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During his latest press conference, Wolves manager Bruno Lage denied rumours suggesting that the club had made an offer for Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos.

The Lowdown: Ramos rumours

According to a report by newspaper Jornal de Notícias (via Sport Witness), the Old Gold are one of the Premier League clubs interested in signing the 21-year-old forward.

Wolves reportedly join the likes of  Newcastle, Southampton, Everton and Leeds in the race to secure Ramos’ signature.

The Portugal under-21 international is in strong demand after netting four goals in three Champions League qualifiers this season.

The Latest: Lage’s comments

Contrary to reports, Lage has dismissed the rumours linking Wolves with an offer for the Benfica striker.

Speaking during Friday’s press conference, the 46-year-old claimed (as quoted by The Athletic): “We’re still looking for a striker. In the last few days I have received so many messages about (Ramos).

“People send me videos on Portuguese TV that I call the player and Wolves make the offer, but I didn’t talk with him. I ask my chairman and no offer for him.

“Of course, who doesn’t want to have this kind of player, but we have our own profile and we have more targets for that position.”

The Verdict: Sign him up

While Liverpool summer signing Darwin Nunez was the main goal threat for Benfica last season, having impressively netted 26 times in the league, Ramos was still able to contribute seven goals and two assists.

The 21-year-old averaged 1.9 shots and 0.8 key passes and dribbles per game last term (via WhoScored), illustrating his importance to the Portuguese giants as their second striker.

Last year, football talent scout Jacek Kulig hailed Ramos’ 14 goals over a period of nine Benfica B appearances as ‘outrageous’, highlighting the player’s clinical nature in front of goal.

Therefore, if Wolves do end up making a move for the striker, he could be a great addition to Lage’s goal-shy squad.

Leeds United employee Noel Whelan has been reacting to what he’s heard on Patrick Bamford’s latest injury, as per Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Bamford injured

The England international endured an injury-hit 2021/22 season, with ankle, hamstring and foot issues limiting him to just seven Premier League starts.

The 28-year-old suffered his first injury problem of 2022/23 against Southampton last Saturday when he was forced off with an abductor problem.

Bamford, who has begun the season as captain in Liam Cooper’s absence, was replaced by Dan James at St Mary’s, although Jesse Marsch confirmed after the game that the striker’s injury is “not bad” and claimed that he could be back in training before the match against Chelsea this coming Sunday.

The Latest: Whelan’s comments

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan was reacting to the update on Bamford’s problem not being too serious, describing it as a ‘massive’ boost for Leeds.

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The Elland Road ambassador said:

“We don’t want to be missing Patrick – he’s the captain by rights at the moment.

“He gives us a different dimension when he’s playing. We’ve got that focal point that allows Rodrigo to take up good positions and allows Jack Harrison to push further forward.

“He’s very important to this side, so to hear that he’s back in training soon and it’s not a serious injury – it’s massive.

“This might be a season where he needs time to rest and recover a bit more. He’s just come back from a really horrible season filled with injuries.”

The Verdict: Phew…

Joe Gelhardt didn’t travel to Southampton due to an issue of his own, highlighting Leeds’ lack of depth in attack, so having Bamford out for the foreseeable future would’ve been a major blow, not least because of the 19 Premier League goals that he has scored since the Whites returned to the top flight two years ago.

While it looks as if he could feature on Sunday, it could still be wise for the Leeds hierarchy to explore a new signing in the final third before the September 1 deadline.

Hopefully Bamford will avoid any serious injury issues this term, but as Whelan mentions, the club may need to be especially careful with him as the season goes on given the troubles of 2021/22.

Wolves didn’t give their fans too many goals to celebrate during the 2021/22 Premier League season, as the Old Gold only found the net 38 times, one for every league match that they played throughout the campaign.

One player on whom the Midlands club were reliant to fire in the goals for Bruno Lage’s team was Raul Jimenez.

Despite only finding the net six times in total throughout the season, the Mexican still ended the campaign as Wolves’ top scorer in the league.

With only two other players in the squad being older than the striker, and with Fabio Silva being shipped out to Anderlecht to spend the season on loan in Belgium, the remaining weeks of the summer transfer window could be the perfect time for the Old Gold to bring in a suitable long-term heir for Jimenez.

One player who has been linked with a move to Molineux and who could fit this particular bill is Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos.

Having made 114 appearances for the Portuguese club across their senior and youth teams, the 21-year-old has scored 41 goals and delivered 13 assists in the process.

This backs up why he was previously described as being “incredibly prolific” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig on Twitter.

To further highlight his goalscoring prowess, only Darwin Nunez racked up more shots at goal and more shots on target than Ramos among Benfica’s squad in the Portuguese league last season.

With Wolves showing with Jimenez how beneficial it can be to sign players from Portugal, specifically Benfica, securing a deal for the 21-year-old could be a great bit of prospective business from the Midlands club this summer.

In terms of a potential move for the young attacker, the fact that the current Wolves striker has recently suffered a knee injury which could keep him out of action for the first eight matches of the Premier League season could push the club to launch a move for Ramos.

Given Wolves’ situation regarding their lack of goals last season, making a move to sign the Benfica marksman should be at the top of the club’s priority list before the transfer window closes.

AND in other news – “Most likely..”: Steve Madeley drops Wolves transfer update that supporters will love

Tottenham Hotspur and sporting director Fabio Paratici by extension have made a ‘new’ offer to sign Roma playmaker Nicolo Zaniolo this summer, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Spurs making history?

Over the course of this exciting and hectic 2022 transfer window, it’s difficult to re-call a busier period in terms of incomings for Spurs supporters.

Lilywhites head coach Antonio Conte, after he sealed Champions League qualification last season, has been backed over this market with the signings of Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, Clement Lenglet (loan) and Djed Spence.

The Italian must be satisfied with his club’s efforts so far as he gears up for a first full Premier League season in charge of the north Londoners, yet recent claims from his homeland suggest he won’t be resting on his laurels.

The Latest: Paratici makes ‘new’ Zaniolo offer…

Indeed, according to reports, Paratici and Spurs have made a ‘new’ offer to sign target Zaniolo.

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Calciomercato.it and reporter Maurizio Russo claim they have ‘proposed’ a player-plus-cash offer of around €29m (£25m) and defender Joe Rodon in exchange for the 23-year-old.

However, Roma have already replied with a no, insisting that they will only accept straight money bids.

The Verdict: Keep pushing?

Depending on the asking price for Zaniolo, it may well be worth another attempt to sit down and find middle ground the Serie A giants.

Italian football critic Carlo Garganese has called the 6 foot 3 midfield maestro a ‘beast’ and his verdict is backed by some brilliant numbers over 2021/2022.

As per WhoScored, Zaniolo stood out as one of Roma’s most threatening players last season – completing more dribbles per 90 than any of his teammates whilst also attracting the highest number of fouls.

He can be a very tricky opponent for defenders and a potential asset for Conte at N17.

Crystal Palace are after recently relegated Burnley winger Dwight McNeil in an attempt to bolster their attacking options.

What’s the word?

That’s according to The Sun, who claim that Patrick Vieira has joined the race for the former Premier League star.

The Clarets would not be willing to part with their main man for any less than £10m, which is currently what the interested clubs are willing to pay.

It is thought to be a straight battle between Palace and West Ham to land this tricky attacker.

Imagine him and Zaha

Wilfried Zaha has been a fan favourite at Selhurst Park for some time now, with the skilful winger sticking with Palace despite many claiming he could have played well above that level.

Now it seems that a youthful exuberance has washed over them, and the Ivory Coast international is now surrounded by a squad brimming with talent, courtesy of Patrick Vieira.

One player who could add to this abundance of ability is McNeil, who was relegated last season with Burnley.

Although he went an entire Premier League season without scoring last year, he did manage to appear in all 38 league games.

Across that season he did manage to maintain a 7.03 average SofaScore rating, suggesting that even though the statistics do not back up his ability, he was still one of Burnley’s better performers.

In fact, his rating was only bettered by three centre-backs amongst his teammates.

Sean Dyche has been full of praise for him throughout his Clarets career, and had the following to say after McNeil’s performance had steered them to victory back in late 2019.

He labelled him “fantastic”, claiming “he’s a real talent.”

Dyche continued: “He’s a really good player, he’s improving, his calmness at the end – I’m saying get it in the corner – but he cuts in, and his calmness to cross it into a dangerous area, and then gets his reward.”

Palace are stacked with forward-thinking attackers full of flair, but in McNeil they would get a grafter who could offer a different dynamic for their side.

He ranks in the 99th percentile for blocks, the 98th percentile for interceptions and the 88th percentile for tackles per 90, outlining him as a defensive asset as well as possessing the capability to attack.

With Zaha given the creativity to attack and allowing McNeil to deal with the defensive side, it could further unlock the skilful 29-year-old and see his Palace career further catapulted to legend status.

AND, in other news: Vieira can unearth his next Gallagher as Palace plot bid for “sensational” £20m talent.

An update has emerged on Newcastle United and their reported pursuit of Lucas Paqueta in the summer transfer window… 

What’s the talk?

The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards has confirmed that the club are not interested in a deal to bring the Brazil international to St. James’ Park ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

He Tweeted: “#nufc are not looking to sign Lucas Paqueta from Lyon, contrary to rumours being spread on here and elsewhere. He is recognised as a talented player but not someone they need at the moment. More transfer updates on Botman and Ekitike to follow on @TeleFootball shortly.”

This comes as a twist after it was reported, last month, that the club were ready to swoop for Bruno Guimaraes’ former teammate.

Supporters will be gutted

Edwards’ transfer twist will leave Toon supporters gutted as Paqueta, on paper, would be an excellent addition to the team.

Eddie Howe would surely love to have a player of his quality in his squad as the 25-year-old has proven his ability at the top level in Ligue 1.

In the 2021/22 campaign, the gem produced nine goals and six assists from midfield whilst averaging a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.13. This shows that he has the talent to make things happen in the final third whilst maintaining a high level with his performance week-in-week-out.

His displays are not a flash in the pan, either, as he caught the eye in his debut season for Lyon – averaging a rating of 7.17 as he scored ten goals and assisted five in Ligue 1. He is a consistent player who has proven that he has the tools required to be a top player in a major European league.

On top of that, he also has a pre-existing relationship with Guimaraes because they played alongside each other at Lyon and both play for Brazil at international level. This means that he would have had a smooth transition into life at the club, which could have helped him to hit the ground running in England.

Alas, the Magpies clearly feel that other positions are more of a priority at this moment in time. Hopefully, they will re-visit a potential move for him in a future window if they are in need of a midfielder as, for the aforementioned reasons, he would be a superb signing for Howe.

For now, though, the supporters will be gutted that Paqueta will not be a Newcastle player next season and will be hoping that the other signings the club plan to make will make them forget about the talent.

AND in other news, Decision imminent: Romano drops “serious” update that’ll leave NUFC supporters nervous…

A big update has emerged on Newcastle United’s pursuit of Dean Henderson heading into the summer transfer window…

What’s the talk?

According to 90Min, the Magpies have reached an agreement with the England international over personal terms as they attempt to bring him to St. James’ Park.

The report claims that talks are ongoing with Manchester United over whether the deal would be a permanent one or on loan for the 2022/23 campaign, with a fee in the region of £20m touted.

This comes after Fabrizio Romano revealed that the club have agreed on a fee with Stade Reims for 19-year-old French striker Hugo Ekitike.

He’ll leave Eddie Howe speechless

Forget the Ligue 1 centre-forward for now… the Magpies head coach will be buzzing with a potential deal for Henderson as he would love the shot-stopper to be on Tyneside next season.

The Red Devils gem is an exciting prospect who has the potential to leave Howe speechless with his ability between the sticks.

He is a proven Premier League performer as he has enjoyed two excellent seasons in the top-flight for two different teams. In the 2020/21 campaign – for his parent club – Henderson averaged a superb SofaScore rating of 6.94 in 14 appearances as he saved a whopping 77% of the shots against him.

The ‘keeper also impressed at Bramall Lane on loan, with his former Sheffield United teammate Sander Berge previously showering him in praise, saying: “He’s insane. I’ve never been with such a good goalkeeper. One thing in matches, he is almost a defence alone at times, and you feel so secure with him.

“But people have to see him at training. It’s crazy. He saves balls from one yard. Sometimes I am completely speechless by how good he is. It’s like having two goalkeepers in goal with him. He’s awesome.”

In the 2020/21 campaign for Chris Wilder’s side, Henderson averaged a sublime score of 7.00 and saved 75% of the shots against him as he kept 13 clean sheets in 36 games.

His statistics are outstanding and Berge’s inside insight backs up that the Englishman is a top-quality goalkeeper, whilst he still has plenty of time left to develop at the age of 25.

He can be a player Howe works with at Newcastle for a number of seasons, given his quality and age, and that is why he would love to work with him.

Hopefully, PIF and Dan Ashworth can now reach an agreement with Manchester United to make this a permanent move so that Henderson can make the Toon head coach speechless with his stunning displays between the sticks for many years to come.

AND in other news, “In talks…”: Fabrizio Romano delivers NUFC transfer claim that’ll delight supporters…

Clubs will be looking to snap up triumphant Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou this summer with his contract running out, according to regular talkSPORT pundit Danny Mills.

The Lowdown: Postecoglou’s first season at Celtic

The Australian replaced Neil Lennon as Hoops manager last summer and he has made an incredible impact, winning the Premiership title at his first attempt.

Postecoglou has become an instant hero at Parkhead, with his personality shining through and his brilliance as a manager not going unnoticed by supporters.

However, his current contract expires at the end of May, having only signed a rolling one-year deal.

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The Latest: Mills discusses possible Postecoglou exit

Speaking to Football Insider, Mills claimed that there would be interest from other clubs if Celtic fail to tie down Postecoglou’s future. He outlined:

“With a 12-month running contract there will be other teams looking at him and thinking ‘Hang on, where else can he do it?’

“He’s effectively out of contract so clubs can get him in relatively cheaply. They should try and tie him down. He’s proved what he can do.

“He brought in players who he knew which is vitally important. There were a few raised eyebrows to start with where people weren’t sure about the players from the J-League and questioned whether it was going to work. They’ve been sensational.

“He’s done it on a reasonable budget as well so other clubs will be looking and thinking ‘Oh, we’ll have this guy’. I think Celtic would be wise to tie him down for a couple of seasons at least.”

The Verdict: Surely he stays?

It would be devastating for Celtic to lose Postecoglou after just one year, having made such a massive impact in the space of just 12 months in charge.

The 56-year-old is surely happy at the club, as illustrated by his emotional speech amid Saturday’s Premiership trophy celebrations, and a new contract offer must come his way in the next few weeks, when hopefully it will just be a case of all parties agreeing on it.

It would be a huge shock, and indeed a massive blow, if Postecoglou suddenly goes elsewhere, and Celtic will certainly be playing a risky game if they allow the uncertainty to drift on for much longer.

In other news, a pundit has predicted a Celtic signing coming to fruition. Read more here.

He is by no means the finished product but has shown what New Zealand can expect should they keep the faith

Alagappan Muthu14-Dec-2018The young Henry Nicholls was a savvy little lad. He knew the way to have fun in cricket was with a bat in hand. Though he was the youngest of three brothers – the perfect circumstances for the birth a bowler – he wouldn’t budge to peer pressure. He wanted to whack the ball, and nothing could stop him. Not even if it meant breaking character; he was Stephen Fleming whenever they played backyard cricket and his version didn’t nudge and nurdle.”I always liked to think I could hit it like Nathan Astle and some of those right-handers,” Nicholls told ESPNcricinfo. “But yeah, it was pretty special pretending to be those guys, pretending to play for New Zealand in a Test match against Australia and I guess that was the conception of me as a cricketer. Those formative years and it’s pretty cool.”There’s been a drastic change since those carefree days as he began playing on bigger grounds and against kids who wouldn’t be sitting across the table at dinner. The Henry Nicholls of now – a full-grown Blackcap – is rather more appreciative of the struggle.”It’s okay at times to go through a period where you’re not hitting it as well as you can but knowing that the longer you’re out there it’ll happen the other way where you pick up a certain amount of runs in however many overs.”Obviously, you want to feel perfect all the time. But I think my game, especially over the last year or so, is probably about developing a feeling that its okay that bowlers might be bowling very well and beating the bat or whatever, but knowing that I need to do all I can to just be there. To keep control of all I can, in terms of my routine and my mindset and just bat.”Nicholls has done that quite well in 2018: with a 400-run cut-off, there’s only one man averaging more than his 63.57.Getty ImagesThis bit includes a hundred in the first day-night Test in New Zealand, after the entire England side had been bowled out for 58, and another to pave the way for his team’s first series win over Pakistan, away from home, in nearly half a century.ALSO WATCH – The Blackcaps Brothers, a video with Henry and Willy Nicholls from his debut series in 2016The 27-year old left-hander has – per usual – taken his time climbing to the top. Back in 2016, Nicholls fronted up for nine Tests but could only make 315 runs at an average of 24. That wasn’t really good enough for a specialist batsman, least of all one expected to fill the shoes of Brendon McCullum. Only, instead of buckling under the pressure, he concentrated on the one thing in his control: going out to the middle and collecting all the experience he could.”We played a Test against South Africa in Dunedin and I think I only got 15 or 16 or something. But I just felt really good after that knock,” he said. “I think that was a big point for me in terms of moving from four-day to five-day cricket. I didn’t probably get the runs and everyone else would see the scorecard and say, ‘oh you got 15, you failed’ but for me I really thought that if I could play that way for longer, for three, four, five sessions and that would result in a performance that the team needed.”Nicholls struck his maiden Test century in the very next innings, coming in at 21 for 3 and repelling the combined fury of Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. That was only the first step of the journey. One that is still in its initial stages. Thirteen of his 21 Tests have come in the comfort of home. He’s not toured England yet, or even hopped across the ditch to Australia. Those are challenges that make or break a batsman. UAE loomed in much the same manner. Hot weather. Skillful opposition. Slow and low pitches. And a rookie still finding his way.”I’ve always thought of myself as a good player of spin bowling,” Nicholls said. “But the thing is when you face spin in New Zealand, you only have one guy out. So if you block a few balls you can always come out and hit one over the top because it’s not spinning that much. Whereas in the UAE, you face a guy like Yasir Shah, the quickest ever in Test history to 200 wickets and he’s got two or three guys back so you can’t just block-bash.”Nicholls came away from that series averaging 64 against spin, which was possible because he was ready to spend time at the crease. To suffer as balls beat the edge and close-in fielders snarled in anticipation. He faced 717 deliveries across those three Tests against Pakistan – the third-highest behind Kane Williamson and Azhar Ali – 510 of them were from spinners – no one topped that.By virtue of all that effort, he was able to pick Yasir’s flight a little better, coming right forward when it was tossed up, shifting all the way back when it was pushed through, and defending with all his might. The only liberty he gave himself was the use of the sweep shot – he played 44 of them, four times as many as the next man.Nicholls knew batting like that wouldn’t be easy. And it excited him.”It’s not enough to score runs when things are easy and you’re feeling really great but actually to get them when the bowlers are on top and they’re bowling really well and there’s assistance from the wicket. So I guess it’s just being comfortable with whatever those challenges are because what the bowler does and what the wicket does is out of my control. Out of the batsman’s control. So you just put yourself in the best frame of mind and give yourself the best chance to play the next ball.”This willingness to do the difficult things is why Nicholls is important to New Zealand. He is by no means the finished product and he is acutely aware that he has to keep this run going; that he has to contribute to the collective – also known as plan A, stuck to the New Zealand drawing board. Their victories are often the result of little performances coming together. Their bowling attack is the finest example of three people working in perfect harmony. However, their batting seems rather precariously centered around the No. 3 spot.Williamson has carried the burden so beautifully – he has 19 Test centuries in his career, only two have resulted in losses – world-beating teams usually have a few more men backing up their superstar. And if Nicholls can become one of them – alongside Ross Taylor and that indomitable little nugget BJ Watling – there could be a few kids pretending to be him when they’re playing out in the backyard.

Even though the South Africa bowlers were not creating magic when the Sri Lanka batsmen were scoring, Faf du Plessis maybe knew they would win the patience game. And he was right

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth29-Dec-2016Faf du Plessis fell in step with Vernon Philander as he walked back to his mark. Du Plessis did most of the talking, Philander did what seemed to be some explaining. From mid-on, Kyle Abbott was shining the ball. Whether he had a mint in his mouth at the same time was not visible. From mid-off, Keshav Maharaj wore the same overwrought expression he had since just after he dismissed Rangana Herath in the first innings. Actually, it may have got a bit worse after the failed review against Angelo Mathews.

Keshav Maharaj on…

The conditions: The pitch has got better and obviously the ball got softer. That made it a little bit more difficult to bowl with. But that’s what we call investing. With that older ball we try to invest, invest, invest, and hopefully with this new ball we can open up an avenue in the morning. It’s nice to bowl with the wind blowing from left to right as a left-arm spinner, it sort of gets the ball to drift. It’s not the easiest wind to control in terms of bowling, but sometimes it’s nice to have. Especially with the ball not spinning much. So you’ve got the drift to play with.
The declaration: Our declaration came at the right time. If they do chase that it’s going to be a record score and it’s unheard of. We expected partnerships but you’ve got to keep investing and there’ll also be opportunities that arise. We took our opportunities and we got two or three wickets back to back.
The prospect of a long last day: We’re not counting our chickens before they hatch. We’re willing to win in the last session on the final day. If it comes before that, that’s a bonus for us.

Everyone else was rooted to their fielding positions, with a distant gaze in their eyes that could probably mean they were either thinking really hard or wishing they were somewhere else.Maybe, just maybe, with Sri Lanka on 183 for 3, motoring at a rate of over three runs per over and 25 overs still left in the day, they were wondering whether their declaration had come too soon. Maybe, just maybe, whatever comes just before panic was starting to cross their minds.There was no movement on offer even though the easterly was gusting in at almost 40kph and the pitch had not deteriorated enough, except for the footmarks outside the left-hander’s off stump, to really bring Maharaj into play. Kagiso Rabada was down on pace and unusually inconsistent and the captain did not see a reason to turn the match into a science laboratory and himself into a nutty professor. At that stage, he had not called on JP Duminy’s offspin, even though it has been spoken off in respectable allrounder’s terms in the recent past, or Temba Bavuma’s seamers, which were being practised with some precision before the match.Du Plessis demanded more of the same from his frontline bowlers because even though they were not making magic, they were not doing anything too badly either. He trusted that in the patience game, they would probably win out. And he was right.Three overs after the scene of consternation, Rabada was brought back on and banged in a bouncer to Kusal Mendis, who tried to ramp it over the slips but got an edge to de Kock. Mendis’ choice of shot, especially with him having fought his way to 58, is something his great grandchildren will still be searching for the answers too. They may have to join forces with Kusal Perera’s and Dinesh Chandimal’s after they also threw it away.Perera’s came just after Sri Lanka’s best opening stand in South Africa was broken and may end up costing him the No. 3 role but Chandimal’s could cost Sri Lanka a chance at a greater fight. At 225 for 4, with the second new ball less than three overs away, the close of play only half an hour and the memory of being dropped charging down the pitch, fresh in his mind, he danced down and handed Rabada a catch at mid-off.Maharaj deserved the wicket as a reward for what he called the “investment” the attack had decided to put in. Essentially, South Africa knew all they could do was keep bowling, try a few of the standard things – Rabada’s short-ball strategy, a close-in field for the spinner –  and wait for a mistake. It’s not the most attractive kind of cricket to watch unless you find your attraction in watching somebody add a page to their stamp collection, but it is the kind of cricket that pays off and Sri Lanka proved it. Despite not being tied down to any great degree, they made five mistakes too many and played into South Africa’s plans.The hosts’ return almost paid out a bonus when Bruce Oxenford gave Dhananjaya de Silva lbw off Abbott’s first delivery with the second new ball. South Africa were so busy celebrating, they did not even see de Silva call for the review and even then, finished their round of high-fives before turning to look at the big screen. What they saw initially confirmed their suspicions, that the ball had pitched on off and angled back in, but then they watched as the ball-tracking showed the ball missing leg stump.The players remained in their viewing spot long after the graphic had plotted the ball’s path. Abbott had a hand to his mouth, the rest had hands on hips in disbelief. Eventually, they began to move away. Du Plessis was the last to leave, and he did so reluctantly. He did not give himself enough time to fall in step with Abbott, who was on his way back to his mark. Instead, it was Duminy who walked the bowler back. Stephen Cook was shining the ball, nothing visible in this mouth. Maharaj still looked anxious.There are unlikely to be any doubts about whether South Africa scored enough runs or gave themselves enough time. But it is likely they will have to work just as hard to finish the job and they have already proved they are willing to do that.