Motor Racing: Ed Carpenter upstaged IndyCar’s biggest names and teams on Saturday to grab pole for the 97th Indianapolis 500. Carpenter, IndyCar’s only owner/driver, delivered the big surprise on Pole Day at Indianapolis clocking a four-lap average speed of 228.762 mph in his Chevrolet powered Dallara around the sprawling 2.5 mile oval. Colom-bian Carlos Munoz was second fastest. Munoz, who currently leads the Indy Lights (IndyCar’s development series) standings, will do double duty with the Freedom 100 and Indy 500 this week.
Basketball, NBA: The Indiana Pacers will meet the Miami Heat in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals after they closed out their semi-final series against New York Knicks in six games with a 106-99 victory. The Pacers thrilled their home crowd with the win to take the seven-game series 4-2 and advance to the finals for the first time in nine years to take on the NBA champions Heat.
Cricket: Stuart Broad took seven wickets to rip through the New Zealand batting order and bowl England to an emphatic 170-run victory on the fourth day of the first test at Lord’s yesterday. The touring side were skittled for 68 in just 22.3 overs, putting England 1-0 up in the two-match series and giving them the perfect start to a summer in which they also host Australia in five Ashes tests. New Zealand, chasing 239 for victory after bowling England out for 213 in their second innings, collapsed to 29 for six at lunch and Broad and James Anderson finished them off 45 minutes into the afternoon session.
Golf: Australian Matthew Griffin won the SK Telecom Open at South Korea’s Jeju Island by one shot after yesterday’s final round was called off due to heavy fog. A 40-foot putt from the back of the green on the 18th guaranteed him the third-round lead on Saturday and it turned out to be the winning shot at the 1 billion Korean won ($895,700) OneAsia event at the Pinx Golf Club.
Rugby Union: Australia coach Robbie Deans omitted fly-half Quade Cooper but named Israel Folau and two other uncapped players in his squad yesterday for the three-test series against the British and Irish Lions. Deans, who will add six more players to his 25-man squad on June 11, also found places for uncapped no.8 Ben Mowen and his ACT Brumbies team-mate Christian Leali’ifano, who plays at centre and fly-half. But there was no spot for Cooper, who was Australia’s first choice fly-half until he sustained a knee injury at the 2011 World Cup.
Giro d’Italia: Italian Giovanni Visconti won the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia yesterday on the Col du Galibier climb in France. Colombian Carlos Alberto finished second with Przemyslaw Niemic, of Poland, in third place. Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall lead before today’s second rest day.