🗞 Saved by Rain

Author

Sport Journal
July 23, 2023

G'day sports fans,

"My knee is fine, but my neck hurts from watching all the sixes hit by Australia" - Michael Vaughan at the 2007 Twenty20 series

🇦🇺 Aussie Sport

🏏 Australia have been saved by rain: It has been one of the most dramatic Ashes series in living memory, but confirmation of their retention of the urn in Manchester came in the most anti-climactic fashion possible.

The entire final day's play of the close-fought series' penultimate Test was washed out to ensure Pat Cummins' side will retain the Ashes no matter what the result at The Oval next week.

With Australia having won two matches to England's one so far in this campaign, the best outcome the hosts can now achieve is 2-2 which would not be enough to earn the Ashes back given their opponents are in possession of the replica trophy after winning the most recent series in 2021-22.

Completely outplayed at Old Trafford, Australia are immensely fortunate to escape with a stalemate that now gives them a fighting chance at winning their first Ashes series abroad since 2001. (match report)

🏊🏼‍♀️ Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus set the world record in the women's 400-meter freestyle, powering to the gold medal in 3 minutes, 55.38 seconds at the swimming world championships Sunday.

Titmus eclipsed the 3:56.08 set by Summer McIntosh earlier this year and finished 3.35 seconds ahead of silver medalist Katie Ledecky of the United States.

One Channel Nine commentator remarked: “This is a demolition job.”

SUNDAY WRAP

🏉 Boosted by the return of Nathan Cleary in the No.7 jersey, the Panthers powered past the Bulldogs 44-18 to secure their fourth win on the trot.

🏉 The Sea Eagles narrowly avoided becoming the victims of what would have been the comeback of the season, surviving a ferocious finish from the Sharks to claim a 30-26 victory.

🇦🇺 Livewire forward Kysaiah Pickett has provided the spark as Melbourne strengthened its grip on a top-four spot by surviving a huge late scare to post a tense four-point win over the Adelaide Crows - 14.13 (97) to 13.15 (93).

🇦🇺 Red-Hot Greater Western Sydney is inside the top eight for the first time since round one, grabbing a sixth straight win with a 40-point triumph against Gold Coast - 15.13 (103) to 9.9 (63).

🇦🇺 The Saints trailed by 16 points and were in deep trouble at three-quarter time of the Sunday twilight game at Marvel Stadium, but stormed home against North Melbourne to win 9.15 (69) to 9.7 (61).

🛹 A pair of 13-year-old Australian skateboarding prodigies won their first gold medals at the X Games on Saturday.

Chloe Covell won the women's street competition a few hours before Arisa Trew claimed the women's vert title at the coastal Ventura County Fairgrounds. Trew had to land the first 720 by a woman in X Games competition to hold off 10-year-old Reese Nelson, who claimed silver to become the youngest medalist in the X Games' 29 years of history.

🏉 Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has declared his desire for Jarome Luai to stay at the club after revelations the five-eighth has split from his management.

The Sydney Morning Herald revealed Luai is likely to hit the open market on November 1, due to his departure from SFX Sports Group. (nine)

📺 A Ressies footy passage as old as time (Twitter)

🏎️ Young gun Jack Doohan has proved why he’s the next big thing in Aussie motorsport, with a stunning race win in the F2 Hungarian Grand Prix. (Fox)

🩲Australian diver Cassiel Rousseau claimed gold at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka in a historic win for Australia, denying China a clean sweep of the diving gold medals.

Rousseau triumphed in the men's 10-metre platform final, which was Australia's first victory in the event in world championships history

Post try celebrations have gone to another level in recent weeks.

🌎 World Sport

⛳️ Brian Harman overcame an early wobble to stroll serenely to his first major title with a six-shot victory at the 151st Open Championship in Hoylake.

A one-under 70 proved more than enough for the American, who finished on 13 under at a rain-soaked Royal Liverpool.

World number three Jon Rahm finished joint second on seven under with Sepp Straka, Tom Kim and Jason Day.

Rory McIlroy ended six under, while Matthew Jordan and Tommy Fleetwood were England's best, tied on four under.

Champion Golfer of the year… Brian Harman

🚴🏻 Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard sealed his second successive Tour de France triumph as Jordi Meeus sprinted to a surprise win on the final stage.

Meeus, 25, edged out Jasper Philipsen in a photo finish in Paris to deny his fellow Belgian a repeat of last year's win on the iconic Champs Elysees.

Vingegaard, 26, finished seven minutes and 29 seconds clear of nearest rival, two-time winner Tadej Pogacar.

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

Netherlands kicked off their Group E campaign with a 1-0 win over World Cup debutants Portugal.

France’s hopes of a winning start to their campaign were thwarted by a hard working Jamaican side in a 0-0 draw.

Sweden were made to toil in the Wellington wind and rain before breaking South African hearts in the final minute in the first World Cup match to feature goals for both teams. (2-1)

🏊🏼 Leon Marchand knocked 1.34secs off Michael Phelps' last remaining world record in the men's 400m individual medley at the World Champs in Japan.

The 21-year-old's time of 4:02.50 beat the mark set by Phelps in 2008.

⚽️ Al-Hilal have made PSG's Mbappe the same offer they made to Lionel Messi - 400m euros a year (£346m) until 2026, although Mbappe has an agreement in principle to join Real Madrid as a free agent next summer.

⚽️ Newcastle United have signed Harvey Barnes from Leicester City to complete their second major summer signing.

🏎️ Max Verstappen's dominant victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix set a wins record for his Red Bull team.

The Dutchman's seventh victory in a row and ninth of the season was Red Bull's 12th consecutive win, dating back to the final race of 2022 in Abu Dhabi.

The achievement broke the record of 11 straight wins set by McLaren with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in 1988.

McLaren's Lando Norris fended off a threat from Red Bull's Sergio Perez to take second place.

Lewis Hamilton, who had started from pole position, closed on Perez in the final laps but was not able to attempt an overtake and had to settle for fourth.

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07:00 - PGA TOUR - Barracuda Championship, Round 4 (Fox Sports More)

07:00 - The Basketball Tournament (ESPN 2)

07:00- Major League Cricket - MI New York v Washington Freedom (Fox Cricket)

09:00 - Premier League Summer Series - Newcastle United v Aston Villa (Optus Sport 2)

09:10 - MLB - Boston Red Sox v New York Mets (ESPN )

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TUESDAY

06:00 - The Basketball Tournament (ESPN 2)

07:30 - Major League Cricket - San Francisco Unicorns v Texas Super Kings (Fox Cricket)

09:00 - The Basketball Tournament (ESPN 2)

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15:30 - Women's World Cup - New Zealand v Philippines(Optus Sport 1)