LONDON: When you’re just a week away from the first ball being bowled and the one player that gives your side that X-factor is halfway around the world facing police charges, it would be pointless to pretend that all is going according to plan.
To be fair to England they haven’t, and there’s little doubt that has greatly contributed to the feeling that the tourists are about to face a trouncing.
But while it’s clear Root and Co. are some way off Plan A, all the Stokes saga has done is take the spotlight away from both England’s strength and Australia’s weakness — namely the tourists’ attack and hosts’ batting lineup.
Even without Stokes, as Ryan Harris says, England have bowlers that probably cannot wait to get stuck into the Australians. Apart from David Warner and Steve Smith, the Baggy Green batters don’t inspire much confidence. You don’t have to be editor of Wisden to work out that Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb and Matthew Wade are hardly in the same league as Hayden, Langer, Ponting, the Waugh twins and Gilchrist.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad are very good, shrewd bowlers and, while their form in Australia has been patchy, will fancy themselves to regularly make early inroads into the Australian lineup. Add in Chris Woakes as first-change bowler and Mooen Ali, who’s form as the side’s spinner was as good as ever this summer, and genuine reasons for optimism aren’t hard to find.
Harris was right when he said: “Both bowling attacks are world class…Bowling will dictate the series.” England will miss Stokes — which side wouldn’t? — but the tourists have the attack to get 20 wickets without him.
Australia are favorites, but as England found out four years ago, any overconfidence at this early stage could be badly misplaced.
Ashes hosts Australia need to be humble for glory
Ashes hosts Australia need to be humble for glory
Al-Hilal win tightens Saudi Pro League title race
- The 3-2 victory over Al-Khaleej leaves Al-Hilal a single point behind Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr, who play on Saturday
DUBAI: The gap at the top of the Saudi Pro League table was cut to just one point on Friday night, following Al-Hilal’s 3-2 win over Al-Khaleej.
Simone Inzaghi’s team leapfrogged Al-Taawoun into second place to remain the closest challengers to Al-Nassr in the title fight, with the leaders set to host Al-Okhdood on Saturday.
Al-Hilal opened the scoring on 18 minutes when Mohammed Kanno met Hamad Al-Yami’s lay-off on the edge of the penalty area, his long-range shot beating Al-Khaleej goalkeeper Anthony Moris at his left-hand post.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic doubled the lead on 39 from Malcom’s assist to leave the visitors with a mountain to climb in the second half. Al-Hilal looked to have secured all three points comfortably when Malcom made it 3-0 on 57 minutes, but Al-Khaleej had other ideas.
Joshua King’s goal on 79 minutes looked to be nothing more than a consolation, but five minutes later Al-Hilal were left sweating after Giorgos Masouras cut their lead to a single goal. The visitors’ revival was short-lived, however, with no more additions to the score.
The defeat leaves Al-Khaleej in eighth place, with three matches still to be played on Saturday.
Earlier on Friday, Al-Taawoun briefly climbed to second place in the table after an away win against Al-Kholood at Al-Hazem Stadium. Their goals came from Christopher Zambrano after 22 minutes and a William Troost-Ekong’s own goal in the 75th; Al-Taawoun ended the match with 10 men after Muteb Al-Mufarrij was sent off in stoppage time, but the three points were already secured.
Al-Hilal’s win later in the day meant Al-Taawoun dropped to third, while Al-Kholood sit in 12th.
The first match of the day saw Al-Fateh shock reigning Asian champions Al-Ahli with a 2-1 win, after falling behind at home to Valentin Atangana’s 22nd-minute goal. However, the home team turned the match around with two goals from Maria Vargas either side of half time.
The win saw Al-Fateh rise to 14th while Al-Ahli stayed in fourth.
