Mel Reid moved to within a shot of the lead at the second women’s major of the year – nine months after quitting golf.
Ireland’s Leona Maguire fired four late birdies in a second round 68 to take the halfway lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in New Jersey, one clear of a group on four-under which includes England’s Reid after her 67.
She was joined by China’s Xiyu Lin and Norwegian rookie Celine Borge with first round leader Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa and Australia’s Minjee Lee, chasing her second major title after a second round 67.
For Reid, it is a big change from deciding to give up playing due to injury.
“I legit quit,” she said. “When I got my injury, I tried to play through it, which I kind of felt I had to. In September I literally told Carly (her wife), I’m going into the media, I’m not playing golf anymore.
“With things like that, if you just give me a bit of space, I do kind of work it out myself.
“I missed the competitiveness of it and I thought let’s give it one more go. I’ve just been really enjoying myself this year.”
Maguire birdied four of her final six holes as she took the halfway lead in a major for the first time.
“This is uncharted territory for me,” Maguire said. “Whatever happens this week, I’m sure I’ll learn a lot, and just sort of taking it one day at a time.
“I think this golf course demands that. I think you can’t think more than one shot ahead, let alone a hole or a round ahead.”
Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow shot a second round 68 to be in a group on one-under with only 15 players under par on the Lower Course at Baltusrol.
World number nine Lexi Thompson birdied her last four holes to sneak inside the cut at four-over-par, but England’s Georgia Hall, Charley Hull, Bronte Law and Laura Davies all missed out, alongside world number two Nelly Korda, number four Lilia Vi and number six Atthaya Thitikul.
Dan Mousley shone with bat and ball as Birmingham Bears clinched a Vitality Blast quarter-final spot with a convincing 53-run win over rivals Worcestershire on Friday.
Mousley hit 51 in his side’s imposing 228 for four and then took four for 41 as the Rapids were restricted to 175 for nine by the North Group leaders.
Rob Yates also scored 59 for the Bears and Glenn Maxwell added 44 from 20 deliveries while Mitchell Santner top-scored for the visitors with 56.
South Group leaders Somerset secured a home quarter-final with a tight four-wicket win over Gloucestershire at Taunton.
The hosts made a fine start as they reduced Gloucestershire to nine for three but Grant Roelofsen’s 52 and an unbeaten 42 from Jack Taylor helped the visitors post a competitive 186 for eight.
Will Smeed cracked 78 from 42 balls in reply but it took further contributions from Ben Green (37), Kasey Aldridge (32no) and Craig Overton (17no) to ensure the job was completed with three balls to spare.
Elsewhere, Daniel Bell-Drummond smashed a century and Grant Stewart took a hat-trick as Kent claimed a crushing 55-run win over Middlesex.
Bell-Drummond hit 12 fours and four sixes in a 58-ball 111 and shared in a 127-run opening stand with Tawanda Muyeye (50) as Kent ran up 228 for three.
Middlesex were bowled out for 173 in 19 overs in reply as George Linde, Joey Evison and Stewart each took three wickets.
England white-ball captain Jos Buttler hit a 39-ball 83 with six sixes and eight fours as Lancashire beat Derbyshire by 27 runs in a rain-affected match at Old Trafford.
Liam Livingstone added an unbeaten 47 as the Lightning made 177 for four from their reduced allocation of 15 overs.
Derbyshire could muster just 150 for seven in response.
Chris Lynn (62) and Saif Zaib (55) hit half-centuries as Northamptonshire powered to an emphatic 92-run win over the North Group’s bottom side Leicestershire.
The pair put on 114 for the third wicket to help the Steelbacks to 210 for seven.
The Foxes then crumbled to 118 all out despite 49 from England squad member Rehan Ahmed. Ben Sanderson was the pick of the bowling with three for 20 as the Steelbacks kept themselves in the quarter-final picture.
Shadab Khan struck 87 from 53 balls as Sussex beat Glamorgan by 20 runs. The Pakistan all-rounder hit five fours and five sixes in his side’s 182 for six at Cardiff.
Cam Fletcher top-scored with 57 in reply and Sam Northeast weighed in with 44 but Glamorgan fell short after Brad Currie and Tymal Mills took two wickets apiece.
Hampshire beat Essex by four wickets by four wickets after 76 from captain James Vince in a close finish in Southampton.
James Fuller also scored 56 but Benny Howell’s 36no and a late flurry from Liam Dawson were also needed for the hosts to reach their target of 210 in the last over.
Dan Lawrence (70) and Feroze Khushi (61) were the mainstays of Essex’s 209 for seven after putting on 127 for the first wicket.
The encounter between Durham and Yorkshire at the Riverside was declared a no result after rain intervened. Yorkshire were 49 for one after 8.1 overs when play was abandoned.
Harriet Dart is confident her game is heading in the right direction after her run at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham was ended by a narrow quarter-final loss to Anastasia Potapova.
Dart defeated top-30 player Anhelina Kalinina for the second week in a row to reach the last eight but was unable to capitalise on a good start against fourth seed Potapova, losing out 4-6 6-3 6-4.
It has been a difficult season for Dart, who has plummeted out of the top 100 after a breakthrough year in 2022, but the 26-year-old has found her form on grass and this was a second consecutive quarter-final appearance following on from Nottingham last week.
“I thought it was a really high-level match,” said Dart, who has been awarded a wild card for Eastbourne next week.
“I don’t think I served particularly very well but managed to find a way to get ahead with the first set. I definitely had a lot of chances. But overall a positive week.
“Of course I wanted to do better today and to keep going but it’s important just to keep building week in, week out to be able to compete with the best players in the world.
“And to also be realistic. This is grass, it’s a unique surface. I really enjoy these couple of weeks and just to try and use this momentum for the rest of the season.
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“Today I played someone who’s 21 in the world and lost 6-4 in the third, and I think there’s a lot of areas I can improve on, so it’s heading in the right direction.”
Dart struggled with her serve throughout the match but managed to win the opening set despite five double faults, producing some fine shots from the back of the court, and she made the first move in the second set with a break for 2-1.
But Potapova, ranked 21st, began to punish Dart’s second serve and the Russian turned the match around with a run of four games in a row, cutting down on the errors that had blighted her game.
Dart recovered from 3-1 down in the deciding set to level at 3-3 but Potapova’s heavy groundstrokes were taking their toll and the Russian broke again before serving out the victory.
Potapova next faces second seed Jelena Ostapenko, who mounted an impressive comeback from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-2.
The Latvian played until after 8pm on Thursday night in her victory over Venus Williams and was back on court on Friday lunchtime to take on Pole Frech.
Ostapenko needed treatment for a left calf problem and at one stage looked like she might not finish the match but she managed to turn things around in the second set before taking the decider.
“It was very little time to recover from yesterday because we finished very late,” she said.
“I was struggling as well with my left calf. I was thinking at some point maybe I should not continue but there is a fighter inside of me so I want to play until I cannot walk or something.
“After winning the second set I felt like I was playing better and my footwork was there. I’m really glad to manage to win this match.”
Top seed Barbora Krejcikova is through to the last four for the first time at a grass-court event having beaten teenage compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2, and the Czech will take on China’s Zhu Lin, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Rebecca Marino.
Christopher Nkunku has vowed to “give everything” for Chelsea after completing his move to Stamford Bridge.
The France forward this week signed a six-year contract with the Blues as the club finalised his reported £63million switch from RB Leipzig.
The 25-year-old had committed to moving to Stamford Bridge when he signed a pre-contract agreement last December.
Chelsea will hope he can bolster an attack that scored only 38 goals in the Premier League last season.
“We can say that I am a hard worker,” Nkunku told the club’s website, chelseafc.com. “I will give everything for the club, for the fans and to help the team bring some trophies, to give the best of my football.
“I hope I will make them as happy as I am to be here at this club.”
Nkunku scored 23 goals in 36 appearances for Leipzig in an injury-hit 2022-23 in which he was forced to miss the World Cup.
Chelsea’s struggles in the second half of last season, when they limped to a 12th-placed finish, have not dampened his enthusiasm for the move.
He said: “I think the project was good for me. It is a good project for me to develop myself as a player and a man also.
“And this is a good city, after all, and for sure I want to improve in football and I want to win trophies and improve myself also.”
Nkunku is the first new player to arrive at Chelsea since former Tottenham and Paris St Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino was appointed as manager.
The pair have not yet met.
“I have not had a chance to speak to him, not yet,” said Nkunku, who began his career at PSG.
“I spoke to some of my friends from Paris about him a little bit. I speak about him a little bit with some of the players.
“They told me that he’s a very good coach and I’m excited to work with him.”
Bournemouth have signed winger Justin Kluivert from Italian club Roma for an undisclosed fee.
The 24-year-old, who was capped twice by the Netherlands in 2018, has agreed a “long-term contract” at Vitality Stadium.
He becomes the Premier League club’s first signing since the appointment of head coach Andoni Iraola following the sacking of Gary O’Neil.
Cherries chief executive Neill Blake said in a statement: “We are delighted to have made Justin our first signing ahead of the new season.
“He was coveted by a number of clubs across Europe and his arrival is a sign of his ambition which is matched by ours.
“Justin is an exciting and versatile attacking player who has an eye for goal. He is pacey, direct and boasts a high level of technical ability.”
Kluivert, the son of former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert, began his career at Ajax before moving to Serie A in 2018.
He scored nine goals in 68 appearances for Roma and spent last season on loan at Valencia following similar spells with RB Leipzig and Nice.
Tammy Beaumont insisted she would only take satisfaction from her maiden Test hundred if it counts towards an England victory in the Women’s Ashes series opener.
Beaumont reached three figures in the penultimate over of day two, going to stumps unbeaten on exactly 100 as England closed on 218 for two having rallied after Australia posted a formidable 473 all out.
She rode her luck as she was dropped on four while leg-spinner Alana King twice found the England opener’s inside edge after she had passed her fifty – the first looped over the short-leg fielder while the second struck Beaumont’s boot on the full before being caught but Australia neglected to review.
Despite admitting she has ticked an item from her bucket list in compiling an Ashes Test ton, Beaumont will rank its significance at the end of the match which marks the start of the multi-format series.
“There were probably moments where I thought I wasn’t going to face enough balls to get there but it put the team in a good position,” she said.
“If we go on to win this Test match then it would be right up there. It’s great to tick it off and as a kid, I dreamt of scoring an Ashes Test hundred. But as I’ve gone on, it’s contributing to the team.
“If you apply yourself as a batter there’s definitely runs out there to be had and so far our batters have pretty much looked at ease.
“I guess I got lucky with one but then again I’ve probably had a couple of unlucky decisions in the last month or so in regional cricket – luck came at the right time.”
This innings a decade on from her Test debut carried Beaumont into an exclusive group as just the second woman to register a ton across all three international formats, joining England captain Heather Knight, with whom she shared a crucial 115-run stand as the hosts launched a robust fightback.
“Heather said to me when I came into the changing room ‘welcome to the club’ – I didn’t realise she meant the all three formats one, I thought she just meant an Ashes hundred,” the 32-year-old said.
“It’s always good to look back at personal milestones and nice to tick that one off – something that I thought probably might evade me as I’m coming to the later half of my career.”
With Nat Sciver-Brunt unable to bowl on Friday after jarring her right knee – she fielded and later batted, registering a fluent 41 not out – England’s bowlers were understaffed on a flat pitch.
But Sophie Ecclestone rose to the challenge as she claimed a maiden five-wicket haul in Tests, a fitting reward following 46.2 overs of hard toil, and Beaumont cheekily suggested afterwards the slow left-armer could be an option for the men’s side as doubts swirl over Moeen Ali’s readiness for Lord’s.
“There’s not enough adjectives for how good Sophie Ecclestone is and how good she can be,” Beaumont added.
“To bowl 40-odd overs in the first innings of a Test match, how she held an end like she did and also challenge to look like she would take wickets consistently – maybe if Mo’s finger doesn’t hold up, she’ll have to go off there or something.”
Australia added 235 for the last four wickets, largely thanks to a maiden international century from Annabel Sutherland, whose highest score in 33 previous internationals in all formats was 35.
But she capitalised on England’s aching limbs – they were kept in the field for 124.2 overs – to record the fastest Test hundred by an Australian woman off only 148 balls.
She showed the enviable depth of Australia’s batting pool with the highest score by a number eight in women’s Tests and there was no keeping her out of the game as she snared Emma Lamb before Beaumont and Knight, who registered a composed 57, redressed the balance at Trent Bridge.
“It’s pretty special. I’m not sure it’s quite sunken in yet,” she said.
“It’s something you dream of growing up. To do that job for the team was pretty cool.”
“A paradigm shift for boxing in Jamaica,” is how Jamaica Boxing Board President, Stephen ‘Bomber’ Jones described the country’s newest platform for boxers to show off their skills, Wray & Nephew Fight Nights.
“These are exciting times. I think the events will speak for themselves in terms of how we shift the paradigm of boxing in Jamaica going forward,” Jones said at the launch of the event on Wednesday.
“I want to thank Wray & Nephew. They bought into the vision of the Boxing board when our mandate was to expand the footprint of the sport island wide and now, that we’ve got to another level and with the mandate changing to expanding the footprint globally, they didn’t miss a beat,” he added.
The idea, according to Jones, is to have a Pro Am card at least eight times a year with at least six amateur bouts and two professional fights.
The first card will take place at the Kling Kling Oval in Olympic Gardens on July 1 and will be headlined by a pro fight between Jermaine ‘Breezy’ Richards and Omar ‘Crane’ Edmund. The night will also feature seven amateur bouts.
“Breezy who is the main event is a 2-0 fighter and the idea is, if he wins on July 1, that, by next year this time with his proper management and his promoter, you’d have watched him get to at least 9-0 and where there’s a Breezy, we have many more boxers,” Jones said.
“Where it is that we were turning boxers into world champions once every decade, the idea is now to be always having, year after year, talented Jamaican boxers with an opportunity to get a title fight,” he added.
Jones says he wants to use this platform to help Jamaica produce home-grown world champions in the sport.
“It’s common knowledge that for decades, Jamaica has been producing world champions from all different categories and weight classes. People like Mike McCallum, Trevor Berbick and Nicholas ‘Axeman’ Walters to name a few. What those boxers have in common was that they all had to chart their career overseas. This Wray & Nephew Fight Night series is about to change that,” said Jones.
“This is about putting our local boxers on the face of international boxing,” said Wray & Nephew Marketing Manager, Pavel Smith.
“You don’t have to now go overseas to develop your career. You can stay right here, train at the local gyms and have an opportunity to build your professional career and have your title fights here in Jamaica,” he added.
Former West Indies opener, Chris Gayle, the self-proclaimed Universe Boss, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Toronto Blue Jays’ inaugural Cricket Day on Saturday, June 24 and he wants everyone to come see him do it.
Known worldwide as one of the most destructive batters in world cricket, the charismatic Gayle is in Toronto, Canada as a special guest and had a batting practice session prior to the big day on Saturday.
“I’m town, Toronto just comes alive. So tomorrow is Blue Jays Cricket Day and Universe Boss will be doing the first pitch. You don’t want to miss that one,” Gayle declared in a short video on Twitter. “It’s going to be epic; 95 miles per hour pitch from the Universe Boss. You don’t wanna miss it.”
In addition to throwing out the first pitch and engaging in batting sessions, Gayle is also expected to be involved in other activities expected to excite fans in the Canadian city.
Rob Burrow’s daughters Macy and Maya played a starring role ahead of Leeds Rhinos’ Betfred Super League clash against Huddersfield Giants at Headingley on Friday.
The duo led a dance performance and also teamed up to conduct the pre-match interviews with respective coaches Rohan Smith and Ian Watson as part of a ‘Burrow Family Takeover’ in the Rhinos’ annual MND Awareness game.
Smith dodged Macy’s cutting question about his favourite player by responding: “I think my favourite player is your dad”, while Maya nudged Watson into revealing he was “a bit nervous” given the magnitude of the match.
Burrow’s four-year-old son Jackson also had a crucial job as he presented a special Rob Burrow/MND Association match ball to referee Ben Thaler.
Burrow was set to pick the man of the match after what Smith described as a “mini Grand Final”, with both clubs clinging onto increasingly tenuous hopes of landing a play-off place.
The Rhinos wore their special Doddie Weir celebration shirt for the fixture, from which 20 per cent of all gate receipts would be donated to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation set up by the late Scotland rugby union forward who died last year of motor neurone disease, the same condition afflicting Burrow.
Harriet Dart’s run at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham ended in the quarter-finals with defeat by Anastasia Potapova.
Dart defeated top-30 player Anhelina Kalinina for the second week in a row to reach the last eight but was unable to capitalise on a good start against fourth seed Potapova, losing out 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Dart struggled with her serve throughout the match but managed to win the opening set despite five double faults, producing some fine shots from the back of the court.
The 26-year-old was bidding to reach a first WTA semi-final having lost three previous quarter-finals, all on the British grass, and she made the first move in the second set with a break for 2-1.
But Potapova, ranked 21st, began to punish Dart’s second serve and the Russian turned the match around with a run of four games in a row, cutting down on the errors that had blighted her game.
Dart recovered from 3-1 down in the deciding set to level at 3-3 but Potapova’s heavy groundstrokes were taking their toll and the Russian broke again before serving out the victory.
It has nevertheless been a strong tournament for Dart to back up last week’s run to the last eight in Nottingham, and she will have another chance to pick up more wins ahead of Wimbledon having been awarded a wild card for next week’s tournament in Eastbourne.
Potapova next faces second seed Jelena Ostapenko, who mounted an impressive comeback from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-2.
The Latvian played until after 8pm on Thursday night in her victory over Venus Williams and was back on court on Friday lunchtime to take on Pole Frech.
Ostapenko needed treatment for a left calf problem and at one stage looked like she might not finish the match but she managed to turn things around in the second set before taking the decider.
“It was very little time to recover from yesterday because we finished very late,” she said.
“I was struggling as well with my left calf. I was thinking at some point maybe I should not continue but there is a fighter inside of me so I want to play until I cannot walk or something.
“After winning the second set I felt like I was playing better and my footwork was there. I’m really glad to manage to win this match.”
Top seed Barbora Krejcikova is through to the last four for the first time at a grass-court event having beaten teenage compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2, and the Czech will take on China’s Zhu Lin, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Rebecca Marino.
Brendan Rodgers is intent on improving Celtic’s fortunes in Europe as he prepares to return to the Champions League stage.
The newly-appointed Hoops manager had two cracks at the continent’s elite competition during his previous stint at the club in 2016 and 2017, but mustered only three points on each occasion.
When the Hoops got back into the Champions League group phase last year under Ange Postecoglou, they collected just two points.
Rodgers admits the tournament poses a formidable challenge for any Scottish club, but he believes it is possible for Celtic to become more competitive.
“Your bread and butter is always Scotland, you have to ensure that you have dominance here,” he said. “But I’d like to think we can do something in Europe.
“It’s well documented over the years when the club hasn’t qualified (for the Champions League) or hasn’t had a great record in terms of European football, so even though that’s a challenge in terms of the resources other clubs in Europe have, it’s a great challenge for us.
“We’ve got Champions League football this season and we hope to have European football after Christmas, that’s a great challenge for us all.”
Rodgers would love to lead Celtic to the last 16 of the Champion League, while even parachuting into the latter stages of the Europa League would represent progress on previous campaigns.
“We all know the challenges of the Champions League and if you can get through to the knockout stages, that’s a big step for a Scottish team,” he said.
“When you go into Europe, there are competitions now where, with that little bit of luck and quality, you can go a long way.
“For us, it’s about getting through a qualification phase and seeing where it can take us. Europe is a great challenge for us, and it’s something we have to embrace.”
Wolves have confirmed the departure of captain Ruben Neves to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal for a club record £47million.
The Portugal midfielder scored 30 goals in 253 appearances during six seasons at Molineux.
Neves wiped away tears in an emotional video posted on the Premier League club’s Twitter account, saying he had made “thousands of memories which will last forever”.
Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs told his club’s website: “Ruben is the embodiment of everything you look for when trying to bring players into a football club: a leader, a humble man and an extremely talented footballer who took Wolves to a different level.
“He was part of a great era for this club and will go down as one of our best ever players.
“We are grateful for everything he has done for Wolves and wish him and his family the very best for the future.”
Neves, who had one year remaining on his contract, was part of the Wolves team which won the Sky Bet Championship title in 2018 following his move from Porto.
The 26-year-old then helped Wanderers to two consecutive seventh-placed finishes in the top flight, in addition to an FA Cup semi-final in 2019 and the Europa League quarter-finals in 2020.
He becomes the latest high-profile player to move to Saudi Arabia.
Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante have already completed free transfers to Al Ittihad this month, while Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Al Nassr in December.
Shortly before announcing the deal, Wolves posted a video on social media in which Neves sobbed and struggled to contain his emotions.
“Wolves, six seasons, 253 games, champions of the Championship, five years of Premier League football, an FA Cup semi-final, our European adventure and some huge wins,” he said.
“And thousands of memories which will last forever, what an unbelievable journey. I’ve worked with so many great people along the way.
“Every single moment was unforgettable.”
Brendan Rodgers is relishing the opportunity to build on the “great foundation” left by Ange Postecoglou at Celtic.
The Northern Irishman has returned to take charge of the Hoops on the back of a campaign in which his predecessor won five of the six domestic trophies available, including a treble last season, before leaving earlier this month to become manager of Tottenham.
Rodgers admits it is rare for him to take on a new job when the team is already in such a position of strength and he feels the fact he shares similar ideas to Postecoglou about how the game should be played can help ensure a smooth transition.
“I come to a club for one of the very few times in my career where it has an upward feel to it,” he said. “A lot of the jobs I’ve gone into, the teams have been suffering and I’ve gone in to pick it up.
“Here I’ve come in with a great foundation on the back of the great work Ange has done over the last couple of years.
“I’ve not spoken to Ange, but I’ve exchanged messages with him. I’ve spoken in depth to John Kennedy who has been a pivotal person at the club and who will be my assistant.
“I’ve obviously watched Celtic as well. The football philosophy is not too different in terms of how we would work and how a Celtic manager is perceived to work with his team.
“It’s an attacking club. You have to win and you have to win stylistically in a certain way. Ange has obviously done that and hopefully in my period to follow we’ll be able to continue doing that. It’s a continuation of that and hopefully building on that.”
Rodgers is “excited” about the squad he has inherited but is keen to make quality additions over the coming months ahead of the Champions League, which gets under way in September.
“It’s a good time to strengthen whenever you’ve done so well,” he said. “A team coming off the back of a treble, I’ve been in that position before and we were able to do another treble, so I understand the feeling now over the course of the summer and what it is you need over this period, and that will be about strengthening.
“I’m also really excited to work with the players here because it’s a young squad and there is still a lot of growth within that. I’m really looking forward to getting to see them over the course of pre-season.
“There’s only a few players that were here from when I was here. It’s an exciting squad and now is a really good time to add to it.”
So far in the ICC Word Cup Qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe, the West Indies have had it relatively easy.
Firstly, they picked up a 39-run win over the USA on Sunday then a dominant 101-run win over Nepal on Thursday.
On Saturday, they are expected to face their first big test when they take on the hosts, Zimbabwe, who are also undefeated after two games.
Zimbabwe have had a pair of successful chases in their first two encounters. They needed only 44.1 overs and lost only two wickets on their way to overhauling 290 made by Nepal in their first game before needing even less time, 40.1 overs to be exact, to chase down 315 against the Netherlands in their second game.
West Indies batsman, Nicholas Pooran, says the Caribbean side is looking forward to the challenge of the in-form Zimbabweans.
“We expect the fans to come out and support Zimbabwe,” Pooran said.
“We’re playing international cricket and the home fans normally come out and support so it’s just going to be a normal game for us but again, the Zimbabwe fans are really passionate as well so we’re looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge against them,” Pooran added before emphasizing that every game they play in this tournament should be considered big.
“Every game is a big game so we don’t want to get into the habit of saying that USA or Nepal aren’t big games. They’re all big games but, in saying that, it’s nice to have batsmen that are in form going into a game like that. We all know that we need to be consistent and keep putting our hands up when the team needs us to,” he said.
The 27-year-old, who also got 115 against Nepal in the last game, also commented on the early start times of the matches and the condition of the Zimbabwean pitches.
“It makes the games very even,” said Pooran of the early start times.
“Obviously, the games are starting at 9:00 am here and there’s some moisture in the pitch. We know as a group that we need to fight that period out and, if we do that, it can be a really good cricketing pitch. I think the game becomes very equal and it’s all about who embraces the moment,” he added.
As it relates to the conditions, “it’s beautiful” was Pooran’s response.
“Coming from the Caribbean, I personally didn’t expect the wickets to be that good in Zimbabwe but I’ll take this any day,” he added.
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