General sports round-up
• Last weekend England’s cricketers suffered a crushing 10 wicket defeat at the hands of the West Indies in the final and deciding Test Match in Grenada. The England team has now lost four major series in a row – it’s actually five if we include the unfinished one against India, which saw Joe Root's side trailing 2-1 before the cancellation. In fact, the ‘Lions’ are now winless in nine matches and some pundits, even former players, have already asked the question: Is Root strong enough to continue as captain? We shall see. Next up for England are three Tests against New Zealand in June
• Hopefully England, the reigning champions, beat South Africa yesterday in the first semi-final of the Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand. Already through to the final is Australia, who beat the West Indies in their semi-final match
• A nearby missile strike failed to stop last Sunday’s Formula One Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia from going ahead… and when the chequered flag appeared, Max Verstappen was first over the line, followed by Charles LeClerk and Carlos Sainz. Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was ‘not in good order’ and he finished 10th after starting 15th on the grid. The next race is in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday, April 10
• In football, after beating Austria 2-1 in their latest 2022 World Cup qualifying game, Wales will now play either Scotland or Ukraine for a place in the finals. Meanwhile, Canada have made it into the finals for the first time in 36 years
• Last Saturday the Spurs striker Harry Kane scored England’s 100th penalty in a full international to seal a 2-1 friendly win over Switzerland at Wembley. England’s firstever spot kick was converted by the Sheffield United fullback Ernest Needham, in a 6-0 win over Wales at St James’ Park, Newcastle, in March 1901
• Last weekend, the American golfer Scottie Scheffler beat Kevin Kisner to win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play championship and claim the world number one ranking in the process, thus ending Spain’s Jon Rahm’s 36-week stay at the top. Scheffler, runner-up in the tournament last year, was far too strong for fellow American Kisner, winning 4 and 3 at the Austin Country Club in Texas
• Also last Sunday, Biniam Girmay made history by becoming the first African cyclist to win a major one-day classic race - the Gent-Wevelgem event in Ypres, West Flanders. "It's unbelievable, amazing. I did not expect this," said the 21 year-old Eritrean. "My team changed my plan a few days before the race, and it all came good. It was amazing, unbelievable." Girmay, part of a four-rider breakaway in the last 30km, sprinted to victory with 250m to go
• Some sad news… Tony Nash, a 1964 Winter Olympic gold medallist in the two-man bobsleigh with Robin Dixon, has died, aged 85