Allgemeines » s effect continued to be felt after the break

Leicester can move a step closer to winning the Premier League with victory at home to West Ham on Super Sunday. The Foxes start the weekend with a seven-point lead at the top of the table after five successive victories without conceding a goal.They have beaten the Hammers in the league and Capital One Cup this season and another win would move them 10 points clear of second-placed Tottenham, who travel to Stoke on Monday Night Football. West Ham have seen their top-four hopes fade in recent weeks following three successive draws in the league.They also lost their FA Cup quarter-final replay to Manchester United on Wednesday, but manager Slaven Bilic says there will not be any hangover.We are disappointed but we are in a great position in the league and everything to play for, he said. We are totally motivated for the next six games and it starts against Leicester. We have to do everything we can.We need points to finish high so yes we have to win, whether its fourth, fifth or sixth. United and Man City, five points to City is big with six games to go, but there are also teams below us playing well and hoping to get a European place next year.Team newsLeicester have no new injury concerns, so Claudio Ranieri is likely to name the starting line-up for the 12th time in 14 league games.West Ham can welcome back defenders Winston Reid and Sam Byram after Reid missed the FA Cup defeat to United with a tight hamstring and Byram, fit again after a recent spell out injured, was cup-tied. Claudio Ranieri dismissed the idea that Leicesters push for the Premier League title is down to luck Striker Diafra Sakho is still sidelined with the knee knock which forced him to withdraw from the squad to face Arsenal last weekend, but he is expected back in training on Monday.Opta statsWest Ham have won twice as many of the meetings (10) between these two sides in the Premier League than Leicester (five), with two draws.The Hammers have lost just four of their last 16 Premier League away games (W6 D6 L4).Leicester have kept seven clean sheets in their last eight Premier League matches at the King Power Stadium. West Ham manager Slaven Bilic wants his side to forget their FA Cup defeat and focus on Leicester Just two of Andy Carrolls 12 Premier League goals since the start of 2014-15 have come away from home.The Foxes have only trailed for 47 minutes in their 22 Premier League games played since the start of November 2015.Dimitri Payet has had a hand in seven goals in his last seven Premier League appearances (three goals, four assists).Paul Mersons predictionI was really disappointed in West Ham the other night. I had only really seen highlights of Slaven Bilics side this season and thought they looked excellent, but having watched the whole game against Man United, they were really poor. Ed Chamberlin and Jamie Redknapp look ahead to Super Sunday United put in a very good display at Upton Park but for me, West Ham didnt do enough. They didnt get enough crosses into the box and there is no point playing Andy Carroll if you are not going to get the ball into the penalty area. If youd have asked me for a prediction on Monday Id have said Im not sure, but now I cant see anything but a Leicester win.However, I still see a twist to come in the title race.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 15/2) Leicester celebrate their win at Sunderland last weekend BettingLeicester are odds-on at 17/20 with Sky Bet to secure another three points in their chase for the title with victory over West Ham (16/5), with the draw priced at 13/5. The Foxes are 1/5 to complete the fairy-tale, while the Hammers will be looking to bounce back after their midweek FA Cup exit to Manchester United.Leicester have kept clean sheets in five of their last six home games and are 6/4 to extend that run. West Ham recorded wins at Everton and drew with Norwich and Chelsea in their last three away games scoring two or more goals in each of those and are 9/4 to score two or more again on Sunday. Get the latest odds and tips from our Sky Sports pundits here. Fake NFL Jerseys For Sale . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Fake NFL Jerseys Cheap . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. https://www.fakenfljerseys.com/ . PAUL, Minn. Fake Nike NFL Jerseys . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. Fake NFL Jerseys Online . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. Marlon Samuels isnt known to show anything approaching haste when he runs between wickets, but here he was, scurrying as fast as his legs could manage, taking a short detour to avoid running into the bowler as he reached the other end. This was the 30th ball of his innings; this was his first run.The last time Samuels played a Test match at Sabina Park, he had made two-ball ducks in both innings. He had endured quite a wait to score his first run at his home ground in nearly four years.The crowd was small, but they made a big noise now, whistles and applause, the piercing cry of a conch.Two days before the game, Samuels had spoken of wanting to show my Jamaican people what they have been seeing over the years, me coming out here, playing shots, and just enjoying myself in the middle. Now, on day one of the Test, he had walked in with his five-year-old son Dimitri, who had been the mascot at the toss, in the crowd.Playing shots and enjoying himself would have been the farthest thing from Samuels mind when he took guard. West Indies were 4 for 2, and the two wickets had fallen off successive deliveries. He had made a pair in his last Test at this venue; now he had to prevent an Ishant Sharma hat-trick.The pitch was green, it was moist, and his captain had chosen to bat first. The first ball he faced jagged back, climbed from a good length, and hit him high on the front pad. Not convincing by any means, but the hat-trick was averted.West Indies had added a mere three runs to their score when Rajendra Chandrika hung his bat out at a rising away-seamer from Mohammed Shami, and nicked to gully. In walked Jermaine Blackwood.Two local boys in partnership, just the sort of thing the crowd might have come to watch, though they would probably have preferred West Indies to have made at least a hundred more runs before they joined each other.Samuels had made a fifty in his last innings, the second innings of West Indies innings defeat in the first Test in Antigua. In his ten most recent Test innings before that, he had made 11, 0, 13, 6, 9, 3, 0, 19, 4 and 1. Blackwood, meanwhile, came into this Test match with scores of 16, 4, 0, 0, 28, 20, 10, 0 and 0. Some may have counted him lucky that his captain, while picking an extra fast bowler for this Test, had kept faith in him and instead dropped a bowling allrounder with a half-century in the first Test.Blackwood left the second ball he faced, bowled by Shami. The charitable explanation may have been that he trusted the bounce. It was probably more likely, given the form he was in, that he had misjudged the line. The ball bounced over off stump, and didnt miss by much. Not convincing, but a ball survived.Two balls later, he scored his first runs of the series. The ball was full, though not a half-volley, and he went after it and got four runs, even if the ball went squarer than he probably intended, slicing off the face of his bat and racing past point.By the 10th over, West Indies had moved to 21 for 3. Samuels was still on 0, off 23 balls. He had been beaten attempting one wild drive, but had otherwise been leaving everything outside off stump, crabbing across the crease before lifting his bat over his head. He had inside-edged one ball into his pad, and was lucky it hadnt gone to either short leg or short midwicket. He had played the lifting ball well, bat tucked close to his chest and bottom hand barely touching the handle.It was a fraught existence, but there was a method to it.You couldnt say the same about Blackwood, not just yet. He had moved to 13 and had hit two more fours, one a top-edged hook, the other a glance that only seemed half-controlled.But now, Ishant sent down a full ball wide of off stump. Traditional coaching manuals tell you to get your head over the ball to drive, but plenty of great batsmen have driven with an entirely different technique, leaning back and lashing through the ball with a rotary, whiplash bat-swing. Doon Bradman drove that way.dddddddddddd So did Garfield Sobers. And so did George Headley, whose statue - hooking rather than driving - stands outside Sabina Park. Blackwood isnt Bradman or Sobers or Headley, but he played a drive in their style, upper body leaning away from the ball rather than into it, and the ball flashed between bowler and short extra-cover. There was no mid-off.Two balls later, another fullish ball, though nowhere near a half-volley. Once again Blackwood leaned back, flung his arms through the ball, and sent it skimming low over bowler, umpire and boundary rope.The drive is crickets definitive shot, central to the tug-of-war between bat and ball. Most of the other classic attacking shots tend to come off bad balls. Not always so with the drive. Batsmen get rank half-volleys every now and then, but more often, particularly at the highest level, the balls they drive occupy a grey area between good and bad.Its an area of negotiation, a constantly shape-shifting zone full of questions. A skillful bowler poses those questions with great deliberation. How full do I need to land the ball for you to dare to drive me? How far outside off stump are you prepared to reach? How good is your technique?All these questions have different answers, depending on the surface, the atmosphere, and, obviously, the batsman. Some try to force the bowler away from this grey zone by ignoring the bait. Samuels, apart from one indiscretion, seemed to be adopting this approach.Others accept the invitation and try to show the bowler how good, how safe, and how productive their drives are. Almost like theyre saying, Try something else, mate.Blackwood was going after anything remotely in his hitting arc, but this wasnt about showing his mastery of the drive, as much as a recognition that he might as well score as much as he could, as quickly as he could, before the wicket-taking ball came along.The ball soared over the straight boundary, and the conches blared, just as they would when Samuels scored his first run. A smattering of Jamaicans celebrating two Jamaicans raising the small possibility of a fightback.Blackwoods willingness to drive had an immediate effect on Ishant. Perhaps this was what the batsman wanted; three balls later, a short ball, wide outside off stump. Blackwoods response was an uppercut, airy, too close to Amit Mishra at point but going too fast for him to get his hands to the ball.India rang the changes, and Blackwood continued to attack anything remotely drive-able. Down the track to R Ashwin to hit him into the North Stand; a genuine half-volley from Umesh Yadav, smashed through mid-off; flight over the eyeline from Amit Mishra, and a flat-bat wallop for another straight six.That six brought up his half-century, off 47 balls. At the other end, Samuels was batting on 7 off 54.Together, in their contrasting ways, they had given India something to think about. They had rattled India. Umesh dropped short, Samuels uppercut him for six. Then, Blackwood fell with three balls to go for lunch, to a marginal lbw call, but his effect continued to be felt after the break; Ishant kept pitching short to Samuels, and went for four fours in two overs; a pull and three successive square cuts.For perhaps the first time in the series, Indias bowlers were being seriously challenged. But almost inevitably, the challenge was short-lived. Samuels launched R Ashwin for the sweetest six youll ever see, and then, stepping out again, failed to reach the pitch of a ball laden with topspin. Inside edge, caught at short leg.Back walked Samuels, out for 37. A slow start, an earlier finish than he would have liked, but in between, briefly, he had given a Jamaican crowd, his son among them, something to cheer. He had played his shots, perhaps he had even enjoyed himself. ' ' '