Cricket:West Indies batsman Chris Gayle proved he remains a bowlers’ nightmare after becoming the first player to reach 10,000 runs in Twenty20 cricket during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s victory against Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday. The left-handed opener came in as a replacement for the injured AB de Villiers against Gujarat and blasted a 38-ball 77, which included five fours and seven sixes, to set up Bangalore’s 21-run win.
Rugby Union:Former France captain Thierry Dusautoir will retire at the end of the season, the Toulouse flanker said yesterday. “I am emotional because I’m finishing my rugby playing career at the end of the season,” the 35-year-old said. “It is a very special moment, full of emotion for me but there is no sadness since I am going to start a second life as a businessman.” Dusautoir, who captained France a record 56 times, was named World Player of the Year in 2011 after leading Les Bleus to the Word Cup final, which they lost to New Zealand.
Snooker:Judd Trump was one frame away from a shock first-round exit to rank outsider Rory McLeod at the World Championship in Sheffield. The world number two, who won the opening four frames of the match but trailed 5-4 overnight, appeared frustrated for much of the second session before play was halted until the evening with 46-year-old qualifier McLeod leading 9-7. McLeod has previously won only once at the Crucible and was priced at 1,000/1 to win the title by some bookmakers.
Cycling:Alejandro Valverde’s stellar start to the season continued yesterday when the Spaniard won a fourth consecutive Fleche Wallonne title and a record fifth overall in the Ardennes classic race. The Movistar rider will be the hot favourite for Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the fourth of five ‘Monument’ classics on the calendar. The 36-year-old Valverde, who has won the Tour of Murcia, Tour of Andalusia, Tour of Catalunya and Tour of the Basque Country this year, finished ahead of Ireland’s Dan Martin while Belgian Dylan Teuns took third place.
Tennis:Serena Williams will return to world number one next week but may not stay atop the rankings for long after hinting yesterday that she is pregnant. Williams posted a photograph of herself showing off a bump on her Snapchat account with the caption “20 weeks”, teasing fans that she might be about to have her first child. Williams announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian last December.