Softer than marshmallow, slower than a tortoise, Sri Lanka's middle order has had a poor tournament. Across five team innings, Sri Lanka have five half-centuries, but two each are from openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera. Nos. 4-7, in 20 combined innings, have contributed only one fifty: Angelo Mathews' unbeaten 85 against England.

Worse even than that output, has been their rate of scoring. Between Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva and Jeevan Mendis, the best tournament strike rate belongs to Kusal Mendis, who has gone at 63.52. Jeevan, meanwhile, has struck at 37.25.

Against South Africa, several batsmen in the middle order attempted to hit out, but were not only unsuccessful in their attempts to raise the strike rate, they also frequently lost wickets playing big shots. So modest is their collective form, captain Karunaratne admitted, that like the turtles on their eco-friendly team shirts, some Sri Lanka batsmen have retreated into shells.

"Our middle order han't scored a lot of runs, and they don't have that confidence," he said. "If you don't have runs behind you, there's always a doubt in your mind as to whether you're going to get out when you go for a big shot. It's important to get settled before you go for those shots. What South Africa did in the last game was keep those fielders up. When we tried to hit out, it didn't work - we lost wickets in a row.

"We have to know how to handle those situations and how to escape from those traps. I haven't told everyone that same advice, but we are trying to work with some players on getting out of situations like that. In a big tournament like this, when you have a must-win match on the line, maybe it's better to have a more positive mindset."

The top three - meanwhile - consisting of Karunaratne, Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando - have largely been able to find runs somewhere. Karunaratne has accumulated, while Kusal Perera and Fernando have been aggressive, often piercing gaps in the infield, or hitting aerial boundaries. Their contributions have not been enough to get Sri Lanka to even a single score in excess of 250, however - their 247 against Australia, in pursuit of 335 having been their highest total.

"We know that we weren't able to make a score in excess of 250 - that's the biggest factor in our team performance so far in the tournament," Karunaratne said. "If two or three batsmen get set, then we can definitely get to 250. It's very difficult when you only make 200, 220 to tell the bowlers to then take the opposition wickets. We need to take responsibility as a batting unit and make a big score."

Before the defeat to South Africa, Sri Lanka had the chance to make it to 12 points with three consecutive victories, but with a ceiling of 10 points now, several other results must go their way if they are to make it through. If England win at Edgbaston, Sri Lanka's window shuts completely.

"Now we have to wait for other results," he said. "We're not a side who should be in this position. We have talent, and skill to compete with anyone. But we only performed in certain games. It's our bowlers who mainly performed as well. Our batting line up hasn't fired altogether yet."

BALTIMORE -- Manager Brandon Hyde says his young Baltimore Orioles are a fun team to watch, regardless of how much they've been struggling.

The Orioles certainly put on a show the past two nights against the Cleveland Indians.

Andrew Cashner threw seven innings of three-hit ball, Renato Nunez had two of Baltimore's four home runs and the Orioles clinched their first series win since April with their second consecutive 13-0 victory over Cleveland on Saturday.

The Orioles became the first team in major league history to record back-to-back shutouts while scoring at least 13 runs in each game, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

"To win a series obviously feels great," Hyde said. "I just want our guys to play well. I'm concerned about how we play. I'm concerned about how we play the game, and just the last two games we played really good baseball. It began with our starting pitching."

Anthony Santander etched his way into Camden Yards' history when he hit the 100th home run, and 45th by an Oriole, to land on Eutaw Street since the stadium opened in 1992.

"It's an honor to hit the 100th home run onto Eutaw Street. It's just unbelievable," Santander said through a translator. "Hopefully tomorrow we can sweep them."

Chance Sisco also homered for Baltimore, which entered the series with the worst record in the majors. The Orioles will go for their first three-game sweep of the season Sunday.

Cashner (8-3) was scratched moments before the scheduled 4:05 p.m. first pitch as thunderstorms passed through the area. When the start of the game was announced for 5:10 p.m., Cashner was reinserted into the lineup.

He finished with six strikeouts and just one walk and has won four of his past five decisions.

"It was kind of a cluster, but thank God the weather came when it did," Cashner said.

The Orioles earned back-to-back shutouts for the first time since September 2016 against the Yankees.

Trey Mancini had three hits and drove in three runs for the Orioles, who had not won a series since April 22-24 against the White Sox. Baltimore had lost its previous 18 series.

"They hit better than us. They played better than us. They pitched better than us. They managed better than us," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "This game will make you laugh sometimes and it will make you shake your head. Sometimes it will make you cry."

Nunez tied a career high with four RBIs.

Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the second on a double by Hanser Alberto off Indians rookie Zach Plesac.

Cashner retired 11 consecutive batters before allowing a bloop single to Carlos Santana.

The Orioles broke open the game with six runs in the fourth. Santander started the rally with a 410-foot solo homer. Jonathan Villar and Mancini later added back-to-back RBI doubles. Nunez ended Plesac's afternoon with a solo shot to center.

Plesac had his shortest start over seven outings this season, allowing seven runs and seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks over 3⅔ innings.

Mancini had another two-run single in the fifth that provided a 9-0 margin. Sisco added a two-run home run off A.J. Cole in the sixth. Sisco hit the 99th ball to land on Eutaw Street the previous night.

Nunez got his 17th homer of the season off Mike Freeman.

Baltimore won consecutive games for the first time since May 4-6. The Indians have been shut out seven times this year.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Indians: 3B Jose Ramirez will be activated off the paternity list for Sunday's game. "He will be ready to play," Francona said. ... RHP Danny Salazar (right shoulder) will throw 30 to 35 pitches in a simulated game Sunday in Arizona. Salazar has not pitched at the major league level since 2017 after undergoing arthroscopic surgery. ... RHP Jefry Rodriguez (right shoulder strain) was held back from the team's eight-game road trip.

UP NEXT

Indians: Shane Bieber (6-3, 3.83 ERA) earned his first career shutout May 19 against the Orioles, allowing five hits with 15 strikeouts.

Orioles: Gabriel Ynoa (0-5, 6.75 ERA) has given up 13 runs in his past two starts (7⅔ innings).

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Toronto Blue Jays rookie star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will become the youngest player in major league history to compete in the Home Run Derby.

Major League Baseball confirmed Sunday that Guerrero, Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell and Cleveland Indians first baseman Carlos Santana will participate in the midseason power showcase, filling three spots in the eight-player field.

Brewers star Christian Yelich and Mets rookie Pete Alonso -- who rank first and second, respectively, in the majors in homers -- already had been announced as participants.

The Home Run Derby will be held July 8, when Guerrero will be 20 years, 114 days old. Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. was the previous youngest player in Derby history, at 20 years, 230 days old in 1990.

Guerrero will become the third player to compete in the Derby at the age of 20, joining Griffey and Bryce Harper (2013).

Guerrero has eight homers in 53 games this season with the Blue Jays. He became the youngest player in Blue Jays history to hit a homer on May 14, when he homered against the Giants at 20 years, 59 days old.

Bell, 26, is enjoying a breakout season with the Pirates, batting .303 with 22 homers and 70 RBIs. The switch-hitting Bell leads the majors in RBIs and is tied for ninth in home runs.

Santana, also a switch-hitter, is batting .291 with 18 homers.

British teenager storms to fast time in Mannheim as she sets world U18 best and breaks Dina Asher-Smith’s UK junior record

Amy Hunt’s 22.42 at the Mannheim junior international in Germany on Sunday not only smashed Dina Asher-Smith’s British under-20 record but it was a world under-18 best. Remarkably, she only turned 17 in May too.

Hunt is a prodigious teenage talent but her time in Mannheim shocked even those familiar with her ability. Her PB prior to the event was 23.17, which she ran into a slight headwind at Loughborough earlier this summer, whereas her 22.42 was aided by a tailwind of 1.7m/sec as she beat Asher-Smith’s junior best of 22.61.

What’s more, the time puts her No.3 on the UK all-time senior rankings behind Asher-Smith and Kathy Cook.

Hunt grew up in Grantham and initially ran middle and long distance as a child before finding her talent as a sprinter and being coached by Ian Richards and Andy McMahon at Grantham AC.

Soon she began to develop a winning habit, clocking 26.4 for 200m in 2014 to top the UK under-13 rankings that year in her before winning her first English Schools sprints title in 2015 as a first year under-15

She then went unbeaten in 2016 against athletes from her age group as a 14-year-old in 2016 and ended the season with AW featuring her in our young athlete column.

On that occasion the AW writer, Emily Moss, wrote too many words for the space on the page but apologised by saying: “It is a bit longer than usual, but she is a talent!”

Sport runs in the family as her father is a keen triathlete and she also played netball, hockey and rounders.

But her performances have really taken off lately as she has joined Charnwood AC and is coached in Loughborough by Joe McDonnell – a coach known for developing para-athlete sprinters Sophie Hahn, Libby Clegg and Thomas Young.

From that 26.4 in 2014 she has improved each year to 25.47 (2015), 25.22 (indoors in 2016), 24.33 (2017) and 23.17 (2018).

At 100m the tall, long-striding youngster has run 11.31 – and she has already been selected to race that distance at the European Under-20 Championships in Boras, Sweden, in July, where she will surely start red-hot favourite.

HOUSTON - Gerardo "Tata" Martino will be suspended for Mexico's Gold Cup semifinal against Haiti on Tuesday and has questioned why there is no VAR at the competition.

Mexico defeated Costa Rica 5-4 on penalties, after tying 1-1 over 180 minutes, but Martino was shown a yellow card in the second half and was livid on the touchline after a decision to award Los Ticos a penalty after half-time. It was his second card of the tournament, following his caution during the 3-2 victory over Martinique in the group stage.

"The officiating was bad, what else can I say?" said Martino in a news conference after the game. "I'm going to miss the next game and the referee could go on to officiate the final of the tournament."

- Mexico Player Ratings: Ochoa turns in another 10/10 performance

Martino was also unhappy that a Panamanian referee had been chosen for the game against Costa Rica because the Panamanian national team is still in the competition and asked why VAR is not in use, stressing that he was making the points in order to help the tournament improve in the future.

"It is impossible with the technology there is today and with VAR used in Mexico and in the United States that there isn't VAR in this tournament," said Martino.

"In the Copa America they stop the game 200 times for VAR, they've pulled back four goals because of VAR and we don't have VAR."

Martino's Mexico struggled at times against a tough Costa Rica side, but the Argentine coach was happy with his team's display.

"Today Mexico brought the football, we deserved to win the game thanks to our football," said Martino. "Guillermo Ochoa made the save of the game, but the game that all [the players] played was sensational."

El Tri will travel on Sunday ahead of Tuesday's semifinal in Glendale, Arizona.

Imagine the stadium announcer on La Liga's first weekend. Imagine the impact on the crowd and opposition when he's finished reading out the first seven names on Barcelona's team sheet: "Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Dani Alves (which may get a roar in itself), Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba: Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong ..."

Then comes the shock and awe. "Numero siete (7): Neymar! ... Numero diez (10) Lionel Messi! ... Numero catorce (14) Antoine Griezmann! ... y numero nueve (9) Luis Suarez!"

In this scenario, lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Barcelona have achieved the seemingly impossible by sending Philippe Coutinho, plus €100m, to PSG for Neymar and sticking to their pre-planned €120 million buyout-clause "smash-and-grab" to take Griezmann from Atletico Madrid.

To many this transfer market feat would be akin to the row of buses Evel Knievel refused to jump on his trusty 1972 Harley-Davidson XR-750, the icy Himalayan peak Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes wouldn't climb, or the straightjacket from which Harry Houdini couldn't contort himself to freedom. One challenge too far.

But Barcelona made a club-to-player deal with Griezmann back in March that they'd spend the money when his buyout clause lowers from July 1. And the club are most certainly weighing up the opportunity to bring Neymar back, less than two years after his world-record €222m move to PSG.

- Marcotti's transfer guide: What's real and what's not?
- Transfer to-do list for Europe's top clubs

It's not so fanciful that this could be the XI in mid-August -- complete with 36-year-old right-back Dani Alves' return after his contract ran out at PSG -- but there are another couple of logical, if less daring, solutions.

1) Stick to the strategy of buying Griezmann and ignore Neymar's mewling and scratching at the back door, keeping Coutinho instead.

2) Manoeuvrer Griezmann to PSG, then repatriate Neymar for significantly less (outlay and wages) than it cost PSG to acquire him in 2017 -- using some of the €120m they would have spent on the Frenchman on the Brazilian instead, plus Coutinho.

OK, now we've got those two "frugal" alternatives out of the way, we can dismiss them. Because neither option is what sources have told ESPN that the bean-counters, strategists and mad-eyed-dreamers at Camp Nou are interested in pushing through.

By forcing a powerful Coutinho valuation on PSG, dropping the near €90m purchase of Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt (re-deploying the cash they'd earmarked), totting up another €100m in squad-player sales and imposing the appropriate wage-agreement on Neymar, Barcelona are trying to have their cake and eat it.

If, and that's a big if, the Camp Nou club could pull off this truly remarkable, and hellishly risky, deal would Messi, Neymar, Suarez and Griezmann constitute the greatest attacking quartet any club in history has possessed at one time?

I can assure you that marketable slogan itself would be sufficiently attractive to some club presidents or board members to press the button on the deals and damn the consequences. Ego and popularity contests play a far bigger role in football club decision-making, masquerading as strategy, than most would like to admit.

But if it comes to pass it would strike an interesting historic chord.

We're still celebrating the 20th anniversary of Manchester United winning what was, then, only the fourth Treble of domestic league, main domestic cup and European Cup/Champions League (they followed Celtic, Ajax and PSV) in history.

One of the fundamentals of Sir Alex Ferguson's achievement in 1998-99 was how rare it was to successfully group four such exceptional, proud, demanding, internationally recognised strikers as Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham in one squad.

Across United's four competitions the four men combined to score 76 times. One or other of them hit the net on the final, decisive, day of the Premier League, the FA Cup final and, of course, the added-time Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich at Camp Nou. That Treble bore the strikers' signatures more than any other department, though of course Fergie didn't start all four of his musketeers in the same XI.

Contrastingly, you'd better believe that if Messi, Suarez, Griezmann and Neymar were all with Barca then manager Ernesto Valverde would be required to make all four start as the rule, rather than the exception. Not every single week, obviously, but wherever possible.

Notably, the only two clubs other than Barcelona to have won the Treble since United in 1999 have boasted similar firepower: Inter Milan, lifting Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League under Jose Mourinho in 2010, used Diego Milito, Samuel Eto'o, Mario Balotelli and Goran Pandev. Bayern Munich, steered to Bundesliga, Pokal and Europe's top prize by Jupp Heynckes in 2013, could choose from Mario Mandzukic, Thomas Muller, Mario Gomez but also from Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Claudio Pizarro.

Barcelona's 2009 Treble under Pep Guardiola was powered by a massive goal total from: Messi, Thierry Henry, Eto'o, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Bojan Krkic. While Luis Enrique's trophy triplet of 2015 had the MSN of Messi, Neymar and Suarez, plus Pedro.

The financial gymnastics in which Barcelona are indulging to sign both Neymar and Griezmann are, to any Barca purist from the Johan Cruyff/Guardiola/Txiki Begiristain school of thought, an aberration. It's the mentality of Real Madrid-esque Galactico purchasing -- nearly €300m lavished on Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele, but hey "cash them in and re-splurge!" if the team seems jaded, or wilts in the red-hot heat of Anfield. Just like in Paris, Turin or Rome in recent years.

Adding Griezmann and Neymar is another nod of disrespect, indeed disdain, not only towards the youth academy (La Masia) work and ideals, but more specifically to Carles Alena and Ricki Puig whose form and maturity are beginning to demand significantly more game time in the first XI.

Let's not ignore the dilemma of club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, either, after he explicitly stated that one of his legacies, before his mandate ends in 2021, should be renewing Messi's contract once again. If, as I believe, Messi has made it clear to Bartomeu that he must try to bring Neymar "home," then how does the president slap that request down, or ignore it, but then start what he hopes will be fruitful, effective negotiations with team Messi?

In summary, Barcelona want this remarkable double deal to take place. They can probably pull it off. In fact that's the slight favourite in the betting.

It'll hamstring them financially, and it's a direct kick in the teeth to what was once Barcelona's football philosophy, but it'll fixate world attention on Camp Nou once more, it'll charm both current and potential sponsors and, should the players click on the pitch, it's feasible that the Treble could finally be re-achieved.

Tell me seriously, what would you try to do in the club's position?

Buckle up, it's time for England v India. Here's our blog with live updates from Edgbaston. (If the blog doesn't load for you, please refresh your page.)

Fifteen-year-old American qualifier Cori Gauff says it is "a dream" to be facing her idol Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon.

The world number 301 became the youngest player to qualify for the main Wimbledon draw since the Open era began in 1968.

She says the Williams sisters were her idols growing up and that Serena is "the reason why I play tennis".

"I kind of felt like I was going to play one of them," Gauff said.

"Many people have been like 'do you like your draw?' - I love my draw. Playing one of the greatest players of all time is a dream - I'm excited to see how I do."

Gauff, who will be the first 15-year-old in the main draw since Britain's Laura Robson in 2009, received a wildcard to get into qualifying.

"I found out last minute," she said. "I wasn't even packed to come here so it's just crazy how life can turn around in a second."

In facing Venus, she takes on a player 24 years her senior who has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at the All England Club.

Of the age gap, Gauff said: "I don't think of Venus as old - she's still killing the game right now.

"It's crazy to show her longevity - that's how I look at it. I hope I'm still playing and doing well at 39."

'She reminds me of Venus'

It is Venus' younger sister Serena who features in a poster on Gauff's bedroom wall in Florida - "a reminder to work hard every day", according to the youngster.

And the 37-year-old, winner of 23 Grand Slams, is a fan.

"She's an exciting young player, and she's so cool," she said. "She's a great girl, I love her dad - they're just really cool people

"It's a great moment for her and for Venus.

"It's going to be a big moment for Venus as well - she's playing against a player who reminds me of Venus. Just her body and everything."

Gauff reached the US Open girls' final aged 13 in 2017, and won the French Open girls' singles title a year later.

Asked about being called "the future of tennis", she added: "It's crazy that people call me the next this, next that. I'm just trying to be me."