The Decathlon: Super Saturday, Ben Stokes’s ‘fluke’ catch and Harry Kane’s fitness

Ten things from the world of sport on 31
May

Daily Briefing

Top of the agenda is the Uefa Champions League final between
Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool while there also’s two Cricket
World Cup games, French Open tennis, the Epsom Derby and the
Premiership Rugby final to enjoy.

The sporting action concludes with Anthony Joshua’s world
title fight against Andy Ruiz Jr in New York in the early hours of
Sunday.

See the June sports calendar for event start
times and TV guide

2. Will Kane start in Madrid final?

The biggest talking point for Tottenham going into the
Champions League final against Liverpool has been the fitness of
star striker Harry Kane. England captain Kane has been on the
sidelines after suffering an ankle injury against Manchester City
in the quarter-final first leg in April. He is back in training
though and should be fit to play a part – either from the bench or
from the start.

Champions League final: preview, predictions
and team news

3. Ruiz Jr is ready to shock the
world

Andy Ruiz Jr says pundits and fans should not
underestimate his ability when he challenges Anthony Joshua for the
WBA Super, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight boxing titles in New York
this weekend. The Mexican said: “I’m going to pull out the upset.
This is what I have worked for my whole life, I’m here to take what
Anthony has. I’m ready to shock the world.”

Joshua vs. Ruiz Jr: predictions, UK start time
and betting odds

4. Hamilton’s ‘quite average’ start

Lewis Hamilton may have won four of the opening six races in the
2019 Formula 1 season but the Mercedes driver has described his
performances as “quite average”. The five-time world champion
said: “I definitely feel that it’s been quite
an average performance from myself, maybe above average, but
generally quite average for the first six races.”

5. Coutinho to replace Hazard?

Chelsea will target Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho as a
replacement for Real Madrid-bound Eden Hazard – providing they
overturn or delay their transfer ban. In other Premier League transfer news Mesut Ozil could
be a big-name casualty of Arsenal’s Europa League final
disaster.

6. Edmund retires injured

British No.1 Kyle Edmund was forced to retire from his
French Open second-round clash against Pablo Cuevas because of a
knee injury. The 24-year-old said: “You don’t want to stop because
you feel like you’re quitting, but sometimes you have to. There
have been a few times this year I have carried on and nothing got
better and sometimes a bit worse. It won’t need surgery right now.
If it did I wouldn’t be playing, I’d get it sorted straight away
rather than delaying the inevitable.”

7. Raptors win opener

The Toronto Raptors have taken a 1-0 lead in the NBA
Finals after beating defending champions Golden State Warriors
118-109 in game one. The best-of-seven series will see the two
sides go head-to-head in Toronto in game two on Monday 3 June (1am
BST).

8. Asher-Smith and Muir star in
Stockholm

British athletes Dina Asher-Smith and Laura Muir were
victorious at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.
Asher-Smith won the 200m in a time of 22.18 seconds, the fastest in
the world this year, while Muir won the 1500m in 4min
5.39secs.

9. Cipriani’s scrum-half role for
England?

The Guardian reports that Gloucester fly-half
Danny Cipriani could make the England squad for the Rugby World Cup
as an emergency scrum-half. England head coach Eddie Jones could
gamble by selecting only two scrum-halfs for the World Cup in Japan
and Cipriani could get the call by doubling up as a No.9.

10. Stokes: catch was a
fluke  

Ben Stokes put in a man-of-the-match performance as
England won their opening match of the Cricket World Cup yesterday
against South Africa.

The all-rounder top-scored with 89 runs and also took two
wickets at The Oval. However, it was his superb catch that will
live long in the memory of cricket fans. The catch was
so good that it was described in commentary as one of the “greatest
of all time”.

Speaking to BBC
Sport, Stokes said: “It was a fluke. To be honest I was in the
wrong position – if I was in the right position it would have been
regulation.”

In case you didn’t see it, here is Stokes’s
catch…

Today’s back pages: Stokes catch gives England a
flying start in Cricket World Cup