England’s bowlers were striving to stay in the first Test as India began building a dangerous lead on day two in Hyderabad.

By tea the hosts had cleared their overnight deficit of 127 and moved 63 in front on 309 for five, leaving their opponents with a mountain to climb.

It could have been worse for England, who largely relied on some overambitious strokes for their breakthroughs, as their limitations in sub-continental conditions were exposed.

There were two wickets for debutant Tom Hartley, who rallied gamely after a chastening first day to pick up Shubman Gill and top-scorer KL Rahul (86), while Joe Root had the satisfaction of striking with the fourth ball of the morning.

Explosive opener Yashasvi Jaiswal gave England a major headache on Thursday evening, piling into Hartley and thrashing his way to 76 at almost a run-a-ball, but he added just four runs as he succumbed to the fourth delivery of the day, Root reaching above his head to pluck a caught-and-bowled chance off the inside edge.

Ben Stokes had pondered the idea of opening the bowling with Root on the eve of the series, fancying his off-breaks to cause problems for the left-hander, and may regret waiting so long to test his theory.

Things almost got even better when Root had Rahul nicking two balls later on nought, but Ben Foakes was not able to pull off what would have been an excellent catch behind the stumps. That Root was England’s most consistent threat spoke of his own resourcefulness but also cast an unflattering reflection on his fellow spinners.

Hartley began at the other end, Stokes eager not to overprotect the 24-year-old after his previous struggles, and he responded with a tighter spell. Where his first nine overs cost 63, this time he got through the same number for 30. More importantly, he opened his account.

Gill, who never really got going in his 23, flicked Hartley off his leg stump and picked out Ben Duckett at midwicket. The left-armer sprinted away in a mix of celebration and relief.

India took lunch 24 behind, having scored 103 in the first session, with Rahul reaching a tidy half-century before the interval.

There were concerns over the fitness of lead spinner Jack Leach after he was restricted to two overs in the morning, but he took a larger share of the load in the afternoon. England were mostly unable to locate any demons in the pitch, though, and Rahul blasted India into the lead with a pair of sixes off leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.

The second was a horrible drag down but the teenager was not alone in serving up the occasional freebie as England offered too many boundary balls. Ahmed did get on the board when Shreyas Iyer aimed a slog-sweep towards the stands but failed to clear Hartley, holing out for 35.

With a century up for grabs Rahul succumbed to the latest unforced error, skying an unthreatening long-hop from Hartley into Ahmed’s hands when he could have hit it anywhere.

Ravindra Jadeja ensured India did not let their momentum slip, hitting sixes off Leach and Hartley as he reached 45 not out by tea.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp joked his close friend David Wagner asked him to make major changes for Norwich’s visit to Anfield in the FA Cup.

Klopp and Wagner have known each other more than 25 years – Wagner was best man at his wedding – after being team-mates at Mainz but more recently have found themselves on opposite sides of the technical area.

Wagner was manager for Huddersfield’s brief stay in the Premier League but lost all three matches against Liverpool.

Now he brings the Canaries to Anfield for a fourth-round tie on Sunday looking for a favour he knows he will not get from his long-time friend.

“We had already conversations about it. He asked me for massive rotation. I told him that doesn’t help, obviously,” said Klopp of Wagner’s request to face a weakened team.

“It’s cool to have the game. When he worked at Huddersfield, he watched a lot of games here in the stadium, when they didn’t play he was here, and now he’s back.

“We didn’t see each other for a long time, the next time probably would have been in the summer, so now it’s good to catch up and to lock horns again.”

Wagner has a 40 per cent win ratio since taking over at Carrow Road last January but, after a sticky patch between September and November when his side won just twice, he has got them back in form.

Wednesday’s defeat to fellow Championship promotion-chasers Leeds was only their fourth loss in 16 matches.

“(He did a) really good job but a really difficult job. I think the start of the season was really good and then they lose more or less their offensive department and that’s when they struggled a bit,” said Klopp.

“Now they are in touching distance of the play-off spots and they obviously have big games coming up.

“The Championship season itself is already pretty intense but if you have a longer FA Cup run in it, it’s obviously very similar to a very successful Premier League season with international football or something like that, because of the amount of teams in the league and the amount of games you have.

“I follow it as much as I can because I’m just interested in everything he is doing.”

Former Arsenal defender Gavin Hoyte says leading non-league Maidstone into a historic FA Cup fourth-round tie at Ipswich will be among the greatest moments of his career.

The National League South club – the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition – have reached this stage for the first time since they were reformed in 1992.

Stones captain Hoyte made four first-team appearances for the Gunners under Arsene Wenger in 2008, including one Premier League outing, while his international career with Trinidad and Tobago saw him line up against an Argentina side containing Lionel Messi.

“This is completely different, we’ve had six games just before this (to reach this stage), so it all builds up,” said the 33-year-old, who joined Maidstone from Dagenham in 2019.

“I get to lead the team out – hopefully I’m playing!

“It’s definitely up there, the biggest thing in my career. I’m coming near the end of it now so I might not get this opportunity again.

“These games are easy to get up for. You’ve just got to make sure everyone is sticking to the game plan and not going off script.

“Sometimes with a big occasion you might want to do something extra but it’s very important we stick to the script.”

Following three FA Cup qualifying fixtures, Maidstone overcame Chesham in round one before upsetting Sky Bet League Two club Barrow and then League One side Stevenage.

The Kent club’s reward is Saturday lunchtime’s televised tie against the Tractor Boys, who sit second in the Championship, with just under 4,500 away fans due to make the trip to Portman Road.

Stones midfielder Sam Corne scored in the two previous rounds and is once again relishing underdog status.

“This is something you always dream of, to play against a top, top side,” said Corne.

“When we played the lower league sides, sometimes they’re the tougher opponents and then when we flipped it to Barrow and Stevenage, we’re the underdog and we still are now and we thrive off that.

“We’ve got nothing to lose. As long as we give a good account of ourselves and stick to the game plan, anything can possibly happen.”

Manager George Elokobi took charge of Maidstone on a permanent basis in March 2023 and has guided the club to fourth place in the sixth tier, in addition to a memorable cup run.

The 37-year-old former Wolves defender will be proud of his squad regardless of the outcome in Suffolk.

“The players, what they’ve done is magical, the magnitude of that result (against Stevenage) has put this community on the map in the eyes of the world,” said Elokobi.

“We would be foolish to change how we have done things in the past just because it’s Ipswich.

“We’re showing them every bit of respect and we know if we’re not on our absolute best on the day then it might be disastrous.

“But even if it is disastrous, we’re going to be proud of our group of players.”

Owners Andrew and Gemma Brown, whose horses run under the Caldwell Construction banner, have cited the recent sad losses of young horses as the reason for their shock exit from the sport.

Their red and white silks were becoming an increasing familiar sight on Irish racecourses, with all trained by Gordon Elliott.

They enjoyed their first Cheltenham Festival win last March when Jazzy Matty was successful in the Boodles Juvenile Hurdle and have tasted Grade One success this season with Caldwell Potter.

He is a full-brother to the ill-fated Mighty Potter, but will be one of 29 horses up for grabs at their dispersal sale which will take place at Tattersalls Ireland early next month.

Other notable runners in the red and white colours this season include Fil Dor, Imagine and Sa Fureur, while Cesarewitch second Pied Piper is another leading light.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, a statement on the Caldwell Construction Horse Racing account read:

“Further to the sad loss of one of our young horses D B Cooper again as a family we are absolutely heartbroken. Also we lost Smooth Player only just two weeks ago. Having a young family it’s hard to cope with such losses and therefore we feel it is time for a break from the sport.

“We would also like to thank Gordon and his team for their hard work and support the last few years and wish them all the best.”

The Atlanta Falcons have named Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their new head coach ahead of six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick.

Morris is the first full-time black head coach in the franchise’s history after he filled the same role on an interim basis in 2020.

“This is a historic day for the Atlanta Falcons. Raheem emerged from a field of excellent candidates and is the right leader to take our team into the future,” owner Arthur Blank said.

Belichick left the Patriots after finishing the AFC East season with a 4-13 record, bringing an end to his 24-season reign.

Jannik Sinner announced himself as a grand slam force in stunning fashion by becoming the first player in six years to defeat Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.

The 22-year-old Italian was seen as the most likely rival to stop Djokovic claiming an 11th title in Melbourne ahead of the tournament after beating him twice in two weeks at the end of last season at the ATP Finals and Davis Cup.

But surely no one would have predicted the manner of the first two sets of this semi-final, with an error-strewn Djokovic winning just three games.

He saved a match point in the third-set tie-break to give himself hope but there was no dramatic comeback, with Sinner regrouping impressively and going on to clinch a 6-1 6-2 6-7 (6) 6-3 victory after three hours and 22 minutes.

The fourth seed moves through to a first grand slam final while Djokovic, who had not lost here since a fourth-round defeat by Hyeon Chung amid elbow problems in 2018, must lick his wounds, with a record 25th slam title proving beyond him for now.

The result was, of course, a shock given Djokovic’s incredible record here – this is the first time he has ever lost having made it beyond the quarter-finals – but it was the Serbian’s display that was the most surprising.

He committed 54 unforced errors and did not even make Sinner use his haymaker groundstrokes that often, the Italian instead able to maintain a very high but comfortable level and not facing a single break point.

Djokovic struggled with illness at the start of the fortnight and had a tougher passage through to the last four than usual, losing three sets along the way.

Sinner, the first Italian to make an Australian Open singles final, had not dropped a set all tournament, and he started as he meant to go on, breaking the Djokovic serve to lead 2-0 with a searing forehand followed by a drive volley winner.

By contrast, nothing was working for Djokovic, with routine shots landing in the net or out of court, while he was also struggling on serve.

Sinner broke again to lead 5-1 and wrapped up the first set with just over half an hour gone.

Djokovic is a master at pacing himself in best-of-five-sets tennis and he would certainly not have panicked having lost only two of the last 17 slam matches in which he dropped the first set.

But the pattern of the match continued in the same vein, with more Djokovic errors helping Sinner break for 2-1 in the second set.

Djokovic whipped up crowd support after saving a break point at 2-4 in fine style but Sinner broke anyway two points later and served out the set.

Two years ago at Wimbledon, Sinner led Djokovic by two sets to love only to lose in five, so he knew very well that the match was far from over.

Djokovic, who had barely showed any emotion, clenched his fist after saving a break point in the opening game of the third set, and he at least managed to serve better.

At 5-5 and deuce on the Serbian’s serve, a medical emergency in the crowd forced a delay for several minutes, but Djokovic held his nerve on the resumption.

The world number one knew it was now or never in the tie-break, and he opened up a 4-2 lead, but Sinner surged back, creating a match point at 6-5 but netting a forehand, and a backhand over the baseline two points later gave Djokovic a lifeline.

He was still hanging on, though, saving three break points in the second game of the fourth set only to then be broken from 40-0 two games later.

Djokovic forced Sinner to serve it out but the Italian did not waver, clinching the biggest win of his life with a forehand winner.

Joe Root struck in the first over of the day and Tom Hartley claimed a maiden international wicket but England were unable hold India down on the second morning of the first Test.

The home side reached lunch just 24 behind on 222 for three, adding 103 for two in the opening session at Hyderabad’s Ranjiv Gandhi Stadium.

KL Rahul’s 55no and Shreyas Iyer’s 34no left India a healthy position as they looked to build a match-winning lead, but England showed fight in an even first hour.

Concerningly, first-choice spinner Jack Leach managed only two overs in the session and appeared to be suffering from a stiff back.

Explosive opener Yashavi Jaiswal gave the tourists a major headache on Thursday evening with a swashbuckling start to the innings but he added just four to his overnight score to fall for 80.

Ben Stokes had pondered the idea of opening the bowling with Root on the eve of the series, fancying his off-breaks to cause problems for the left-hander, but ultimately favoured his specialist spinners on day one.

Reversing that decision he tossed Root the ball at the start of play and saw him pick up Jaiswal with his fourth delivery, reaching for a caught and bowled off a thick inside edge.

Things almost got even better when Root had new man Rahul nicking two balls later on nought, but Ben Foakes was not able to pull off what would have been an excellent catch behind the stumps. Rahul made the most of it, hitting six fours in his 72-ball half-century, while Iyer also got a strong start.

Debutant Hartley was looking to bounce back from a difficult start to life as a Test bowler, Jaiswal having smashed his first ball for six in a costly maiden spell, but was thrust straight back into the action by Stokes.

Having shipped 63 runs from nine wicketless overs on day one he was much improved at his second attempt, sending down 11 overs for 34. Even more importantly, he opened his account with the scalp of Shubman Gill.

Gill never really got going in his 23 and flicked Hartley off his leg stump and straight to Ben Duckett at midwicket. The left-armer sprinted away in a mix of celebration and relief. England used one short spell from Mark Wood but with Leach seemingly unable to take a full load, lacked an extra option.

Calvin Pickard made 27 saves for his first shutout in over five years and the Edmonton Oilers won their 15th straight game, 3-0 over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

Connor McDavid scored twice and set up a goal by Zach Hyman as Edmonton became just the fifth team in NHL history to win 15 or more consecutive games.

The Mario Lemieux-era Pittsburgh Penguins hold the NHL record with a 17-game winning streak set during the 1992-93 season, while the 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets own the second-longest run at 16 games.

The Oilers are 23-3-0 in their last 26 games and have gone a franchise-record 13 straight games allowing two or fewer goals.

Pickard’s shutout was his first since a 4-0 win over the New York Rangers on Nov. 23, 2018, when he was with Philadelphia.

Chicago tied a franchise record with its 19th consecutive road loss (0-18-1), set in 1953-54 and matched in 2003-04.

Lightning’s Kucherov adds 3 more points

Red-hot Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists and Steven Stamkos recorded his 1,100th career point to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 6-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes.

Kucherov, coming off a four-point game in a victory over Philadelphia on Tuesday, raised his season total to a league-leading 83 points, one ahead of Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon. Kucherov also reached 50 assists in fewer than 50 games for the third time in his career, one of only nine players to accomplish that.

Brayden Point scored one goal and set up another to help Tampa Bay win its fifth straight at home. The Lightning have won seven of eight overall.

Stamkos notched his milestone point with an assist on Kucherov’s goal and scored a power-play goal of his own in the second period.

Hurricanes beat Devils to stay hot

Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen each scored one goal and set up another and Antti Raanta stopped 23 shots in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Jordan Staal also scored for the Hurricanes, who won a night earlier at East-leading Boston and improved to 10-2-1 since Christmas.

Justin Dowling and Jesper Bratt scored third-period goals for New Jersey, which has lost four of its last six games.

Pascal Siakam notched his first triple-double in over a year and the Indiana Pacers snapped the Philadelphia 76ers’ six-game winning streak, 134-122 on Thursday.

Siakam had 26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, Myles Turner added 20 points and nine boards and Andrew Nembhard contributed 19 points as Indiana snapped a three-game skid.

Joel Embiid scored 31 points just three days after setting the franchise record with 70 points. He has scored at least 30 points in 21 consecutive games.

Despite playing without All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers were never seriously threatened in this one. They opened with six straight points, quickly extended the lead to double digits and led by 17 before settling for a 73-61 edge at the break.

Porzingis injured in Celtics’ win

Jayson Tatum scored 26 points and Kristaps Porzingis had 19 before leaving with a sprained left ankle as the Boston Celtics rolled to a 143-110 rout of the Miami Heat.

Jaylen Brown added 18 points and Jrue Holiday had 17 for the NBA-leading Celtics, who registered their most-ever points against Miami, with the 33-point margin their most lopsided win in 172 meetings between the franchises, including playoffs.

Boston made 22 3-pointers, shot 63.8 percent from the field and held a 47-31 rebounding advantage.

Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro scored 19 points apiece for the Heat, who dropped their season-high fifth straight.

Surging Knicks roll over Nuggets

OG Anunoby scored 26 points and Jalen Brunson added 21 as the New York Knicks sent the defending champion Nuggets to their worst loss of the season, 122-84.

Quentin Grimes had 19 points, Julius Randle scored 17 and Donte DiVincenzo chipped in 16 as the Knicks won their season high-tying fifth in a row and improved to 11-2 since Anunoby was acquired from Toronto.

Nikola Jokić led Denver with 31 points and 11 rebounds, but the Nuggets had a three-game winning streak stopped. Their previous biggest loss was a 119-93 defeat to Oklahoma City on Dec. 29.

New York was 15 of 38 from 3-point range, while Denver was 5 of 26.

German Stephan Jaeger jumped 18 spots to take the lead in San Diego after scoring an eagle on the last hole at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Jaeger hit a 64 on the second round of the PGA tournament, finishing the day 12-under par, one stroke ahead of Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard.

The German made a 35 foot eagle on the final hole, saying after the day’s play that ending the round like that was “exciting.”

“I wanted it to kind of go middle of the green and I went right at it. It ended up landing just short of the pin and scooting kind of back fringe,” Jaeger said.

“Had a little downhill right-to-lefter about 35-feet and it ended up curling in. It was awesome to see.”

Jaeger shot one bogey and seven birdies to go with his eagle.

England’s Aaron Rai dropped down three places, shooting a 70 with five birdies and three bogeys.

Belgian Thomas Detry is tied in third place with France’s Matthieu Pavon, two strokes off the lead.

LeBron James has added yet another superlative to his legendary career resume.

On Thursday, the NBA unveiled the starters for the 2024 All-Star Game, with James voted an All-Star for a record 20th time. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar previously held the record with 19 selections.

With the Feb. 18 All-Star Game reverting to its traditional East vs. West format, James will be the West captain and will start alongside Kevin Durant (14th selection), Nikola Jokic (sixth), Luka Doncic (fifth) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (second).

Giannis Antetokounmpo (eighth selection) will serve as the captain of the East team and will start alongside Milwaukee Bucks teammate Damian Lillard (eighth), Joel Embiid (seventh), Jayson Tatum (fifth) and Tyrese Haliburton (second).

Starters were selected by a combination vote, with 50 percent weight given to fans, 25 percent to selected media members and 25 percent to fellow players.

New to this season’s voting was the elimination of the center position designation, with the ballot shifting to three frontcourt spots and two backcourt spots in each conference.

The reserves are voted on by the league’s head coaches and will be announced on Feb. 1.

The 73rd NBA All-Star Game will be played in Indianapolis.

Raheem Morris will be getting a second chance with the Atlanta Falcons.

Multiple outlets reported Thursday that the Falcons will hire the Los Angeles Rams' defensive coordinator as their next head coach following an extensive search that included several high-profile candidates.

Morris returns to Atlanta, where he went 4-7 as the Falcons' interim head coach in 2020 after the team fired Dan Quinn after an 0-5 start. The 47-year-old spent the previous three seasons directing the Rams' defence and helped Los Angeles to a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI in his first season there.

The Falcons opted not to retain Morris following the 2020 campaign and instead hired former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who went 7-10 in three straight seasons before being dismissed on Jan. 8.

Atlanta chose Morris after interviewing over a dozen candidates that included six-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick and former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who agreed to become the Los Angeles Chargers' head coach on Wednesday.

This will be Morris' second opportunity to be a permanent head coach, as he guided the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009-11. The Bucs went 10-6 in his second season at the helm in 2010, but slipped to a 4-12 record the following season and replaced Morris with Greg Schiano.

Morris compiled a 17-31 record in Tampa Bay and is 21-38 overall as an NFL head coach.

Following his dismissal from Tampa Bay, Morris spent three seasons as the defensive backs coach for the Washington Redskins before joining Quinn's staff in Atlanta in 2015. Morris was the wide receivers coach for the Falcons' 2016 NFC championship team that lost to Belichick's New England Patriots in the Super Bowl after infamously blowing a 28-3 lead.

Morris was part of another Super Bowl champion team when he broke into the NFL coaching ranks as a defensive assistant for the Buccaneers in 2002.

The Falcons are the sixth team to fill a head coaching vacancy this offseason, and four of those hires have been minority candidates. Morris, New England's Jerod Mayo and Antonio Pierce of the Las Vegas Raiders are all Black, while new Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales is of Mexican descent.

Two teams, the Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks, are still in the process of hiring a head coach.

Tattersalls Ireland has announced it will hold a dispersal sale for owners Andy and Gemma Brown early next month.

The Browns, whose horses run under the Caldwell Construction banner, count Caldwell Potter among their star horses this term, with the six-year-old having won two of his three hurdles outings including a six-and-a-half-length verdict in a Leopardstown Grade One over the Christmas period.

He is as low as 8-1 for the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and a general 10-1 shot for the Supreme.

Other notable runners in the red and white colours this season include Fil Dor, Imagine and Sa Fureur, while Cambridgeshire second Pied Piper is another leading light.

All are trained by Gordon Elliott, who sent out Jazzy Matty to win last year’s Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – a first Festival triumph in the Caldwell silks.

The sale is due to take place on February 6 and a post on www.tattersalls.ie said: “Andy and Gemma Brown have entrusted Tattersalls Ireland to manage their dispersal sale, consisting of 29 exceptional lots.

“Clients will be presented with a rare opportunity to purchase a Grade One winner and leading Cheltenham Festival contender, along with several proven Graded winners with immense future potential.”