SPORTS DIGEST

ATHLETICS

World Indoor pentathlon and Commonwealth heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-thompson will double up at this month’s Anniversary Games at London Stadium. The 25-year-old will compete in the long jump on Saturday, 21 July and the high jump a day later. She has already won the World Indoor pentathlon title and heptathlon gold at the Commonwealth Games in April, her first major outdoor title. Johnson-thompson is aiming for a third major medal of the year at the European Championships in Berlin in August. She said: “I always absolutely love competing in London, and I know that competing in the long jump and high jump at the Anniversary Games gives me an opportunity to test myself in world-class competition against the very best. It’s no secret that the high jump and long jump are two of my favourite events, so to have the opportunity to compete against the world’s best athletes in those events at the Anniversary Games are challenges I’m really excited for.”

BADMINTON

BLIBLI INDONESIA OPEN JAKARTA 1st rd: Men’s Singles: (3) Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) 16-21 21-18 21-18. Mixed Doubles: (6) Mathias Christiansen & Christinna Pedersen (Den) bt Sam Magee & Chloe Magee (Irl) 21-12 21-14.

BASEBALL

Rookie Ronald Acuna clubbed a two-run homer in the 11th inning to help the Atlanta Braves snatch a 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees. Rising star Acuna, playing at Yankee Stadium for the first time, just cleared Aaron Judge’s leap at the right-centre-field wall with a booming hit to decide the contest. The 20-year-old’s seventh home run of his fledgling MLB career means the Yankees no longer boast the league’s best winning percentage. That honour now goes to the Yankees’ arch-rivals the Boston Red Sox, who edged out the Washington Nationals 4-3 on the back of Rick Porcello’s three-run double off his former Detroit team-mate Max Scherzer. National League West leaders the Arizona Diamondbacks continue to struggle as they slumped to a fourth successive defeat, going down 6-3 to a St Louis Cardinals side who had gone into the match on a four-game losing run of their own. The Los Angeles Dodgers were the night’s big winners, putting the Pittsburgh Pirates to the sword in a 17-1 mauling. Matt Kemp scored a three-run homer whilst recording a career-high five hits as the Dodgers celebrated their biggest win of the season. The Cleveland Indians, pacesetters in the American League Central, were also big winners as they overturned an early 2-0 deficit to see off Kansas City 9-3, while Detroit edged out Toronto 3-2 in the tenth. Also, Cincinnati made it three wins on the trot with a 5-3 triumph over the Chicago White Sox, Colorado downed San Francisco 5-2 and, in two matches that were also decided in the tenth inning, Miami squeezed past Tampa Bay 3-2 and Milwaukee defeated Minnesota 6-5. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Arizona Diamondbacks 3 St Louis Cardinals 6, Cincinnati Reds 5 Chicago White Sox 3, Colorado Rockies 5 San Francisco Giants 2, Kansas City Royals 3 Cleveland Indians 9, Los Angeles Dodgers 17 Pittsburgh Pirates 1, Miami Marlins 3 Tampa Bay Rays 2, Milwaukee Brewers 6 Minnesota Twins 5, New York Yankees 3 Atlanta Braves 5, Toronto Blue Jays 2 Detroit Tigers 3, Washington Nationals 3 Boston Red Sox 4.

CRICKET

David Richardson will step down from his role as chief executive of the International Cricket Council following next summer’s World Cup. The 58-year-old’s impending departure was announced by the ICC and will follow the expiry of his existing contract. He was promoted to the position in 2012, having previously served as the ICC’S first general manager of cricket. “The hardest thing as a cricketer is knowing when the time is right to retire. But for me, the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup next year is about right,” said the South African in a statement. “I will certainly do all I can over the next 12 months to ensure that we complete our work on the new global strategy for cricket aimed at growing the game both in our traditional and new markets, and, in particular put on a World Cup that does the game proud.” ICC chairman Shashank Manohar added: “David will be missed by everyone in the game, but this is an opportunity for the ICC to drive forward our new global growth strategy, which David has played an integral part in developing, under new leadership. “A global recruitment process will now get underway to identify the right person to lead the ICC.” FIRST TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL (HARARE) Australia 229-2 Innings Complete (A J Finch 172) v Zimbabwe 129-9 Australia beat Zimbabwe by 100 runs.