Hanging by a thread

CRICKET WORLD CUP

GROUP STAGE

Pos	Team	W	L	NR	NRR	Pts	Remaining fixtures
(Q)	AUSTRALIA	6	1	0	0.906	12	New Zealand (29/06), South Africa (06/07)
(2)	INDIA	5	0	1	1.160	11	England (30/06), Bangladesh (02/07), Sri Lanka (06/07)
(3)	NEW ZEALAND	5	1	1	1.028	11	Australia (29/06), England (03/07)
(4)	ENGLAND	4	3	0	1.051	8	India (30/06), New Zealand (03/07)
(5)	BANGLADESH	3	3	1	-0.133	7	India (02/07), Pakistan (05/07)
(6)	PAKISTAN	3	3	1	-0.976	7	Afghanistan (29/06), Bangladesh (05/07)
(7)	SRI LANKA	2	2	2	-1.119	6	South Africa (28/06), West Indies (01/07), India (06/07)
(8)	WEST INDIES	1	5	1	-0.320	3	Sri Lanka (01/07), Afghanistan (04/07)
(9)	SOUTH AFRICA	1	5	1	-0.324	3	Sri Lanka (28/06), Australia (06/07)
(10)	AFGHANISTAN	0	7	0	-1.634	0	Pakistan (29/06), West Indies (04/07)

ENGLAND hopes of reaching a first Cricket World Cup semi final since 1992 were dealt a huge blow by Australia after they inflicted a painful 64-run defeat on the hosts at Lord's.

Aussie skipper Aaron Finch scored exactly 100 with the bat and left-arm seamer Jason Behrendorff took 5-44 with the ball as the five-time winners became the first - and so far only - team in the tournament to guarantee themselves a top four spot.

By contrast, England - who came into the competition as the world number one ranked team - now face an uphill task to make it through.

Following back-to-back defeats at home for the first time in four years, Eoin Morgan's men finish the group stage against the only two teams, other than Australia, currently above them.

The hosts will play India at Edgbaston on 30 June and New Zealand at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street on 3 July - and another two defeats almost certainly would be the end of their campaign altogether.

In fact, even one win and one loss would not be enough for England if either fifth-placed Bangladesh or sixth-placed Pakistan win both of their remaining games.

The pair of hopefuls meet each other at Lord's on Friday 5th July in what increasingly looks like being a decider for the last top four place.

Ahead of that clash, Pakistan - who ended New Zealand's unbeaten start today with victory in the final over - meet Afghanistan on Saturday while Bangladesh face India next Tuesday.

Morgan, defiantly, has been at pains to stress that England still have their own destiny within their hands - but it now seems inevitable in reality that there will be some reliance on results outside of their control going their way.

It is a far cry from the expectations held on the first day of the tournament when it had all begun so well against South Africa at the Oval.

The inimitable Ben Stokes scored 89 and took 2-12, a run-out, and a doozy of a catch as England easily brushed aside the Proteas by 104 runs to get off to an ideal start.

But the ideal start did not last long as Pakistan took advantage of a sloppy fielding performance to produce a characteristic turn-up for the books and win by 14 runs at Trent Bridge.

It did not matter that the Pakistanis had lost 4-0 in a bilateral series to the same opponents immediately before the World Cup - or that they had been bowled out for just 105 in their first game against West Indies.

In Nottingham, Sarfaraz Ahmed's side hit 348-8 - and England could not chase it down despite the best efforts of Joe Root (107) and Jos Buttler (103).

Still, the high-scoring nature of the contest did not raise too many concerns and, in any case, England soon got back on track with a trio of big wins against Bangladesh (by 106 runs) in Cardiff, West Indies (by eight wickets) in Southampton, and Afghanistan (by 150 runs) at Old Trafford.

Indeed, against Afghanistan, England were just about at their best in posting 397-6 as Morgan set a new One-Day International record of 17 sixes in his imperious 148.

Victory over the Afghans took England to the top of the standings on eight points, level with Australia, and a point clear of India and New Zealand on seven.

Sri Lanka were in fifth place, three points behind on four, ahead of a whole clutch of teams on three points - and so, at that stage, it looked as if the group phase would peter out on the back of a series of dead rubbers. Simply put, the top four looked pretty set in stone.

Even the always eagerly awaited India v Pakistan clash at Old Trafford failed to produce anything close to an iconic World Cup moment as the Indians recorded another routine win over their biggest rivals.

Rohit Sharma blazed his way to 140 off 113 balls as India won by 89 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method for a seventh victory out of seven over Pakistan in all World Cups.

The match, sadly, had also been blighted by rain - and, in the absence of any shock results or many close matches, the British summer weather quickly became the main topic of conversation between fans and pundits alike.

Rain has caused the abandonment of no fewer than four World Cup fixtures, three of them were total abandonments, and two of them came in four days in the drizzle in Bristol.

Previously, a total of two washouts was the most recorded at a single World Cup - in 1992 and 2003 - as organisers battled in vain against what is likely to be confirmed as one of the wettest months of June since records began.

Nevertheless, the extent of the bad weather did nothing to reduce the legitimacy of the complaint raised by Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes about a lack of reserve days after the Tigers' tie against Sri Lanka was wiped out.

Back to the action and, last Friday, the Sri Lankans were next up for England. With just one win in their opening five matches, the lowly-ranked Lions were expected to cause few problems for the hosts at Headingley.

And so it was no surprise then when England quicks Mark Wood and Jofra Archer duly took three wickets apiece to restrict Sri Lanka to 232-9.

Of course, at 170-5, it could hardly be said that the chase was going completely to plan - but, with Stokes and Mooen Ali at the crease and Chris Woakes still to come, 63 runs in more than 12 overs did not look like too much of a stretch.

But then the England middle order, with the honourable exception of Stokes, completely and collectively lost their minds, their nerve, or both.

Mooen marked his 100th One-Day International by holing out for 16 to long-off before Woakes and Adil Rashid were both out cheaply edging behind in Dhananjaya de Silva's very next over.

At 178-8, Stokes was left with only Archer and then Wood - and, rapidly, it was just his Durham team-mate Wood left when Archer found long-on trying to clear the boundary.

Encouragingly, Stokes thumped 23 from eight deliveries to make a deafening crowd believe - but, needing to defend the final ball of the 47th over, Wood edged Nuwan Pradeep behind for a 19-minute, four-ball duck.

Stokes - miserably - was stranded on 82 not out and England had been bowled out for 212 to finish 20 runs short.

At least, at this point, it could be said that the tournament had belatedly come to life.

England's defeat to the Sri Lankans came hard on the heels of an exciting match at Edgbaston where Kane Williamson hit an unbeaten 106 and coolly steered New Zealand to victory over hapless South Africa with just three balls to spare.

Then, last Saturday, there were two back-to-back thrillers as Afghanistan gave India an almighty scare - and eventually fell just 11 runs short - before an even tighter contest under lights between New Zealand and West Indies at Old Trafford.

At 211-8, requiring another 81 off less than 12 overs, it looked as if West Indies were set to be well short of their target.

In fact, the Windies still needed 33 runs from the final 18 balls to seal an unlikely success - but then Carlos Brathwaite struck three huge sixes off Matt Henry in the 48th over.

Braithwaite also top edged a four to take the required runs down to eight from 12 balls - and, in the following over, he reached a sensational century with six runs still needed.

All of a sudden, victory was within one blow for the men from the Caribbean - but, with a full over to go, Braithwaite's death-or-glory shot from the final ball of the penultimate over was surely the wrong option.

New Zealand thus escaped with two points from a tight match for the second time in four days - and the Black Caps now need just one more win to make sure of qualifying for an eighth World Cup semi final.

Sadly, England do not seem likely to join them, particularly if stricken opener Jason Roy is still not ready to come in for his overwhelmed replacement James Vince.

Without the settled opening partnership of Roy and Jonny Bairstow (and, before that, Roy and Alex Hales), Root and Morgan have been at the crease in the last two matches far sooner than they would have liked.

Meanwhile, Buttler - barring one ton scored in a losing cause against Pakistan - has failed to tear up the tournament in a way that was expected of him based on his form in the last couple of years.

Finally, Moeen - more of a confidence player than most - appears to be at a particularly low ebb with the bat.

In fairness to the bowlers, none of them particularly disgraced themselves against Sri Lanka or Australia - but, against the latter, quicks Wood, Woakes and Archer were all guilty of failing to threaten the stumps by bowling too short.

So, there is plenty for England to work on ahead of Sunday then. Arguably, though, the biggest issue now is the need to rebuild the shattered confidence of the squad as a whole.

Ultimately, it looks as if a home World Cup has been just too big a deal for England to cope with.

After all, it is widely recognised that a World Cup has a completely different level of pressure to the standard bilateral series which England have dominated over the last two years.

"The team, which handles the pressure best, carries the day," said former Pakistan captain Imran Khan before he led his side to the unlikeliest of triumphs in the 1992 edition.

England need just a drop of the spirit held by Khan's Cornered Tigers from 27 years ago. Tellingly, though, yet another group stage exit is now odds-on with the bookmakers.

CENTURIES
166 David Warner (Australia) v Bangladesh
153 Aaron Finch (Australia) v Sri Lanka
153 Jason Roy (England) v Bangladesh
148 Eoin Morgan (England) v Afghanistan
148 Kane Williamson (New Zealand) v West Indies
140 Rohit Sharma (India) v Pakistan
124* Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) v West Indies
122* Rohit Sharma (India) v South Africa
121 Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) v England
117 Shikhar Dhawan (India) v Australia
107 Joe Root (England) v Pakistan
107 David Warner (Australia) v Pakistan
106* Kane Williamson (New Zealand) v South Africa
103 Jos Buttler (England) v Pakistan
102* Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh) v Australia
101* Babar Azam (Pakistan) v New Zealand
101 Carlos Braithwaite (West Indies) v New Zealand
100* Joe Root (England) v West Indies
100 Aaron Finch (Australia) v England

FIVE-FORS
5-29 Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) v Afghanistan
5-30 Mohammed Amir (Pakistan) v Australia
5-31 Jimmy Neesham (New Zealand) v Afghanistan
5-44 Jason Behrendorff (Australia) v England
5-46 Mitchell Starc (Australia) v West Indies

For the record: Red-emption for Salah and Liverpool

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 1 June 2019
Liverpool 2 Salah 2 (p), Origi 88
Tottenham Hotspur 0

Liverpool Alisson - Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk, Matip, Robertson - Wijnaldum (Milner 62), Fabinho, Henderson - Salah, Firmino (Origi 58), Mane (Gomez 90)
Tottenham Hotspur Lloris - Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose - Winks (Moura 66), Sissoko (Dier 74) - Eriksen, Alli (Llorente 82), Son - Kane
Referee Damir Skomina (Slovenia) ▪️ Attendance 63,272 at the Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid

LIVERPOOL lifted the European Cup for a sixth time by beating Tottenham Hotspur in a largely stodgy all-English final in Madrid.

The Reds struck at the start and the end of the contest to erase the disappointment of last season's Champions League final loss to Real Madrid.

Only two minutes had gone when Sadio Mané marauded down the left, only for Moussa Sissoko to be adjudged to have blocked his cross with his hand.

Mo Salah gleefully converted the spot-kick - although the penalty award looked harsh with the ball appearing to hit Sissoko at the top of the armpit, just below the shoulder.

Even the presence of so-called video assisted referees could not save Spurs - and so, while VAR will surely cut out the absolute howler, equally it will not end debates about referees' decisions.

Salah, of course, did not care a jot. For him, this was a golden opportunity to put last year behind him when he cut a disconsolate figure as he was withdrawn injured after only half an hour following a tangle with Sergio Ramos.

Instead, this time, it was Tottenham who had the injury worries. Talisman Harry Kane was making his first appearance since 9 April when he damaged the lateral ligaments in his left ankle in the first leg of the quarter final against Manchester City.

Unfortunately for him, it showed and he never looked like adding to his seasonal total of 24 goals, the most recent of which came in early March.

Spurs did at least enjoy plenty of the ball - and, in fact, finished with 61% of the possession - but it was not until late in the second half that they carried much of a threat.

Their push began with perhaps little more than 20 minutes left as the talented Son Heung-min began to find more space around the Liverpool box.

But, by then, the Reds' defence was set and eventual man of the match Virgil van Dijk eased the Korean off the ball just as he looked set to break through.

Son - to his great credit - was not in the mood for giving up and he brought Allison into the action with a hard piled river before Lucas Moura also followed up on target.

Allison, like van Dijk, did not come cheap but both have undoubtedly been money well spent.

Still, there was one last Spurs wave for the Reds to survive as the ball was pumped towards Danny Rose, and the left-back was fouled by James Milner on the edge of the area.

The free-kick was well within the range of Christian Eriksen and the Dane drew another decent save from Allison which resulted in a corner.

Kieran Trippier delivered an outswinger which was met by Moura but the Brazilian scuffed his shot into the ground and Son - who was offside - could only redirect the ball over the bar in any case.

Then, the inevitable happened and Liverpool doubled their lead with just three minutes left as substitute Divock Origi added to the two goals which he scored in the incredible second leg comeback against Barcelona in the semi finals.

Spurs' downfall would be a set-piece as they failed to deal with Milner's corner and Origi pounced on the loose ball to drive the ball low past Hugo Lloris into the corner.

At 2-0, the match was over and Liverpool played out the last few minutes with ease as Jurgen Klopp finally shrugged off the tag of having never brought a trophy to the Anfield club.

The German enthused: “I’m so happy for the boys, I’m so happy for all of these people, I’m so happy for my family. Did you ever see a team like this? Fighting with no fuel in the tank any more.

"And we had a goalkeeper who makes difficult things look easy. Tonight this is going to be great. This may be the best night of my life, professional wise.”

However, for Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, the frustrating wait endures. The Argentine has been at the London club for five years now and overseen the temporary residence at Wembley and the move to a new stadium.

Regular Champions League football has also been achieved against that unsettling background - but, disconcertingly, there has been a complete lack of silverware and Pochettino will need some backing from the board this summer if he is not to be lured elsewhere.

Meanwhile, by their own standards, a seven-year trophy-less spell had been long enough for Liverpool - and the pain had been ramped up even more by the events of the past 12 months.

The Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid was followed by a league campaign in which the Reds lost just once, won 97 points - and yet still could only finish runners-up to domestic treble winners Man City.

But, suddenly, that has all changed now. Klopp has joined the pantheon of managerial legends at Anfield - and the Liverpool are champions once again. Champions of Europe for a sixth time.

⚽️

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL 29 May 2019
Chelsea 4 Giroud 49, Pedro 60, Hazard 65 (p), 72
Arsenal 1 Iwobi 69

Chelsea Arrizabalaga - Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson Palmieri, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic (Barkley 76) Pedro (Willian 71), Giroud, Hazard (Zappacosta 89)
Arsenal Cech, Papastathopoulos, Koscielny, Monreal (Guendouzi 66), Maitland-Niles, Torreira (Iwobi 67) Xhaka, Kolasinac, Lacazette, Ozil (Willock 77), Aubameyang
Referee Gianluca Rocchi (Italy) ▪️ Attendance 51,370 at the Olympic Stadium, Baku

CHELSEA cruised to Europa League glory against London rivals Arsenal as Eden Hazard signed off for the Blues with two farewell goals in Baku.

The Belgian effectively confirmed he was leaving Stamford Bridge having scored twice in seven minutes either side of a spectacular strike by Arsenal substitute Alex Iwobi.

At 3-0 with 20 minutes left, Iwobi's powerful hit from outside of the box had served to give the briefest of hope to the Gunners.

But Hazard almost immediately snuffed out any chance of that, once again tearing apart the Arsenal defence by playing a one-two with Olivier Giroud and firing home Chelsea's fourth goal.

Giroud had earlier opened the scoring four minutes into the second period with a neat diving header - and, consequently, the match eventually opened up following a horribly sterile first half.

For, there can be no doubt that this showpiece contest was not helped by the flat atmosphere in the Olympic Stadium as, understandably, only the hardiest fans of both clubs made the difficult 2,500-mile journey.

Indeed, neither of the two clubs was able to sell even their measly allocations from UEFA - and those fans who did make it found their view restricted by a covered-up athletic track which formed the perimeter of the pitch.

The match had an official attendance of 51,370, making it the third-largest crowd for a Europa League final ever - but it was simply impossible to hide the large sections of empty seats from the television cameras.

Certainly, these were not fitting surroundings for a major European final.

At least, after a dreadful first half, the match itself did pick up, thanks in no small part to Giroud and Hazard with the former notching against the club at which he had previously been six years.

Pedro made it 2–0 on the hour mark when he steered a low shot past former Chelsea man Petr Cech from 12 yards out after Hazard had crossed from the left.

Then, five minutes later, it was 3-0 as Hazard converted a penalty following an extremely clumsy foul by Ainsley Maitland-Niles on Giroud.

It was beginning to look more than a little bit embarrassing for Unai Emery's men so it was probably just as well that Iwobi stemmed the tide.

However, Hazard was always going to make sure he had the final word - and, in fact, in his post-match interview, he said: "I think it is a goodbye, but in football you never know."

Chelsea thus picked up their 16th piece of major silverware under the ownership of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich - but have also picked up a few headaches on the way back from Azerbaijan.

After all, when Hazard presumably leaves, it will be impossible for the Blues to replace him due to their FIFA-imposed transfer ban.

Meanwhile, following a turbulent season debut season at Stamford Bridge, manager Maurizio Sarri also looks set to depart.

To his credit, the Italian has led the club to third place in the Premier League, a fifth European title, and the final of the League Cup.

But, of course, nothing is ever as straightforward as that at Chelsea.

Conversely, at Arsenal, things are somewhat calmer at the Emirates despite the comprehensive nature of this defeat.

It is widely accepted that manager Emery was always going to need more than one season to plug the gaps left in the squad - and he also enjoyed a decent unbeaten run in the first half of the campaign.

Away form was less clever, however, after the Christmas break - and, although the Gunners finished one place higher in the league and won seven more points than last season, they conceded more than 50 goals for a second year in a row.

Put simply, the Arsenal defence is still not good enough for a club with ambitions to play in the Champions League - while, by contrast, Chelsea will take their place in the elite UEFA competition.

The imminent departure of Hazard and the transfer ban, though, make it difficult to see the Blues being too competitive next season, regardless of whether Sarri remains in his post, or not.

⚽️

ROLL OF HONOUR 2018-19

ENGLAND

Premier League

Champions	Manchester City
Runners-up	Liverpool
Champions League	Chelsea (third place), Tottenham Hotspur (fourth place)
Europa League	Arsenal (fifth place), Manchester United (sixth place), Wolverhampton Wanderers (seventh place)
Relegation	Cardiff City, Fulham, Huddersfield Town

Championship

Champions	Norwich City
Runners-up	Sheffield United
Playoff winners	Aston Villa (won 2-1 v Derby County)
Relegation	Rotherham United, Bolton Wanderers, Ipswich Town

League One

Champions	Luton Town
Runners-up	Barnsley
Playoff winners	Charlton Athletic (won 2-1 v Sunderland)
Relegation	Plymouth Argyle, Walsall, Scunthorpe United, Bradford City

League Two

Champions	Lincoln City
Runners-up	Bury
Also promoted	Milton Keynes Dons
Playoff winners	Tranmere Rovers (won 2-1 v Newport County, after extra time)
Relegation	Notts County, Yeovil Town

National League Premier

Champions	Leyton Orient
Playoff winners	Salford City (won 3-0 v AFC Fylde)
Relegation	Gateshead, Braintree Town, Havant & Waterlooville, Maidstone United

National League North

Champions	Stockport County
Playoff winners	Chorley (won 4-3 on pens v Spennymoor Town, after 1-1 aet)
Relegation	Ashton United, FC United of Manchester, Nuneaton Borough

National League South

Champions	Torquay United
Playoff winners	Woking (won 1-0 v Welling United)
Relegation	Truro City, East Thurrock United, Weston-super-Mare

Domestic Cup Finals

FA Cup Final	Manchester City 6-0 Watford
League Cup Final	Manchester City 0-0 Chelsea, aet. Manchester City won 4-3 on penalties.
FA Community Shield	Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea
EFL Trophy	Portsmouth 2-2 Sunderland, aet. Portsmouth won 5-4 on penalties.
FA Trophy	AFC Fylde 1-0 Leyton Orient
FA Vase	Chertsey Town 3-1 Cray Valley Paper Mills, aet

SCOTLAND

Premiership

Champions	Celtic
Runners-up	Rangers
Europa League	Rangers (runners-up), Kilmarnock (third place), Aberdeen (fourth place)
Relegation	Dundee

Championship

Champions	Ross County
Runners-up	Dundee United (not promoted)
Relegation	Falkirk

League One

Champions	Arbroath
Runners-up	Forfar Athletic (not promoted)
Relegation	Stenhousemuir, Brechin City

League Two

Champions	Peterhead
Runners-up	Clyde
Playoff winners	Clyde (won 2-1 on agg v Annan Athletic (0-1a, 2-0h))
Relegation	Berwick Rangers (lost 0-7 on agg v Cove Rangers (0-4a, 0-3h))

Domestic Cup Finals

FA Cup Final	Celtic 2-1 Hearts
League Cup Final	Celtic 1-0 Aberdeen
Challenge Cup Final	Ross County 3-1 Connah's Quay Nomads

WALES

Welsh Premier League

Champions	The New Saints
Europa Lg	Connah's Quay Nomads (runners-up), Barry Town United (third place), Cardiff Metropolitan University (playoff winners)
Relegation	Llandudno, Llanelli Town

Welsh Cup Finals

FA Cup Final	The New Saints 3-0 Connah's Quay Nomads
League Cup Final	Cardiff Metropolitan University 2-0 Cambrian & Clydach Vale

NORTHERN IRELAND

Irish Premiership

Champions	Linfield
Europa Lg	Ballymena United (runners-up), Crusaders (cup winners), Cliftonville (playoff winners)
Relegation	Ards, Newry City

Irish Cup Finals

IFA Cup Final	Crusaders 3-0 Ballinamallard United
League Cup Final	Linfield 1-0 Ballymena United

EUROPE

UEFA Finals

Champions League	Liverpool (Eng) 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Eng)
Europa League	Chelsea (Eng) 4-1 Arsenal (Eng)
Super Cup	Atlético Madrid (Spa) 4-2 Real Madrid (Spa), after extra time

Major European league champions

Spain	Barcelona
Italy	Juventus
Germany	Bayern Munich
France	Paris Saint-Germain
Portugal	Benfica
Netherlands	Ajax Amsterdam
Belgium	Racing Genk
Greece	PAOK Thessaloniki
Turkey	Galatasaray