Northamptonshire 209 and 68 for 0 (Curran 48*) trail Glamorgan 547 (Root 229, Cullen 63) by 270 runs

Glamorgan's push for a second win in this season's Specsavers County Championship was held up by bad weather on the third afternoon at Wantage Road, preventing any play after lunch with Northamptonshire closing on 68 without loss, trailing by 270 runs.

Having taken a first-innings lead of 338 after finally being bowled out for 547, Glamorgan only had time for 18 overs in Northants' second innings until lunch.

The rain was a big help to Northants' chances of saving the match. They began their second innings with 186 overs remaining in the game but with two sessions lost, 72 of those were scratched. They are still left, for the second game in succession, with the final day to bat out to salvage a draw having been well behind the game.

Ben Curran gave their hopes a boost in making a fluent 48 before the weather closed in. Playing the ball late, he flicked Dan Douthwaite for four before cutting the same bowler for another boundary. Ricardo Vasconcelos was scratchy at the other end and survived two large lbw appeals but also got through, 18 not out.

The weight of scoreboard pressure was made heavier by a 46-minute blast by Glamorgan's No. 10 and 11, Tim van der Gugten and Michael Hogan at the start of the day. They flogged 95 runs in 69 balls to boost the visitors' overnight 452 for 9.

Hogan began the fun by clearing his front leg to heave Ben Sanderson into the trees behind deep square and struck another maximum over deep cover to the short side of the ground. He reached just his third first-class fifty in 44 balls before finally holing out to long-off for 54.

Van der Gugten also enjoyed himself, uppercutting Nathan Buck for six over third man and driving a boundary wide of long-off in making 30 from 26 balls.

India are the last team to start their World Cup 2019 campaign, opening against South Africa on Wednesday, with every other team having played at least one game in the past week. Captain Virat Kohli felt starting late gave his side an advantage in sussing out conditions and strategies. Speaking on the eve of the match, he also welcomed the expectations people had of him, and how he has learned to go along with them.

On being the last team to start their World Cup campaign

It is a bit of an advantage, I have to say, in terms of understanding how the games have gone, what the conditions have to offer, what the overcast conditions bring into play when the sun is out. It's a totally different ball game altogether, what the conditions are at 10.30 in the morning compared to the afternoon. I think from that point of view, we have a lot to absorb. We have a lot to learn from looking at how the other teams play.

From that point of view, we would say that we have a lot of positives that we can take out of starting after everyone else.

On Kedar Jadhav's fitness

Kedar is doing well, he is back to full fitness. Kedar is batting in the nets now, he is hitting the ball well, so it is always nice to have him back in the mix because of the variety he brings into the side.

On whether there is pressure of scoring a century in the opening match, having done so in 2011 and 2015

When you perform for a long time, expectations are always there. I understand how to go along with the expectations rather than saying I'm not. You don't go out there to prove anything to anyone, which is a fact, but you have to accept that expectations are going to be there.

When I walk out to bat, come down the stairs, people will say "we need a hundred" and all those kind of things will happen. So, for me, that's just a part of the process. It's not something that I don't want to hear, or something that I think people should not tell me because when you do well, people obviously want to see you do well again and again because they want to see the team win.

So my focus is if I'm in a position to be able to do that again, but more importantly, make the team win. And if it takes a hundred runs, 150, 50, 60, 70, 40, whatever it is, I'm ready to do that and that's the frame of mind I'm going to be in.

On the 10.30am start time, and how it affects team combinations

If the conditions offer you a lot in terms of the pitch.. we know it's a different situation in England when there is a cloud cover and when there is sun out. With two new balls, if the pitch has something to offer, then an extra seamer comes into play big time.

But even on a good pitch, on a batting-friendly pitch with two new balls, I foresee the first 10 overs to be challenging if there is cloud cover. Because we are playing in England and the ball does a bit more than any other place in the world.

From bowling point of view, even if you play with two spinners, two seamers or three seamers, they are going to be in the game in the first half if you start at 10.30. The dynamics will change from morning to afternoon big time, and the bowlers will have to adapt very quickly.

On Kuldeep Yadav's weak IPL 2019 form

I have had great IPL seasons and I have entered playing for the country and I have felt like, "I feel like I'm going to dominate this tournament so much" - and you can't put bat to ball.

So every tournament, every game that you play has no connection to what you have done in the past. You can only take out the positives and the learnings and take it to the next tournament or game that you play. Whether you have done well in the IPL or you haven't, you still have to work hard. And to me, IPL has no connection to the World Cup.

He's a guy who has done so well in the last two years. I don't think three or four games of a T20 tournament will do anything to harm his confidence.

We know when he pitches the ball in the right areas the batsman has to make better decisions or you are walking out. And he's back to bowling at his best. In the nets he is bowling well, attacking the stumps, his variations are spot on, he is pitching the ball in the right area. So I see batsmen having to take better decisions against Kuldeep rather than the other way around.

"There are a lot of things haunting me at the moment," laughs Faf du Plessis, on the eve of an important match against India. "The position that I'm in is, I'm the captain of the team right now and players are looking for someone to lead them. So all I can do is try my absolute best to try and do that."

Less than a week into this World Cup, du Plessis is facing as difficult a road to the knockouts as any South Africa captain has ever had to contend with at a global tournament. Not only have his team lost their first two matches - the second against an opposition they were expected to beat - they've also now been ravaged by injuries to their fast bowling battery.

A month ago, South Africa might even have fairly claimed to have the best pace attack going into the World Cup. Aside from Kagiso Rabada, ranked 4th in ODIs, they had Dale Steyn, Lungi Ngidi, Andlie Phehluhkwayo and Anrich Nortje in their ranks. Two matches in, three of those bowlers are unavailable - Steyn and Nortje ruled out of the tournament, while Ngidi is out for about 10 days with a hamstring strain. All that remain to South Africa is a skeleton crew. Turning their campaign around from here will take substantial mental strength - something South Africa aren't exactly known for at major tournaments.

"The natural thing that happens in a team like this, is you find that your confidence goes down," du Plessis said ahead of the match against India. "Naturally, younger guys in the team coming to their first World Cup - they will potentially go into their self-pity cycle.

"But that that won't be allowed over the next couple of days. It is important for us to stay strong at this time. If you do slightly go away from that, then as a team you can crumble. Unfortunately, we are not in a position where we can afford that.

"We can't control results. We can't control the outcome of the game. What we can control is how strong we are mentally. How well we are training. What sort of language are we using in the dressing room. Is it positive? For me, that was the main focus - making sure that the guys are still saying the right things in the team, and not questioning themselves, because then it's a slippery slope. Then you just keep going further and further backwards."

With their fast-bowling strength now partially nullified, South Africa have to scramble together a new strategy. Chris Morris had already replaced Nortje in the squad, and they also have Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwayne Pretorius in their ranks. Allrounders may have to come into focus.

"As you can see right now, there is a plan in place for the worst case scenario, which is losing our bowling attack, Now you have to go back to your all-rounders, which we felt has been our strategy in the past.

"The last time we came here - to the previous Champions' Trophy - we had a lot of all-rounders. Wayne Parnell, Chris Morris - guys like that. So we batted down to seven, eight, nine. So we are back to that now. We have a lot of all-rounders and not a lot of specialists. So I think we have planned for it."

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns running back Duke Johnson reiterated on the first day of minicamp that he still wants to be traded.

Johnson skipped voluntary workouts last month in the aftermath of the Browns adding Kareem Hunt, but he was in Cleveland on Tuesday.

"Only difference is this is mandatory," he said. "Nothing has changed."

Johnson, who claimed that Browns general manager John Dorsey was shopping him a month before he made his trade request, added there's nothing the team can do at this point to change his mind about wanting a trade.

Johnson was a third-round draft choice of the Browns in 2015 and has rushed for 1,286 yards over four seasons. Rookie Nick Chubb took over as Cleveland's starting running back last year and set a franchise rookie rushing record. Then Dorsey signed Hunt, who rushed for 824 yards last season, in February.

"I won't be a disgruntled employee. I won't be causing scenes or losing focus on what's important," Johnson said.

"My thing is, I'm big on loyalty."

Moments later, quarterback Baker Mayfield was asked if Johnson's ongoing trade request would create any awkwardness in the locker room this week. Mayfield responded that it would be so for only one player.

"It's not awkward, it's self-inflicted," Mayfield said. "It's not awkward for anyone else in this building. He's got to do his job. He said he's a professional. I hope he does his job.

"I get it, Duke has been here for years, and I respect that. But it's about what you're doing right now and what we're going to do. The past is the past. ... You're either on this train or you're not."

The highly anticipated lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier has been signed for UFC 242, UFC president Dana White said Tuesday on SportsCenter.

Nurmagomedov is the undisputed lightweight champion, while Poirier is the interim titleholder. UFC 242 is scheduled for Sept. 7 in Abu Dhabi.

Nurmagomedov (27-0) is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. "The Eagle" has never lost in the UFC, nor truly been threatened inside the Octagon. Nurmagomedov, 30, has not fought since beating Conor McGregor at UFC 229 last October. The Dagestan, Russia native was suspended after that bout by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for nine months for his role in a post-fight melee with McGregor and his team.

Poirier (25-5, 1 NC) is on a six-fight unbeaten streak. The Louisiana native won the interim title by beating Max Holloway at UFC 236 in April. Poirier, 30, sports a 9-1 record (1 no contest) since moving back up to lightweight in 2015 following a loss to McGregor.

UFC 242 will be the promotion's first card in Abu Dhabi since 2014.

LONDON -- Anthony Joshua's promoter says a rematch will take place between the British fighter and new world heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr.

Eddie Hearn says on Twitter that the contracted rematch clause was triggered Tuesday following talks with Joshua, his management team and his trainer, Rob McCracken.

Hearn says "the fight will take place in (November or December) at a venue to be confirmed shortly."

Ruiz Jr.'s camp has not confirmed that the Mexican boxer has agreed to the fight.

Joshua fell to the first loss of his professional career when he was stopped by Ruiz Jr. in the seventh round at Madison Square Garden in New York at the weekend.

Ruiz Jr. now owns the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts.

DeMar DeRozan is rooting for his best friend and his former teammates to win the NBA Finals, but he still can't help but feel that he was the "sacrificial lamb" for the Toronto Raptors to get to this point.

"Honestly, I don't think I even said this -- I probably said it to my own inner circle -- but if it wasn't for all the years and groundwork that I did before then, none of them things would've been possible," DeRozan told Bleacher Report in a video interview. "Yes, I fought, I sacrificed, I pushed the limits to where I had to be the sacrificial lamb.

"You just have to sit back and understand, like, you know, you are the reason so many things was even possible."

"I had to be the sacrificial lamb" @DeMar_DeRozan is still rooting for the Raptors in the Finals but explains why he was so hurt when the trade went down. Season finale of "Take It There" with @TaylorRooks https://t.co/CNL1gyPDtm pic.twitter.com/WKUtzvow29

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 4, 2019

DeRozan was traded by the Raptors to the San Antonio Spurs last July in a blockbuster deal that brought Kawhi Leonard to Toronto.

"To their credit, [the Raptors] probably felt like it was time to see what we could get to make that next jump."

The Raptors are tied with the Golden State Warriors entering Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET, ABC).

"More hurt," DeRozan said of his feelings about the trade, "because, you know, being invested from 19 to -- I was what, 28? Everything you learned was from there. Everything you gained was from there.

"So for that to be gone like that, when you least expect it, it just throws you off guard. You know, we human at the end of the day, and it definitely hits you."

That doesn't mean, however, that DeRozan has hard feelings. He is rooting for Kyle Lowry, whom he calls his "best friend," to take home the league's ultimate prize.

"I'm rooting for my best friend to do well, to accomplish something that we tried to do all the years, and he has the opportunity to do it," DeRozan said. "All the guys on that team, they know I'm rooting for them."

DeRozan averaged 21.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists in his first season with the Spurs, who were eliminated in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs by the Denver Nuggets.

A 12-strong British team has been named for the European competition at the Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs

A British team of 12 athletes, including European 5000m silver medallist Eilish McColgan and fifth-placer Marc Scott, has been selected for the European 10,000m Cup at Parliament Hill in London on July 6.

McColgan leads the team having run 14:52.40 for 5000m at the Stockholm Diamond League last week and she will chase another qualifying mark for this year’s IAAF World Championships, this time over 10,000m, in London.

Like McColgan, Scott is also looking to add a 10,000m qualifying standard to the 5000m mark he already has.

The European 10,000m Cup will again be incorporated into the successful Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs, which also acts at the British Championships and trial for the IAAF World Championships in Doha.

McColgan and Scott will be joined by their fellow European Championships team-mate Alice Wright, who placed sixth in the 10,000m in Berlin and recently lowered her half-marathon personal best to 71:37.

Also on the team is Dewi Griffiths, who earned selection for the British marathon team for Doha at the London Marathon in April.

Charlotte Arter and Ben Connor have gained GB team places for the European 10,000m Cup for the second year running, with Arter having claimed bronze in a PB of 32:15.71.

Jess Piasecki and Adam Hickey will both pull on the British vest again this year having competed at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March, with Nick Goolab, who was third at the Vitality London 10,000 last month, and Matt Leach completing the six-strong men’s team.

Vancouver-based Sarah Inglis, in her senior British debut, and Verity Ockenden, who first raced at Parliament Hill in 2017, complete the six-strong women’s team.

With six women and six men selected, Britain will race for team medals in both events at the European 10,000m Cup, which will be integrated into the A races at Parliament Hill.

Team leader Mark Pollard said: “We are delighted to have announced such a strong team for the European 10,000m Cup in London next month.

“Incorporated into the Night of 10,000m PBs once again, the European 10,000m Cup is a standout event on the calendar and a significant marker in an important year for all of the athletes selected. We will be looking to achieve the highest possible placing in both the men’s and women’s team standings and are confident that the athletes selected can deliver successful results.”

British team

MEN
Ben Connor
Nick Goolab
Dewi Griffiths
Adam Hickey
Matt Leach
Marc Scott

WOMEN
Charlotte Arter
Sarah Inglis
Eilish McColgan
Verity Ockenden
Jess Piasecki
Alice Wright

INDUSTRY, Calif. – Austin Novratil, 24, won the AMA Speedway bike 500cc season-opener at Industry Speedway last Wednesday in front of more than 1,300 spectators.

The first of 14 speedway race nights took place on the eighth-mile dirt track in the Grand Arena at the Industry Hills Expo Center.

It kicked off the 16th consecutive season of racing at the popular Los Angeles County venue in the eastern San Gabriel Valley.

The fifth annual Connor Penhall Memorial Cup again opened the Industry season. Novratil, from Huntington Beach, became only the second rider to win the prestigious Penhall Cup. He rode his usual No. 7 Jawa frame with a Marcel Gerhard-designed GTR engine manufactured by Gerhard Engine Co. & Suter Racing Technology in Switzerland.

The Penhall Memorial event honors the memory of speedway racer Connor Penhall. He was killed at age 21 in April of 2012 while working as a sub-contractor for Cal Trans on an I-10 Freeway construction project near the 605 Freeway. The drunk driver who drove through barriers and hit Penhall was an illegal alien from Japan. He was convicted of second degree murder and given a 15-year sentence and confined at Norco State Prison.

Bruce Penhall, 62-year old father of Connor and 1981-82 Speedway World Champion, and his family began the Penhall Memorial Cup to keep the memory of Connor alive. They also hope to spread the message against impaired driving. Bruce, his entire family, and numerous guests were present as usual. Bruce presented the coveted first place award—a specially painted Troy Lee Designs helmet in a see-through plastic case—to Novratil during post-race ceremonies in the infield.

Top three riders in the 500cc D-1 and top three 250cc and 150cc junior division riders received their awards and posed on the podium with Penhall. It was the first time the distinctive Penhall Memorial Cup helmet trophy did not go home with nine-time AMA National Speedway Champion and five-time California AMA Speedway Champion Billy Janniro, 38, from northern California.

The Grand Marshal was versatile motorsports champion and 1999 Indianapolis 500 second-place finisher Jeff Ward. The long-time Penhall family friend was a motocross mentor to young Connor at the request of his dad Bruce. Born in Scotland, Ward came to the United States at age 4.

He is a nine-time AMA motocross champion, two-time AMA supercross champion, AMA flat track racer, Indy car driver from 1996-2005, NASCAR Cup driver in 1998, off-road truck racer, X-Games gold medal winner, Red Bull Rally Series and stadium truck racing driver. He is currently racing at age 57 in AMA Flat Track 450cc singles series TT events on a KTM.

Also present was Greg Hancock, a four-time World Speedway Champion. Hancock, 48, is another long-time friend of the Penhall family and Industry Speedway promoter Kelly Inman. Hancock’s son Wilbur, 14, raced in the Junior 250cc division. Greg will not be racing in Europe this year. He will remain in So Cal to support his wife Jennie who is battling a serious illness.