15 goals and provided 12 assists in 78 appearances, totalling 5298 minutes.

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That comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.88 games, or every 196.22 minutes.

In contrast, the Milan star has scored 19 goals and provided 14 assists in 63 appearances, totalling 4335 minutes.

That comes out to a far more impressive average of a goal involvement every 1.90 games, or every 131.36 minutes, which lends credence to analyst Ben Mattinson’s claim that he’s “one of the best LW’s in the world.”

Unsurprisingly, the former LOSC Lille star also comes out looking better when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers.

For example, the 26-year-old does better in most relevant metrics, including non-penalty expected goals plus assists, shots and shots on target, carries into the penalty area, passing accuracy, and more, all per 90.

Leão vs Neto

Statistics per 90

Leão

Neto

Non-Penalty Expected G+As

0.61

0.43

Shots

2.60

1.74

Shots on Target

1.12

0.64

Passing Accuracy

76.6%

74.2%

Shot-Creating Actions

2.36

3.49

Goal-Creating Actions

0.37

0.35

Carries into the Penalty Area

1.36

1.16

Aerial Duels Won

1.36

0.29

Interceptions

0.12

0.35

Clearances

0.62

0.35

Progressive Passes

2.47

2.97

All Stats via FBref for the 25/26 League Season

Ultimately, while it might not be the easiest of transfers to pull off, Chelsea should do all they can to sign Leão, as he’d be a massive boost to the team and a clear upgrade on Neto.

Related Chelsea have already signed Rosenior his very own Semenyo

The sensational talent could be a game-changer for Rosenior at Chelsea.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes

Manchester City look set to welcome an addition to their squad early on in the January transfer window, as they close in on a deal for Antoine Semenyo.

According to Fabrizio Romano, a deal “is almost done” to bring the Ghana international to The Etihad from Premier League side Bournemouth, as Pep Guardiola looks to bolster his attacking options.

This means that Semenyo, who has a £65m release clause with the Cherries, is closing in on a move to Manchester City to fight for the title in the second half of the season.

Where Antoine Semenyo could fit in at Manchester City

With the likes of Rayan Cherki, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush, Oscar Bobb, and Savinho already at the club, some supporters may already be wondering exactly where the Bournemouth star will fit in.

City have recently lined up in a 4-3-2-1 system with Foden and Cherki playing behind Haaland, with Bernardo Silva, Tijjani Reijnders, and Nico Gonzalez in a midfield three.

Signing Semenyo, though, would provide Guardiola with the opportunity to abandon that formation and change to a 4-2-3-1, with Gonzalez and Reijnders behind an attacking midfield trio of Foden on the right, Cherki through the middle, and Semenyo on the left behind Haaland.

The Bournemouth star’s versatility means that he can play in numerous roles, as shown in the graphic above, but he has predominantly played on the left flank this season, producing nine goals and three assists, per Sofascore.

His powerful running, as evidenced in the goal against Liverpool above, could complement the slower and diminutive styles that Foden and Cherki bring to the attack, giving Haaland an attacker who can keep up with his pace and power on the break.

Whilst Semenyo could be a brilliant addition to Guardiola’s side in the coming days, City have been linked to another Premier League star who could be an even better signing.

The star who could be a better signing for Man City than Antoine Semenyo

City’s current focus is on getting a deal done for the Bournemouth star in the January transfer window, but they are also looking ahead to what they can do in the summer.

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According to Sky Sports, Manchester City are one of the clubs interested in a deal to sign Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi when his contract expires at the end of the season.

The report claims that the Cityzens want to snap him up on a free transfer to bolster their backline, as John Stones and Nathan Ake may be heading into the final throes of their respective spells at The Etihad.

Guehi could be an even better signing for City than Semenyo if they are able to win the race for his signature as a free agent next summer, because he has the quality to be a consistent performer at Premier League level.

Whilst Semenyo is an exciting signing, given that he has scored 20 goals in the Premier League since the start of last season, the danger with signing attackers is there are no guarantees over consistency.

Marmoush, for example, scored 15 goals and provided nine assists in 17 Bundesliga games for Frankfurt before his move to City, per Sofascore, and he has produced one goal and one assist in 15 games for City this term.

Signing a Premier League-proven centre-back is a slightly safer bet, because defenders do not rely on having to produce big moments, with goals and assists, as they are judged more on the consistency of their overall performances week-in-week-out.

Marc Guehi (Premier League)

24/25

25/26

Appearances

34

17

Goals

3

2

Tackles + interceptions per game

2.6

2.7

Clearances per game

4.6

5.2

Duels won per game

4.9

5.5

Ground duel success rate

64%

62%

Aerial duel success rate

54%

69%

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Guehi has been remarkably consistent defensively in the top-flight since the start of last season, averaging similar numbers across the board, whilst significantly improving in his aerial duels this term.

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The England international, once described as a “monster” by journalist Bobby Manzi, has proven himself to be a dominant defender who can command a backline in the Premier League, as he also currently captains Palace.

Guehi would also only be 26 by the start of next season, a few months younger than Semenyo, who turns 26 this month, and this means that he would be a long-term signing for City, as well as a player who could hit the ground running.

The Palace and Bournemouth stars are both impressive Premier League performers who would be good additions in their own right, but Guehi is a consistent and reliable defender, rather than an attacker who relies on moments, which could make him a better signing for Guardiola.

Related Man City have a bigger talent than Semenyo in "Rashford-like" 17-year-old

Manchester City arguably already possess a bigger talent than Antoine Semenyo in this 17-year-old star.

Posts ByKelan Sarson

On top of the performance-based aspects, Guehi could also be a better signing for City because he would arrive at the club as a free transfer, rather than a £65m addition.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChristian Leopard’s single-handed show of a 61-ball hundred went in vain as New Zealand Under-19s lost to Pakistan Under-19s by 31 runs in Dubai. New Zealand were 206 for 7 in their chase of 280 before Leopard fell for 116 and they eventually ran out of batsmen, to be bowled out for 248. Pakistan, with their second straight win, jumped from the bottom of the table to finish on top as all three teams – including Australia – have two wins each from four matches and Pakistan edged ahead on net run rate.New Zealand’s chase was rocked early by legspinner Hasan Mohsin who struck thrice in his first two overs to reduce the score to 11 for 3. No. 3 Finn Allen stalled a middle-order collapse with Josh Clarkson and Aniket Parikh but a double-blow from Saif Ali dented them further to 67 for 5 in the 14th over. It was a solo Leopard chase from there. He started with three sixes within seven balls in the beginning and brought up his fifty off 27 balls by smashing Arsal Sheikh for two sixes and two fours in the 22nd over.He brought the required run rate down from over six per over to under 4.50 per over when he got out in 34th over after clobbering 12 fours and seven sixes, and No. 10 Felix Murray gave a late surge with three fours and a six but Shadab Khan finished things off in the 46th over. Mohsin finished with 3 for 25.Earlier, Pakistan were asked to bat and were led until the 26th over by captain and opener Gauhar Hafeez’s 58. Two wickets from Murray brought them down to 110 for 4 before Shadab Khan (48) and Saif Badar (99*) took them towards 200 and Badar’s 73-ball knock with five fours and six sixes charged them to 279 for 9 with only one more double-digit scores from the last five batsmen. Pakistan scored 58 runs in the last five overs.

Ireland 210 for 8 (Morgan 51, Bukhari 3-45) beat Netherlands 209 for 6 (Bukhari 71) by one run
Scorecard

Ireland’s winning feeling returned after Kevin O’Brien kept his cool in a tense finish © Getty Images

Ireland revived memories of their nerve-jangling World Cup successes against Pakistan and Bangladesh, as Kevin O’Brien turned certain defeat into an incredible one-run win, keeping his cool in the final over of the match against Netherlands at Stormont.After winning the toss and batting first on a sluggish pitch, Ireland posted an adequate but unimposing total of 210 for 8, thanks to Eion Morgan’s determined 51 from 112 balls, and a late burst of violence from Dave Langford-Smith, who clubbed three sixes in his 13-ball 31 not out. But it never looked like being enough as Netherlands cruised to 192 for 3 with five overs remaining.Then, however, O’Brien began to turn the tide. Peter Borren and Eric Szwarczynski had added 33 for the fourth wicket before Szwarczynski was excellently caught at chest height in O’Brien’s followthrough. Borren then holed out to midwicket without addition, and Ireland’s juices began to flow.With 16 needed from three overs, Geert-Maarten Mol was run out by the ever-alert Ken Carroll at mid-off, and the small crowd of fifty-odd spectators roared in approval. Billy Stelling slashed Andre Botha down to third man for a tension-relieving boundary but seven runs were still needed from the final over.O’Brien began with two dot balls before Stelling hammered the third to extra cover for a single. Hendrik-Jan Mol then, incredibly, decided to shoulder arms with six still needed from three deliveries, and his folly was exacerbated when O’Brien fielded his next delivery superbly in his followthrough. Though Mol managed to finish with a four to reduce the deficit, the match had effectively been won and lost.Ireland coach Phil Simmons was delighted with the character hisside showed. “I think it’s one of those things,” he said, “where inKenya we probably would have lost. So it does show we’ve made a stepforward, and we are able to win games – and the brilliant last sixovers from Kevin O’Brien and Andre Botha saw us through.”And although Netherlands did appear to panic, Simmons was quick topraise his bowlers – particularly O’Brien whose control in thedying overs strangled Netherlands’ intent. “I think there was a lot ofskill involved,” he said. “If you watch the last six overs, as far as I’mconcerned it was top-class death bowling – particularly from Kevin; hewas always hard to hit over the top. But at the same time, there was abit of luck, – they were cruising, and then they panic. If you panicin this game, you lose.”The result was hard luck on Netherlands’ main man, the Pakistan-born Mudassar Bukhari, who chipped in with three wickets in Ireland’s innings before launching the run-chase with a classy 71 from 114 balls. He was eventually run out by Kyle McCallan’s accurate return from the deep and Baz Zuiderent followed six overs later for 36, but Netherlands still seemed to be firmly on course. O’Brien and his team-mates decided otherwise.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Mashrafe Mortaza destroyed Kenya as Bangladesh took a clean sweep in the one-day series © AFP

Mashrafe Mortaza’s career-best figures of 6 for 26 led Bangladesh to a convincing six-wicket win over Kenya to take the series 3-0. Dismissing Kenya for a lowly 118, Bangladesh knocked off the required runs in just 27 overs with Farhad Reza finishing unbeaten on 41, to hand Bangladesh their maiden series victory on foreign soil.After holding their nerve in Sunday’s cliffhanger to secure an unassailable 2-0 lead, it was Mortaza who made the difference between the two sides with a superb spell of economical bowling. Not only was it his first five-wicket haul, but recorded the best figures by a Bangladeshi bowler in one-dayers. He did, though, benefit from the cloudy, overcast conditions and his captain, Khaled Mashud, correctly decided to field. Syed Rasel responded immediately with a full-length inswinger that beat Kennedy Otieno’s floundering attempt to play across the line. After one ball, Kenya were 0 for 1.Maurice Ouma hung around for nearly 45 minutes, clobbering a four in his 14 and putting on a stabilising 35 for the second wicket with Malhar Patel before Mohammad Rafique crept one through his defences. It was the introduction of Mortaza, however, which turned the match Bangladesh’s way as he cut a swathe through Kenya’s middle-order, also snaffling the prize wicket of their captain, Steve Tikolo, for just 14.Tikolo was threatening to break free, too, lofting Mortaza over the covers for a confident four. But his poise got the better of him as Mortaza’s next delivery, angling down the legside, was lazily mistimed to midwicket. It was perhaps a stroke of fortune for Mortaza and he received a further slice of luck when Collins Obuya was adjudged lbw by the umpire, Krishna Hariharan; replays suggested otherwise but, by now, Mortaza was on a roll.With his side capitulating, Thomas Odoyo rightly went on the attack, slog-sweeping Saqibul Hasan over midwicket for a huge six, one of just two in the innings. And while Odoyo cleverly picked up singles to rotate the strike, something his team-mates failed to do, Mortaza enticed him into an injudicious drive, edging it to the wicketkeeper Mashud to hand the bowler his sixth wicket. It was a brilliant spell from Mortaza, bowling his 10 overs and conceding just 26 runs.Bangladesh set off in pursuit of 119 in a hurry with Shahriar Nafees belting four fours in his 18, but Thomas Odoyo removed him to begin a mini-slide. From 38 without loss Bangladesh slipped to 55 for 4. Peter Ongondo took two quick wickets and produced a cracking delivery to remove Mohammad Ashraful, jagging away and rising awkwardly to take the outside edge and hand Steve Tikolo his second comfortable catch at second slip.However, it was too little, too late. Saqibul Hasan and, in particular Reza, batted aggressively for his unbeaten 41 from 48 balls, clobbering seven fours and a six as Bangladesh sailed home with 23 overs to spare.

Western Province 276 for 7 dec lead North West 98 (Coetsee 50, de Stadler 5-18, Friend 3-37) and 84 for 8 (de Stadler 3-13, Magiet 3-0) by 94 runs
ScorecardRain in the morning session on the second day at Cape Town prevented Western Province from winning within two days as North West crumbled in abject fashion, losing 18 wickets in 86 overs. Werner Coetsee saved them from total humiliation, scoring 50 out of a total of 98 in the first innings. The only other player who got into double-figures was Marc Rosenberg, who scored 20. The main destroyer was Mark de Stadler, who took a career best of 5 for 18 from 14 overs He was assisted by Quentin Friend who took 3 for 37.Following on, North West faired no better as they collapsed to 84for 8 when bad light made sure that they would have to come back the next day. de Stadler was again among the wickets taking 3 for 13, but it was Achmat Magiet, making his debut appearance, who did the star turn, bowling three overs towards the end of the day and taking three wickets without conceding a run.Gauteng 228 and 90 for 3 lead KwaZulu-Natal 274 for 5 dec (Sanders 96, Gobind 77) by 44 runs
ScorecardGauteng fought back strongly at Durban to take a lead of 44 overKwaZulu-Natal at the end of the second day of their UCB Provincial Cup encounter. Natal ended the first day in a strong position, and consolidated further on the second morning, reaching 183 without loss in the 58th over. However, they lost the impetus and ended on 274for 5 when the forced declaration came in after 93 overs. The loss of Mark Sanders for 96 and Rivash Gobind, their captain, seemed to have a huge impact on the rest of the batsmen. In 35 overs they could only manage 91 runs allowing Gauteng right back into the game. When play was called off, Gauteng had moved to 90 for 3 in their second innings, and a decisive result was very much in doubt.

Scorecard

Azhar Mahmood and Martin Bicknell the saviours for Surrey© Getty Images

Last week, England won a series in the West Indies for the first time since 1968. But that success has not quelled debate about whether to reform the County Championship, which began today. The Brit Oval hosted the tie of the round, the champions Sussex versus the biggest club Surrey. Sussex ended the day on top, 75 for no wicket after bowling Surrey out for 304. But was it, as some reformers claim, just pie-chuckers bowling to South Africans on dodgy passports, watched by what Ally Brown once called “a few dogs and some coffin-dodgers”?No. A mixed crowd of nearly 2000 saw good, hard-fought cricket. In the morning, the Sussex seamers zipped the ball around, which has been happening in English Aprils for a long time. In the afternoon Surrey’s tailenders batted doggedly and well, which has been happening for not very long at all.It was a big match in the county calendar. Surrey ended last year with two one-day trophies, a £400,000 profit, and yet a feeling of disappointment. A squad full of internationals was difficult to keep happy. Plus there were England call-ups. Part of Sussex’s success was in producing players good enough to win a first-ever Championship, but not quite good enough to play for England. So it was the established top dogs, Surrey, against the young pretenders.Sussex’s seamers grabbed hold of the morning session. By lunch Surrey had fenced their way to 84 for 5. James Benning and Mark Ramprakash both spooned forcing shots and were caught. The rest were undone by aggressive and disciplined seam and swing bowling.Last year it was spin, particularly Mushtaq Ahmed’s 103 wickets, which transformed Sussex from contenders to champions. That netted him £10,000 in bonuses. (Winning the Championship proved pricey for Sussex, who recorded a loss after paying out promised win bonuses.) But today the accountants could rest easy: Mushy took only one wicket and went for more than five an over.The pitch eased after lunch, and Surrey were saved by their late order. They punished Mushtaq and added 220 for the last five wickets. Azhar Mahmood of Pakistan hit 16 rifle-crack boundaries in his 84, and put on a brisk 106 with tailender Martin Bicknell. He survived both a big lbw shout and an attempted run-out by the keeper from the same ball in the 57th over. The ninth-wicket pair kept up the jaunty tempo, adding 59. Surrey finally reached 304, with Sussex replying with 75 without loss in the evening sunshine.During the Surrey fightback, Ian Salisbury launched a straight six which disappeared into the foundations of the space-age £22million stand being built at the Vauxhall end. The debate about the County Championship still rages. The ECB is considering proposals and it might look very different by 2006. But one long-established part of English cricket is definitely on its way out. The new Vauxhall Stand will house the Test Match Special box. And from that angle Blowers definitely won’t be able to spot the double-deckers on the Harleyford Road.Paul Coupar is assistant editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

It would have been a nice way to finish. A century from the last ball of theday on your home ground in an Ashes Test but why retire for the sake of anice finish?That innings was to save Steve Waugh’s Test career, not to make a hundred sohe could pull the curtain down in style. He plays his best cricket when hecomes to the wicket at three-for not many and when hehas most on the line.First of all, he had to make runs in Sharjah against Pakistan just so hewould be picked for the Ashes. When Glenn McGrath came to the crease he wason 80. Two sixes and two fours later he had notched his century. Next over,McGrath was out.Waugh had a patchy start to the Ashes series and batted awfully inMelbourne. With everything to play for in Sydney, he played the innings ofhis life.He returned to captain his beloved Blues. On going back to the MCG, hebatted with more style this time round in posting 204. He made his firsthundred at the SCG against Queensland and then led NSW to the Pura Cup,their first four-day title in nine years.Waugh still has a lot to achieve in the game. Four years ago, he took overthe reins of the Australian captaincy from Mark Taylor. His first tour of duty asleader was to the Caribbean. After winning the first Test, Australia lostthe next two in nail-biters. They rallied to win the last and tie it at 2-2.This time round, Waugh wants the series win.He may even make it for his Waterloo; another tour of India, but that isstill a long way off.On a personal note, Waugh is on 10,039 Test runs, just 1136 behind SunilGavaskar. He also needs five hundreds to have the most Test centuriesalthough Sachin Tendulkar would most certainly overtake him in bothstatistical categories.Waugh has 91 wickets and just needs another nine to be the first player totake 100 wickets and score 10,000 runs. His wicket-taking has slowed downwith him taking just two in his last 40 Tests. He took 58 Tests to reach 50wickets and 81 in total to reach 75 wickets.Other milestones Waugh would want to achieve are a century at the WACA, theonly Test ground in Australia upon which he has not scored one. He may thenalso wish to score one against Bangladesh in Darwin and Cairns when theyplay each other in July.If Waugh scores that hundred in the fourth innings of the match, it will bethe first time he has scored a hundred in that innings of the game.He also needs just four more Test wins as captain to overtake Clive Lloyd asthe most successful captain in terms of the number of wins.So as soon as Steve Waugh declared himself available for the tour of theWest Indies, the selectors did the only thing possible and chose him. Andwhy wouldn’t Waugh have made himself available when he still has so much toachieve and has so much to offer.

Lymington’s prospects of winning the Southern Electric Premier League Division 2 championship and progressing into the “Gold” League next season suffered a serious setback with a two-wicket defeat by Portsmouth.Despite scoring only 141 themselves, Lymington appeared to hold all the aces as they reduced Portsmouth to 84-8.But for the second time this season, they were foiled by former Hampshire left-arm spinner, Raj Maru, who hauled his erratic side from the brink of defeat and set up an improbable victory.Maru’s undefeated 47, aided by Academy prospect Ben Nolan, guided Portsmouth from a perilous 84-8 to 144-8 and an absorbing two-wicket victory over Lymington, who are now very much outsiders in the promotion hunt.But Portsmouth are still marginally behind table-topping Cove, whose match with United Services was washed out with the Farnborough club in a powerful position at 277-9.Cove play Portsmouth at Grasmere Road on Saturday week, August 18 and then receive Lymington on the final day of the season.Portsmouth’s Farnborough visit looked purely academic after Lymington, defending a modest 141, ripped out the visitors’ top eight at the Sports Ground.But Maru got his head down on a spinner-friendly surface and, with splendid support from the relatively inexperienced Nolan in an unbroken 60-run ninth-wicket partnership, turned the match on its head.Until then, the medium-pace away-swing of Australian Brian Clemow (4-23) and lift and turn extracted by Daniel Peacock (2-38) and Glyn Treagus (1-19) looked likely to bring Lymington a second major prize of the week.The club had crushed Andover by nine wickets to win the Southern Electric Contracting Cup four days earlier.But there was to be no repeat of the cup final celebrations of midweek.Lymington might have guessed it wasn’t to be their day when Clemow fell to a bizarre catch in only the second over of the day.Naqeeb Ali Mohammed dropped a juicy-looking long-hop short outside the Australian’s off stump.Clemow rocketed the ball towards gully, where Matt Keech leapt to palm a dolly catch into the grateful hands of Paul Dew at backward cover.When Treagus misread Nolan’s line at 19-2, Lymington were in early trouble, but Peacock (24) and Ben Craft (19) righted the ship – until the telling left-arm spin of Maru (3-20) accounted for both batsmen in quick succession.Neil Trestrail (21) and Chris Warde (16) took the score just above the 100-mark – only for Lymington to lose five wickets for 13 runs to Nolan (3-41) and the impressive Lee Savident (2-30).The pair proved that, if the ball was pitched in the right place, there was plenty in the dry surface for the bowler.But Portsmouth found themselves frustrated as the left-handed Neil Jenkin and Wayne Smith added a vital 25 runs for the tenth wicket and lift Lymington’s total to 141.Defending a moderate total, Lymington knew they had to take early wickets and immediately threw Peacock’s biting off-breaks into the equation.Stephen Cook (37) saw three team-mates depart in quick succession before nicking Clemow to slip at 51-4.Indeed, when the teenage Cook was joined in the pavilion some time later by fellow South African Paul Dew (23), Portsmouth were in desperate trouble at 81-7.But Maru punished anything loose and got some thoughtful support from the teenage Nolan as Portsmouth gradually clawed their back into the contest.To Lymington’s disappointment, change bowler Jason Carr couldn’t get his line right when he was thrown the ball with the game in the balance.Maru saw and seized his chance and, with the loyal Nolan alongside, twice hoisted sixes into the adjoining tennis courts to ease Portsmouth to a crucial two-wicket victory.

Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan blasted hundreds as New Zealand cruised to an easy 127-run win over a Queensland XI in the first of two one-day practice matches at Allan Border Field, Brisbane, today.The matches have been arranged as preparation for the New Zealanders before they embark on a triangular one-day series against Pakistan and South Africa in Singapore starting next Sunday. Queensland have already played host to the Australian team for two matches over the past three days.While New Zealand had a comfortable win in today’s match, they suffered a blow with wicketkeeper Chris Nevin being unable to take his place behind the stumps after injuring a tendon. Nevin is being flown back to New Zealand and is out of the Singapore series. Adam Parore is replacing Nevin and will fly into Brisbane to join the New Zealand squad tomorrow morning.NZ captain Stephen Fleming won the toss and elected to bat first. Daniel Vettori opened the batting with Chris Nevin. Usual opening batsman Nathan Astle is playing for Accrington in the Lancashire League and will join the NZ camp in Singapore later this week.By the end of the third over both openers were back in the pavilion. Nevin made seven, while the Vettori experiment ended with his score on four, becoming Scott Muller’s first victim of the day.Muller claimed his second wicket and Queensland’s third with the score on 49, Stephen Fleming (15) hitting a catch to the waiting hands of Jimmy Maher. This brought Cairns to the crease, and in Muller’s next over Cairns moved into full cry with a four, a six and a six off successive deliveries. Twenty-two runs off the over saw Muller (2/56 from seven overs) removed from the attack, the second day in a row that he had taken a mauling.The scoring was in excess of a run a ball when Roger Twose (24) was the next wicket to fall, caught behind off the bowling of Matthew Pascoe. McMillan joined Cairns and after a brief settling in period the onslaught resumed.Cairns brought up his half-century in the 23rd over with a boundary off Lee Carseldine, having faced just 36 balls. He was severe on off-spinner Scott O’Leary, lofting him for sixes in consecutive overs.Cairns’ 100 came up on his 87th ball faced in the innings, but he failed to add to that score when he lofted O’Leary to a waiting Scott Muller. He hit seven fours and five sixes in his even hundred.McMillan brought up his half-century off 84 deliveries in the 43rd over of the innings, but with Chris Harris as his new partner, the scoring rate simply accelerated. The final eight overs of the New Zealand innings yielded 108 runs, McMillan bringing up his hundred on the second last ball of the fiftieth over from 108 deliveries. That’s 24 balls for his second fifty.McMillan was out off the final ball of the innings for 103 (nine fours, three sixes), while Harris (38* from 23 balls, three fours, two sixes) played one of the innings that has made his reputation as one of the finest late-overs batsmen in the world.New Zealand finished their fifty overs with a total of 7/321. Muller was the only bowler to take two wickets. Scott O’Leary (1/76 from ten overs) has yet to play for Queensland in a Pura Cup or Mercantile Mutual Cup match, and is unlikely to experience the same baptism of fire when the day of his competition debut does arrive.From the moment that Jimmy Maher (14) was given out lbw to Geoff Allott in the seventh over, Queensland were never in the hunt. Jerry Cassell made a fine 58, and Scott Prestwidge (31, including two sixes off Vettori) played a lively innings, but at the thirty-over mark the required run rate per over was already more than 10.Eight New Zealanders were giving bowling practice, and at least the Queenslanders can say that they lasted the full fifty overs, their score at the end of the innings being 9/194. Shayne O’Connor (3/24 from seven overs), Chris Harris (3/23 from eight) and Geoff Allott (2/26 from seven) were the best of the NZ bowlers.With Nevin unable to keep wicket, Roger Twose donned the gloves until Queensland Second XI keeper Gavin Fitness had been summoned to take over. Fitness, in his role as New Zealand substitute keeper, found himself in the unusual situation of stumping fellow Queenslander Brendan Creevey off the bowling of Vettori.New Zealand have one more practice match against Queensland tomorrow Tuesday. Parore is expected to keep wicket for the visitors, almost immediately after hopping off the plane.