The winger made his international debut aged 18 after a stunning breakthrough with Borussia Dortmund, but a hugely promising career has hit a wall

Manchester United had tried to sign Jadon Sancho for years. And who could blame them? The winger was a generational talent, and after leaving the English game in search of first-team football, he had taken the Bundesliga by storm, averaging more than a goal contribution in every game for Borussia Dortmund.

After tracking him from 2018 and then opting against a move in 2019 after haggling over his transfer fee, United finally got their man in July 2021, paying £74 million for an England regular and one of the most coveted players in Europe. But fast-forward two years and Sancho has gone from being English football's next great hope into a ghost-like figure.

He was absent from the United squad for several months last season and when he did return, he often gave anonymous performances, looking shorn of the pace, power and invention that had made him such a thrilling prospect. And after only being given cameo roles in United's opening three games of the 2023-24 season, he was completely absent from the squad for the trip to Arsenal.

Fans assumed he must have been injured, but after the match Erik ten Hag gave a surprisingly honest response when asked about Sancho's absence. "On his performance on training we didn't select him," he said. "You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United. You can make choices in the front line, so in this game, he wasn't selected."

Sancho was quick to bite back and defend himself, claiming he had been made "a scapegoat for a long time". Sancho risked getting himself into trouble with his response, but it was actually refreshing to see him fight back. For too long it has felt like his career has stalled, that the fire he used to have has burned out.

GOAL charts the rise and fall of one of England's brightest talent, who went to Germany and conquered but appears lost back in his homeland.

Raised on the mean streets of South London

Sancho was born and raised in Kennington, South London. The capital's south has turned into a footballing hotbed in the last decade, with a 2021 study revealing that 10 per cent of Premier League players all hailed from the same, 10-mile stretch below the River Thames.

Joe Gomez, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Eberechi Eze and Tammy Abraham are just some of the players to have emerged from South London's football scene, which was the centre of , a TV series presented by Rio Ferdinand. And Sancho, whose skills were honed in the unforgiving concrete pitches dotted around the area, known as cages, was the area's biggest star.

AdvertisementGettyEducated at Watford

Despite being from south of the river, Sancho's first experience of organised football came north of the capital with Watford, where he moved at the age of seven, remaining until he was 15. Even though he left before he could turn professional, he has very fond memories of his time with the Hornets.

“Watford was a lot of fun,” Sancho told United's website in 2022. “I was happy when I was there and I had a lot of freedom when I was playing. That’s what makes me happy and makes me the best player I can be when I’m just free, doing what I love. At Watford I used to work on a lot of skills and I wanted to show people what I can do."

Getty ImagesMoving to the other side of Manchester

Word of Sancho's talents spread across the country and Manchester City came calling in 2015. Sancho said moving to the Blues "was a good opportunity to get out of the hood. There were a lot of bad influences."

He played in the same Under-18s side as Phil Foden and current Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz, but was itching for a shot at first-team football. When he was left out of Pep Guardiola's squad for the pre-season tour of the United States in 2017 while Foden travelled, Sancho kicked up a fuss and stopped attending training.

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Getty ImagesHopping on a plane to Dortmund

While Guardiola did not think Sancho was ready for first-team football, the player thought otherwise and immediately sought a move. Borussia Dortmund were willing takers, snapping him up for around £8m ($10m) in the summer of 2017 and putting him straight into the first-team squad.

Sancho's belief in his own ability was vindicated when he made his first-team debut against Eintracht Frankfurt in October. His first goal came in a 4-0 win against local rivals Bayer Leverkusen in April 2018, the winger setting up two more on the day.

Tottenham Hotspur could well be set to rekindle their interest in Eintrach Frankfurt defender, Evan Ndicka, with the Lilywhites having previously been linked with the Frenchman back in January.

What's the latest on Ndicka to Tottenham?

According to journalist Fabrice Hawkins, the north London outfit are seemingly set to rival the likes of Roma and AC Milan for the signing of the 23-year-old, with the promising centre-back set to be a free agent when his contract expires later this month.

Writing on Twitter, the transfer insider revealed: "AC Milan has made a contractual offer to Evan Ndicka, 3 M € / year over 5 years. Scalable salary.

"Roma offers 4 M € / year over a period of 5 years. For the moment the Italians are in the best position to sign him. He also had contacts with Tottenham."

This follows reports from Germany back in the winter window that suggested Spurs had held talks regarding the signing of the Paris-born rock, with the 6 foot 4 ace having spent the last five years with the Bundesliga outfit.

Who is Evan Ndicka?

The former Auxerre ace could well represent a real upgrade on Clement Lenglet at N17 for new boss Ange Postecoglou, with recent reports suggesting that the on-loan Frenchman is unlikely to be signed on a permanent deal this summer.

Having been snapped up on a temporary basis from Barcelona ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, the 27-year-old formed part of a defence that shipped 63 league goals in 2022/23, an increase of 23 goals in contrast to the previous season.

While the one-time Sevilla man can not be solely blamed for those woes, it is telling that Tottenham were only able to keep one league clean sheet from his 26 Premier League outings, having notably been described as an "imposter" by ex-Spurs midfielder, Jamie O'Hara.

The addition of Ndicka then could well represent a dream replacement for the £145k-per-week dud, with the "phenomenal" talent – as previously hailed by former boss Adi Hutter – notably helping to keep six clean sheets from his 30 league appearances.

A left-footed option, like Lenglet, the younger man appeared to enjoy a far better season than his compatriot having achieved an average match rating of 6.81, as per Sofascore, while the Spurs loanee was only able to average 6.65 – ranking 20th among his teammates.

The Frankfurt ace appears to offer greater quality at defending his own box as he ranks in the top 17% for clearances and the top 20% for blocks made among those in his position in Europe's top five leagues, while Lenglet, by contrast, ranks in just the bottom 19% and the bottom 40% for those same two metrics, respectively.

According to journalist Christopher Michel, Ndicka also represents an "exciting complete package" as he is also "extremely goal-threatening", having scored 12 goals and provided ten assists in 183 games for his current side, while Lenglet, by contrast also boasts a tally of 22 goal involvements throughout his club career, albeit from over 350 appearances.

That would indicate that the signing of the £20k-per-week sensation could be the defensive upgrade that Postecoglou is in need of.

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that he has been playing crossbar challenge with Mykhailo Mudryk as he bids to build up the winger's confidence.

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• Mudryk struggling this season
• Chelsea languishing in 14th
• Poch working with Ukraine international

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Mudryk moved to the Blues from Shakhtar Donetsk in January in a deal that could be worth up to £89m but he has yet to score his first goal for the club. In his 22 games, the winger has only been able to register two assists.

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• Getty
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Pochettino is now working one-to-one with the 22-year-old as he bids to bring Chelsea out of their recent slump. The club have won just one game this season and face Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, before returning to Premier League action against Fulham this weekend.

• WHAT THEY SAID

  Pochettino insists that playing crossbar challenge with Mudryk is key to building his confidence.

  He said: "With Mudryk, I like to play sometimes to [hit] the crossbar from outside the box.

  "He said to me, 'I don't want to play anymore with you because you always win.' I said 'yes, because I have the belief, and the balance between belief and quality I know very well because I'm 50 years old. You're still young and you need to know yourself'.

  "Today [Tuesday] was the first day we draw, because I always won. Now you start to believe in yourself, believe in your quality. If not, it's difficult to balance belief and quality."

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  WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

  Mudryk will hope to be involved against Brighton on Wednesday.

Max Holden and George Bartlett earned a select place in the history of England Under-19s cricket with a new batting record in the Youth Test against India in Nagpur

ECB Reports Network14-Feb-2017

Max Holden and George Bartlett earned a select place in the history of England Under-19s cricket as they extended their marathon partnership on the second day of the first four-day match against India in Nagpur.They were finally separated after a stand of 321 in 82 overs, a new record for any wicket for England which has only been beaten once in all international Under-19 cricket, in 2001 by an Indian opening pair including Gautam Gambhir who put on 391 against an England attack including Monty Panesar and Chris Tremlett, and captained by Ian Bell.Bartlett was the first to go, stumped for 179 off 249 balls including 25 fours and three sixes. That became the highest score by an England Under-19s batsman overseas, beating 170 by Nasser Hussain against Sri Lanka in Kandy in 1986-87.There are still 10 batsmen ahead of Bartlett in the all-time England list, but all of them made their runs on home soil – including his Somerset seniors Marcus Trescothick with 206 against India at Edgbaston in 1994, and James Hildreth against Bangladesh in Taunton a decade later.After Bartlett’s dismissal, Holden batted on, for almost 20 more overs and into a fifth session, until after eight hours and 47 minutes at the crease the opener was finally dismissed for 170 – leaving him joint second with Hussain on England’s overseas list.Still the agony wasn’t over for India as Delray Rawlins, the Sussex allrounder who had been England’s batting star of the one-day series ended unbeaten on 70 from 94 balls before Holden declared on 501 for 5 – England’s second highest total against India in Under-19 cricket, and the third highest by anyone in India.

The success of Premier League clubs' summer tours of America demonstrates just how popular a competitive game in the US could be.

A sold-out crowd of more than 82,000. Fans congregating hours before kick off, setting off flares and singing the same chants as in England. Fans travelling across the country and paying at least $100 for a ticket. A punch-up in the stands and then a furious on-pitch altercation between Lisandro Martinez and Gabriel Jesus. Manchester United's friendly against Arsenal showed how much appetite there is for English football in the United States.

However, it also showed the limitations of the spectacle currently on offer. The match began with the intensity and passion of a Premier League match as both teams fielded some of their best players. But in the second half, with each manager making 11 substitutes, the game began to resemble a friendly again. The fact that a penalty shootout took place after the full-time whistle despite United winning 2-0 served to underline the reality that this was not a serious event after all.

So just imagine how different things would be if a trophy was at stake, one with 115 years of history and tradition, and one that many people still see as a major honour. American fans would be even more excited and supporters in England and around the world would be tuning in too.

Imagine if the Community Shield took place in the United States every year.

Getty ImagesExploding popularity of football in the US

Football is not so much booming as exploding in the US right now. The US is co-hosting the next World Cup along with Canada and Mexico, and Lionel Messi fever is further fuelling the growth of Major League Soccer. Indeed, last month Inter Miami were the subject of 8.2 million Google searches, far more than Manchester United.

According to a poll by the , eight per cent of Americans said football was their favourite sport, compared to 11 per cent who said baseball and 12 per cent who said basketball. Other studies state that football has already overtaken ice hockey in popularity.

Interest in European football is massive too. The match between Arsenal and United set a record for a football match in the state of New Jersey. United's fixture with Real Madrid in Texas attracted 67,000 fans, while Arsenal's win over Barcelona was witnessed by 70,000. Huge attendances for European teams in the US is not a new phenomenon. In 2014, 109,000 people filled the 'Big House' in Michigan to see United play Madrid.

But how long can US audiences be sated by friendly matches? A competitive game with a trophy on the line is the next logical step for European football in the US.

AdvertisementGetty 'We would die to have a competitive game'

"I can say unequivocally, we would die to have a real competitive game anywhere in America," Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey and one of the organisers of the 2026 World Cup, said last month. "If it was in New York/New Jersey, you wouldn’t get near that game. It would be overwhelming. To have a Champions League game, you wouldn’t be able to get near it."

There has been interest in holding Premier League matches in the US ever since then CEO Richard Scudamore floated the idea in 2008 with the concept of a '39th game' being held abroad. But the plan provoked a huge backlash among English fans and led to questions about distorting the competition. La Liga's plans to take matches to Miami, announced in 2018, also failed to get off the ground for the same reason.

Murphy's dream of Champions League matches being held in the States is also unlikely to be realised due to the magnitude of Europe's top competition. The Community Shield, however, is the least controversial way to make it happen.

GettySpain and Italy have already done it

Spain and Italy have already taken their equivalent competitions abroad. Italy was the first to do so, playing the Supercoppa Italiana in Washington, DC as early as 1993. The competition has since been held in Libya, New Jersey, China, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

And earlier this year the Italian football association struck a deal worth approximately €23 million (£20m/$24m) per season to host an expanded Supercoppa in Saudi Arabia until 2028.

The Spanish football federation, encouraged by Gerard Pique, struck its own deal to host the revamped tournament in Saudi Arabia from 2020, earning a reported €40 million (£34m/$44m) per year.

Although the move provoked criticism from the likes of Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid and Valencia, the refreshed tournament has been a great success both on a commercial and entertainment level.

And teams are still taking it deadly seriously. Barcelona sacked coach Ernesto Valverde days after his side were knocked out by Atletico in the semi-finals in 2020. The last two finals, both between Real and Barca, have been thrilling matches watched by sell-out crowds.

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GettyNo political controversy – unlike with Saudi

Both federations did face criticism for their deals due to Saudi Arabia's repressive record on human rights and homosexuality, however. And given the outrage that has followed Jordan Henderson's move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq, the English Football Association (FA) is unlikely to follow suit and send the Community Shield to the Gulf state.

There would be no political risk in taking the competition to the US, however. And even if the financial rewards would not as be as much as by cutting a deal with Saudi, the FA could still get a significant windfall from the move.

At the moment the match only generates ticket and programme sales for the FA, which it redistributes to community initiatives and charities. And there is no reason why the competition could not remain a force for good if played abroad. Indeed, the charities would stand to receive far larger amounts of money.

Tim Southee was happy with New Zealand’s fightback after a 127-run stand between Shakib Al Hasan and Soumya Sarkar in Christchurch

Mohammad Isam in Christchurch20-Jan-2017Two “burgles” down the leg side, a newcomer sucked into an uppish drive, one stubborn tailender bounced out and another trapped plumb lbw – Tim Southee couldn’t have scripted a more diverse five-wicket haul.He would have bowled far better in previous Tests and not picked up a wicket, but Southee had luck on his side at Hagley Oval, where his first scalp was the Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal, caught down the leg side. It was only after Trent Boult ended the third-wicket stand of 127 between Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan that Southee begin to bowl better.Sarkar had struck Southee for six fours, scoring 43 off 49 deliveries from the bowler. Shakib took 12 off 15 balls. Southee eventually dismissed Shakib, and later Nazmul Hossain Shanto, the debutant, to spoil Bangladesh’s chances of a bigger total. He also took the wickets of Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi during his 28.3-over effort to end the Bangladesh innings on 289.”I felt all right, it’s always nice to pick up wickets,” Southee said at the end of the first day. “There were a couple of burgles down the leg side, which are always nice. It looks good in the score book – caught Watling bowled Southee. On other occasions you bowl probably better and haven’t got the wickets, but it’s nice to contribute and take wickets.”Southee said that it was to New Zealand’s credit that they fought through the Soumya-Shakib partnership. The batsmen were hardly troubled as they cut and drove frequently.”If you can bowl a side out on day one it’s a good effort,” Southee said. “They came out again with a positive intent and looked to put any balls that we missed away to the fence and they did that, especially in that period before lunch. I think we managed to claw the run rate back a bit towards the end so it’s a good day.”We were pretty good at the start. Then they got a bit of a partnership going, but we know it happens quite quickly. You get a couple wickets, then you can grab a couple more, and we knew if we could hang in our areas for a long period of time then it was our best chance of taking wickets.”Southee’s 5 for 94 took him to 198 Test wickets and he is in line to become only the fifth New Zealand bowler to take 200 wickets. “It will be nice if it comes but you don’t set out to do too many individual milestones,” he said. “They’re the sort of things you tick off along the way. The next job is to try to knock them over again. Hopefully after a little bit of rest.”

Everton secured survival from relegation in the dying minutes of the Premier League season after a dreadful campaign that once again saw the side perform at an abysmal level throughout.

Indeed, the initial arrival of Sean Dyche lifted Goodison Park off its knees after the sacking of Frank Lampard in January, but the promising early displays – such as the 1-0 win over Arsenal – quickly wore off leaving the Toffees to teeter on the edge of the relegation zone for many weeks and months.

Whilst the most obvious positions to strengthen will be across the forward line after losing Richarlison and Anthony Gordon over the last 12 months, there will certainly be a desire for Dyche to bolster almost every key position to ensure he has quality options on the bench and the ability to rotate throughout the season.

Everton have already made a decision on the future of those with contracts expiring next month; whilst Seamus Coleman, Andy Lonergan and Tom Davies have been offered new deals, Yerry Mina is one of the players who will not be retained beyond this season alongside Conor Coady who will not be offered a permanent contract to remain either after his loan spell.

As a result, there is a real opportunity for Dyche to identify new additions who can make an instant impact in Everton's defensive set up and one player who has been recently linked with a move back to the Premier League via the blue side of Merseyside is former Wolverhampton Wanderers star Romain Saiss.

Would Romain Saiss be a good fit for Everton?

With Coady and Mina are confirmed for an exit and with the club not ruling out the sale of both Mason Holgate and Ben Godfrey at this point, there is no reason why Saiss can't provide a solid short-term solution at a great price for Dyche.

The Morocco skipper has spent a year in the Turkish Süper Lig with Besiktas after parting ways with Wolves at the end of his six-year contract but could now be the perfect profile of player to partner James Tarkowski at Goodison Park next season.

Over 25 league appearances, the 33-year-old – dubbed a "tower of strength" by BBC pundit Danny Murphy – scored one goal, tallied up an 82% pass completion rate and kept six clean sheets, as well as averaging 64.1 touches, 1.2 tackles, 1.1 interceptions, 3.4 clearances and 4.6 duels won per game, proving he is still a massive presence on the pitch.

Not only that, Saiss was one of the standout performers at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year after captaining his team to a record-breaking achievement by becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the prestigious international competition, another testament to his impeccable leadership skills and rightful nickname as the 'Moroccan Maldini'.

With that being said, the £48k-per-week ace could be a massive asset for the Toffees next season as his consistency and reliability in defence would be warmly welcomed to soften the blow of Mina and Coady's exit next season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers ended the 2022/23 campaign with a relatively comfortable 13th-placed finish in the Premier League table.

Julen Lopetegui's side were never in any serious danger of being relegated down to the Championship as they finished seven points clear of the bottom three, with Leicester, Southampton, and Leeds United all dropping out of the division.

The Spanish head coach now has a full summer transfer window to improve his squad with a view to competing further up the table, and potentially challenging for Europe again in 23/24.

One player who could come in is Stuttgart ace Konstantinos Mavropanos, who is a reported transfer target for the Old Gold as they look to improve their defensive options.

Who is Konstantinos Mavropanos?

The 25-year-old Greek centre-back enjoyed an excellent campaign in the Bundesliga in 22/23 and could come in to form a terrific partnership with current Wolves star Max Kilman.

The English defender played 37 of the club's 38 Premier League matches in the season just gone and averaged a solid Sofascore rating of 6.85. He proved himself to be a solid option at the heart of the defence and dominated opposition attackers as he won 63% of his duels.

This means that Kilman is capable of bullying opponents and keeping them quiet for the majority of games when it comes to battling for the ball, which is particularly useful in physical games where there may be a barrage of set pieces and balls into the box.

Mavropanos could form a "monster" pairing with the Wolves ace as Borussia Monchengladbach chief Pellegrino Matarazzo previously described the Greek gem, whilst also hailing him as a "gladiator".

The colossal Stuttgart enforcer averaged an excellent Sofascore rating of 7.26 across 28 appearances in the Bundesliga, which would place him top of the Wolves squad for outfield players, and won an impressive 66% of his battles, including 70% of his aerial contests.

This suggests that the former Arsenal prospect, who also made four tackles and interceptions per match, is also a dominant defender who does not give much away when competing with opposition strikers.

Therefore, the £22k-per-week brute could be an exceptional addition to Lopetegui's side as his form in the German top-flight suggests that the potential is there for him to be an outstanding performer for the club, whilst his dominance at the back could make him and Kilman a formidable pairing for strikers to come up against next season.

Everton struggled to find a consistent source of goals in the 2022/23 campaign as their struggles at both ends of the pitch led to them to a 17th-placed finish in the Premier League.

The Toffees only just avoided relegation to the Championship and Sean Dyche must now use the summer transfer window to bolster the squad in key areas.

One of the first positions to strengthen should be a striker.

Demarai Gray, who also played out wide, ended the season as the club's top-scoring centre-forward with four goals, whilst the seemingly always injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin managed just two.

No Everton player produced more than seven goals in the league and this suggests that they failed to replace Brazil international Richarlison, who scored ten Premier League goals – five more than anyone else – during the 2021/22 campaign.

These statistics show that the Toffees did not do enough last summer to cover the goals that departed the club when the talented forward moved to rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Who is Yuri Alberto?

Alberto is a 22-year-old centre-forward for Corinthians who is a reported transfer target for Everton and Dyche could finally replace Richarlison by signing the 6-foot dynamo.

The Brazilian, who earned his first senior cap in March, is a promising young striker who could come in at Goodison Park and provide them with the goals that they were lacking from their forwards in the 2022/23 campaign.

Since the start of 2022, the talented attacker has plundered nine goals in 23 Serie A starts and produced four goals and four assists in ten starts in the Paulista Serie A1, which shows that he has a recent track record of being a reliable scorer.

The former Zenit Saint Petersburg marksman, who was once hailed as being “dangerous" and "complete" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, also found the back of the net 30 times in 85 matches for Internacional in Brazil earlier in his career and was directly involved in ten goals in 15 outings during his short stint in Russia.

These statistics show that the 22-year-old whiz has been able to make a big impact in the final third wherever he has been, which suggests that the prolific ace could be able to translate his goalscoring form over to the Premier League, provided adjusting to life in England is not a major stumbling block for him.

Therefore, Dyche could finally replace Richarlison and have a reliable source of goals in the no.9 position after the struggles with Gray and Calvert-Lewin in the season just gone.

ScorecardFawad Ahmed and Carlos Brathwaite claimed seven wickets between them•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Can the Sydney Thunder qualify for the finals? Can they?Ten days ago, the champions had lost their first four games, and were staring down the barrel of elimination from the competition. Then Eoin Morgan smote Ben Hilfenhaus into the western Sydney sky and their season lived on. They then won well in Hobart and now, sweetest of all, they thrashed their crosstown rivals the Sydney Sixers by eight wickets, having limited them to just 99 in front of 39,756 people, a domestic cricket record for New South Wales. The emphatic margin means victory in their final game, against the struggling Adelaide Strikers, gives them a shot at making the finals.For the Sixers, this was a drubbing and a humiliation. The effect on their already poor NRR has been so profound that despite already having four wins on the board – as many as any team – they likely need to win their last game against the Melbourne Stars to make the semi-finals. Still, with just seven of the 32 pool games left, no team is out, and none have qualified for the semi-finals; the BBL’s evenness remains one of its major attractions.Fawad the destroyer
Chief among the reasons for the Thunder’s win was the brilliant bowling performance of Fawad Ahmed. The legspinner’s four overs contained 12 dots, conceded just one boundary, and were worth no more than five runs each. Handily, he also picked up four wickets. Coming on after a Powerplay that had picked up both the Sixers openers at a cost of just 36, he picked up Nic Maddinson and Moises Henriques, both caught slog-sweeping, off consecutive deliveries in his second over. Colin Munro was done in by a flat legspinner in his third, then Sean Abbott slapped straight to midwicket, where Carlos Brathwaite took the catch. Fawad’s 4 for 14 was the best-ever figures for the Thunder, and the best in a Sydney derby.For the Thunder, there were decisive bowling contributions beyond Fawad. Chris Green kicked things off, conceding just 12 from his three overs in the Powrerplay, as well as bowling Michael Lumb. Brathwaite hammered a relentless line and length picked up Brad Haddin, Johan Botha and Nathan Lyon in his second, third and fourth overs, while Shane Watson was supremely tight and dismissed Daniel Hughes just as he was looking in ominous form.Sydney Thunder chased down their target of 100 with ten overs to spare•Cricket Australia

The strange decision and the disastrous consequences
The Sixers had played six games before this one, and chased in all of them. They had won four and lost just two. So why, upon winning the toss, did Moises Henriques opt to bat first? (This was the first time in 25 games this BBL that the captain winning the toss had opted to bat.)Whatever the reason, the outcome was shocking. Beyond the obviously gruesome total and the loss of all but one of their wickets, there were some striking statistics from their batting effort. They hit just seven boundaries, and failed to hit any in the second half of their innings, with a Haddin cover drive after 9.3 overs their last. They faced 53 dots balls went 27 balls (between 13.5 and 18.3 overs) without taking more than one from a delivery. They failed to take more than five from any of the last 12 overs, and they scored more than eight just once (the second, when Lumb got after Clint McKay). The biggest partnership was for the second wicket, and was worth just 22. It was a sorry tale, and their equal lowest ever score.The dab
Thunder, clearly, have been hard at work on the training ground. But they have obviously been hitting the dance floor, too. Brathwaite unveiled the BBL dab in the win over Hurricanes and he had three more opportunities to show it off here too, with Fawad joining him for a synchronised handshake, too. Only the goosestepping, tan-lined pair of streakers later in the night got a bigger cheer.A stroll of a chase
With the skies greying, Thunder were half way to the target after 29 balls, and had not lost a wicket. The low target gave James Vince the licence to throw his bat around – his on-driven four and six over cover will live long in the memory – while Kurtis Patterson used the opportunity to play himself back into form.Sean Abbott dismissed Vince and Watson, both pulling, but on the Thunder charged, romping home, with Ben Rohrer heaving hard. In the blink of an eye they were home, with half their deliveries to spare.