Belgium wins Hockey World Cup 2018

A gritty Belgium defeated former Champions the Netherlands in sudden death in a thrilling summit clash to win their maiden men’s Hockey World Cup title at the Kalinga Stadium. Olympic silver medalist Belgium created history by eking out a 3-2 win in the penalty shoot-out after the final match of the game’s showpiece event ended in a goalless draw.

It was a great day for Belgium hockey as the country registered its second biggest international title after the Olympics silver in Rio in 2016. In the last edition of the World Cup at The Hague in Netherlands, Belgium had finished fifth. The Netherlands, on the other hand, failed to match Pakistan’s record of a fourth world title for the second consecutive edition. The Dutch had finished runners-up to Australia four years ago in front of their home crowd. They last won a World Cup title way back in 1998 in Utrecht.

Incidentally, it was the Netherlands’ second consecutive match that went to shoot-out in the tournament after their victory over Australia in the semi-finals on Saturday. In shoot-out, Belgium goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch outmatched his Dutch counterpart Pirmin Blaak by making four saves to hand his side their maiden World Cup title.

Earlier in the day, Australia thrashed England 8-1 to claim the bronze medal. The title clash, which was witnessed by none other than cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, turned out to be a fierce contest between the two European sides. While the Netherlands took the early initiative and attacked continuously in the first two quarters, Belgium made a strong comeback after the change of ends.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

As it played in their championship battle this year too, Sebastian Vettel was forced to play second fiddle to an imperious Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale as the Mercedes driver took his 11th win of the season, enjoying a serene performance that perfectly reflected his majestic run to his fifth title this year.

Strong from the very start of the race, having recorded his 11th pole position of the year on Saturday, Hamilton benefitted from an early switch to supersoft tyres under a Virtual Safety Car – brought out after Kimi Raikkonen was forced to retire on lap seven in his final race for Ferrari – before biding his time to re-inherit the lead and sweep to his 83rd career victory.

Behind him, Vettel had a lonely run to second place, after dispatching Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas mid-race, while he was followed home by the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, Ricciardo unable to claim that podium he so dearly wanted in his 100th and final race for Red Bull before he moves to Renault. Bottas ended up fifth.

Carlos Sainz, in his own last race for Renault before switching to McLaren, enjoyed a strong run to sixth place to help Renault to seal fourth place in the constructors’ title, while his team mate Nico Hulkenberg fared less well, clashing with Romain Grosjean on lap one and barrel rolling into the barriers, although fortunately not suffering any ill effects from the ugly looking incident.

Charles Leclerc was seventh in his final outing for Sauber before he moves to Ferrari for 2019, ahead of the Force India of Sergio Perez and the Haas of Grosjean in ninth – who managed to continue after his first-lap brush with Hulkenberg. Kevin Magnussen’s run to 10th denied Fernando Alonso the chance to up his points tally in his final Grand Prix before retiring, the McLaren driver employing some questionable cornering techniques in the final part of the race – and getting a five-second penalty for his troubles – in his bid to get after the Dane, but ultimately ending up 11th in his 311th race. Meanwhile apart from Raikkonen, Force India’s Esteban Ocon, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and Sauber’s Marcus Ericcson all retired from their last races with their respective teams due to technical trouble.

Women’s World T20: Australia claim title

Two years ago, in the World Twenty20 semi-final, England suffered a humiliation at the hands of Australia, a six-run loss, courtesy of a collapse that saw them lose seven wickets for 60 runs. In the interim they have changed their captain, blooded new players and won a World Cup.

Even so there was a sense of deja vu today as they subsided from 30-1 to 105 all out, the equation this time nine wickets lost for 75 runs. Once again, it was the old enemy Australia who were their nemesis, storming to their fourth World T20 title by eight wickets.

For Australia it was their young leg-spinner Georgia Wareham who unexpectedly stole the show in her first ever outing against England, finishing with 2-11, a catch and a direct hit run-out to her name. Ashleigh Gardner (33*) and Meg Lanning (28*) then shared a 62-run partnership, Lanning stroking the winning single through the off-side after Gardner punished two huge sixes over Kirstie Gordon’s head to ensure the victory came in style, with 29 balls to spare.

Their under-par showing in the final completes what has been a difficult World Twenty20 with the bat for England, only Amy Jones finishing in the top ten tournament run-scorers. For Australia, meanwhile, the challenge was always to live up to pre-tournament expectations which put them as clear favourite: today’s clinical victory shows they have done just that.

Valencia MotoGP 2018: Andrea Dovizioso wins

A smashing and crash ridden finale to the 2018 MotoGP season, Ducati Andrea Dovizioso won the Valencia Grand Prix turning out to be one of the few riders to actually complete the very wet race.

The rain drenched track made for a spectacle at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, as the top riders were pulled out of contention after back-to-back crashes. The race was even stopped at half-point bringing with the red flag out, only to be started again for a 14 lap stint. Dovizioso ended the season just like he started it - with a win. However, the race was a game changed for KTM, which saw rider Pol Espargaro take his and the team's first ever podium in the sport. Suzuki's Alex Rins took his fifth podium of the season, finishing behind Dovizioso.

The Valencia GP started out wet but was drying when the race begun. However, it wasn't long before the clouds were back over the circuit and the track was soaked again. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales started on pole in a surprise qualifying session, but couldn't hold on to the lead for long as Rins and Dovi were quick to pass the rider on Turn 2 of the opening lap. Rins took the lead and was a good 2 seconds clear of Dovi. The next few laps saw Rins extend his gap further to 4 seconds.

Bringing an end to a legendary career, Honda's Dani Pedrosa completed his final MotoGP race in fifth place, ahead of Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami. Tech3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco and KTM's Smith finished at P7 and P8. Tech3's rookie rider Hafizh Syahrin finished tenth behind Stefan Bradl, who was standing in for LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow. Aprilia's Scott Redding finished 11th, ahead of Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo and a damaged Yamaha ridden by Rossi. Bautista, who also crashed, re-mounted to finish 16th, behind Angel Nieto's Karel Abraham, who moves back to WSBK next year and Jordi Torres.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Brazil Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was cruelly robbed of what looked set to be a remarkable win at Interlagos, after a dramatic collision while battling the lapped Force India of Esteban Ocon allowed Lewis Hamilton through to take the race victory, helping to secure Mercedes fifth consecutive constructor title in the process.

Verstappen was enjoying a strong Brazilian Grand Prix, and had seized the lead from Hamilton when Ocon attempted to unlap himself down the pit straight on lap 44. Both drivers refused to yield, with Ocon holding out around the outside of Turn 1 before the pair touched, sending both drivers into a spin, Hamilton gratefully nipping through between them before going on to record his 72nd career win. Verstappen was left unimpressed, as were the stewards, who duly handed Ocon as 10-second stop-go penalty.

Bad for Verstappen but great for Mercedes, who become only the second team – after Ferrari – to claim five consecutive constructors’ crowns, to add to Hamilton’s fifth drivers’ title from last time out in Mexico. In a thrilling final few laps, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen just managed to hold onto the final podium position from a charging Daniel Ricciardo who finished fourth in the second Red Bull. Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas took fifth and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel sixth, while Sauber’s Charles Leclerc drove a fine race to claim the best-of-the-rest prize in seventh.

We now head to the season finale at the spectacular Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi on November 23-25. With both titles now decided, this is set to be an enjoyable romp for personal glory, as the drivers – with no championship pressure to dictate their strategies – go all-out for the final race win of 2018.

Malaysia MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez wins

Marc Marquez took a comfortable ninth victory of the 2018 MotoGP season in the Malaysian Grand Prix after long-time leader Valentino Rossi crashed. From second on the grid, Rossi outdragged poleman Johann Zarco to take the lead into the first corner and from there proceeded to build a lead of more than a second.

Marquez meanwhile quickly set about making up for his six-place grid penalty for impeding Andrea Iannone in qualifying and by the end of the fifth lap of 20 he had taken up station behind Rossi. Initially Rossi was able to extend the gap over his former arch-rival, but as the race moved into its second half Marquez began to chip away at the Yamaha rider's advantage.

Closing in at around a tenth per lap, Marquez had managed to get within 0.6 seconds of Rossi when the Italian rider suffered a low-speed crash at Turn 1 with three laps to go, denying the crowd a repeat of the pair's infamous 2015 Sepang duel. Marquez inherited a lead of four seconds over Zarco as a result of Rossi's incident, and from there he was able to cruise to a straightforward 1.8s win and clinch the constructors' title for Honda.

Zarco was passed for second by the Suzuki of Alex Rins on the final lap at Turn 4, allowing Rins to equal his career-best result, while Zarco held on for third to claim his first podium finish since May. Maverick Vinales could well have contended for victory but for his poor grid slot of 11th, which left him losing time stuck behind the Nieto Ducati of Alvaro Bautista in the early laps.

Pedrosa fifth place equals his best result of a difficult 2018 season, while Andrea Dovizioso endured a low-key run to sixth on the best of the Ducati’s. Hafizh Syahrin stormed from 23rd and last on the grid to 12th on the opening lap, and managed to secure the final top 10 position on a day he became the first Malaysian to start a premier class grand prix. Aleix Espargaro was 11th ahead of Franco Morbidelli, LCR Honda stand-in Stefan Bradl, Takaaki Nakagami and Bradley Smith.

F1 2018: Max Verstappen wins Mexico Grand Prix

The Champagne and the big trophy in Mexico City went to Max Verstappen, the Dutchman driving an exemplary race to repeat his 2017 victory. But while it was a fifth race win for Verstappen, it was a fifth title win for Lewis Hamilton, the British driver’s fourth place enough to see him crowned champion with two races to go, becoming only the third ever driver, behind Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher, to claim five world championships.

Verstappen’s win was arguably the most polished of his career so far. He was incisive off the line to pip his pole-sitting team mate Daniel Ricciardo before enjoying a mostly lonely race out at the front of the field. Sebastian Vettel knew that his chances of staying in the title hunt were minimal coming into the race. But despite putting in a fine performance – including executing a terrific move on Hamilton on lap 39 – to finish second, it wasn’t enough for Vettel to deny Hamilton.

Vettel was joined on the podium by his team mate Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn having had a mostly quiet afternoon but doing enough to deny Hamilton a podium finish on his momentous title-winning day. That left the Mercedes boys to finish fourth and fifth, Hamilton ahead of Valtteri Bottas, with Hamilton massively dropping his pace towards the race end to make it home safely and claim the championship.

Some fine midfield performances saw Nico Hulkenberg take sixth – good news for Renault on a day when Haas failed to score – Charles Leclerc finish seventh, while the beleaguered Stoffel Vandoorne was eighth to equal his best performance of the year. But despite a crushing win for Verstappen to put Red Bull on top for the first time since Austria, the plaudits today have to go equally to Hamilton, the British driver now forming part of an exceptionally rare group of Formula 1 drivers.

Australian MotoGP 2018: Maverick Vinales wins

Yamaha Maverick Vinales produced an exceptional ride to win the Australian MotoGP Grand Prix. Vinales was the strongest rider in the second half of the race and did enough to hold off Suzuki's Andrea Iannone to take Yamaha's first win for 25 races. Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso came home in third.

Recently crowned world champion Marc Marquez started on pole on Sunday but pulled out of the race after a high-speed incident with Johann Zarco. Vinales' Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi had to settle for sixth. Following a frantic start, Jack Miller led the way at the end of the first lap, although Marquez remained in close proximity and was quick to restore his lead.

However, just as the world champion appeared to be finding his groove, his chances were dashed after a crash with Zarco. The latter's front tyre and Marquez's rear tyre came into contact, prompting Zarco to be thrown from his bike. The Honda man somehow stayed upright but had to retire in the pits not long afterwards.

Iannone and Dovizioso did emerge from that group to put pressure on Vinales late on, the battling they had done for second meant that life had been taken from their tyres. As such, they were never seriously in a position to challenge for the victory. In the end, the Yamaha man was able to hold off a fast-finishing Iannone with relative ease to clinch his first win since Le Mans in 2017. Victory for Vinales cements his spot in fourth in the world championship standings. He is now just 30 and 15 points behind Dovizioso and Rossi, respectively.

F1 2018: Kimi Raikkonen wins USA Grand Prix

It was set up as the day when Lewis Hamilton would seal a fifth world title. Instead, the United States Grand Prix will be remembered for another piece of history as the day when Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen brilliantly broke a 112 race winless streak.

The Finn, whose last victory came all the way back in Australia 2013, 2044 days earlier, came out on top of a titanic three-way battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver Hamilton at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas to claim his 21st career victory and become, at 39, F1’s oldest race winner since Nigel Mansell in 1994.

Behind Raikkonen, Verstappen put his qualifying woes behind him as he crossed the line 1.2s back to cap a superb drive through the field from 18th on the grid, while Hamilton – who started from pole and led during the middle phase of the race – was forced to settle for third after needing to make one more pit stop than his rivals. Hamilton will now look to Mexico next weekend as his chance to clinch the 2018 drivers’ crown, with his gap to rival Sebastian Vettel stretched to 70 points by virtue of another scruffy race for the Ferrari star.

Vettel started fifth but was 15th at the end of lap one after another first-lap spin, this time following contact with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo while battling for fourth. The German recovered to finish fourth, passing the second Silver Arrow of Valtteri Bottas late on, but even if he wins in Mexico next weekend he will be powerless to stop Hamilton from beating him to becoming just the third man in history to secure five titles if the Briton scores five or more points there.

Japan MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez crowned World Champion

Repsol Honda Marc Marquez has been crowned as the 2018 MotoGP World Champion after a nail biting finish in the Japanese Grand Prix. The Honda rider won the fourth last race of the season fighting against Ducati Andrea Dovizioso. The last lap though is where Marquez managed to lead the race as Dovizioso crashed while in second place.

With the Japanese GP under his belt, the Honda rider takes his seventh world championship title at the manufacturer's home turf and his fifth world title in the premier class series. Marquez now equals Mike Doohan's world titles but is still behind Valentino Rossi's seven and Giacomo Agostini's eight titles.

The 24 lap race started with Dovizioso on pole while Marquez started only sixth at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. A brilliant start allowed Marquez to move up to second on the opening lap as he closes in on the race leader. Behind him were Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller at P3 and P4 respectively, while Yamaha's Valentino Rossi jumped to sixth having started at ninth on the grid.

Dovi and Iannone crash promoted Rossi to fourth, down by five seconds over the race leader, while Alvaro Bautista on the Nieto Ducati took a career best fifth, having started 11th on the grid. Tech3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco finished sixth after a bad start, but recovered to the position after dropping to outside the top 10 in the race.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018

The Mumbai-Delhi final had its share of drama, for most parts, an exciting swing here, swing there contest where bowlers dictated terms, only for Mumbai to emerge victorious and win their first Vijay Hazare title since 2007 at the back of a 105 run partnership by two of their least utilized players in tournament.

There were times in the game when Delhi threatened to wrestle the control from Mumbai. Himmat Singh threatened with a 65-ball 41 before Tare's lightening quick work behind the stumps ended his stay. Suboth Bhati did too after he was caught off a no-ball. It was bizarre that Tushar Deshpande went on a celebration and extended a send-off to the batsman who had mistimed a swat to mid-off.

But all this while, Delhi was only threatening to seize control, nothing much. It was Navdeep Saini's first spell which completely turned the course of the contest. On a lively wicket, he bowled seven uninterrupted overs with the new ball - picking the wickets of Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane and Suryakumar Yadav, the last of which was controversial.

Mumbai's much-famed top order had lost the battle to Delhi's in-form new ball duo, and left their middle order constants to pull them out of quicksand. Neither Tare nor Lad had spent enough time in the middle all through the series, with the top order doing the bulk of the job. However, when the occasion arrived, they stood up to the challenge.

Together, they took sucked away 105 runs from the target with their fifth wicket alliance, and more or less sealed the fate of the game. Dubey hit some lusty blows towards the end and took the team over the line with four wickets in hand and 91 balls to spare, to help Mumbai's to their third Vijay Hazare Trophy.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Japanese Grand Prix

It was a dramatic Japanese Grand Prix for most of the F1 field – but for lights-to-flag victor Lewis Hamilton, it looked to be a serene afternoon, as he swept to his fifth victory in Japan and his fourth at Suzuka while his title rival Sebastian Vettel ended up sixth.

It was Hamilton’s 71st career victory and his 50th for Mercedes, and sees him extend his title lead over Vettel to 67 points, with the German claiming just eight for P6 after a tough race that saw him spin early on following contact with Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Valtteri Bottas backed up his team mate to make it a Mercedes one-two, while Verstappen survived the Vettel contact and another run-in with the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen to complete the podium - his third rostrum appearance in Suzuka in as many years. A fantastic recovery drive from Daniel Ricciardo saw the Australian go from P15 on the grid to fourth at the race end, ahead of Raikkonen and Vettel, while Sergio Perez claimed P7 for Force India.

So post-Suzuka, Hamilton now sits 67 points clear of Vettel in the drivers’ standings, meaning that if he outscores Vettel by just eight points at the next race in Austin, he’ll be crowned world champion for the fifth time. And considering that Hamilton has won every race at the Circuit of The Americas since 2014, things aren’t looking too rosy right now for Sebastian Vettel.

Thailand MotoGP 2018: Marquez wins inaugural season

Marc Marquez won a thrilling inaugural Thailand MotoGP to extend his lead in the championship in pursuit of a fifth title. MotoGP champion Marc Marquez snatched the lead from Andrea Dovizioso at the death to win the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix and take a huge stride toward a third successive title.

After fierce wheel-to-wheel racing in the closing laps at Buriram, the Honda-riding Spaniard nosed in front at the last corner and edged the Italian by 0.115 seconds to prevail in a thrilling duel. The win extended the four-times champion's lead to 77 points over Ducati's Dovizioso with four races left, and Marquez can wrap up the series in Japan in two weeks with a win at Motegi.

Marquez now has 271 points, 77 ahead of Dovizioso with a maximum of 100 available in the final four races of season, making him a strong favourite to retain his title. Marquez also made history over the weekend as he became the first rider to climb out of Q1 to claim pole position, the 50th of his stunning career. Thailand's first MotoGP is being held in the rural town of Buri Ram in the northeast, about a five-hour drive from the capital Bangkok.

Buri Ram has seen explosive growth through investment in football and racing sports, and expectations for the event were high. Thousands of hotel rooms and jobs have been created through a football stadium and the 2014 Chang International Circuit, the only Formula One grade track in the country. The town has a population of about 30,000 but more than double that have turned out to see the debut spectacle, which attracted fans from all over the country and abroad.

Women’s Basketball World Cup: USA secures 10th Title

A World Championship three-peat has landed the US women’s basketball team a spot at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Team USA defeated Australia 73-56 in the Championship game of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain. In doing so, six-time defending Olympic champ Americans also became the first to qualify for Tokyo Olympic Games.

Brittney Griner, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, scored a game-high 15 points for the U.S. Four-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi added 13 points and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Breanna Stewart had 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Should the U.S. win Olympic gold in Tokyo it would tie the U.S. men’s record of seven straight from 1936-1968.

The win over Australia finished a six-game unbeaten run through the tournament for Team USA, which now has 10 World Cup titles and three in a row. Since 1996, Team USA has won 100 of 101 games and is now 18-0 against Australia in World Cup and Olympic matches. This was the first time these two teams had met since the 2014 World Cup semifinals where the U.S. 82-70. The U.S. has also won six of the last seven World Cup tournaments (the event was previously called the FIBA World Championship for Women).

Team USA featured a balanced squad, led by veterans and four-time Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird and Taurasi. Bird is the first U.S. player to appear in five World Cups and is now the only person in history with five FIBA World Cup medals. Bird, who had a game-high five assists, celebrated with her teammates on the bench in the closing minutes of Sunday’s game. The team huddled on the court after the game and applauded in the direction of the U.S. fans who were in Santiago Martin Arena.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Russia Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas has fond memories of Sochi, having earned his maiden Grand Prix victory at the venue last year. But the Mercedes driver was asked to play the team game allowing Lewis Hamilton to ultimately claim a victory and extend his championship lead yet further over Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton, who, after falling behind in the pit stops, was forced to pass Vettel on track en route to what was his third victory in Sochi. Behind the front three, Max Verstappen starred, climbing from 19th on the grid to fifth in just eight laps, which soon became the lead when the tyre strategies began to play out.

The Dutchman ended up leading the most laps of anyone, but ultimately came home fifth, behind the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen but ahead of his Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo. Unsurprisingly, Verstappen also picked up Driver of the Day honors with a huge majority. Sauber’s Charles Leclerc was another to shine, the future Ferrari driver finishing seventh ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, while the Force India pair of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez kept their noses clean this weekend to round off the top ten.

Mercedes - knowing a race win for Hamilton was crucial for both championship quests - allowed their reigning world champion to keep top spot, with Bottas - who had asked if the positions would be reversed - forced to settle for second on a track he has enjoyed much success at. Vettel came home where he started, and he now trails the Brit by 50 points with just five races of the season remaining.

Aragon MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez extends his lead

Marc Marquez rode a master class race at MotoGP Grand Prix of Aragon, which helped him retain his place at the top of the 2018 championship standings. The Spaniard was able to beat the Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso who followed closely in second place, and the Suzuki of Andrea Iannone who delivered a spectacular third place finish.

The race got off to a dramatic start as the series' top three riders blasted out of their grid spots, but ultimately only two of them would make it past the first corner. After diving too deep into Turn 1, Marquez and his archenemy Jorge Lorenzo went wide and handed over the lead to the Dovizioso. While Marquez was able to turn his Repsol Honda around and emerge from the run-off unscathed, Lorenzo high-sided, while attempting to rejoin the racing surface and crashed in dramatic fashion.

With Marquez out of the picture and Dovizioso at the lead, it was Iannone and teammate Alex Rins who bolted to the front along with Honda's Dani Pedrosa, Aprilia's Aleix Expargaro, and LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow. The battle for the top five positions was a heated one throughout the race, and a charging Marquez only made things even hotter. Crutchlow eventually crashed out, but it was Marquez who held a tight grip on the TV cameras as he did everything he could to get back to the front and lead around his beloved MotorLand Aragon circuit.

Marquez continues to dominate the championship with 246 points, with Dovizioso in second place with 174 and Valentino Rossi in third with 159. The MotoGP fraternity now heads to the Chang International Circuit for the Thailand Grand Prix on Oct. 7.

Caribbean Premier League 2018

New Zealand’s Colin Munro smashed an unbeaten 39-ball 68 as defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders thrashed Guyana Amazon Warriors by eight wickets to lift Caribbean Premier League 2018 title for the third time.

Opting to field, Knight Riders restricted Guyana Amazon Warriors to 147 for 9, with Khary Pierre claiming 3 for 29 and Captain Dwayne Bravo picking up two wickets. In reply, Knight Riders chased down the target in just 17.3 overs, thanks to brilliant batting performances from Brendon McCullum (39) and Munro (68).

For Guyana Amazon Warriors, Luke Ronchi scored 44 off 35 balls. Chasing 148 to win, Ramdin played the anchor even as McCullum pulled out the big shots. The two added 52 for the first wicket before McCullum skied Chris Green for Delport to take the catch in the seventh over - the former New Zealand captain hit 39 in 24 balls.

Pierre was adjudged Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling figures of 3/29. Munro was earlier named in the CPL tournament team, alongside Phillips who had a big few weeks for Jamaica Tallawahs. Phillips scored 457 runs from 11 innings at a strike rate of 147 to push a strong case for one of the two available spots for the Black Caps T20 squad to face Pakistan.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Singapore Grand Prix

For two races in a row, Lewis Hamilton has won Grand Prix that he arguably shouldn’t have. After stealing the Italian Grand Prix from under Ferrari noses, Hamilton produced another dominant display in Singapore, seeing off the challenge of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to increase his lead in the title race over arch rival Sebastian Vettel, who could only finish third.

With Ferrari calling him in for fresh rubber on lap 14, he was unable to make the undercut on Hamilton work, ending up behind Verstappen after the first round of pit stops. From then on, Vettel was in damage limitation mode, as he was forced to watch on as his 2018 championship hopes took a further hit. As the chequered flag fell on Hamilton’s 69th career win, the British driver earned himself 25 points to Vettel’s 15, the gap between them in the drivers’ standings now up to a full 40 points.

Behind the podium finishers, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas just managed to hold off his fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen for fourth place as Daniel Ricciardo, who’d come away from qualifying puzzled at his lack of pace, could only manage sixth. Further down the order, it was a great day for McLaren, as Fernando Alonso used his free choice of tyres resulting from qualifying 11th to end up seventh and ‘best of the rest’ in the race, ahead of the Renault of Carlos Sainz, while Charles Leclerc put in yet another impressive 2018 race performance, the newly-minted Ferrari driver ending up P9.

The second Renault of Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten, but ultimately, once again they day belonged to Mercedes and Hamilton who once again triumphed on a track that was not expected to suit the W09.

Novak Djokovic wins third US Open

Novak Djokovic clinched his third US open title with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 triumph over Juan Martin Del Potro, taking him level with Pete Sampras mark of 14 Grand Slams.

Djokovic, playing in this eighth final in New York and already the champion in 2011 and 2015 is now just three slams behind Rafael Nadal and six back from the record 20 held by Roger Federer. It was also the third time the 31 year old Serbian who missed last year’s tournament with an elbow injury which sent his career into a mini-crisis completed the Wimbledon US open double.

For world number three Del Potro, it was a heartbreaking experience coming in just his second Slam final, nine years after he was crowned US Open champion. It was Djokovic 15th win over the Argentine and fifth in five at the Slams. Victory also means that 50 of the last 55 majors have been win by the 'Big Four' of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Del Potro was looking at having to become the first man since Pancho Gonales in 1949 to win the US title from two sets down. Djokovic sprinted into a 3-1 lead in the third set before a battling Del Potro clung on, hitting back for 3-3. But off the back of a 24-shot rally, Djokovic broke again for 5-3 and he was within tantalizing touching distance of his 14th Grand Slam title, just three months after he had left Roland Garros in despair after a shattering quarter-final exit.

Misano MotoGP 2018: Dovizioso beats Marquez

Andrea Dovizioso scored a straightforward third win of the MotoGP season at Misano ahead of Marc Marquez, as Jorge Lorenzo crashed out of second place. Dovizioso scored Ducati's third successive race win - the first time the Italian marque has taken a hat-trick since 2008 - after scything his way from fourth on the grid in the opening laps and then setting a pace his adversaries couldn't match.

Lorenzo and Marquez managed to close the gap in the latter stages until the former slid out at the Turn 8 left-hander on the penultimate lap, which left Dovizioso with a clear run to victory. Poleman Lorenzo hung onto the lead in the opening sequence of corners ahead of fellow front-row starter Jack Miller, as Marquez jumped to third ahead of Dovizioso.

But by the end of the lap Dovizioso had cleared both Marquez and Miller to move into second, and on the sixth lap of 27 he eased past Lorenzo on the run down to the Turn 8 left-hander to assume command. By that time, Pramac Ducati man Miller had crashed out of what had become fourth, leaving the leading trio with a significant gap over the rest. Dovizioso lead was hovering at less than a second until he set a new fastest lap on lap nine and five laps later his advantage had grown to nearly two seconds.

Marquez and Lorenzo, engaged in a thrilling scrap over second, edged back towards Dovizioso in the final five laps but the Italian was able to stabilize his gap and finally take the chequered flag by 2.8s after Lorenzo's crash. Behind Marquez, LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow - who ran a lonely fourth for most of the race - was promoted to the final podium spot, a further 4s down on Marquez, followed by Suzuki man Alex Rins. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales failed to make the most of his front-row starting spot, slipping to fifth on the opening lap and ultimately ending up in the same position.

Teammate Valentino Rossi had a similarly indifferent run to seventh behind the second works Honda of Dani Pedrosa. Andrea Iannone (Suzuki), Alvaro Bautista (Nieto Ducati) and Johann Zarco (Tech 3 Yamaha) completed the top 10.

F1 2018: Sebastian Vettel wins Belgium Grand Prix

After being defeated in consecutive races going into F1’s annual summer break, Ferrari hit back in style as the season roared back into life in Belgium, with Sebastian Vettel brilliantly overhauling title rival Lewis Hamilton before leading the Mercedes driver home to eat his points advantage.

Vettel decisively claimed the lead on what was a chaotic first lap of the Grand Prix, in which a late - braking Nico Hulkenberg triggered an enormous crash at Turn 1 involving Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc. Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, also picked up what would ultimately prove race-ending damage in a separate incident.

Meanwhile Max Verstappen delighted the hordes of Dutch fans who’d crossed the border to watch their hero race by claiming a surprise third place – very much a welcome result, given Red Bull’s struggles for pace around the Spa track throughout the weekend. The man on the move throughout the Spa race was Valtteri Bottas, with the Finn making his way up from P17 at the start of the race – having taken engine penalties for a new Mercedes power unit – to P4 by the end of the race with a string of incisive passes.

Others to have a happy day at Spa were Haas, who overcame their pace issues from Friday and Saturday’s practice sessions to claim a double points finish, with Grosjean in seventh and Magnussen in eighth. Elsewhere, Pierre Gasly will have been chuffed with ninth, while in Leclerc’s absence, Marcus Ericsson held up his end of the bargain for Sauber; bring the C37 10th after a solid afternoon. Stoffel Vandoorne, meanwhile, heads away from his home race with the ignominy of having been last in every single session of the weekend, having finished 15th out of 15 classified runners.

Atletico Madrid won UEFA Super Cup 2018

Atletico Madrid finally got the better of Real Madrid on the European stage, scoring twice in extra time to win 4-2 in the UEFA Super Cup final in its rival game without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Atletico got off to a flying start with Diego Costa scoring the competition's fastest goal just 50 seconds in, but Madrid came back to take a 2-1 lead as Los Blancos tried to prove they can still win trophies without Ronaldo and with a new coach. But Costa equalized late in the match with his second goal before Saul Niguez and Jorge "Koke" resurrection sealed the victory in extra time on a cool night in Estonia's capital.

Atletico victory was over its crosstown rival had added significance after they lost two Champions League finals to Madrid in 2014 and 2016. Diego Simeone team was also eliminated by Madrid in the 2017 semi-finals. The loss leaves new Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui still having to prove that there is life after Ronaldo, who scored 450 goals in 438 matches before joining Juventus this summer and helped lead the club to three straight Champions League titles.

Gareth Bale showed glimpses of his pace and skill, but couldn't mimic Ronaldo's ability to decide a game on his own. Instead, Costa was the one who dominated at the Lillekula Stadium in Tallinn. He overpowered Madrid's centre-backs in the first minute after a long ball from Stefan Savic, first winning a header against Sergio Ramos and then muscling past Raphael Varane to cut into the area where he beat goalkeeper Keylor Navas at the near post.

Karim Benzema equalized in the 27th minute, heading in a pinpoint cross from Bale, who was able to break away from Lucas Hernandez on the right and curl the ball into his fellow forward's path. Sergio Ramos scored a penalty in the 63rd minute after Juanfran Torres handled in the area as the ball flew over him from a corner.

Austria MotoGP 2018: Jorge Lorenzo overcomes Marc Marquez to win

Jorge Lorenzo continued to pull himself back into the MotoGP title race after overcoming Marc Marquez to win the 2018 Grand Prix of Austria and hand Ducati victory for the third successive year at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.

Marquez failed to convert pole into victory for the first time this season but nevertheless extended his lead at the summit of the riders' standings and now holds a 59-point cushion over Valentino Rossi, who came sixth. Lorenzo finished second at the Czech Grand Prix and took his third win of the campaign in Austria, depriving Marquez of the chance to complete his set of MotoGP victories.

Lorenzo had two wins to his name in 2018 coming into this race, and the veteran didn't attempt to hide his happiness after adding a third to his collection. The Red Bull Ring only returned to the MotoGP calendar in 2016, since which Italians Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso, both of Ducati at their points of victory, had accounted for both wins.

Honda had another impressive display from Cal Crutchlow, who held his spot in fourth but was a long way from breaking the top three, where Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Marquez sprang acres ahead of their competition. Ducati's Danilo Petrucci was another not far from breaking that hierarchy, though he could only finish fifth. Further down the ranks was Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales, who finished sixth and 12th, respectively, and never looked capable of challenging at the climax of a disastrous week in Austria.

Czech MotoGP 2018: Andrea Dovizioso wins at Brno

Andrea Dovizioso withstood a three-bike scrap to claim victory in a thrilling Czech Republic Grand Prix. Dovizioso fought off teammate Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez to win in his 100th race for Ducati, his first victory since the season-opener in Qatar five months ago.

Valentino Rossi pipped Cal Crutchlow for fourth place, with Danilo Petrucci, Johann Zarco, Dani Pedrosa, Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Iannone completing the top 10. Jack Miller worked his way up to 12th place at the finish, his healthy race pace unable to overcome a lowly grid position after crashing at a crucial phase of qualifying.

Rossi took a rare holeshot to lead the field into Turn 1 before the pole-winning Ducati blasted back past a few corners later. The field had already been trimmed by three by that point. A crash at the back into Turn 3 ended Maverick Vinales’ tough weekend, with Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith also in the gravel. The latter’s crash ended a dismal day for KTM, who’d already lost Pol Espargaro to a broken collarbone after a crash in the warm-up.

Marquez extended his lead despite finishing third, his margin at the top of the standings now 49 points over Rossi, with Dovizioso now third a further 19 points adrift. The championship heads to the Red Bull Ring next weekend for the Grand Prix of Austria.

Netherlands won Women Hockey World Cup 2018

Netherlands have been crowned Hockey World Cup winners for a record eighth time after a crushing 6-0 win ended Ireland’s fairy tale tournament. Four goals in a seven minute spell around the half-time break earned the Dutch an emphatic victory.

Ireland had won new fans on their unlikely road to the final but found no answer to their opponents' intensity. Despite the defeat, Ireland is expected to climb up to 10th in the world rankings for the first time. Lidewij Welten, Kelly Jonker, Kitty van Male, Malou Pheninckx, Marloes Keetels and Caia van Maasakker all scored for the Dutch, who have extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 32 matches.

The top four goal scorers in the tournament all came from Alyson Annan's squad, with van Male topping the order with an incredible eight goals for the defending champions. The only other World Cup meeting between these two teams took place in the group stages of the 2002 tournament when the Dutch crushed Ireland 6-0 on their way to the final.

The period before and after the interval firmly settled the contest and ended any chance Ireland had of getting back into the game, as the Netherlands continued their rampant form to clinically seal the gold medal. Ireland kept the Dutch scoreless in the final quarter and could have snatched a consolation at the other end as they once again showed their grit and work-ethic, giving everything right up until the final whistle.

Geraint Thomas wins Tour de France 2018

Pausing at times along the way for a swig of Champagne, Geraint Thomas rode triumphantly, completing the final stage of the Tour de France and becoming the first Welshman to win the famed race. After years of being a supportive teammate to other Team Sky riders, like four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome, Thomas’s turn to win his first Tour de France arrived at the age of 32.

Thomas and the peloton completed the arduous, three-week race with a largely ceremonial 72-mile ride on the Champs Elysees. Thomas beat Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands by 1:51. Thomas’s Team Sky teammate, Froome, was third, 2:24 behind Thomas, who joins Froome (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017) and Bradley Wiggins (2012) as the only British men to win the race. Six of the last seven Tours have been won by British riders.

Thomas has been known for grit and determination that surpasses what is the norm for cyclists. He rode in the 2013 Tour with a broken pelvis, saying it was “the worst pain I’ve ever experienced on a bike.” In 2005, he suffered a ruptured spleen when he was struck by a piece of metal during a ride in Australia. He has never finished better than 15th in a grand tour, partly because he has usually played a supportive role to his teammates.

Peter Sagan won the Green Jersey, the sprinter Jersey with 477 points. Julian Alaphilippe won the White with Red Polka dots Jersey, King of the mountains Jersey. Pierre Roger Latour won the White Jersey, the fastest overall rider under the age of 25. Best team Jersey was awarded to Movistar Team. Daniel Martin from UAE Team Emirates won the Super Combative Jersey.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Hungary Grand Prix

Even as he was recording his 77th pole position, there were few who thought that the British driver would maintain that position 24 hours later. But a nerve display from Ferrari allowed Hamilton to fairly cruise to his 67th win, sharing the podium with chief rival Sebastian Vettel and team mate Kimi Raikkonen.

It had looked set to be a Mercedes one-two with six laps left to go. But Vettel used DRS to sweep past Valtteri Bottas into Turn 1. When the Finn tried to fight back into Turn 2, he locked up and clipped Vettel. The German continued, pulling Raikkonen through with him, as Bottas dropped to fourth with a damaged front wing.

Three laps later, Bottas hit Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull as the Australian tried to make a move into Turn 1 to mark a messy end of the race for the Finn, who ended up in fifth – a position he retained even with the 10-second time penalty he received post-race for his role in the incident. Ricciardo, on the other hand, will have been delighted to finish fourth, having started the race down in P12.

Pierre Gasly drove a great Grand Prix to finish in sixth for Toro Rosso, comfortably leading home Kevin Magnussen in the Haas, while Fernando Alonso gave McLaren something to smile about, coming home P8. The Renault of Carlos Sainz and the Haas of Romain Grosjean rounded out the top 10. Up at the front though, it was Hamilton who claimed his sixth Hungarian Grand Prix victory, which puts the Hungaroring joint with Montreal’s Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as the British driver’s top hunting ground on the F1 calendar.