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Basketball, NBA: James Harden (picture) recorded the his sixth triple-double of the season to lead the Houston Rockets to a ninth straight NBA victory after a 122-100 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Harden picked up 29 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds and the in-form Rockets also scored an NBA record 24 three-pointers when Ryan Anderson found the target with 32 seconds remaining. Eric Gordon weighed in with 29 points of his own and Trevor Ariza added 20 points for Houston.
Cricket: India made a strong reply to England’s first-innings total of 477 after half-centuries by debutant Liam Dawson and number nine Adil Rashid underlined the tourists’ batting depth in the fifth and final test yesterday. India claimed three wickets on the second morning but the 108-run partnership between Dawson and Rashid in a productive second session for the touring side frustrated the hosts. India’s Murali Vijay hurt his shoulder while fielding and could not come out to bat but the makeshift opening pair of Lokesh Rahul and Parthiv Patel did a decent job, adding 60 runs without being separated.
Boxing: A super heavyweight title fight between Russian boxer Alexander Povetkin and Haitian-born Canadian Bermane Stiverne that was scheduled for yesterday has been cancelled after Povetkin failed a drug test. Povetkin’s promoter Andrei Ryabinsky wrote on Twitter that the Russian boxer had tested positive for the banned muscle-building substance ostarine. Povetkin was to fight Stiverne for the World Boxing Council (WBC) interim world title in the Russian city of Ekaterinburg.
Speed Skating: British short-track speed-skater Elise Christie won the 1,000m gold medal at the World Cup event on Saturday in Gangneung, South Korea. The 26-year-old Scot clocked one minute 29.339 seconds to edge home favourite and world number one Choi Min-jeong (1:29.432). Christie’s latest success continued her fine recent form, having set a 500m world record in Salt Lake City last month and secured double gold over the distance in Shanghai last weekend.
Darts: Third seed Peter Wright moved into the second round of the PDC World Darts Championship with a 3-0 defeat of Jerry Hendriks. Holland’s Hendricks, who earlier booked his place in the first round with a 2-0 preliminary round victory over Warren Parry, had a chance to take the second set but was left to regret missed doubles. Gerwyn Price became the first seed to exit the competition, as Jonny Clayton ousted the number 19 seed 3-1 at Alexandra Palace.