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England’s Brook gains redemption after ‘hardest winter of my life’ | The Express Tribune
England captain Harry Brook (L) celebrates his half-century (50 runs) as Pakistan’s Saim Ayub (R) looks on during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup Super Eights match between England and Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on February 24, 2026. Photo: AFP
COLOMBO:
Richly talented but much maligned, England captain Harry Brook finally achieved redemption at Pallekele stadium in Kandy after a torrid few months — and came of age as a leader.
His match-winning century against Pakistan on Tuesday will go down as the finest innings of the 27-year-old’s white-ball career because it single-handedly took his side into a fifth successive T20 World Cup semi-final.
Facing a tricky chase of 165 against Pakistan at the Pallekele stadium in Kandy, England could have been in dire straits when they lost Phil Salt first ball of the innings.
But Brooks, who normally bats at number five, strode to the wicket first drop in a massive statement of intent that said “leave it to me, lads”.
He embarked on a majestic innings — the second fastest century in the history of T20 World Cup and first by a captain — in an extraordinary demonstration of leadership from a man who had copped more than his fair share of flak.
Before the tournament there had been calls for Brook’s resignation after he had to apologise for a Halloween incident on the white-ball tour of New Zealand, where he was punched by a nightclub bouncer — in his own words “a terrible mistake”.
On the eve of the T20 World Cup Brook admitted lying about being on his own that night to protect his teammates at the time.
‘A captain’s innings’
All this had emerged after an Ashes debacle where Brook failed to score a century and was castigated in the English press — and mocked in Australia — for throwing his wicket away with reckless shots time and again.
A mid-Ashes beach break had fuelled accusations of a drinking culture in the England camp, as he was photographed with teammates in bars, the beers seemingly flowing.
Brook answered all the critics in wonderful fashion on Tuesday night, demonstrating an intelligent cricketing brain to go with his unquestioned batting talent.
He judged perfectly when to attack and when to hold back, working singles and twos instead against a potent Pakistan attack who were taking regular wickets at the other end.
“It’s probably been the hardest winter of my life to be honest,” Brook told reporters after the match.
“There’s been a lot of stuff behind the scenes. It’s just nice to see some rewards from my hard work away from the ground.”
An awestruck Pakistan quick bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi pronounced Brook’s performance: “The best innings of his life. A captain’s innings.”
Brook was more modest, saying his one-day international century against Sri Lanka last month had been better.
“I actually think I preferred the Sri Lanka ODI to be honest,” said Brook.
But that was in a bilateral series; this one was in a World Cup.
“It’s certainly up there in the context of the game and the situation that we found ourselves.”
Not many people gave the 2010 and 2022 champions England a chance of becoming the first team to win the trophy three times when they stumbled through their group, losing to the West Indies and being given an almighty scare by Nepal.
Brook’s team are now just two knockout wins from the title and have repeatedly talked about preferring to “win ugly” than lose entertainingly.
“It’s just cricket isn’t it? We’re winning games, we’re not winning them perfectly,” Brook said.
“We haven’t had the perfect game yet and hopefully that’s just around the corner.”
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Michigan’s Fred Richard won his second straight all-around individual crown Saturday night, and Cooper Kim and Jun Iwai each won individual titles to lead Stanford to its sixth NCAA men’s gymnastics championship since 2019.
Richard took home silver in the floor and parallel bars as he ran away with his third all-around individual national championship with a score of 83.598. Nebraska’s Max Odden (78.698) was second, 0.432 ahead of third-place Kristian Grahovski of Ohio State.
Stanford had 329.825 points, second-place Oklahoma finished with 328.495 and Michigan — the defending national champion — was third with 324.857. Asher Hong (14.300) took silver and Nick Kuebler (14.166) bronze on the rings in the final rotation to seal it for the Cardinal. Asher Cohen finished with a 14.500 to become the first Nebraska gymnast to win the rings since Jim Hartung in 1982.
Stanford claimed the program’s 11th national gymnastics championship; the Cardinal have won at least one NCAA team title for 50 straight seasons, since the men’s water polo team beat UCLA 13-12 for the national championship on Nov. 28, 1976. The next longest active streak is North Carolina’s seven straight years with at least one team title.
Iwai had a 14.433 on the vault, tied with Nebraska’s Tyler Flores for first. Landen Blixt of Michigan was third (14.366).
Flores, Nathan Roman (14.800 on the parallel bars) and Kelton Christiansen (14.400, high bar) each won individual titles for the second-place Sooners.
Kim scored a 14.466 to win gold on the floor to beat Richard (14.400). Kuebler and Tate Costa of Illinois finished third with 14.166.
Brandon Dang (Illinois) won the pommel horse with a score of 14.700, Michigan’s Aaronson Mansberger was second (14.566) and Colby Aranda of Oklahoma finished third with 14.133 points.
CHICAGO — The New York Mets will have to defy the odds if they plan on making the postseason this year after dropping their 10th consecutive game on Saturday, a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Only three teams in the divisional era (since 1969) have made the postseason after a double-digit losing streak — including last year’s Cleveland Guardians.
“No one is going to feel sorry for us,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the latest defeat. “We have to keep going. We haven’t been playing good baseball. We have 5½ months ahead. We have the opportunity to write our own story.”
The Mets say they can’t point to any single thing which has led them to their longest April losing streak in franchise history. They certainly aren’t hitting enough, scoring just 18 runs during the streak, the fewest for them over 10 games since June 3-5, 2018.
They’re also making bad pitches, like the one reliever Brooks Raley made to pinch hitter Carson Kelly in the sixth inning Saturday. Kelly deposited Raley’s first pitch cutter into the left-field bleachers for a three-run home run, breaking a 1-1 tie. The Cubs cruised to victory from there.
“We haven’t been able to put together a complete game,” Mendoza said. “It’s either the offense or starting pitching, like not making [that] pitch, not making a play, not getting a big hit. Just having a hard time playing a complete game right now.”
Mendoza’s job is seemingly safe after president of baseball operations David Stearns said Friday he thought his third-year manager was doing a good job and is putting players in a position to succeed. Of course, things can change if the losses continue to pile up for the Mets, who missed the postseason last year after a disastrous second half.
The team is trying not to focus on the negative this early in the season.
“It’s a big boy league,” infielder Marcus Semien said. “There is no time to dwell on tonight. Tomorrow is a new day … It’s as simple as showing up tomorrow with a good attitude. Hopefully other guys see a smile on my face when I show up.”
Semien and Mendoza offered up few solutions to the team’s plight, though getting All-Star Juan Soto back from a calf injury should help. But that won’t happen for a few more days. With DH Jorge Polanco (wrist) on the shelf as well, the Mets will need others to step up.
A late winter overhaul by Stearns led to a positive feeling about the team entering this season. But those additions, like Saturday’s starter Freddy Peralta, haven’t produced enough. Third baseman Mark Vientos did hit a long home run in the loss but New York’s offense was mostly quiet the rest of the day.
Mendoza was asked how he thought Mets fans were feeling right now.
“They have the right to be pissed and frustrated,” he said. “They care. Just like we do. … I understand how they’re feeling. I’d be pissed too, if I was a fan. I’m pissed. They’re pissed.”
The 10-game losing streak is the longest in April since the 2023 White Sox. The loss has the Mets 6½ games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, an unusually large deficit for this time of year.
“It’s frustrating to lose baseball games and when you lose this many in a row, it compounds,” Semien said. “The game does not own you any wins. You have to go out and get it.”
The Mets rank in the bottom half of the league in most offensive and pitching categories, including home runs. They’ve hit just 15 this season, only ahead of the San Francisco Giants for fewest in the National League. Their starting pitching isn’t much better, ranking 21st in ERA.
The team is hoping Sunday will bring them different results.
“We have to do something to get in the W column,” Semien said. “No one is showing up thinking about how it’s going to happen again. We’re thinking about how we’re going to win.”
Mendoza added: “Were putting ourselves in a hole right now. There is only one way to [get out of] it. Come back tomorrow, ready to go.”
ESPN Research contributed to this report.
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Seth Rollins was supposed to be going up against Gunther at WrestleMania 42 on Saturday night but he wasn’t expecting a freight train to run through him.
Rollins appeared to be in the driver’s seat toward the end of the match. He hit Gunther with a pedigree on the announce table and followed up with a storm. All he had to do was get Gunther back in the ring and finish the job. As the referee tended to Gunther, a wild Bron Breakker appeared.
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Bron Breakker performs during WrestleMania 42 Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (WWE)
Breakker ran down the side of the entrance ramp at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas at full speed and tore through Rollins with a gnarly spear. He rolled Rollins back in the ring, spat on him and waited for Gunther to finish the job.
Gunther put Rollins in a sleeper hold, forcing “The Revolutionary” to tap out.
WWE STARS REVEAL WHAT MAKES WRESTLEMANIA SO SPECIAL: ‘IT’S THE SUPER BOWL OF PRO WRESTLING’
Gunther has his arm raised by the referee after defeating Seth Rollins during their match on night one of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Gunther walked to the back as the winner. Breakker was hung around to pick apart the scraps.
Breakker sprinted back down the ramp and hit Rollins with another crushing spear, stunning the crowd.
Breakker has been out of action for a few weeks with an injury, likely costing him a match of some kind at WrestleMania 42. Nevertheless, he still had bad blood with Rollins as their rivalry turned up a notch.
Seth Rollins enters the arena before his match against Gunther on night one of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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This will not be the last of Breakker and Rollins. On the flip side, Paul Heyman will now owe Gunther a favor. It’ll will be interesting to see how the favor gets cashed in.
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