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County Championship: Ben Duckett hits 203 as Nottinghamshire draw with Surrey

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England opener Ben Duckett maintained his early-season form with an unbeaten 203 as defending champions Nottinghamshire and likely title rivals Surrey contented themselves with a draw after four days of absorbing and at-times high-intensity cricket in the County Championship.

Duckett’s decision to focus on the domestic red-ball game ahead of the home international season has seen the left-hander make 503 runs in seven innings so far.

It culminated in the sixth double hundred of his first-class career – containing 23 fours and a six and spanning just over six hours. It is his first three-figure score in the Championship since April 2024, albeit in only five appearances for his county in that period.

Having trailed by 34 on first innings, Nottinghamshire were ahead by 380 at 414-4 when the sides agreed to call it a day at 16:50 BST.

Both take 13 points from the match, which is enough to keep Nottinghamshire top of the Division One table after five matches.

The contest unsurprisingly could not match the drama witnessed at the Kia Oval last September, when Nottinghamshire prevailed in what was effectively the championship decider, ending Surrey’s run of three consecutive titles, but produced some high-quality cricket nonetheless.

Joe Clarke’s fine first-innings 129 for the home side came in the toughest batting conditions of the match, which Surrey’s Dan Worrall exploited with figures of 6-73 on his first appearance of the season after injury.

England’s Josh Tongue (4-89) produced the stand-out bowling of the Surrey first innings, countered by Dom Sibley’s hard-fought 77 and Dan Lawrence’s superb 104, his third hundred of the season.

With Nottinghamshire 99-1 overnight, Surrey were 65 runs behind going into the final day but knew that a decent clutch of wickets in the morning session might present them with an opportunity.

In the event, they managed only one breakthrough before lunch, Jordan Clark having Ben Slater caught behind off a thin edge for 50, the left-handed opener having taken his runs aggregate above 500 for the season. Surrey were a first-choice bowler down, of course, following England seamer Gus Atkinson’s withdrawal on Sunday with concussion.

Reece Topley, Atkinson’s replacement, thought he had at least dealt Nottinghamshire a second blow when Clarke accepted an invitation to hook on 25 but Dom Sibley, at deep backward square, could not hold on to the chance.

Duckett’s progress was held up just before lunch when a ball from Sean Abbott reared up and struck him on the bottom hand. Happily he was able to continue after treatment.

Clarke, the Championship’s leading run-scorer with 734, passed fifty for the sixth consecutive innings but a testing spell by Worrall after lunch denied him the chance to build on it substantially, falling leg before for 59.

But in an innings brimming with quality strokeplay, there was no denying Duckett on this occasion, his 31st first-class hundred and his 11th for Nottinghamshire arriving six overs into the afternoon, coming off 166 balls with 14 fours.

Against a strong attack, even with Atkinson out of the picture, it was an impressive innings.

For all that he had a troubled Ashes winter, Duckett’s England place was probably never under serious threat. But the form he has produced since taking the bold decision to reject a lucrative Indian Premier League contract in favour of finding some red-ball form at home has surely put paid to any doubts.

His hundred steered Nottinghamshire into a position from which, at another point in the season, they might have been weighing up their options. The rematch at The Oval in August might be a different proposition but a draw at this stage suits both sides.

Duckett and Clarke added 119 with Clarke for the third wicket, after which Jack Haynes posted his second half-century of the match, the pair swelling the total by another 122 before a misunderstanding saw Haynes run out, failing to complete a stop-start single as Ryan Patel’s throw from backward point beat him home.

Surrey turned to occasional bowlers at the conclusion, Duckett reaching 200 with a four driven down the ground off Surrey captain Rory Burns.

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URC: Callum Sheedy ‘header’ goes viral as Cardiff fly-half admits surprise

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Sheedy played his part in the victory in Llanelli before being replaced in the second half by Jarrod Evans, who has returned to Cardiff from Harlequins this season.

With Ioan Lloyd, who is currently injured, also in the Cardiff ranks, head coach Corniel van Zyl has three Wales fly-halves to call on.

“All I can do as a player is try my best and perform the best I can,” said Sheedy.

“We all want to be number one, so how we go about that is going to be challenging because we’re all going to want to play.

“I’m sure it’ll be healthy competition.”

Cardiff return to the Arms Park to face Zebre on Friday night, where they lost only one home game last season.

“It does make a big difference,” said Sheedy.

“Hopefully we get a big crowd because I remember last season there were a lot of close games, and in the last 10 minutes, the crowd got us over the line.

“Corniel speaks a lot about making the Arms Park a fortress and we managed that last season.”

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World Grand Prix Darts: Luke Humphries ‘hates’ added title pressure from Luke Littler’s shock early exit in Leicester | Darts News

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Luke Humphries says he must improve if he is to challenge for a second World Grand Prix title and admits he would have preferred defending champion Luke Littler to have avoided an early exit.

Humphries – the 2023 champion and a runner-up the last two editions of the double-start major – produced a lacklustre performance during his straight-sets victory over Dave Chisnall at the Mattioli Arena.

The world No 2 hit under 27 per cent of his checkout attempts and averaged 80.41, his lowest in the tournament since 2022, although was relieved to avoid joining Littler and Michael van Gerwen in being beaten in the first round.

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Highlights of the World Grand Prix match between Luke Littler and Luke Woodhouse, where the world No 1 made a shock exit

“That’s arguably one of the worst performances I’ve played on the World Grand Prix stage for myself,” Humphries said after the victory. “I didn’t feel comfortable throughout the whole game.

“Doubles weren’t going in at the start, the scoring was rubbish and I felt like Chizzy [Dave Chisnall] just wasn’t at his best there at all.”

“It wasn’t a good performance, but I’m through and when I play Jermaine [Wattimena] on Thursday I’m hoping you won’t see that!”

Humphries is now the favourite to lift the trophy following defending champion Luke Littler’s shock defeat to Luke Woodhouse, but admits he feels added pressure with the world No 1 no longer in the field as a title contender.

“I hate it when he loses because it always puts the pressure on myself and then everyone is like ‘this is yours to win’ and all this type of stuff,” Humphries added.

“I hate it when he loses because I want to play him in finals. I want to beat him in finals. I don’t want to lose to him in finals, but I like playing in finals because it gets me up for it.

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John Part reflects on Luke Littler’s early exit at the World Grand Prix and explains the possible reasons behind it

“When he loses, I’m not like jumping for joy. It puts all the pressure on myself and maybe sometimes it doesn’t help me.

“I’d rather him still be in the tournament and be the favourite and then I can just backdoor it to the final!”

Humphries’ 2023 win was his maiden PDC-ranked TV title and sparked a dominant run to end the season, but ‘Cool Hand’ has since suffered a string of runner-up finishes in major tournaments following his World Masters and Premier League triumphs last year.

Humphries blamed an allergic reaction for the mark on his face
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Humphries blamed an allergic reaction for the mark on his face

“I feel like I deserve a major – it’s been like six or seven I’ve lost in the final,” Humphries explained. “I played really good in the Premier League final and the World Masters final – I played 105 averages and lost, so they are tough to take.

“If you just play anybody else in the world they’re probably not going to beat you, but when you’re playing a phenom like Luke [Littler], he can beat you. I feel like I deserve one, but sometimes you don’t always get what you deserve in life.

“It’s up to me to win another four games and perform a lot better than that, because if I perform that again, I’ll be very lucky to make it to the quarters and semis.”

Humphries is looking to reach the World Grand Prix final for a fourth consecutive season
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Humphries is looking to reach the World Grand Prix final for a fourth consecutive season

Humphries explains face ‘injury’: ‘I don’t have that great story!’

The former world champion sparked confusion on social media after taking to the stage with a noticeable scab on his head, but felt no ill-effects from it as he progressed to the last 16.

“I really wanted to bring up some amazing story about how I fought five guys off and they come off worse than me, but unfortunately I don’t have that great story,” Humphries said.

Humphries blamed an allergic reaction for the mark on his face
Image:
Humphries blamed an allergic reaction for the mark on his face

“I did Bullseye filming on Tuesday, woke up Wednesday with a massive rash on the side of my head and it just got worse and worse and then it scabbed over.

“The only thing I can think of is when you do TV shows they put make up on and all these types of things, all these creams, and I got an allergic reaction to it.

“Unfortunately there is no great story to tell, that is what I think it is but I don’t know. I haven’t seen a doctor but it just looks like I’ve had an allergic reaction to stuff they’ve put on my head and face, but I’m fully well.”

Watch the World Grand Prix throughout the week live on Sky Sports, with coverage every day up to and including the final on Sunday. Latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW.

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Super League Grand Final: George Williams hoping to change course of Warrington Wolves’ history with victory in his final game | Rugby League News

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George Williams has set himself one task for when he steps out in the Super League Grand Final as Warrington Wolves skipper: Make sure he leaves the club with a trophy.

When Williams returned from the NRL in 2021, he made the bold decision to not go back to his hometown club of Wigan and instead headed to Warrington.

After five years there, he is poised to return to Australia and has one last opportunity to try and depart with a trophy.

It is set to be a pretty-evenly-matched Grand Final as third- and fourth-placed Warrington and Wakefield Trinity do battle. Two underdog teams who beat the first- and second-placed sides to make it to Old Trafford.

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Highlights from the Super League semi-final clash between Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves

It is not lost on Williams how big this match is as he could lead Warrington to their maiden Grand Final triumph to become just the sixth team in the history of the competition to lift the Super League trophy.

He has tasted that glory with Wigan as a youngster and now wants to leave the Wolves with another career highlight and change the direction of the club.

“It is crucial, there are so many different narratives that you want to get the win, but personally, I was pretty vocal, I came here to change history and win with Warrington,” Williams told Sky Sports.

“It is pretty fitting it is my last game and I’ve got the opportunity to do that. Personally, that would be brilliant, a great way to go out, but there’s a lot more different narratives we have got for the club and the town to do it.”

Warrington take on a Wakefield team who pulled off an almighty shock with their 33-6 victory over favourites Wigan in their own backyard.

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Wakefield Trinity booked their place in their first-ever Super League Grand Final as they produced a huge upset to defeat Wigan Warriors

Williams knows if Trinity turn up in that form again, Warrington will need to be on their A-game.

“We know Wakefield play a good brand of rugby, they have been posting points all year, we played them three or four weeks ago and they beat us, so we know what they’re capable of,” he added.

“I think everyone saw Wigan as favourites and we were surprised by that one.

“Both teams have been pretty consistent all year, third and fourth, I think that’s probably the word I want to use for us this year, consistent.

“Now we’ve just got to bring it one more time and are 80 minutes away from history which is the biggest key for us.”

How to watch the Super League Grand Final

The Super League Grand Final takes place at Old Trafford on Saturday October 3, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+.

The match will kick-off at 6pm, with coverage on Sky Sports from 5pm.

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