Dale Steyn has joined a growing list of current and former international players to sign up for the Euro T20 Slam, the first edition of which will start August 30. Steyn has been designated a 'marquee' player.

BREAKING: @DaleSteyn62 joins the #EuroT20Slam as a Marquee Player #ET20S pic.twitter.com/NRnt3ugGAZ

— Euro T20 Slam (@et20s) July 1, 2019

The Euro T20 Slam will have six franchises, two each based in Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland, and the three countries will jointly hosting the tournament.

Shortly after the competition was announced, six cricketers were designated as icon/marquee players by the league: Shahid Afridi, Chris Lynn, Shane Watson, Babar Azam, Brendon McCullum and Luke Ronchi.

Whether that list will be updated or not remains to be seen, seeing that several big names have signed up since then, including Eoin Morgan, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir and Rashid Khan, as well as Steyn, and some more high-profile signings are expected. While some of these cricketers are active, Duminy and Tahir have announced that the 2019 World Cup will mark the end of their ODI careers.

Steyn, in the evening of an outstanding career, made an international comeback last season after a sustained injury-enforced absence from the game, and had to deal with a fresh injury when he was forced to pull out of South Africa's World Cup 2019 campaign without playing a game.

On his comeback, Steyn became South Africa's highest ever wicket-taker in Test matches. He was later picked up as a replacement for Nathan Coulter-Nile at Royal Challengers Bangalore for IPL 2019, but had to withdraw after two matches - in which he bowled with pace and hostility - with his shoulder flaring up.

Has MS Dhoni, India's most senior player, made an impact this World Cup? Depends on who you ask.

Outside the Indian dressing room, the verdict is largely against Dhoni. Within it, there is only support for him. India captain Virat Kohli has made it clear he sees it as a non-issue whenever he's been asked about it. On Monday it was the turn of Sanjay Bangar, India's assistant coach, to dismiss questions over Dhoni's batting and its perceived lack of intent.

Bangar's belief in Dhoni, he says, is based on his numbers. What do those numbers say, though?

So far at the World Cup, Dhoni's scores are 34 (46 balls), 27 (14), 1 (2), 28 (52), 56* (61) and 42* (31). His strike rate of 91.26 puts him 10th among the 19 batsmen who have faced more than 100 balls at Nos. 5 to 7*. Above him are some of the best performers of the tournament so far, including Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Colin de Grandhomme, Alex Carey and Haris Sohail. Dhoni's strike rate isn't in the same league as Buttler's (128.98) or de Grandhomme's (112.31), but it isn't a whole lot worse than Stokes' (97.82) or Haris' (95.83).

The biggest criticism of Dhoni has been how many dot balls he's eaten up. Of the 206 balls he has faced so far, he has failed to score off 95, or 46.12%, which again puts him in tenth place among those 19 batsmen. Tenth out of 19 on both counts: bang in the middle, largely inconclusive, just like the debate over his batting.

But what about his approach against England? He made 42 not out off 31, so it wasn't a sluggish innings on the surface, but set it against the task India had when he walked in (they needed 112 off 65 balls) and especially after Hardik Pandya's dismissal (71 off 31), and his approach could be seen as questionable. Despite India having five wickets in hand, Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav kept taking singles, even as the asking rate multiplied, and by the time the final over began they needed an impossible 44 runs.

Dhoni and Jadhav had been involved in a grinding partnership against Afghanistan. Against England, the sight of the same pair seemingly settling for a reduced margin of defeat perplexed plenty of watchers, including the TV commentators.

Bangar wasn't perplexed, though.

"I felt MS was striking the ball really well," Bangar said during the mixed zone on Sunday. "He had good intent. It is just that the English bowlers stuck to their task really well: they used the angles, and used the large boundaries to their advantage. When they were bowling to the shorter side of the boundary they were bowling a pretty good line.

"I didn't really find anything wrong in MS' innings. He was batting beautifully. He struck a few big blows. It is just that in the last 4-5 overs the difference between runs required and balls left just kept creeping up."

According to Bangar, Dhoni had done his job in five out of seven games. Given that he has only once failed to get a start - against Pakistan - the other not-so-good performance may have been the one against Afghanistan: Dhoni's 28 consumed 52 balls, and the bowlers, led by Mohammed Shami, made sure India didn't suffer one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.

"Except for one-odd innings, he [Dhoni] has done the role," Bangar said. "We have already played seven games now? Five times out of those seven games he has done the role or the job for the team. In the South Africa game he stitched together a partnership of 70 [74] with Rohit [Sharma]. After that what was required of him to go out there and accelerate against Australia, he did that. In Manchester, on a difficult track [against West Indies], he got a vital 58 [56*] for us.

"Here also (against England) he was striking the ball really well. So I'm surprised that this question continues to come up every now and then. He is doing the job for the team and overall we are very happy with the intent that he is batting with."

As was the case with his innings at Lord's last year - when he made 37 off 59 when India were chasing 323 - Dhoni's knocks against Afghanistan and England have made his ODI batting approach a subject of intense debate. In his defence, India had one eye on their net run rate, and given that they were playing a long tail at Edgbaston, he may not have wanted to risk the team getting bowled out.

But the chances of India going out on net run rate are slim, so there was a feeling that Dhoni and Jadhav could have chanced their arm a little more.

Bangar disagreed that it was a case of the pair not showing enough intent, and instead credited England's bowlers for tying the batsmen down.

"I don't think so," Bangar said, when the intent question was posed to him, "because if you look at the way the English bowlers bowled towards the end, they used the dimensions [of the ground] really well and they created difficult angles for our batsmen to hit. And with those large boundaries and the type of balls they were bowling - slower bouncers and a lot of into-the-wicket deliveries, slower balls [it was difficult to score].

"Maybe in the last one or two overs the difference between runs required and the balls left was a bit too much. We just felt that right up to the 47th, 48th over, had we tried bigger shots earlier, we might have probably been a few runs short. It also helps the NRR a bit, those extra runs."

*Stats updated up to the England-India match

Sri Lanka 338 for 6 (Avishka 104, Kusal Perera 64, Thirimanne 54*, Holder 2-59) beat West Indies 315 for 9 (Pooran 118, Allen 51, Malinga 3-55) by 23 runs

As it happened

It's around this time in a World Cup that teams whose campaigns haven't turned out too well start to consider the future, and how to move forward. With both Sri Lanka and West Indies out of contention for further honours here, it was left to two of the brightest young talents in each team to light up the dead rubber, and provide a little hope that the next time might not be so bad.

Avishka Fernando, all of 21, scored his maiden international hundred to set up Sri Lanka's 338 for 6 - by far their highest total of the tournament - and Nicholas Pooran, three months shy of his 24th birthday, responded with 118 - his first international century too - to threaten a remarkable comeback in what would have been the highest chase at a World Cup. Foreshadowing what could be a brighter future for both Sri Lanka and West Indies, this was the first time in World Cup history that two men under the age of 25 scored hundreds in the same match.

Watch on Hotstar (India only): Highlights of Sri Lanka's win over West Indies

Not to be outshone by the youngsters, Angelo Mathews was airdropped in to bowl the 48th over of the chase, having not bowled a single ball previously in this World Cup or, indeed, in any ODI since December 2017.

In what was possibly the most left field moment of what has been an up-and-down tournament for Sri Lanka, Mathews, gammy hamstring and all, came on to bowl with West Indies needing 31 from three overs, and a marauding Pooran on strike. His first ball was sprayed full and very wide, but Pooran flung his hands wildly at it and edged it through to Kusal Perera behind the stumps.

Having not bowled for a year and a half, Mathews' very first ball won Sri Lanka the match, dismissing Pooran and turning a back-and-forth contest decisively Sri Lanka's way before Lasith Malinga returned to mop up a 23-run win. A match where the result really didn't matter might have meandered into a meaningless snoozefest, but the two young centurions, along with Fabian Allen, who scored an enterprising fifty, provided rich entertainment for fans of both sides and made for an absorbing afternoon's cricket. There were 653 runs scored and all three results very much a possibility until the very end, which is about as much as one could ask for from a dead rubber.

When West Indies slipped to 145 for 5 with the required rate nudging over eight an over in the afternoon, such a close finish seemed highly unlikely. But West Indies clawed their way out of a worse position than this, and very nearly pulled off a win, against New Zealand just over a week ago, and once again they gave an indication that, although they're not yet a team who knows how to always win, they're also not one that knows when they're beat.

Against New Zealand, it was Carlos Brathwaite who had sparked the revival, but today he was very much the junior partner in a 54-run stand that kept West Indies ticking even after an inconsistent Jeffrey Vandersay had burgled Jason Holder's wicket for 26 to put West Indies five down and Sri Lanka on top. Brathwaite managed just eight runs to Pooran's 39 in the partnership before he was run out very unluckily via a Pooran straight drive and the very tip of Udana's finger, and it seemed everything would now depend on Pooran.

But Allen, who has two First Class hundreds and a growing reputation as a finisher in T20 cricket, showed he is no slouch either, bursting out of the blocks with two crisp leg-side boundaries in Malinga's second spell. Driving and pulling the Sri Lankan quicks with disdain, he seized the initiative, and very nearly the match, before a mix-up saw him run out with six overs to go.

Pooran brought up his ton off the very next ball, keeping West Indies in the hunt by chipping Malinga over Thisara Perera's head at long off and then clubbing Udana cleanly to the midwicket boundary. Then came Mathews gobsmacking, match-winning return to allrounder status.

Mathews only scored 26 runs to go with his vital 1 for 6, but Avishka found multiple capable partners in what was altogether the most convincing performance from Sri Lanka's middle order all tournament. Building upon the 91-run opening stand and Kusal Perera's bruising 64, Avishka cobbled together stands of 85, 58 and 67 with Kusal Mendis, Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne to set up the innings.

On a pitch that Avishka himself called "two paced", it was generally the fuller length deliveries that caused trouble, with cutters and changes of pace also bringing streakiness into the batting. There was also something in it for the spinners, and Allen pulled off what is a strong nomination for the catch of the tournament as he flew to his right to cling on to a stinging return chance to get rid of Mendis.

And so Avishka didn't have it all his own way, and survived a West Indies review off the second ball he faced, Holder troubling his front pad. Gradually, he found his groove off the front foot. And when West Indies dropped short, he was ready and waiting for them.

Sri Lanka's batting training in the lead-up to this game included specific drills against the short ball, and the hard work paid off particularly well for Avishka. A full 29 of his 104 runs came towards midwicket, and 21 of those - two huge sixes and a four off Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas bouncers - came from pull shots. On a slow pitch, the conditions took the sting out of West Indies' short balls, but Avishka was also clearly prepared.

In response, the general feeling seemed to be that West Indies needed a Chris Gayle special up front if they were to mount a challenge at a record chase. He never really got going, top-edging Kasun Rajitha to fall for a 48-ball 35, and instead of their old veteran, it was left to West Indies' young tyros to match Avishka's effort and balance out the game.

Ireland 258 for 6 (Balbirnie 101, Stirling 57) beat Zimbabwe 254 for 9 (Ervine 105, Adair 4-73) by four wickets

Andy Balbirnie's fifth ODI hundred set up a successful chase as Ireland beat Zimbabwe by four wickets in the first encounter of their three-match series. Balbirnie fell with 26 still needed but Mark Adair, who had earlier claimed 4 for 73, struck 21 from 13 balls to seal victory with an over and a half to spare.

Zimbabwe's 254 for 9 had been built around a century from Craig Ervine, but he received little support from the rest of the top order and it took an unbeaten 49 from 42 balls by No. 8 Ryan Burl to get them up to a competitive total.

"Zimbabwe are a good team but I thought the Zimbabwe score was about par or a bit below, as the outfield was very quick and it was as good a wicket as I've played on here," Balbirnie said. "I think looking ahead we can learn from last series against Afghanistan when we went one up and then we didn't perform in the second. We'll be desperate to train well and put in another good performance in the next ODI."

Morning rain had led to a delayed start, and Adair then struck twice in the opening Powerplay to send back both Zimbabwe openers. Brendan Taylor became the maiden ODI wicket for debutant Shane Getkate, leaving Zimbabwe 49 for 3 in the 14th over.

Ervine found a partner in Sean Williams to post a 55-run stand, before Getkate struck again. Neither Sikandar Raza nor PJ Moor stuck around for long, and after Ervine fell for 105 - his third ODI ton - Zimbabwe were 210 for 7 and in need of some impetus from Burl, who cracked three fours and four sixes to end the innings with a flourish.

In response, Paul Stirling and Balbirnie fashioned a century stand for the second wicket, after Kyle Jarvis had removed James McCollum in the ninth over. Stirling struck eight fours in registering his fifth consecutive ODI half-century, only for his dismissal to give Zimbabwe an opening, as Tendai Chatara claimed three wickets in as many overs to leave Ireland 150 for 4.

Lorcan Tucker, in his third ODI and having taken the gloves for the first time, steadied the hosts by helping Balbirnie add another 64 runs. But there was more drama when Jarvis removed Tucker on the hook and then Balbirnie ran himself out three overs later.

However, with 26 required from 28 balls, Adair and Getkate did their bit with the bat to ensure that Ireland would get home and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Free-agent guard Austin Rivers has agreed to a two-year deal to return to the Houston Rockets, a league source told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Rivers' deal includes a player option for the second year, according to the source.

Rivers has bounced around the league since New Orleans made him the 10th overall pick in the 2012 draft. 

He started the 2018-19 season with Washington, was traded to Phoenix in December, was put on waivers by the Suns and then was claimed by a Rockets team trying to fill the void left by an injured Chris Paul. 

Rivers excelled in a starting role for Houston (11.6 points per game in 13 starts) before Paul returned in late January from a 17-game absence because of a hamstring injury.

Rivers' usage took a hit when he returned to the Houston bench, but he brought value as a reserve with both his energy and his ability to create his own shot. And in the postseason, he was a force from 3-point range, shooting 45.7% from deep and making an average of 1.6 treys inthe Rockets' 10 playoff games. 

Rivers, who will turn 27 on Aug. 1, holds a career average of 9.2 points on 41.7% shooting from the field and 34.7% shooting from 3-point range in 24.6 minutes per game.

The Golden State Warriors issued a statement Monday thanking Kevin Durant and announcing that no player will ever wear No. 35 for the team again.

The statement, from Warriors co-chairman and CEO Joe Lacob, said Durant "carried himself with class and dignity both on and off the court."

After winning two NBA championships in three seasons with Golden State, Durant will begin the next chapter of his career in Brooklyn, where he plans to sign a four-year contract worth up to $164 million. He will join free agents Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan, who also plan to sign with the Nets.

Durant, who joined the Warriors after spending eight seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, won two NBA Finals MVPs during his tenure with Golden State.

"Today, as he starts a new chapter in his incredible career, we thank KD for all of his contributions, for being an integral part to one of the most prolific runs in NBA history and wish him well as he continues his Hall of Fame journey," Lacob said in the statement. "As long as I am Co-Chairman of this team, no player will ever wear #35 for the Warriors again."

The Warriors were quick to recover from the news of Durant's departure, finalizing a sign-and-trade with the Nets for D'Angelo Russell on Monday, league sources tell ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and agreeing to a maximum contract with Klay Thompson, his agent, Greg Lawrence, told Wojnarowski.

The Miami Heat completed a four-team trade that allows them to sign All-Star guard Jimmy Butler to a four-year, $142 million contract, league sources told ESPN on Monday.

The Heat are sending center Hassan Whiteside to the Portland Trail Blazers, guard Josh Richardson to the Philadelphia 76ers and a protected 2023 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers to secure the salary-cap flexibility to complete the sign-and-trade deal with the 76ers, league sources tell ESPN.

The Blazers acquired Whiteside for forwards Meyers Leonard and Maurice Harkless, sources said. Harkless and his $11 million expiring contract are headed to the Clippers in the deal, which is the reason the Clippers were able to extract the protected 2023 first-round pick.

The Clippers still hold the max salary space to sign free agent Kawhi Leonard, who they're pursuing. For the Clippers, Harkless represents a starting-level forward who can play with Leonard and provide depth behind him.

The Clippers already hold Miami's 2021 first-round pick, which was acquired in the Tobias Harris trade with Philadelphia in February.

The Dallas Mavericks had interest in acquiring Heat guard Goran Dragic in a previous, three-team construction of the Butler sign-and-trade, but they "changed course," Dragic's agent, Bill Duffy, told ESPN.

"In analyzing it, his salary was too high based on other things they're trying to do," Duffy told ESPN.

Dallas has been pursuing perimeter help in free agency, with an emphasis on tough defenders accomplished as 3-point shooters.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.

You've just witnessed the most intense transactional day in NBA history. Actually, it was more like a quarter of a day.

Amid the flurry of Sunday's spending and sign-and-trades, it might've been easy to miss that something potentially terrific happened: The league just got super competitive.

Kawhi Leonard holds the favorite chip in his hands and wherever he signs may end up being the title favorite. But no matter what he decides, it promises to be a mysterious 2019-20 season with a slew of true contenders, a needed changeup.

This could well be the NBA's first transitional season since 2014-15, when the Miami Heat broke up and the San Antonio Spurs slowed down, eventually getting eliminated in the first round. From that murk rose the Golden State Warriors, who stunned us with their explosive leap. It was a joyous time of uncertainty.

The brand-new 2019-20 season now has even more promise. The first hours of the new league year saw teams in both conferences fortify themselves by spreading out the balance of power. After waiting out the Warriors' five-year run and the sunset of LeBron James' Finals streak, this is what everyone else has been waiting for. The door is open and everyone can sense it.

Just consider the unusual circumstance two of the biggest offseason winners face. The Brooklyn Nets had a historic free agency, landing both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in a white-hot streak across social media. But because of the circumstances with Durant's injury, the Nets face a holding pattern as Durant recovers from his torn Achilles.

Yes, the Nets added Irving but in the process had to jettison another All-Star guard, D'Angelo Russell. They may be better next season, but until Durant returns they may have to toil in the middle of the pack of Eastern Conference contenders.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been another big winner, landing Anthony Davis, but waiting on Leonard has cost the Lakers a chance at signing the majority of their role-player targets as most have gone elsewhere. If they complete the grand slam by getting Leonard, they face playing next season with a record 10 minimum-contract players, which could present an array of challenges even with their star power. The futures of the Lakers and Nets are shimmering but they may not be at their best for a bit.

The Warriors promise to be relevant with Russell joining Stephen Curry as they wait for Klay Thompson, who is expected to eventually re-sign, to recover from a torn ACL. But the machinations needed to acquire Russell in a sign-and-trade with Durant will zap some depth and they will be vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the Northwest Division has turned into an arms race with the Utah Jazz loading up their team by trading for Mike Conley, then adding Bojan Bogdanovic and Ed Davis on Sunday. They join the Denver Nuggets, who elected to pay Paul Millsap $30 million to keep him and locked down Jamal Murray with a five-year contract extension, as legitimate contenders to win the West.

Then there are the Portland Trail Blazers, who are coming off the conference finals and re-signed Damian Lillard and Rodney Hood. Not to mention the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have two All-NBA players in Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

The Dallas Mavericks, who will be getting freshly re-signed Kristaps Porzingis back, and New Orleans Pelicans, who now have one of the deepest teams in the conference after signing JJ Redick and trading for Derrick Favors, will both be playoff contenders. And there's an expectation No. 1 pick Zion Williamson will be a must-watch every night, to the point where the Pelicans may sell out of season tickets.

None of this speaks to the power the LA Clippers will become if Leonard picks them. With their depth, they could be a serious title contender. Or the Houston Rockets, who despite their team turmoil status still are loaded with talent and might've been the second-best team in the West by the end of last regular season.

Having said all that, for the first time in recent memory, the East might actually be stronger than the West collectively.

The Boston Celtics retooled by replacing Irving with Kemba Walker, an All-Star starter last season. The Philadelphia 76ers, once they work out a Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade, will have added highly sought big man Al Horford to wing Josh Richardson after re-signing Tobias Harris.

Coming off a 60-win season, the Milwaukee Bucks kept key players Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez to space the floor for MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. But they had to let valued guard Malcolm Brogdon go due to cost reasons, perhaps slightly bringing them back toward the pack.

Brogdon went to the Indiana Pacers, where he is expected to eventually join a recovering Victor Oladipo to create a powerful backcourt that could see them become more of a factor. The Detroit Pistons added another scoring and playmaking option by signing Derrick Rose as they look to return to the playoffs.

Add in the improving Atlanta Hawks, who have two top-10 picks joining their young core, and the Miami Heat, who are plotting a return to the postseason after lining up a deal to get Butler in an aggressive sign-and-trade that will likely get finalized.

Then, of course, there are the defending champion Toronto Raptors. If Leonard returns, fellow free agent Danny Green could follow and they could end up with the top eight players of a title team with legit thoughts of a repeat. Even if Leonard moves on, Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry should keep Toronto dangerous even if it creates a window for new blood.

The anticipation of all these moves drove so much interest over the previous 12 months. Oftentimes, obsession with this free-agent-rich summer overwhelmed attention on the games. That trend may end right now with so many teams feeling like they could be the next 2014-15 Warriors and sneak up on the league.

The 2020 free-agent class is expected to be much shallower than the target-rich group this summer. Combined with the upgraded list of competitive teams, it could drive more interest in actual basketball than the transaction forecasting that often dominated the conversation over the past 12 months.

That change alone could energize the regular season and unveil the kind of year of opportunity that will present a new drama for fans to fall in love with all over again.

CHICAGO -- A White Sox official says it was "poor form" for the team to show a scoreboard graphic of "famous people from Chicagoland" that grouped lynching victim Emmett Till with game show host Pat Sajak and film icon Orson Welles.

Scott Reifert, the team's vice president of communications, said Sunday that he told the staffer who created the graphic shown during Saturday's game against the Minnesota Twins that listing the slain black teenager next to the others "kind of minimalizes [that this] is a young man who lost his life."

He says it was "poor form" and that the intent "wasn't to insult anybody." He also says the staffer won't be disciplined and there will be no change in protocol.

The 1955 killing of the 14-year-old Till in Money, Mississippi, shocked the nation and was a watershed moment in the civil rights movement.

NEW YORK -- In the latest embarrassment for the New York Mets, the team has publicly apologized to two living members of its 1969 World Series championship team who were included in a video montage of dead players during the 50th anniversary celebration.

With a message that filled up one Citi Field scoreboard about 15 minutes before Sunday night's game against Atlanta, the Mets expressed deep regret to Jim Gosger and Jesse Hudson for displaying their names and images in error during the "We Remember" segment of Saturday's ceremony.

The club says it has spoken with both former players to apologize and wants to thank them along with their families and friends for their "gracefulness and understanding."

Gosger, 76, had 16 plate appearances for the 1969 Mets and returned to the team from 1973-74. Hudson, 70, pitched two innings for the '69 club in his only major league game.

"Somebody from the Mets called me that night and said, 'We're awful sorry about the screw-up,'" Gosger told his hometown newspaper, the Times Herald of Port Huron, Michigan. "I said, 'What's done is done.' But I don't know, it was a shock, I will say that."

Equally upsetting as the Mets informing the world that he was dead was not getting an invitation to the ceremony, Gosger said.

"I didn't get an invite for that either but then they recognize you for being dead, that's what really hurt," he said.

Gosger said the Mets could make things up to him by giving him a World Series championship ring from 1969. He got one from 1973 but not 1969.

"I was there in '69 and I didn't get the ring, and that's the thing I wanted more than anything, the ring," he said.

Perhaps another apology will follow from the Mets, who won Sunday for only the fifth time in 18 games. On the scoreboard, they misspelled Hudson's first name as "Jessie."