Kylian Mbappe scored his second brace ‌of the tournament, and France eased to a 3-0 victory  over Iraq ⁠in the first match ⁠of this World Cup beset by a lengthy weather stoppage.

Mbappe’s goals came nearly three hours apart after thunderstorms in the region on Monday delayed the second-half kickoff by a shade ⁠under two hours.

They take him to 16 all-time World Cup tallies, pulling him level with former record-holder Miroslav Klose. Earlier on Monday, Lionel Messi set a new benchmark of 18 career World Cup ⁠goals with his brace in Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Austria.

Mbappe’s four goals also place him one behind Messi in the 2026 Golden Boot race.

Reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele also scored after half-time for two-time champions France (2-0-0, 6 points), who are all but assured of progressing.

Their last-32 place will become official if Norway ‌win or draw against Senegal in the other Group I fixture. That match, staged about two hours away by car in northern New Jersey, kicked off near-simultaneously with the start of the long-awaited second half at Philadelphia Stadium.

Iraq (0-2-0, 0 points) remain alive for one of the eight knockout spots allotted for third-place teams.

They will probably need a win in their group finale against Senegal and help elsewhere. And they could be without Aymen Hussein, who scored their only goal this tournament in their ⁠opener, but exited on Monday in the 26th minute with an apparent injury.

France ⁠dominated the early stages, and Mbappe capitalised in the 14th minute.

On an innocent-looking sequence on the right, Mbappe received Michael Olise’s pass, took one touch to his left and, with Iraqi defenders affording him space, unfurled a powerful strike from ⁠the edge of the penalty area that sailed beyond Ahmed Basil’s dive.

The delay could have served as a recovery period for Iraq, who spent most ⁠of the match chasing the ball. Instead, they gifted France ⁠and Mbappe a second on a dreadful mistake from a goal kick.

Dembele was the provider for Mbappe’s tap-in. He scored 12 minutes later, after controlling Olise’s incisive pass into the 18-yard box and finishing low past Basil.

With the outcome never in doubt, ‌the weather provided the drama.

After referee Drew Fischer blew his half-time whistle as storms were already beginning, the skies opened further, and spectators were told to seek shelter in the stadium concourses.

Players finally ‌re-emerged ‌for warm-ups about 1 hour and 40 minutes later, and even then, the restart was delayed further as stadium personnel used squeegees to shuttle standing water off the east side of the pitch.

(Aljazeera)

England have been docked 12 points in the World Test Championship  and fined 50% of their match fee for a slow over-rate offence against New Zealand in the second Test at the Oval. Since a win is worth 12 WTC points, the penalty has cost England the points they earned for beating New Zealand in the first Test at Lord’s.

England were found to be 12 overs short of the target at The Oval after factoring in time allowances. According to the World Test Championship playing conditions, a team is penalised one point for each over short. The ICC’s Code of Conduct says players will be fined 5% of their match fee for each over short but the maximum is capped at 50%, which is the penalty England have been hit with.

The charges were brought by on-field umpires Adrian Holdstock and Nitin Menon, third umpire Rod Tucker and fourth umpire Graham Lloyd. England captain Joe Root, who was  standing in for Ben Stokes in the aftermath of the Rex Rooms 8ncident,  pled guilty and so no hearing was needed with match referee Andy Pycroft.

Sri Lanka squandered a golden opportunity to reach the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup as a dramatic batting collapse condemned them to defeat in a crucial Group ‘B’ encounter against West Indies.

There was genuine optimism heading into the Bristol clash. Sri Lanka had beaten the same opposition in a bilateral series in the Caribbean earlier this year and just days before, had stunned defending champions New Zealand in one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. But on Sunday, their campaign unravelled spectacularly as they were bundled out for a paltry 98.

The top order, which has been the backbone of Sri Lanka’s success, failed when it mattered most. Chamari Atapattu, Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama were all back in the pavilion inside the first two overs, leaving the innings in tatters before it had even begun. Sri Lanka never recovered from the early blows.

An emotional Atapattu struggled to hide her disappointment after the game.

“Actually, it’s a sadness beyond words,” she said.

“I have played for the national team for around 18 years and I have never had the opportunity to take my team into a World Cup semi-final.

“Even though I have achieved many things personally, I feel I have failed as a captain because that is the biggest pain for a player.

“Now I have to live with that pain.

“I tried my best, but I should have played with more responsibility. Had I done that today, we could have won this match.

“I regret that deeply. I don’t like to blame anyone. As captain, as a senior player and as the most experienced member of the team, I have to take responsibility.

“I am not sure what the future holds for me. I am 36 now and it feels like I have lost my last chance.”

Sri Lanka coach Jamie Siddons felt a total in the region of 130 would have given his side a fighting chance.

“We knew our spinners could have an impact and a score of around 130 would have been handy. We simply didn’t absorb the pressure well enough and our batting let us down,” Siddons said.

The Australian also pointed to Sri Lanka’s demanding fixture list but refused to use it as an excuse.

“I would have preferred a lighter schedule. We started against England, the hosts, then faced defending champions New Zealand and our third game was against former champions West Indies.

“But having said that, when you play in a World Cup, you have to be prepared for challenges like these.”

Sri Lanka trained at Mill Hill School in Somerset yesterday and will take on Ireland today in Bristol before travelling to Manchester for their final Group ‘B’ fixture against Scotland.

Technically, Sri Lanka are still in the hunt for a semi-final berth, but qualification is no longer in their own hands. Sunday’s defeat may well be remembered as the opportunity that slipped away.

Rex Clementine in Bristol