HEADINGLEY, Leeds: Joe Denly insisted England never lost faith in their ability to pull off what would be one of the most astounding wins in Ashes history after collapsing to 67 all out in the third Test against Australia at Headingley.
England’s woeful total — their lowest in Ashes cricket for 71 years — appeared to have ended any hopes they had in this match of squaring the five-Test series at 1-1.
But come stumps on Saturday’s third day they were 156-3 in their second innings, needing a further 203 runs to reach a target of 359.
England captain Joe Root was 75 not out after sharing a stand of 126 in 53 overs with Denly that rescued his team from yet more top-order embarrassment at 15-2.
“I still think we’re in very good position,” said Denly, caught behind after gloving a Josh Hazlewood bouncer.
Denly, the only England batsman to reach double figures in the first innings, with 12, added: “It’s never ideal when you get bowled out for 67, it wasn’t good enough and we had to show a bit of fight and a bit of character in the second innings.”
Denly said England’s resolve had not faltered after their first-innings horror show.
“It was never about a draw or losing, but all about winning — that belief has to be there,” he said.
“We understand there is a tricky period in the morning with the new ball coming up.
“But we have Rooty and Stokesy (Ben Stokes is two not following his unbeaten 115 in the drawn second Test at Lord’s) — two world-class batters in.”
Root’s effort was especially timely given England’s best batsman had been out for nought in his previous two Test innings.
“Any time Joe Root is scoring runs it puts belief in the side,” said Denly. “We feed off that.”
Saturday also saw Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne score 80 — his third successive Test fifty since coming in as world cricket’s inaugural concussion substitute for Steve Smith after the star batsman was hit by a Jofra Archer bouncer at Lord’s.
Labuschagne missed out on a maiden Test century by running himself out, but he was still pleased with his recent run of scores which included 74 in the first innings — seven more than England managed between them.
“As a batter you want to score hundreds but it was more about getting as big a lead as we could,” said Labuschagne. “It’s going to be pretty tough ever to fill Steve Smith’s shoes.
“But from a personal perspective I’m just trying to focus on my own game.”
If Australia win this match they will retain the Ashes and Labuschagne said it would not take much to derail England’s bid for victory.
“That’s how it works over here, you always find there’s big partnerships but then there’s one, two, three wickets. It can happen very quickly,” he added.
Unlike players on both sides involved in the World Cup, Labuschagne came into this match with plenty of recent runs in first-class cricket under his belt after playing for Glamorgan in the County Championship.
“Playing for Glamorgan helped a lot,” said Labuschagne.
“Playing against the swinging ball in different conditions — and just learning my game and learning to put big runs on the board — definitely helped me and built my confidence as well.”
Saturday saw Labuschagne hit on the helmet and grille by bouncers from Stuart Broad and Archer, with the latter also having struck his grille at Lord’s.
But Labuschagne insisted Saturday’s strikes were just “glancing blows.”
Meanwhile the sidelined Smith had his third running session in three days on Saturday and his first bat, facing throw-downs for 15 minutes.
He will continue to be assessed with a view to playing in the three-day tour match against Derbyshire starting Thursday.
Joe Denly adamant England can pull off comeback Ashes win against Australia
Joe Denly adamant England can pull off comeback Ashes win against Australia
- England captain Joe Root was 75 not out after sharing a stand of 126 in 53 overs with Denly
- Root’s effort was especially timely given England’s best batsman had been out for nought in his previous two Test innings
Jos Buttler fires Gujarat to top of IPL table in intense heat
Chasing 204 for victory, Gujarat rode on Buttler’s 54-ball knock laced with 11 fours and four sixes to achieve their target with four balls to spare at the world’s biggest cricket stadium.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler and impact substitute Sherfane Rutherford, a left-hand West Indies batter who hit 43, put on a key stand of 119 to steer Gujarat to their fifth win in seven matches and the top of the 10-team table.
Delhi slipped to second.
Rutherford fell in the 19th over. Delhi’s left-arm quick Mitchell Starc needed to defend 10 off the final six balls but the left-handed Rahul Tewatia finished off with a six and four.
Buttler, who hit his third half-century of the season, was left three short of a hundred that would have put him level with Virat Kohli’s record eight IPL tons.
Gujarat, who won the IPL in their debut season in 2022, elected to field first on a hot afternoon as the temperature soared above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
Delhi reached 203-8 but the total could have been more had it not been for four wickets by Gujarat pace bowler Prasidh Krishna, who now leads this season’s bowling with 14 scalps.
Buttler was the hero as his batting charge stood out after his work behind the stumps for 20 overs in the heat as he gloved two catches.
Gujarat skipper Shubman Gill fell run out for seven in the second over after he attempted a tough single and a direct throw from Karun Nair rattled the stumps.
The left-right batting pair of Sai Sudharsan and Buttler put the innings back on track as they balanced caution and aggression in their stand of 60.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav took down Sudharsan for 36 but Buttler found another partner in Rutherford, who took on the bowling and hit three sixes.
Earlier Delhi skipper Axar Patel top-scored with 39.
KL Rahul made 28 before Krishna trapped him lbw with a yorker and then cut short Nair’s knock in the ninth over.
Veteran pace bowler Ishant Sharma bowled two overs but went off after he struggled to cope with the scorching heat.
Ishant came back to bowl another over but again went back to the dug out and was subbed out with figures of 1-19.
Tristan Stubbs was out for 31 before Krishna sent back Axar and Vipraj Nigam with successive balls but the hat-trick was avoided.
Ashutosh Sharma hit 37 to boost the total.
Bayern roar past Heidenheim with 34th title in clear sight
- The table now shows Bayern at the top with 72 points, nine ahead of Bayer Leverkusen
- Urbig was sharp and alert, diving low to deny Sirlord Conteh with a smart save
HEIDENHEIM, Germany: Bayern Munich had little trouble beating lowly Heidenheim 4-0 on Saturday to put themselves within touching distance of their 34th Bundesliga title.
The table now shows Bayern at the top with 72 points, nine ahead of Bayer Leverkusen who face St. Pauli on Sunday, with four rounds left to play.
With Bayern racing into a three-goal lead after just 36 minutes — courtesy of Harry Kane’s precision, Konrad Laimer’s drive and Kingsley Coman’s flair — there was little doubt about Saturday’s outcome.
Kane could have doubled his tally after 22 minutes, with the pressure on the Heidenheim goal reaching a boiling point, but the Bundesliga’s leading marksman steered a close-range header just wide, letting the hosts off the hook.
Joshua Kimmich then took his time before rifling a shot into the corner for 4-0 in the 56th minute as Bayern surged ahead at full throttle in their relentless pursuit of another league crown.
Heidenheim, fueled by pride and eager to salvage something from an otherwise dismal performance, came close to pulling back a goal just after the hour mark. But Bayern keeper Jonas Urbig was sharp and alert, diving low to deny Sirlord Conteh with a smart save.
For the hosts, the situation looks bleak: they are third from bottom in the relegation play-off places with 22 points, seven behind St. Pauli, who occupy the last safe spot.
Bayern will host Mainz next Saturday before facing RB Leipzig and Borussia Moenchengladbach, then wrapping up their campaign with a trip to Hoffenheim on May 17.
Palestinian Oday Dabbagh scores as Aberdeen beat Hearts 2-1 to reach Scottish Cup final
- Hearts levelled in the 28th minute
- Aberdeen swiftly took advantage to reach their first Scottish Cup final in eight years
GLASGOW: Palestinian forward Oday Dabbagh scored a late extra-time winner as Aberdeen eventually ground down nine-man Hearts to win 2-1 on Saturday and reach the Scottish Cup final.
The Dons struck first against the run of play when Pape Gueye’s header came back off the crossbar and ricocheted into his own net off the back of 42-year-old Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
Hearts levelled in the 28th minute when captain Lawrence Shankland met James Penrice’s cross from the left, took a touch and rifled a clinical finish through the legs of Dimitar Mitov.
The Edinburgh side suffered a huge blow a minute before the break when Michael Steinwender was shown a straight red after bringing down Topi Keskinen.
But the 10 men held out for well over an hour against an Aberdeen side lacking in invention.
Hearts’ task got even tougher when Cammy Devlin was shown a second yellow card with four minutes left of extra-time.
Aberdeen swiftly took advantage to reach their first Scottish Cup final in eight years when Dabbagh fired in the rebound after Jack Milne’s shot was saved by Gordon.
Jimmy Thelin’s side will face the winner of Sunday’s semifinal between Celtic and St. Johnstone at Hampden on May 25.
Lloyd narrowly holds off Weug to take thrilling maiden victory in Jeddah
- British driver manages race calmly, pulling clear to build advantage
JEDDAH: McLaren’s Ella Lloyd thrived under intense pressure from the more experienced Maya Weug to secure her first F1 Academy win on Saturday, taking victory in race one around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Starting from the front row, the British driver got the better of her Rodin Motorsport teammate Emma Felbermayr at turn one to storm into the lead.
From there, she managed the race calmly, pulling clear as battles raged behind her and building a solid advantage over her rivals.
Felbermayr slipped back, losing P2 to Red Bull Racing’s Alisha Palmowski before Weug worked her way into the top three.
Meanwhile, series leader Doriane Pin found herself locked in a fierce battle for P6 with Tina Hausmann.
But just as the fight was heating up, disaster struck for Williams driver Lia Block — starting from the back of the grid after a qualifying crash — who was tagged from behind by Courtney Crone.
The incident brought out the safety car and forced Chloe Chong into retirement after she sustained damage while trying to avoid the collision.
Lloyd handled the restart well, but as race one approached its conclusion, Weug — having passed Palmowski for P2 — began closing the gap rapidly.
The pair engaged in a thrilling drag race on the final lap, but Lloyd held firm, crossing the line just 0.176 seconds ahead of the Ferrari driver.
Palmowski similarly fended off Pin to secure the final podium spot, with Alba Larsen taking P5 ahead of Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann. Chloe Chambers, who was to start race two from pole, finished seventh, leaving Nina Gademan to claim the final point in race one.
Saudi artist on track as work displayed at Jeddah Corniche Circuit
- Race Through Art competition launched in cooperation with Ministry of Sport
- ‘This message reflects our culture to the whole world,’ says winner Yara Al-Harthi
JEDDAH: Yara Al-Harthi, the winner of the Race Through Art competition, has captured the spirit of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a powerful piece of artwork at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Al-Harthi’s artwork was displayed at the circuit ahead of the arrival of the pinnacle of motorsport in Jeddah.
The Race Through Art competition was launched in cooperation with the Ministry of Sport, which invited amateur and professional artists to participate in designing artistic works that reflected the unique culture of the Kingdom. The winning artwork was displayed in the run-off area at the circuit ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian GP, which takes place on Sunday.
The aim of the competition was to provide a platform for creative Saudi talent to showcase their work. It was open to all Saudi nationals over the age of 18, living anywhere in the world, who wanted the opportunity to present their vision of the historic sporting occasion.
Al-Harthi said: “This design is not just an artwork: It is a message, and this message reflects our culture to the whole world, especially in the fifth edition (of the grand prix).
“I used bold colors at the circuit to reflect the spirit of enthusiasm and to increase the energy of fans, and also to make them notice the integration of culture … and the main landmarks in Saudi Arabia with the race.
“I am very happy and proud that I won the competition.”
