If you are looking for a break from the stresses of football……………..!

Poker is a trendy game, and rightly so. Unlike other games of luck like slots, roulette, and blackjack, you can play with other people. This makes poker a perfect game to play with friends, family, or even total strangers.

You can play poker online today, like many other casino games. And for those who love bonuses, you can check out casino bonus sites in the UK.

Poker is a sport that requires a high level of skill and mental alertness. Poker tournaments can last several hours, and stamina is required. A saying says poker takes a day to learn but a lifetime to master. In other words, don’t feel frustrated if you seem not to be learning fast enough. Mastering poker indeed takes time, effort, and patience.

This article will provide ways to improve your poker skills.

 5 Ways to Improve your poker skills

Here are some ways to improve your poker skills:

Learn about the game

When starting poker as a beginner, the first step you need to take is to learn everything you can about the game. If you don’t understand the fundamentals of the game, there’s no way you can learn quickly.

You can start by watching tutorial videos. There are tons of videos for poker beginners on YouTube and Twitch. You can also visit poker blogs to learn about the latest poker strategies.

If you have a couple of bucks to spare, you can pick up poker strategy books. Strategy books are available for both online and live poker. A poker strategy book costs around $20 to $30. This budget is perfect for small stake players.

A significant edge that poker strategy books have over watching videos or scouring blogs is the extensive information they contain. You can learn more from a single poker book than you would ever learn from videos or blog posts.

Join online communities

Online forums are another way to accelerate your growth as a poker player. You’ll always find more experienced players who are more than happy to offer advice to new players. And you know the best part? It’s free.

You can even post your hands for review on poker forums to receive valuable feedback. However, not all the feedback you’ll get will be beneficial. Some pieces of advice may not be from winning pros. And it’s of no use when a blind person tries to lead another blind person.

When using online forums, another thing to keep in mind is to be polite and respectful. Other members will be more willing to help and share tips with you.

Hire a poker coach

Free tips and advice will help you as a beginner but won’t take you far. Hiring a personal poker coach is sure to speed up your growth. The sky will be your limit when you have a seasoned professional dedicated to helping you improve.

However, the big drawback with hiring a coach is that it’ll cost you. Well, there’s no fixed price. Expect to spend at least $200 per hour if you want a decent coach.

Hiring a poker coach is only advisable if you’re a mid-stake or high-stake player.

Study your hand’s history

If you play online poker, a good poker tracker is an indispensable ally if you want to up your game. It tracks your hands and results and your opponent’s statistics. The statistics the software gathers from your opponent help you devise strategies to beat them.

You can review each poker session later to find out your mistakes. Once you’ve discovered your errors, the next thing is to work on them. You’ll undoubtedly notice a significant improvement in your game over time. 

Play more poker

Practice makes perfect. If you want to get good at poker, you need to devote more time to improve your skills. That’s just how it works. A coach and books can’t do your work for you.

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You also have to find a perfect balance between theory and practice. Too much theory without much practice is useless. And practice without theory or strategy is like running without direction. Your progress will be slow— if you make any at all.

Practice what you learn consistently. You might not notice the daily improvements instantly. However, one day when you look back, you’ll be surprised at how far you’ve come and your progress. 

Conclusion

Getting good at poker can appear a daunting challenge at first. However, you can become that professional you’ve always dreamed of with patience and consistency.

Focus on one thing at a time. An overload of information does more harm than good. You’ll progress faster when you take things a step at a time than when you’re trying to learn everything at once.

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One of the Premier League’s most-sought-after stars has now made Liverpool his No.1 choice ahead of Manchester City, according to recent reports.

Liverpool have "moved on" from Salah saga, says Slot

It’s an important few weeks for Liverpool, who will get a glimpse into life without Mohamed Salah as he sets off to represent Egypt at AFCON, and get the chance to right their transfer wrongs in the January transfer window.

The Reds proved their spending power in the summer, smashing their transfer record twice to welcome Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. As things stand, however, they’ve got just one Premier League goal between them and Liverpool sit as low as seventh despite their stunning spending spree.

Nobody saw it coming. Everything that could have gone wrong has done for Arne Slot so far this season, from Isak’s struggles to his public fall-out with Salah which Liverpool have now “moved on” from.

Amid the chaos, the January transfer window represents the chance for Liverpool to fix their glaring problems. They’ve certainly got the spending power to do so, as shown in the summer, and should commence their winter shopping by finally welcoming Marc Guehi.

Related Semenyo clone: Liverpool have a young star who's more exciting than Ngumoha

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Posts ByAngus Sinclair

The Reds could ease any nerves by paying a premium fee to Crystal Palace before Guehi’s contract expires in the summer and several clubs chase his signature as a free agent.

Similarly, those at Anfield also reportedly have the chance to sign Antoine Semenyo ahead of several rivals following the latest update about his January preference.

Semenyo makes Liverpool decision after Hughes call

According to The Guardian’s Jamie Jackson, Semenyo now wants to join Liverpool over Man City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window.

The Bournemouth star, who has a release clause worth £65m, looks destined to leave the Cherries next month and Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes has already reportedly called the winger ahead of a potential move to Anfield.

Some may argue that the last thing Liverpool need is another attacking star, but as shaky as their backline has been, their new-look frontline is yet to click. The addition of Semenyo, especially as Salah’s future remains in question, could change that.

PL stats 25/26

Semenyo

Salah

Minutes

1,349

1,183

Goals

7

4

Assists

3

3

Expected Goals

5.3

4.5

Replacing Salah, even as he struggles to reach top form, will be no easy task for Liverpool. Alas, in Semenyo, they may have identified the goalscoring winger who could do exactly that.

Subscribe to the newsletter for inside transfer analysis Want deeper Premier League and Liverpool transfer coverage? Subscribe to our newsletter for detailed analysis, transfer tracking and tactical insight on targets like Semenyo and Salah – focused coverage to keep you informed. Subscribe Subscribe to the newsletter for inside transfer analysis Want deeper Premier League and Liverpool transfer coverage? Subscribe to our newsletter for detailed analysis, transfer tracking and tactical insight on targets like Semenyo and Salah – focused coverage to keep you informed.

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As those at Anfield know first-hand, the 25-year-old is clinical in front of goal and could become the second star that Hughes welcomes from his former club in the space of six months.

Tottenham Hotspur aren’t in a fantastic spot at the start of the Christmas period. Thomas Frank’s side have been inconsistent in the Premier League, only winning six of 17 matches, and thus, languish in 13th place.

This is actually an improvement on last year under Ange Postecoglou’s wing, with the Europa League-winning manager’s single-track-minded attack on the continental front coming at the expense of any kind of fluency in England.

Frank has been under-fire for much of his tenure this season, but Spurs have been through many head coaches in recent years, and the reins must not be taken from him until he has had long enough to build a lasting project.

Where, then, are the Lilywhites meant to go? Well, there’s no question that Frank needs more leadership from his key personnel, and the recent loss to Liverpool raises the question as to whether Cristian Romero is the best fit to wear the armband.

Why Romero may not be the best fit as captain

Romero was aggrieved when Hugo Ekitike’s goal was allowed to stand. The Argentina centre-back felt he had been shoved by the 23-year-old striker, and his every movement was trailed by a haze of red mist thereafter.

He was a ticking time bomb, and journalist Alex Crook even went down the incendiary route of labelling the 27-year-old as representing “all that’s wrong with Tottenham”.

That’s somewhat harsh, as was the follow-up that the skipper is an “absolute liability”. However, there is a truth in there, with Romero lacking the composure and subsequent calming effect on his teammates.

Heung-min Son led Spurs to a trophy, ending the club’s interminable drought. Romero, perhaps, was the wrong man to don the armband after him, but Spurs do actually have a Romero upgrade cutting his teeth who may replace him in more ways than one down the line.

Spurs already have a Romero upgrade

The likes of Kevin Danso and Ben Davies make up numbers in the Tottenham senior squad, but neither of them is good enough to cement regular starting berths under Frank’s wing.

However, with time and care and determination, Luka Vuskovic has what it takes to become a superstar down N17, a defender with the potential to leap past Romero and Micky van de Ven.

Aside from the fact that he’s an elite prospect, Vuskovic has also been hailed as a “monster defender” and a “natural leader” by analyst Daniel Scouting, and his performances on loan in the Bundesliga with Hamburger SV have showcased his capacity to succeed in the Premier League.

His metrics already show him to have similarities and perhaps even gains on someone like Romero, winning an obscene amount of duels despite his youth.

League Stats 25/26 – Romero vs Vuskovic

Stats (* per game)

Romero

Vuskovic

Matches (starts)

14 (13)

13 (13)

Goals + Assists

2 + 1

2 + 0

Touches*

65.2

77.9

Accurate passes*

45.1 (88%)

50.2 (85%)

Chances created*

0.3

0.6

Recoveries*

3.6

4.1

Tackles + interceptions*

3.8

1.8

Clearances*

4.2

8.5

Duels (won)*

5.6 (64%)

7.5 (70%)

Errors made

2

2

Data via Sofascore

He has the trappings of a colossal, world-class centre-back. Vuskovic is only 18. He truly has everything he needs to become a Premier League sensation, perhaps emulating Son before him in becoming a stalwart captain for Spurs. A “freak talent”, as he has been called by analyst Ben Mattinson, the sky is the limit for this talented teenager.

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Son left the club during the summer, and it’s probably fair to say that Romero has not quite matched his influence in terms of influence as a captain, with his recent red card evidence of that.

Vuskovic is only young, but he could go from strength to strength not as a formidable defender but an all-inspiring leader besides. A future captain. After all, content creator Fiago has even claimed he’s “the best 18-year-old center back I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Vuskovic certainly has the skills, aggression and confidence to rival the likes of Romero in the future, and his natural-born leadership could see him prove an upgrade on a ferocious Argentine who is thwarted by his own recklessness and hot-headedness.

Related Best striker since Kane: Spurs prepare move to sign £63m Premier League star

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Posts 1 ByEthan Lamb

I think it can be generally assumed that most football clubs like to get their transfer business out of the way as early in the window as possible. For one, most managers like to know what they have at the start of pre-season training and then they can get to work on things fairly quickly on the training pitch, on tactics and organisation, rather than worrying about outgoings and in-goings.

Manchester United have certainly got their business out of the way early, with the signings of David de Gea , Phil Jones and Ashley Young, and although Liverpool started off well with the signing of Jordan Henderson , since that good start the Reds have been left frustrated in their transfer dealings.

Of course it is not the end of the world that the squad for the upcoming season is not really in place as pre-season begins, as there is the best part of two months to bring in new faces, but it could be said that it is something of a hindrance that you have many in the squad currently who will (hopefully) not be at the club by the 1st September. Another frustration is that negotiations on new players coming in will be taking place later on in the window when the Reds should be focused on preparing for matches in August. Ideal preparation is key for a new season and a few things are frustrating this from happening at the moment.

One thing is very clear; there is a lot of dead-wood in the squad at the moment and there are too many players who look to be surplus to requirements. Philipp Degen , Emiliano Insua , Nabil El Zhar, Christian Poulsen, Joe Cole , Paul Konchesky , David Ngog , Brad Jones and Milan Jovanovic are just some of the names tipped for departure this summer, but the lack of bids for these players so far has been concerning as it is crucial to get these players off our wage bill to free up funds.

FSG is unlikely to authorise big transfer fees and allow sizeable salaries if these players are not removed. Although the Reds are possibly still bidding for a fair few players, the matter maybe concerning if the Reds lose out on potential signings if the club refuses to go beyond certain transfer fees or certain wage limits because of the amount of dead-wood which is currently at the club. Two apparent transfer targets Connor Wickham and Gael Clichy have slipped through our fingers perhaps because of the constraints caused by this.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m in full support of FSG’s sensible financial strategy. Paying over the odds in wages to players such as Doni could not be condoned. Also, there is no way you could justify spending £10million on Charlie Adam and £19million on Stewart Downing.

Making sure we could the right players must be a priority this summer but I feel the more urgent matter at the moment is to get these players off the wage bill, and fast.

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Read more of David’s articles at Live4Liverpool

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S Vidyut scored an unbeaten century to help Haryana to a draw againstPunjab in their Ranji Trophy league match at Gurgaon on Tuesday.Unbeaten on 23 overnight, Vidyut made 105 off 143 balls with littlesupport from other batsmen, spurring his side to an unforseen secondinnings total of 309. For Punjab, Sandeep Sanwal picked 3-67.Set a target of 196 runs to win, Punjab lost quick wickets in themiddle to put all thoughts of an outright win right out of theirminds. Although Ravneet Ricky made unbeaten 41 off 62 and Yuvraj Singhslammed 24 off 27, three wickets fell within the space of 12 runs,forcing the batsmen to opt for a draw. 108/5 at the close of play,Punjab picked up five points from this encounter, while Haryana pickedup three.

Live scorecard

	Tillakaratne Dilshan remained calm to lead the Sri Lankans to a four-wicket win against the Prime Minister’s XI © Getty Images

Australia’s depth is being closely analysed in the wake of another international retirement and the next tier did not do much to ease the immediate worries as the Sri Lankans defeated the Prime Minister’s XI by four wickets. The visiting bowlers floored some of Australia’s best emerging talent for 152 in 38 overs on a springy pitch before Tillakaratne Dilshan guided them past a handful of mid-innings setbacks.The Sri Lankans were easing towards the target until Sanath Jayasuriya fell for 43 and they became slightly anxious about the small total when they lost six wickets by the time they reached 134. Jayasuriya, who struck six boundaries in his 48-ball stay, survived two tight lbw decisions off Ashley Noffke before scooping Doug Bollinger to Phillip Hughes at point.Ben Hilfenhaus will join Noffke in Australia’s Twenty20 side on Friday and he worked himself into form with the wickets of Kumar Sangakkara, who was lbw to a fine inswinger, and Mahela Jayawardene. Jayawardene also fell for 1 and edged another moving delivery to Cameron White at wide first slip. White, the captain, stepped in to take care of Chamara Silva (7) and Chamara Kapugedera (3) before Dilshan secured the victory in the 32nd over.Dilshan’s unbeaten 75 was well paced and his 83-ball contribution contained eight fours and a six that finished the match. The innings continued the strong work done by his bowling team-mates against an order that was desperate to impress the national selectors.The Prime Minister’s XI started well when Shaun Marsh and Luke Ronchi combined for a 49-run opening stand, but they lost 8 for 66 and had to rely on a late rally from Noffke and Bollinger. Marsh, who scored 25, started the slide by edging to the cordon, a similar dismissal to those of Luke Pomersbach and Hughes, before Ronchi misjudged a drive to mid-off on 26.White missed a searing full delivery from Lasith Malinga and David Hussey had cruised to 23 when he played on to Farveez Maharoof, leaving the team at 6 for 97. A minor recovery was started by Noffke and Bollinger (11), but wickets continued to fall regularly and Noffke was the last out when yorked by Malinga for 30.Malinga, the Man of the Match, finished with 3 for 33 off nine overs while Maharoof picked up 3 for 37 off eight. The Sri Lankans have another warm-up against Tasmania on Saturday before opening their CB Series campaign against India in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Usman Khawaja has been confirmed as the new captain of Queensland for the 2015-16 season. Khawaja will replace allrounder James Hopes, who stepped down from the captaincy at the end of last summer, and will form a fresh leadership combination for the state with coach Phil Jaques, who was appointed in May.”Usman has shown his class and ability on numerous occasions on the field since moving to Queensland a few seasons ago, but he has also demonstrated his maturity and vision to many of us away from the playing arena,” Queensland Cricket chairman Jim Holding said. “He is an impressive thinker about the game and we feel that he commands the respect of the group through his words and deeds.”Khawaja, now 28, moved to Queensland from New South Wales during the 2012 off-season, and has played nine Tests and three ODIs for Australia. He is currently captaining Australia A on their tour of India. He said he was happy that his predecessor, Hopes, would stay on at Queensland.”Hopesy has been a legend for Queensland and I’m pleased he is playing on,” Khawaja said. “One of the things I will be looking forward to this summer is walking out with him when he plays his 100th game for the Bulls this season as I know how much he has devoted to the game here.”I’m greatly honoured to be appointed Queensland captain, as I know how much the Bulls mean to the fans around the state. I will be out to do my best to continue to work with the rest of the players to make us successful. We have a lot of guys in the squad who are poised to make a big impact in Australian cricket and one of our collective goals will be to work hard to ensure we are ready when opportunities arise.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmesh Yadav dismissed Angelo Mathews with the first ball of the day•Associated Press

It had been more than a year since India last won a Test match, at Lord’s in 2014, but the final lap of their long wait zipped past quicker than anyone would have expected. Seven balls after lunch on the fifth day, Dushmantha Chameera padded up to an Amit Mishra googly. Mishra spun around in appeal; Rod Tucker’s finger went up immediately.With that, the series was level. Sri Lanka had lost their last eight wickets for 62 runs. Worryingly, for a side that is losing perhaps its greatest-ever batsman to retirement, the collapse only continued a trend: they had lost their last seven wickets for 65 runs in the first innings.If there were any furrows on Virat Kohli’s brow while he chased his first win as India’s Test captain, they weren’t caused by a Sri Lankan batsman. If they appeared at all, they did so only when rain fell with the last pair at the crease to bring the covers onto the field and hasten the lunch break by 10 minutes.For the second time in the match, India’s attack refused to release the pressure on the batsmen. R Ashwin, who had taken the first two Sri Lankan wickets on the fourth evening, picked up his 12th five-for in Test cricket, but the other three specialist bowlers contributed significantly as well.Angelo Mathews, first-innings centurion and 23 overnight, loomed as the biggest obstacle in India’s path to victory, but they saw his back at the earliest possible moment. Umesh Yadav had troubled him right through the first innings, opening him up constantly with his away movement from a good length. But while he had survived those deliveries by playing inside the line, his hands followed the ball this time, and KL Rahul dived to his right to pouch him behind the stumps.Amit Mishra was the next bowler to get on the scorecard. Dinesh Chandimal had made 15 in his usual manner, which spans the spectrum from busy to edgy, before the legspinner’s drift undid him. Shaping to sweep, he ended up playing down the wrong line as the ball swerved down the leg side and turned sharply to hit leg and middle stumps.Lahiru Thirimanne had looked entirely at sea against Ashwin. In the 12th over of the morning, he beat him twice with his offbreak – once when the batsman was on the back foot, with a slow, loopy delivery; once on the front foot with a quicker, flatter ball that turned just as much – and nearly had him lbw when he played back to his arm ball. He wouldn’t be denied for too much longer. In his next over, Thirimanne stepped out to Ashwin, didn’t get to the pitch of the ball, closed his face too early, and popped a catch to silly point.Ishant Sharma was the next Indian bowler on the scorecard. He had jagged one back four overs ago to hit Dimuth Karunaratne’s pad – height saved the batsman – and that may have prompted Jehan Mubarak to poke nervously at a ball angling away from him. Virat Kohli, standing a couple of steps closer than normal at second slip, took a good low catch.Karunaratne had struggled against Ashwin all through the fourth evening, but having survived that spell was looking likely to carry his bat – particularly when Dhammika Prasad, the most capable of the tailenders, holed out slogging at Ashwin. That didn’t materialise, however, as he went back to another of Ashwin’s arm balls, misreading the length of it. It hurried through and bowled him off the pad.The end looked near when Mishra had Tharindu Kaushal – who had been bruised on the glove by an Umesh bouncer in the previous over – lbw with a googly. It could have been all over next ball, when Dushmantha Chameera prodded forward uncertainly to another wrong ‘un, but this time umpire Rod Tucker judged that the ball may have missed leg stump.A drizzle had already begun, and intensified rapidly over the first three balls of the next over. Off went the players, and on came the covers. India would have to wait just a little longer.

There was an almost apologetic look on Misbah-ul-Haq’s face when he won his second toss of the series. As if to say, ‘sorry, Alastair, but you know what’s coming’. And there certainly was a case of déjà vu.The close-of-play score – 282 for 4 – was remarkably similar to last week’s at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium when Pakistan finished on 286 for 4, and there was even a sense of having seen it all before in the way Misbah disdainfully raced to his hundred in the final over.There is an expectation that this surface will deteriorate more rapidly than Abu Dhabi, which offered virtually nothing until the penultimate session of the match, so having first use was seen as a major coup, especially with Yasir Shah back in Pakistan’s ranks. Yet, despite Misbah’s hundred, England reached the close knowing they remain firmly in the contest after the bowling attack strained every sinew.An opening stand of 51 was countered by two pieces of sharp work at short leg from Jonny Bairstow. Then Shan Masood’s elegant fifty was snuffed out straight after lunch – both he and Mohammad Hafeez fell to that notorious helping hand, the break in play – and Younis Khan was extracted before his partnership with Misbah could swell to vast proportions. The final hour swung the day, but not the match.As on the first day in Abu Dhabi, there was a stark contrast between pace and spin: the four quicks compiled 57-16-138-3 and the two spinners 33-4-142-1. The value of having six frontline bowlers was again on display from Alastair Cook. He did not have to over-expose Adil Rashid or over-burden any of his quicks.The heaviest workload of the day went to Moeen Ali with 20 overs. He was introduced in just the eighth over and was also the man to feel the force of Misbah in the last, while the tireless James Anderson was the hardest-worked of the quicks, with 16 overs stretched across four spells. However, it was the effort of Mark Wood that was most notable – with a worthy nod to Ben Stokes who was still recovering from the effects of a stomach bug – even though his wicket tally remains limited.”It’s three or four overs as a bowler and then you are off and then the next guy has to back that up,” Wood said. “It’s no good, say, Jimmy putting in a great three overs and I come on and let the pressure off. I think that’s why we all look out for each other and are quite a close unit. You sort of have that badge of honour in these conditions, you know you’ve put a hard shift in and done it for the team.Mark Wood grabbed the key wicket of Younis Khan in a fine spell after tea•Getty Images

“I think the pitch is a little more skiddy than [Abu Dhabi], this comes onto the bat a little bit better. As a seam group I think we did our job, we set traps and tried different things. They attacked the spinners but I don’t think they bowled badly.”In Wood’s case, how his body reacts to back-to-back Tests is always the focus of attention. Against New Zealand, at Headingley, he laboured after his debut the week before; against Australia at Lord’s he struggled after impressing in Cardiff – and those matches were not in 35-degree heat. In Abu Dhabi he sent down 29 overs in the match, comparable to the other quicks but not a huge workload.Still, the strain needs to be carefully monitored; if he plays all three Tests in this series that will be above expectation. Wood does not hide his concerns, he has been happy to talk about them in the past, conceding surgery made be needed on his ankle eventually. Still, as a player deemed worthy of selection Wood can’t then expect special protection. Besides, it’s not in his nature to hold anything back.Each spell was full of hostility. In his first burst he attempted to unsettle Masood, who had not played the short ball at all well during his brief pair of innings in Abu Dhabi; then in his second spell, Wood twice stuck Misbah on the shoulder and the back of the helmet as the Pakistan captain turned his head away from short deliveries.What must go through the mind of a fast bowler, on these pitches, when the captain asks for a spell of bouncers? There was, however, a modicum of extra carry compared to last week and Wood threw his all into trying to make the most of it.”I tried to make more aggressive use of the short ball,” Wood said. “With my height, in these conditions, it tends not to go over them very much, it’s always at them, so I can use that to my advantage. But they played it pretty well, I know I hit Misbah a couple of times but he’s still out there and has a hundred so I’ll have to try again tomorrow.”After tea Wood produced an outstanding spell of 4-2-3-1; between him and Moeen the first 17 balls of the final session were dots, the 18th brought the wicket of Younis who was set solid on 56. A leg-side catch it may have been, but it is worth noting the build-up in the over – the third ball, a short delivery, made Younis flinch out of the line and the next he was beaten playing a flat-footed drive. Younis, a batsman enjoying the prime of his career late on, had been unsettled on a flat pitch.Next over, Wood gave Asad Shafiq a testing time, zipping one past the outside edge and then creating a nick which landed short of gully. In the fourth over of his spell he pummelled Misbah’s gloves with a rising delivery and nipped another past the outside edge. On another day, Wood could easily have had more reward. But although both batsmen survived, he had left nothing in the shed, or should that be the stable. Wood’s own horse may be imaginary, but England’s most certainly has not bolted.

ScorecardVirender Sehwag scored a half-century against his former team-mates•PTI

Manan Sharma harbours no illusion about being a deceptive left-arm spinner, but he can be pretty accurate even with a slightly round-arm action. His five wickets in the first innings were the result of staying wicket-to-wicket, he said, and not letting batsmen score easy runs on a slow Feroz Shah Kotla pitch with no disconcerting bounce. The odd ball stayed low, but defence-minded batsmen were not easy to dislodge. In the second innings, led by Virender Sehwag’s 51, Haryana, who had fallen behind by 42 in the first innings, brought resolute defence to play. But Manan was more persistent and patient, and kept bowling wicket-to-wicket until he had six of them to leave Delhi a manageable target of 224.This was an important effort from Manan with Ishant Sharma off the field with an injury he acquired during the warm-ups before the start of the day’s play. Parvinder Awana was reduced to bowling round-arm on a pitch with little bounce to work with, and Pradeep Sangwan’s aggression brought only two wickets. Manan, though, bowled 40.4 overs out of 93.4, including 30.4 that were non-stop except for a change of ends. He delivered the first over of Haryana’s innings, took the wicket of Sehwag among his six, and ended up with his maiden 10-wicket match haul.Delhi’s batting is uncertain after the openers, but their openers – Gautam Gambhir and Unmukt Chand – managed to give another brisk start to a chase after knocking off 95 in 14 overs in the last match. Chand hit Harshal Patel for two fours in the first over here, Gambhir repeated the treatment to offspinner Jayant Yadav, who opened the bowling, and Delhi were on their way again.The last time runs were scored so easily in this match was when Sehwag and Sachin Rana batted in the first session of the day. Haryana, effectively at 26 for 2, must have been buoyed by the absence of Ishant, but lost Himanshu Rana in the first over of the day to Awana. Sehwag and Sachin, names that might make fans go nostalgic, added 50 for the fourth wicket. As has become the habit with Sehwag nowadays he turned back the clock briefly, punching through cover, cutting hard, driving through mid-on, and offering solid defence when not doing so. Sachin stepped out and hit Manan for two sixes over long-on.Manan, though, soldiered on and got Sehwag eventually. After the first innings he said his plan when bowling to Sehwag was to not provide any room. This time, Sehwag went back to a ball not short enough, and crucially, with no room and edged the intended late-cut to slip. Gambhir took the catch. Sachin then repeated the mistake; he stayed back to Manan and was caught right in front.The rest of the Haryana batting line-up offered resistance. The partnership for the fifth wicket was worth 61, the seventh wicket 23, and the eighth 31, suggesting a pitch that had got easier to bat on, but Manan kept pegging away and ended the innings. There were three dropped catches, but none of them cost too much. That the surface had become easier to bat on was confirmed when Chand came out hitting hard, ending the day with a six over long-on.