Virat Kohli has become the first batter to score 50 ODI centuries.

The India star scored his landmark ton in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand, with his compatriot and previous record holder Sachin Tendulkar watching in the stands.

Kohli had equalled Tendulkar’s 49 one-day hundreds just 10 days earlier in a group stage victory against South Africa.

Here, the PA news agency examines the data behind his remarkable achievement.

King Kohli

While Tendulkar scored his 49 hundreds across 452 innings, Kohli has overhauled his countryman in 173 fewer attempts.

He has been on a stronger trajectory than his predecessor ever since reaching three figures for the first time during his 13th visit to the crease.

Tendulkar took 76 innings to score his maiden hundred, by which time Kohli had already accumulated eight tons.

The rate of Kohli’s century-making has continued to outstrip Tendulkar’s, with the ‘Little Master’ having scored 31 hundreds after 279 innings – the same number it has taken Kohli to reach 50.

The 35-year-old has scored his runs at a better average (58.69 compared with 44.83) and a faster strike rate (93.62 compared with 86.23) than his former team-mate, although his run total remains some way behind (13,784 compared with 18,426).

Renaissance man

Kohli has been a model of consistency throughout much of his ODI career, having scored at least one hundred in every year between 2009 and 2019.

However, his serene progress towards 50 tons was interrupted by a run of 25 innings without celebrating the milestone – a sequence that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and spanned three full years between December 2019 and December 2022.

He has since enjoyed a remarkable return to form, with six centuries in 2023 so far – his joint-most in a calendar year alongside 2017 and 2018.

Kohli has scored 711 runs to anchor India’s seemingly unstoppable bid to win the World Cup on home soil, with his tournament tally having surpassed Tendulkar’s previous record of 673, set in 2003.

Master chaser

Kohli is undoubtedly the greatest chaser in ODI history.

The 35-year-old has scored 27 hundreds in the pursuit of targets, 10 more than Tendulkar who is his closest challenger for second-innings tons.

Of the 16 players with at least 20 ODI centuries, Kohli is the only one to have scored the majority when batting second.

He averages a staggering 65.49 in run chases, compared with 51.72 in first-innings efforts.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente insists his side have plenty of room for improvement and they are not taking for granted their final Euro 2024 qualifiers against the weakest opponents.

Despite having secured qualification, along with Scotland, the games against Cyprus and Georgia still carry significance as they will decide who finishes top of Group A.

And if De La Fuente needed any extra incentive to stress the need not to be complacent, he was reminded of Spain’s shock 3-2 defeat to Cyprus 25 years ago.

“I get a chill when I think about it, it was bad news,” he told a press conference.

“The results of the past are the past, we want to look to the future and play all the games without half-measures.

“Experience tells me that any game can turn ugly and many times it is due to lack of concentration. Tomorrow that will not be the case.”

Spain’s only defeat in the current campaign came against the Scots, but they have won their other five and, boosted by the 6-0 win over Cyrus in September, have a superior goal difference.

“We now have two games against Cyprus and Georgia that are very important,” added De La Fuente in Limassol.

“This is more than a test, this has to help us be better than previous games. That is the goal, to be better every day.

“We have a lot of room for improvement, they are very good players with a great willingness to do so.

“In that medium term that will be the next Euros. We have to be mature to be able to compete at the highest level.”

Asked whether his team should be considered one of the Euro 2024 favourites, he said: “We work to be able to fight to win the tournament but there are some teams like Germany, France, Portugal or England that have the same level as us. Then, winning it is a matter of details.”

Cyprus coach Temuri Ketsbaia, whose side have scored just two goals in their seven successive defeats, is hopeful his players can find the motivation in their final match – despite being hammered 6-0 by the same opponents in September.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the first day or the last. You always have to give your best when you play with the national team,” he said.

“I think that in another group we would have gotten more points, but we have had to play against a team with the potential of Spain or against candidates for the Ballon d’Or like (Erling) Haaland.”

Carlos Alcaraz snapped a three-match losing streak as he beat Andrey Rublev  7-5 6-2 in his penultimate round-robin contest of the ATP Finals in Turin.

It was the first encounter between the Spaniard and Russian, with the latter hoping to bounce back from Monday’s loss to compatriot Daniil Medvedev.

Instead he found himself pinned back by world number two Alcaraz, who never faced a break point and kept his hopes of advancing from the the Red Group alive with his first win at the year-end event after missing the last edition with an abdominal injury.

Alcaraz’s critical break came in the 11th game of the first set, during which he dropped just one point on his first serve and soon his opponent began to unravel.

Rublev dropped his serve to start the second set and could not rein in his reaction as he slammed his racquet against his knee with such force he drew blood, mopping it up with a towel at his chair before returning to the court.

It was all too much to overcome as Alcaraz, who finished with 21 winners to 11 unforced errors, sealed the 74-minute victory with his first match point.

The 20-year-old, who improved to 1-1 following his opening loss to Alexander Zverev, will face Medvedev to conclude the group stage on Friday while Rublev will take on Zverev.

Alcaraz told the ATP website: “It was a totally different match and level from me. This is the level I have to play if I want to give myself a chance in this amazing tournament.

“Yesterday was a good day for me in practise to find the level I needed to show today and I think I did pretty well. I am very happy with my level.”

Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero will keep the Grand National in mind for Gesskille following his win in the Grand Sefton over the famous Aintree fences, with the training duo also contemplating a run over the cross-country course at Cheltenham next month.

The seven-year-old has proven a brilliant operator over the famous spruce since joining the Cheshire-based training team, and after a couple of near-misses at the track last term, finally got his moment in the Merseyside spotlight as jockey Henry Brooke bounced out his mount who made every yard in testing conditions.

That victory has seen Gesskille rise to a career-high mark of 144, but with the world’s most famous steeplechase set to have reduced numbers for 2024, Greenall feels he may have to improve further in the ratings to guarantee his spot and is considering a run at Cheltenham on December 15 before firming up plans for the spring.

He said: “He would need to go up a bit to get in (the Grand National), so we will just see and he might go to the cross-country race at Cheltenham in December and see how we go after that really.

“We will keep him fresh anyway for a spring campaign, whether that is Auteuil or the National, we will have to wait and see.”

Gesskille was beaten a nose in the Grand Sefton 12 months ago, before filling the same runner-up berth in the Becher Chase a month later.

However, Greenall credits the application of blinkers as making the real difference for the gelding, who was a game winner at Auteuil in his new headgear prior to his Aintree triumph.

“He seems a little bit more professional with the headgear, it has definitely helped him,” he added.

“People said the loose horse helped him (at Aintree) and I’m sure it did a little bit. But with the headgear, he seemed to be staying on gamely anyway.”

Graham Lee has undergone surgery at the Royal Victoria Infirmary Hospital in Newcastle after a serious fall last week, with his daughter Amy thanking the racing world for its “overwhelming” support.

The Grand National and Group One-winning jockey was unseated from Ben Macdui at the start of an all-weather handicap at Newcastle on Friday, suffering injuries that saw him taken to hospital and admitted to an intensive care unit.

He has since been identified as having an unstable cervical fracture causing damage to his spinal cord, and the racing world has rallied round the rider and his family.

The Injured Jockeys Fund have been heavily involved in those efforts, and on Wednesday afternoon released an update which read: “Jockey Graham Lee had surgery yesterday at the Royal Victoria Infirmary Hospital in Newcastle to stabilise the fractures in his cervical spine and further protect his spinal cord.

“He also had a tracheostomy performed to allow him to be more comfortable and improve communication.

“Whilst Graham has recovered from the surgery well, the extent of his long-term recovery remains uncertain.”

The statement added: “Graham’s family would like to thank everyone for their best wishes and for their support of the JustGiving page set up by Graham’s 18-year-old daughter Amy, who says: ‘I am personally writing down each and every message and donation that comes through and I share all of these with dad. To be honest it’s simply overwhelming and we can’t believe that so many people are thinking of us. I wish I could explain how much of a difference it will make to dad’s recovery knowing that he has your support – thank you from the bottom of my heart’.”

The JustGiving page created by Amy Lee is now approaching £80,000 in donations that will go to the IJF.

Ryan Sidebottom does not think any England players will have their legacies tarnished by the dismal 2023 ODI World Cup campaign.

England, who went into the tournament as reigning world champions, failed spectacularly in India.

Jos Buttler's team won just three of their nine matches – with two of those coming late in the group stage – as they finished seventh in the overall standings.

Indeed, until those latter two victories, England were rooted to the bottom of the standings, which would have seen them miss out on qualification for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025.

Yet despite the dreadful defence of their title, England's players still have their legacies intact for winning the 2019 World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup, so says former Test and one-day bowler Sidebottom.

"No, I don't I don't think anything will be tarnished," he told Stats Perform.

"I think they'll all be bitterly disappointed with their performance. This team has created a legacy. There's no doubt about it, not just this 11, but there's probably 20, 25 players who have been exceptional and set so many high standards for themselves.

"Creating history with run chases, high scores, they've been brilliant to watch. So, they have created something very special.

"They're allowed to play badly, and they have done, and I don't think it will happen again.

"Most of this team can go on and play in the next World Cup quite comfortably. They're still young enough, and I still feel there's a lot more to give with this team."

Sidebottom does also not agree with calls for captain Buttler and coach Matthew Mott to step down.

"You look what they've done so far," he said. "Yes, they've had a bad World Cup, but I think Buttler is a wonderful one-day performer and is arguably up there with the best in the world.

"He runs this team well and has gained a lot of experience from Eoin Morgan in his time.

"I think changing captains and coaches after one bad tournament is probably not going to be the right way to go about things. So, you stick with these guys.

"Jos has held his hands up. He said he's not played very well, individually, and I'm sure there are probably five or six players who would say they've not played well individually.

"But you can't keep changing coaches or captains, they've done a great job so far."

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a broken bone in his right shoulder, the team announced Wednesday.

The Browns said in a statement that Watson underwent further testing on his ailing shoulder on Monday which revealed a non-displaced fracture to his glenoid.

Watson missed three games earlier this season due to recurring soreness in his throwing shoulder, and also exited the Browns' Week 7 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the first quarter with the injury.

The three-time Pro Bowl selection is also dealing with a left high-ankle sprain he sustained late in last week's 33-31 victory over the AFC North-rival Baltimore Ravens.

"Deshaun Watson underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Monday on two injuries sustained on different plays in the first half of Sunday's 33-31 win over the Baltimore Ravens," the team said in a statement. "Imaging on his left ankle revealed a high-ankle sprain. In addition, postgame, Deshaun notified our medical staff of a new discomfort in his right shoulder that he felt after a hit in the first half. An MRI of his right shoulder revealed a displaced fracture to the glenoid.

"Despite performing at a high level and finishing the game, after consultation with Browns' Head Physician, James Voos, MD, and industry-leading shoulder specialist, Neal ElAttrache, MD, it has been determined that this injury will require immediate surgical repair to avoid further structural damage. Deshaun will be placed on season-ending injured reserve and a full recovery is expected for the start of the 2024 season."

P.J. Walker will take over at quarterback for Cleveland, which currently sits just a half-game behind the Ravens for first place in the AFC North at 6-3. The Browns are tied for second in the division with Pittsburgh and will host the Steelers on Sunday.

The 28-year-old Walker has started two previous games this season and played most of the Indianapolis game after Watson departed. The Browns went 1-1 in those starts, with the win a surprise 19-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5.

Walker has completed just 49 per cent of his passes, though, with one touchdown pass and five interceptions. 

Watson will now have played in just 12 of the Browns' 34 regular-season games since being acquired from the Houston Texans in a blockbuster trade in March 2022, then immediately signed to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million extension. The 28-year-old was suspended for the first 11 games of 2022 after being accused of sexual assault by nearly two dozen women while receiving massage therapy.

In six games this season, Watson has completed 61.4 per cent of his pass attempts for 1,115 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. He added 142 rushing yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.

Conflated is likely to bid for back-to-back victories in next month’s Savills Chase following a pleasing effort at Down Royal last weekend.

Gordon Elliott’s eight-year-old was a comfortable winner at Leopardstown last Christmas, his second Grade One victory at the Foxrock track having also landed the 2022 Irish Gold Cup.

He finished third behind Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, but subsequently failed to fire at Aintree and again disappointed on his return at Punchestown last month.

However, the Gigginstown House Stud-owned gelding roared back to form in Saturday’s Ladbrokes Champion Chase, making much of the running and looking the likely winner at the top of the home straight before being mowed down late on by both stablemate Gerri Colombe and Envoi Allen.

Gigginstown’s racing manager Eddie O’Leary expects Conflated to be an even stronger force back at Leopardstown on December 28.

“He ran an absolute cracker and he’s entitled to go on to Leopardstown after that,” O’Leary said.

“He’s much better going left-handed, so if he’s kicked out of the way at Leopardstown then we’ll look at different options.”

Conflated holds an entry in the Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday week, but O’Leary all but ruled out a trip to Merseyside, adding: “We travel for Cheltenham and Cheltenham only!”

Middleham Park hurdlers Red Risk and Marie’s Rock are likely to cross paths in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury next month.

Both horses run in the silks of the ownership group, and Marie’s Rock has won at the highest level for connections, taking both the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and the Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown last year.

The Nicky Henderson-trained mare was second to Sire Du Berlais in the Liverpool Hurdle on her final start last season and will reappear for the new campaign over the staying trip.

There she will encounter Paul Nicholls’ Red Risk, an eight-year-old who has been moving out of handicap company in recent starts and made a promising start to the season when second in the Grade Two bet365 Hurdle at Wetherby’s Charlie Hall meeting.

Tom Palin of Middleham Park said of the two horses: “I think they’re going to do battle, they’ll be taking each other on at Newbury in the three-mile Grade Two there (December 1).

“That’s been Marie’s Rock’s target for a while, that was the logical starting point for her.

“Red Risk ran a cracker at Wetherby, I thought we were going to go past the other horse but he really toughed it out as well. We were delighted with the run.

“He does go very well fresh, we’ll run at Newbury but the one question we have is whether it’s a bit too soon after Wetherby.

“Then we’d just look at giving him a bit of a freshen up going into something ahead of the spring, maybe a Cleeve Hurdle or something akin to that.

“They’ll probably end up taking each other on at Newbury in that Grade Two and it will be fascinating to see who comes out on top.”

Marie’s Rock will proceed from Wetherby in the direction of the top staying contests, with the big festivals at Cheltenham and Aintree pencilled in for the spring.

“She’s obviously got that useful weight allowance and I think she has a pull as it is on official ratings but that performance (by Red Risk) the other day was a very, very good performance,” Palin said.

“We’ve just got Red Risk figured out and Marie’s Rock is in great form. Her campaign kind of plans itself; Newbury, Ascot, Cheltenham for the Cleeve, Cheltenham for the Stayers’ and Aintree again.”

Scotland manager Steve Clarke is focused on finishing their Euro 2024 qualification campaign on a high after sealing their place in Germany amid a hat-trick of defeats.

A 2-0 loss in Spain was sandwiched by friendly defeats against England and France, but five wins from their opening five games in Group A proved enough for a second successive qualification for the European Championship finals after the Spaniards won in Norway.

With a five-month international hiatus to follow, Clarke is eager to ensure Scotland come away from their final competitive matches with points against Georgia and Norway before next summer’s tournament in Germany.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s clash in Tbilisi, Clarke said: “The idea with the friendly matches against England and France was to test ourselves against the best and see where we measure up.

“Obviously with the results we had, we still have a bit of work to do. We will try to stay humble, respect our opponents and just try to improve all the time.

“Listen, we want to get back to winning ways. It’s not very often in the reign that I have had, apart from the early stages, that we have had consecutive defeats like we have had recently.

“It would be nice to think in the remaining two games we can pick up more points.

“I have always said we want to get as high a points tally as possible and (we have) two more games to try and do that.”

Scotland have lost their previous two games in Georgia, defeats which ultimately prevented them from qualifying for Euro 2008 and 2016.

Clarke’s side have shown the ability to break such negative runs, for instance securing the first play-off success and ending a 23-year wait for a major tournament appearance.

“Listen, in sport what’s past is past, there is nothing we can do to affect that,” Clarke said of the history in Tbilisi. “All we can do is affect the future, the next game we play.

“We have always tried to improve results no matter who we are playing against.”

Georgia lost 7-1 at home to Spain in September but they beat Cyprus 4-0 in their most recent qualifier and are assured of a Euro 2024 play-off place thanks to a Nations League campaign which included big wins in Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

Clarke said: “When you go away from home against a team like Georgia, it’s going to be a difficult environment, a difficult game for us, because they are a very good side.

“The one game they lost heavily was against Spain and that’s a little bit of an anomaly in recent games, because all their games have been very competitive. And we expect that on Thursday night.”

Clarke is without the likes of Angus Gunn, Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, Aaron Hickey and Che Adams, but he hopes players such as Josh Doig and Lawrence Shankland can seize the opportunity that injury list presents.

“Over the course of my tenure I have always tried to look a little bit deeper,” he said.

“There will be some squads like this one where we have a number of players missing. But I always say it’s a chance for someone else.

“If everyone else can do better it makes my selection more difficult going into next year. The selection will be difficult. I have to find the right 23 for next summer.

“For now, some boys are in the squad with the chance to make a big impression, not just on me but the rest of my staff and the rest of the country. Let’s see how they perform in the game.”

Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark and Motherwell captain Liam Kelly are vying for competitive debuts after both played 45 minutes against France to win their first caps.

Clarke, who also has Rangers reserve Robby McCrorie in his squad, was not giving anything away on his stand-in choice.

Speaking from Scotland’s training camp in Antalya, Turkey, he said: “The three goalkeepers have trained very well, as they always do, and between now and kick-off I will obviously have to choose one.”

The Premier League has arguably never been more competitive than it is this season, with just three points separating the division’s top five teams.

Manchester City sit top of the table on 28 points, with Liverpool and Arsenal one behind on 27, Tottenham on 26 and Aston Villa on 25.

It is the first time in Premier League history that five teams have amassed 25 points or more in their first 12 matches.

However, the level of competition extends beyond the top few sides, as demonstrated by several of the weekend’s results including City’s thrilling 4-4 draw at Chelsea and Spurs’ injury-time loss at Wolves.

Just 12 matches into the 2023-24 campaign, it is already possible to create a continuous ‘victory loop’ from English top flight results.

A victory loop is made by arranging results so that Team 1 beats Team 2, Team 2 defeats Team 3, and so on until Team 20 beats Team 1.

Sheff Utd 2 Wolves 1 (Nov 4)
Wolves 2 Tottenham 1 (Nov 11)
Tottenham 2 Liverpool 1 (Sep 30)
Liverpool 3 West Ham 1 (Sep 24)
Brighton 1 West Ham 3 (Aug 26)
Brighton 3 Bournemouth 1 (Sep 24)
Bournemouth 2 Newcastle 0 (Nov 11)
Newcastle 1 Arsenal 0 (Nov 4)
Arsenal 1 Man City 0 (Oct 8)
Man City 2 Nottingham Forest 0 (Sep 23)
Nottingham Forest 2 Aston Villa 0 (Nov 5)
Aston Villa 3 Crystal Palace 1 (Sep 16)
Man Utd 0 Crystal Palace 1 (Sep 30)
Burnley 0 Man Utd 1 (Sep 23)
Luton 1 Burnley 2 (Oct 3)
Everton 1 Luton 2 (Sep 30)
Brentford 1 Everton 3 (Sep 23)
Chelsea 0 Brentford 2 (Oct 28)
Fulham 0 Chelsea 2 (Oct 2)
Fulham 3 Sheff Utd 1 (Oct 7)

Martin Keighley’s Found On will bid for black type as she returns to Market Rasen for the Rhino.Bet Bud Booth Mares’ Chase on Thursday.

The eight-year-old has been consistent in recent seasons, winning six of her last eight starts over distances varying from two and a half miles to three.

She hit the ground running this season when making her yearly reappearance at this track in October, winning a competitive handicap chase by four lengths under Sean Bowen.

The mare will now return to the Lincolnshire circuit at Listed level, where she is set to join four rivals over an increased trip of three miles.

“It was a really good performance, her first run of the season at Market Rasen,” said Keighley.

“That was quite a strong handicap and she did it well, as soon as she won there we had this in mind as we’re desperate to get her some black type.

“We’ve saved her for this race and hopefully she can, she’s been to the track twice and won there twice, she’ll like the decent ground so I’m hoping for a big run.

“The Dan Skelton horse will be a hard one to beat, but she’s in good form and if she doesn’t win and is in the first three, it will be great to get her black type.”

The Skelton horse in question is Galia Des Liteaux, a Grade Two winner last season who was most recently seen coming home fourth behind Gerri Colombe in the Mildmay at Aintree.

Nicky Henderson’s Tweed Skirt, Sue Smith’s Burrows Diamond and Jedd O’Keeffe’s Fairfield Ferrata complete the line up.