Saturday
Women’s Cricket World Cup
10.30amEngland v Sri Lanka live
A jittery four-wicket victory over Bangladesh put Charlotte Edwards’ side on top of the standings after a second straight win in Guwahati, but England made heavy weather of chasing 179. In trouble at 78 for five, they were bailed out by Heather Knight’s gutsy 79 not out as the former captain and Charlie Dean (27no) eased their worries with a controlled seventh-wicket stand. Next up are Sri Lanka, a side England have beaten 17 times in 18 meetings and who lost to India after their opener against Australia was abandoned. Rob Smyth and Aldred asked helm our unmissable over-by-over coverage of the action in Colombo, and Raf Nicholson reports.
Football
10amNext Generation updates
Since 2014 we have been picking some of the most talented young male players in the world and followed them for five years to see how they have got on. This week we have looked at the 2020 picks who were affected by the pandemic perhaps more than others as they will have been around 17 years old at the time and been trying to break into their respective first teams. This weekend we will provide updates on the 2023 and 2024 lists while on Monday and Tuesday we will reveal this year’s nominations. On Saturday, it’ll be the turn of Nestory Irankunda, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Jorrel Hato, Lucas Bergvall, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Josh King and Trey Nyoni. On Sunday we’ll post updates on Estêvão, Shane Kluivert, Rodrigo Mora and – cue drumroll – Lamine Yamal as well as Rio Ngumoha, Stephen Mfuni and Amir Ibragimov.
Cycling
5pmTour of Lombardy
Saturday’s Il Lombardia begs one big question: who can beat Tadej Pogacar? The big climbs of Lombardy are ideally suited to the Tour de France champion and his pursuit of a record-breaking fifth consecutive victory. The race winds the 238km from Como to Bergamo, taking in five major climbs. The Slovenian is in startling form having won the last four editions of Il Lombardia – the last of the season’s five Monuments – and coming fresh off victories at the World and European championships as well as Tuesday’s Tre Valli Varesine. Expect challenges from Remco Evenepoel and the 21-year-old Mexican Isaac del Toro, who clinched his 15th victory of the year on Thursday afternoon in the Gran Piemonte. Read our report online at theguardian.com/sport/cycling.
Racing
3pmDarley Dewhurst Stakes
Distant Storm will attempt to give Charlie Appleby back-to-back victories in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes, Saturday’s feature race. Appleby has sent out both Pinatubo (2019) and Native Trail (2021) as well as last year’s hero Shadow Of Light to win Newmarket’s final Group One of the season in recent years and will have high hopes of another successful afternoon on the Rowley Mile course. Zavateri will put his unbeaten record to the test in a National Stakes rematch with Gstaad. Greg Wood reports from Newmarket.
Super League Grand Final
6pmHull KR v Wigan live
Three is the big number at Old Trafford: Wigan are aiming to become only the third club to secure three consecutive Super League Grand Final victories when they face Hull KR on Saturday evening in a repeat of last year’s showpiece lineup. The Robins, meanwhile, stand on the verge of their own history-making treble having won the League Leaders’ Shield and the Challenge Cup. Victory for Wigan – contesting their 14th Grand Final, winning seven of them – would see the Warriors join Leeds and St Helens as the only clubs to win three consecutive Grand Finals. Luke mclaughlin helms our live blog, with Aaron Bower reporting from Manchester.
Football
7.45PMPortugal v Rep of Ireland and Serbia v Albania live
John Brewin fronts our clockwatch on a busy evening of World Cup qualifiers. He will be keeping a close watch on Serbia v Albania: should Serbia drop points against their Balkan rivals, England would qualify for next year’s tournament if they beat Latvia on Tuesday. Elsewhere the Republic of Ireland travel to Portugal, plus Spain and Italy are in action. Nick Ames reports from the awkward clash between Norway and Israel.
Sunday
Football
8amMatchday live and WSL clockwatch
Dominic Booth and Emillia Hawkins sweep up all the overnight headlines and bring you the latest news from the World Cup qualifiers and the Women’s Super League. There are six games in the WSL, with four kickoffs at noon. Everton Women are playing at Hill Dickinson for the first time against Manchester United and Tom Garry will be on hand to gauge whether the move to Goodison has made it less appealing to stage a game at the club’s dazzling new stadium. There’s a big game at the Emirates where Suzanne Wrack will be reporting on Arsenal against Brighton. The Gunners are in a slump, without a win in four games and five points adrift of the top domestically, leaving head coach Renée Slegers feeling the pinch. The European champions then travel to Lisbon to face Benfica in the Women’s Champions League on Thursday.
World Cup qualifier
5pmScotland v Belarus live
Scotland follow their remarkable 3-1 never-say-die win over Greece at Hampden Park on Thursday with the visit of Belarus on Sunday. Steve Clarke’s side should have been three or four goals down against the slick visitors before Konstantinos Tsimikas eventually fired Greece in front in the 62nd minute. However, goals from Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson and substitute Lyndon Dykes turned the 2026 World Cup qualifier around and took Scotland on to seven points from three Group C fixtures, behind the leaders Denmark on goal difference. A win would really fire up Scotland’s prospects of reaching next summer’s tournament in North America. Rob Smyth hosts our live blog, with Ewan Murray reporting from Hampden Park.
American football
6pmNFL blog
Graham Searles is once again at the controls to find the answer to the question: just how will Baltimore react from their record home defeat against the Texans? They face the Rams, who are 3-2 this season, and will be hungry to win after losing against a beatable 49ers team last week. The Ravens appear poised to bring back their former backup quarterback Tyler Huntley to replace the disastrous Cooper Rush. Huntley is a fan favourite, so maybe is the man to pull off a shock. Elsewhere, Can the 4-1 Jags beat the highly competitive 3-2 Seahawks? Trevor Lawrence is finally emerging as the star quarterback the Jaguars expected him to be after toppling Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday. The Jags need to keep winning to keep pace with the Colts, who are also 4-1 in the AFC South. A win at home against a very good Seahawks defense would be a statement of intent for the playoffs.
