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Collin Morikawa withdraws before final round of Memorial with back spasms
DUBLIN, Ohio – After providing one of the week’s highlight reel moments, a 94-yard wedge that spun into the hole Friday at No. 18 for an unlikely birdie, and just two shots off the lead, Collin Morikawa withdrew from the Memorial with back spasms.
Morikawa was preparing for his final round when he said he tweaked his back during a warm-up exercise. He said he tried to hit about 10 golf balls on the range, including what he called a “chunked” 9-iron, before he decided to withdraw.
“I’ve literally never had this in my life,” Morikawa said. “I’ve had back [issues] briefly before, but nothing this bad. Especially never warming up or pre-round. It sucks, it’s the first tournament I’ve ever withdrawn from my entire life. I love this tournament and we put ourselves into contention but I have to look after myself and have to be smart.”
Morikawa moved to within two strokes of the lead with a third-round 68 that included back-to-back birdies to finish his round. The 26-year-old isn’t in the field for next week’s RBC Canadian Open and his next start is scheduled to be the U.S. Open.
“I’m not too worried about it. I do want to be 100 percent by the end of next week so I can get some really good work in. It’s just not a time in the season I want this to happen,” he said. “I woke up fine, all signs indicated I was fine and a freak little accident, I’m never doing that exercise again.”
Oliver Price shines with bat and ball to guide Gloucestershire to emphatic win
Gloucestershire 140 for 3 (O Price 46, Zafar 37*) beat Middlesex 139 for 9 (Davies 46*, O Price 2-18, Payne 2-21) by seven wickets
Victorious in three of their last four outings, improving Gloucestershire kept alive their hopes of progressing to the knock-out stages, but Middlesex are already down and out, consigned to the foot of the South Group after losing their opening six games.
Just as they did against Surrey on Friday night, Gloucestershire restricted their opponents to a below-par total and then managed the chase in a controlled fashion.
Promoted to open the innings on the back of his record-breaking 19-ball 50 against Essex last week, Ben Charlesworth has yet to spark at the top of the order, and he was stumped off the bowling of Josh de Caires for 12 as Gloucestershire lost their first wicket with 24 on the board in the fourth over.
Also pushed up the order, Hammond made a better fist of things, twice cover driving Blake Cullen to the boundary and then stepping down the track and hitting Thilan Walallawita straight down the ground as the home side advanced their score to 43 for 1 while the fielding restrictions were in place.
Cautious beginnings gave way to adventure on the part of Price, the 21-year-old tucking into spinners de Caires and Walallawita to provide Gloucestershire with crucial momentum. The 21-year-old plundered a brace of fours off de Caires in the sixth over and then repeated the feat against Walallawita in the ninth, Gloucestershire reaching the halfway stage of their innings well-placed at 73 for 1.
Requiring a further 67 runs at 6.70 an over with nine wickets in hand, Gloucestershire were well served by their second-wicket pair, who accumulated in a controlled fashion to lay the foundations for a successful chase. By the time Hammond squirted a catch to extra cover off the bowling of Luke Hollman, the partnership was worth 60, the Cheltenham-born left-hander having contributed 34 of those from 38 balls with four fours, and the rate remained at just over a run a ball.
Within four runs of a maiden T20 50, Price attempted to reach that landmark and win the game with a single blow in the 18th over, only to over-balance and fall to a sharp stumping by Davies. Left to finish things off, Zafar remained unbeaten on 37 from 22 balls, with a six and three fours, while skipper Jack Taylor hit the winning run.
Gloucestershire performed at the top of their game to reduce Surrey to 29 for 4 in the powerplay at Bristol 48 hours earlier, but were unable to emulate that feat on this occasion. They began well enough, Payne having Stephen Eskinazi caught at the wicket in the act of driving recklessly and Joe Cracknell hoisting Danny Lamb to square leg as Middlesex lurched to 20-2 in the third over.
But the home side then blotted their copybook when Holden, still to get off the mark, was put down at point by Matt Taylor off the bowling of Zafar with the score on 26. He and Pieter Malan advanced the score to a respectable 45 for 2 at the end of the powerplay as the visitors sought to make the most of their good fortune.
But Gloucestershire continued to press hard and Price had Malan caught at long-on for a 19-ball 21 and Zafar bowled former team-mate Ryan Higgins for one as Middlesex, struggling to contend with spin from both ends, were reduced to 52-4 in the eighth over.
Fortunate to still be at large and determined to make good his escape, Holden led a Middlesex fightback of sorts, partially rebuilding the innings with a restorative fifth-wicket stand of 24 with de Caires. Gloucestershire were already regretting dropping the left-hander when he hoisted Matt Taylor for the first six of the match, and he went on to add a quartet of fours in a progressive innings that yielded 34 from 22 balls.
Veteran slow left armer Tom Smith eventually put paid to Holden's antics, luring him into a trap that saw him hit straight to Price at deep mid-wicket as Middlesex slipped to 76 for 5 in the eleventh.
A good deal of responsibility resting on their shoulders, de Caires and Davies ran hard between the wickets and scored at slightly better than a run-a-ball in adding 29 for the sixth wicket. But Gloucestershire stuck to their task and de Caires, having made 18 from 20 balls, hoisted Price to substitute fielder Zaman Akhter at long-on and perished going for the big hit with the score on 105, while Luke Hollman was run out for one by Smith's throw from deep backward square as Middlesex slumped to 114 for 7 in the sixteenth.
Worse followed for the visitors, Tom Helm falling cheaply to the returning Payne, who applied concerted pressure at the death, keeping things tight to further frustrate Middlesex.
In danger of running out of partners and forced to take matters into his own hands, Davies batted with real purpose to finish just four runs short of a half century, his 33-ball innings containing 3 fours and a six. Blake Cullen stayed with him long enough to stage a ninth-wicket alliance of 22 in 20 balls, but there was no escaping the strong suspicion that the Londoners had fallen short.
India keep their options open as Oval build-up intensifies
These are among the key questions that have confronted India since they announced their squad for the WTC final. If you were at The Oval on Sunday, two days before the Test billed as the Ultimate Test, you would have struggled to come away with any hints as to what combination India are leaning towards.
Two young men, good friends, both in their 20s, were in focus during India's first training session in London after almost a week in Arundel where the squad assembled in batches, with players joining at different times while the IPL concluded.
Kishan, who is yet to make his Test debut, had two long batting sessions lasting close to three-quarters of an hour overall, but didn't practise his keeping. He also had a potential scare late in his second stint, taking a hit to his left forearm while trying to push at a delivery from left-arm quick Aniket Choudhary, one of India's back-up bowlers. Kishan instantly dropped his bat and walked out to get his forearm iced and wrapped.
It didn't appear to be a serious injury, as Kishan carried two bats comfortably in the hand of his injured arm post-training. A couple of hours later he and Gill walked onto what could potentially be the match pitch for a quick inspection.
Bharat, Kishan's direct competitor, started the training session with a spell of wicketkeeping drills on one of the practice strips on the main square and then returned to bat. Bharat replaced Pant for the four-Test home series against Australia in February-March and showed signs of being a talent who remains a work-in-progress both behind and in front of the stumps.
Overall, the Indians turned up at full strength on a sunny Sunday. While they had their sweatshirt hoodies on in the morning, they discarded them when noon approached and The Oval shone under a clear blue sky.
Barring Ajinkya Rahane and the fast-bowling trio of Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav, the rest of the Indian squad got through batting sessions.
Gill enjoyed his time in the sun. He has experience of long-format cricket in English conditions, having played two Tests there in 2021, including the previous WTC final in Southampton, as well as three County Championship games for Glamorgan in 2022, scoring 244 runs at an average of 61.00, his four innings including a 92 against Worcestershire and a century against Sussex. Incidentally, Gill batted at No. 3 in all four innings.
With KL Rahul injured, Gill is set to open in the WTC final alongside Rohit Sharma. Gill arrives in England on the back of stellar form across all international formats in 2023 and in the IPL. Gill, though, will be mindful both of Australia's bowling attack and the seamer-friendly conditions where the Dukes ball can surprise the best of batters. On Sunday, Gill spent considerable one-one-one time with batting coach Vikram Rathour.
A good opening partnership was a catalyst in India playing the dominant hand in the first four Tests of the 2021-22 Test series in England, with both Rohit and Rahul scoring big runs. Both scored match-winning hundreds, Rahul in the second Test at Lord's and Rohit in the fourth Test at The Oval.
Any apprehension India may have felt about playing in June (The Oval has hosted Test matches since 1880 but never one in June) would have been eased by the forecast for the coming week, promising sunny weather with temperatures ranging from the late teens to the early 20s Celsius. While there was no confirmation about which strip will be used for the match, it will be a fresh pitch with the surface likely to be dry,
All three Indian spinners bowled and batted on Sunday, suggesting both R Ashwin and Axar Patel were in contention for the second spinner's slot if India pick two slow bowlers. But if they field four seamers, India ensured Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh were ready alongside the lead new-ball pair of Shami and Siraj.
Both Thakur and Unadkat bowled long spells and then had decent batting stints. Unadkat also received advice from head coach Rahul Dravid on his bat swing.
Having watched more than three hours of the training the impression you would walk way with was: India are keeping all their options open, but ready.
Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo
Coach Silverwood sees a blueprint for success in Sri Lanka's comprehensive win
The hosts then dismissed Afghanistan for 191, rounding off a clinical performance. Sri Lanka had lost the first match comfortably, on Friday, raising concerns that they might struggle in the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
"I'm very pleased with how we have bounced back," Silverwood said. "If you could bottle that performance and take it with you, you are going to be very consistent around the world. The key is to be consistent. They know they are capable of it now.
"We batted well and created partnerships. But equally, I thought, we were excellent in the field today. I saw lots of energy and lots of people supporting each other. We kept them below the [required] run rate and built pressure, and eventually it gave. We took wickets in the middle overs, which is something we needed today."
In addition to making 29 not out off 24 balls, de Silva also claimed the key wicket of Ibrahim Zadran, on his way to the game's best figures of 3 for 39. Although Afghanistan were behind the asking rate, de Silva's three wickets - which came in his three successive overs - helped send the opposition into a nosedive from which they would not recover. He had also hit 51 in the first ODI.
"I think in the first match he played a super innings," Silverwood said of de Silva. "Today we saw him go in and capitalise on what was a very good start. There was a great platform when he went in. He kept the momentum going and scored quickly. That's what we needed to get above that 300.
"When it comes to his bowling, he has been threatening to do this for a while. He's a very good one-day bowler. We saw that in Kandy last time we played Afghanistan there. Today, he bowled beautifully and got the rewards he deserves."
"I think Dimuth played superbly," Silverwood said. "He had played well in the Test series against Ireland as well. I think his tempo is very good, and I think between him and Pathum they built a great platform for us to build on. When you have an 80-plus opening stand, it always helps. They gave us that platform for the rest of the guys to spring from.
"The partnership between Sadeera and Kusal was a fraction over a run-a-ball and the partnerships after that were at more than a run-a-ball. It shows what we can do when we have wickets in hand and a platform. Pushing fielders into corners and making the boundary sweepers work very hard - it worked today."
BOSTON -- Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Boston Red Sox with a sore left hamstring.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said Franco wanted to play but they decided, "if we can buy him an extra day, I don't think it'll hurt."
Franco trotted into third slowly in the opening game of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday. He was visited by a team trainer and Cash but stayed in the game. He finished with three hits in the 8-5 loss in the opener before sitting out the nightcap.
The Rays' 22-year-old star is hitting .305 with seven homers and 29 RBIs.
The Cleveland Guardians designated for assignment starting pitcher Zach Plesac, who was sent to Triple-A Columbus earlier this season.
With the move on Sunday, the team is letting go of a pitcher who started 49 games over the 2021 and '22 seasons and was in the rotation on Opening Day this season.
In a corresponding transaction, the Guardians activated right-hander Triston McKenzie from the 60-day injured list to make his season debut in Sunday's game against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis.
Plesac, 28, went 1-1 with a 7.59 ERA in five starts this season. The right-hander is 26-27 with a 4.20 ERA in 84 career games (83 starts) with Cleveland.
At Columbus, he started five games with a 1-3 record and 7.56 ERA.
Also on Sunday, the Guardians optioned Michael Kelly to Triple-A Columbus.
Kelly, 30, had yet to pitch for the Guardians this season. He recorded a 2.25 ERA without a decision in four relief appearances with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022.
McKenzie was shut down a couple of days before the start of the season after an MRI revealed a strain in his right teres major muscle. He made his final rehab start Tuesday but was limited to 43 pitches because of a rain delay.
McKenzie, 25, went 11-11 for the Guardians last season with a 2.96 ERA, ninth best in the American League. He is 18-21 with a 3.68 ERA in 64 career games (60 starts) with Cleveland.
Jim Hines, 1968 Olympic 100m champion and world record-holder, dies
American won double gold at the Mexico Games as well as holding the world 100m mark for 15 years
On October 14, 1968, Jim Hines settled into his blocks for the 100m final at the Mexico Games. It was the first Olympics on a synthetic track and 2248m above sea level and, helped with a gentle tailwind of 0.3m/sec the 22-year-old American stormed to victory in 9.95 – the first-ever ratified automatic world record at the distance.
Four days after his triumph he signed for the Miami Dolphins football team. His 100m mark, however, survived for 15 years before Calvin Smith improved it to 9.93 – also at altitude – in Colorado in 1983.
Given this, Hines, who died this week aged 76, is one of the significant members of the exclusive club of athletes who have held the world 100m record.
In addition to winning the Olympic 100m title in Mexico, he combined with Charles Greene, Melvin Pender and Ronnie Ray Smith to take the 4x100m gold too in a world record of 38.2. Outside of the Olympics, he set world records at 100 yards with 9.1 and 4×100 yards with 39.6 in 1967.
Born in Arkansas, Hines grew up in California as the son of a construction worker and initially played baseball before his talent as a sprinter was spotted and he went to Texas Southern University.
In the run-up to the Mexico Games he clocked a hand-timed 9.9 for 100m in Sacramento and also a wind-assisted 9.8 at the same meeting in 1968.
Jim Hines (Getty)
At the Mexico Games itself he was at the height of his powers as he led Lennox Miller of Jamaica and Greene of the United States home.
Shortly after the Olympics he came back to his home in Houston to find burglars had stolen his television, wife’s jewellery and his gold medals, but after placing an advert in his local newspaper asking the thieves to return the medals they eventually arrived back with him in a plain brown envelope.
After his sprints career his time in the NFL did not go that well, playing a handful of games for Miami in 1969 before Kansas City Chiefs.
French Open 2023 results: Lloyd Glasspool out of doubles, Jamie Murray withdraws with food poisoning
Briton Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara lost in the French Open men's doubles on Sunday.
Glasspool and Finnish partner Heliovaara were defeated 6-4 6-2 by Dutchman Matwe Middelkoop and German Andreas Mies in the third round.
It means Neal Skupski is the last Briton remaining in the men's doubles draw at Roland Garros.
Top seeds Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof booked their quarter-final place on Saturday.
Regular partners Glasspool and Heliovaara, who were the fifth seeds at Roland Garros, were upset by the 12th seeds on court 14.
Skupski and Koolhof will face Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentine Horacio Zeballos, who are the 10th seeds, in the last eight.
Glasspool remains in contention for the mixed doubles title and is scheduled - alongside American partner Asia Muhammad - to play Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and American Nathaniel Lammons in the quarter-finals on Monday.
Murray withdraws with food poisoning
Jamie Murray was due to play with American Taylor Townsend in a second-round mixed doubles match but was too ill to take to the court.
The Briton withdrew on Sunday morning before their match against Dabrowski and Lammons, citing food poisoning.
The Briton is not the first player to be hampered in this way at this French Open, with American Jessica Pegula, speaking in her BBC Sport column, describing how her Roland Garros preparations were disrupted by the same thing.
French Open 2023: Doubles team disqualified after Miyu Kato hits ball girl with ball
A women's doubles team was disqualified from the French Open after Japan's Miyu Kato hit a ball girl with a ball.
Between points, Kato sent a ball cross-court towards the ball girl, hitting her shoulder and leaving her visibly distressed.
Kato was initially given a warning by the umpire but after protests from opponents Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo, they were disqualified.
Kato left the court in tears, consoled by Indonesian partner Aldila Sutjiadi.
The Japanese-Indonesian team tried to plead their case to French Open officials on the court, saying it had been accidental, and Kato went over to the ball girl to apologise.
One official on the court compared the incident to Novak Djokovic's disqualification from the 2020 US Open, saying: "If you hit someone and they're injured, then you're responsible for that action. Even if you don't mean it, you're still responsible for that action."
Czech Bouzkova and Spain's Sorribes had taken the first set 7-6 (7-1) in the third-round encounter but were a break down at 3-1 in the second when the incident happened.
The crowd booed the decision to disqualify the 16th seeds, who were applauded off the court.
After the match, Bouzkova explained why she and Sorribes Tormo had protested to the umpire.
"It's difficult. The girl was crying for 15 minutes. I think the warning first happened because he [the umpire] didn't see she was crying and she was in that kind of pain," said the Czech.
"We told him he should look more into because the girl was crying and the ball went directly at her, it wasn't kind of a slower ball. We told them [Kato and Sutjiadi] it's very unfortunate."
According to International Tennis Federation (ITF) rules, "players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball within the precincts of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up)".
The ITF defines abuse of balls as "intentionally hitting a ball out of the enclosure of the court, hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences".
It is up to the discretion of the umpire and Grand Slam Supervisor if an incident warrants a single warning, which is often seen during matches, or a default from the event.
On Saturday in the women's singles, 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva received a code violation, as per Grand Slam rules, in her first-set tie-break against Coco Gauff when she thumped a ball into the crowd and it hit a spectator, although the world number 147 could have been defaulted if umpire Timo Janzen had deemed it more serious.
"Right after I thought that it was a really stupid move because it was not necessary to do that," the Russian said.
"It was really bad what I did. I had thoughts [about being defaulted], but he just gave me a warning."
In 1995, former British number one Tim Henman was disqualified for a similar incident during Wimbledon. Henman, 20 at the time, accidently struck a ball girl with a wayward ball during a men's doubles match.
French Open 2023 results: Novak Djokovic beats Juan Pablo Varillas at Roland Garros
Novak Djokovic demonstrated his superior quality to swat aside Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas and reach a record 17th French Open men's quarter-final.
The Serbian third seed, 36, won 6-3 6-2 6-2 on the Roland Garros clay and moved ahead of Rafael Nadal to take sole ownership of the last-eight record.
Djokovic is also aiming to overtake Nadal by winning a record 23rd Grand Slam men's singles title.
The two-time champion will play Russian 11th seed Karen Khachanov next.
Khachanov, 27, reached his third successive Grand Slam quarter-final with a 1-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 6-1 victory over unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
Spanish top seed Carlos Alcaraz, seen as Djokovic's main rival for the title in the absence of injured 14-time champion Nadal, plays Italian 17th seed Lorenzo Musetti later on Sunday.
Drama-free afternoon for Djokovic
Drama tends to follow Djokovic around at a Grand Slam and, after he risked flaming political tensions in the Balkans by writing a slogan about Kosovo at the start of Roland Garros, he admitted he gains extra drive from controversy.
A physical third-round match against Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also provided a talking point, leading to Djokovic saying afterwards he did not have time to name his "long list" of injuries.
But the straightforward nature of beating Varillas meant it was a drama-free afternoon for the Serb.
Djokovic started edgily with a double fault and faced a break point in the opening game, saving that with an ace and then taking the Peruvian's serve in the next game on his way to opening up a 4-0 lead.
Varillas clawed back one of the breaks in the fifth game, taking the chance with a bullet backhand winner on a second serve from the Serb.
In windy conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier, Djokovic continued to have issues with his ball toss and had to stop Varillas putting the set back on serve by saving another break point before holding for 5-2.
During that game came the only real bit of theatre.
Djokovic was booed by the French fans for a rather innocuous gesture of frustration following a Varillas winner for 30-40, thriving on the energy to deny the Peruvian and then, with a smile on his face, cupping his ear with his hand at the crowd.
Varillas, ranked 94th in the world, almost quit the sport in 2016 to return to university full-time and the decision not to retire has paid dividends with his best run at a major.
He was the first Peruvian man to reach the Roland Garros last 16 since Jaime Yzaga in 1994, but could not match his compatriot by going on to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final.
Djokovic, who won the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 2016 and 2021, had only lost once on the Paris clay to a player ranked outside the world's top 50 - Italy's Marco Cecchinato in the 2018 quarter-finals.
After going a break up early in the second set, he was never going to be on the end of another shock and quickly wrapped up victory to reach his 14th consecutive quarter-final at Roland Garros.
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