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Scotsman
14 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Premier Sports Cup: Seven more clubs reach last 16 with final two spots still to be decided
Premiership trio joined in second round by third tier outfit Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Premiership trio Kilmarnock, Livingston and Falkirk all made it through to the second round of the Premier Sports Cup with comfortable home victories on Saturday. Motherwell and Hearts had already booked their places in Sunday's draw along with European qualifiers Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibs and Dundee United, meaning there were nine spaces still up for grabs going into the final weekend of group stage fixtures. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Killie, Livi and the Bairns were joined in reaching the last 16 by Championship outfits Partick Thistle St Johnstone and Morton, with third tier Alloa Athletic the lowest ranked side to make it through. Partick Thistle's Logan Chalmers (centre) celebrates after scoring to make it 2-0 during a Premier Sports Cup group stage win over Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group) | SNS Group Dundee – eliminated after losing their opening two fixtures – are the only top-flight side out of the tournament so far, with St Mirren aiming to progress on Sunday. Dunfermline still have a chance of qualifying as a best placed runner-up but will rely on Saints failing to beat Ayr, who are all but through as long as they do not lose heavily in Paisley. Falkirk sealed top spot in Group A by defeating Spartans 4-0 at home through goals from Dylan Tait, Scott Arfield and a Calvin Miller brace to leave manager John McGlynn in a positive frame of mind ahead of the start of the club's first Premiership season since 2009-10. "The entertainment value is going to be through the roof here," McGlynn predicted. "That's why we've got 5700 season ticket holders - they like what they see. We're now maybe the underdog in most games. I don't think we'll come up against oppositon in the Premiership that will sit so defensively as Spartans." Cove Rangers finished second but were not in the mix to be one of the three best runners-up after losing 2-1 at Queen's Park. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Teenage defender Ben Brannan scored a double and then went off injured as Kilmarnock pipped top-flight rivals Livingston to top spot in Group H with a 4-0 home victory over East Fife. Summer signings Marcus Dackers and Djenairo Daniels were also on target for Stuart Kettlewell's side, who made it through their four group matches without conceding a goal. Kilmarnock's Ben Brannan celebrates after scoring to make it 4-0 over East Fife in the Premier Sports Cup. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group) | SNS Group "I thought the players showed up well by and large," Kettlewell said. "My one frustration is there was a little bit of slackness in the last 15 minutes of the game. I know we end up down to 10 men through injury, but it's trying to sustain the levels we've found throughout the game. But it's a work in progress and we'll continue to try and make that better." Livi struck four times in the first half as a 6-0 home win over Kelty Hearts helped them finish as one of the three best runners-up. Robbie Muirhead notched a double, while Andrew Winter, debutant Adam Montgomery, Shane Blaney and Stevie May were also on target. Partick maintained their perfect record to win Group B with a 3-1 victory at Ross County, while Stranraer beat 10-man Queen of the South 1-0 in the other match in the section. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There was drama in Group C as Alloa came from behind to defeat Airdrie 3-2 and secure qualification at the expense of the Diamonds. A 2-2 draw would have been enough to take both teams through, but Steven Buchanan's 89th minute winner meant only the Wasps progressed. In the other match, Dundee saved some face after their humiliating start by making it back-to-back wins with a 5-0 triumph at home to Montrose. Simon Murray hit a first-half double before second-half strikes from Clark Robertson, Ryan Astley and Luke Graham. Dundee's Simon Murray (R) celebrates with Drey Wright after scoring to make it 1-0 over Montrose at Dens Park. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group) | SNS Group St Johnstone sealed top spot in Group F with an 8-0 home win over 10-man Elgin, while Raith Rovers beat Inverness 5-1 with Dylan Easton bagging a hat-trick. With Hearts already having finished top of Group E, Dunfermline gave themselves a chance of finishing as one of the three best runners-up as they won 2-0 at home to Stirling. The Pars will go through if St Mirren lose to Ayr or draw and fail to pick up a bonus point. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Morton followed Group G winners Motherwell through as one of the best runners-up after winning 3-0 at home to Clyde, while Stenhousemuir beat Peterhead 1-0. In Group D, where Arbroath went down 1-0 to Forfar, Ayr will be looking to hold on to top spot away to St Mirren on Sunday. The Honest Men have such a good goal difference that they will go through as long as they do not lose heavily.
The Independent
43 minutes ago
- The Independent
England pegged back despite Ben Stokes' brilliance as fourth Test hangs in the balance
After the fireworks, the frustration for England. Their ideal morning session was followed by an unrewarding slog in the afternoon and evening. A series that might have been over on Saturday extends to Sunday, perhaps to The Oval and, if India's powers of recovery continue there, may not be won at all. They must confront the twin obstacles of the Manchester weather, with rain forecast for the morning, and India's defiance. Obdurate batting from Shubman Gill and KL Rahul roused India from the depths of 0-2, a century partnership giving men on 78 and 87 chances to record hundreds of their own. But in a series when every game has gone to the final day, when England's two victories have been hard-fought, perhaps it is fitting that, once again, they go to a fifth morning with no easy task. In a game shaped by injuries, two have the potential to be decisive. Ben Stokes had left his imprint on the game with bat and ball but is yet to bowl in the second innings, though the series' leading wicket-taker could do with more rest and treatment. 'We are hoping so,' said assistant coach Marcus Trescothick. 'He is a bit stiff and sore. He has had a big workload in the last few weeks. I think it is just a build-up.' For India, it remains to be seen when and how Rishabh Pant will bat, though they confirmed he will. The question lingered unanswered during the vigils of Rahul and Gill. The two Indian batsman best equipped to bat for long periods of time did so, seeing out two sessions, reducing India's deficit to 137. Gill, after what was shaping up as his toughest Test as captain, put three low scores behind him to approach 700 runs for the series. The opener passed 500 to extend his streak of recording at least a half-century in each Test, a touch player showing touches of class. Without Stokes, England toiled. Chris Woakes was the best of the bowlers, the attack leader beginning with a double-wicket maiden. Jofra Archer 's menace came in his opening spell; thereafter he was below his best. Brydon Carse is still awaiting his first wicket of the match. Liam Dawson was the stock bowler, an almost permanent presence in the attack. He was economical during a game of patience. The barnstorming excitement came in the morning. England scored runs at speed and claimed wickets in consecutive balls. First Stokes then Woakes gave them rhyme and reason. Stokes' first Test century in two years was brought up to huge cheers and led to a blaze of boundaries. The England captain was at his most ambitious and entertaining as he powered on to 141. At the other end, Dawson made a decent 26, indicating that England's stock of all-rounders extends beyond the captain, before being bowled by Jasprit Bumrah with a ball that kept low. Carse showed the depth of their batting, putting plenty of muscle into his 47 before perishing looking for a half-century in a second successive Test. Ravindra Jadeja, who had only taken three wickets in the series, added four more, the last couple when Stokes and Carse were caught on boundary aiming for sixes. England's 669 was the highest Test total ever made at Old Trafford. It gave them a huge lead of 311 and the possibility of an innings victory. Especially when Woakes, after only one wicket with the first new ball all series, had two in as many deliveries. Yashavi Jaiswal was caught at the second attempt by Joe Root, Sai Sudharsan held at second slip by Harry Brook. A leave became a shot for the India No 3. For India, the tiredness from fielding for 157 overs may have told but Gill and Rahul's stand was unbroken in a further 62.1. Gill, after three low scores, counter-attacked at the start of his innings. Rahul was more watchful but benefited from two near-misses. He was dropped by Dawson in the gully on 23 and then almost diverted a ball from the spinner via his pads on to the leg stump. Otherwise, he looked unruffled. England lacked their best partnership-breaker. Stokes had bowled around 45 minutes before the start of play but not during it. Gill was dismissed by him in the first innings but the India captain was spared a rematch with his England counterpart. Gill and Rahul blunted the rest of the bowling. On a ground with a 100 percent record in the County Championship – Lancashire's five home matches have all ended in draws – England propelled themselves into a position as favourites before India illustrated the difficulties of getting 20 wickets in a game here with their resistance. Even if England do, they may face a run chase. It could be an exhilarating finish, a great rearguard action or an anticlimax. Part of the intrigue lies in determining which.
The Guardian
44 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Harry Brook drops the devilry but takes catch before India keep eye on the ball
The talk coming into this game was of needle, niggle and spite, of raising hackles and diminishing the spirit of the game, and beyond that of balls that lost their shape and days that lost too many overs. Somehow, 15 days of high-quality and largely compelling cricket had been distilled to the dominant themes of bad sportsmanship, bad workmanship and bad value. Then, in the fourth Test of a series whose narrative had apparently been established, none of it. Not a single ball change. Entire days when every scheduled over was bowled. When Shubman Gill pulled out at the last possible moment as Chris Woakes ran in to bowl late on Saturday afternoon and the two briefly exchanged words it was as close as the game had got to an outbreak of bad temper. It amounted to little more than a scowl and came right at the end of its 304th over. With an extended break between games it is no surprise the heightened emotion that characterised the second half of the last match had faded. But Gill's response on Tuesday to a question about his part in the flaring of tensions at Lord's suggested something of it lingered still. Several England players spoke with apparent pride of their in-your-face fielding in the last innings there, about how it had got people off their seats and glued them to their sets, and pledged that while they would not seek to manufacture malice, they would welcome and reciprocate any that sprouted organically. Perhaps confusingly, England's discovery of devilry coincided with the arrival of the former All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka, most famous for instigating a 'no dickheads' policy with New Zealand's rugby union side. Happily there was no contradiction there. 'A dickhead,' Enoka once explained, 'makes everything about them.' Still, such behaviour has been entirely absent. 'You don't always have to be nice,' Harry Brook said pre-match, but it is pretty hard to stop some people and Brook is one of those. Which is probably why, even in a ground that contains a 6,353-seater temporary structure known as the Party Stand, whose residents are often fancy-dressed and by mid-afternoon largely inebriated, the people who seem to be having most fun are standing in England's slip cordon. Brook is an excellent close fielder – the catch to dismiss Sai Sudharsan, straightforward as it was, was his 40th in Test cricket, not bad for a player yet to play his 30th game (in the past 50 years four Englishmen, of those to have played at least 20 Tests, have taken more catches per innings – one of whom, Joe Root, is normally standing beside him). But he brings much more to the side than that, much of it when there is no TV camera trained upon him, and not even any cricket taking place. In breaks between overs in this match he has demonstrated his ability to throw his cap in the air and catch it on his head – a genuinely impressive skill – and persuaded Zak Crawley to try to emulate him (with somewhat embarrassing results); he has challenged other members of the cordon to sprint races; on Saturday he and Ben Duckett, positioned at gully, engaged in an extended period of broad-grinned bantering that ended with them hugging each other. He and Root were constantly chatting, joking and smiling, at least until the obduracy of Gill and KL Rahul scattered England's fields and they found themselves too far apart to exchange small talk. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion Gill has demonstrated many faults over the past four days though, as he showed during his narrative-reshaping and potentially game-saving partnership with Rahul, there are few to be found in his batting technique. His is the team that most needed a bit of spark across their 157 (and a bit) overs in the field, but if there was something of the mongrel about them at Lord's, here the only spirit animal they managed to summon was a sloth. Having had all night to ponder their passivity on Friday they returned for the end of England's innings with approach completely unchanged. There were times, as an evidently unfit Ben Stokes added another 95 runs to his team's total alongside the No 10, Brydon Carse, when India's fields seemed to be deliberately set to allow easy scoring, to make their opponents as comfortable as possible. They had somehow gone from red rags to red carpets. The balls may no longer be going soft and out of shape, but instead it seems to be happening to entire teams. There is still time, at least, for yet another narrative to be reversed.
