Utai in Critical Condition After Shooting
Former NRL winger Matt Utai remains in critical condition following a shooting incident outside his residence in Sydney, Australia. The former rugby league star was reportedly shot multiple times.
Will power sees England through at T20 World Cup
They crossed the 200-run mark for the first time in the tournament (202 for 7), but that was made possible through some rearguard action by Will Jacks. The allrounder’s unbeaten 53, in just 22 balls, was in contrast to the struggles of the top-order batters. Jos Buttler and skipper Harry Brook again failed to get going. Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton all got starts, but failed to convert them into anything worthwhile. All this against an attack, which was at best club level.
Monday afternoon’s match against Italy (178) might have been smooth sailing, but it definitely was not the corner that Brook had wished they would turn.
Jacks came onto the crease at 105 for five in the 13th over, with statisticians starting to work on the Group C permutations in case England lost. His 54-run partnership with Sam Curran settled the nerves. And then with Jamie Overton’s support, he made England’s score look daunting enough. Against better bowling attacks, the English batters’ struggles could be further exposed and a saviour like Banton (as against Scotland) or Jacks (as against Italy) might not always be forthcoming. The English bowling attack too was not all that consistent, with pace spearhead Jofra Archer the best example of that. A fiery first over saw him pick up two wickets, giving away just one run. However, by the end of his first spell of three overs, he had conceded 22 runs. Spinners Jacks and Adil Rashid were quite costly.
Ben Manenti (60, 25b, 4x4, 6x6) and Justin Mosca (43, 33b, 7x4), with their Australian upbringing, had some harsh lessons for the English bowlers during their 92-run fourth-wicket stand, aided by some helpful deliveries. Manenti’s dismissal ended whatever resistance they were putting up, although an entertaining 22-ball 45 by Grant Stewart kept the crowd in the stands roaring.
To their credit, the Italians were not over-awed while playing against a full-member nation for the first time in this World Cup. Another one, the West Indies, loom on Thursday.
Brief scores: England 202-7 in 20 overs (Will Jacks 53*, Tom Banton 30; Crishan Kalugamage 2-41, Grant Stewart 2-51) beat Italy 178 all out in 20 overs (Ben Manenti 60, Grant Stewart 45; Jamie Overton 3-18, Sam Curran 3-22) by 24 runs.
Braga frustrated after Ibrox defeat but says title pressure not on Hearts
Claudio Braga admits to being "frustrated by Hearts' defeat to Rangers but says his side are still in pole position in the Premiership and need to keep going.
Hearts led twice at Ibrox on Sunday before falling to a 4-2 defeat that saw both Rangers and Celtic narrow the gap at the top of the table.
Braga, who scored his side's second goal, lamented the defending that cost his side at least a point but is targeting a response when Falkirk visit Tynecastle on Sunday.
"It's frustrating, of course. In the first half, I think we were better.
"We let them control the game and we went on the counter-attack. We were doing a good job on that. Then we lost two cheap goals.
"In the second half, we know that we could do better – also the goals against us. If we did things a little bit different, like one less pass, we would do better.
"It's frustrating but we're still in first place and there are still a lot of games to go. We have a home game now, so we just need to go for that."
Though Hearts have been league leaders for a long stretch of the season, Braga denied there was any extra pressure on the team as they go into the title-run-in, pointing out that it has been decades since a side outside of Glasgow lifted the league trophy.
"No, I don't feel we have that pressure just because it's 40 years now, right? So we're doing something amazing.
"We're proud of the work we're doing. Of course, the more (points) we can get, the better. But the pressure, I think, is normally on the teams that win the league.
"So we have, of course, a good pressure. We just need to enjoy it as much as we can, trying to go to games with a good mentality and win games."
Chance for 'a little bit of sweet revenge' against Man City
Former Newcastle defender John Anderson says the Magpies' FA Cup fifth-round tie against Manchester City will be a chance to get some revenge after their Carabao Cup semi-final defeat.
Newcastle go to the Etihad in the Premier League on Saturday (20:00 GMT) having already faced City three times so far this season. It is also the fifth time in six years they have drawn Pep Guardiola's side in domestic cup competition.
Ando said: "It'll be the fifth meeting. We asked for a home tie and that's what we got, but we were hoping for a lesser side.
"But look, if you're going to win it, you've got to beat them - that's the way it is. Thankfully it's at home - that's the only plus point about it.
"We've already played Manchester City in the semi-finals of the League Cup. They did us on both occasions, home and away, so it's a chance to get a little bit of sweet revenge."
Listen to the full chat with Ando above or on BBC Sounds here