Two formidable back rows set for momentous battle
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The Sun
27 minutes ago
- The Sun
Burnley in transfer tussle with Premier League rivals Sunderland to sign Wolves ace Johnstone
BURNLEY want Sam Johnstone to replace James Trafford - and plan to beat Sunderland to get him. Wolves would let the keeper, 32, go on loan or sell him for £8million. 2 Johnstone knows chances are limited at Molineux with Jose Sa their undisputed No 1. Burnley signed stopper Max Weiss, 21, from German second tier side Karlsruher last month. But should Johnstone sign for the Clarets, he can expect to be above him in the pecking order. Burnley need a new No.1 as Trafford is on his way back to Manchester City for £27m. He came through the ranks at the Etihad before moving to Turf Moor in 2023 in a £19m deal. Trafford, who is set to undergo a medical in the coming days, will reportedly battle Ederson to be first choice at City this season. Current back-up Stefan Ortega has been tipped to leave. Meanwhile, Sunderland are also chasing £12m-rated keeper Dmytro Riznyk from Shakhtar Donetsk as an alternative to Johnstone. 2 Johnstone made just seven Premier League appearances for Wolves last season. The experienced keeper was on the books of Manchester United as a teenager and has gone on to play for the likes of Aston Villa, West Brom and Crystal Palace.
Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
India dig deep with bat to draw fourth test against England
MANCHESTER, England, July 27 (Reuters) - India, led by captain Shubman Gill, batted with great character to secure a hard-fought draw in the fourth test against England on Sunday and keep the series alive going into the final game. After losing two wickets before they had scored a run in their second innings, India batted for over five sessions for the loss of two more wickets to end the final day on 425-4 at Old Trafford. A courageous hundred from Gill -- his fourth of the series -- and dogged unbeaten centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar gave the home crowd little to cheer on a tough day for England. A closely-fought series remains at 2-1 to England and the hosts must avoid defeat in the final test at the Oval in London, starting on Thursday, to win it. "This is no less than a win for us, given we were around 300 runs off the lead. Our batsman put on a great display," Gill told the BBC. "As soon as England got the new ball, it was doing a little bit but our batters did really well and it was tremendous, with a little bit of luck going our way as some balls can get dragged on, brilliant batting and brave batting." England captain Ben Stokes, who took five wickets in India's first innings but was not fit to bowl much on Saturday, brought himself into the attack on Sunday morning with India resuming on 174-2. The hosts were firm favourites to seal victory at this point, even more so when Stokes' reintroduction paid dividends. The 34-year-old trapped KL Rahul lbw for 90, ending his excellent third-wicket partnership with Gill at 188. Gill remained undeterred, however, even after getting a nasty blow on the hand. In his first series as captain, the 25-year-old became only the third skipper to score four hundreds in a single test series. After almost seven hours at the crease, a tired-looking Gill wafted at a Jofra Archer delivery to fall just before lunch for 103. Jadeja was dropped the next ball by Joe Root, a tough chance at first slip. England still had plenty of time to secure victory, but the home side barely created any chances, with India seeing out the draw in relative comfort. Washington moved along conservatively after lunch, but hit successive boundaries, one a huge six, to move to his fifth test half century. Jadeja reached his fifty and passed 1,000 test runs against England -- the third Indian to do so this series. After tea, with their chance of victory gone, England offered India the chance to call a halt to proceedings early, but Gill kept his team out there. With England rotating their bowlers, Jadeja swept to his fifth test ton under no pressure, before Washington quickly completed his maiden test hundred. India did then agree to a draw – the first non-rain affected draw for England since coach Brendan McCullum and Stokes came together in 2022. "Another hard-fought test," Stokes told reporters. "Another five-dayer. We set the game up really well, the way we put the Indian bowlers under pressure, focusing on batting once. "We gave ourselves a great chance of bowling them out. We played the game how we wanted to, it didn't just pan out the way we wanted," Stokes added. "Mentally I feel fine, physically I've been better. It has been a pretty big workload this series."
Times
36 minutes ago
- Times
Lottie Woad wins Scottish Open on professional debut
Lottie Woad rounded off the month of her life with a consummate win on her professional debut at the Women's Scottish Open. The 21-year-old's cover as a fantastic prodigy has long been blown and so it was no surprise to see her shedding all challengers as she made her way to the title and the $300,000 (£220,000) prize on Dundonald Links. 'It's a pretty good outcome I guess,' she said in her understated way. 'I definitely wasn't expecting to win my first event. I was just hoping to contend. It was the first time playing links golf since the Open last year so I was not exactly sure how it would go — but it was fine.' Woad was utterly unflustered when her two-stroke overnight lead was whittled away by Kim Hyo-joo, and as the Korean faltered, the woman from Farnham whetted every appetite for this week's AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl. Even when she lost a shot on the 16th, her solitary bogey, she managed the climax with a minimum of fuss. On the final hole, a par five, she played it safe with a lay-up but still made a birdie to give her a round of 68 and a three-stroke victory margin at 21 under par. It has been a remarkable July. She followed up her win at the Women's Irish Open with a third place at the Evian Championship, the fourth major of the year. Her amateur status meant she missed out on what would have been about £450,000 in prize money, and the Florida State star decided to turn professional a week ago. This was some start but she looks immune to the spiralling hype. A smile, handshake and then hug for her parents, Rachel and Nick, ensued. 'My dad has been here all week and mum got the train up last night, so I was hoping I would not mess it up,' she said. Kim, a major winner in 2014, drew level on the back nine and a quality field had been reduced to a duel. But the momentum shifted decisively within the space of a minute when Kim bogeyed the 15th and Woad made a birdie on the 14th. That two-shot swing put her back in charge and one of the most impressive things about what followed was the sense of inevitability rather than any understandable sign of nerves. When Kim made a second successive bogey on the 16th the writing was on the wall and the name was as good as on the trophy. The attention is not new and Woad had already been attracting plenty of plaudits by the time she won the Augusta National Women's Amateur last year. She rose to the top of the amateur rankings and her form this year meant the debate quickly turned to when she would join the LPGA. As has also been the case on the men's circuit, Woad is showing how the US collegiate system is producing players ready to compete and win on the pro tours without an acclimatization period. The publicity and expectation will now intensify ahead of Royal Porthcawl but so far Woad, tenth in last year's Open, has taken everything in her stride. Joining her in Wales will be Spain's Julia Lopez Ramirez, who had the round of the day with a 65 to finish third and book her place in the final major of the year. Nelly Korda, the world No1, had a miserable Sunday with four back-nine bogeys dropping her to fifth place, some eight shots adrift of Woad. Padraig Harrington won his second senior major of the year at Sunningdale when he held off Justin Leonard and Thomas Bjorn to win the Senior Open by three shots. The Irishman, 53, also won the Senior US Open in Colorado last month.
