Cricket: Opening batsman Jason Roy struck a career-best 78 as former champions England stormed into the World Twenty20 final with a seven-wicket romp against New Zealand yesterday. Electing to field, England staged a strong comeback in the second half of New Zealand’s innings to restrict their opponents to a modest 153 for eight at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Roy and Alex Hales (20) then provided a flying start to their reply and Jos Buttler smacked a six to seal semi-final victory with 17 balls to spare. England, the 2010 champions, now meet the winners of today’s match between India and West Indies on Sunday.
Swimming: World governing body FINA is reviewing the decision to let two Chinese swimmers off with warnings for failing drug tests. Wang Lizhuo and An Jiabao were issued with warnings by the Chinese Swimming Association (CSA) after testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol. The CSA said it had been notified of the failed tests in September 2015 and had handed down the punishment “according to FINA anti-doping rules”. The World Anti-Doping Agency said it would be reviewing the CSA’s decisions to determine whether or not to appeal them at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Snooker: Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins became the latest big-name casualties at the China Open after suffering shock exits yesterday. World Grand Prix champion Murphy had seen off David Grace 5-3 in his opening clash with a top run of 78 but was then beaten by the same scoreline in his second-round meeting with Mark King during the evening session. Hawkins fell at the first hurdle when losing 5-4 to China’s Tian Pengfei, who then had to beat Michael Holt to set up a meeting with Ricky Walden after the Players Championship runner-up edged out Ryan Day 5-3.
Golf: Australian golf celebrated Jason Day’s return to the top of the world rankings this week but domestically the sport struggles to hit the same heights with a marquee event in Melbourne ditched yesterday. The Australian Masters was first held in 1979 and has been won in the past by major champions Tiger Woods, Bernhard Langer, Greg Norman, Adam Scott and Justin Rose but organisers IMG said the event needed an overhaul and would not be staged this year. The A$750,000 ($574,000) Masters was last held in November at the Huntingdale Golf Club and won by Australian Peter Senior, who, at 56, became the oldest winner in the event’s history.