Sesko’s dream: Man Utd make £76m bid to sign “generational” new forward

Manchester United have certainly had a hectic few days to contend with off the pitch, after it was confirmed Ruben Amorim had been sacked from his managerial post.

The 40-year-old left the role after 14 months at the helm, but he was only able to achieve a 40% win percentage despite leading the club to a Europa League final.

He leaves the club sitting sixth in the Premier League table, with the Red Devils currently sitting just three points off a place within the division’s top four.

However, matters should still be somewhat focused on recruiting new players, with the January transfer window now open and presenting a chance for INEOS to strengthen any Champions League push.

Despite the managerial situation, the hierarchy have already identified numerous options in the market, with work being done to try and improve the first-team squad.

Man Utd make huge bid to land European sensation

The midfield department at United is one that has needed addressing for many months now, with Brighton and Hove Albion star Carlos Baleba just one option being considered.

Over the last couple of days, the Red Devils have once again registered their interest in the Cameroonian international, but any deal would certainly be expensive for INEOS.

It’s been reported that the Seagulls are demanding a fee in the region of £100m to part ways with the 22-year-old this winter, with the player open to a move to Old Trafford.

However, a new attacker also remains firmly within their sights at present, with RB Leipzig star Yan Diomande another player firmly being pursued by the hierarchy.

According to African Foot via Sport Witness, the Red Devils have made a €90m (£76m) bid to sign the 19-year-old who has scored six times in 14 Bundesliga appearances.

The report also states that the winger is on the radar of numerous other teams in England’s top-flight, with the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham all tracking the teenage sensation.

Why Diomande would get Sesko firing at Man Utd

Only last summer, United spent big on new attackers to try and inject needed quality into the frontline to help bolster their chances of success in the Premier League.

Benjamin Sesko was just one of the players signed by the club during such a spree, with the hierarchy paying £74m for his signature from German outfit RB Leipzig.

High expectations were placed on the attacker given the nature of the transfer fee, but it’s safe to say his time at Old Trafford has been a disaster to date.

The Slovenian international has featured in 16 league outings so far in 2025/26, but has only registered two goals in the process – currently enduring nine games without a goal.

At just 22, he has bags of time to turn his career around in England’s top flight, but he could certainly benefit from some added creativity around him in the final third.

A move for Diomande could provide just that, with the Ivorian international enduring a phenomenal breakthrough campaign in Germany under the guidance of Ole Werner.

Whilst he’s only laid on two league assists so far in 2025/26, his underlying stats on FBref showcase the incredible talents he possesses with the ball at his feet within attacking areas.

Diomande, who’s been hailed as a “generational talent” by journalist Bence Bocsák, has completed 6.3 progressive carries and 4.3 successful take-ons in the Bundesliga this season.

Such numbers showcase his ability to get the ball into dangerous areas, with no player in the division able to register higher tallies in the aforementioned departments.

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The teenager has also registered 1.4 key passes and 1.4 passes into the opposition box per 90, subsequently showing the end product needed within the final third.

Yan Diomande – Bundesliga stats (2025/26)

Statistics (per 90)

Tally

Games played

14

Goals & assists

8

Pass accuracy

82%

Progressive carries

6.3

Successful take-ons

4.3

Key passes

1.4

Passes into 18-yard box

1.4

Carries into final third

3.9

Carries into the 18-yard box

3.4

Stats via FBref

His mazy runs, combined with his consistent end product, could hand Sesko the tools he needs to finally hit the ground running after his tricky start to life in Manchester.

As for Diomande, his talents are further reflected with his impressive tally of 3.4 carries into the final third per 90 – also the highest in the league – reaffirming his creative ability with the ball.

£76m would be yet another mammoth statement of intent from the hierarchy, but it’s a deal that would certainly inject the further added quality they have been hunting for.

Whilst the manager situation no doubt remains a priority, whoever takes the reins in the near future would have a serious talent on their hands should a deal be completed for the Leipzig sensation.

Better than Glasner: Man Utd enter talks to hire one of the 'world's best'

Manchester United appear to be making progress over a move to appoint a new manager.

3 ByEthan Lamb

West Ham could hire 3-4-2-1 Bilic alternative who held talks with Sullivan

Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg reports that West Ham United are set to give Nuno Espirito Santo one more game to save his job at the London Stadium.

The reporter claims that the Portuguese boss is on the verge of being sacked by the Premier League strugglers, but he will be given the opportunity to manage against his former club, Nottingham Forest, on Tuesday night.

It is a huge game at the bottom of the table, with the Tricky Trees one place above them, and a defeat would mean that the Hammers are seven points from safety.

It has been reported that former Hammers manager Slaven Bilic is willing to take the reins until the end of the season, but they should avoid going down that route.

Why West Ham must avoid Slaven Bilic

West Ham should avoid going for Bilic because the Croatian boss has been out of management since August 2024, and has not had much in the way of success in his recent managerial spells.

The 25-year-old manager was let go by Saudi Pro League side Al-Fateh with 1.32 points per game, and more losses than wins, and that came after he left Watford in tenth in the Championship and Chinese outfit BJ Guoan in fifth after 21 matches, per Transfermarkt.

Bilic’s last spell in the Premier League came with West Brom, after he won promotion from the Championship with them, and he was sacked after eight losses in the first 13 games.

Bilic’s last 24 PL matches

Stat

Bilic

Games

24

Wins

3

Draws

7

Losses

14

Points

16

Points per game

0.67

Stats via Transfermarkt

Couple that run with six losses in 11 games at the start of his final season with West Ham, as shown in the table above, and he has a 0.67 points per game rate over his last 24 Premier League games.

Bilic did finish seventh and 11th in his first two seasons at the club, ending his time in London with more losses than wins, but his recent managerial experiences, particularly in the English top-flight, suggest that he would not guide them to safety.

West Ham's possible Bilic alternative

Instead of going for Bilic as a replacement for Nuno, who has won two of his 13 games in charge so far, the Hammers should look to one of their former targets.

Manager Focus

Who are the greatest coaches in the land? Football FanCast’s Manager Focus series aims to reveal all.

In April 2024, Ruben Amorim apologised to Sporting supporters after admitting that he did travel to England to hold talks with David Sullivan and Co about potentially replacing David Moyes for the 2024/25 campaign.

After that, Julen Lopetegui arrived at the London Stadium and Amorim eventually replaced Erik ten Hag in the dugout at Manchester United. Both of those moves failed to work out.

The Portuguese boss was relieved of his duties by Manchester United on Monday morning, with the Red Devils sixth in the table, and he departed with a points per game rate of 1.23 in the Premier League.

That is not good enough for a United manager, as evidenced by their decision to sack him, but he had averaged 1.55 points per game this term, per Transfermarkt. Say West Ham lose on Tuesday and sack Nuno, 1.55 points per game would take them to the magical 40-point mark in the final 17 games.

What is good enough for Manchester United at the moment is very different to what is good enough for West Ham, given the situation that they are in, which is why the club should consider taking advantage of Amorim’s sacking with an approach to bring him to the London Stadium.

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The Portuguese manager’s Premier League record this season, with United in sixth place, and his previous managerial experience with Sporting and Braga, suggest that he could be a good appointment.

Amorim’s Liga Portugal record

Season

Points per game

24/25 (Sporting)

3.00

23/24 (Sporting)

2.65

22/23 (Sporting)

2.18

21/22 (Sporting)

2.48

20/21 (Sporting)

2.50

19/20 (Sporting)

1.91

19/20 (Braga)

2.78

Stats via Transfermarkt

As you can see in the table above, Amorim was a serial winner in Portugal, averaging over two points a game in all but one spell, before his move to England.

This suggests that he even has the potential to take West Ham to the next level if he can get his 3-4-2-1 system to work in a way that he was unable to at Old Trafford.

Crystal Palace are a good example of how a midtable team can use a 3-4-2-1 to create a solid base that allows them to compete against the best teams, and it helped them to win the FA Cup and the Community Shield in 2025.

It is a blueprint that West Ham could follow by swooping for Amorim to replace Nuno, in the hope that he can guide them to the magic 40-point mark, before building on that in future seasons.

He's keen on the move: West Ham now eyeing "incredible" £18m English ace

There has been a new update on the Hammers’ pursuit of a defender.

ByDominic Lund

Home Test starts overseas campaign

Australia’s quest for overseas success in 2016 will start at home, with the inclusion of Steve O’Keefe as a second spinner made with an eye towards the tour of Sri Lanka later in the year.Sunday will thus be the first time the hosts have plumped for twin spin in Sydney since the days of Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill in tandem, and they will be doing so with clear goals in mind. Victories away from home will require team compositions more varied than the five batsmen, one allrounder, three pacemen and one spinner formula usually favoured by the coach Darren Lehmann, making O’Keefe a key part of plans for later in the year.

Boland ensures captain remembers him

There are few better ways to impress the national captain than to splay his stumps in training, and the Victorian Scott Boland ensured he would not soon be forgotten by Steven Smith when he did exactly that on Test match eve. Smith agreed he had been well beaten by the delivery, which exemplified the way Boland has developed as a seamer of good pace to now sit on the fringes of the Test team.
“That was a pretty good ball in the nets today. I think it hit a crack and did a little bit – it was a pretty good area,” Smith said with a smile. “He’s done that pretty consistently over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been pretty impressed.
“The last couple of yeas he’s gotten a lot stronger. He’s probably got a bit more confidence in his body and he’s running in all day. He’s really impressed all the selectors in Shield cricket this season, hence why he’s got into this squad and been close to playing.
“I’ve been really impressed with the way he’s bowled the last couple of weeks. He certainly is hitting the bat hard and hopefully he can continue to do that.”

England’s strong start in South Africa and a looming return series away to New Zealand also affords Australia the possibility of climbing to No. 1 in the Test rankings should results fall their way, so adaptability and versatility is paramount. All these factors made it convenient for Peter Siddle to carry a sore ankle to Sydney and rule himself out after an exploratory bowl on match eve – the captain Steven Smith admitted he was unlikely to play in any event.”His ankle still isn’t 100%,” Smith said. “He felt it wasn’t best for him to come into this Test match the way he is at the moment. He’s a great team man and felt he would be letting the team down [if he played]. But we were probably going to go the two spinners option anyway. We think it’s going to turn so we were going to go that way anyway.”He’s going to have a rest for a couple of weeks I think and hopefully get himself right for New Zealand. But we’re happy with the side and the two spinners, we think it’s going to turn and we’re ready to go. It’s going to spin and it gives us an opportunity now to see Steven and see how he goes.”Obviously we’ve got a tour of Sri Lanka coming up where two spinners is a pretty good possibility. Nathan Lyon has done a terrific job for Australia since [O’Keefe] has been playing. He’s an experienced player now and he’s our No.1 spinner. I think everyone around the country knows that, including Stephen. He’s got an opportunity now to become the second spinner.”Smith made no secret of his desire to get Australia back to the top of the ICC rankings – his is not the only side seeing an opportunity as South Africa appear increasingly shaky in their move towards a period of transition. “Huge motivation,” Smith said. “That’s what we want to do, to be No. 1 in all three formats, we’re working extremely hard to get there.”It’d be nice to win this week and wrap the series up 3-0. It’s been a good summer for us so far, so we’d like to finish on a high and then New Zealand is going to be another big challenge for us. Playing away from home is a challenge for all teams around the world at the moment.”That’s one of the biggest ways we’re going to be judged – how we play away from home. It’s a big challenge for us in New Zealand but I’m confident if we continue playing the way we are, hopefully we can have a lot of success over there.”To that end, Smith’s rediscovery of something like his best at the MCG was a tonic for the new year. It is a testament to the difficulty of batting that even as he finished 2015 as the most prolific run maker in Test cricket, Smith was experiencing another period of doubt about his technique and rhythm, having slogged through other miniature slumps at the start of the World Cup and then in the midst of the Ashes in England.”I felt pretty good last week. it was nice to just spend a bit of time in the middle again,” he said. “All of my movements and my swing and everything were back in sync. I went back and looked a bit of footage before the Melbourne Test and noticed my bat face was a little bit closed.”I was looking at footage from last summer actually, where I was scoring a lot of runs, and I think last week I got my bat face back to where I wanted it to be and everything felt really good. Hopefully I can score a few more this week.”

'The split captaincy has worked to date' – Vaughan

Michael Vaughan – “Me and Colly [Paul Collingwood] are great mates. When I took the England captaincy I said I wanted 11 captains, and we now have two.” © Getty Images

Michael Vaughan is getting all too used to making comebacks. Since the tour of Pakistan in 2005-06 he has been in and out of the captaincy hot-seat on no fewer than seven occasions, although this latest return to the colours is subtly but significantly different. It was not another injury that led to his omission from the recent one-day series against West Indies; it was his acceptance that that aspect of his career had run its course. And it was not yet another stand-in who took his place in the manner of Andrew Strauss and Andrew Flintoff last year; it was Paul Collingwood, England’s officially appointed one-day captain.Fortunately for Vaughan, Collingwood is one of the most grounded men in the game and will doubtless settle back into the ranks for this Test without a moment’s hesitation. But Vaughan would be forgiven for feeling a little on edge as he surveys his troops on Thursday morning. It was from an identical situation in 2003 that he himself inherited the Test captaincy from Nasser Hussain. Hussain, like Vaughan, had surrendered the one-day role after that year’s World Cup, and he went on to endure one last distracted Test at Edgbaston before realising that his command of the dressing room had gone for good.Three days into his latest spell at the helm, Vaughan was showing none of the angst that marked the end of his predecessor’s tenure. “I’m feeling very refreshed,” he announced, after a month’s break in which time he had watched England’s two Twenty20s against West Indies but merely dipped in and out of the 50-over games, much like the rest of the nation’s sports-watchers. A stiff back, sustained during last week’s rain-wrecked Roses match at Old Trafford, caused a murmur of alarm, but otherwise he announced himself to be fully fit – both physically and mentally.”Only time will tell, but the split captaincy has worked to date,” Vaughan said. “I haven’t felt [the team] has moved on [without me], but I think the big test was when I saw Colly lead them out in the Twenty20 game, would I feel any bitterness or resentment? I didn’t feel any of that, so I guess it was the right decision to move forward.”Me and Colly are great mates,” he said. “When I took the England captaincy I said I wanted 11 captains, and we now have two. Strauss has done the job as well, and there’s also Freddie [Flintoff] when he comes back. The more leaders you can have in the dressing room and on the training pitch to drive the team forward, the better.”

I haven’t felt [the team] has moved on [without me], but I think the big test was when I saw Colly lead them out in the Twenty20 game, would I feel any bitterness or resentment? I didn’t feel any of that, so I guess it was the right decision to move forward

For the time being, however, England have been shorn of so many of their established leaders that the sight of two official captains might be something of a blessing. If Matthew Hoggard’s back spasm is as serious as the medical team fear, then England’s attack will have lost the services of their last remaining link to the 2005 Ashes. At least one debutant is expected to feature in Stuart Broad; a second could follow if Chris Tremlett sneaks in ahead of James Anderson, while the most experienced man in the line-up will be none other than Monty Panesar, who was a wide-eyed new boy when the teams last met in India 16 months ago.Vaughan, however, was determined to look on the bright side. ” It’s new and exciting to see,” he said. “It’s a brand-new attack with no Harmison, Flintoff, Giles or Simon Jones. We had a great attack in 2005, but it’s exciting for us all to see how they react to playing in front of a lot of people, against a very good batting team. It’s going to be a great challenge for whoever plays.””We have some good options,” he said. “Tremlett is bowling nicely with his bounce. Broady got a five-for [at Chelmsford], Jimmy got a five-for in the Roses match, and Sidey [Ryan Sidebottom] came in the early season and did exceptionally well. The Indian side are full of experience, more so in the batting, so it will be an exciting challenge for our young four-man attack to come up with plans to outdo them and, if they get the opportunity to be aggressive, to get 20 wickets in a Test match.”In the circumstances, the onus shifts squarely onto England’s batsmen to provide the support required for such an untested attack. And few players have lorded it over the Indians quite so handsomely as Vaughan himself, whose golden summer of 2002 featured 615 runs in seven innings, including 197 at Trent Bridge, 195 at The Oval, and an even 100 in the first Test at Lords – the second of his five hundreds in nine matches on this ground.”I always feel I play quite well at Lord’s, but tomorrow’s a new day, a new game, and I’ve just got to make sure I go out and try and do the basics,” said Vaughan. “Like most times when you play well, it’s about doing the basics well, and once you’ve done that you can elaborate a bit more, and attack the bowlers more. That’s the style of batting I have when I’m playing well, and I felt I was doing that reasonably well earlier in the summer.”Vaughan marked his last England comeback with a memorable century against West Indies on his home ground at Headingley, but he had no hesitation in admitting that the big test of the season was just about to begin. “We know this is a bigger series,” he said. “There is a lot more media, more supporters, and more exposure. It’s a real good challenge for the team to see if we have moved forward from the winter, because we know that’s how we’ll be judged. We’ve played to a similar standard and now we need to raise it again.”

Shoaib on course for third Test

Pakistan are hopeful that Shoaib Akhtar will be back for the third Test agaisnt England © Getty Images

Shoaib Akhtar is on course to be fit for the third Test against England, at Headingley, after recovering from the stress fracture to his ankle that has ruled him out of the early part of the tour.He is currently working with Warwickshire as he continues his rehabilitation and is expected to play a couple of games for them before his international return.”[Shoaib] had a meeting with the team physiotherapist and trainer in England yesterday and they reported he was physically strong now and looking good for a comeback in a week’s time,” the PCB director Abbas Zaidi told Reuters. “They feel he needs to play one or two games to get back to full match fitness and then should be available for the third test.””Obviously he is an important member of the side and the team management is very keen to have him back as soon as possible,” Zaidi added. “His pace gives the team that extra edge.”However, Shoaib himself is still not setting any dates for his return. “I still can’t set a comeback time for Pakistan, though I know the third or fourth Tests have been mentioned,” he told Bigstarcricket.com. “I don’t feel that is up to me because if it was I would be playing tomorrow and running in hard again.”I feel really fit and just want to bowl but, after what happened last time, I know I need to listen to my trainers. One thing is for certain and that is when I do play against England I expect to bowl faster and better than when I bowled against them in Pakistan last year.”He is being very careful about not rushing his return after previously breaking down again after pushing himself too hard. “I wasn’t fit enough then and I paid the price. “I’m looking forward to attacking the England batsmen and not giving them any time to settle.”They [the medical staff] don’t want me to be breaking down again. I want to be playing for another five years yet so they are looking after my interests and Pakistan’s interests.”Shoaib has been out of action since February when he underwent a knee operation in Australia before a reoccurrence of his ankle problem leading into the England series.Pakistan have been beset by injury problems on their current tour, with Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik ruled out of all the Tests and Mohammad Asif injured until at least the third. Younis Khan also missed the opening Test at Lord’s but has returned to lead Pakistan in their current tour match against Northamptonshire.The second Test starts at Old Trafford on July 27 with the third, at Headingley, beginning on August 4.

SPCL 2003 – New Forest clubs preview

Bournemouth are believed to be on the brink of signing an Australian State cricketer in their bid to bring ECB Southern Electric Premier League glory to Chapel Gate this summer.Director of Cricket Richard Scott remains tight lipped on who the signing is, but revealed that “negotiations are well advanced and we’re just tying up a few loose ends like flights and accommodation.””If the signing comes off, he’ll be a very exciting acquisition indeed – and a player who could put Bournemouth in amongst the title chasers this summer,” Scott said.”He’s a top order batsman and a quality left-arm spin bowler – but that’s all I’m prepared to divulge until the deal is done.”The yet to be named Aussie cricketer is understood to have already toured the UK with Australia Under-19s and have been a member of the prestigious Academy in Adelaide.”We’ll be making an announcement as soon as everything is sealed,” Scott added.Premier League rivals Bashley (Rydal) and Division 3 side New Milton will also have Australian imports this summer.Luke Ronchi’s replacement at Bashley is experienced Western Australia Grade all-rounder Brad Thompson, who previously captained Perth but now plays for Willeton.”Brad’s got a fine reputation in Perth Grade circles. He’s a fully fledged middle-order batsman and a more than useful off-spin bowler,” commented Matt King, who has assumed the Bashley captaincy reins from Neil Taylor.New Milton’s summer signing is 21-year old wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Clarke, who joins the Fernhill set from South Perth, where Richard Scott played in his Hampshire professional days.”Ben’s coming over with Grant Hebbard, who managed the New Milton first team last season, explained Andy Snellgrove.”He’s been playing WACA Second Grade in Perth – but that’s no mean standard, probably stronger than our own Premier Division 3,” he added.But neighbours Lymington could start the season without any help from overseas.Newly wed skipper Danny Peacock thought Lymington had lined up a replacement for all-rounder Aaron Heal – who is remaining in Perth this summer – when they lined up South African Mark Sanders.”But when Mark switched provinces from Natal to Boland, he was refused permission by the Cape Province to come to England this summer.”It was a real shame. Mark had a terrific record with Horsham last year and is very highly rated in Durban. I fancy he could have won a few things for us,” Peacock said.Lymington certainly haven’t given up looking for overseas support.”We’re negotiating with someone in New Zealand at the moment, but nothing is settled at all,” he added.The Premier League season begins on May 3, with Bournemouth hosting BAT Sports and Bashley (Rydal) facing Calmore Sports.

Blignaut signs for Durham

Andy Blignaut: to have his first taste of county cricket© Getty Images

Andy Blignaut, the Zimbabwean bowling allrounder, has joined Durham on a short-term deal. He will replace Shoaib Akhtar in the fast-bowling department, but does not count as an overseas player because Zimbabwe has an associate agreement with the European Union.Blignaut, 25, had played 15 Tests and 47 one-dayers for Zimbabwe before he, along with 14 other players, were sacked by the national board after internal disputes. He has since agreed a three-year deal with Tasmania, the Australian state side.Shoaib was forced to return home early from his stint with Durham for the Asia Cup, and hence Martyn Moxon, Durham’s coach, was looking to bolster the bowling. Blignaut has taken 51 Test wickets with a best of 5 for 73 against Bangladesh at Bulawayo.

Somerset Women's Under-17 side beat their Surrey counterparts

Somerset Women’s Under-17 team quickly bounced back from their defeat last weekend when they were victorious over their Surrey counterparts at Kingswood School in Bath.Batting first Surrey were bowled out for 109, thanks to a fine spell of bowling from Annie Riccio who ended with the impressive figures of 8 overs, 2 maidens, 4 for 19, well supported by Colleen Ashbee who took 3 for 23 in her 8 overs.In reply Somerset reached their target with overs to spare, opener Lisa Pagett top scoring with 31. Coming in at number six , Izi Dragonetti hit an unbeaten 25 to help to see her side to a well deserved five wicket victory.Somerset take 28.5 points from their victory, whilst Surrey take 5.5 points.

Yorkshire on course for Roses double

First division leaders Yorkshire took huge strides towards completing a Roses double by making Lancashire follow on at Old Trafford.The home county were all out for 242 inside 54 overs in reply to Yorkshire’s 467 for nine declared, and then lost captain John Crawley in their second innings.Lancashire will start the last day on 74 for one, still needing another 151runs to make Yorkshire bat again.Darren Lehmann was Yorkshire’s hero yet again, but this time with the ball. The Aussie run machine went in the first over of the day without adding tohis overnight 26 as Yorkshire moved positively from 358 for two with 109runs before declaring before lunch, with Craig White out for 186 and ChrisSilverwood weighing in with an unbeaten 34.But Lehmann then produced figures of three for 13 from 7.3 overs when DavidByas turned to his occasional left-arm spin.Lancashire had made a nightmare start to their first innings with Crawleyand Mark Chilton both going cheaply to Silverwood and Gavin Hamilton.Andy Flintoff responded with his second consecutive Championship halfcentury from only 51 balls but was then deceived by off-spinner RichardDawson in the flight.Lancashire continued to find unusual ways to be dismissed, with Joe Scuderirun out and Graham Lloyd caught behind taking evasive action from a shortball from Paul Hutchison, who also had Chris Schofield caught by Lehmann atshort mid-wicket.Then Lehmann took over with the ball, having Glen Chapple stumped and trapping both John Wood and Mike Smethurst lbw.Warren Hegg continued his consistent season with 78, but missed out on thechance of another century when he drove Silverwood to mid on just after tea.Crawley then fell cheaply for the second time in the day, flickingSilverwood to mid-wicket where Dawson took a good low catch to keepYorkshire on course for yet another win.

Hyderabad press for outright victory

Chasing a target of 380 in the fourth innings, Goa were 26/1 at stumpson the third day of their Ranji Trophy South Zone clash againstHyderabad at the Nuclear Fuel Complex ground in Hyderabad. Earlier thehosts declared their second knock at 239/8 thanks to half centuriesfrom Daniel Manohar and Vanka Pratap.In the morning Goa added just a solitary run to their overnight scoreof 174/9 before succumbing in the third over of the day and concedinga 140 run first innings deficit. Venkatapathy Raju took his inningstally to 5/16 with the last scalp.Hyderabad openers Daniel Manohar and Nanda Kishore gave a solidfoundation at the top of the order with a 65 run stand inside 15overs. The Goan attack intervened by capturing two quick wicketsbefore Manohar found another able ally in Vanka Pratap with whom hebuilt a 60 run fourth wicket stand.Manohar finally fell for 82 (131 balls, 6 fours) and although SayyadKhalid effected a middle order slump by taking four of the next fivewickets, Pratap guided Hyderabad safely through to the declarationfive minutes after tea. He remained undefeated on 77 (118 balls, 7fours).

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