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T20 Blast: Kent end Somerset run and Gloucestershire lose again

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Daniel Bell-Drummond hammered a 48-ball century as Kent Spitfires ended Somerset’s 100% start to their T20 Blast campaign.

Meanwhile, reigning champions Gloucestershire suffered a fifth successive defeat as Glamorgan beat them by 40 runs at Bristol.

Matthew Potts inspired Durham to a crushing six-wicket win over Yorkshire, with the England paceman returning Blast-best figures of 5-17 at York’s Clifton Park.

And three-times winners Leicestershire ended a two-game losing streak with a comfortable win over Worcestershire.

Match scorecards

This year’s T20 Blast had been missing a centurion before Bell-Drummond made the most of the batter-friendly conditions to help down South Group leaders Somerset.

The 31-year-old smashed 12 fours and four sixes and shared an opening stand of 158 with Tawanda Muyeye (70) to give the Spitfires the ideal platform after being asked to bat.

Muyeye’s effort was his second highest score in the format, but when he was the third man out at 200, Kent added only a further 28 runs from the remaining four overs.

The home side had successfully chased down a victory target of 230 to beat Middlesex last Thursday and an early onslaught from Tom Banton (68) and Will Smeed (24), in which they put on 91 from the first seven overs, threatened to make this one look even easier.

Nathan Gilchrist dropped Banton in the deep when he had made only two and that error looked like it could be costly as he thrashed five fours and six sixes from 33 balls only for the Kent man to make up for his fielding misdemeanour by trapping the England batsman lbw.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore (38), Sean Dickson (31*) and Ben Green (25) kept Somerset’s hopes alive but a fine final over from Tom Rogers, with 19 runs required, earned Kent a vital win to push them into fifth place.

Gloucestershire’s glory of winning the title in 2024 must seem an age ago after a fifth defeat from five games as they lost six wickets for 25 runs to lose to Glamorgan.

Asa Tribe continued to enhance his growing reputation as the Jersey batsman struck five fours and five sixes in an unbeaten 63 from just 28 balls to top score for the visitors in their 189-6 at Bristol.

The home side seemed to have their target of 190 within reach at 103-3, but spinners Mason Crane (4-20) and Imad Wasim (3-23) put the squeeze on and despite Cameron Bancroft’s 52 they subsided to 149-9 and are the only team in the competition yet to register a point.

“There is massive hurt and disappointment because our performances are not due to shortage of effort or lack of preparation,” said Gloucestershire captain Jack Taylor.

Potts leads Durham raid on Vikings

Durham's Matthew Potts is congratulated by teammates after taking a wicket against YorkshireAllan McKenzie/SWPix.com

Playing in only his second Blast match of the summer, after making his England T20 debut against the West Indies earlier this month, Matthew Potts fired out Yorkshire’s middle order as Durham ran out easy winners to move into second place in the North Group.

With the York venue staging its first Vikings T20 match, the home side never recovered from losing Dawid Malan lbw to Zak Foulkes for a first-ball duck – ending his run of four successive half centuries in the competition

Potts then took centre stage by diving forward at mid-off to remove the returning Jonny Bairstow for four, before displaying all his skills with the ball.

He dismissed Will Luxton and Will Sutherland in his first over and went on to add James Wharton, Dom Bess and Jordan Thompson to record a career-best 5-17 in the short format.

The final two Yorkshire wickets added 52 runs for some semblance of respectability, but Durham cantered to a third straight win with skipper Alex Lees’ 62 underpinning the innings as they chased down 129 with two overs to spare.

“That’s pretty special, coming back into the Durham team, trying to get a few wins for the boys, it’s nice to do well and contribute to that,” said Potts.

“It was a really exciting thing (debuting for England) and it was a pleasure to be able to do it at Durham with my family and friends around.”

Ben Mike returned from a hamstring injury to help Leicestershire to a much-needed win over Worcestershire at Grace Road.

The seam bowler took 3-14, including the only maiden of the match, as the home side restricted the Rapids to 150-8 despite 49 from Gareth Roderick and a handy 25 by stand-in captain Adam Hose.

Tuesday fixture

Utilita Bowl: Hampshire Hawks v Surrey

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Sabrina Carpenter fans shocked as they learn of her very famous family member

Sabrina Carpenter’s fans were shocked to discover the Espresso singer, 26, has a very famous voice actor as an aunt

Sabrina Carpenter fans shocked as they learn of her very famous family member(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Sabrina Carpenter’s fans were in shock after they learned of the singer’s famous family member. The 26-year-old Espresso singer has been the ultimate Pop girl in the last few years with her clever lyrics and visually appealing performances. However, she’s not the only talented person in her family.

Her aunt is none other than Nancy Cartwright, who is best known for voicing Bart Simpson in The Simpson. The 67-year-old voice actor has been the voice behind troublemaker Bart for over 30 years, and also voices Maggie Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, and Nelson Muntz. Nancy is also the voice of Chuckie Finster in Rugrats and its spin-off All Grown Up!

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Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright voices Bart Simpson(Image: Byron Purvis/AdMedia/Capital Pictures)

She also had roles in Alvin and the Chipmunks, Pound Puppies, Fantastic Max, Goof Troop, Crashbox and Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventure.

Sabrina’s father, David Carpenter, is Nancy’s step-brother, with some of Sabrina’s fans only just learning about the family connection.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one amazed user commented: “Interesting side note for those who don’t know. Sabrina Carpenter’s Aunt is Nancy Cartwright… Aka Bart Simpson.”

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Nancy Cartwright
Fans were shocked when they made the connection(Image: Samir Hussein/Getty Images)

Another answered: “I did not know that!” One shocked fan said: “Just found out that the voice of Bart Simpson (Nancy Cartwright) is not only a Scientologist but also Sabrina Carpenter’s aunt??”

One added: “How the f*** am I just finding out Sabrina Carpenter is Nancy Cartwright’s niece?” Sabrina has previously talked about the love she has for her aunt.

In an interview with Captial FM, she explained: “My whole life, that was just like the coolest thing in the world to me. I wasn’t even allowed to watch the show until I was a little bit older!

“The woman is a woman of many talents, not just Bart. She always blows me away.” She went on to recall how Nancy would use the voice during family dinners at restaurants.

“When we were in a restaurant, she didn’t do it all the time, but there were a couple of times when we couldn’t get a table and she’d be like, ‘Hey, man, I’m Bart Simpson. What the hell’s going on?'” Sabrina said.

Nancy even spoke about having Sabrina as her niece. Nancy once said: “Yeah, absolutely. Isn’t that amazing when you find out that somebody that maybe…

“You’ve known me for a little while doing this little 10 year old boy for, like, 35 some years. And for some of you guys, way less than that. And you find out I’m related to this, like, superstar!”

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Craig admits to ‘illegal move’ in controversial UFC ‘no contest’

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Scotland’s Paul Craig has urged UFC fans not “to persecute” Rodolfo Bellato after he was accused of “hamming it up” by “flopping” to the canvas following a kick to the face during their light-heavyweight contest in Atlanta.

Craig admits it was “an illegal move” that resulted in the fight being ruled a no contest.

The fight had been postponed from 14 weeks ago when the 29-year-old Brazilian pulled out with a cold sore – and this time it was cut short seconds before the end of round one.

“I don’t want to think any fighter is looking for an easy way out in this sport. We’re all fighters, we’re all in the UFC – the pinnacle of of our careers – and we’re looking to put on performances. But I can see where people are looking at it and think it looks a bit floppish, like he’s maybe taking a dive.”

Craig admitted it was “raw at the moment” but did not want to think that might be the case.

“I was in the neutral corner, I was looking over and I was seeing him kind of flop like he was trying to wrestle the referee and he was in a daze, but when I spoke to him, he seemed pretty compos mentis and he was like, ‘I don’t know what happened’,” he added.

“You know what, it’s my fault as much as it is his fault. We shouldn’t be looking to persecute him if he’s taking taken the knee – it was an illegal move.”

To make matters worse for Craig, he had moved back up a weight hoping to put a three-loss streak behind him in what was the final fight of his current UFC contract.

“I’m now in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” he said. “I was wanting to make a stamp in that division and say, hey, I am back.

“I’ve got to take positives from it. I felt good in there and I was moving well. I was landing my shots and my shot selection was perfect.

“But, in the heat of the moment, I thought he was standing up, so I throw my axe kick, looking to land a heavy upkick to his face.”

Craig pointed out that a no-contest was at least not as bad as another defeat and is hopeful of a rematch with Bellato.

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Thousands attend ‘red line’ protest in The Hague against Israel’s Gaza war

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered in the Netherlands to oppose Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and to call on the government to take a stronger stance, as nearly 55,300 Palestinians have now been killed in the more than 20-month-long war.

On Sunday, huge crowds of people marched through the streets of The Hague for the second time in four weeks towards the International Court of Justice.

Rights groups, who were among the organisers of the rally, including Amnesty International and Oxfam, said the demonstration aimed to create a symbolic “red line” that they say the government has failed to set to halt Israel’s war on Gaza and its Palestinian population.

Demonstrators sang, delivered speeches and marched past the courthouse, which is hearing a case by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide during its war on the besieged enclave.

Michiel Servaes, director of Oxfam Novib, said “more than 150,000 people” attended the protest calling for “concrete sanctions to stop the genocide in Gaza”.

Demonstrators protest against conditions in Gaza and demand that the caretaker government impose sanctions against Israel, in The Hague, Netherlands [Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]

Reporting from The Hague, Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen said that the large turnout was proof that more people in the Netherlands reject their government’s support for Israel.

“While there is much frustration about the lack of action, protesters here say the focus should remain on the continuing genocide in Gaza despite Israel’s efforts to distract attention,” Vaessen said, adding that protesters also called for Israel to stop its attacks on Iran.

Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that the “unprecedented” thousands of people in The Hague raised their voices with “concerns, anger and frustration”.

“The Netherlands remains committed to stopping the violence and ending the humanitarian blockade. We are constantly looking at how we can be most effective with our efforts, both in front of and behind the scenes, to improve the situation on the ground,” Schoof wrote on X.

“To all those people in The Hague, I say: ‘We see you and we hear you.’ Our goal is ultimately the same: to end the suffering in Gaza as soon as possible,” he added.

Salih el Saddy, a medical doctor protesting, told Al Jazeera that as a doctor, it’s “very painful to watch” the scenes from Gaza.

‘One of my greatest memories’ – Duplantis sets world record in Sweden

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Armand Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record for a 12th time with a clearance of 6.28m at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm.

This one was extra special for the 25-year-old, however, as it was the first time he had improved the world best in Sweden.

Born in the United States, Duplantis – who is commonly known by his nickname ‘Mondo’ – represents his mother’s native country.

He had already secured victory in the event when he cleared the new record height at the first attempt before removing his vest, celebrating with friends and family, and taking the acclaim of his home crowd.

“I feel full to the brim right now,” said double Olympic champion Duplantis.

After achieving his goal, he said: “The first time I jumped in this stadium when I was 11 years old, it was rainy, cold and I jumped right under four metres. It was quite high for how young I was.

“They etch the names of world record holders here. It’s going to be really special to have my name etched in the stadium. It’s the most beautiful stadium, in my biased opinion.

“It’ll be one of the greatest memories for me, I think, in my career.”

Duplantis first broke the world record, then held by Renaud Lavillenie of France, in February 2020 with a 6.17m clearance in Poland.

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‘I ran that all wrong’ – but Hunter-Bell claims stunning win

There was also British success on the track as Georgia Hunter-Bell finished strongly to claim victory in the women’s 800m in a time of 1:57.66.

Hunter-Bell was last with 200m to go, but overhauled all her competitors, including world champion Mary Moraa, with a sensational sprint finish.

“I ran that all wrong, making some bad decisions but the whole time I felt good so I knew I had something left,” said the 1500m bronze medallist at the Paris Olympics.

“I was stuck at the back for a bit long and then ran on the outside longer than I should have, but I did feel really strong and very good.

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Britain’s world indoor champion Amber Anning was third in the women’s 400m in a season’s best of 50.17 seconds, while Dina Asher-Smith ran 10.93 seconds to finish second behind Olympic champion Julien Alfred in the women’s 100m.

Asher-Smith said: “Today was something to ask for, from running in Oslo three days ago, but I travelled well and the body felt good. So to run 10.9 low is really great, and it’s very exciting to be getting so close to my PB.”

British duo Innes Fitzgerald and Hannah Nuttall smashed their personal bests to finish third and fourth respectively in the women’s 3,000m, which was won by Australian Linden Hall.

Fitzgerald, 19, ran 8:32.90 to beat her fastest mark by more than seven seconds, while 27-year-old Nuttall finished in 8:33.82, more than six seconds quicker than her previous best.

Fitzgerald said: “I went into the race with no expectations and I think that is the best way to race. Sometimes I have let the pressure get to me a little bit, but today I was relaxed and I was determined to enjoy it. I absolutely loved every minute of it.

George Mills was fifth in the men’s 1500m, just three days after breaking Sir Mo Farah’s British 5,000m record in Oslo.

“Obviously I was looking for the win, but I came here on the back of a very good 5,000m in Oslo so I did what I came to do, which was to run fast with only a short recovery,” said Mills, who finished in 3:32.67, just over a second behind winner Samuel Pihlstrom of Sweden.

“It worked pretty well until the last lap or so when the legs started to get heavy, but I think it was a good couple of days’ work.”

Femke Bol of the Netherlands broke her own meeting record to win the women’s 400m hurdles in 52.11 seconds, while Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi ran 1:41.95 – the fastest time in the world this year – to win the men’s 800m.

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