And with that, I’ll bid you adieu. Don’t forget, the Cricket World Cup clash between Australia and South Africa starts at 10:30pm AEST, and our liveblog, manned by the ever-excellent duo of Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins, will fire up around an hour before play in Manchester at 9:30pm AEST.
Cricket World Cup: Dimuth Karunaratne wins the toss at Headingley and Sri Lanka will bat first in the first of tonight’s games. Join Tim De Lisle to follow this one:
Super Rugby: Crusaders 19-3 Jaguares
The ball is kicked into touch after the siren goes and the Crusaders are Super Rugby champions for 2019! Emotional scenes in Christchurch, the city which has endured so much tragedy and heartache this year. It’s a 10th title for the New Zealand club – their third on the trot – and thoroughly deserved once again this season.
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AFL: Adelaide 5.14 (44) Port Adelaide 15.11 (101)
As droves of Crows fans head for the exit with more than five minutes still remaining, it’s obvious there’s to be no miraculous comeback in Adelaide tonight. Port wrap up a comprehensive Showdown 47 victory and make amends for last week’s 25-point defeat to the Western Bulldogs. The Power end the game at a canter, kicking the last nine goals in the final quarter to post a 57-point win.
The brilliant Robbie Gray engineered a five-goal burst in 11 minutes as Port replaced Adelaide in seventh spot on the ladder. Gray collected 35 disposals, including 10 and four clearances in the third quarter blitz. The Power led by three points at half-time against a wasteful Adelaide, who kicked 4.11 for the half. Crows captain Taylor Walker then sank a long two-step snap within 15 seconds of the third quarter – ultimately Adelaide’s final goal of the game. From then, the Power kicked nine consecutive goals in a spree triggered by ruckman Scott Lycett’s superb 40-metre goal on the gallop. (AAP)
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Cycling: Australian former world champion cyclist Jack Bobridge has been jailed for more than four years for drug dealing. The 29-year-old, who won silver medals in the team pursuit at the last two Olympics before retiring in late 2016, was arrested two years ago in Perth on charges of dealing ecstasy after a friend was caught during a nightclub sting. A Perth court jury found the three-times world champion guilty of trafficking hundreds of ecstasy tablets to former professional cyclist Alex McGregor. Bobridge, a father of one, maintained his innocence. Judge Stephen Scott said Bobridge had fallen into “partying, drugs and alcohol” while still an elite cyclist but addiction was no excuse for supplying them into the community. Bobridge was jailed for a total of four years and six months and will be eligible for parole after serving two years and six months. (Reuters)
Netball: The World Cup (yep, another one) starts in Liverpool on Friday. The Diamonds begin their title defence as favourites, but it’s not going to be plain sailing for Lisa Alexander’s side. Our series of previews will start on Monday, including a 10 things to look out for and a team-by-team guide, but to whet the appetite, here’s an interview with one of England’s star players.
AFL: This really is an incredible story and one that should not be brushed over. Majak Daw will line up for North Melbourne’s VFL side against Sandringham at Arden St tomorrow after coming through a training session this morning – just seven months since he was found in the Yarra River after falling from Bolte Bridge. There can’t be a sane person alive who won’t be 100% behind him.
AFL: 3QT Adelaide (42) Port Adelaide (77): Well, well, well. There was little in it at half-time, but Port flexed their muscles in the third quarter and booted the last six goals to open up a 35-point lead. The Crows have a mountain to climb now if they’re to get anything from this game.
Super Rugby: HT Crusaders 10-3 Jaguares: A penalty goes the Crusaders’ way as time runs out and they opt to have a crack at goal. Richie Mo’unga delivers with a booming kick and the New Zealand side will take a seven-point lead into the sheds at the half-time break.
Super Rugby: Crusaders 7-3 Jaguares: Codie Taylor crosses for the first try of the evening to give the Crusaders the lead on 26 minutes! Kieran Read flicks a pass out to captain Sam Whitelock who puts his head down and motors down the wing before passing back inside to Taylor who bundles over the line! The conversion by Mo’unga is good and the home side have a four-point lead midway through the first half in Christchurch.
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Women’s World Cup: With the final between the US and the Netherlands nearly upon us (Monday 1am AEST kick-off), it’s a good time to reflect on some of the highlights of the past four weeks. I say “highlights”, but that’s a poor choice of word as one of the six “moments” here features Sam Kerr’s penalty shootout miss in the Matildas’ defeat to Norway.
Australia exited the tournament in the last 16 but the presence of the green and gold shirts in stadiums across France in the subsequent weeks suggests Matildas fans had been optimistic about their team’s likely progress. Sam Kerr’s penalty miss against Norway in Nice will haunt them for some time. After an exhausting 120 minutes the Matildas’ marquee player stepped up to take Australia’s first penalty. As millions of bleary-eyed Australians watched back home Kerr spectacularly hit it high and wide. There would be no recovery for the Matildas. When the Australia fans who remained in France file into the Stade de Lyon on Sunday, they will wonder what might have been had Kerr converted.
Have a read of five other key moments from the tournament in France:
Super Rugby: They’re underway in Christchurch, and with 10 minutes gone, there’s still no score. Here’s how the teams line up:
Crusaders: David Havili, Sevu Reece, Braydon Ennor, Jack Goodhue, George Bridge, Richie Mo’unga, Bryn Hall, Kieran Read, Matt Todd, Whetukamokamo Douglas, Sam Whitelock (capt), Mitchell Dunshea, Owen Franks, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody.
Jaguares: Emiliano Boffelli, Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando, Jeronimo de la Fuente (capt), Ramiro Moyano, Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Tomas Cubelli, Javier Ortega Desio, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, Tomas Lavanini, Guido Petti, Santiago Medrano, Agustin Creevy, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
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AFL: HT Adelaide 4.11 (35) Port Adelaide 6.2 (38): Brad Ebert puts Port ahead by three with two minutes remaining in the half with the Power’s third straight goal off the back of three straight for the Crows. A lung-busting run to take the mark prompts TV commentary to describe him as “a great aerobic beast”. Quite. Finely poised at the long break at Adelaide Oval!
Ebert gives the Power the lead!#AFLCrowsPower pic.twitter.com/8rWerIfGBE
— AFL (@AFL) July 6, 2019
Tour de France: Ah, July, a time of wistfully watching the French countryside speed past our television screens, a time for craving camembert and a glass of Beaujolais, and holidaying in an 18th century chateau with a moat. All thanks to Le Tour, which kicks off this weekend at Le Grand Depart in Brussels.
Australian hopes of wearing the famed yellow jersey are especially high early on, as sprinter Caleb Ewan has a real chance of winning the flat opening stage. If he can cross the line first in Brussels, he’ll immediately don the maillot jaune, just 194.5km into his Tour debut.
Kieran Pender spoke to him in the buildup to the race and found him to eagerly anticipating his first involvement in the race, after the disappointment of being pulled by his previous team last year.
Wimbledon: Back to SW19 in London, and as usual there’s been a lot of talk about a certain Nick Kyrgios this week, following his entertaining (you can’t deny it) match against Rafael Nadal and the press conference which followed. Flawed or comedy genius? Petulant brat or misunderstood talent? We could talk forever on this topic. Anyway, Kevin Mitchell has had some thoughts on the Canberran by way of comparison to the original tennis super brat.
He shares with John McEnroe the gift of pushing the right buttons, then leaving the room with questions unanswered, arguments raging. Where they differ crucially and obviously is McEnroe red-lined most of his career, which stretched intermittently from 1978 to 2006, and stilled his demons long enough to win 77 singles and 78 doubles titles, the most combined by any player in the Open era. He was a major champion seven times. Kyrgios has been on the Tour since 2012 and won five titles from 12 finals. He has got to the quarters in two majors, the first when he famously beat Rafael Nadal on Centre Court at Wimbledon in 2014.
Read the full story here:
AFL: QT Adelaide 2.7 (19) v Port Adelaide 3.1 (19): Lachlan Murphy has a chance to give the Crows the lead right at the end of the quarter but he’s off target. The umpires didn’t like his effort anyway and, despite Crows fans making their displeasure known, the teams head off on level pegging.
QT stats 📊#AFLCrowsPower pic.twitter.com/a1MdK0UcXE
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) July 6, 2019
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Women’s World Cup: This is well worth a look – a behind-the-scenes look at how some of the best footballers in the world prepared for the tournament in France. My personal favourite? The look on the faces of Rose Lavelle and Alex Morgan as they freeze in the ice bath. They definitely want to be somewhere else.
AFL: Gold Coast 9.4 (58) v Richmond 23.12 (150)
There goes the siren at Metricon and it’s a day to forget for the Suns, but for the Tigers a thumping 92-point win, which will do their percentage no harm at all as we head towards finals, is just the statement their coach, Damien Hardwick, had called for before the game.
Richmond would have been forgiven for thinking they were already over the line after romping to an 84-point half-time lead in front of 16,031 fans. It was the Tigers’ third-highest half-time score, just short of their record 17.9 (111) against North Melbourne in 1931. The 84-point deficit was Richmond’s second-biggest half-time lead, boosting their percentage from 95.3 to 102.4 in just two quarters.
It also marked the first time in seven years that an AFL team had racked up 100 points in a half. In the end Richmond (9-6) boosted their percentage to 103. Remarkably the Tigers had started the match with a percentage of 95.3 - the worst of any team inside the top 13. Richmond will now be ideally placed to turn home and make a serious finals run, with their next seven games at the MCG. (AAP)
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Cricket World Cup: On the other side of the world later on tonight AEST, Australia wrap up the first stage of the Cricket World Cup with their final game against South Africa at Old Trafford. Starting a couple of hours earlier, India play Sri Lanka and it’s basically a shootout between Australia and India for top spot now. Victory in Manchester for Justin Langer’s side will ensure they finish first and book a date with New Zealand, regardless of what India do in Leeds. Defeat though and they risk a second-place finish – and a semi-final against hosts England.
The good news out of the Australia camp after a horror net session 48 hours ago that broke Shaun Marsh’s wrist and ended his tournament is that Glenn Maxwell looks like he’ll be fit enough to take part, despite also being struck by a short ball during training.
“He said he’s been able to hold the bat no problem,” captain Aaron Finch said. “At the end of the day, I think we will leave that call up to him, if he feels confident enough to get out there and do the job. The one that he got just didn’t bounce quite as much as he expected, it hit him on the arm. No fault of anyone really.”
Nicky Winmar statue: As we get ready for the start of Showdown 47 at Adelaide Oval, some good news from outside Optus Stadium – the statue depicting Nicky Winmar’s famous stance against racism has been officially unveiled.
The work depicts the moment Winmar, a Noongar man, changed conversation in Australia by lifting his football jumper and pointing to his skin. He declared, “I’m black and I’m proud”.
The iconic image, taken by photographer Wayne Ludbey at Victoria Park in round four of the 1993 premiership season, captured Nicky’s response to racial abuse he had suffered throughout his career and on that day.
“It’s a surreal thing to be a part of and it’s something my family are very proud of,” Winmar said. “I hope this statue encourages more conversations and education about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture.”
Wimbledon. Ash Barty will finally get to take centre stage at the All England Club when she takes to Centre Court on middle Saturday for her third-round match against Harriet Dart. Having been snubbed in rounds one and two – when she had to make do with the less rarefied surrounds of Court One and Two for her opening outings – the world No 1 will get her dues – and on arguably the glitziest day of the championships. Middle Saturday is always earmarked a day to celebrate the cream of UK sport, with the royal box reserved for a host of champions who will this year watch on as Barty takes on Dart, the British wildcard. Not that she will be intimidated.
“I wouldn’t be playing a British crowd; I’m playing against Harriet,” Barty said. “Yes, she’ll get more support being in Britain, as I would if we were in Australia. It’s no different.”
There’s just one other Australian in action on Saturday – John Millman plays American Sam Querrey in the third round in the first match on Court 12.
AFL: Essendon 11.10 (76) v Sydney 9.12 (66)
The first result of the day just in – and a final quarter surge from the Bombers has proved the difference in what had been a tight game until that point. Bombers by 10 at the MCG.
The Swans led by three points at three-quarter time, but the Bombers sprang to life to boot the first four goals of Saturday afternoon’s final term to set up a 11.10 (76) to 9.12 (66) win in front of 60,199 fans. The victory was the resurgent Essendon’s fourth in their past five matches and snapped a run of three wins for Sydney, whose last victory against the Bombers at the MCG was in 1923.
Heppell was ruled out with a sore foot before the opening bounce, but Dylan Shiel (29 possessions), Darcy Parish (22) and David Zaharakis (22 touches and three goals) stepped up in his absence. Josh Kennedy was outstanding for the Swans with 35 disposals, as was Isaac Heeney with 33. But, with Lance Franklin still absent due to a hamstring injury, they struggled to find a focal point in attack. (AAP)
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Preamble
Hello. Plenty to get stuck into today, not least Showdown 47 at Adelaide Oval and the denouement to the Super Rugby season in Christchurch, so let’s get straight into it. Do send an email, to mike.hytner@theguardian.com, or tweet @mike_hytner, if you feel the need to get anything off your chest.
