County cricket: Northants make history with four hundreds as Leics frustrate Surrey – as it happened

Leicestershire gave Surrey a shock at the Oval, defying, not collapsing in the face of 520. Rishi Patel’s 133 not out, his first century in Division One, was a Midlands masterpiece, careful and distinguished, while Jake Weatherald whizz-banged at the other end for 96. Lewis Hill, dropped on five, finished 60 not out as Surrey’s attack toiled away.Northants squashed Kent under a mighty Doctor Martens, amassing 684 for two, thanks to career-bests 261 from Luke Procter and 153 from Calvin Harrison. The second ball of the morning was four wides, and so it went on, the attack flayed to all four corners of the wind

Leinster blow away Sale to set up Champions Cup semi-final with Toulon

Semi-final number 17 beckons for Leinster. The one-time serial champions of this competition will take another, against Toulon, back at the Aviva in a couple of weeks’ time. Sounds epic. Probably will be. But Leinster are still not quite convincing

Mullins makes fiendish Grand National puzzle look simple with third win in a row | Sean Ingle

Remember what Gary Lineker said about football being a simple game – you play for 120 minutes and the Germans win on penalties? The Grand National now has its equivalent. Tipping the winner of the most fiendish handicap in racing really is a simple game. Forget spending weeks assessing the form, weights, trends and attributes of the 34 runners. Just trust in Willie and let history do the rest.For a moment or two, when Jordans established a seven-length lead on the turn for home, the prospect of a 28-1 upset loomed large

Grand National 2026: I Am Maximus wins big race for second time at Aintree – as it happened

Jordans goes over the second last, and is chased to the elbow as I Am Maximus runs him down to regain the Grand National, the first to do so since Red Rum in 1977.Thanks for joining us. We’ll have more from Greg Wood and Sean Ingle at Aintree later this evening, with more follow-up on Sunday.The Grand National didn’t go the Skelton way but just about everything else has. Look Me was second

England 33-12 Ireland: Women’s Six Nations rugby union opener – as it happened

Sarah’s report from Twickenham has just landed so I’ll get going.Thanks for joining me. Hope you enjoyed the start of the Women’s Six Nations. England will take some stopping.Join us next week as we see if Scotland can do just that north of the border

Amy Cokayne powers England to opening Six Nations win against Ireland

The Women’s Six Nations is still searching for a giantkiller, with the ever-dominant England not needing a consistent performance to overcome one of their main challengers in Ireland. So if people in Edinburgh see glasses of water shaking, trees being shoved to the floor and massive footprints on the ground next week, do not be alarmed, it’s just the Red Roses coming to town. Still, Ireland showed they had narrowed the gap as they cut the Red Roses’ winning margin to 21 points from 44 in last year’s tournament.The overwhelming presence of the world champions will be diminished in round two at Murrayfield, as Morwenna Talling and Natasha Hunt were dealt long-term injuries. The exact prognosis has not yet been confirmed but the England head coach, John Mitchell, said he expected them to be ruled out for the rest of the tournament