Middlesex 138 and 9 for 0 trail Sussex 481 for 9 dec (Van Zyl 173, Brown 107, Salt 50, Beer 50) by 334 runs

Stiaan van Zyl's marathon hundred set Sussex on course for a maximum-points win over Middlesex on day two at Lord's.

The South African left-hander batted for just over seven and a half hours for his 173 and with wicketkeeper Ben Brown weighing in with 107, Sussex, who bowled out the hosts for 138 on the opening day, piled up 481 for 9.

Middlesex, for whom James Harris returned figures of 4 for 98, survived four overs before stumps reaching 9 for 0, but they face the prospect of having to bat out almost all of the remaining two days to salvage a draw.

Sussex were only 31 ahead at start of play, but van Zyl and Brown showed great application to bat throughout an absorbing morning session against tight bowling from the hosts.

Van Zyl moved to his half-century before surviving a decent lbw shout from Toby Roland-Jones in what was a probing opening spell from the former England seamer.

Brown at this stage was completely becalmed and he got the benefit of the doubt on another lbw appeal when he had made just 18, Ethan Bamber the unlucky bowler. Just 83 runs came in that first session, but even so it meant Sussex were already more than 100 in front.

The new ball was available almost immediately on the resumption, but instead of bringing much-needed wickets for the hosts it was the signal for a furious assault from Brown, who unfurled a series of glorious shots.

It set up a race between the two batsmen as to who could get to three figures first. In the event van Zyl just prevailed, reaching the landmark from 233 balls with 12 fours.

Not long afterwards it was Brown's turn, 16 boundaries getting him to the century almost 100 balls quicker than his team-mate. His second fifty came up in 41 balls in a passage of play which saw 81 runs in the 55 minutes after lunch.

It was 2:35pm by the time Middlesex got their first success of the day, Brown slogging across a straight one from Roland-Jones and losing his off bail.

Two more wickets fell before tea, David Weise pulling a short one from James Harris to Roland-Jones in the deep, before Chris Jordan played on to give Bamber his first scalp of the innings.

Van Zyl remained and any hopes of running through the tail were hindered by staunch support from Will Beer, who ensured maximum batting points were secured before tea. The pair batted deep into the final session taking the eighth wicket stand to 89 before van Zyl's epic vigil ended when he was trapped in front by Harris.

There was still time for Beer to make 50 and so equal his career-best, before Harris struck for a fourth time to scatter Ollie Robinson's stumps, provoking Jason Gillespie's men to declare 343 to the good.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle and six-time Pro Bowler Gerald McCoy has agreed to a contract with the Carolina Panthers, he told ESPN's Josina Anderson.

McCoy is getting a one-year deal worth up to $10.25 million that includes a $4 million signing bonus, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Carolina joined the battle to sign McCoy late, bringing him in for a visit last Thursday and Friday after McCoy visited Baltimore and Cleveland.

McCoy left Baltimore thinking he very well might sign there, sources told Schefter, but Carolina wowed him on his visit and quarterback Cam Newton helped recruit McCoy.

McCoy has been a long-time fan of Newton's, saying in 2015 the first pick of the 2011 draft deserved to win the MVP well before the voting was final.

To cap it off, McCoy gets to stay in the NFC South and play against the Bucs, who released him and gave his No. 93 to Ndamukong Suh. Tampa Bay and McCoy "mutually parted ways" on May 20.

He joins Pro Bowlers Kawann Short and Dontari Poe on a Panthers front line that is transitioning from a base 4-3 scheme to a 3-4.

The 31-year-old's ability to play tackle or end gives coach Ron Rivera, who took over the defensive play calling late last season, the position flexibility he is seeking in trying to keep opposing offenses off balance and improve the pass rush.

Carolina finished 27th in the league last season with 35 sacks, the lowest total since Rivera arrived in 2011.

McCoy has 39.5 sacks when lined up as a defensive tackle since 2010, according to ESPN Stats and Information research. Only Geno Atkins and Aaron Donald have more from the inside rush.

McCoy has 54.5 sacks overall in nine seasons and 45.5 since 2013. Even with a drop-off the past two seasons -- six sacks each year -- McCoy can't help but improve Carolina's rush. No Carolina interior lineman had more than Short's three sacks last season.

McCoy has been a nemesis to the Panthers since arriving in the NFL as the third overall pick of the 2010 draft. His 42 tackles in 15 games against his NFC South rival is his most against any team. So are his 34 solo tackles.

His 4.5 sacks against the Panthers are tied for his second most against any team. He has five against Atlanta Falcons and 4.5 against Philadelphia Eagles.

Carolina Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner called McCoy a "real life savage'' on social media when it was announced the Bucs were releasing their star.

The Panthers had to wait until Saturday, June 1, when they picked up an additional $7.5 million under the salary cap for the release of offensive tackle Matt Kalil, to compete financially for McCoy. They also cleared another $2 million in cap space by getting wide receiver Torrey Smith to take a pay cut.

The team still has approximately $8 million in cap space to sign its top two draft picks, edge rusher Brian Burns and offensive tackle Greg Little, and keep enough in reserve to sign additional help.

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – USAC’s winningest AMSOIL National Sprint Car driver, Dave Darland, has teamed up with New Jersey car owner Tim Hogue to compete during the upcoming five-race Eastern Storm tour June 11-16.

Darland’s lone Eastern Storm win came in 2013 at Pennsylvania’s Port Royal Speedway, the same year he posted his best points finish in the series, taking the runner-up spot just one marker behind Bryan Clauson.  He’s also earned points finishes of fourth in 2015, third in 2014 and third in 2012 to go along with last year’s seventh-place result after fifth-place runs at Port Royal and New York’s Weedsport Speedway.

The Hogue No. 39 has been a familiar staple on the Eastern Storm tour over the last four seasons, with California’s Richard Vander Weerd in the seat for the 2015 campaign, while Darland’s USAC Triple Crown contemporary, Jerry Coons Jr., took the wheel in 2016 through 2018.

Hogue’s sprinter has competed on the USAC Rapid Tire East Coast Sprint Car trail this season with driver Mike Thompson at the controls.

Darland, of Lincoln, Ind., owns four USAC National titles, including the 1997 Silver Crown, 1999 Sprint Car and the 2001-02 Midget championships, and leads all drivers in USAC Sprint Car starts with 741, and in terms of career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victories with 62.

This year he’s earned a pair of top-10 finishes in five sprint car starts, all while competing for three different teams – Chase Briscoe Racing, Epperson Racing and Michael Dutcher Motorsports.

MONTREAL – Moorespeed is expanding its IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama program to include two cars.

Rob Ferriol, currently third in the Gold Cup driver point standings, joins Moorespeed for the remainder of the season in IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge competition beginning at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve this weekend in Montreal. He’ll be a teammate to full-season Moorespeed driver Riley Dickinson.

Dickinson sits third in the Platinum Cup driver point standings following doubleheaders at Barber Motorsports Park and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to open the season. Ferriol comes to Moorespeed after opening the season running with TPC Racing.

The addition fulfills a stated goal from last fall, adding an experienced hand to pair with the 16-year-old Dickinson as he strives for a Platinum class championship for cars built between 2017 and 2019.

“The work began on Montreal almost immediately following post-race debriefing and reflection of Mid-Ohio,” Moorespeed President David Moore said. “We had a very successful test a week ago at Watkins Glen, where we continued to make strong progress developing Riley’s raw talent. Rob is the perfect fit for Moorespeed and for Riley, as Rob can help mentor a great young man in Riley and they will be able to help each other with data. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

This weekend’s doubleheader at Montreal is part of the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. The event is unique on the schedule. Not only is it included on the Formula One calendar, but also is a dual event for the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge including the Canadian field. The trip north of the border is the first to the track for Moorespeed.

“It’s going to be an unbelievable experience that I am very anxious to be a part of this coming week,” Dickinson said. “However, I’m there to execute the job at hand regardless of the atmosphere of the race. At the end of the day I’m going to treat it like any other race. The field is going to have a few different names in the running order with the Canadian series running in conjunction with ours which I think is going to provide even better racing throughout the weekend.”

Ferriol will drive the No. 5 Moorespeed/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the Gold class, which is for 911 GT3 Cup cars built between 2014 and 2016. The change in teams is amicable for Ferriol, who worked closely with TPC Racing and Moorespeed in a collaboration to make the move for 2019.

“I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Mike and Harris Levitas and the entire TPC Racing team,” Ferriol said. “As I make a charge for the Gold championship this year, and TPC’s paddock continues to grow, they knew it would take a laser-focused, whole-team approach to really maximize my chances at finding that elusive top step at the end of the year. David has proven that his program at Moorespeed is designed to produce champions, so Mike, David, and I collectively put our heads together and came up with a plan.”

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland -- U.S. men's goalkeeper Zack Steffen has admitted that he "has a lot of feelings" heading into this summer, but that his current focus remains on helping the U.S. retain the Gold Cup.

The presumptive No. 1 keeper has plenty on his mind. In addition to his duties with the U.S., there will be a new club to become acquainted with as Steffen's transfer to Manchester City becomes official on July 9. That has also meant saying goodbye to previous club the Columbus Crew.

"There's a lot of nerves, a lot of excitement, a little bit of sadness leaving the chapter in Columbus," he said following Monday's training session on the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy. "But I'm really focused on the Gold Cup and doing well here, and raising the trophy here, and then I'll focus on what lies next."

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Steffen is aware of the role he is attempting to fill given the long line of goalkeepers that have starred in England as well with the U.S., a group that includes Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel and Tim Howard. But it is a role he is intent on embracing.

"It's a big expectation, and a lot of pressure, but I like that," he said about starting for the U.S. "It will make me better. It will make the players around me better. It's an honor, obviously to be [mentioned] with those names. But I still have a long way to go, I'm young, and it's really just started."

Steffen added that he had spent some time talking to Howard about the role following the Crew's game in Colorado a few weeks ago.

"He's there for anything I need, and that means a lot to me," said Steffen about Howard.

Steffen made it clear that he owes a great deal to the Crew. His move there followed a disappointing stint with German club Freiburg, one that saw him limited to 14 appearances with their reserve team. But in Columbus, Steffen was the undisputed No. 1 and won the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2018.

"I went there with the mentality of trying to find my passion again for soccer and happiness," he said. "I found a lot more than that just in Columbus. It was a time I'll never forget."

Steffen received an emotional sendoff following Saturday's 2-2 draw with New York City FC. Prior to the game he received a framed replica jersey. Afterward, there was a video montage, and he walked around the field at MAPFRE Stadium, posed for selfies as well as signing countless autographs.

"Leaving [Sunday] there was definitely some emotional moments," he said. "But that's good, that means Columbus was a special time for me."

Sri Lanka quick bowler Lasith Malinga was scathing in his criticism of his team-mates' attitude, saying that they have moved from one defeat to another in recent times without learning any lessons.

Speaking to the Sri Lankan press before their game against Afghanistan in Cardiff on Tuesday, Malinga said, "In the last one-and-a-half years or two years, we have been saying, 'we have lost one game, move on, do well in the next game'. You can't play cricket like that. We need to learn lessons from those defeats. There's no point in forgetting those defeats.

"I have played four World Cups and I still feel the pressure for tomorrow's match. The other players must also feel it. You can't play cricket anywhere without feeling the pressure. If a player doesn't feel that pressure, that excitement, the nervousness, then there's no chance of getting 100% from that player. They must think to themselves that if they don't deliver, they have not done justice to the team."

"We can't improve our skills at the moment. We need to become mentally tough"

In the last three years, Sri Lanka have won just 26% of their ODIs; they have lost to Scotland in a List A match, and Afghanistan beat them in their most recent contest in the Asia Cup.

In their opening match of the World Cup, Sri Lanka, who have won just four of their 21 completed ODIs in the past 12 months and lost warm-up matches to South Africa and Australia before the tournament, went down by ten wickets to New Zealand after folding for 136.

"All the players must realise their own mistakes first. We can't repeat the same mistakes over and over," Malinga said. "As a senior player and as a member of the squad, I hope everyone will have that fear of not doing their duty and feel the shame of losing. Everyone must realise that it's a must that they perform because if not our cricket will not go forward.

"At least from tomorrow, I hope everyone will have that fear because they have been selected as the best 15 to represent the country, not to be passengers. It's essential that they identify different game situations and support each other in the middle.

"I feel players need to get confidence, but we can't improve our skills at the moment. We need to become mentally tough."

Dimuth Karunaratne, leading Sri Lanka in the World Cup despite not being an ODI regular since March 2015, was the only batsman to show some grit against New Zealand, carrying his bat for 52 runs as wickets fell in a heap around him.

"I feel our top-seven batsmen have to take responsibility," Malinga said. "We need to be patient. Patience is very important.

"We know these conditions; we can have someone get 60-70 runs and some balls can still move around. Each bowler has their own method of setting up a batsman and taking wickets. So each bowler has their own ways of bowling those wicket-taking deliveries. I can't decide that for the others."

Pakistan 348 for 8 (Hafeez 84, Babar 63, Sarfaraz 55, Moeen 3-50, Woakes 3-71) beat England 334 for 9 (Root 107, Buttler 103, Wahab 3-82) by 14 runs

As it happened: England v Pakistan

A hundred from Joe Root, the first in this World Cup. A hundred from Jos Buttler, at 75 balls the fifth fastest in the history of the World Cup. The disadvantage of losing the toss and being asked to set a target in these quixotic ODI times. The pressure of coming into this game on the back of a hammering at the same ground three days ago (not to mention 11 successive defeats in the format). Pakistan looked cornered, for sure, but they produced the old tiger routine at Trent Bridge to emerge bloodied but unbowed against the hosts and favourites. And, more crucially, with two World Cup points in their pocket.

Having opened so smoothly against South Africa, England were given a World Cup reality check - a reminder, in particular, that their vaunted batting line-up cannot make up for every sub-par performance with the ball. It had been almost four years since England last lost an ODI chase at home, but this was a record target in World Cups and despite going into the last ten overs needing 91 with five wickets in hand, Pakistan's death bowling was good enough that the final dozen deliveries were barely even squeaky.

Success with the ball has never been more relative: Wahab Riaz's 3 for 82 would barely have qualified as respectable a decade ago, but his changes of pace at the end ensured England would not wag their way to a last-gasp victory (as well as accounting for Jonny Bairstow at the top of the order). Mohammad Amir, meanwhile, removed Buttler the ball after he had recorded his hundred, to finally send the scales lurching in Pakistan's direction.

In any other era, against any other side, Pakistan's total of 348 for 8 would have looked impregnable. It was built around solid top-order contributions from Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Ahmed, though perhaps decisively aided and abetted by some uncharacteristically sloppy fielding from England.

At the halfway stage, there was a sense that this could easily go the way of Pakistan's unsuccessful attempts to defend 358 and 340 during the ODI series last month (when Wahab and Amir, for differing reasons, were both notably absent). But this was a World Cup encounter, in which the hosts carry the tag of favourites; however often they have pulled off such feats over recent years, there is no such thing as an easy chase of 349.

So it was to prove, though for a while during the stand between Root and Buttler of 130 in 17.3 overs, England had the air of warm favourites (despite history and mathematics remaining firmly against them). That lifted England from the travails of 118 for 4, with both openers falling inside the Powerplay and Pakistan's part-time spin pairing of Hafeez and Shoaib Malik accounting for the in-form Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes.

It could have been worse for England, Root surviving a difficult diving chance to slip on 9 - Babar the would-be catcher, Amir the frustrated bowler - but he otherwise fulfilled his anchor role with aplomb, easing his way to a hundred from 97 balls. Then, with 101 needed and more than 10 overs of the innings remaining, Root threw his hands at a delivery from Shadab Khan and sliced to short third man. The noise from the increasingly rambunctious English sections of the Trent Bridge crowd immediately dropped a level.

In fact, there had been equally voluble support for Pakistan, and England had seemed a touch rattled - there were sarcastic claps to the crowd in the field, and then palpable frustration from Jason Roy when his lbw against Shadab in the third over was confirmed on review. Bairstow responded forcefully before feathering behind off Wahab, and it was a sign of England's uneven effort that his 32 end up being their third-highest score.

The DRS could not come to Pakistan's aid later in the innings, when Buttler was rapped on the front pad by Shadab with just 33 to his name. It was understandable that Sarfaraz had gambled, with Buttler clearly England's likeliest match-winner; even after Root's dismissal, Pakistan nerves frayed further when a thin edge off Moeen Ali that could also have seen him stumped was missed by the captain. But Amir had Buttler carving to short third man, while Moeen never got going before being put out of his misery by Wahab.

It was an English error that seemed to be magnified in retrospect, as Hafeez took advantage of the life he received on 14 to top-score for Pakistan - and then scuttled one through Morgan's defences for good measure, as he and Malik ensured that an XI light on frontline bowlers could hold off the modern game's most enthusiastic chasers.

Despite the scorn heaped upon their batsmen after succumbing to 105 all out against West Indies on Friday, Pakistan produced a remarkably resolute response. Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman put on 82 for the first wicket and the middle order then cracked on fluently as only Moeen found much joy among the England attack. How different might things have been, however, had Roy held on to a steepling miscue from Hafeez when he gave Adil Rashid the charge in the legspinner's second over.

Rashid was to end wicketless, hit out of the attack after conceding 43 from five overs as Babar and Hafeez took him on. Jofra Archer, too, endured his toughest outing in international cricket, dealt with dismissively at the death on the way to figures of 0 for 79.

While Chris Woakes could not be faulted, claiming four catches and a share of the World Cup record for a fielder, to go with three wickets, his contributions were the exception as England totted up 13 misfields and 17 extra runs donated to the Pakistan cause - enough to have swung the match. Having failed to live up to their billing, Morgan's side must deal with defeat by a team they had wiped aside 4-0 in bilaterals just a couple of weeks ago. That added pressure of World Cups? Well, it is only going to increase from here.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

After the kicking comes the clicking.

Such a stark turnaround after 11 straight losses - the most recent: a complete shellacking by the West Indies - to defeat the World Cup hosts and favourites shouldn't surprise anyone who follows Pakistan, of course. But in the end it was a confidence-boosting session among the players after the West Indies loss that triggered the reversal of fortune.

"You can lose but when you start feeling it and realising that you played badly, we all had that realisation that we didn't play well then," said Mohammad Hafeez. "It's not on especially to perform like that at a World Cup."

"So we had that realisation. Everyone took responsibility. We all sat down, gave each other confidence. Somebody came to me and gave me that confidence, I went to somebody else and gave them that confidence. We made each other remember the good performances we've all put in. We had this desire to pick up a good, big win here and move on with that. We have been playing well as a team, but we weren't able to close out and win games.

"Today, every player expressed themselves, as a batsman, as a bowler, we all went on the field and did everything we could. We didn't hold back. It's a good sign that we have that winning feeling back in the dressing room. That will give us more confidence and hopefully we can maintain that."

Perhaps too much was made of that losing streak; the side that succumbed to Australia was essentially a second string team and they were competitive in two of the ODIs they played against England prior to the tournament. The inclusion of Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Hafeez and Shadab Khan has given the bowling line up, in particular, a very different look. But on top of that, Hasan Ali credited the belief instilled by coach Mickey Arthur for Pakistan's about face.

"After the first match we sat and we talked about our weaknesses and we talked about plans and execution and all these things," said Hasan. "But one thing is very important, which is our coach is always backing us, so I think that moment was turning us because everybody is very confident and the guys want to win.

"We were very disappointed we lost 11 games in a row but you know one thing is very important, we believe in ourselves and we know we needed just a little bit of a kick and then we will click. So I think we've got the kick and we are very happy."

It's not often you come across fast bowlers who dabble in rhyming couplets, but Hasan may have nailed what many have tried to explain about Pakistan's famous fluctuations.

They just needed the right kick to click.