Half-centuries from Aaron Finch and skipper Steve Smith helped Australia pull off a tricky chase to defeat a resilient Sri Lanka by three wickets in the first one-day international in Colombo on yesterday.

Coach Steve Hansen has paid tribute to the contributions of Beauden Barrett and Dane Coles in the All Blacks’ ruthless demolition of Australia in the Rugby Championship series opener in Sydney.

Freshly crowned Olympic gold medalist Andy Murray defeated Canadian No.1 Milos Raonic 6-3, 6-3 to book a spot in the ATP-WTA Tour’s Cincinnati final where he will face Marin Cilic.

Britain’s Cal Crutchlow on a Honda took his maiden MotoGP win as he dominated a rain-hit race at Brno in the Czech Republic yesterday.

Germany refused to be intimidated in the hostile cauldron of Rio’s Maracana stadium but they faced an uphill task against 11 Brazilian players roared on by 80,000 vengeful and passionate fans.

Brazil won the entire Olympics — or so it felt for fans dancing in the streets after Neymar fired the winning penalty for football gold.

Barcelona star Neymar said he will step down as Brazil captain after leading the Olympic Games’ hosts to their first ever football gold medal.

Jurgen Klopp admitted he was baffled by Liverpool’s surprise defeat at Burnley in which they enjoyed over 80 percent of possession, but still lost 2-0 to the newly-promoted club.

West Ham United’s Premier League bow at London’s former Olympic Stadium ended with a 1-0 win over Bournemouth yesterday courtesy of Michail Antonio’s 85th-minute header.

Pep Guardiola admits he is surprised how well Manchester City have started under his management after a 4-1 victory at Stoke City extended their winning start to the season on Saturday.

Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has hailed Gonzalo Higuain’s debut goal as testimony to the predatory instincts that prompted the club to splash out 90 million euros on him.

Brazilian police seized passports of Irish Olympic officials to keep them in Rio de Janeiro for questioning, as authorities intensified their probe into possible ticket scalping involving Ireland's top Olympic official, Patrick Hickey.