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All-round Curran leads MI London to dominant win

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Sam Curran’s all-round brilliance led MI London to a convincing seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Leeds in the opening match of the men’s Hundred. Chasing 144, Curran finished unbeaten on 60 as MI London eased to their target with 16 balls remaining. After Brydon Carse’s fine spell of 2-18 had given Sunrisers hope, Curran added 93 from just 40 balls for the fourth wicket with Nicholas Pooran. The destructive Pooran struck a magnificent 19-ball fifty which took the game from Sunrisers, as he clubbed five fours and five sixes in his 58 not out. Curran had earlier taken 2-27 and seamer Richard Gleeson also impressed with 4-25 as Sunrisers were bowled out for 143. Mitchell Marsh top-scored with 41 at the top of the order but Sunrisers struggled for momentum after his departure, though Tom Alsop’s cameo of 31 from 18 balls gave them a late boost. England white-ball captain Harry Brook fell for eight and Sunrisers skipper Zak Crawley only managed 13. MI London, who were previously known as Oval Invincibles prior to the private investment in the Hundred, have won the past three men’s tournaments. What is happening on Wednesday? Southern Brave take on Welsh Fire at Southampton, with the women’s game starting at 14:45 BST and the men’s at 18:30. You will be able to watch both games live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. You can also follow ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.

Sports

NZ legend Williamson retires from international cricket

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New Zealand legend Kane Williamson has retired from all international cricket with immediate effect. The 35-year-old featured in the first Test against England at Lord’s, registering a duck and 18, but will play no further part in the three-match series, which will resume at The Oval on 17 June. Williamson retires as New Zealand’s leading all-format run-scorer, with 19,346 runs, including 48 centuries and six double hundreds, in 378 appearances between 2010 and 2026. As the Black Caps’ most prolific Test batter, he scored 9,515 runs at an average of 54.06, including 33 centuries, in 110 matches. Williamson captained New Zealand on 206 occasions between 2012 and 2024, leading the side through a golden period when they won the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021 and reached the finals of the 2019 World Cup and 2021 T20 World Cup. Explaining his decision, Williamson, who ended his T20I career in November, said: “I’ve thought about it for a while, but over the last few days it’s become clear now is the right time. “I’ve always felt a strong drive and hunger for international cricket, and I take pride in knowing I’ve given it my all in every match I’ve played for New Zealand.

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A Golden Boot race for the ages – but who will come out on top?

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It is fast becoming a Golden Boot race for the ages. Lionel Messi leads the way with five goals from two games. Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are second in the standings with four goals each. This is only the second time in World Cup history where three players have scored four or more times after two matches – and the first since since 1954. It was another extraordinary few hours of goalscoring from some of the best forwards football has seen. Messi was up first – breaking the World Cup goals record with a double for Argentina against Austria. Mbappe responded in kind with two goals in France’s weather-delayed victory against Iraq on his 100th international appearance. And it was Haaland’s turn soon after, scoring twice as Norway beat Senegal to qualify for the last 32. Not a bad start to his own World Cup career. Anything one can do, the others can do better. It has that feel about it at the moment – and this is before Harry Kane has the chance to add to his opening-day double as England face Ghana on Tuesday.

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Is Gasly’s podium justice or a can of worms best left unopened? F1 Q&A

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Round eight of Formula 1 season takes place in Austria this weekend in the stunning surroundings of the Styrian hills. Last time out in Barcelona, Mercedes were beaten in a grand prix for the first time this year with Lewis Hamilton taking victory. The Briton’s first grand prix win for Ferrari, combined with Kimi Antonelli’s retirement late in the race, narrowed the gap at the top of the drivers’ championship to 41 points. Before Sunday’s race in Spielberg, BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions. A retrospective podium for Pierre Gasly. Justice? Or a can of worms best left unopened? – Clive Formula 1 has clearly got itself in a bit of a pickle regarding the pit-lane speeding penalties in the Monaco Grand Prix. The facts are that five cars were given penalties for pit-lane speeding when none of them had gone over the limit. The length of the pit lane had been mis-measured – it was possible to drive a shorter distance than officials initially realised, by 77cm. And as the pit-lane speed limit is policed by the time taken to pass through a series of timing loops over a specific distance, that meant the drivers were wrongly penalised. This led to a sequence of events that had a dramatic effect on the race result. George Russell was most badly affected by what followed, having a third place turned into a 12th and losing 15 points in the process. But McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar also had their results changed. Is it justice that Gasly is returned to a third place at the flag that he lost because Alpine refused to serve his penalty during the race, while the other drivers’ results are unaddressed? Should the stewards who dealt with Alpine’s right of review over the Barcelona weekend have left it at that, and not raised the very obvious questions that followed on from it? In terms of natural justice, the answer to both those questions is clearly no – there remain a number of issues raised by this situation that have not properly been dealt with.

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