India secured their place in the T20 World Cup Super 8s with a game to spare after recovering from a slow start to see off the United States.

Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten half-century as India successfully chased down their opponents' target of 111 for a seven-wicket victory - and their third win in as many Group A matches.

The tournament co-hosts also entered the contest with a perfect record from their opening two games, but endured a poor start as Arshdeep Singh claimed Shayan Jahangir and Andries Gous in the first over.

That left them at 3-2, but they managed to settle with Steven Taylor (24 from 30 balls) and Nitish Kumar (27 off 23) top-scoring as their side finished at 110-8.

However, the States made a purposeful start in the field. With the second ball, Virat Kohli was gone for a duck as Gous caught him from Saurabh Netravalkar, who also dismissed Rohit Sharma for just three.

Suryakumar (50 off 49 not out) stepped in and held the fort alongside Shivam Dube (31 off 45 not out), though India were still in danger of a potential shock, needing 35 off the final 30 balls.

Nevertheless, an untimely five-run penalty was awarded to them as the USA took longer than a minute between overs for the third time.

That swung the pendulum firmly in India's favour. Successive boundaries from Suryakumar eased the pressure as they saw out what was eventually a comfortable win.

Data Debrief: India through, but Kohli's struggles continue

It was not as comfortable as India would have hoped for but, nevertheless, they managed to get the job done, with Suryakumar leading the charge.

However, the form of Kohli will be a cause for concern. His dismissal for a golden duck means he has now scored just five runs in his nation's opening three matches.

The five-run penalty proved a crucial moment in the contest, with USA the first team to be penalised by the stop-clock rule, but they can take plenty of positives from their display in New York.

Euro 2024 kicks off on Friday as Germany take on Scotland in Munich, and a flying start is on the agenda for Julian Nagelsmann's team.

Scotland, in their fourth appearance at the European Championships, would probably have been hoping for an easier start than going up against the hosts in the tournament's opening match.

Steve Clarke's team qualified in second place, behind Spain and ahead of Erling Haaland's Norway, from their group.

Germany, meanwhile, have picked up form under Nagelsmann since he was appointed as Hansi Flick's successor, and the former Bayern Munich coach has plenty of talent at his disposal, even if the Euro 2024 hosts are not considered to be among the biggest favourites.

Mats Hummels, Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka are three big-name absentees from Germany's squad, while Bayern youngster Aleksandar Pavlovic had to withdraw from the squad on Wednesday due to injury.

But in Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Leroy Sane, Kai Havertz and Borussia Dortmund's Niclas Fullkrug, Germany have an exciting attack, while Toni Kroos will anchor the midfield before he heads off into retirement.

This is Nagelsmann's first major tournament as head coach. Jupp Derwall was the last Germany boss to win a major tournament with them at the first attempt (Euro 1980).

Here, we use Opta data to preview the Euro 2024 opener.

What's expected?

It's no surprise to see that Germany are the overwhelming favourites to win this match, with Opta's supercomputer ranking their chances of victory at 58 per cent. 

Germany and Scotland are facing each other for the third time at a major tournament. Germany won the two previous encounters, in the group stages of the 1986 World Cup (2-1) and Euro 1992 (2-0). 

Indeed, Scotland have won only one of their last 13 matches against Germany (D4 L8); it was in April 1999, with Don Hutchison scoring the only goal in a Bremen friendly (0-1).

After losing to Turkiye and Austria, Germany have gone unbeaten in their last four matches. That being said, they were not particularly impressive in their warm-up matches. 

Following a 0-0 draw with Ukraine, Germany beat Greece 2-1 last time out, though they mustered a disappointing 0.88 expected goals (xG), in contrast to their opponents' 2.14.

The scoreline is the statistic that matters at tournaments, with Havertz grabbing an equaliser midway through the second half before Pascal Gross secured a late victory, but it should give Scotland some hope, even though they are handed just a 21 per cent win likelihood, with the draw threat also at 21 per cent.

Scotland won their first five Euro 2024 qualifiers but then failed to win any of their final three (D2 L1), conceding seven goals in those games after only shipping one goal in their first five games.

They beat Gibraltar 2-0 and then drew 2-2 with Finland in their warm-up friendlies, though they head into Euro 2024 without some key players, with full-backs Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson, and striker Lyndon Dykes, out due to injury.

Germany have won only one of their last five matches played in Munich (D3 L1), a 4-2 victory against Portugal at Euro 2020, so while the smart money is on the hosts, Scotland should not go into this one without confidence, with captain Andrew Robertson and midfield duo John McGinn and Scott McTominay offering a threat, too.

Home hopes

This is the fourth time that Germany are sole hosts of a major international tournament, reaching the final four in each of the previous three editions: champions at the 1974 World Cup, semi-finalists at Euro 1988 and third place at the 2006 World Cup.

Germany are taking part in their 14th Euros, more than any other team. They have won the trophy three times, the joint-most alongside Spain.

Nagelsmann has been happy to lean on inexperience for his squad selection, and in Wirtz and Musiala, he has two of the most exciting youngsters in world football at his disposal.

Wirtz scored 11 goals and added 11 assists during Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten Bundesliga title-winning campaign to claim Player of the Season honours in Germany's top tier.

Musiala, meanwhile, scored 10 goals from an xG of 7.9 in the league.

Behind them, the returning Kroos brings plenty of experience, alongside Ilkay Gundogan, who created the second-most chances of any player in Europe's top five leagues in all competitions in 2023-24, with 132.

Havertz is likely to lead the line with support from Fullkrug, but Thomas Muller is another weapon in Germany's arsenal. He has scored 10 goals in 19 appearances at the World Cup (36 shots), but he has never scored in 15 appearances at the European Championships (31 shots).

Will it finally be Muller time? 

At the other end of the pitch, though, Germany do have some issues. On paper, Jonathan Tah, Nico Schlotterbeck and Antonio Rudiger are a fine trio to choose from in the centre of defence, while Joshua Kimmich can play at right-back, but Nagelsmann needs to make sure the team's defending is better than it was against Greece. Perhaps Hummels' experience would have been useful?

Germany have conceded at least one goal in each of their last 12 games at major international tournaments. The last time they kept a clean sheet was against Slovakia in the round of 16 at Euro 2016.

Fourth time lucky?

This is Clarke's second major international tournament as a manager, after Euro 2020. He is the first Scotland boss to lead the team into two consecutive Euros.

Scotland have never reached the knockouts of the Euros in any of their three previous appearances at the tournament.

They have won just two of their nine Euro matches, with those victories coming over CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) in 1992 and Switzerland in 1996. Scotland have failed to score in six of their nine games at the European Championships.

While Germany are one of the toughest possible opponents to face first up, if Scotland could get something from this match, then they would be in a great position ahead of meetings with Hungary and Switzerland.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Germany – Toni Kroos

Kroos' presence in midfield will be a major boost to a team that averaged 59.3 per cent possession at Euro 2020 – second only to Spain (66.8 per cent).

The 34-year-old came out of international retirement to feature for Germany in their home tournament, though of course, it will now mark the final competitive event of his career.

Kroos – who won his sixth Champions League with Real Madrid this month – played more line-breaking passes (214) and passes leading to final-third entries (69) than any other player in UEFA's flagship club competition in 2023-24.

Scotland – Scott McTominay

A strong defence helped get them through qualifying, with a sprinkling of quality from McTominay, who was the top scorer in qualifying Group A with seven goals – one more than Manchester City superstar Haaland managed for Norway.

McTominay's goal tally is the joint most by a Scottish player in a Euros/World Cup qualifying campaign, along with Steven Fletcher (Euro 2016) and McGinn (Euro 2020).

And what is even more impressive, is that McTominay's goals came from just 1.77 xG, an overperformance of 5.23.

Juventus have confirmed the appointment of Thiago Motta as their new head coach.

The former Bologna boss has signed a three-year deal at the Allianz Arena, and comes in as Massimiliano Allegri's replacement following his sacking on May 17.

Allegri was relieved of his duties with immediate effect last month, with the club citing his behaviour during their Coppa Italia final win against Atalanta as a factor in their decision.

Motta was immediately linked with the vacancy after he opted not to renew his contract with Bologna, having led the Rossoblu to a fifth-place finish in Serie A and Champions League qualification for the first time in their history. 

And following the announcement on Wednesday, the 41-year-old cannot wait to get to work with his new employers.

"I am really happy to begin a new chapter at the helm of a great club like Juventus," he told the club's official website.

"I thank the owners and the management, who can be sure of my ambition to keep the Juventus flag flying high and to please the fans."

Motta's first senior managerial role at Genoa in 2019 ended after two months, but he bounced back by steering Spezia to Serie A safety in his only full season in charge before moving to Bologna. 

Ronald Koeman says Frenkie de Jong and Barcelona are equally responsible for the Netherlands midfielder missing out on Euro 2024 through injury.

De Jong was ruled out of the tournament after failing to recover from an ankle injury sustained during Barca's Clasico defeat by Real Madrid on April 21.

The 27-year-old was named in the provisional Dutch squad, but it was confirmed he would play no part following their final warm-up match against Iceland on Monday.

Koeman initially criticised the Blaugrana's handling of De Jong's injury and, on Wednesday, said the issue "also depends on the player himself". 

However, the Netherlands head coach is keen to move forward, with the Oranje opening their Group D campaign against Poland on Sunday.

"There is little point in answering questions about topics that are no longer current," he told reporters in Wolfsburg. "We haven't talked about it since we got here."

"Of course, it also depends on the player himself. I have also spoken to Frenkie about this, but that remains between me and the player. I have a little more inside information, but I'm done with it now."

Borussia Dortmund's Ian Maatsen was called up in De Jong's place, though Koeman opted not to draft in a replacement for Teun Koopmeiners, who was also ruled out of Euro 2024 with a groin injury.

Explaining his reasons, the head coach said: "Ian was already in the pre-selection, he is a multi-functional player who has only been out of action for a week. All other options have been gone for three weeks, I don't know where they all are.

"Within these 25 remaining players, we can go in any direction. We play with three midfielders and we have five. And you can always move someone one spot back, or someone from the back one line forward.

"It will never be an excuse in this tournament, no matter what happens, not to have called up a 26th player."

Naomi Osaka will play Bianca Andreescu in the Libema Open quarter-finals after a commanding straight-sets victory over Suzan Lamens.

The four-time major winner took just 54 minutes to wrap up a 6-2 6-2 win over her Dutch opponent in t'Hertogenbosch.

Osaka looked sharp as she sought her second WTA quarter-final appearance of the season, having also reached that stage in Doha four months ago.

The Japanese hit 21 winners to 13 unforced errors, while converting four out of five break points against the world number 140.

Next up for Osaka is a showdown with 2019 US Open champion Andreescu in the last eight.

Data Debrief: Osaka storms into first grass-court quarter-final in six years

It was a dominant display by Osaka, who hit nine aces and won 15 of her 17 points on first serve (88.2 per cent).

The four-time major winner subsequently advanced to her first WTA quarter-final on grass since the 2018 Nottingham Open.

Tottenham have announced Tanguy Ndombele's departure from the club after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Ndombele became Spurs' then-record signing when he arrived from Lyon in July 2019, scoring 10 goals in 91 games for the club.

However, the French midfielder made his last Tottenham appearance against Morecambe in January 2022, before spending the past two-and-a-half seasons out on loan.

He returned to Lyon for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign, before winning successive league titles during season-long loans with Napoli and Galatasaray.

Although Ndombele was contracted until June 2025, both he and Tottenham have opted to part ways a year early, with the club wishing him well for the future on their website.

Alvaro Morata believes Lamine Yamal has the potential to be one of the world's best ahead of Spain's Euro 2024 opener against Croatia this Saturday. 

Morata, who will lead La Roja at the tournament, is one of only two players included in Luis de la Fuente's squad with over 50 international caps, with the Spanish opting for youth over experience in Germany. 

16-year-old Lamal enjoyed a breakthrough campaign with Barcelona, scoring seven goals and registering 10 assists in 50 appearances in all competitions. 

Yamal is expected to break Pedri's European Championship record and become Spain's youngest player to feature at the tournament, with Morata believing he has all the attributes to reach the top of world football. 

"It's a pleasure to have him playing with us. He offers something different," Morata told UEFA.com on the La Masia graduate.

"If he is lucky and doesn't suffer major injuries, then he will be among the very best in the world, because despite being just 16 years old, he is already a step further than many others.

"He must mature, but that's normal. Sometimes it seems he isn't 16, it seems he is 23 or 24. Above all, we need to make him understand how important it is to manage matches mentally and also the fact that you sometimes need to slow down the match rather than trying to make something out of everything.

"He is really good at dribbling, he has a great technique, but he must help us with that by understanding that there are certain matches where the most important thing is to protect the current result."

Morata takes the armband from Jordi Alba, who captained the side to their maiden Nations League title last year, and is hopeful of emulating Iker Casillas, who led Spain to three international honours, including back-to-back European Championships. 

"It's an incredibly proud feeling, Morata said. "My family often sends me a photo of mine of the time when Spain won the first of their last two EURO [in 2008]. 

"I was out in a square full of people celebrating the title, and you always think it's a dream when you start playing for Spain to one day be amongst the top scorers, or to be the captain. I've achieved both those things, step by step.

"Every time I hear the anthem and I wear the [captain's] armband it is unbelievable. I only try to help my team-mates, make sure they're happy but also drum into them that a competition like this is all about very small details. We're not here on holiday, and this month is about working hard."

Jerry West, a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee as a professional player, Olympian and executive and the inspiration behind the NBA's iconic logo, died Wednesday at the age of 86.

The Los Angeles Clippers announced West's death in a statement. The basketball legend had been with the team as a board member and consultant since 2017.

"Jerry West, the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him, passed away this morning at the age of 86," the Clippers said Wednesday. "His wife, Karen, was by his side."

Rafael Nadal will partner Carlos Alcaraz in the men's doubles at the Paris Olympics, the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation has confirmed.

The Spanish duo - who will also participate in the singles competition - will team up for the tournament at Roland-Garros, which begins on July 27.

Both players have fond memories of the venue with Nadal a record 14-time French Open champion, while Alcaraz landed his maiden clay-court major crown last weekend.

Nadal is expected to call time on his glittering career this year.

A gold medallist in 2008 (singles) and 2016 (doubles), the 22-time major winner is unlikely to appear at Wimbledon and will instead focus on the Olympics where, if fit, he had hoped to partner Alcaraz.

Spain's national team coach confirmed he had got his wish, saying: "One pair, which I think everyone knows and was hoping for, is Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. Rafa and Carlos will be playing together in Paris."

Alcaraz, who will make his debut at the Games, became the youngest player in the Open Era to win the singles title at three different grand slams when he triumphed over Alexander Zverev at Roland-Garros on Sunday.

Germany will be without Bayern Munich's Aleksandar Pavlovic for Euro 2024 after the 20-year-old came down with tonsillitis three days before their Group A opener against Scotland. 

Pavlovic was set to feature in his first international tournament for his country despite only earning his first cap in a recent friendly against Ukraine.

However, he has since been ruled out after being absent from training in Herzogenaurach on Monday and Tuesday. 

Die Mannschaft coach Julian Naglesmann was quick to name his replacement, welcoming Borussia Dortmund captain Emre Can to his ranks. 

Can helped guide his side to the Champions League final where they lost to Real Madrid at Wembley, with Nagelsmann identifying the former Liverpool midfielder, who has 43 caps for Germany, as an ideal replacement for Pavlovic. 

"We wanted another Six in the squad and we decided to nominate Emre Can," Nagelsmann said.

"He was instantly excited and said he was ready to join the team. We wanted a player in the squad who has played a lot of matches and who knows how to handle pressure. He fits the profile and we can now use him."

Pavlovic's absence in the German squad will be felt having enjoyed a breakthrough campaign at the Allianz Arena under the guidance of Thomas Tuchel. 

The 20-year-old made 19 appearances in the Bundesliga this season, winning 15 of those, with the team scoring 54 goals in the process. 

Pavlovic would miss 15 games in the league, and his presence in midfield was missed as Bayern would win just eight times in the German's absence, as well as conceding 14 more goals.

Ilkay Gundogan says it will be "a huge honour and privilege" to lead host nation Germany in what will be a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" at Euro 2024. 

The three-time champions will host their first major international tournament since the 2006 World Cup, where they finished third after losing to eventual champions Italy in the semi-finals. 

Julian Nagelsmann's side are seeking an upturn in fortunes, having suffered back-to-back World Cup group-stage exits, while they were beaten by England in the round of 16 at Euro 2020.

Germany, whose final two warm-up games brought a goalless draw with Ukraine and a narrow 2-1 win over Greece, have conceded at least one goal in each of their last 12 games at major tournaments, last keeping a clean sheet against Slovakia in the round of 16 at Euro 2016.

DFB will launch the tournament at Munich Football Arena on Friday against Scotland, a team they have beaten in both previous major tournament encounters at the 1986 World Cup and 1992 European Championship.

And former Manchester City captain Gundogan, who skippered the Citizens to an historic treble in 2022-23, hopes he can use his leadership skills to inspire his nation to a strong showing on home soil.

"It's a huge honour, a huge privilege to be captain," the Barcelona midfielder said. "I have experienced an awful lot in my career, lots of great times but also lots of difficult times. I kind of know what it takes to be successful.

"All I can do is lead from the front, both on and off the pitch. I think the people of Germany – not just the fans – deserve some success.

"We know it'll be a tough game against Scotland. They have a lot of quality, lots of stars from the Premier League, so it's going to be a challenge, but we are confident.

"We're very well set up, full of quality and there's lots of potential in the squad; we just have to deliver now. We haven't done ourselves justice in recent tournaments.

"We hope this time that we benefit somewhat from the euphoria in our home country and the support of the fans, and that this carries us along. But we know we first have to earn the trust of our fans on the pitch. If we do, I think we will go a long way.

"Playing a [tournament] in your own country is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so obviously it feels really special."

Gundogan also praised the impact of Nagelsmann, who is preparing for his first major international tournament as head coach since replacing Hansi Flick last September.

The 36-year-old is aiming to become the first Germany boss to win a competition at his first attempt since Jupp Derwall at the 1980 European Championship.

"He has brought structure to the team," Gundogan observed. "He has clear ideas about what he wants, but still, there is a calmness about how the coaching team deals with the squad, and there's a sense that they have confidence in the players, which reflects well on us.

"We knew that not everything would go perfectly, we knew we would make mistakes, but we have always felt that the coach was right behind the team. We have the right set-up and are capable of producing our best, to pay back the confidence he has in us."

John Stones missed England's second training session in Germany through illness four days before the start of their Euro 2024 campaign. 

The Manchester City defender featured in the Three Lions' 1-0 defeat to Iceland last week, but was substituted at half-time after picking up an injury.

However, he was involved in training on Tuesday in Blankenhain. 

Gareth Southgate has had to deal with several absentees and fitness concerns in the build-up to the tournament, with Stones' long-term international defensive partner Harry Maguire having been left out of the squad due to injury. 

"The Three Lions squad is out at training this morning, except John Stones who misses out through illness," England posted to X on Wednesday ahead of their Group C fixture with Serbia on Sunday. 

Of the available central defenders in the 26-man squad, Stones has the most appearances for his nation (72), 19 of which have come during major tournaments. 

The 30-year-old's total is third-highest in the England squad, and is double the amount of times Joe Gomez, Marc Guehi, Lewis Dunk and Ezri Konsa have featured for their country combined (36).