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USMNT forward Ricardo Pepi scored for PSV less than two minutes after entering the game, helping the Dutch side to a 2-0 win over Heerenveen.

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Pepi scores for PSVDefeat Heerenveen 2-0Second goal in eight daysWHAT HAPPENED?

Just over 60 seconds after being brought into the match, the USMNT star was set loose on a breakway, beating the goalkeeper in a 1v1 situation. The 20-year-old scored the game-winner in the UEFA Champions League last week against Sevilla, sending the Dutch side through to the knockout round, and followed it up again Thursday with another goal.

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Pepi isn't a starter at PSV – and for good reason. He's behind Dutch striker Luuk De Jong in the pecking order and likely won't jump ahead of him anytime soon, either. The PSV forward has 10 goals and six assists in 15 matches in the Eredivisie this season, with two more goals in the UCL to add to it. Pepi, despite his fine goalscoring form, is best served as a super sub for now, because of the fact that De Jong is in such incredible form.

For the USMNT, though, Pepi's excellence at PSV is also a shared moment – with international teammates Sergino Dest and Malik Tillman. The American trio are thriving in the Netherlands, which is brilliant news for Gregg Berhalter and co.

DID YOU KNOW

Pepi grew up in the FC Dallas academy system in MLS, before moving to the Bundesliga with Augsburg – and now, ending up in Holland with PSV.

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Getty ImagesWHAT'S NEXT FOR PEPI

The USMNT star and PSV take on Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, but regardless of the outcome, Arsenal will take first in the group and the Dutch side will take second. Both are confirmed to advance to the next round of the tournament.

Hampshire followed up Fidel Edwards’ ferocious second-evening spell by beating Sussex and telling the West Indian quick they had never seen anything faster

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Hove09-Jun-2015
ScorecardFidel Edwards’ pace blew his Hampshire team-mates away•PA PhotosHampshire have secured their first Championship win of the season with a six-wicket win at Hove, a ground that has now hosted its third three-day result game in a row. But this was nothing to do with the pitch: the visitors put together their best performance of the season, typified by Fidel Edwards’ first five-wicket haul for the county.Edwards’ 5 for 58 was not only Hampshire’s first five-for of the season, but it was also his first since taking 6 for 90 in a Test against Bangladesh, back in November 2012. That match in Khulna was his last for the West Indies across all formats and, in signing as a Kolpak player, at the age of 32, it seems that his international days are behind him. This will be his last four-day game for Hampshire before he jets off to the Caribbean Premier League on Sunday.His spell yesterday was a reminder of the confrontational attitude he used to save for the world’s best. The “you can’t see me” celebration: the hair is grown out but the swagger remains. His skipper Jimmy Adams said his spell at the end of day two was the fastest he had ever seen in domestic cricket, a point backed up by the rest of the Hampshire team, who told Edwards as much in the dressing room.Fidel on making big waves

On helping Hampshire secure their first Championship win at Hove in the last nine attempts “I’ve heard we hadn’t won here for a long time, so that’s good. The pitch was quick but not as quick as thought it would be. It was good though to bowl with the wind behind me. That’s my job – I’m here to get at batsman, bowl fast and get people out!”

On his Hampshire future beyond 2015: “I signed a Kolpak deal for Hampshire and hopefully I can extend that for the next couple of years. That’s my aim. Hampshire have a lot of West Indian greats playing for them so hopefully I can do my best to join that bunch.”

On his speed: “When I was younger, I was clocked a couple of times, when I first started, at around 96 or 97mph. Hopefully I can still bend my back like that at this age.

On his first experience of the English domestic season: “It’s been lovely – just a bit cold and wet! I’m looking to see what the sunshine can do and it was good to see a bit today. Last night, I went for a walk by the sea and it was terrible! The waves were kicking and I was right next to the sea! But it’s a good experience to be here and experience the cold for so long.”

Edwards was so quick last night that, when Wright decided to take him on, Adams moved one of his slips to a back-stop position for the top-edge. “I hadn’t set a field like that before – maybe not since my under-10s,” laughed Adams at the close. He confirmed the decision was Edwards and he was more than happy to oblige him.Edwards’ fifth wicket came this morning when he removed nightwatchman Steve Magoffin with his fourth ball before both he and Jackson Bird were put under pressure by Luke Wright and Ben Brown. Bird in particular, in his first Championship game of a season that has already been hampered with shoulder and neck injuries, struggled throughout the match.Having started the morning session from the Sea End, Bird switched to the Cromwell Road to calamitous effect. His first four overs went for 28, with his first going for 12, as Brown took him for three consecutive boundaries.It seemed that Wright and Brown could milk him easily until the new ball. Earlier, Brown had benefited from a poor drop from Danny Briggs, who shelled a routine catch with the batsman on 13, when he ran around to square leg for a top edge that would have given Edwards his sixth wicket. The joint hundred came off 164 balls as the complexion of the game started to change.And then, with the lead standing at 122, it happened: the first of two brain-fades that led to a lower-order collapse of four for four.The first came from Brown, who decided to take a risky single to the last ball of a Bird over that had already leaked 11 runs. He hit the ball to the left of cover, Will Smith, who ran around the ball to pick-up right-handed and throw down the stumps with Wright short of his ground.Brown’s misery was compounded when he became the recipient of what must have been Bird’s best ball of the match: a good-to-full length ball that jumped up to say hello and take the top of his glove, giving Sean Ervine a simple low catch at first slip. He sunk to his knees as Bird streamed past him, before returning to the pavilion flanked by the rest of those on the pitch as lunch was taken early.Ollie Robinson was the next to go, failing to take note of a deep square leg and finding him perfectly, just nine balls after the restart. With him went any realistically possible of quick runs, leaving Briggs to take his first wicket of the innings – caught bat-pad – to finish Sussex off.With just 125 to defend, it was Magoffin or bust for the home side. Their lead man ran in, unchanged for eight overs, from the Cromwell Road End. Bats were beaten, an edge fell short of Ed Joyce at first slip and a length was pounded, but to no avail.Jimmy Adams hit a quick 30 from 33 balls, seemingly trying to throttle the nerves out of the chase. When he departed with 51 on the board, in the 12th over, the runs came at a slower pace. Sean Terry, in his second game of the season, got some valuable time in the middle on his way to a first Championship half-century of the season and a career best in first-class cricket.Terry can take pride in the fact that he carried his bat through this chase, while more senior heads came and went. He’ll have a bruised thumb as a souvenir, for a week or so at least, after he was clocked by a sharp one from Hobden. But he and Hampshire will take that, as they finally get a win on the board.

David Nixon, the announcer who was ‘stood down’ by Cricket Australia at lunch on the second day of England’s tour game in Alice Springs, has vehemently denied any suggestion that he made racially insensitive remarks

George Dobell02-Dec-2013David Nixon, the announcer who was ‘stood down’ by Cricket Australia at lunch on the second day of England’s tour game in Alice Springs, has vehemently denied any suggestion that he made racially insensitive remarks.While Nixon admitted his irreverent style was not to everyone’s taste and accepted he greeted Monty Panesar’s introduction into the attack with something of a flourish, he said: “I absolutely refute any allegation that I feigned an Indian accent.””For most of my adult life I have worked with people from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds to help them share their stories,” Nixon, an ABC employee who had volunteered to help at the game, said. “My focus in that work is to help overcome any sensationalist or negative stereotypes that can sometimes filter through the media. That I find myself in the eye of this storm is upsetting in the extreme.”I fail to see how anyone could interpret my introduction of Monty Panesar as racial slurring. I am certainly responsible for what I say, but not what people hear.”I had, however, been rebuked by a Cricket Australia representative on a number of occasions for my irreverence. ‘That’s not how we roll’ the CA staffer said after I’d welcomed patrons to the ground on day two then mentioned that both teams were on the ground were practising their interpretive dance moves. They were stretching pre-match.”Upon arriving back at my post after the lunch break on day two, I was met by a Cricket Australia representative who politely said words to the effect of, ‘We think that your personal style conflicts with ours and so we’ve relieved you for the afternoon.’ There was no mention made of my introduction of Monty Panesar or of a complaint being made. There was and is no evidence to support the allegation whatsoever and I will seek clarification from Cricket Australia on their decision to stand me down.”The ICC has confirmed that they will not be getting involved in the situation.

Derbyshire are hoping to continue strengthening their squad with the signing of Billy Godleman

George Dobell27-Sep-2012Derbyshire are hoping to continue strengthening their squad with the signing of Billy Godleman, the 23-year-old opening batsman who was released by Essex towards the end of the 2012 season. Godleman made his first-class debut for Middlesex as a 16-year-old – the second youngest man to make his first-class debut for the club – and represented England at every level from Under-15s to Under-19s.Having joined Essex for the 2010 season, he averaged in the mid-20s in 2010 and 2011 and despite scoring a century in Essex’ opening Division Two game in 2012 he lost his first-team place in the latter half of the summer and was told his contract would not be renewed.Derbyshire, who won promotion to Division One for the 2013 season, also announced the signing of wicketkeeper Richard Johnson from Warwickshire earlier this week. Their aim is for Godleman to open the batting and hope he can mirror the success of other players – such as Chris Wright, Stephen Peters, Varun Chopra and Derbyshire seamer Tony Palladino – whose fortunes improved significantly once they left Essex.

A round-up of the action from the One-Day National Cup Division Two matches

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2012Group B

Quetta Bears went top of Group B after their third consecutive victory, this time beating Karachi Zebras in a low-scoring match at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex in Karachi. Quetta only managed to reach 195 for 9 and looked set to lose when Karachi were 122 for 4 in the chase. A collapse followed, with Karachi losing six wickets for 40 runs to be bowled out for 162 in 45.2 overs. Akbar-ur-Rehman scored 69 but seven of Karachi’s batsmen were dismissed for single-digit scores, consigning them to a loss.Naved Yasin’s 92 helped Multan Tigers win their first match of the One Day National Cup, against Hyderabad Hawks at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. Yasin’s innings built on a solid start from Multan’s openers and helped them reach 270 for 6 in their 50 overs. Hyderabad’s chase was rocked by early strikes from Akbar Ali, who finished with impressive figures of 3 for 37 from 10 overs. Ghulam Yasin scored 66 but not enough other batsmen contributed and Hyderabad were bowled out for 224 in 45.5 overs.Group A

Khan Research Laboratories and United Bank Limited shared the points after their match at the Khan Research Laboratory Ground in Rawalpindi had to be abandoned due to rain 18 overs into the chase. KRL won the toss and Ali Naqvi got them off to a decent start, despite the loss of two early wickets, with his 57. The KRL innings was interrupted by rain after 19 overs, and the match was reduced to 40 overs a side. That interruption was followed by a KRL collapse, and they were bowled out for 159. United Bank’s innings was interrupted too, after six overs, and they were given a revised target of 135 runs to win off 29 overs, but another rain delay after 18 overs led to the match being called off.The match between Peshawar Panthers and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, scheduled for March 4, has been postponed and will be played on March 5.

Unbeaten half-centuries from Akbar Badshah and Jamaluddin helped Peshawar recover from a precarious position and complete their chase of 153 in the Division Two final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2011
ScorecardUnbeaten half-centuries from Akbar Badshah and Jamaluddin helped Peshawar recover from a precarious position and complete their chase of 153 in the Division Two final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Peshawar stuttered early in their chase and slipped to 43 for 4. Mohammad Fayyaz was run out in the third over, seamer Bilawal Bhatti struck twice and inbetween seamer Imran Ali dismissed Sajjad Ahmed for 1 off 30 balls.Badshah and Jamaluddin had shared a century partnership in the first innings and repeated the feat, putting on 110 unbeaten runs to take Peshawar out of trouble and to a win. Badshah scored 54 off 105 balls, while Jamaluddin, whose century in the first innings was the only one of the match, scored 58 off 99 balls.SNGPL had started the day on 277 for 8 and managed to add another 24 runs to their total. Seamer Waqar Ahmed took the last two wickets to finish with 6 for 92 in the innings and nine wickets in the match.

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has said he was fortunate to have lost the toss to bowl first as the dew in Abu Dhabi in Pakistan’s innings helped them chase 249

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2012Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has said he was fortunate to have lost the toss to bowl first as the dew in Abu Dhabi in Pakistan’s innings helped them chase 249. The Australian bowlers found it hard to grip the ball as the opener Nasir Jamshed led with 97 in a series-levelling victory in the three-match series.”It was a good toss to lose because both the teams were not sure what may happen. The day before the match there wasn’t much dew and also in Sharjah it wasn’t that bad, but today dew really played a major factor,” Misbah said.Australia recovered from 87 for 4 to score 248, courtesy Michael Hussey’s 61 and contributions from other middle-order batsmen, but the total proved inadequate as Pakistan reached the target with more than six overs to spare. Misbah said the batsmen were given instructions to bat through the innings, as he knew runs would be scored quickly as long as the likes of Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez stuck at the crease.”Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed are [naturally] aggressive batsmen. If they stay at the crease they will score runs quickly. [Jamshed], especially, played many shots and [had a] wonderful balance. The key for us [was that] he batted through and he made this chase easy.”[In] chasing a big total there is bound to be pressure, especially against a good [Australian] side. We got a good start and that added to the confidence and made our task easy. [Importantly] dew helped.”The target, however, may have been a lot more had Pakistan’s spinners not pegged Australia back for brief periods. The spinners, led by Saeed Ajmal, have been successful against Australia on the slow UAE tracks, with 12 out of 15 Australian wickets in the two games falling to them. Misbah said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of playing an extra spinner in the third ODI in Sharjah, though the decision would depend on the pitch.”[Playing a fourth spinner] depends on what sort of wicket we get [in Sharjah]. One more thing we have to keep in mind is that we may have to bowl second again, so it might be a problem for the spinners [because of the dew factor]. We have to look into everything.”Misbah praised the fight the side showed in the first ODI, as the spinners made it difficult for Australia to chase 198, which gave the side the belief to beat them in the next game.”The way we fought despite having only a total of 198, we were nearing a win at one stage. It was this performance that gave us the courage to come into this game and all of us believed we could win it.”Australians are the No.1 side in the world, so we have to play really well in the next game. They will come hard at us and we have to get ready for the next game.”He said he wasn’t certain, however, whether Shahid Afridi, who missed the second ODI due to injury, would be ready for the next game on Monday.

Enjoying a sustained run in Test matches, M Vijay is confident of doing well in overseas conditions and says the failure against West Indies was a result of “tweaks” in his batting

Siddarth Ravindran24-Nov-2013M Vijay has played each of India’s last six Tests, which is more successive matches he has played in the national team in any format since his international debut more than five years ago. The prolonged dip in form of established Test openers, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, allowed him a look-in and a couple of big hundreds against Australia earlier this year have, at long last, earned him something of a sustained run in the longest format.”I’m more mature now,” Vijay said in Meerut, when asked to explain his Test success in 2013. “I know my game better. It’s about being consistent in all forms of the game. “Firmly established as a batting star in the IPL, where his strokeplay can be both brutal and easy on the eye, Vijay showed he could shelve the flashy strokes in the Tests against Australia.”It is very tough mentally to tune to formats, playing Test cricket to suddenly teeing off from the first ball. But, as a professional, that is my challenge,” he said. “Hopefully I can transform my game accordingly whenever required.”He will have to make changes to succeed over the next year or so, as India are set to tour South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia – four countries where conditions differ drastically from the subcontinental tracks Vijay is most comfortable batting.”I have a long way to go but I’ve learnt a lot of things,” he said. “I want to do well abroad, I’m working hard on my game and hopefully I’m on the right track.”Things haven’t quite gone to plan since the Australia Test series for Vijay, as he struggled to establish himself in the one-day squad and couldn’t make much of an impact on the tour of South Africa with a strong A team. Vijay was in the squad for the Champions Trophy in England, but couldn’t get a game. He played three ODIs in the tri-series against Sri Lanka and West Indies, featuring in a one-day game after nearly two years. On India A’s tour to South Africa, Vijay scored 48 runs at an average of 16 in the two unofficial Tests. With India not playing Tests for eight months after the Australia series, Vijay said he did feel the pressure going into the recent West Indies series.”Personally yes, because I knew I was going to play the next series (against West Indies), I had that much confidence,” he said. “From my expectation, I let myself down, I tweaked a lot of things (mentally) and it didn’t come out properly, I didn’t get to play the longer version in between. It’s good that I’m getting back to playing a few.”Vijay played just one first-class match in the lead-up to the West Indies series, but should get three rounds of Ranji games before heading to South Africa next month. The fact that he will open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan, a man in red-hot form across formats this year, will also help Vijay.”He’s on a high – high on confidence and batting at his best. We’re good friends both on and off the field. It’s great to bat with him,” Vijay said. “Whenever we’re out there, it’s like two friends batting together. Pressure situations get lighter hopefully we can continue to do this. You sense it inside, when he is striking the ball well, you can’t go with a pre-planned notion. If you think your partner is batting well, you can take time and not take risks. If he’s struggling, I try to get going and push singles so that I can help him out.”

Preview of the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ranchi

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya11-May-2013Match factsMay 12, 2013
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Moises Henriques has lived up to his reputation•BCCIBig PictureIt is likely that Chennai Super Kings will find more support in Ranchi than Kolkata Knight Riders. The last time the JSCA International Stadium Complex hosted a game, the hometown boy MS Dhoni hit the winning runs in an ODI against England in front of a packed house in a city where his popularity possibly rivals Sourav Ganguly’s in Kolkata. Dhoni’s IPL team, however, won’t be playing in Ranchi this year. Instead, the Ranchi crowd, on paper, should be backing a side on a ventilator this season; it won’t be a surprise if they end up supporting Royal Challengers Bangalore, a team with greater star power and in the running for a spot in the play-offs, or perhaps they will end up backing both.Knight Riders won comfortably against Pune Warriors in their previous game, and Royal Challengers beat Delhi Daredevils narrowly. A win for Royal Challengers will take their tally to nine and them to No.2, though having played one game more than the rest in the top four.Form guideKolkata Knight Riders: WLWLL
Royal Challengers Bangalore: WLWLL
Players to watchMoises Henriques was bought for US$300,000 by Royal Challengers, and he’s repaid them with impressive all-round performances this season. Each time Royal Challengers have posted a score in their last few games, Henriques has played an important role in the death overs with cameos. He has also picked up seven wickets at 22.28.Ryan ten Doeschate had an impact in his first IPL game this season, prompting questions over why Knight Riders hadn’t picked him earlier. Though he doesn’t rate his own bowling very highly, he remains among the more experienced Twenty20 players, having played in more than 10 countries, and is good enough to qualify as a specialist T20 batsman.Stats and trivia Sunil Narine has an excellent economy-rate in T20 cricket, but one batsman who’s dominated him is Suresh Raina, scoring 47 off 23 balls. Michael Hussey has scored the most runs off him, 54, but that’s come off 61 deliveries. Virat Kohli became the 11th batsman to score 99 in a T20 innings. Raina is the other Indian on the list. There’s also Salman Butt, who made an unbeaten 99 for Lahore Lions against Quetta Bears in 2008. Quotes”At the moment, the competition is pretty open. We still have a fair chance of reaching the play-offs. For me what matters is the remaining three games and we face RCB on Sunday, which is a must-win game for us. Hopefully, we can try and deliver.”
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Ian Healy has slammed Matthew Wade’s wicketkeeping during the Test summer and said Australia needed to choose their best gloveman for the upcoming tours of India and England

Brydon Coverdale11-Jan-2013Ian Healy has slammed Matthew Wade’s wicketkeeping during the Test summer and said Australia needed to choose their best gloveman for the upcoming tours of India and England. Healy, who watched from the commentary box as Wade kept wicket for his first home summer, was disappointed not only with the way Wade missed opportunities for stumpings and catches, but also what he perceived as a lack of discipline in getting the basics right.”He’s not happy at all. He didn’t have a good summer with the gloves at all,” Healy told on Friday. “Even some of the basic stuff that he’s not tidying up, he’s not getting to the stumps, he’s not taking returns well, he’s not sharpening up the fielding effort. Even those basic disciplines weren’t being created, let alone missed dismissals.”Nathan Lyon wouldn’t have been that happy, there were four or five chances missed from his bowling. He’s getting criticised for not taking wickets. These are all the little internal conflicts of an under-achieving wicketkeeper. Matthew Wade says he’s still young and he wants to keep improving, but I don’t think he’s that young. He’s 25.”If he is keeping for Australia, these sort of things have to be done, and they have to be done better. We’re playing against Sri Lanka, it’s not as if we’re playing against South Africa or England for five Tests [where] we need everything taken. He needs to really get a look at what Brad Haddin is doing and try to find a way to get it done himself.”Healy’s strong words came as Wade was at home resting from the first two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka, having played more matches for Australia over the past year in all formats than anyone except David Warner. John Inverarity’s selection panel is so keen on Wade as a Test player that he even batted at No.6 during the third Test against Sri Lanka in Sydney, and scored an unbeaten century.That was a position that not even the great Adam Gilchrist occupied on a regular basis during his days in the Test side. Healy is widely regarded as the best of Australia’s modern glovemen, while his replacement Gilchrist performed adequately behind the stumps and was brilliant with the bat. Healy said during Gilchrist’s time, when Australia had bowlers like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, they could afford to play a wicketkeeper whose batting was his stronger suit, but not anymore.”What Adam Gilchrist had was a relevance to his team,” Healy said. “He was appropriate to the team. He had a team with a great bowling attack that created more chances than you needed. We haven’t got an attack like that now. We’ve got an attack that if you need 20 wickets in a Test, they might create 18 and you’d better take a half-chance here or there or a great run-out and you might get over the line.”That’s where you don’t need a wicketkeeper missing stuff. Right now Australian cricket in the Test form initially needs the best wicketkeeper. We need to find out who that is, and someone who is not making mistakes.”Healy said he could not understand why the selectors had chosen Wade ahead of Brad Haddin at the start of this summer. However, he also said that he believed Queensland’s Chris Hartley, 30, was the best pure gloveman in the country but that he was unlikely to earn an opportunity at international level with Wade, Haddin and Tim Paine all ahead of him in the queue.”I don’t understand why they dropped [Haddin] and it’s never been explained to me or the public after the West Indies,” Healy said. “He wasn’t in great form [and] he had to go home and look after his ill daughter. Then when he gets that right and he’s ready to play again, he’s not picked. I thought that was a bit harsh.”Tim Paine can emerge without being picked for Australia. Chris Hartley must be sitting in Queensland thinking I’m gone here, even though he’s probably the best keeper of the lot. You talk to the players and they say that all the time. He’s missed out I’d say. He’s 30 and there’s three being talked before him.”