‘What does than mean?’: Wembanyama confused after playoff ejection for elbowing Reid

Victor Wembanyama was ejected for the first time in his NBA career after an elbow to the jaw and neck of Naz Reid as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the San Antonio Spurs to level their playoff series.Wembanyama was whistled for an offensive foul as soon as he struck Reid, who had swarmed the Spurs star outside the paint along with teammate Jaden McDaniels after the 7ft 4in Wembanyama rebounded a missed three-pointer by the Spurs.After a video review of the play, with the fans at Minnesota’s Target Center chanting, “Kick him out! Kick him out!,” the foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 2 for excessive contact above the neck. The penalty triggered an automatic ejection, and the Timberwolves went on to win 114-109. The best-of-seven series is now level at 2-2

Middlesex, Durham and Essex wrap up wins: county cricket, day three – as it happened

A memorable three-wicket over from Naavya Sharma, sailing in from the Brian Statham end, whippy action and fast arm, knocked the beans out of Lancashire, who slumped to a high-drama six-wicket defeat against their promotion rivals Middlesex after being sent packing for 84.Sharma’s first ball of the morning was nibbled to slip by Matty Hurst, then a flat-footed Tom Hartley parried the next behind. Tom Bailey survived the hat-trick ball but survival was brief as he fenced the final delivery also to slip. Sharma polished things off in his next over to finish with best bowling figures of four for 17.Ryan Higgins also banked four, including the bizarre dismissal of Mitch Stanley, who lost his leg bail despite the ball brushing off stump

England squeeze past New Zealand in first ODI thanks to Charlie Dean

England’s biggest summer got off to an underwhelming start at Chester-le-Street, as they limped to a one-wicket win in the first one-day international against New Zealand.Only a calm rearguard effort from the stand-in captain, Charlie Dean, who finished unbeaten on 31 and valiantly marshalled England’s long tail, enabled them to crawl across the line.England played the way you might expect from a team who have gone 194 days without an international (their last outing was the World Cup semi-final in October). First, they made a spate of fielding errors, costing them precious runs in a low-scoring thriller. Then they subsided to 149 for six when chasing 211, after Emma Lamb, Amy Jones and Dani Gibson all holed out to gleeful fielders

England beat New Zealand by one wicket: first women’s cricket ODI – as it happened

That’s it from me, thanks for your company and comments. Raf Nicholson’s report will be along very shortly and we’ll be back to OBO the second match of the series from Northampton on Wednesday, it’s a 1pm start for that one.Goodnight!Charlie Dean is named player of the match and she looks elated after getting her side home at the end.double quotation markOne from one, and a brilliant start from us. To restrict them to 200 made it more do-able for us

Ruud says Sinner is ‘beatable’ as world No 1 seeks record run at Italian Open

Casper Ruud believes Jannik Sinner is not unbeatable but the rest of the field will have to catch the world No 1 on a favourable day as they try to stop him winning a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title on home soil at the Italian Open.“His results this year kind of speak for themselves,” said Ruud. “Four Masters 1000s in a row to begin the year. Four of four. He’s already made history, he can make more history

Campbell Ridl boosts Exeter’s Prem playoff push with victory over Bath

The road to the Prem playoffs continues to be full of compelling twists and turns. For a while it seemed Exeter might about to be reeled in by ­opponents renowned for their finishing strength only for second-half tries from Paul Brown-Bampoe, Len Ikitau and Campbell Ridl and a resilient defensive effort to steer the Chiefs to one of their more pleasing league wins of the season.With Leicester and Saracens finishing strongly and only three regular season fixtures remaining this was a game the home side could ill afford to lose and that extra edge played a part against a Bath side still feeling the psychological effects of their disappointing Champions Cup semi-final loss in Bordeaux. As the game wore on it was Exeter who grew in confidence and this result puts them in fourth place, five points clear of Bristol in fifth.With a stiff north-easterly blowing down the ground Exeter had an eight point first-half cushion to work with but will be most satisfied with the way they subsequently dug deep in a game once again notable for a number of head collision reviews