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Leeds United left-back Junior Firpo is set for a long spell on the sidelines after injuring his knee against Aston Villa, according to journalist Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Firpo injured in defeat

The Whites were beaten 3-0 at home by Steven Gerrard’s men on Thursday evening, in what was a hugely disappointing first game at Elland Road for Jesse Marsch.

It was a result that leaves Leeds deeper in the relegation mire, with both Burnley and Everton having games in hands around them.

Firpo was injured late in the day against Villa, with a stretcher required for the 25-year-old, and now more bad news has been revealed as Hay shared the initial diagnosis.

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The Latest: Hay gives negative update

Taking to Twitter, the journalist claimed that Firpo picked up a bad knee injury and that a prolonged spell on the sidelines now awaits him, implying he will definitely miss Sunday’s clash with Norwich:

“No precise diagnosis on Firpo yet but he’s injured his knee and Marsch’s thinks he’s probably looking at a lengthy spell out.”

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The Verdict: Sums up his season

Firpo was having a poor night as it was, not covering himself in glory for Matty Cash’s goal, and his injury rather epitomises his first season as a Leeds player.

He has rarely convinced defensively, when fit, and his supposed attacking prowess has also been lacking, with no goals and just one assist coming his way in 19 Premier League appearances.

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The hope was that Firpo would be an upgrade on Ezgjan Alioski but that hasn’t proved to be the case – hopefully he returns from this lengthy absence a different player.

In other news, a source has dropped a key Kalvin Phillips update. Read more here.

Mumbai 337 (Naik 78, Kukreja 66, Jaffer 55) and 70 for 2 drew with Karnataka 195 (Akhil 57, Powar 5-69) and397 for 6 dec (Dravid 214, Pawan 80)
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Rahul Dravid fell one short of his highest score in Ranji Trophy © Cricinfo Ltd

Rahul Dravid found his true form on the last day of this match, hitting a double-century to guide Karnataka to a draw against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium.Karnataka made 397 for 6 at tea before declaring to set Mumbaia target of 256 in 32 overs, 17 of which had gone by before both captains settled on a draw.Mumbai secured three points for their first-innings lead while Karnataka got one.The wicket had baffled many: it offered great assistance on the first day, which Ramesh Powar exploited, and lost its venom as the moisture evaporated. Also, Karnataka were guilty of being overcautious in the first innings and conceded the vital lead to Mumbai.Dravid said the regular fall of wickets didn’t allow them to attack. “We kept losing regular wickets, lot of players in our team are quite young as well and it would have been a good education for them to play a quality attack.”The final day belonged to Dravid who blasted 137 runs from 152 balls with 11 boundaries and three sixes. There were no big celebrations after he reached his hundred – off 213 balls – in the first session, with a dab to third man. He acknowledged his ton with a small raise of the bat towards the dressing room, then at the 50-odd spectators who’d bothered to turn up. He offered a similar reaction after bringing up his double hundred, in the second session, with a sweep to the square-leg boundary.Dravid, while understandably happy, wished he had contributed more in the first innings. “It is satisfying to have played a innings that helped the team. It would have been better had I played a big knock in the first innings. To be honest 195 was never going to be enough, we needed at least 300 but credit to them. Ajit got couple of wickets early and Ramesh [Powar] bowled very well.”In an otherwise smooth innings, Dravid had three moments of concern:on 110, he survived a run-out chance when C Raghu called him forinjudicious single but Wasim Jaffer didn’t find the target from squareleg; on 191 he checked a drive off a slower delivery from AbhishekNayar, who spilled the return catch and on 198 another run-out chancewent begging as Amol Muzumdar missed from cover.Dravid started off with a fluent drive through covers off Iqbal Abdulla and continued tobat positively as the new ball was taken in the fourth over of the day. Dravid showed his full repertoire of strokes – there was a hook and a pull, two crashing drives over cover, a steer to third man, a leg glance, a cut and a few lofted drives against the spinners to the straight boundary. He hit three sixes too, sending the ball out of the ground on one occasionwhen he swung Abdulla over long-on.Mumbai’s bowlers could not keep him in check. Ajit Agarkar, who removed KB Pawan with a full-length delivery that took the edge off a loose drive, sent down a series of bouncers but Dravid went for the horizontal shots.Ramesh Powar, introduced in the 20th over of the day, also didn’t cause any major problems. Dravid, at times, went down the track or made room by going back and twice swinging him over the midwicket.Raghu looked to get forward to play before he fell, under-edging a pull that wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant took sharply down the leg side. Encouraged by that wicket, Powar stuck to the middle and leg line, spinning into the hips, with a short leg and backward short leg inattendance, but could not break through.Abdulla, who mostly bowled over the wicket aiming for the rough, picked up his first Ranji Trophy wicket in his 41st over of the match when Yere Goud scooped one to cover. Abdulla picked two more easy wickets as Karnataka went for quick runs before the declaration.The bat continued to dominate in the second session before Dravid fell after facing 333 balls in 437 minutes to a tired pull shot off Abdulla to deep midwicket. He was one short of his highest Ranji score – 215 against Uttar Pradesh, 10 seasons back in a Ranji final.When Mumbai batted the second time, Vinay Kumar removed Wasim Jaffer in an identical fashion to the first innings, cleaning up his off stump with an incutter as he was caught at the crease, and trapped Sahil Kukreja in front but the fate of the game was sealed by then.

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Defending champions Uttar Pradesh slumped to their second defeat of the season, crashing to a humiliating innings and 88 runs loss to Haryana on the second day at Rohtak. Having been shot out for 71 in the first innings, they collapsed for 178 the second time round. Haryana carried on their impressive batting performance this morning, stretching their total to 327 with Sumit Sharma and Sachin Rana completing fine hundreds. Trailing by 266 in the first innings, UP were done in by Haryana’s new-ball bowlers. Joginder Sharma, who’d snared seven wickets in the first innings, scalped three more and Sanjay Budhwar ended with an impressive 4 for 36. day.
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Hyderabad strengthened their position on the second day with a solid batting effort, gaining a 138-run lead with five wickets in hand. Resuming at 66 for 1 overnight, Hyderabad rode on plucky efforts from all their top-order batsmen with D Vinay Kumar standing out with 64. They stitched together vital partnerships of 53, 37, 23 and 41 to boost Hyderabad to a cosy position at the end of the day. Swapnil Hazare and Ramesh Powar struck twice apiece.
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Laxmi Ratan Shukla led Bengal’s response on the second day at Kolkata as their game against Gujarat hung in a balance. Bengal were still 102 runs behind with five wickets in hand as Shukla, batting on 50, carried on useful contributions from the top order. Rohan Gavaskar gave him company with a useful 45. Gujarat hung on in the contest through Hitesh Majumdar’s medium-pace effort, picking up two wickets and pegging them back.
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Thilak Naidu’s attacking century was the highlight of the day as Karnataka wrested the initiative after the Delhi seamers ran through the middle order in the morning session. Resuming on 299 for 3, the wheels started to come off for Karnataka as they lost six wickets for just 62. That brought KP Appanna and Naidu together, and Naidu played according to plan, hogging the strike while Appanna guarded his wicket at the other end. The bowling lost its sting as the seamers were guilty of bowling too short or too full, failing to slip in the yorkers, thereby allowing Naidu to use the long handle to good effect.Though Ashish Nehra picked up four wickets, leaked 171 runs while Ishant Sharma fared comparatively better, conceding 99. Sharma wrapped up the innings, dismissing Naidu for 122 to pick up his four-wicket haul. Matters got worse for Delhi in their reply, losing their first four wickets for just 14 runs, rocked by the seamers B Akhil and Vinay Kumar. Virat Kohli stood firm, remaining undefeated on 40 with Puneet Bisht as the pair took the score to 103 for 5 at stumps with plenty of repair work still to be done.
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A 123-run last wicket partnership between captain Pankaj Dharmani and Luv Ablish propelled Punjab to a commanding 550 in their first innings. Dharmani, who retired hurt on 71 on the first day, resumed his innings and remained unbeaten on 113. Ablish, the right-arm seamer who began the season with five-wicket haul against Gujarat, played an entertaining knock of 76 off just 75 balls, with nine fours and three hits over the fence. Vipul Sharma, the overnight batsman, was unlucky to fall seven short of his ton, and was one of legspinner Sairaj Bahutule’s five victims. In reply, Maharashtra lost Harshad Khadiwale early for 5, before Dheeraj Jadhav and Hrishikesh Kanitkar took the score to 50 at stumps.
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Meaty contributions by the middle-order propped Tamil Nadu to 500 against Saurashtra at Rajkot. Half-centuries by R Satish, K Vasudevadas and R Naresh strengthened Tamil Nadu’s position after Sreedharan Sharath laid the platform with a century on day one. Sharath fell after adding six to his overnight score, but Satish carried on from where he finished the previous day, scoring at over a run-a-ball in his 93 which included 14 fours. Vasudevadas and Naresh then frustrated Saurashtra further with a stand of 114 for the sixth wicket. Naresh’s 64 was the more agressive knock, coming off 95 balls with six fours and two sixes. Sandip Jobanputra, the left-arm seamer, picked up four wickets. Saurarshtra made a solid reply with the openers – Sagar Jogiyani and Kanaiya Vaghela – adding 70 till stumps.
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Prasad Reddy’s patient 148 off 474 balls took Andhra to 342 in their first innings against Baroda. Reddy nearly carried his bat before he was run-out in the final over of Andhra’s innings. He was involved in stands 54 and 70 with B Sumanth and Mohammad Faiq respectively, with Faiq contributing 41. Rajesh Pawar, the left-arm spinner, was the only bowler who managed to pick up wickets, finishing with figures of 7 for 87 in 48 overs. Baroda began cautiously, with the openers adding 33 in 17 overs till stumps.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are elated after India’s comprehensive win© AFP

Virender Sehwag decided to ask his spinners to open the bowling on the fifth morning of the Ahmedabad Test, and it paid off. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were the dominant figures of this Test match, scheming and plotting, spinning and bouncing, wicket-taking furiously. And theydidn’t take long to finish it off, allowing Sri Lanka to add only 14 runs to their overnight score before they were all out for 249, losing this Test by 259 runs.Kumble struck in the second over of the day when Farveez Maharoof stretched out on the front foot and played for turn that wasn’t there, as the ball hurried on through and rapped him on the pads (235 for 7). Jehan Mubarak fell in the next over, edging a ball from Harbhajan thatpitched outside leg stump and spun across him (235 for 8).Malinga Bandara showed some spirit, executing what can best be described as a two-hand forehand down the ground for four off a short ball from Harbhajan, but it was the last flicker of a dying flame. Muttiah Muralitharan missed a slog sweep and was bowled by Harbhajanfor 3 (245 for 9). And shortly afterwards, Bandara edged a ball from Kumble to gully, where Sehwag took an excellent diving catch. Kumble, in the second innings of his 100th Test, had 5 for 89.The summary of the match: Sri Lanka played hard, intense cricket, but were outplayed by a team that beat them on talent and matched them in intensity. Despite India’s margin of victory, it had been a well-contested Test, and a fine advertisement for the game.How they were outSri LankaFarveez Maharoof lbw Kumble 2 (235 for 7)
Jehan Mubarak c Laxman b Harbhajan 18 (235 for 8)
Muttiah Muralitharan b Harbhajan 3 (245 for 9)
Malinga Bandara c Sehwag by Kumble 11 (249)

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South Australia had lots to cheer in their game against Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval© Getty Images

Marcus North and Brad Hogg prevented a collapse as Western Australia tightened their grasp at the end of the second day against South Australia at Adelaide Oval today. SA lost two wickets late in the day and as they set off chasing 324 in the final innings.WA had a great day in the field and bundled out SA for just 131 in their first innings. Steve Magoffin led the rout by picking up 4 for 0 in a 10-ball burst as the last seven wickets fell for just 38. Magoffin, who is playing only his first season, finished with 4-27, his best return.SA hit back through Shaun Tait and Paul Rofe and slumped to 5 for 41, but Hogg and North stemmed the rot. Hogg made 61 in just 55 balls while North was more sedate in his 67.

Derbyshire are almost certain to agree to Dominic Cork’s request to be released from the remaining two years of his contract later today. Although Cork signed a new contract in June, he is reportedly “deeply offended” by a perceived snub from Derbyshire’s new director of cricket, Dave Houghton.Houghton has made no decision about the captaincy for the 2004 season, something that has deeply angered Cork. “Of course I see a role for [Cork]; he’s a fantastic cricketer who is highly regarded and respected,” said Houghton. “Whether that’s in a leadership role as captain or not we’ll have to see after our discussion.”But relations between the county and Cork, 32, appear to be irreconcilable, and a parting is now inevitable. Cork will have to buy himself out of the contract, as John Crawley did when he left Lancashire at the end of the 2001 season.

Arunkumar leads Karnataka to a massive winAn aggressive hundred from captain Jagadeesh Arunkumar and his 206-run fourth wicket partnership with Vijay Bhardwaj ((94) guided Karnataka to a comprehensive 84-run win over Hyderabad in the Ranji one-dayer between the two teams at the Indira Priyadarshini stadium, Vishakapatnam.In the morning, Arunkumar won the toss and elected to bat. Opening the batting, he saw the first three Karnataka batsmen depart when the score had only reached 57. But it was then that Vijay Bhardwaj arrived and soon a grand stand between the two unfolded. Arunkumar began to open up as the innings progressed and by the time he was dismissed his 151 off 138 balls, with sixteen fours and four sixes, he had all but sealed his side’s win. A few lusty blows from tailenders B Akhil and Dodda Ganesh helped Karnataka pile up a massive 336 for seven in their 50 overs.Hyderabad made a spirited reply, rattling close to 140 runs in the first 20 overs. But they lost four wickets in the bargain and that proved to be their undoing. No. 3 D Vinay Kumar, who made 104 off 104 balls, was the top-scorer for Hyderabad, who were all out for 252 in 45.4 overs. Karnataka claimed five points for the win.Andhra thrash KeralaFormer India wicket-keeper MSK Prasad and Y Venugopal Rao were the stars in Andhra’s 52-run win over Kerala at the Trishna Stadium, Visakhapatnam on Saturday.Prasad, who also happens to be the Andhra captain, made 82 off 82 balls and Venugopal Rao 91 off 100 balls as Andhra made 270 for four in their 50 overs.MP Sorab’s 72 off 112 balls meant that the Kerala reply got off to a decent start. But his dismissal with the score on 155, saw the visitors lose their way; they were dismissed for 218 off 49.1 overs. Andhra were rewarded with four points for their win.TN prove too strong for GoaTamil Nadu captain Robin Singh claimed four wickets to lead his side to a seven-wicket win over Goa at the STRSA Stadium, Visakhapatnam.Goa, who won the toss, lost their captain VV Kolambakar in the fourth over of the day and they never recovered from there, being dismissed for 177 in 44.1 overs. For Tamil Nadu, medium-pacers L Balaji and MR Shrinivas also bowled well claiming two wickets each.A 84 off just 76 balls from No. 3 J Madanagopal meant that Tamil Nadu then overhauled the target with minimum off fuss in just 32 overs. The seven wicket-win that they achieved in the end was enough to guarantee them the maximum of five points.

Nasser Hussain – back, in form, for Essex Photo © CricInfo

Essex won their third consecutive victory in the National League as theybeat Derbyshire by just six runs in a close conclusion at Chelmsford. NasserHussain, who was in the Essex side for the first time in a month, was top scorerwith 47 in a score of 203-8.He was more cautious than usual and took 87 balls in his innings, but he hit a six over mid-wicket off medium-paced Tom Lungley as well as four fours. Stephen Peters (38) and Paul Grayson (37 n.o. from 35 balls) contributed most to the total.
Tim Munton had given Essex some early trouble by taking the first three wickets to fall and yielded only 24 runs in his nine overs. Derbyshire, too, found the going difficult at first and reached fifty only after 17 overs. Ronnie Irani bowled four maidens in his nine overs for a cost of 20 runs. The middle/late-order batsmen took up the challenge with greater despatch: James Pyemont scored 34 from 43 deliveries and Dominic Cork 24 from 33.Nevertheless Derbyshire were still a long way behind with 52 needed from five overs. Munton hit 18 from the same number of balls and Kasir Shah scored 20 from nine, but both batsmen were caught by Tim Mason on the long-on boundary off Grayson’s left-arm spin. Eventually Lungley’s run out brought the innings to a close on 197 with just one ball to bowl. Derbyshire have now lost eight out of nine matches in the League.

A reporter for Sky Sports has now revealed some big transfer news on Tottenham Hotspur target Andreas Christensen.

The Lowdown: In contact

It has widely been reported that Spurs are in contact with Christensen’s agents ahead of a potential move in the summer, given that his current contract at Chelsea expires at the end of June.

FC Barcelona seem to be the favourites for his signature at this moment in time, but while he has not put pen to paper on a deal with them, the Lilywhites can still count themselves in the race.

The Latest: No final decision

As per Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg, there is ‘no final decision’ being made by Christensen yet about where he would like to move to, including Barca, although this is of course subject to change:

“Update Christensen: Close sources to the player say that there is still no final decision. So no final “yes” to FC Barcelona at the moment. But this can change at any time.”

The Verdict: Get it done

With Barcelona lurking, the North London club need to make sure that they get this deal done ahead of them.

Currently rated at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, to get a player of Christensen’s quality and calibre on a free is a no-brainer, and of course someone who has played in a back-three under Antonio Conte himself, he would slot straight in at Hotspur Way.

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The biggest difficulty THFC may have is persuading the Denmark international to jump to Chelsea’s bitter rivals, but if they can offer a suitable financial package, they should have a chance of landing his services for next season.

In other news, find out what other big Tottenham transfer update has now been dropped here!

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Twenty20 prince: Gautam Gambhir was unstoppable during his second successive Twenty20 half-century © Getty Images

The one-day series might have gone but India lived up to their world champions tag in the Twenty20, finishing with a thumping seven-wicket win in Mumbai. Australia have bossed around for most of the last month but India can take consolation from one stat: the last eight internationals between the two sides have been shared 4-4.Ricky Ponting’s blazing 76 launched a meaty Australian total but it was soon to be overshadowed by Gautam Gambhir’s swash and buckle. The jury is still out on his Test and 50-over credentials but there’s few who will argue with his ability to swing a Twenty20 match. With fifties against New Zealand, England, Pakistan and Australia he’s been India’s most valuable batsmen in the shortest format. Only Matthew Hayden has managed a similar number of fifties; nobody has managed to defy expectations so consistently.Like he’s done on each of those occasions, Gambhir set the agenda in an emphatic manner, partnering Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh in rollicking stands. Gambhir cut loose with a fearlessness that was missing in some of the 50-over games. The dance down the track was a regular feature but the chiselled square-cut was the sight of the evening.Australia’s bowlers had a tough time – the 24 extras indicated as much – and all conceded seven or more runs an over. Brett Lee was shredded to the tune of 20 runs in his sixth over, when the total went from 30 to 50, and Australia never recovered. Overthrows and a wicket off a no-ball typified their day and there was really nothing that went their way in front of a raucous crowd. Gambhir fell with 24 still needed, holing out to mid-on trying to end with a flourish, but Australian would have known that the kangaroo was well and truly bolted.Robin Uthappa’s blistering 35, including six crunchy fours, went well with the fireworks illuminating the Mumbai skies. The cheerleaders in the stands might have twisted and turned but Uthappa didn’t waver from striking straight: walking down the track casually and ripping shots with laughable ease. Virender Sehwag managed just 5 on his return but Yuvraj Singh swung India to the finish. Ben Hilfenhaus, playing his first match of the tour, and Michael Clarke were the most effective bowlers but the others didn’t have much to smile.

Ricky Ponting on his way to a fiery 76 © Getty Images

Earlier Ponting made good use of the advantage at the toss. Cashing in on a belter of a pitch that was being used for the first time, he shrugged off a regular loss of partners to motor to his highest score of the tour.Entering as early as the first over, after Adam Gilchrist slammed three consecutive fours before losing his middle stump to a incisive RP Singh yorker, Ponting displayed controlled aggression. He threw his bat at anything wide of the stumps – fortunate to see Mahendra Singh Dhoni unable to clasp onto a thick edge while lunging to the right – and brought out the imperious pull when anything was short.He did struggle occasionally against sharp turn that Murali Kartik extracted – the most attacking bowler on show – and preferred to play out Harbhajan Singh’s yorker-length offerings. Hayden, who missed the two games due to a hip injury, hammered two huge sixes, walking down the track with characteristic impunity, before playing on to Harbhajan. A mid-pitch misunderstanding did Andrew Symonds in, just when he appeared set to open up, and Brad Hodge capped off a forgettable tour, finishing on an average of less than 10.Harbhajan was India’s most economical bowler, conceding just 17 in his four overs, and Kartik proved an able ally. RP Singh, largely erratic, should have ended with another wicket, with umpire Amish Saheba failing to detect an edge off Brad Haddin in the last over, but it didn’t make a difference in the final analysis. This was a Twenty20 and India were here to show their championship class.