Sports

Ben Stokes’ lengthy bowling spells against India in the third Test shows the England all-rounder has full confidence in his body after coming through injury layoffs, batter Joe Root said.

The England captain bowled 44 overs at Lord’s, the most of any bowler in the match, and took five wickets to guide the hosts to a 22-run victory and 2-1 lead in the five-match series. He contributed 44 and 33 runs and was named player of the match.

The 34-year-old underwent a successful operation on a torn hamstring in December before undergoing a physical fitness programme during which he lost 10 kg.

“He’s just desperate to be the man and make things happen,” former skipper Root told BBC Sport.

“Incredible effort to be able to do that. I was just panicking that he wasn’t going to make it through the game after a couple of bad injuries but he clearly trusts his body now.

“It’s a great sign for us moving forward. I mean it really is isn’t it, because that’s back to his best.”

The fourth Test begins on July 23 at Old Trafford.

Deepti Sharma feels that Indian team is on the right track as far as preparations for the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup are concerned but wants to focus on the ongoing England series as the marquee event is still two months away.

Deepti scored a composed 62 not out in India’s successful chase of 259 in the opening WODI against England on Wednesday. This is India’s penultimate 50-over series with one left at home against Australia starting September 14. The Women’s ODI World Cup starts on September 30 with India taking on Sri Lanka.

“Just in terms of preparation for the World Cup. I think as a team, we did some really good things in Sri Lanka and here also. World Cup is a little too far (away).

“We are not thinking about that but definitely we are going one match at a time. That’s what we are thinking at the moment,” Deepti said at the post-match press conference after guiding team to four-wicket victory over England.

She feels that her calmness did help in achieving the target with ease and her stand of 90 with Jemimah Rodrigues was a game-changing one.

“I knew that I can be calm and composed. It (partnership with Rodrigues) was a turning point for us. We had focused that we have to focus on partnership when I was batting with Jemie (Rodrigues’ nickname).

“When we we were at the crease, the plan was to go at 5-6 runs per over and that’s what we did.” Deepti has often received flak about her batting in the slog overs but never felt that she was under any kind of pressure during her time in the middle.

“Actually, I was not nervous because I played this kind of situation earlier and few matches back also. I knew that if I play till the end with Jemi, we can take the game. I was quite confident that if I will be there, I will have to finish and I was focusing more on that.”

Lionel Messi’s MLS-record streak of scoring multiple goals in five straight matches ended on Wednesday (July 17, 2025) night in Inter Miami’s 3-0 loss to FC Cincinnati.

Cincinnati got a first-half goal from Gerardo Valenzuela and two second-half strikes from Evander to remain one point behind the Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference standings. Philadelphia beat CF Montreal 2-1 on Wednesday night.

The loss ended a five-match winning streak for Inter Miami (11-4-5) which is fifth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Messi is the first player in MLS history to have a multi-goal streak of more than four matches. He was tied for the league lead with 16 goals in 17 MLS matches.

Messi has only played in three matches against Cincinnati since coming to MLS, but the team has made things difficult for the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Cincinnati had four shots on target in the first 16 minutes to none for Inter Miami, and took a 1-0 lead when Valenzuela angled a shot from the left side of the box for his fifth goal of the season.

Messi’s first shot came in the final minute of first-half stoppage time and landed comfortably in the arms of keeper Roman Celentano.

Evander’s 14th goal of the season, and 50th in MLS, put Cincinnati ahead 2-0 less than five minutes into the second half.

Cincinnati (14-3-6) also had a two-goal lead on Saturday against Columbus but lost 4-2 to the Crew. Cincinnati held on this time by neutralizing Inter Miami’s attack, led by Messi.

Evander sealed the victory when he made it 3-0 with a goal off a rebound when Luca Orellano’s shot caromed off the keeper. Messi had a chance in the 78th minute, but his close-range shot was saved by a diving Celentano.

The 38-year-old Messi has played 90-plus minutes in eight straight games, including four Club World Cup matches. At one point in the second half, he had covered the least amount of distance of any player.

Cincinnati played without second-leading scorer Kevin Denkey due to a leg injury. Cincinnati visits Real Salt Lake and Inter Miami is at the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night.

Indian shuttlers continued to falter at the Japan Open with Lakshya Sen and the star men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowing out in the second round of the Super 750 badminton tournament here on Thursday (July 17, 2025).

World No. 18 Lakshya’s inconsistent run resulted in a 19-21, 11-21 loss to Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the men’s singles that lasted close to an hour.

The 23-year-old, who had looked promising in the opener with a commanding 21-11, 21-18 win over China’s Wang Zheng Xing, failed to carry the momentum forward.

In the men’s doubles, Satwik and Chirag were handed a 22-24, 14-21 defeat by the fifth-seeded Chinese combine of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in a battle between former world No. 1 pairs.

With this result, Paris Olympics silver medallists Wei Keng and Wang Chang extended their head-to-head record against the Indians to 7-2.

After a sluggish start, Satwik and Chirag found their rhythm to lead 18-14 in the first game, but couldn’t sustain the momentum as the Chinese fought back to snatch a thrilling opener.

The second game followed a similar pattern, with the world number six pair continuing their dominance. The Indians faltered in both attack and defence, slumping to their fourth consecutive defeat against Wei Keng and Wang Chang.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka has withdrawn from the National Bank Open, opting for additional rest before beginning preparations for her U.S. Open title defense.

“I’m looking forward to kicking off the North American hard-court swing, but to give myself the best chance for success this season, I’ve decided it’s in my best interest to skip Montreal,” Sabalenka said on Wednesday (July 16, 2025) in a statement provided by the tournament.

Sabalenka is coming off a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon, where she lost to Amanda Anisimova.

The National Bank Open begins July 27. Sabalenka could instead return for the Cincinnati Open in early August, with the first round of the U.S. Open set to begin on Aug. 24. Sabalenka won that title for the first time in 2024.

The tournament also announced that 10th-ranked Paula Badosa had withdrawn because of an injury. Caty McNally and Moyuka Uchijima replaced Sabalenka and Badosa in the main draw.

Deepti Sharma showed enormous composure with an unbeaten half-century that powered India to a comfortable four-wicket victory in the opening women’s ODI against England.

The dress rehearsals for India’s 50-over World Cup started in earnest as a target of 259 was chased with 10 balls to spare, courtesy Deepti’s unbeaten 62 off 64 balls with three boundaries and a six.

Her 90-run fifth wicket stand in 14.2 overs with Jemimah Rodrigues (48 off 54 balls) proved to be the match-winning one.

All-rounder Amanjot Kaur (20 off 14 balls) provided the finishing touches with some meaty blows as the target was achieved with minimum fuss despite India being reduced to 124 for 4 after the fall of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s (17) wicket.

Deepti and Rodrigues took over and farmed the strike well as they kept the scoreboard ticking and also hit the occasional boundaries whenever loose deliveries were provided.

Deepti, whose slog over batting has always come in for a lot of flak, was brilliant in planning the chase.

The shot of the match certainly was her one-handed six off Lauren Bell over deep mid-wicket. She effortlessly picked a length ball from outside the off-stump and dispatched it over deep mid-wicket with her bottom hand coming off the handle.

Indian captain Harmanpreet was very happy with Deepti’s performance and also praised Rodrigues, who missed out on a half-century by two runs.

“Happy with the way we bowled. Really happy with how we batted, especially Deepti. Her innings was key. We thought we gave away extra 20-30 runs, it was a good wicket to bat on. Fielding is something we are working on, we missed two chances today. We will try to do better. Jemi is calm on the field and credit goes to Deepti for the way she batted.”

Earlier, young seamer Kranti Goud impressed with two wickets upfront before Sophia Dunkley’s unbeaten 92-ball 83 lifted England to a respectable 258 for six here on Wednesday.

Besides Goud (2/55 in 9 overs), off-spinner Sneh Rana (2/31 in 10 overs) too picked up two wickets during a fine display after England opted to bat.

Alice Davidson Richards contributed 53 in 73 balls during a 106-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Dunkley, which formed the nucleus of the England innings after they lost four wickets for 97 runs.

Dunkley struck nine fours during her stay in the middle.

Barcelona’s electric 18-year-old winger Lamine Yamal has been handed the famous number 10 shirt previously worn by club icon Lionel Messi, capping a remarkable breakthrough season for the teenager.

Yamal earned the jersey after a stellar campaign where he netted 18 goals and provided 25 assists as Barcelona swept the domestic treble of LaLiga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup while they reached the Champions League semi-finals.

The youngster, who wore the number 19 shirt last season, had already committed his long-term future to the club, signing a contract extension in May that will keep him at Barcelona until 2031.

On Wednesday, he received the number 10 shirt from club president Joan Laporta in a special ceremony.

The number 10 shirt carries enormous weight at the Camp Nou, having been worn by Messi during his trophy-laden tenure at the club that shaped his career.

The Argentine claimed 34 trophies with Barcelona and departed as the club’s all-time leading scorer with 672 goals, although he left after the 2020-21 season due to the club’s financial troubles.

The number 10 shirt at Barcelona was also worn by greats such as Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho, but Yamal said he would not be weighed down by its legacy.

“Messi paved the way with the number 10, I will make mine,” Yamal told reporters.

“They are three soccer and club legends. Every kid dreams of having something from Messi, Ronaldinho and Maradona… I’ll try to carry on that legacy.

“First, my dream was to debut for Barca and wear the number 10. Everyone who grows up here dreams of that. I’m grateful to the club.”

Following Messi’s exit, the jersey was passed to young winger Ansu Fati but the now 22-year-old failed to live up to his early promise and he was eventually loaned out to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Fati will spend next season on loan at AS Monaco, clearing the way for Yamal to inherit one of football’s most famous shirt numbers.

Having also won the European Championship with Spain last year, Yamal said his next goal was to win the titles that are missing from his trophy cabinet.

“I haven’t won the Champions League and the World Cup,” he said. “These are my goals now.”

Two-time Twenty20 World Cup winner Andre Russell will retire from international cricket at age 37 after the second T20 match against Australia on July 22 in his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, Cricket West Indies (CWI) said on Wednesday.

All-rounder Russell, who won the T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2016, has earned 84 international caps in the format, scoring three fifties and taking 61 wickets.

The white-ball specialist, who played only one test match, also appeared in 56 One-Day Internationals (ODI), taking 70 wickets. He last played in the 50-over format in 2019.

“Words cannot explain what it meant. To represent the West Indies has been one of the proudest achievements in my life,” Russell said in a statement.

“When I was a kid, I did not expect to get to this level, but the more you start to play and get to love the sport, you realize what you can achieve. This inspired me to become better because I wanted to leave a mark in the maroon colours and become an inspiration to others.”

Russell, who travels around the world competing in T20 leagues and most recently appeared in Major League Cricket in the U.S. this month, said he wanted to finish his international career on a high.

“His hunger to perform and win for West Indies has never wavered. I wish him all the best on his next chapter, and I hope he continues to inspire generations to come,” West Indies coach Daren Sammy said.

West Indies host Australia in the first T20 of the five-match series on Sunday in Kingston. Australia won their test series 3-0.