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Both teams are heavily dependent on Plan A and much of that is down to local talent that hasn’t translated into trustworthy resources

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu17-Apr-2015Match factsSaturday, April 18, 2015
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)Big pictureIf matches are won by breaking the weakest links in the opposition, both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils have plenty of targets. They are heavily dependent on Plan A and much of that is down to local talent that hasn’t translated into trustworthy resources.Besides their losses, consider both teams’ victories so far: Sunrisers rode home with David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan at the wheel in Bangalore. Against Rajasthan Royals, they lost control of it, and their team lost the match as well. Against Kings XI Punjab, Daredevils managed to plumb the best out of Mayank Agarwal, but they still needed Yuvraj Singh at the other end and Angelo Mathews for the winning runs. The slate has been wiped clean, but a loss now would sour Daredevils’ relief from breaking an 11-match losing streak.When the proven matchwinners have off days, it would be down to the likes of KL Rahul and Naman Ojha, and Manoj Tiwary and Kedar Jadhav to pick up the slack. Especially considering they are likely to walk out to a pitch more suited to batting after both Sunrisers and Royals expressed displeasure at its sluggish nature on Thursday.But the bowling attacks each of them would face tomorrow are the reasons either team has been competitive. Trent Boult is never far away from giving headaches to the opposition. Nathan Coulter-Nile’s bounce can be a challenge for domestic batsmen. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s yorkers have improved. And it is likely that Imran Tahir suffers withdrawal if he doesn’t race around the ground after picking wickets.Watch out for…Sunrisers took a chase of 128 to the last ball by executing simple disciplines. But as accurate as their seamers have been, Karn Sharma offers some X-factor. Although not quite a classical legspinner, he is well equipped to handle the shortest format. His accuracy helps maintain a tight grip in the middle overs, and he is good with varying his flight according to the batsman he has in front of him. But how would he fare against someone like a set Yuvraj Singh with temptingly short midwicket boundaries?Daredevils had zeroed in on Angelo Mathews at the auction in February and it is easy to see why they were willing to invest Rs 7.5 crores (approx $1.25 million) in the Sri Lanka captain. He has developed into a calculating batsman who finds ways to keep pressure on the outside looking in. With him for a finisher, the top order can afford to play freely, and if there is a stutter early on Mathews has the game to last 20 overs.Stats and trivia Shikhar Dhawan (1024) and David Warner (659) are Sunrisers’ highest run-scorers. The next best currently in the squad is Naman Ojha (272), having played only three fewer matches than Warner Among teams currently playing the IPL, Daredevils have the worst batting average – 23.44. Sunrisers, though, are only 0.01 points better. QuotesWe were 10 to 15 runs short but having said that I think the pitch was a tough one to bat on. The toss became crucial. I don’t think it was an ideal T20 surface

A day after informally discussing the fate of the Champions League Twenty20 with Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, the other stakeholders of the tournament, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur dropped another hint that it may be scrapped

Amol Karhadkar25-May-20152:15

The end of CLT20?

A day after informally discussing the fate of the Champions League Twenty20 with Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA), the other stakeholders of the tournament, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur dropped another hint that it may be scrapped. ESPNcricinfo understands that a meeting of the CLT20 governing council is likely to be convened soon to make the final call.”We still have CLT20. We will have meetings on how to make it a better tournament, or something in place of that. We just finished the season eight of the IPL which has been very successful. We will now start thinking on those lines [fate of CLT20],” Thakur told a group of select journalists in Kolkata on Monday.”If CLT20 cannot attract crowds in India or abroad, you need to sit down and think about other options. It’s in the interest of cricket. In the interest of cricket, you make changes. Like from Test cricket we switched to ODIs, then T20s and now we’ve the IPL. With time, you bring in changes so that the game does not die. There should be enough takers for the game. Tournament should be successful.”Fitness test for Bangladesh-bound cricketers on June 6

The BCCI will conduct fitness tests for the India players selected for the Bangladesh tour on June 6 – the day before they fly out – in Kolkata
Over the last year or so, BCCI had not conducted fitness tests on the national team since they were playing non-stop cricket ahead of the World Cup. With another gruelling season of international cricket ahead though, beginning in Bangladesh and culminating with next year’s World Twenty20, BCCI have had a change of mind.
A meeting between BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and secretary Anurag Thakur failed to break the deadlock over India’s support staff for the tour of Bangladesh. “You will get to know about coach and support staff before 6th of June,” Thakur told reporters after the meeting.

For more than a month, the fate of CLT20 has been hanging in the balance. BCCI, the majority stakeholder of the tournament, and the broadcaster aren’t keen on hosting it, but they will need a formal consent from CSA and CA before cancellation. The South African board seems to have accepted that CLT20 is a history, having already announced Africa T20 Cup to be held in September, when the CLT20 usually takes place.IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla had also said that the BCCI was planning to do away with CLT20, adding that they were exploring possible alternatives.Sections in the media had reported of a tournament involving the top four IPL teams from this season. Although Thakur denied those claims, he admitted that the Champions League has been struggling to attract any takers.”Would you like your product to go down?” he said “No. You will only get sponsors if you’ve a successful tournament. There will be no takers otherwise. Eventually, you will have to look for cricket first. For me, that one-month window has to be used properly in the interest of cricket and cricket board.”

Zimbabwe made a formidable start in pursuit of Pakistan’s 296 for 9 before the third ODI at the Gaddafi Stadium went through a checklist of delays, which prevented the match from progressing beyond the ninth over of the second innings

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando31-May-2015
Match abandoned
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBabar Azam’s debut ODI innings was circumspect and allowed Pakistan to rebuild•Associated PressZimbabwe made a formidable start in pursuit of Pakistan’s 296 for 9 before the third ODI at the Gaddafi Stadium went through a checklist of delays, which prevented the match from progressing beyond the ninth over of the second innings. Floodlight failure caused the initial stoppage after Zimbabwe had surged to 68 for none. A dust storm then blew through the ground, just as the floodlight was fixed. Finally, after the players had returned to the ground and played out one full over, heavy rain fell to wash out play.Earlier, Pakistan’s middle-order had nearly squandered a fine start from Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali, but a measured half-century from debutant Babar Azam and Anwar Ali’s finishing cameo raised them to a tall score. Hafeez hit a run-a-ball 80 at the top of the innings, before Sikandar Raza’s offspin claimed three scalps, and two more batsmen were run out. Anwar’s 38 from 23, though, corrected the Pakistan’s course.Zimbabwe were without Brian Vitori and Tawanda Mupariwa, who were unavailable due to injury, and the depleted seam attack began waywardly. Hafeez clipped the fourth ball of the innings through the leg side for four, establishing what would become a theme for the early overs, as Christopher Mpofu and Tinashe Panyangara continued to fire balls into the pads.There were also errors in length, though Azhar Ali’s routine shuffles forward from the popping crease also played a role in scrambling the Zimbabwe bowlers’ plans. Both opening batsmen scored heavily square of the wicket – Azhar clobbered a flat six over point off Mpofu in the seventh over, immediately before dabbing another short ball behind square for a boundary. Neither batsman was flying in the Powerplay, but the score had moved to 52 from the first ten overs without any real chance of a wicket falling.Spin was introduced after the field was relaxed, but was coolly maneouvred for a while as Azhar drew close to 50, and Hafeez exceeded it off the 53rd delivery he faced. Hafeez launched the leg spin of Graeme Cremer over cow corner early in the 20th over, but lost his partner a few balls later. Pushing the ball towards cover, Hafeez set out for a quick single, only for Sikandar Raza to find the stumps with his throw, ending Azhar’s innings at 46 from 59 balls.Hafeez batted on at a brisk pace, but was undone by Raza himself in the 26th over, when he missed a leg-stump dart that struck him low on the pads. That wicket sparked Pakistan’s middle-order decline, as the finger spin of Raza and Sean Williams exerted some control over the middle overs. Asad Shafiq tamely chipped a Raza delivery into the hands of midwicket, two overs before Shoaib Malik ran himself out attempting an ambitious second. Sarfraz Ahmed had stroked 25 from 22 with typical panache, when he poked Raza to midwicket as well. Having been 115 for no loss, Pakistan slid to 196 for 5, then 211 for 6 in the 41st over, as Hammad Azam was bowled for 4, aiming a huge leg-side heave.Having arrived at two down, Babar Azam was circumspect in his first few minutes of international cricket, collecting well-measured runs into the outfield as more experienced men kept taking fraught risks. His run rate was acceptable enough despite a low incidence of boundaries. When he reached 50 off 54 balls in the 45th over, he had hit only four falls – all of which came off loose deliveries. He had already ceded the stage to the more bloody-minded Anwar when he was out for 54 two overs later.Anwar prospered in the traditional lower-order batsman’s area of long on, smiting two sixes in that direction while he also collected two boundaries on the off side. He had Wahab Riaz’s company for a 28-run, eighth-wicket stand. Both men were dismissed chasing quick runs, but that partnership ensured Pakistan finished in the vicinity of 300, which is where the innings seemed headed when Hafeez and Azhar put on their century stand.Undaunted by Pakistan’s total, Chamu Chibhabha and Vusi Sibanda began to punish bowling errors even more severely than the hosts’ openers had. Sibanda cracked two square boundaries on the off side off Anwar Ali in the fourth over, before the pair combined to reap 13 runs from Junaid Khan immediately after. Wahab Riaz struck Vusi Sibanda on the head with a bouncer in his second over, but even he went at more than a run a ball. Chibhabha was on 39 from 27 balls when the rains came. Sibanda had scored 28 from 27.

Young guns Sam Billings and Alex Blake led the way with the bat as Kent crushed Sussex by seven wickets in front of a Hove full house

ECB/PA03-Jul-2015
ScorecardSam Billings helped take Kent home for a seventh win in ten T20 Blast games•Getty ImagesYoung guns Sam Billings and Alex Blake led the way with the bat as Kent crushed Sussex by seven wickets in front of a Hove full house to leapfrog their local rivals and go top of the NatWest T20 Blast’s South Group table.Blake finished 52 not out from 32 balls and Billings was unbeaten with a 24-ball 39 in an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 91 in 8.3 overs as Sussex’s 136 for 8 was made to look totally inadequate. Kent’s seventh victory in ten group games arrived with a thumping 5.4 overs to spare.But it was also a good night under the floodlights on the sultry south coast for James Tredwell and Darren Stevens, who combined to take three wickets for 40 runs from eight skilful mid-innings overs after Sussex had been put in.A 6500 crowd were frustrated that Sussex’s batsmen underperformed on a blissful evening but at least they were entertained royally by Billings and Blake, who between them collected 11 fours and two sixes with some exhilarating hitting.Insights

It was the young ‘uns who eased home in the chase – providing Kent with a timely NRR boost – but it was the salty old seas dogs Darren Stevens and James Tredwell who won this game for Kent. The pair bowled seven overs straight from the close of the first powerplay, before Tredwell took a one-over break to swap ends to complete his four. Between them, they squeezed out 15 dot balls in a period of the game when singles are offered everywhere, and conceded just two boundaries, all with clever changes of pace and length. Oh, and they picked up with the crucial wickets of Machan, Cachopa and Bailey.

Both batsmen reverse-swept Will Beer for fours of remarkable power, and 25-year-old Blake drove Mike Yardy witheringly for four before slashing Tymal Mills and lofting Beer for further boundaries. The left-hander then topped the lot by swinging Beer for a mighty six over wide long on.Billings, 24, who had warmed up by pulling and extra cover driving Chris Liddle for fours in the seventh over, welcomed the left-arm seamer’s return to bowl the 13th by smashing him high over long-on for six as the youthful pair made light of coming together with Kent on 46 for 3.Daniel Bell-Drummond leg-glanced the first ball of Kent’s reply for four but top-edged to deep midwicket at the end of the over, and Sam Northeast slapped an Ollie Robinson long hop to extra cover on 13 in the middle of a fifth over that still cost the bowler 16 runs as Fabian Cowdrey, promoted to open because of Joe Denly’s side strain, struck him for a six and two fours.Cowdrey, however, slogged Beer’s legspin to mid-on after reaching 23 from just 11 balls and it was left to Billings and Blake to hurry Kent to their modest target.Sussex lost the wickets of openers Luke Wright for 12 and Chris Nash for 13, and never really got going. Wright lofted Mitch Claydon straight for six, survived a hard chance to deep mid-on off the next ball – his powerful drive still went for four – and then mishit the next ball to Stevens coming in from long-off, while Nash flicked a ball from seamer Ivan Thomas straight to short fine leg.The early loss of captain Wright, in particular, so far their chief source of runs in the competition this season with 430 from 11 innings, seemed to deflate Sussex and, despite Matt Machan’s 32-ball 39, they struggled in the middle overs against accurate bowling from the wily pair of Tredwell, 33, and Darren Stevens, 39.As they have done so often before, Tredwell and Stevens put a stranglehold on the scoring rate, while also taking three wickets between them as Sussex limped from 44 for 2 at the end of the six-over Powerplay to 82 for 5 in the 13th over.Craig Cachopa did manage to swing Tredwell to midwicket for four but, next ball, top-edged to short long leg to depart for 11. George Bailey, the Australian overseas signing, made just 2 before being deceived by Tredwell’s offspin and stumped, while Machan hit Stevens to long-on after a good contribution containing five fours.It got worse still for Sussex when Beer, on 6, picked out long-off in Cowdrey’s first over of low-slung left-arm spin, and it was 112 for 7 in the 18th over when Claydon returned to see Robinson flip a reverse lap to Adam Ball at short fine leg.Harry Finch, 20, hit Matt Coles straight for six and also included two fours in a useful 35 not out from 28 balls, and Yardy pulled the penultimate ball of the innings for four to go to 9 before having his stumps spread-eagled by Claydon trying to flick the final ball to long leg.

Hong Kong’s hopes of qualifying for the main round of the Asia Cup T20 were extinguished by Mohammad Shahzad as UAE beat them by six wickets to register their second successive win in Fatullah

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Amjad Javed sealed the game with a straight six as UAE took a giant leap towards the main round of the Asia Cup T20•AFPHong Kong’s hopes of qualifying for the main round of the Asia Cup T20 were extinguished by Mohammad Shahzad as UAE beat them by six wickets to move to the top of the points table with one game to play.If it was Rohan Mustafa who led the way in their tournament opener against Afghanistan, Shahzad put his hand up to make a 39-ball 52 in the chase of 147 as UAE crossed the line with nine balls to spare. In doing so, they also ensured their net run rate received a boost, a factor that could decide the qualifier if teams are tied on points.Hong Kong were struggling at 26 for 2 after they opted to bat. It took the belligerence of the in-form Babar Hayat to give them the momentum, even as Mark Chapman’s aggression fetched 29 runs off just 17 balls. Hayat, who made 122 in a losing cause in Hong Kong’s opener, hit eight fours in his 45-ball 54, before being dismissed in the 16th over. That allowed UAE to apply the choke as they conceded just 24 off the last five overs, with Mohammad Naveed, the pacer, finishing with figures of 3 for 14.With perhaps lesser runs than they would have liked, Hong Kong prised out the wickets of Mustafa and Muhammad Kaleem to leave UAE at 22 for 2. Shahzad, who came in to bat at No. 3, arrested the wobble and helped UAE steer ahead of the asking rate during the course of a third-wicket stand of 79 with Muhammad Usman (41). Shahzad took the game right till the end in Shaiman Anwar’s company, before Amjad Javed, the captain, sealed the deal with a straight six.Having come up with two dominating displays, UAE have a straightforward equation. A win against Oman will see them through to the main round, while a loss that coincides with an Afghanistan win over Hong Kong could force a three-way tie in terms of points.

Surrey’s desire to add depth to their bowling options has resulted in two young South Africans switching allegiance in order to play county cricket

Firdose Moonda01-Mar-2016Surrey’s desire to add depth to their bowling options has resulted in two young South Africans switching allegiance in order to play county cricket, increasing concerns in their home country about a drain of talent due to a lack of opportunity.Dolphins fast bowler Mathew Pillans has signed a three-year deal the day after teenager and former Under-19 player Conor McKerr also agreed to join Surrey. Both have ambitions of playing for England although it will take them seven years to qualify.McKerr has a British passport but the ECB’s tightening of qualification rules means that, because he will arrive in the UK after his 18th birthday, he must serve a longer qualification period. However, he will only be 25 by the time he is eligible.Pillans, who has secured an ancestral visa giving him the right to work in the UK, will be 31 but an an insider told ESPNcricinfo, “Mathew believes he has a better chance of playing for England in seven years’ time than he does of playing for South Africa. He is not even in a franchise team here.”Pillans was schooled in Pretoria and played for the University of Pretoria team before moving to Kwa-Zulu Natal in 2013, when he could not find a regular place at Northerns. He featured sporadically for the Dolphins but played more regularly in the amateur Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland team this season. He took 21 wickets at 20.76 in five first-class matches and seven wickets at 9.42 in three List A games for the amateur side and nine wickets at 26.33 in two first-class games for the Dolphins.Last season, it seemed Pillans had earned the right to a more regular place in the franchise team when he finished as the seventh-highest wicket-taker overall in the first-class competition and as the Dolphins’ best performing quick. He took 29 wickets at 23.79, which included a ten-for against the Knights. Recently sacked coach Lance Klusener took a particular liking to Pillans and described him as a bowler who could “run in all day for you” but Pillans still found himself on the sidelines.He was on a rookie contract with the Dolphins, earning R140,000 a year (US$8,943) and was becoming increasingly “frustrated by the lack of opportunity,” said the source. When Graham Ford, who coached Surrey until leaving to take charge of Sri Lanka earlier this year, approached people in South Africa for assistance in finding recruits for the county, Pillans was one of the players recommended to him. Ford was involved in the negotiations between Pillans and Surrey, and he has been released from his Dolphins deal with immediate effect.”It has been a really tough decision to make but I have been given a great opportunity that I’m looking forward to,” Pillans said. “It has been great to have had the chance to work with the senior guys at the Dolphins; playing alongside them and to be around them to listen has really helped me take my game forward. I’m going to miss the Durban vibe and all the people but I’m also very, very excited about what my new opportunity holds.”The source warned that more players could be headed to other countries. South Africa’s 2014 Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Aiden Markram has been approached by a team in New Zealand although the Titans told ESPNcricinfo they believe they will be able to hold on to him. Corbin Bosch, who played in the 2014 team under Markram, is moving to Australia and Obus Pienaar, another former Under-19 who plays in Bloemfontein, is also considering New Zealand as an option.When asked if the exodus of players had to do with CSA’s transformation targets, the source stayed away from making a direct link but hinted that it could be related. “I don’t want to talk about quotas but I’ll say that the balance of teams is affecting the opportunities people are getting. There are also other factors like the declining Rand.”

Dale Steyn is set for his first Caribbean Premier League stint, having been picked by Jamaica Tallawahs to replace Lasith Malinga, who is recovering from a knee injury

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2016Dale Steyn is set for his first Caribbean Premier League stint, having been picked by Jamaica Tallawahs to replace Lasith Malinga, who is recovering from a knee injury.Steyn is the sixth South African signed the CPL for its third season. “There are some outstanding, world-class players signed up across all six teams,” he said, “And I’m looking forward to playing against some of my great friends and team-mates, amongst them Hashim Amla, AB (de Villiers), Faf (du Plessis), David Miller and Morne (Morkel) this summer. It will certainly add a nice bit of spice to the mix.”I have seen CPL grow over the last few years and it is always a great experience playing in the Caribbean. The crowds and the atmosphere are always special and the fans really get behind their team.”Steyn is likely to be in the region from June 3, with South Africa, Australia and West Indies scheduled to play an ODI tri-series.The South Africans involved in the CPL will have a fairly tight turnaround before gearing up for a Test series at home against New Zealand. The CPL ends in late July while the Tests begin on August 13.

Paul Collingwood completed his 32nd first-class hundred and Ben Stokes took three wickets in a fine ten-over spell after lunch as Durham drew with Surrey

ECB Reporters Network04-May-2016
ScorecardPaul Collingwood completed his 32nd first-class hundred and Ben Stokes took three wickets in a fine ten-over spell after lunch but Durham’s Specsavers County Championship Division One match against Surrey still finished in a draw at the Kia Oval.Surrey ended up on 244 for 6 in their second innings, batting out time despite sliding at one stage to a nervy 139 for 5 – leaving them eleven runs behind with 40 overs remaining to be bowled.Ben Foakes and Tom Curran, however, then put on 83 in 28 overs for the sixth wicket, either side of tea, to thwart Durham’s attempts to force a result. Stokes, who had another burst immediately after tea and a further two overs later on, ended with figures of 3 for 69 from 21 overs in his last Championship appearance before England’s Test series against Sri Lanka.Zafar Ansari, the Surrey all-rounder, was also only going to bat if necessary because of a badly bruised thumb. Fielding off his own bowling late on day three, he was struck on the same left thumb he fractured and badly dislocated last September, an injury which forced him to withdraw from England’s winter Test squad.By the time the last hour began, Surrey were 50 runs ahead at 200 for 5 and – after ten of the scheduled final 16 overs – hands were shaken on the draw with Surrey taking 11 points and Durham 12.Curran, who hit out strongly towards the end of his innings to reach 54 from 94 balls, tickled a leg-side catch to the keeper off Chris Rushworth but, by then, the contest was all but over and Gareth Batty came in to keep Foakes company until the draw was agreed. Foakes made 36 not out from 92 balls, while Batty ended on 17 not out.Stokes removed Arun Harinath, Rory Burns and Kumar Sangakkara in a post-lunch burst of 3 for 31 which give Durham a sniff of victory. Harinath was lbw for 18, Burns brilliantly caught for 28 by wicketkeeper Michael Richardson down the legside and Sangakkara snaffled in the slips on 14.Off spinner Ryan Pringle then had Steven Davies caught behind for 32 and Brydon Carse, in his first over, saw Jason Roy superbly caught low down by a diving Scott Borthwick in the gully for 34.Collingwood, who turns 40 later this month, began the day on 75 with Durham looking to add quickly to their overnight lead of 86.With Collingwood and Carse, his eighth-wicket partner, both batting aggressively they moved from 543 for 7 to a declaration at 607 for 7. Collingwood finished on 106 not out, from 141 balls with a six and 11 fours, while Carse was unbeaten on 30.

With Ajax on the verge of a first appearance in the Champions League final since 1996, Goal looks back at some other remarkable success stories

Getty ImagesMuhammad Ali's 'Rumble in the Jungle'

After serving a three-year ban and being stripped of his heavyweight boxing title for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali made history by regaining his belt in 1974 at the age of 32 by upsetting previously undefeated champion George Foreman in an epic fight in Zaire that became known as 'The Rumble in the Jungle'.

Ali cemented his status as 'The Greatest' by successfully implementing a bold and dangerous 'rope-a-dope' strategy, which essentially involved allowing Foreman to unload on him. When Foreman tired, Ali knocked him out in the eighth round, sparking scenes of pure pandemonium in the ring, outside it and all over the world.

Foreman later stated, "Ali is the greatest man I've ever known. Not the greatest boxer; that's too small for him. He had a gift. He's not pretty, he's beautiful. Everything America should be, Muhammad Ali is."

AdvertisementGettyBoris Becker at Wimbledon

The 17-year-old Boris Becker was a relative unknown going into the Wimbledon championship of 1985 and had only just claimed his first tournament win shortly beforehand, at Queen's Club.

However, the German sensation went on to beat Kevin Curren in the final to become the youngest ever player to lift the trophy and the first non-seed to do so.

"The plan from my parents for me was to finish school, go to university, get a proper degree and learn something respectful," he later explained. "The last thing on everyone's mind was me becoming a tennis professional."

Instead, Wimbledon proved the first of six major titles.

GettyJohn Daly's US PGA title

Finishing at 12-under, three shots better than second-placed Bruce Lietzke, John Daly incredibly claimed US PGA Championship glory in 1991 having only qualified for the tournament as the ninth alternate.

The colourful American with the 'grip it and rip it' approach to golf didn't even have his own caddie and had driven halfway across the country the night before the opening round just to play.

However, the then 25-year-old went on to shoot a final-day 71 to win the first of his two major titles against all odds.

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GettyDenmark winning Euro '92

Denmark were given a little over a week's notice to participate in Euro 1992, after Yugoslavia were removed due to the country being in a state of civil war.

The Danes, who had finished as runners-up to the Balkan nation in qualifying, reached the knockout stage by upsetting heavily fancied France in their final group game before eliminating the title holders, Netherlands, on penalties in the semi-final.

Even then, few gave Denmark much chance of beating Germany in the final but the Scandinavians triumphed 2-0, with the goals coming courtesy of John Jensen and Kim Vilfort, whose daughter was sadly fighting a losing battle with leukemia at the time.

"We didn't have the best players, but we had the best team," Vilfort subsequently stated.

After eliminating Ivory Coast in the Round of 16, the Pharaohs will come up against the Atlas Lions at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium

Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz has named a strong team for Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final “North African Derby” against Morocco in Yaounde.

This is how the Pharaohs line up.

Backpagepix.GOALKEEPER – Mohamed Abou Gabal

The 33-year-old Zamalek goalkeeper has been preferred to start between the sticks ahead of Al Ahly’s Mohamed El Shenawy, who managed two clean sheets in the group stage and was also in top form against the Elephants in the Round of 16 fixture.

AdvertisementgettyRIGHT-BACK – Amr El Solia

The 32-year-old Al Ahly player was deployed into the right-back role in the game against Ivory Coast and performed very well and will continue in the same position against their North African rivals.

Sports Mole.LEFT-BACK- Ahmed Abou El Fotouh

After missing two matches in the group stage, the Zamalek player returned to action against Ivory Coast after benching Al Ahly’s Ayman Ashraf and coach Queiroz has retained him in the same role.

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Getty ImagesCENTRE-BACK – Ahmed Hegazy

The 31-year-old, who features for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad, will keep his position and is expected to lead the Pharaohs from the back.