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The rivalry between Dhoni’s three-time champions and Kohli’s men has always been a fiery one, and the perfect match-up to start IPL 2019 off with

The Preview by Shashank Kishore22-Mar-20198:43

Lungi Ngidi’s absence might hurt Chennai Super Kings – Brad Hodge

Big Picture

Unless you’re totally invested in the IPL – or any league for that matter – it can at times be hard to remember games that have finished even as recently as 48 hours ago. But in a hectic calendar and the usual haze of fours and sixes, this giant of a rivalry stands out: Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore.Numbers-wise, there’s no reason to believe this is a rivalry at all. Super Kings are three-time winners, Royal Challengers are three-time chokers in the final. Royal Challengers have lost six out of their seven games at MA Chidambaram Stadium, including two cup finals – IPL 2011 and the Champions League T20 later that year. And Royal Challengers haven’t beaten Dhoni’s men since 2014; even discounting Super Kings’ two-year absence, that’s a long time. What’s the big fuss then? Try asking fans from both sides who they wouldn’t want to lose to. And don’t be swayed by what Mumbai Indians say.A number of these losses have come from winning positions. Remember Albie Morkel smashing Virat Kohli for 28 off the first six balls he faced to clinch a winner? Or RP Singh’s epic no-ball that had Ravindra Jadeja pick out third man only to win a thriller and trigger the ‘Sir Jadeja’ memes? Remember Dhoni’s monstrous takedown of Royal Challengers’ death-bowling in a high-scoring last-over thriller last year? These are likely to be a handful of games producers will slot in while programming episodes of IPL classics.Twelve thousand fans turned up for Super Kings’ training recently. Most of them, and many others, will be there before the first ball is bowled come Saturday. The opening ceremony has been done away with, but the tournament couldn’t have asked for a better opener.PTI

In the news

He pulled out of the Karachi leg of the PSL to manage his back niggle, but AB de Villiers is on track to play the opener. Royal Challengers’ New Zealand duo of Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee have just arrived on match-eve, having finished a hectic international home summer. Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter-Nile are in the UAE for a series against Pakistan.Super Kings’ Mitchell Santner, who missed the previous season, will also have had little acclimatisation time, having just joined the squad following the last round of the Plunket Shield matches in New Zealand.

Previous meeting

Pune, 2018: Jadeja took out Kohli first ball. Harbhajan Singh took out de Villiers first ball. Super Kings finished off Royal Challengers for 127 and at the end of it all, MS Dhoni just smiled. He wielded a slow pitch like a magic wand, turning a docile bowling attack – economy rate of 9.19 – into a mythical match-winning entity.

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 David Willey, 11 Mohit SharmaRoyal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Moeen Ali, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Mohammad Siraj, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Strategy punt

• Last season, Umesh Yadav was the best bowler in the Powerplays with 14 wickets – the most in this period – with an economy rate of just 6.70. So there is perhaps a case for Kohli to use him upfront and utilise Tim Southee’s experience at the death. They also need a seasoned campaigner there, considering their death overs were by far the worst – they went for 11.90 in the last six – among all franchises.
• Shimron Hetmyer’s explosive game may well give Royal Challengers a batting identity beyond de Villiers and Kohli, but he doesn’t start well against spin, as a dot-ball percentage of 44.3 and strike rate of 126 suggest. Super Kings could look to exploit this weakness by utilising Jadeja, Jadhav, Santner, if he plays, or even Raina’s part-time spin to counter this.

Stats that matter

• Kohli’s 732 runs are the most by a batsman against Super Kings in the IPL. He also has the most number of 30-plus scores (12) against them. Similarly, his counterpart Dhoni’s 710 runs are the most by a batsman against Royal Challengers in the IPL.
• The only Super Kings bowler to have dismissed de Villiers more than once in the current squad is Imran Tahir. Will he make the XI, though?
• He has retired from internationals, and even as his countrymen have struggled in limited-overs cricket over the last 12 months, Shane Watson has grown from strength to strength. He comes into the tournament having finished the PSL as the highest run-scorer (430 runs in 12 innings). He didn’t do too badly in the Big Bash League in December-January either, finishing among the top-ten run-getters.

The allrounder is peeved at the West Indies selection panel for sending out mixed signals on the matter

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2018Dwayne Bravo has hit back at Cricket West Indies (CWI) for building a perception that he isn’t interested in playing one-day internationals. The 34-year old allrounder hasn’t played one in nearly four years, but he insists that such a situation arose because of a lack of clarity from the selectors regarding his role in the team as opposed to his not wanting to play ODIs.In addition, Bravo has also called out the chairman of the panel Courtney Browne for purporting that the two of them had been in contact with each other.While announcing West Indies’ squad for the 2019 World Cup Qualifiers, Browne was quoted in a CWI release saying, “Dwayne Bravo was not contacted as he had indicated previously that he is no longer available to play cricket for the West Indies.”Bravo, however, was firm that he has never expressed any desire to end his West Indies career; at least not to CWI or the team management. “Let me make it clear that I have never had any conversation in last six months with the chairman or anyone from board about any West Indies cricket,” he told . “The only time we spoke about cricket was during the T20 series in Dubai 2016 when he said I was poison to West indies cricket and bad influence on young players, ridiculously.”What I said recently in an interview with a journalist in the Bangladesh Premier League was that, however, I don’t see myself playing 50-overs cricket again, despite my interest, because of the lack of communication from the board. So I would challenge the chairman to say otherwise.”A similar situation arose last year when West Indies were deliberating on a squad to play England. In August 2017, Browne had ruled out the possibility of Bravo’s inclusion, despite the board offering to relax the rules and pick even those players who didn’t take part in the one-day domestic tournament, on fitness grounds but that he may be considered for a spot in the future.”The person who actually spoke to me was captain Jason Holder, during Caribbean Premier League,” Bravo said, “And it was him I told that after just coming back from my 2017 Big Bash League injury my body wasn’t ready to play one-day cricket in England, but when I’m stronger I would consider playing one-day cricket in 2018.”Bravo last represented West Indies in September 2016 but remains a popular figure in T20 franchise cricket. He is currently in Australia, with the Melbourne Renegades, who have made it to the playoffs of the Big Bash League. On Saturday, he was bought by Chennai Super Kings to play the IPL for USD 1 million approx.”What I would like the Caribbean people to be aware of is that since India 2014 saga [when West Indies left the country midway through the tour over a contract dispute with the board] I never said much about West Indies cricket, because I am living my life stress free, enjoying my cricket around the world,” Bravo said. “Yet my name is still being called up in West Indies cricket controversy.”While the CWI signed a temporary truce with their cricketers last year, and have now instituted white-ball contracts, the board made it clear that playing the domestic one-day tournament was still a requirement. Last week, the CEO Johnny Grave told ESPNcricnfo that Andre Ruseell, Sunil Narine and Chris Gayle would play some matches in the this year’s Super50 season. These players, Grave said, would then be available for ODI selection in the future, based on form and fitness.It is not clear whether Bravo and the selectors have had any conversations about him featuring in domestic cricket again. He hasn’t played a List A match since January 2015, and even as a one-day international player, he averaged a middling 25 with the bat but did markedly better with ball in hand, as 199 wickets at 29 apiece suggests.”I was dropped from the Test team at age of 26, in 2010, before I retired in 2015 after being fed up of asking the selectors when I’d play again,” Bravo said. “I was dropped from the one-day team before the 2015 World Cup. I have never turned my back on West Indies cricket, it is them who have turned their back on me.”

A round-up of the opening day of Group C matches in the final round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2016Fourteen wickets fell at the Eden Gardens where Haryana reduced Tripura to 70 for 4 after getting bowled out for 231. After Tripura elected to field, their pace trio of Manisankar Murasingh (3 for 53), Sanjay Majumder (3 for 53) and Bunti Roy (2 for 44) shared eight wickets, while left-arm spinner Gurinder Singh took one. Haryana could have been sent packing for a much lower score had it not been for their lower order. Chaitanya Bishnoi, the No. 4, fell to Roy to leave Haryana 103 for 6, having made 52 of those runs himself. The recovery began with Rahul Tewatia’s 35 at No. 7. Joginder Sharma made 21 at No. 8, while Haryana’s last two, Harshal Patel and captain Mohit Sharma, chipped in with 26 and 39 not out respectively.Harshal took out Udiyan Bose and Samrat Singha in a new-ball burst to leave Tripura on 22 for 2. Bishal Ghosh was caught behind off Joginder for 36 before Tewatia removed Majumder for a duck on what turned out to be the last ball of the day. Wicketkeeper-batsman Smit Patel was not out on 26.Goa captain Sagun Kamat scored his third score in excess of hundred this season to take his team to 260 for 6 against Himachal Pradesh in Mumbai. Kamat dominated an opening stand of 47 with Sumiran Amonkar (18) before Snehal Kauthankar (43) joined him for a 70-run stand. It took a run-out to end Kamat’s resistance, but not before he had put on a further 95 for the third wicket with Darshan Misal. Kamat’s 104 off 170 balls was studded with 11 fours and two sixes. Goa squandered their strong position after Kamat’s dismissal, as they lost three more wickets for 31 runs. Misal was unbeaten on 68 at stumps.Hyderabad‘s new-ball duo of Ravi Kiran and Chama Milind took nine wickets between them to dismiss Andhra for 190 in Lucknow. In reply, Tanmay Agarwal and Akshath Reddy saw off seven overs as Hyderabad ended the day on 10 for no loss.Kiran took 4 for 33, while Milind took his maiden first-class five-wicket haul to finish with 5 for 28. The duo’s efforts meant Andhra lasted just 59 overs after they were asked to bat. That Andhra got close to 200 was down to half-centuries from Manyala Pranith (63) and Ashwin Hebbar (52), as their 91-run sixth-wicket partnership rescued the team from 80 for 5.Amandeep Khare struck his second first-class century, but Samiullah Beigh’s four-for reduced Chhattisgarh to 217 for 6 against Jammu & Kashmir in Gwalior. J&K elected to field and could only get 60 overs in as the entire first session was ruled out. Once play began, Beigh sent Chhattisgarh’s openers back for ducks in the first five overs. Khare then led the repair job, stitching together 84 for the third wicket with Anupam Toppo (40) and 120 for the fourth with Ashutosh Singh. Beigh troubled Chhattisgarh again by taking out Khare for 106, before sending back a third batsman – Avnish Dhaliwal – for a duck. Manoj Singh, the wicketkeeper, fell off the last ball of the penultimate over, but Ashutosh stayed unbeaten on 41, along with Ajay Mandal.Kerala pacer Athif Bin Ashraf took three early wickets on first-class debut to leave Services 103 for 4 on a 42-over day at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Ashraf sent back Nakul Verma, Ravi Chauhan and Amit Pachhara for single digits to leave Services 22 for 3. That became 43 for 4 when Basil Thampi bowled Irfan Khan for 15. Anshul Gupta, the Services captain and opener, stayed not out on 52 and had Shamsher Yadav on 23 for company.

Former India captain Anil Kumble believes that adjusting to different leadership styles in the split-captaincy format is not difficult for players in current times

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-20153:04

‘A captain’s duty is to protect his team’ – Kumble

Former India captain Anil Kumble believes that adjusting to different leadership styles in the split-captaincy format is not difficult for players in current times. Taking questions after delivering the seventh Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, Kumble was of the opinion that constant adjustment to different formats and teams helps players get accustomed to various captaincy styles.India went with a split-captaincy format in December 2014, when MS Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket after the Melbourne Test against Australia and Virat Kohli was handed the Test captaincy. Dhoni, however, continues to lead India in the limited-overs formats.”I don’t think it’s difficult for players to adjust from one captain’s temperament to another. Perhaps in my case it was already forced because I had already decided to give up playing one-day cricket and Dhoni was the captain of the one-day formats, “Kumble said. “And now that Dhoni has retired, Virat is the captain in Test cricket.”I don’t think for players, it’s a difficult job. Players are constantly adjusting from one team to the other and from one format to the other. In an IPL format, the same team-mates become opposition players and sometimes the opposition players become team-mates.”So there’s constant adjustment, but once you have played with the two captains, obviously the two should have played quite a number of matches to become captain, so you know their personalities and getting adjusted to their way of thinking or doing things, I don’t see it an issue. And South Africa have gone an additional way with a captain for each format, so perhaps that’s the way things may happen. You may, at some point of time, have an exclusive specialist T20 team which will be very different from a Test team or a one-day team.”Kumble also said that the difference in personalities between Dhoni and Kohli and the varying degrees of aggression between the two captains was not a major factor for the side.”The bottom line is you need to be attacking. That’s the word I would like to use. Aggression, I think, is a bit of a misplaced word and the way it comes across… as long as you are aggressive, as long as the intent is to win games, whether it’s 20 overs, 50 overs, four-day, five-day, I think the personality comes across,” he said. “Yes, individually, emotionally each one is perhaps different from the other but overall as a team I don’t see that as a major factor because Dhoni was leading India in the last 5-6 years, so in that sense, it shouldn’t be a problem in changing to a Virat style of captaincy.”In his lecture, Kumble, who took over as Test captain in November 2007, said that he believed modern captains face more challenges than their predecessors. He felt that they need to have a statesman-like approach to the game in the face of issues that can suddenly arise, particularly when a team is on tour.Drawing on his experience as captain of the Indian Test team on the controversial Australia tour of 2007-08, Kumble said he found himself playing the role of “diplomat, a bridge between the players and the cricket board and the face of Indian opposition in Australia” following the Monkeygate scandal during the Sydney Test.”During my tenure, I realised that in addition to the job description mentioned earlier, a captain also had to be prepared for the unexpected. The second-most important job could suddenly become the most important as I discovered in Australia during the incident called as Monkeygate,” Kumble said.”This was an aspect of a captain’s job that didn’t exist when I began my career. In fact, as a player for 17 years, I hadn’t been called by any match referee but perhaps visited the referee after every match as captain.”As the controversy raged, I received a message from Bishen Singh Bedi. As a captain, he wrote, ‘take a decision you will be proud of when you look back on this’. That is a uniquely Indian take on the job and Bedi’s simple words were inspiring. In Fact, it’s a motto that should be pasted on to the kit bags of all international captains. The modern captain faces more challenges than his predecessor did. Issues arise, specially when a team is on tour, that require a statesman-like approach and captains must keep the bigger picture in mind. It’s important to carry the team on such occasions.”When asked about the controversy later, Kumble said that the suggestions of the senior players – Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag – were helpful, but felt the matter could possibly have been resolved by a chat between him and Australia captain Ricky Ponting.”I was blessed to have players around me who were all greats and their suggestions were valuable,” he said. “As a captain, it’s my duty and my responsibility to protect my player and my team and that’s all I did. There were times when I think it could have been resolved with, perhaps, just the two captains sitting and sorting it out.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has appointed Chaminda Vaas as national fast bowling coach for two years, after weeks of negotiations with the former left-arm fast bowler

Andrew Fidel Fernando20-Feb-2013Sri Lanka Cricket has appointed Chaminda Vaas as national fast bowling coach for two years, after weeks of negotiations with the former left-arm fast bowler. Muttiah Muralitharan has also come on board with the Sri Lanka coaching staff in an advisory capacity, and has already been working with the spin bowlers in the side, in the lead up to the upcoming home series against Bangladesh.Vaas had expressed an interest in taking the role when SLC approached him in January, but was underwhelmed with the pay the board had offered him. The parties eventually reached an agreement late on Wednesday evening.”We concluded successful negotiations with Vaas, where we discussed things like pay and his role in the coaching unit,” SLC chief executive Ajit Jayasekara said. “He will be the head fast bowling coach, with the present coaches Champaka Ramanayake and Anusha Samaranayake working under him. He has taken so many wickets for Sri Lanka, and we are very happy to have concluded our talks to get him into the job. Vaas will also oversee the country’s pace bowling academies.”SLC had hoped to sign Muralitharan as a full-time coach as well, but as he still plays in various domestic Twenty20 leagues, he could not commit to that position. Muralitharan is the most successful bowler in the history of the game, leading the Test and ODI wicket-takers lists, with 800 and 534 scalps respectively. Vaas is Sri Lanka’s most successful fast bowler, with 355 Test wickets and 400 ODI wickets.In addition to the coaching appointments, SLC also appointed Michael de Zoysa as the new team manager for one year, filling the position vacated by Charith Senanayake, whose deteriorating relationship with the board in recent weeks led to his replacement and resignation. De Zoysa has been involved in cricket administration with Sri Lanka’s premier clubs, most notably Sinhalese Sports Club, has been a radio and TV commentator, and was also a tea industry executive.This latest round of appointments came amid a slew of personnel changes at SLC, who also appointed two new captains and a new selection panel in the last month. A new cief executive will also come on board in April, and the positions of president, secretary and treasurer will be contested in the SLC elections late in March.

New Zealand look at the final day of the third Test against South Africa as an opportunity to bat better than they have in the rest of the series and end their summer on a high note

Firdose Moonda in Wellington26-Mar-2012New Zealand look at the final day of the third Test against South Africa as an opportunity. An opportunity to bat better than they have in the rest of the series. An opportunity to give their injured captain Ross Taylor something to feel good about. One to end the summer with pride.Realists will say that already South Africa have enough runs and a good enough attack to bowl New Zealand out. Not one of New Zealand’s batsmen has scored a century in the series, and every time one of them has looked close to it, they gave it away with a rash shot. South Africa’s attack has peppered them with short balls on a pitch that has flattened in Wellington and they have had trouble negotiating them. Even without Jacques Kallis, the frontline spinner Imran Tahir, or the presence of their bowling coach Allan Donald, South Africa are relentless and give very little away.For New Zealand to overcome, it will take a massive effort and their first motivation will be to do it despite Taylor’s absence. “When your captain gets injured and has to come off [the field], it’s devastating for the team and things change with that,” Trent Woodhill, New Zealand’s assistant coach, said. “The team wants to make sure they can look after their captain by putting in a performance tomorrow and make sure that we back Ross up.”Although New Zealand have been over-reliant on Taylor at times, Woodhill believes the signs are there that the rest of the batting has been building towards a big one. “Six of the top seven all made sufficient starts to make sure at least two players went on and got 80 plus and one of them went on to 100 plus. But we didn’t do that,” Woodhill said. “It’s easy to talk up a good bowling attack but the bottom line is guys got in and guys had form and they didn’t carry on, and that’s frustrating.”Individual batting contributions have evaded New Zealand through the series but they seem to have ironed out two of the possible problems in this match. They swapped Rob Nicol for Daniel Flynn at the top of the order and revised their initial strategy of using only five specialist batsmen. The results have shown promise and although they still need a lot of working on, Woodhill said that is part of the development process the side is going through.The wider concerns will be addressed after the series, but the immediate focus will be on getting it right for Tuesday. “It’s a learning thing. We talk through what happened with the dismissals and where the wickets fell in clumps, and make sure we recognise those signs so that it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “But we have to make sure that when two blokes get in tomorrow, they make a big one and not let a big one go.”It may seem harsh to highlight Flynn on Test return but he was one of the batsmen guilty of exactly what Woodhill outlined. Flynn worked hard for his 45 and saw off a frantic few opening overs early on, only to depart in quiet fashion, edging behind to Boucher. His efforts still gave a decent account of his ability and he would like do it even more justice in the second innings. “I wouldn’t say I was satisfied,” Flynn said. “I think the way I started last night, I was happy, but it would have been nicer to kick on this morning and make a bigger total along with Guppy [Martin Guptill]. Tomorrow, getting through the new ball is going to be crucial but there could be an opportunity there.”New Zealand’s approach to the second innings will depend on when South Africa declare and whether the hosts view the target as gettable in the number of overs left. “Well, have to wait and see how they [South Africa] go in the morning but we have to go out there and play some positive cricket, and hopefully guys can kick on and someone can make a big hundred,” Flynn said. “Guys will go out and play their natural games.”So far in the series, New Zealand’s natural game has been to attack rather than defend, so they may feel more comfortable chasing rather than hanging on for a draw. With conditions expected to remain good for batting, Flynn did not rule out achieving even a target of 300 while Vernon Philander, South Africa’s new-ball sensation, said his side would feel comfortable with “350 plus” to defend.

A round-up of the fourth day of the third round of the Regional Four Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2011Combined Campuses and Colleges completed a comfortable 158-win over Leeward Islands at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Gavin Tonge, batting at No.9, offered some late resistance, striking seven fours and three sixes in his 65, but his efforts only served to delay the inevitable. It was a historic moment for CCC, who earned their first victory over the home team in five tries. The win also moved them into a three-way tie with Jamaica and England Lions at the top of the table after three games. All three teams have 24 points. Leewards remain bottom of the table with three points.Lendl Simmons was unlucky to miss out on a hundred after providing plenty of entertainment on the final day as Trinidad & Tobago earned a draw with England Lions at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. England Lions declared their second innings on 277 for 6, leaving T&T 320 for victory in a little over two sessions, and Simmons came out with intent. He smashed 12 fours and two sixes in a whirlwind 94 from 99 balls, but his departure, caught at cover off the last ball before tea from legspinner Adil Rashid, after he had charged down the pitch and played a wild hoick, put paid to T&T’s ambitions of chasing the game. Lions picked up six points to move to the top of the table, with T&T in fourth with 21 points.Former West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels made his second hundred of the tournament as Jamaica ground out a draw with Barbados at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Samuels, who was dropped twice in the slips, took advantage of his chances to make 105, an innings that included eight fours and one six and took close to five hours. He added 127 for the third wicket with Wavell Hinds, who made 57, reaching his century with a drive through extra cover off Jason Holder. Jamaica took six points from the game, while Barbados picked up three.

Doug Bollinger, the Australian fast bowler, has been drafted in by Chennai Super Kings as a replacement for the injured Jacob Oram

Cricinfo staff27-Mar-2010Doug Bollinger, the Australian fast bowler, has been drafted in by Chennai Super Kings as a replacement for the injured Jacob Oram, who was ruled out of the 2010 season of the IPL. Bollinger will join the team on April 5.Sundar Raman, the IPL’s chief executive, had confirmed the news on his Twitter page: “Doug Bollinger to debut for CSK, replaces injured Jacob Oram who is out for the entire series.” Bollinger’s inclusion will bolster Chennai’s bowling attack, which sorely lacked a genuine strike bowler during a disappointing start to their campaign.Oram suffered a patella tendon tear shortly after New Zealand’s home series against Australia began and was advised rest for up to a month. His participation in the IPL was in doubt, but the franchise chose to wait before taking a final call on his replacement.Bollinger, who came in to the Australian Test side in January 2009, has emerged as one of the team’s best strike bowlers in the last year. He had an outstanding 2009-10 home season, taking 25 wickets in five Tests, against West Indies and Pakistan. He also took 15 wickets in eight ODIs against the two teams and began the Test series in New Zealand with a five-for in Wellington.

Wrexham striker Steven Fletcher scored the only goal of the game as Phil Parkinson's side beat rivals Notts County 1-0 in League Two.

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Wrexham edged win thanks for Fletcher's decisive finishOkonkwo made big saves & McGoldrick goal ruled outPromotion hopes boosted as Stockport & Mansfield loseGettyTELL ME MORE

Notts County started strongly and forced Arthur Okonkwo into a point-blank save with less than two minutes on the clock. Indeed the hosts had the better of the first half but fell behind against the run of play on 20 minutes. Ryan Barnett delivered a great cross in from the right, and Steven Fletcher fired high into the roof of the net from close range. Notts County came back strongly with Okonkwo called into action again before the half was out, while Wrexham also had a let-off when Eoghan O'Connell headed against his own post from a cross by the lively Jodi Jones.

Wrexham piled on the pressure after the break, with Elliot Lee glancing a header just wide and Will Boyle heading against the bar from a James McClean corner. However, Notts County had chances to level and were denied an equaliser when Okonkwo produced another important stop from Macaulay Langstaff. The visitors did manage to get the ball in the back of the net through David McGoldrick, but the effort was ruled out for a handball as Wrexham held on for an important three points.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE MVP

Wrexham goalkeeper Okonkwo has been guilty of some errors this season but was key for the hosts as they picked up all three points and kept a clean sheet on Saturday. The Arsenal loanee had to be alert early on to deny Langstaff and foiled the Notts County striker again in the second half. The visitors did create enough chances to get something out of the game but simply couldn't find a way past Okonkwo in the Wrexham goal. Credit must also go to O'Connell for the clean sheet, as the defender was a rock at the back for the hosts.

Getty ImagesTHE BIG LOSER

Macaulay Langstaff has scored 22 league goals already this season but couldn't add to his tally at the Racecourse Ground. The striker, who has been linked with a move to Wrexham, did have chances but was twice denied by Okonkwo as he drew a rare blank. Langstaff, who has previously been told by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to "f*ck off," will have been eager to show the Welsh side exactly what he could do but it wasn't to be on an afternoon to forget for the usually-prolific 27-year-old.

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WHAT COMES NEXT?

Wrexham will have little time to enjoy Saturday's win over their big rivals as they return to action on Tuesday against MK Dons in League Two. They will, however, be buoyed by the fact that both league leaders Stockport County, and second-placed Mansfield Town, both lost, with Tranmere producing a shock 4-0 win against the former at Prenton Park.

Ethan Mbappe, at just 16 years of age, is being lined up for a potential competitive debut at Paris Saint-Germain alongside his brother Kylian.

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Teenager held in high regardPreviously figured in friendliesBrother still at Parc des PrincesWHAT HAPPENED?

The talented teenager made his senior bow for the Ligue 1 title holders in December 2022 when still 15. He figured in a friendly date with Paris FC back then and was also included in PSG’s pre-season plans ahead of the 2023-24 campaign – featuring in a 3-0 win over Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors during the club’s tour of Asia.

AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Mbappe junior has now been included in a Ligue 1 matchday squad, with PSG set to play host to Nice at Parc des Princes on Friday. He will be hoping that a comfortable evening for Luis Enrique’s side allows him to take to the field at some stage.

DID YOU KNOW?

Ethan Mbappe moved to PSG alongside his World Cup-winning brother in 2017. He arrived in Paris from AS Bondy and signed a three-year contract in the summer of 2021. Later that year, he made his bow for the France U21 side.

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GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Kylian Mbappe looked to be heading for the exits at PSG during the summer transfer window, as he refused to sign a contract extension and was heavily linked with Real Madrid. He is, however, still in France and Ethan has previously said of working with his sibling: “A huge pride to be able to play with you big brother.”