Robbie Llewellyn may have TV cameos in Games Of Thrones to his name but it is victory on the racecourse that is fuelling his ambition as he paves his way in the training ranks.

Many would dine out on donning the armour of a Dothraki knight in the popular TV blockbuster, but the 33-year-old has no desire to reminisce about his brief stay in the fantasy land of Westeros and has always held the desire to train racehorses.

Llewellyn’s journey to the training fraternity has seen him excel in the pointing field and assist Tim Vaughan before an epiphany during Covid finally convinced him to roll the dice and commit to taking on a trainer’s licence.

From that moment on, survival entered the equation as starting from the bottom, Llewellyn and his wife Sarah upped sticks to a flat in Wiltshire and began navigating the treacherous world of training racehorses.

It was a move the unassuming Welshman describes as a “calculated punt” and two years on the flat is now a house and his initial 24-horse barn is set to be doubled as he begins expanding his empire.

Llewellyn said: “We didn’t have a lot of money starting off so we couldn’t go out and buy the fancier-bred or expensive horses and we’ve had to work our way up from the bottom.

“Surviving is the biggest thing at the moment and there is no massive grand ambition. But if we can keep going as we are and try to increase the quality – as well as the Monday-to-Friday stuff we want to be competing on the Saturday – that would be good.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my wife Sarah, we took a gamble and moved up from Wales to Wroughton. We rented a two-bedroom flat round the corner and rented a 24-box barn and had three horses, two of which we owned ourselves.

“It’s expensive to get going, and you have to cut the costs when you can to get going. But that was just over two years ago and now we have a barn of 24 full and we have just taken on another barn now which we might have licensed next season I would have thought.

“It was a bit of a punt, but a calculated punt because I guess I knew I could earn money elsewhere if it didn’t work out training wise. We’ve now got a house on the farm right next to the horses, so if it all went Pete Tong tomorrow, it wouldn’t matter because we have a house.”

Life towards the bottom end of the racing ladder is all about maximising returns on a budget, and Llewellyn is always on the search for the next value buy to add quality to his team.

He added: “We have to think about the way we do things and we can’t just turn up at the sales and pick the flashy stuff, we have got to look at things from a different angle really. We’re on the button, looking at sellers, claimers, we have to be ‘on it’ all the time.

“I’ve been lucky, I had some supportive owners before I took the licence out and I was lucky a few owners sent me horses to train to get me up and running and the business going.

“I think every single owner who had horses with us before we had a licence has had a winner with us now and that is what I’m most proud of. It’s great the people who started with us when no one knew us are beginning to have success and enjoying it as much as we are.”

Having initially done his training modules aged 18, Llewellyn tried his hand riding in the pointing field before hanging up the saddle to train ‘between the flags’ for Welshman David Brace.

That gave Llewellyn the bug and having always wanted to train, it was his time assisting Vaughan that convinced him he held the knowledge required to become his own boss.

“I kind of had a free rein for David Brace training his pointers for him and we won two owners’ championships and I always wanted to train but just didn’t know how we could do it,” he explained.

“Working two seasons as an assistant to Tim Vaughan, I realised there wasn’t such a big step to go and Covid was the first time in my life I realised what I wanted to do. If I was going to train I didn’t want to get to 50 and regret not giving it a go when I was 30.”

It is remiss to ignore the part Llewellyn’s dalliance with the big screen has played in his journey, but the trainer is keen to stress he is far from an Academy Award nominee, but simply someone with horses in the right place at the right time.

“I’m no actor and I have no interest in being in front of the camera,” he pointed out.

“I have no interest in talking about the Game Of Thrones stuff really as I don’t want to be known as the film guy and I’m not an actor.

“You’ll never see me do that again. It’s just something I was able to earn a bit of money out of – being able to ride a horse. People get excited about it, but I just needed to earn a few quid and they happened to be filming round the corner from my house and needed someone who is six foot who could ride a horse.”

However, his time working alongside leading film-industry horse supplier The Devil’s Horsemen has opened up some vital revenue streams that have not only helped make training a more viable option, but reaffirmed to Llewellyn it was the avenue he wanted to take in life.

“I now work alongside ‘The Devil’s’,” said Llewellyn. “I worked for them for two years in between leaving David Brace’s and starting at Tim’s, just as a sub-contractor I suppose.

“When I went back into racing they asked me if I could provide some horses for The Crown on Netflix, then we did Dream Horse and since then we’ve done adverts.

“It probably put my life into perspective and that’s how we made the move into training really, doing something because I wanted to do it, not just being somewhere because it was a way of making money.

“I think we have an easy life. When you are working six or seven days a week and 18 hours on a film set, working in racing is easy – coming in and doing something you enjoy every day.”

He went on: “It’s a sideline which enables us to train if I’m honest and we had 20 horses at Newbury for a Coral advert recently which really helps us keep going because with the prize-money as it is, it’s a tight game to make money in. It means the business survives and takes the pressure off.”

Now in his third season with a licence, Llewellyn has easily eclipsed last season’s tally of five and saddled 15 winners at just past the halfway stage of the campaign.

Operating at a strike-rate of over 20 per cent, the biggest victories of his career came at Ascot during the the track’s two-day pre-Christmas meeting where Titan Discovery’s triumph on the Friday was quickly supplemented a day later by the success of Top Cloud.

“The Friday was a special day and Titan Discovery is probably the nicest horse we’ve got,” said Llewellyn.

“Owner-breeders Kevin and Anne Glastonbury I’ve known since I was 14 and as soon as I came out of Tim’s, they sent me some young horses to break in and to have a nice horse for them is massive.

“When he got a mark of 104 I thought we might as well have a day out at a nicer meeting and a day out at Ascot while he was on the way up and improving. We thought he had a solid each-way chance, but you still never know when you are taking on the big boys and you always assume one will have a bit more up their sleeve.

“It was magical and to win on the Friday and then come back and win with Top Cloud on the Saturday was a different world to be honest. We paid £8,000 for him and again he was there to give the syndicate a nice day out at Ascot and for him to win made it a special two days.”

Those results have convinced the fledgling handler he is on the right track and has given him the confidence to take on the best in the game again if the opportunities arise.

“We know we can get them fit and know we can place them well, but sometimes you just avoid those type of races because you think it’s Ascot on a Saturday and we’re not good enough,” said Llewellyn.

“Realistically though, we probably are. We still have to be in the right grade, but now just because it’s Ascot on a Saturday, if it’s the right race we can’t just ignore it.

“It’s kind of opened my mind a little bit to say ‘oh come on, let’s have a go’. Training is a confidence game and you are only as good as your last winner.

“At the minute everything is flying so we’ve just got to try to earn as much money as we can and place our horses the best we can with the limited numbers we’ve got.”

Maidstone pulled off one of the great FA Cup upsets on Saturday, beating Championship outfit Ipswich 2-1.

Sam Corne scored the winner in the 66th minute to knock the Tractor Boys out of the competition and send the National League South side into the fifth round.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some memorable FA Cup upsets.

Blyth Spartans 3 Stoke 2 (1978)

Another non-league fourth-round upset saw Northern League side Blyth Spartans hand Stoke an early exit.

Despite Terry Johnson’s early opener, Stoke pulled two goals back, but Steve Carney equalised and Johnson lashed home a winner at the death.

The win set up a fifth-round meeting with Wrexham, who beat them in a replay at St James’ Park.

Crawley 3 Leeds 0 (2021)

In their third-round tie, Marcelo Bielsa’s side were reeling from two goals inside three second-half minutes from Nick Tsaroulla and Ashley Nadesan before Jordan Tunnicliffe finished them off with 20 minutes remaining.

To rub salt in the wounds Crawley even handed a debut to reality TV star Mark Wright as a late substitute, but the only way was out of the cup for Leeds.

Hereford 2 Newcastle 1 (1972)

Southern League Hereford side had earned a 2-2 draw at St James’ Park in February 1972 and were given little chance of emulating that feat in their third-round replay.

It was all going to plan when Newcastle took the lead in a game which had been postponed three times by bad weather.

But Hereford grew stronger as the match went on and Ronnie Radford equalised with a long-range thunderbolt, one of the cup’s most famous ever goals, to take the game into extra time where Ricky George hit the winner.

Sutton 2 Coventry 1 (1989)

Coventry arrived in Surrey just 18 months after winning the 1987 FA Cup, and were riding high in the top flight.

It appeared to be a case of “no contest” against the non-leaguers. But they were left stunned in their third-round meeting as Tony Rains and Matthew Hanlan became the goalscoring heroes for a team fashioned by English teacher Barrie Williams.

Both scorers became instant celebrities, appearing on Terry Wogan’s chat show the following Monday.

Wrexham 2 Arsenal 1 (1992)

The Gunners were the reigning league champions, Wrexham were bottom of the old fourth division – there was only going to be one result at the Racecourse Ground.

Arsenal had taken the lead through Alan Smith in the third-round clash but with 10 minutes to go, 37-year-old Mickey Thomas unleashed a 20-yard free-kick past David Seaman for the equaliser.

The Welsh side could sense an upset and Steve Watkin popped up late on to score the winner and send their illustrious opponents crashing out.

Cambridge 1 Newcastle 0 (2022)

Third-tier Cambridge stunned Premier League club Newcastle with a 1-0 FA Cup victory at St James’ Park that fired the League One side into the fourth round.

Joe Ironside scored the only goal of the game, striking in the 56th minute to dump Eddie Howe’s side out of the competition.

Wycombe 2 Leicester 1 (2001)

Second Division Wycombe provided an upset in the quarter-finals of the competition in 2001, beating Premier League Leicester 2-1.

Paul McCarthy put the Chairboys ahead before Muzzy Izzet equalised for the Foxes, but Roy Essandoh, who remarkably was brought in via an advert on Ceefax in to ease Wycombe’s injury crisis, sent them into the semi-finals with a last-gasp header.

Steven Naismith lauded his Hearts team for taking command of the race for third place in the cinch Premiership after “getting battered” with criticism during a slow start to the season.

The Jambos moved 10 points clear of fourth-place Kilmarnock on Saturday as a Jorge Grant penalty and a 19th goal of the season for Lawrence Shankland secured a 2-0 win over Aberdeen.

It was a 10th victory in 13 league games for the Edinburgh side, who came under fire in the autumn after winning just three of their opening 10.

“We are in a very good position,” said Naismith. “Our form recently has been really good. After a slow start and getting battered in the press, we have continued to just get on with our business.

“Internally we are comfortable and we are getting our rewards from that. We don’t panic. We didn’t panic against Spartans (in the Scottish Cup), we played to the end and got our goal.

“We were 2-0 down against Dundee and came back. But we have got to see it as, any successful player’s mentality is always ‘I’m doing well, but how can I get to the next bit?’

“Whether you’re a young player breaking into the team or Shanks scoring goals, it’s always ‘how can we be better?’. We are building that mentality and that’s what we need to have.”

Naismith insisted he never doubted that things would come good, even when his team were languishing in the bottom six earlier in the campaign and he was coming under fire from supporters.

“I’ve experienced it as a player,” he said. “I’ve had managers come in that are completely different to the previous one or making lots of changes, and it takes time.

“We are unfortunately in an era of instant success and if that’s not happening then you’re done, you’re not good enough.

“The thing that gave me lots of confidence was a lot of our players were improving day-to-day and we could see it. But the hard part is to do it on a Saturday when there are loads of people watching you, and nerves come into it.

“But once you can start dealing with that and you trust yourself, you improve. At the end of the day I go home and I have got a wife and two kids that are more important than any football game.”

Aberdeen boss Barry Robson was the subject of calls from some supporters to leave towards the end of Saturday’s match, while Jambos fans goaded him with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” as his team slipped to eighth in the table.

“From the minute I have been here I have been under pressure as an Aberdeen manager,” said Robson.

“Anyone who has been an Aberdeen manager will tell you that, and I’m no different.

“I understand the club, I know the club and I know the demands of the club, so I get that but we need to keep going and keep working.

“It is frustrating when there are a couple of decisions that have not been great and we didn’t perform for 20 to 25 minutes.”

Ryan Moore produced another masterclass of race riding to help Warm Heart bow out in a blaze of glory at Gulfstream Park.

Aidan O’Brien’s filly was chasing a third elite-level success in the $1million 1/ST BET Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational and went off at 12-5.

Moore was happy to track the front-running Main Event for much of the nine-furlong contest but made a daring dive up that horse’s inside entering the home straight.

It was a move which brought back memories of his brilliant Breeders’ Cup Turf triumph on Auguste Rodin and reaped the same reward.

Warm Heart sprinted through a gap on the rail to seize a decisive advantage and then repelled the late challenge of I’m Very Busy to win by half a length.

O’Brien said: “We’re absolutely delighted. It’s incredible. Ryan obviously gave her an incredible ride and has done such an incredible job.”

Moore added: “The leader was always leaning out and he was weakening, and I knew I had plenty of horse, so no problem. I was happy to wait.

“She’s always travelling very comfortably. I didn’t want to be there too early and I didn’t want to be tipping out into the straight, so I thought I’d just wait. She’s a great filly. She’s had an incredible year. She hasn’t had a bad race.”

It was a sixth success for Warm Heart, who last year prevailed in the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Yorkshire Oaks and the Prix Vermeille.

The four-year-old is now set to embark on a second career as a broodmare, with a visit to stallion sensation Justify on the horizon.

“We’d love to have her and to be racing her, but the lads’ business is breeding these horses and she’s an absolutely incredible broodmare to be going to Justify,” said O’Brien on the Gulfstream Park website. “It’s so exciting, really.”

The $3million Pegasus World Cup was won by last year’s Preakness Stakes hero National Treasure, who edged out Senor Buscador by a neck for trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Flavien Prat.

Debutant Tom Hartley took out India’s top three as England continued fighting for a jaw-dropping comeback victory on day four of the first Test in Hyderabad.

Spurred on by a wonderful 196 from Ollie Pope, the tourists posted an unlikely 420 in their second innings to leave a taxing chase of 231 on the table.

Hartley, who made 34 in an enterprising stand of 80 with Pope, then came to the fore with his left-arm spin as India slid to 95 for three at tea.

Shelving memories of his chastening first spell in Test cricket on Thursday, he removed his tormentor Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and home captain Rohit Sharma in quick succession.

Pope, fresh from his game-changing knock with the bat, was in the thick of things again as he snapped up Jaiswal and Gill with sharp catches under the helmet.

At the break KL Rahul (21 not out) and a promoted Axar Patel (17no) were making headway, leaving all results up for grabs and 136 still to get.

England had started the day on 316 for six, adding 104 before Pope was last man out attempting a scoop shot that he hoped would bring a deserved double century.

Pope was unbeaten on 148 overnight, an effort hailed by team-mate Joe Root as an “absolute masterclass”, and soon made it clear he was still in the mood with a classy cover drive for four.

His seventh-wicket partnership with Rehan Ahmed reached 64 before Jasprit Bumrah had the teenager caught behind for 28.

That looked like a window of opportunity for India but the arrival of Hartley confounded them even further, the newcomer looking entirely untroubled as he joined Pope in a stand of 80 from 106 balls.

The hosts were increasingly listless as England took the game on, Hartley producing a no-look scoop early in his innings and lacing Ravichandran Ashwin down the ground on the charge.

The arrival of the new ball did not bring the desired effect, Pope flipping it over his head for four more and Hartley pinging Ravindra Jadeja over the top.

When Ashwin did beat the bat, an increasing rarity, the ball nipped past Pope’s outside edge and skimmed away for four byes. Moments after unfurling a glorious straight drive Pope was granted a life on 186, fencing Mohammed Siraj to slip only for KL Rahul to spill a low catch.

Hartley, who joined Pope in using the reverse sweep to quell the spin, was finally undone for 34 by a shin-high grubber from Ashwin and that was the turning point India needed. Mark Wood came and went for a duck and, when the injured Jack Leach hobbled to the crease, Pope decided to force the issue.

With lunch approaching he decided to stoop low and paddle Bumrah over the wicketkeeper, a plan that ended with his off stump out of the ground.

England almost had the perfect start to their hunt for wickets but when Wood took Sharma’s edge the catch slipped through Zak Crawley’s fingers at slip. He went on to score 39 important runs but Hartley’s endeavour chipped away at India’s confidence.

Jaiswal, who had hit Hartley’s first Test delivery for six, and Gill fell in the space of three balls, Pope showing safe hands at short-leg then silly point. Hartley then had Sharma lbw, skidding one straight on after a couple of sharp turners.

Jack Butland believes Rangers are continuing to grow under Philippe Clement after showing their adaptability to beat St Mirren 1-0 in Paisley.

Swirling wind at the SMiSA stadium on Saturday lunchtime made good football all but impossible but ultimately striker Cyriel Dessers’ goal after 14 minutes – his 12th of the season – was enough to take the three points back to Ibrox.

Rangers remain five points behind cinch Premiership leaders Celtic with a game in hand and Butland told RangersTV: “We are developing as a team. There is obviously an end goal of what we want to achieve but we have to take it a game at a time and get the results that we want and we did that.

“We got the job done. We went there to get three points and a clean sheet and we have done that.

“As far as playing the football that we want, perhaps not, but it is what this league is about.

“You have different tests, it was a different game to Wednesday night (3-0 win at Hibernian) where we are able to play more football in better conditions but it is a sign of how the team is growing.

“It (conditions) don’t allow you to get it down and play the passes you want to play in tighter areas so you do have to adapt and play to the conditions but that is part and parcel of the game.

“We would be naive if we thought we could play exactly how we played the other night.

“Sometimes you have to be sensible and get the result and that’s what we’ve done.

“We’ve created openings without taking too many chances. It was a great finish from Cyriel and we got the result we wanted which is the business we are in.”

Stephen Robinson handed a first league appearance to January recruit Hyeok-kyu Kwon, the midfielder who is on loan from Celtic.

Attacker James Scott, initially signed on loan from Exeter before he joins Saints on a permanent two-year-deal in the summer, came on in the second half to make his debut while Jaden Brown, who arrived on loan from Lincoln last week, remained on the bench.

The Buddies boss told stmirren.com: “I don’t expect to bring anyone else in.

“The deal was I could only bring players in if I got players out so ultimately maybe one more player will leave to balance the three players that came in.

“But I believe we will come out of this transfer window in a better position with a more balanced squad with competition in each position.”

Maidstone goalkeeper Lucas Covolan is eyeing a move to the Sky Bet Championship after a “normal day at the office” in the club’s historic 2-1 win at Ipswich.

National League South club Maidstone produced one of the FA Cup’s greatest upsets on Saturday after goals from Lamar Reynolds and Sam Corne in Suffolk.

Covolan also starred at Portman Road as Maidstone lost the shot count 38-2, but had their former Brazil Under-20 goalkeeper to thank following a string of excellent saves.

It helped Maidstone become only the 11th non-league club to reach the fifth round in what was their seventh tie in this season’s competition.

“It’s a normal day at the office isn’t it,” Covolan told BBC One.

“I had a great game and I am so happy I could help my team-mates. Here we go, we’re in the hat again and I am so proud of the team.

“Hopefully I can get a move now to the Championship as well!

“What we have achieved now is something unbelievable. To be in the last 16 teams in England, it’s brilliant, just brilliant.

“Credit to all the fans, all the team performance. Everyone was cramping up at the end, but we kept fighting, bodies on the line and everything. What a great day.”

Before kick-off 98 places separated the teams and Ipswich could have been 3-0 up inside 11 minutes, but Jeremy Sarmiento and Omari Hutchinson hit the post, while Covolan denied Hutchinson and Nathan Broadhead.

Further saves from Covolan thwarted Hutchinson and Sam Morsy before Reynolds sent the 4,472-travelling fans into pandemonium with a superb chip in the 43rd minute.

Ipswich did finally beat Covolan 11 minutes after half-time when Sarmiento rolled into the bottom corner, but Corne put George Elokobi’s side back in front with 66 minutes on the clock after another fine breakaway goal.

All eyes were on whether the sixth-tier outfit could hold on and Covolan ensured they did with a sensational save to deny Conor Chaplin following a corner with six minutes left.

It resulted in jubilant scenes at full-time, with Covolan tearful after an eventful career that has seen him score in the National League play-off final for Torquay in 2021, but suffer with depression during a spell at Port Vale.

The 32-year-old added: “It means a lot. I just want to thank my whole family, my wife and everybody that’s been supporting us.

“It means so much because my career in the last few years was not very good and now all the bad parts of the career comes in my head and we produce this.

“It’s unreal. It was very, very good.”

Ipswich captain Morsy urged his team to bounce back as quickly as possible in their bid for promotion after he acknowledged the day belonged to Maidstone.

“We have to look at it and things we can work on because ultimately we didn’t do enough to win the game,” Morsy told Town TV.

“Sometimes it is the other team’s day.

“We haven’t had many disappointing days but sometimes in football it can happen.”

Aryna Sabalenka believes she can bring her Australian Open dominance to other grand slams after lifting a second successive title in Melbourne.

The Belarusian will stay world number two behind Iga Swiatek but that could well change this year if Sabalenka can maintain her impressive consistency at the majors.

In the last five slams, Sabalenka has won two titles, reached another final on hard courts at the US Open and never lost before the semi-finals, while Swiatek’s only run to the last four saw her retain her French Open title.

Getting the better of Swiatek at Roland Garros is likely to be Sabalenka’s biggest challenge but she certainly has the game for grass and, with more composure, could have reached all four finals last year.

“I think last year I proved that I can play on each surface,” said the 25-year-old. “I think those two semi-finals I got super emotional.

“I played against incredible players, and they just played an unbelievable level, but I felt like I got super emotional and I just let those semis go away.

“But I definitely think that if I’m going to keep working like I’m working right now, and if we’re going to keep building what we are building right now, I’m definitely able to do the same on the clay and on the grass.

“So then I’ll just keep working hard and hopefully this year I’ll achieve the same goal.”

It was a statement fortnight from Sabalenka, who did not drop a set through seven matches, with only Coco Gauff in the semi-finals taking more than five games off her.

Speaking on Eurosport, former British number one Laura Robson said: “To deliver that kind of performance across the two weeks, getting better and better, I feel like the rest of the players in the locker room are thinking ‘uh oh’ for the rest of the season.”

There is certainly no sign of Sabalenka being happy with two titles, and the calm manner with which she demolished the rest of the field will give her rivals plenty of pause for thought.

She is now two slam titles behind Swiatek, and was relieved to escape the box of one-slam wonder.

“Actually it’s been in my mind that I didn’t want to be that player who won it and then disappeared,” she said.

“I just wanted to show that I’m able to be consistently there and I’m able to win another one. I really hope that (it will be) more than two, but for me it was really important.”

Sabalenka’s ambitions are shared by her coaches, with fitness trainer Jason Stacy, saying: “We’re the coaches in our different areas but during the match and straight after the match, we’re already talking about the things we need to work on.”

Stacy has been walking around Melbourne Park with Sabalenka’s signature written in pen by the world number two on his bald head.

It is part of the team’s efforts to keep things light and fun off court, although Stacy is ready to draw the line at the next suggestion.

“It might get worse actually,” he said. “Now they’re trying to say I’ve got to get a tattoo of this on my head. I’m like, ‘I don’t know about that’. Every tournament we always find some thing we’re doing and we just kind of go with that.”

Shoaib Bashir rejoined his England team-mates on Sunday after finally arriving in India with his delayed visa.

The uncapped spinner was unable to join the rest of the squad when they transferred from their training camp in Abu Dhabi last weekend due to a hold-up with his paperwork.

Although born in Surrey, the 20-year-old’s family heritage in Pakistan caused lengthier than expected checks and he was ultimately forced to fly back to London to receive a stamp at the Indian high commission.

He finally landed in Hyderabad on day four of the first Test and made his way to link up with the side at the Ranjiv Gandhi Stadium.

The 20-year-old made his way out to the field of play at the lunch break and was soon playing his part, feeding throws to head coach Brendon McCullum as he warmed up his slip catchers ahead of India’s fourth-innings chase.

England captain Ben Stokes had expressed sympathy for Bashir on the eve of the match, saying: “I’m pretty devastated that Bash has had to go through this.

“As a leader, as a captain, when one of your team-mates is affected by something like that, you get a bit emotional. It’s obviously a frustrating situation, more importantly, for him.”

The Somerset off-spinner could now come into contention for a Test debut next week in Visakhapatnam, with Jack Leach suffering from a knee injury.

Ollie Pope was last man out for a stunning 196 as England’s rousing resistance left India chasing 231 to win the first Test on day four in Hyderabad.

Pope fell four short a deserved double century, clean bowled attempting to scoop Jasprit Bumrah over his shoulder with just the injured Jack Leach for company, as the tourists fought their way to 420 all out in a stirring fightback.

They added 104 runs in the morning session as they became just the ninth away team in history to pass 400 in their second innings on Indian soil. When Ben Stokes departed midway through the third day, leaving the score at 163 for five, such an outcome seemed almost impossible.

Pope resumed on 148, a knock hailed by team-mate Joe Root as an “absolute masterclass”, and made it clear he was not finished yet as he reached 150 then sent a sizzling cover drive racing away for four.

His seventh-wicket partnership with Rehan Ahmed reached 64, the teenager contributing 28, before Bumrah had the 19-year-old caught behind.

That looked like a window of opportunity for India but the arrival of Tom Hartley confounded them even further, the tall left-hander looking entirely untroubled as he joined Pope in a stand of 80 in 106 balls.

The hosts were increasingly listless as England took the game on, Hartley producing a no-look scoop early in his innings before charging Ravichandran Ashwin and lacing him for four down the ground.

The arrival of the new ball did not bring the desired effect, Pope quick to flip it over his head for four more and Hartley pinging Ravindra Jadeja over the top.

When Ashwin did beat the bat, an increasing rarity, the ball nipped past Pope’s outside edge and skimmed away for four byes. Moments after unfurling a glorious straight drive Pope was granted a life on 186, fencing Mohammed Siraj to slip only for KL Rahul to spill a low catch.

Hartley, who joined Pope in using the reverse sweep to quell the spin, was finally undone for 34 by a shin-high grubber from Ashwin and that was the turning point India needed. Mark Wood came and went for a duck, caught behind off Jadeja, and when Leach hobbled to the crease Pope decided to force the issue.

With lunch approaching he decided to stoop low paddle Bumrah over the wicketkeeper, a plan that ended with his off stump out of the ground. It was the end of a career-best knock and the seventh highest ever scored by an Englishman in the second innings.

Another game, another win for the Edmonton Oilers.

The Oilers beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Saturday for their 16th win in a row to move within one victory of the longest winning streak in NHL history.

Edmonton (29-15-1) now begins the All-Star break and won't have a chance to match the record held by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins until February 6, when it visits the Vegas Golden Knights.

With the win, the Oilers tied the league's second-longest single-season winning streak, held by 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets.

Connor McDavid led the way, tallying a goal and three assists, while Leon Draisaitl recorded a goal and two assists for the Oilers, who improved to 24-3-0 since November 24.

The Oilers, who last lost on December 19, are outscoring teams 61-24 during the winning streak and have a franchise-record streak of 14 consecutive games of allowing two goals or less.

Stuart Skinner had another solid showing between the pipes, turning aside 28 shots. He has yielded one goal in each of his last three games and has started 12 games during the winning streak, posting a 1.41 goals-against average in those outings.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring for Edmonton with a power-play goal in the first period and Zach Hyman ended the scoring with an empty-netter for his 30th goal of the season.

Draisaitl scored on the power-play for his 800th career point to reach that milestone in his 683rd game - the fourth-fastest player to reach that mark.

Colton Sissons had the lone goal for the Predators (26-22-1), who lost for the third time in four games.

Matthews scores league-leading 40th goal as Maple Leafs beat Jets

Auston Matthews reached a pair of milestones in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets, scoring his league-leading 40th goal to reach 600 career points.

Matthews, who has three more goals than the Florida Panthers' Sam Reinhart, has scored in three straight games and has seven goals and three assists in his last six contests.

Playing in his 527th game, Matthews became the fastest skater in Toronto franchise history to 600 career points with his power-play goal with 4:32 to play in the third period.

Ilya Samsonov finished with 24 saves as the Maple Leafs (25-14-8) swept a home-and-home set with the Jets and extended their winning streak to three games.

Ryan Reaves, John Tavares and Simon Benoit also scored goals for Toronto in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break.

Winnipeg's Dylan Samberg opened the scoring when the defenseman found the back of the net on the Jets' first shot of the game 4:13 into the first period.

Mason Appleton added a late goal for the Jets (30-12-5), who lost their third straight game after losing just three of their previous 17 contests (14-1-2).

Rangers score 7 straight goals to rally by Senators

The New York Rangers are heading into the All-Star break on a positive note, rallying from a 2-0 deficit for a 7-2 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Artemi Panarin was one of six Ranger skaters recording multiple points, tallying a goal and two assists, as New York (30-16-3) bounced back from back-to-back defeats and enters the break atop the Metropolitan Division.

After falling behind 2-0, the Rangers erupted for five goals in the second period, tying the game on Chris Kreider's 23rd goal of the season. New York took the lead just 39 seconds later on Zac Jones' first goal.

With the victory, first-year Rangers coach Peter Laviolette moved into a tie for seventh place on the all-time wins list, sitting alongside Al Arbour with 782.

The Senators (18-25-2) lost in regulation for the first time since January 16 after going 3-0-2 in their previous five contests.