Category Sports News

WCL2, Utrecht

United Arab Emirates 161 (47.5 overs): Waseem 61, Currie 3-34, McMullen 3-48

Scotland 162-2 (24.2 overs): Munsey 56, McMullen 50*

Scotland win by eight wickets

Scotland bounced back from successive defeats in Cricket World Cup League 2 by cruising to an eight-wicket win over United Arab Emirates in Utrecht.

The Scots had lost to the same opposition and the Netherlands in the past week and needed a win to get their campaign back on track.

Having struggled in those two matches, Richie Berrington’s bowlers delivered a fine performance after UAE opted to bat first.

Sussex seamer Brad Currie and new-ball partner Brandon McMullen took three wickets apiece, while McMullen also claimed a run-out as Scotland dominated from the off.

Only Muhammad Waseem (61) offered any resistance in a total of 161, hitting four fours and three sixes before he was bowled by McMullen.

In reply, George Munsey continued his fine form at the top of the order with 56 off just 45 balls to hammer home Scotland’s advantage.

McMullen then capped his fine outing with an unbeaten 50, becoming the fastest Scotland batter to reach 1,000 one-day international runs in the process.

He put on 60 with captain Berrington as Scotland reached their target with 25.4 overs to spare.

“Conditions suited me today with the ball,” McMullen said. “Very happy to contribute to the team’s success today.

“It’s been a bit frustrating the past couple of games with the bat, luckily today I went all the way through.

“It’s a massive honour and privilege to hold that record and hopefully it gets broken in the future.”

Canada striker Jonathan David has said he will leave Lille this summer amid links to several Premier League clubs.

The 25-year-old will depart the French side at the end of the current season when his contract expires.

“Every story has a beginning and an end,” the forward said in a video posted on his Instagram page. “I wanted to tell you myself that, after many years at the club, it is time for me to say goodbye.”

It comes amid David being touted for a move to several clubs across Europe, including in England.

Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and West Ham have all shown a reported interest in the player because of his form in Ligue 1.

David has scored 109 goals in 231 games for Lille, including 25 in 48 appearances this season.

Having joined from Belgian club Gent in 2020, David helped Lille beat perennial champions PSG to the French league title in 2020-21.

Snooker player Mark King has lost his appeal against a five-year ban for match-fixing.

King was handed the ban in November 2024 after an independent disciplinary committee found the Englishman guilty of one count of match-fixing and one count of providing inside information on a match.

The former Northern Ireland Open champion was suspended by the sport’s world governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), on 18 March 2023.

That was after suspicious betting was reported on his match against Joe Perry on 13 February that year at the Welsh Open, which King lost 4-0. Perry was not accused of any wrongdoing.

King was ordered to pay over £68,000 in costs and banned from the sport for five years.

King, 51, contested the punishment and his appeal was heard by an independent appeals committee on 8-9 April 2025.

The former world number 11 presented four points to be heard within his appeal, one of which he chose to abandon at the start of the hearing.

He stated that bettors placing large sums on 4-1 and 4-2, as well as the actual result of 4-0, weakened the argument that he had agreed to lose 4-0.

King also argued that his relationship with one of the people connected to the betting was flawed.

Finally, he complained that the disciplinary committee reached a number of wrong conclusions surrounding his form and an injury he was suffering with going into the match against Perry.

“Nowhere in this appeal has it been demonstrated that a factual decision is so wrong it could not have been reached, or an evaluative decision is so wrong that it can be said to be unreasonable,” the independent appeals committee’s final report stated.

It added: “In our view the committee reached reasonable, rational, logical, clear and reasoned conclusions based on all of the evidence which they clearly considered carefully and we find no reason to interfere with the conclusions it reached.”

Formula 1’s governing body has reduced the penalties for drivers swearing or criticising officials, following widespread outcry.

A revised version of the FIA penalty guidelines issued to stewards on Wednesday has removed the threat of a race ban, and dramatically cut the level of fine that can be applied.

Previously, F1 drivers could be fined €40,000 (£33,700) for a first offence, and double that plus a ban for a second offence.

Now, the initial level of fine has been reduced to €5,000 (£4,200) and the potential for a ban lifted, although “more severe penalties” may still be imposed for “very serious offences”.

Previously, there were multipliers for drivers from higher-level championships – F1 drivers’ fines were increased four times compared with the base level – but these have also been removed.

The new document also differentiates between offences committed in “controlled” and “uncontrolled” environments.

This effectively differentiates between things drivers say and do within competition and in forums such as news conferences, where adrenaline and risk are not influencing factors.

It remains the case that drivers can be punished for bad language, abuse of officials, criticism of the FIA or “general making and display of political, religious and personal statements or comments notably in violation of the general principle of neutrality promoted by the FIA under its statutes”.

For this latter offence, as well as any “public incitement to violence or hatred”, the fine is higher, at €20,000 (£16,800).

The FIA described the development as “major improvements” to appendix B of the sporting code.

The move follows widespread criticism of the stricter approach, which was introduced in January, by drivers in F1 and beyond.

The decision to introduce the potential for heavy fines and bans was made in the wake of events last year, when F1 world champion Max Verstappen was forced to do the F1 equivalent of community service after swearing in a news conference at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The drivers followed that with an open letter to the FIA asking it to treat them like “adults”.

Ben Sulayem said in a statement: “As a former rally driver, I know first hand the range of emotions that are faced during competition.

“I have led an extensive and collaborative review with contributions from across the seven FIA World Championships, FIA Member Clubs and other motor sports organisations.

“The improvements the FIA has announced today to Appendix B will ensure we continue to promote the best of sportsmanship in motorsport, while also giving stewards effective guidelines to act against individuals who may bring the sport into disrepute.

“The FIA will always be committed to ensuring motor sport is accessible for all our sporting family.”

Ronan Morgan, president of the FIA drivers’ committee, said: “Drivers are looked up to as role models by young fans and are rightly seen as ambassadors for the wider world of motor sport. How they act really does matter.

“But it is important to recognise that there is a difference between what is said during a race and in a press conference. Today’s changes further strengthen the FIA’s International Sporting Code supporting our drivers by understanding the pressures they face during the heat of competition.”

The move will be viewed within F1 as a climbdown from Ben Sulayem, the second he has made this year.

In April, engine manufacturers kicked into the long grass his attempt to reintroduce V10 naturally aspirated engines to F1 by 2028 or 2029, before the end of the new engine cycle for revised turbo hybrids, which runs from 2026-30.

Although officially the idea is still being discussed, and Ben Sulayem remains committed to it privately, there is a blocking majority against it in F1, and it has effectively been dismissed.

The 16th Diamond League season is under way as athletics’ Olympic stars build towards their shot at world glory in 2025, with coverage live on the BBC.

The series sees athletes compete for points in 32 disciplines across 14 meetings in a bid to qualify for the winner-takes-all two-day finals in Zurich in August.

That takes place just over a fortnight before the start of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan in September.

It is also the first year in which the Diamond League must compete with Michael Johnson’s new Grand Slam Track for athletes’ attention.

However, there has been only one direct clash between the two competitions – with the Miami Slam on 2-4 May having taken place at the same time as the meet in Keqiao, China on 3 May.

The Diamond League has increased its prize money to the highest level in its history, with a total prize pot of $9.24m (£6.95m) on offer across the series.

That includes $500,000 (£375,000) at each of the 14 series meetings, and $2.2m (£1.7m) at the Diamond League final.

BBC Sport has agreed a deal to broadcast the Diamond League for the next five years.

Great Britain’s Molly Caudery comes up against Olympic medallists Katie Moon and Alysha Newman in the women’s pole vault in her first outdoor competition of the season.

Caudery, world indoor champion in 2024, cleared 4.85m in February, which remains the second best performance in the world this year.

Amber Anning, who became the first British woman to win the 400m world indoor title in March, is joined by Laviai Nielsen in that event, while Jemma Reekie is in 1500m action.

Jamaica’s sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce chases a first win on the Diamond League circuit since 2022 in the women’s 100m, where she is joined by world indoor 60m champion Mujinga Kambundji of Switzerland and British athlete Amy Hunt.

Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo is the standout name in the men’s sprints.

Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson has announced her return to action at the Stockholm Diamond League on 15 June, where she will compete against a world-class line-up also featuring fellow Britons Georgia Hunter-Bell, the Olympic 1500m bronze medallist, and Reekie.

Hodgkinson will then race in London, where Josh Kerr and rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen will renew their rivalry over 1500m in July.

Sweden’s pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis will next star in Oslo in June, while world record holder Karsten Warholm, Olympic champion Rai Benjamin and reigning Diamond League champion Alison Dos Santos race in the 300m hurdles twice in four days in Oslo and Stockholm.

Five-time Diamond League champion Faith Kipyegon, who will attempt to become the first woman to run a sub-four minute mile in June, contests the 1500m at July’s Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, where world 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson is also in action.

Athletes will compete for points at the 14 regular series meetings which started in April and run through to August.

Points are awarded on a scale from eight for first place to one for eighth place.

After the 14th meeting in Brussels, the top six ranked athletes in the field events, the top eight in track events from 100m up to 800m, and the top 10 in the distances from 1500m upwards qualify for the final.

26 April – Xiamen, China

03 May – Keqiao, China

16 May – Doha, Qatar

25 May – Rabat, Morocco

06 June – Rome, Italy

12 June – Oslo, Norway

15 June -Stockholm, Sweden

20 June – Paris, France

05 July – Eugene, USA

11 July – Monaco

19 July – London, England

16 August – Silesia, Poland

20 August – Lausanne, Switzerland

22 August – Brussels, Belgium

British number one Jack Draper has been knocked out of the Italian Open as Carlos Alcaraz showed his quality under pressure to reach the semi-finals.

Draper, 23, was beaten 6-4 6-4 as world number three Alcaraz battled valiantly to save break points at key moments and take his own chances when they came.

Englishman Draper, who is fifth in the ATP rankings, led 4-2 in the first set before Alcaraz fought back to take the lead.

Looking to build on his run to the Madrid Open final last week, Draper recovered in the second set and constantly applied pressure on Alcaraz’s serve.

But he was unable to convert two break points and, after coming through a lengthy eighth game to hold, reigning French Open champion Alcaraz ran with the momentum.

Alcaraz, a first-time Rome semi-finalist, will play Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti or Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the last four.