Author: Australian Associated Press

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New-look top order blown away by West Indies as Australia dismissed for 180

  • Batting ripped apart by Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales

  • Travis Head top scores with 59 in first Test

Australia’s new-look top-order has been shredded by a familiar West Indian tormentor Shamar Joseph as life without Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith began in wholly unconvincing fashion in Bridgetown.

Joseph, playing against the Aussies for the first time since his brilliance at Brisbane 17 months ago bowled the West Indies to their first Test triumph down under in 27 years, ripped through the new-look vanguard with four wickets as Pat Cummins’ men were dismissed for 180 in Barbados on Wednesday.

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Australia’s Minjee Lee wins historic third major at Women’s PGA Championship

  • Lee finishes with 72-hole four-under 284 total in Texas

  • She becomes just third Australian to win three different majors

Cementing her greatness, Australian golf superstar Minjee Lee claimed a historic third career major with a steely victory at the big-money Women’s PGA Championship in Texas.

Lee had her four-shot overnight lead slashed in half early in the final round before hanging on, then surging gamely for a three-shot triumph in more extremely trying conditions at PGA Frisco’s windswept Fields Ranch East course.

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Crusaders pile more misery on Chiefs to win 13th Super Rugby title

  • Crusaders win 16-12 for 32 straight play-off victories in Christchurch

  • Chiefs were minor premiers but lose third consecutive decider

The Crusaders are again the kings of Super Rugby Pacific after consigning the Chiefs to a third-straight loss in the title decider.

Playing in Christchurch, the Crusaders claimed a 32nd successive play-off home match victory over three decades of Super Rugby as they downed the Chiefs 16-12 in Saturday’s final.

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Marnus Labuschagne axed as Sam Konstas returns for Australia in first West Indies Test

  • Konstas expected to open; Josh Inglis also comes into side

  • Steve Smith to miss out in Barbados due to dislocated finger

Australia’s selectors have made their biggest call in recent memory, dropping Marnus Labuschagne from the top order and replacing him with Sam Konstas. Chief selector George Bailey confirmed on Friday that Labuschagne would miss next week’s first Test against the West Indies.

Steve Smith will also miss the match as he recovers from his dislocated finger, with medical staff to assess him ahead of the second Test. Josh Inglis will come into the XI, while it is expected Konstas will open, but Australia will unveil their batting order and bowling attack closer to the start of the first Test next Wednesday.

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Alex de Minaur crashes out of Queen’s to leave cloud over Wimbledon challenge

  • Australian No 1 swept aside by big-serving Jiri Lehecka

  • First round exit leaves de Minaur short of match practice

Alex de Minaur has crashed out in the first round of Queen’s leaving Australia’s big Wimbledon hope in danger of heading into the grass court grand slam severely undercooked.

The Australian No 1 took a break after suffering a first week exit on the clay of Roland Garros, admitting the unrelenting schedule of the tennis calendar had left him mentally spent and physically drained.

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‘Borderline unplayable’: Adam Scott finds silver lining after US Open collapse

  • Former world No 1 fades after holding share of lead on final day

  • Australian earns shot at 100th straight major with 12th-place finish

Exemption to a magnificent 100th consecutive major championship is the silver lining to Adam Scott’s latest crushing collapse.

Scott’s late fade in “near unplayable” conditions from a share of the lead on the 12th hole to a tie for 12th behind US Open winner JJ Spaun adds to the list of agonising finishes for Australia’s former world No 1.

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Pat Cummins admits ‘reset’ looms for Australia after crushing loss to South Africa

  • New WTC cycle could create opportunity for Australia to refresh ageing team

  • Cummins says ‘everyone gets thrown back into the conversation’ after loss at Lord’s

Australia’s captain Pat Cummins has acknowledged that a “reset” is coming for his team after another top-order capitulation opened the door for a South African upset for the ages.

Not having lost an ICC final since 2010, Australia were upstaged by Temba Bavuma’s fighting Proteas at Lord’s in a five-wicket defeat, crushing their hopes of defending the World Test Championship title they won in 2023.

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Jarome Luai called up by NSW Blues to replace injured Mitch Moses for State of Origin Game 2

  • Wests Tigers five-eighth to rekindle partnership with Nathan Cleary

  • Moses sent for scans after injuring calf in training session

Jarome Luai will replace Mitch Moses as NSW’s five-eighth for the second State of Origin match after a calf strain dashed Moses’s hopes of playing. Moses pulled up sore while running the ball during a training session at NSW’s Blue Mountains camp on Thursday, injuring the same calf that troubled him earlier this year.

The Blues have sent Moses for scans on the injury that delivers a blow to their hopes of sealing a series victory by winning Origin II in Perth on Wednesday.

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Sienna Toohey, 16, surfaces as bright hope for Australian swimming

  • Schoolgirl wins 100m breaststroke to qualify for world championships

  • Toohey only started swimming as she wanted to play water polo

A 16-year-old schoolgirl is being hailed as the future of Australian swimming after earning world championship selection. Sienna Toohey left seasoned campaigners including Kaylee McKeown in awe with a stunning swim at Australia’s selection trials in Adelaide on Tuesday night.

The Albury teenager, who only started swimming because she wanted to play water polo, triumphed in the women’s 100m breaststroke. Toohey’s victory, in a personal best time of 1:06.55, secured her berth at the world titles in Singapore from 27 July to 3 August.

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Erin Phillips and Daisy Pearce become first AFLW players inducted to hall of fame

  • Pair join trailblazer Debbie Lee in Australian Football Hall Of Fame

  • Nick Riewoldt, Luke Hodge and Garry Lyon also inducted

Erin Phillips paid an emotional tribute to her father Greg as she joined him in the Australian Football Hall Of Fame. Phillips and Daisy Pearce are the first AFLW players to be inducted, joining trailblazer Debbie Lee as female inductees.

South Australian goalkicking machine Ken Farmer was elevated to legend status at Tuesday night’s annual dinner in Melbourne.

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Australia’s Olympic swimmers reveal struggles after life in Paris Games fish-bowl

  • ‘I was in a really dark place mentally,’ says Kaylee McKeown

  • Mollie O’Callaghan speaks of ‘immense pressure’ during Games

Kaylee McKeown was in a dark place and Mollie O’Callaghan suddenly realised she had no friends outside of her sport. They were two lost souls after swimming in the fish-bowl of the Paris Olympics.

“Coming off the Olympics, I was in a really dark place mentally,” McKeown said. “When you go from such a high, straight back to such a low, and you’re left scrambling for ideas on what you’re going to do next, it is hard to find your feet once again.”

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State of Origin 2 teams: Daly Cherry-Evans dropped in bombshell Maroons move

  • Queensland captain expected to make way for Tom Dearden

  • Beau Fermor also dropped with Kurt Capewell to step in

Queensland’s Daly Cherry-Evans has become the first State of Origin captain dropped mid-series this century, as one of several huge Billy Slater selection calls. Slater will name a 20-man squad for Origin II on Monday morning, but Tom Dearden is expected to replace Cherry-Evans in the No 7 jersey in Perth next Wednesday.

Beau Fermor is the other player dropped after the Maroons’ series-opening 18-6 loss at Suncorp Stadium, with Kurt Capewell set to replace him. Kurt Mann is then expected to take Dearden’s spot on the Maroons’ bench, after acting as 18th man in game one.

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‘Bowling the best I have’: Josh Hazlewood stakes claim for WTC final spot

  • 34-year-old giving selectors headaches after strong form in IPL

  • Australia fast bowler missed last World Test Championship decider

Buoyed by an outstanding IPL, Australia quick Josh Hazlewood feels he is bowling better than at any point in his decorated career.

Struck down by niggling injuries in recent years, Hazlewood could be forgiven for starting to taper having already taken 279 wickets from 72 Tests.

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Nick Kyrgios suffers fresh injury setback with Australian to miss Wimbledon again

  • Kyrgios has not played at All England Club since losing 2022 final

  • Ongoing knee problem rules him out of this year’s grand slam in London

Nick Kyrgios’s Wimbledon absence will stretch into a third year after the Australian tennis maverick suffered a fresh injury setback.

Kyrgios has not played at Wimbledon since losing the 2022 final to Novak Djokovic, after a combination of knee, foot and wrist injuries.

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Daria Kasatkina bows out at French Open with defeat to familiar foe Mirra Andreeva

  • World No 6 eases to 6-3, 7-5 win in 94 minutes at Roland Garros

  • Former Russian’s first grand slam as Australian ends in fourth-round loss

Daria Kasatkina’s first grand slam as an Australian is over, ended at the French Open by her teenage phenomenon friend Mirra Andreeva.

Two months since being granted permanent residency, Kasatkina’s hopes of becoming the first Australian woman to reach the quarter-finals since Ash Barty’s triumphant year of 2019 finally unravelled 6-3 7-5 at the hands of the exceptional Russian-born 18-year-old.

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