Sport in brief

Cycling

Italian Vincenzo Nibali used his descending skills to win the Giro Di Lombardia ‘Monument’ classic for the second time yesterday. The BahrainMerida rider, who also won the race in 2015, dropped Frenchman Thibaut Pinot in the descent from the Civiglio hill to finish in Como 28 seconds ahead of France’s Julian Alaphilippe, with another Italian, Gianni Moscon, third after the 247km ride from Bergamo.

Boxing

Chris Eubank Jr destroyed Turkish opponent Avni Yildirim by third-round stoppage last night in Stuttgart, making the second defence of his IBO super middleweight crown. More significantly, he moved to the semifinals of the World Super Series, a tournament including eight of the top 12-stone fighters in the world for the Muhammad Ali Trophy. Eubank dropped Yildirim in the opening round, and unleashed a furious assault in the third, putting his rival down with a left hook to finish the affair.

Cricket

Four of South Africa’s top five batsmen made centuries as the home side declared on 573 for four against Bangladesh on the second day of the second Test in Bloemfontein. Hashim Amla (132) and Faf du Plessis (135 not out) completed centuries on the second morning, following on from Aiden Markram (143) and Dean Elgar (113). Bangladesh were bowled out for 147.

Tennis

Rafael Nadal will play for his sixth title of the year and Simona Halep will take over the women’s top ranking by reaching their finals in the China Open. Nadal defeated Grigor Dimitrov, of Bulgaria, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in the semifinals. Halep beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-4 to become the first Romanian No1 when the rankings are released tomorrow.

Darts

Daryl Gurney won the World Grand Darts final after beating Simon Whitlock 5-4.

Football

Norway will pay men and women the same for representing their country, with the men making a financial contribution to the women’s team.