Mitchell Starc said Josh Hazlewood's assertion that securing England's T20 World Cup exit would benefit Australia had been blown out of proportion after Saturday's win over Scotland kept their old rivals alive.

England's rain-affected victory over Namibia on Saturday put their hopes of reaching the Super 8s in Australia's hands. 

Having already sealed their own place in the next round, Australia knew a win over Scotland would keep their rivals in the tournament, while a defeat would see Scotland advance.

Aided by six dropped catches, Scotland set a target of 181 only for Travis Head (68) and Marcus Stoinis (59) to excel with the bat as Australia got over the line with two balls to spare.

Earlier this week, Hazlewood suggested Australia might be best served by ensuring they cannot meet England further down the line, speculating about the possibility of "dragging out" the match against Scotland.

Starc, however, insists those comments were made with tongue in cheek.

"I think a throwaway line has been blown right out of proportion by you lot," he said, referring to the media.

"You don't stuff around with mother cricket and trying to worry about other results. We're here to win games. It's international cricket. 

"England now are on the other side of the draw, so it really doesn't make that much difference for the next three games."

Brandon McMullen – who hit a terrific 60 off 34 balls for Scotland, including two fours and six maximums – never questioned the integrity of Australia's approach.

"They're always going to put up a good fight," he said. "They're never just going to roll over and let you win. 

"I'm glad that it was a close game today. We showed that we can compete at this high level against the best players in the world."

Bryson DeChambeau is targeting "something special" on the final day of action at the US Open after building a three-shot lead by the end of round three at Pinehurst.

DeChambeau, who won his first and so far only major championship at the 2020 US Open, stands at seven under after overcoming a slow start to his third round.

He struggled with a hip issue in the early stages but managed three birdies in a five-hole stretch, and six overall throughout the round, to pull clear of a chasing pack that includes Matthieu Pavon, Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy.

DeChambeau would have held an even greater advantage if not for a double-bogey at the 16th, the ball rolling back to his feet at one stage as he saw his advantage halved from four shots to two.

However, an immediate birdie on the par-three next ensured he finished three clear of his rivals, and he is relying on the home crowd to help him over the line on Sunday.

"I gave it everything I had out there today," DeChambeau told Sky Sports. "The crowd's support has been fantastic. It's amazing. 

"I can't thank them enough and I'll continue to feed off of them. Tomorrow it's about fairways and greens and let's see if I can give them something special."

A one-under 69 ensured McIlroy crept up on Cantlay, who had been a joint-leader after round one, while Pavon matched the Northern Irishman to leave all three players at four under.  

McIlroy ended the third round of the 2023 US Open – staged at Los Angeles Country Club – one shot back of Rickie Fowler and eventual champion Wyndham Clark.

While Fowler drifted, both McIlroy and Clark shot par on the final round as the latter claimed the title, leaving McIlroy determined to go one better this time around. 

"I'm pretty much in the same position that I was last year going into the final day at LACC," McIlroy said. 

"It's a familiar position, I've been here many times before, and hopefully I produce the golf that's needed to go one better."

DJ Herz was masterful in his third career start, striking out 13 and allowing one hit over six stellar innings to lead the Washington Nationals to a 4-0 win over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

Herz, a 23-year-old left-hander who made his major league debut on June 4, struck out eight of the first 10 batters and his total was the second-highest by a rookie for the Nationals since the team moved to Washington for 2005, surpassed only by Stephen Strasburg’s 14 in his debut on June 8, 2010.

Herz did not make it out of the fifth inning in his first two starts but didn’t allow a runner in this one until Jake Burger’s leadoff single in the fifth. He struck out the side in the third and sixth innings and was lifted after throwing 84 pitches.

He joins Strasburg as the only pitchers in major league history to strike out at least 13 without a walk in one of their first three career outings.

Herz also is just the third pitcher since 1988 to fan at least 13 on fewer than 85 pitches. The others are Clayton Kerhsaw (2022) and Greg Maddux (2000).

Dylan Floro, Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan finished the four-hitter to seal Washington’s seventh win in eight games.

The Marlins lost their fourth straight and dropped to 2-10 in June.

Yamamoto leaves early in Dodgers’ loss

Seth Lugo became the second 10-game winner in the majors and MJ Melendez hit a grand slam after Yoshinobu Yamamoto exited early in the Kansas City Royals’ 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yamamoto left after two innings due to triceps tendinitis following two scoreless innings. This is Yamamoto’s first year in the majors after he signed a record $325 million, 12-year contract in December.

He had thrown over 100 pitches in four consecutive starts entering Saturday and his scheduled start on Thursday against Texas was pushed back for extra rest.

Lugo limited the Dodgers to two runs and six hits in six innings to join Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez as the only 10-game winners in the majors.

The Royals got all the offence they needed in the sixth to erase a 2-1 deficit. Vinnie Pasquantino, Nelson Velazquez and Freddy Fermin all drew one-out walks off Blake Treinen, who struck out pinch-hitter Adam Frazier before Melendez connected on the 12th pitch of his at-bat for his first career grand slam.

Santander powers Orioles past Phillies

Anthony Santander hit a pair of home runs and drove in four to back Grayson Rodriguez’s strong start as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 in a matchup of two of baseball’s top teams.

Santander hit a tying solo homer in the fourth inning and his two-run blast in the eighth extended the lead to 5-2. He also added a sixth-inning sacrifice fly.

Santander leads the majors with eight home runs in June.

Rodriguez allowed two runs on seven hits over seven innings with one walk and six strikeouts to win his third straight start.

Edmundo Sosa hit a solo homer for the NL-best Phillies, who have lost three of four.

Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists and the Edmonton Oilers chased playoff MVP candidate Sergei Bobrovsky to extend their season and avoid a sweep with an 8-1 drubbing of the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.

Dylan Holloway scored twice with an assist and Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Ryan McLeod also had goals for the Oilers, who busted out in a big way after they were held to four goals in the first three games of the series.

McDavid scored his first goal of the series, and his three assists gave him 32 to move past Wayne Gretzky (1988) for the most in a single postseason.

Stuart Skinner had his best game of the Cup final with 32 saves.

Bobrovsky was replaced by Anthony Stolarz after Nurse’s goal at 4:59 of the second period made it 5-1. He allowed five goals on 16 shots after yielding four goals on 86 shots in Games 1, 2 and 3.

The Panthers can clinch the franchise’s first Stanley Cup at home in Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Edmonton is bidding to become the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to erase a 3-0 series deficit at this stage of the playoffs.

Janmark got the Oilers going with a short-handed goal 3:11 into the game and Henrique’s tally 3 1/2 minutes later upped the advantage.

Vladimir Tarasenko’s goal put the Panthers on the board, but Holloway restored the two-goal lead with 5:12 left in the opening period.

McDavid scored 73 seconds into the second period and Nurse’s goal sent Bobrovsky to the bench.

Day two of Euro 2024 picked up the excitement where it left off, with a historic round of games on Saturday.

Switzerland joined Germany level on points at the top of Group A with an impressive 3-1 win over Hungary before Spain cruised to a 3-0 victory over Croatia in their Group B opener with three first-half goals.

Italy's European Championships title defence got off to a perfect start as they bounced back from conceding the earliest goal in the tournament's history (23 seconds) by beating Albania 2-1.

While the football continued to entertain, there was also plenty of action on social media. Here's a pick of some of the best posts.

What might have been for Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon's official X account drew plenty of attention as the admin latched onto the hype over Jamal Musiala, following the Germany international's magical display against Scotland.

Musiala grew up in England, and represented AFC Wimbledon, via the Corpus Christi Primary School, in the EFL Utilita Kids Cup.

It's clear from the highlights of that match, in which Musiala scored a hat-trick and left defenders mesmerised - a bit like he did on Friday - that he was a special talent.

Embolo back on the scene

Breel Embolo endured an injury-hit campaign for Monaco, but he is back to fitness in time to feature for Switzerland, for whom he remains a crucial player.

And after coming on as a second-half substitute, Embolo sealed the three points as the Swiss beat Hungary 3-1 in the first game of the day. 

As the official Euro 2042 X account pointed out, Embolo has now netted in successive Euros tournaments for his nation.

Birthday boy

Pascal Gross is a newcomer to Germany's squad, and came on for his major tournament debut during Friday's 5-1 thrashing of Scotland.

The Brighton midfielder then celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday, with Germany's official X account sharing the celebrations.

That big win over Scotland, and his Euros bow, was surely a great way to welcome in his 34th year.

UEFA turns 70

Gross was not the only one celebrating a birthday on Saturday.

Indeed, UEFA marked the 70th anniversary of its founding, which came on June 15, 1954.

"It's a story of devotion, dedication and dreams..." shared the governing bodies' official X account.

Barcelona show pride of record-breaking youngster

Spain got off to the perfect start in the so-called 'group of death' with a rampant 3-0 win over Croatia on Saturday.

But, when the team sheets came out before the game, all the headlines quickly turned to Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest-ever player to appear at the Euros at 16 years and 338 days.

After an impressive performance by the youngster, Barcelona were quick to remind fans where he came from with a post on X: "He's very good... and he's ours."

Van Dijk, Simons and De Ligt put to the test

The Netherlands are yet to open their campaign in Euro 2024, but put aside their preparation to take some time to answer questions from young fans.

Xavi Simons was quizzed on which defender scares him the most - fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk - while the captain and Matthijs de Ligt rated their chances of winning the tournament.

Final preparations

England open their campaign when they take on Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, and on Saturday, Gareth Southgate's team ran through their MD-1 training session.

All 26 players were involved in the session, with England allowing their fans to watch on live via a post on X.

Only part of the session was broadcast, however, so any Serbia spies could not garner too much information about Southgate's tactics ahead of the Group C clash.

Scottie Scheffler was left to rue "another frustrating day" at the US Open on Saturday, when Collin Morikawa found form on moving day at Pinehurst.

World number one Scheffler struggled once again in North Carolina, carding a one-over 71 to drop down to six-over par after the third day.

The two-time Masters champion has now shot four consecutive rounds over par for the first time in his professional career and catching the likes of Matthieu Pavon, Bryson Dechambeau and Tony Finau appears unlikely.

"Another frustrating day," Scheffler said on Sky Sports after his putter went cold once more. "Today was a day where I thought I played a lot better than my score.

"I'm having a lot of trouble reading these greens. I had a lot of putts today where I felt like I hit it really good. I looked up and they were not going the way I thought they were going to go."

Morikawa, in stark contrast, went on a hot streak with his putter and finished with a four-under 66 to move back to level par, sneaking within touching distance of the top 10.

The two-time major champion still has serious ground to make up to catch the leading trio on Sunday, with Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Cantlay, Corey Conners and Tyrrell Hatton all chasing at the top as well.

"If I play the way I did today, who knows what could happen," Morikawa said. "This course is only going to get tougher. 

"I know it's not going to be easy. Today was not easy by any means. I just put it in the right spot, kept the ball in front of me, really just played very simple golf."

Rory McIlroy remains in with the contending pack, aiming to end a 10-year wait for major success, but may be concerned if countryman Shane Lowry's words are anything to go by.

Lowry stayed on five-over for the tournament after battling through "torture" from the Pinehurst No.2 course, offering a warning to all competing this weekend.

"It's torture out there, honestly it's absolute mental torture," Lowry said. "That's the best level par I've ever shot in my life.

"Every single shot you have, even when you hit a good shot the putts you have, it's brutally difficult. It's not much crack out there, to be honest.

"The wind's in a different direction so some of the par fours are really long. You really just have to manage your way well around there and I did a great job today."

After Germany's 5-1 win over Scotland in the Euro 2024 opener, the goals continued to fly in on a busy day of action on Saturday.

Records were broken as Spain beat Croatia 3-0 and reigning champions Italy came from behind to beat Albania 2-1.

Switzerland also dispatched Hungary 3-1 in the other Group A meeting to ensure things are finely poised going into the second round of matches.

The 16 goals scored through the opening four matches of Euro 2024 so far are the most netted at this point of a European Championships or World Cup since Euro '76 (19).

Using Opta data, we take a look at some of the other standout statistics from Saturday's action in Germany.

Hungary 1-3 Switzerland: Swiss start in style

Switzerland have only lost one of their last 15 games across all competitions (W7 D7), a 1-0 defeat to Romania in November 2023, after opening their Group A campaign with a 3-1 victory over Hungary.

It was a tale of two emphatic maiden performances for the Swiss as Kwadwo Duah and Michel Aebischer became only the third and fourth players to score on their European Championship debut for Switzerland.

That first-half dominance saw both players score their first-ever senior international goal, too, in what was Duah's second appearance and Aebischer's 21st for Switzerland.

Aebischer also teed up Duah's well-taken opener in Cologne as the full-back became the first Switzerland player ever to both score and assist a goal in the same match at the Euros.

Barnabas Varga – who became the fifth Hungarian to score on his European Championship debut – pulled one back with his seventh goal in his last 10 international appearances, with assisted help from Hungary's ever-reliant Dominik Szoboszlai.

Since the start of 2023, Liverpool midfielder Szoboszlai has had a hand in 10 goals across 15 international appearances (six goals, four assists), though the Hungary captain could not stop a familiar European fate for Marco Rossi's men.

Breel Embolo's cool, late lob sealed victory to leave Hungary with just two wins from their 12 matches at the European Championships (D4 L6), a win rate of 17 per cent. Among nations with five-plus games at the finals, only Romania (six per cent) and Poland (14 per cent) have a lower success ratio.

This win also marked a special moment for Ricardo Rodriguez, who appeared for a 22nd game at a major international tournament (Euros/World Cup) – the outright most of any player for the nation.

Spain 3-0 Croatia: Young guns steal spotlight

Spain got a statement win against Croatia in their Euro 2024 opener, beginning a European Championship tournament with a victory by 3+ goals for just the second time, after their 4-1 win against Russia on MD1 of Euro 2008.

The spotlight was shining on Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest-ever player to feature at the Euros, capping his historic appearance for La Roja with an assist for Dani Carvajal, who became Spain's oldest-ever goalscorer in the competition at 32 years and 156 days, on the stroke of half-time.

In Yamal (16y 338d) and Pedri (21y 203d), Spain are the first side to have at least two players aged 21 or under create at least three chances for a side in a game at the Euros since Germany against Czechia in June 2004 (Phillip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski).

Fifteen years Yamal's senior, Morata became Spain's outright second-highest goalscorer at major international tournaments with 10, and needs only three more to equal David Villa's record of 13.

It was not the dominant performance people have come to expect from Spain though, as they had less possession than their opponents (47 per cent) for the first time in a competitive match since the Euro 2008 final, which they won against Germany (46 per cent), ending a run of 136 such matches where they had the majority of the ball.

On the opposite side of the field, Luka Modric became the oldest player since Lothar Matthaus to appear in the European Championships at 38y 280d, but his experience could not prevent Croatia from suffering their joint-heaviest ever defeat at a major international tournament following 3-0 defeats to Portugal at Euro 1996 and Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.

The Croatia captain also became just the third European player to appear in as many as nine separate editions of major international tournaments, after Matthaus (nine) and Cristiano Ronaldo (10, before Euro 2024).

Italy 2-1 Albania: Azzurri nightmare soon turns into dream start

As the reigning champions, Italy would have been fearing the worst after conceding the fastest goal in Euros history – Nedim Bajrami scored after just 23 seconds when Federico Dimarco gifted him a throw-in.

However, Alessandro Bastoni's 11th-minute equaliser soon settled the nerves, with this the third-earliest time a game at the European Championships has seen both teams score, after Iceland v England in 2016 (sixth minute) and Russia v Spain in 1964 (eighth minute).

The turnaround was complete with Nicolo Barella's 10th strike for the national side, and his goal-scoring touch proved golden once more – Italy have won all 10 games in which he has found the back of the net.

Despite not getting on the scoresheet for the Azzurri, Federico Chiesa also impressed as he became the first player at the Euros to record at least three shots, three successful dribbles (four) and win possession in the final third at least three times since Denmark's Mikkel Damsgaard against Belgium in June 2021.

Albania's goal came from their only shot on target in the match, though it means they have now scored in back-to-back games in the competition for the first time. Now, they need to find just their second-ever win at this tournament against Croatia on Wednesday.

The Eagles will be glad to see the back of Italy having lost all five of their previous meetings with them in all competitions. However, only three teams have ever beaten them more times, with Spain, who they face in their final group game, topping that list (eight).

Luciano Spalletti warned Italy must show more intent to attack despite their 2-1 comeback victory over Albania in Saturday's Euro 2024 victory.

Italy won their opening match at the European Championships for a third straight time (also in 2016 and 2020 editions), after doing so only twice in their first eight such appearances (D5 L1).

The Azzurri needed a fightback performance, however, after falling behind Nedim Bajrami's thumping strike after 23 seconds for Albania against Italy, the fastest goal ever scored in Euros history.

Alessandro Bastoni headed level soon after, though, before Nicolo Barella's 10th international goal proved the difference to send Italy level on points with Spain at the top of Group B.

Yet Spalletti was far from impressed with parts of Italy's game despite the Azzurri becoming just the third side to score in 10 successive Euros outings, after England in 2012 (11) and Portugal in 2004 (10).

"We saw many good things, but they need to actually take us somewhere, otherwise they are pointless," the Italy head coach told RAI Sport.

"There was the possibility to hurt them several times and we didn't go for it.

"We prepared the move well, then passed it backwards. We changed our minds too quickly."

Barella was a doubt after missing both warm-up friendlies but returned with vengeance to guide his side to victory.

Spalletti grew frustrated when asked if Italy are reliant on midfield maestro Barella, however.

"A national team must be able to do without anyone, because there are 26 strong players," Spalletti responded to questioning over the Inter star's influence.

"I don't like this idea that the team depends on an individual."

Barella, meanwhile, was delighted with Italy's response to Albania's record-breaking opener.

"It was a bit of a strange start, an opening goal after 23 seconds could really hurt the players psychologically," Barella told Sky Sport Italia.

"However, we wanted this victory, we should've scored more goals and fell away a bit at the end, but we started on the right foot with this win."

Zlatko Dalic was left to apologise for Croatia's woeful Euro 2024 showing on Saturday against Spain, whose head coach Luis de la Fuente heaped praise on teenage star Lamine Yamal.

Spain opened a European Championship tournament with a victory by 3+ goals for just a second time, following their 4-1 win against Russia on MD1 at Euro 2008, after a 3-0 triumph against Croatia.

Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Carvajal were all on target in a dominant first half, while Bruno Petkovic had a late goal ruled out after his penalty was saved and Ivan Perisic encroached to setup the striker's rebounded finish.

The defeat marked Croatia's joint-heaviest ever defeat at a major international tournament (Euros/World Cup), following 3-0 losses against Portugal at Euro 1996 and Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.

Dalic could only offer his apologies to the travelling Croatia fans after an underwhelming Group B showing in Berlin.

"It was a great atmosphere," the 57-year-old Dalic, who led Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final and semi-finals of the same tournament four years later.

"I apologise for this bad show today. We were not aggressive enough.

"I hope this was just a bad day."

Yet the opening win largely centered around Yamal, who became the youngest player to ever feature at the European Championships after appearing aged just 16 years and 338 days.

The Barcelona winger saw his inviting cross prodded home by Carvajal for La Roja's third goal, much to the delight of Spain boss De La Fuente.

"Yamal is impressing everyone and going up through the levels," De la Fuente said.

"He has to keep improving every day, and over time he will become a wonderful footballer."

De La Fuente also reserved special praise for Fabian, who teed up Morata's opener after 29 minutes.

"[Fabian] is at the top level," he added. "Based on what we see from him on a daily basis, he's fantastic. He has brilliant technique.

"We should recognise the quality that he has. He has real imagination."

Italy opened their Euro 2024 title defence with victory after overcoming a record-breaking early strike from Albania to triumph with a 2-1 comeback win at Signal Iduna Park.

The reigning European champions were shocked early on when Nedim Bajrami hammered home after just 23 seconds for the fastest goal in European Championship history.

Alessandro Bastoni soon levelled with a routine header, however, before Nicolo Barella's fizzing finish muted Albania's short-lived celebrations in their first Group B encounter.

The Azzurri, champions just three years ago at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, never appeared troubled after the interval as Italy moved level on points with Spain, who hammered Croatia 3-0 earlier on Saturday.

Backed by thousands of Albanian supporters in Dortmund, Bajrami stunned the defending champions with his record-breaking strike after less than 30 seconds of action.

A sloppy Federico Dimarco throw-in proved Italy's undoing as Bajrami powered into the area before launching into the top-right corner past the helpless Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Yet Luciano Spalletti's side soon turned things around with two goals in the space of six first-half minutes.

Lorenzo Pellegrini lifted a well-worked short corner towards the far post, where Bastoni headed in with ease, before Barella arrowed a perfect half-volley past Thomas Strakosha from the edge of the box.

Matters almost worsened for Sylvinho's team, but Strakosha produced an expert reflex save to push Davide Frattesi's deft lob against the left-hand post and away from danger.

A far more subdued opening to the second half followed as Albania dominated possession without reward, though Federico Chiesa went close for Italy when driving a rocketed effort wide of the top-left corner.

Donnarumma was, however, required late on to keep Italy's lead intact, racing out to deny Rey Manaj's chip, though somehow the referee gave a goal-kick in the dying seconds.

Youthful Italy respond emphatically

An eye-catching Bajrami strike ensured Italy conceded the opening goal in successive European Championship games for the first time since a three-game run between June 2004 and June 2008.

Yet that fast start proved to matter little as Spalletti's side, who are attempting to become just the second team to win back-to-back Euros after Spain (2008, 2012), roared back with an emphatic response.

Bastoni headed in just his second international goal on his 24th appearance, with both strikes coming on German soil, before Barella's 10th goal for Italy returned Spalletti's men to their expected course.

A dominant performance followed with a showing belying their youthful age as Italy fielded their youngest starting line-up (26 years and 287 days) at the Euros since June 1988 – against the Soviet Union in the semi-finals (25y 2d).

Albania's Azzurri struggles persist

Bajrami's goal was just Albania's second ever at the European Championships and shattered the record for the fastest strike in the tournament's 64-year history.

Yet it was a familiar tale for Sylvinho's side, who have now lost their last five meetings with Italy across all competitions after a remarkable turnaround in the first half.

Albania will be desperate to respond when they meet Croatia on Wednesday, aiming to add to their sole Euros victory that came in a 1-0 win over Romania in the final group game of the 2016 edition.