CRICKET
Australia thump England
A battling 94 from Steve Smith yesterday handed Australia a series win against England with a game to spare after a 72-run victory in the second one-day international in Sydney. Josh Hazelwood won the toss and elected to bat, but two early wickets brought Smith and Marnus Labuschagne (58) to the crease. The pair put on 101 before Labuschagne departed. Smith increased the pace soon after and was assisted by Mitchell Marsh (50). A six off Sam Curran over square-leg took Smith into the 90s, but he fell metres short of his century, holing out at long-off to Adil Rashid, who took 3-57. England lost two wickets without scoring a run in the first over by Mitchell Starc, but Josh Vince (60) and Sam Billings (71) steadied the tourists, However, their demise led to a collapse, with the visitors bowled out for 208.
CRICKET
Indian selectors sacked
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday sacked its entire selection committee, led by former fast bowler Chetan Sharma, and put out the call for replacements after the team’s T20 World Cup exit. Rohit Sharma’s men were thrashed by 10 wickets by England in their semi-final at the Adelaide Oval last week, prompting fresh soul-searching by a team who last won a global title at the 2013 Champions Trophy. Their exit prompted calls from commentators and the public for heads to roll. The BCCI issued a statement inviting fresh applications to fill all five positions on its selection panel.
BASKETBALL
Spain displace the US
Spain replaced the US men’s basketball team at the top of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) world rankings, a spot the US have held for more than 12 years. Spain have enjoyed success in the past few years, including winning the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 and this year’s FIBA EuroBasket. “It’s not exactly a new title and it probably can’t be maintained for too long, but it’s something so unique, prestigious and historic that I feel tremendously proud of everyone who ... has contributed to it,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo wrote on Twitter. Spain top the rankings with 758.6 points followed by the US with 757.5 and Australia in third on 740.3.
HORSE RACING
US court says rules invalid
The US Congress unconstitutionally gave too much power to a nonprofit authority it created in 2020 to develop and enforce horseracing rules, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act is “facially unconstitutional.” The authority created by the act was meant to bring uniform policies and enforcement to horseracing amid doping scandals and racetrack horse deaths, but the 5th Circuit in two rulings ruled in favor of opponents of the act in lawsuits brought by horseracing associations and state officials in Texas, Louisiana and West Virginia. Three judges agreed with opponents of the act that the setup gave too much power to the nongovernmental authority and too little to the US Federal Trade Commission. “A cardinal constitutional principle is that federal power can be wielded only by the federal government,” Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan wrote. “Private entities may do so only if they are subordinate to an agency.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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