Rugby Union: Scotland have confirmed they will face Ireland, Italy and France in a four-match warm-up schedule for the World Cup. Scotland will play on four consecutive Saturdays from August 15, starting with a trip to Dublin. They then face a double header against Italy in Turin and Edinburgh before completing their preparations in Paris. Scotland open their World Cup campaign against Japan in Gloucester on September 23, before facing other pool rivals USA, South Africa and Samoa.
Basket, NBA: Atlanta Hawks strengthened their grip on the Eastern conference with an 11th straight victory. Al Horford’s 22 points helped them on their way to a 110-89 margin at the Air Canada Centre to extend a winning streak that stretches back to the festive period and leaves them at .800. There was further good news for Atlanta as Washington Wizards, their nearest rivals in the division, were routed 102-80 by Brooklyn Nets. Elsewhere, Kobe Bryant was absent for Los Angeles Lakers as they slipped to a third straight loss to prop up the Pacific division and remain second bottom in the West.
Cricket: Hashim Amla became the fastest player to notch up 5,000 one-day international runs as South Africa handed West Indies a 61-run defeat in a rain-affected clash at Kingsmead. Amla scored 66 in South Africa’s total of 279 for eight in 48.2 overs to reach 5,000 runs in 101 innings, well ahead of the previous record of 114 jointly held by West Indies great Viv Richards and Indian batsman Virat Kohli. With their target cut to 225 in 32 overs, West Indies collapsed after the loss of blazing opener Chris Gayle to end 164 all out from 28.2 overs and slip to a 61-run defeat on the Duckworth/Lewis method.
Rugby Union: Cardiff Blues returned to the top of Pool One in the European Challenge Cup in astonishing fashion, running over a hundred points beyond part-timers Rovigo at Arms Park. The Welsh club scored 16 tries, converting 12 of them, to register a huge 104-12 win – their record European score and winning margin. Lloyd Williams could not have known what he was starting when he dotted down in the seventh minute and he would score again, with Richard Smith grabbing a hat-trick of tries and Ellis Jenkins a pair.