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April 20, 2015 14:46:53 UK

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen pushed Lewis Hamilton hard in Bahrain.

World champion Lewis Hamilton has welcomed the renewed challenge from Ferrari after his victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Mercedes driver won the race to take his tally to three victories already this season and in doing so extended his lead over teammate Nico Rosberg in the Drivers' Championship to 27 points.

It was the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen that gave Hamilton something to think about in Bahrain.

The Finn ran an extended middle stint in the race and briefly managed to get track position on Hamilton but the British driver powered past to reclaim his lead and take the chequered flag.

Naturally it's great to be having a fight with the Ferraris.

Lewis Hamilton

Afterwards, Hamilton paid tribute to the much-improved Ferrari's of Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

"Winning is winning so it doesn't particularly matter who it's against," said Hamilton. "You're trying to beat everyone out there. Naturally it's great to be having a fight with the Ferraris.

"I think for us as a team, and I think still today that Mercedes are still the best and we are working as hard as we can to keep up with this momentum that we have but they are pushing very hard to close up."

The teams now move on to Catalunya where Hamilton is 1.44to win the Spanish Grand Prix.

The two-time world champion appears to be driving with extreme confidence this season and he attributes his success to his complete confidence in the Mercedes W06.

He says he felt 'in love' with the car during his victory in Bahrain.

"I remember coming through Turn 13 and just thinking I love this car," Hamilton told Sky Sports. "The car was nice with great driveability, I was getting on the power smoothly, and I've got the car in a nice comfortable spot."

Hamilton is now1.16 to retain the Drivers' crown this season.

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April 17, 2015 18:51:41 UK

Colorado are chasing a fourth straight win when they meet LA on Friday.

The National League West Division leading Colorado Rockies take their three-game winning streak down to LA on Friday when they open a series with the Dodgers.

The Rockies, who swept the Giants in San Francisco this week, lead LA by a game in the standings after the Dodgers also took all three from the visiting Seattle Mariners in Southern California.

Clayton Kershaw gets the call for the hosts with the Rockies scheduled to counter with Kyle Kendrick.

Down at the foot of the Division the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants could hardly have gotten off to a worse start in defending their title.

Expectations were already low in the Bay Area as the fans joked about this being the off year due to the club winning the title every other year over the past five seasons, but still a seven-game losing streak is nothing to be taken lightly especially against the Rockies and the Diamondbacks.

Jake Peavy heads to the mound at AT & T Park on Friday evening in the second game of the weekend series with Arizona and the Dodgers will arrive in town early next week.

The Giants are1.68 to get a win on the board against Diamondbacks, who are 2.25.

Over in the American League West Division the Oakland Athletics are the only side .500 or above following their loss to the Astros in Houston.

The fourth game of a 10-game road swing is in Kansas City on Friday with the A's moving on to play the Angels in Anaheim next week.

The Royals are1.95 to pick up the win with Oakland at 1.86.

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April 18, 2015 18:13:51 UK

World number one Novak Djokovic will play Tomas Berdych in Sunday's Monte Carlo Masters final after brushing Rafael Nadal aside.

The 27-year-old Serb, who is bidding to win a third Masters title in a row, hit back from a slow start to triumph 6-3 6-3.

"I'm very happy with how I played against such a tough opponent," said Djokovic afterwards. "Rafa is the all-time best on the clay, it was not an easy match.

I know the final with Tomas will be a different kind of match, but I'll do my best to recover and get ready.

Novak Djokovic

"I played well, it was a relief to get this win. There was a lot of tension, it was tough to keep it all under control.

"I know the final with Tomas will be a different kind of match, but I'll do my best to recover and get ready."

Meanwhile, the sixth-seeded Berdych was far too good for Gael Monfils in the other semi-final, beating the Frenchman 6-1 6-4.

Monfils had knocked Roger Federer and Grigor Dimitrov out of the tournament, but was always up against it after Berdych won the first set in just 23 minutes.

Djokovic is1.071 to win the final while Berdych can be backed at 9.00.

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April 19, 2015 18:45:01 UK

Novak Djokovic has won the Monte Carlo Masters for the second time in three years, beating Tomas Berdych in the final. The world number one, who has lost just two games all season, had a similarly successful record against his Czech opponent, having an 18-2 head to head record against him and, though Berdych pushed him close in the first two sets, winning the second to force a decider, it was the Serb who began the clay court season in winning style.

With the odds stacked against him Berdych, having lost his two previous finals in 2015, needed a good start in this match and he obliged, breaking the Djokovic serve to love in the first game of the match.

He held on for a 2-0 lead but Djokovic then came into the contest, getting on the scoreboard with his next service game and breaking Berdych a couple of games later for 3-3.

The Serb took the next two games for 5-3 but, serving for the first set, Berdych broke back when Djokovic netted on break point.

Djokovic had a comfortable hold for 6-5 and, with Berdych serving to take the first set into a tie-break, some key errors handed Djokovic the game and the first set 7-5.

A rain break came halfway through the second set with Djokovic leading 3-2. However, the break seemed to suit Berdych the best and he took the first three games after the resumption to lead 5-3. Though Djokovic held serve for 5-4, the Czech took the second set 6-4 to take the match into a decider.

Any hopes of a shock win soon vanished however as the Serb stormed into a 4-0 lead. Berdych rallied to get one of the breaks back, but Djokovic held on for a 7-5 4-6 6-3 win that cements his place at the top of the mens game and ensures a winning start on clay as he prepares for the French Open in a few weeks time.

Djokovic is 2.10to win the French Open, Rafael Nadal is 2.62and Andy Murray 21.00.

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April 19, 2015 14:02:01 UK

Borussia Dortmund have confirmed that Thomas Tuchel will take charge at the club in the summer, with Jurgen Klopp having announced that he will move on at the end of the season.

Forty-one-year-old Tuchel, like Klopp before him, made his coaching name with Mainz, leading Die Nullfunfer to fifth place in the Bundesliga in 2010/11 and seventh place last season.

I know how many games we have remaining and how many points are still up for grabs. That's the only thing I care about at the moment.

Jurgen Klopp

However, Tuchel left the club at the end of the 2013/14 campaign and has been taking time out during the current season, having been linked with the likes of Hamburg and Newcastle United.

Tuchel has agreed a three-year contract with BVB, who are eighth in the Bundesliga following a 3-0 win at home to Paderborn on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Klopp has again hinted that he may take time away from the game before taking up a fresh challenge away from the Westfalenstadion, while insisting that his focus remains on trying help Dortmund secure a Europa League spot.

"I have absolutely no time to think about my future and it's not really important right now," Klopp said after the win over Paderborn.

"Everything is possible. My staff and I could rest for one year, but at this time nobody knows what will happen."

"I want to bring my time here to an end. I know how many games we have remaining and how many points are still up for grabs. That's the only thing I care about at the moment."

Dortmund, who face Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, are5.50 to win the DFB-Pokal this season, with Bayern1.66 and Wolfsburg - who face Arminia Bielefeld in the other semi - 3.50.

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April 22, 2015 14:01:43 UK

Yorkshire are pursuing another overseas player after Australia batsman Aaron Finch was ruled out for three months following hamstring surgery.

Martyn Moxon, the club's director of cricket, is in the market for a replacement as Finch was the reigning county champions' primary import.

Plans are in place to fill the void that Aaron will leave.

Martyn Moxon

They have India Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara with them until the end of May, when the 28-year-old Finch was due to arrive from the Indian Premier League.

And it was while batting for Mumbai Indians last week that Finch incurred the damage that has forced him to go under the knife.

"It is disappointing news for Aaron and for us," said Moxon. "We were hoping that he would be with us in May, but that is not going to happen. Plans are in place to fill the void that Aaron will leave.

"We are hopeful that we can get this sorted sooner rather than later and remain confident that we'll find a replacement for the LV= County Championship and the NatWest T20 Blast."

Cricket Australia's team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris confirmed Finch, Australia's Twenty20 captain, will commence a rehabilitation programme in his homeland.

"After returning to Australia injured from the IPL, Aaron had scans that confirmed a high grade hamstring injury," he said. "As such, Aaron was assessed by a surgeon who felt that he would have a better outcome with surgery.

"Aaron subsequently had surgery yesterday that has gone well. Aaron will now commence his rehabilitation and we expect that rehabilitation to take up to 12 weeks."

To add to Yorkshire's bad news, veteran left-armer Ryan Sidebottom has been ruled out until June with a grade two calf tear. The 37-year-old sustained the damage while batting against Worcestershire last week.

Yorkshire are8.50 to win the T20 Blast this summer and are7.50 to lift the Royal London One-Day Cup.

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April 18, 2015 10:48:54 UK

Prolific winger Curtis Rona scored a double to take his tally to eight tries in seven matches as Canterbury Bulldogs beat Manly Sea Eagles 28-16 at ANZ Stadium.

The Bulldogs were dominant throughout the contest but only led by two points at the break. Once Frank Pritchard went over for their third try 11 minutes into the second half, though, Canterbury were able to run away with the game.

Rona's second try was one of four in the second half for the hosts, who were inspired by NSW playmaker Josh Reynolds and utility Moses Mbye.

With the injuries we have had, he has been critical in the first seven rounds. He is good under pressure; he can play a lot of positions.

Des Hasler

Reynolds laid on three tries as the Bulldogs snapped a two-game losing streak, while Mbye scored one and set up another.

The Bulldogs set their stall out early, taking a first-minute lead through Rona's try after a long ball from Reynolds and building a 10-0 lead by the eighth minute after Chase Stanley dummied his way over.

The Sea Eagles battled back, with Daly Cherry-Evans collecting his own grubber kick after it rebounded off Reynolds to score a 27th-minute try.

A Jamie Lyon penalty goal just before the break closed the gap further, and Manly went in front when Peta Hiku scored a four-pointer eight minutes into the second half.

The Sea Eagles' chances of a first win in six weeks were soon snuffed out, though, as Pritchard scored after a Mbye break and Rona crossed for his second within six minutes.

Mbye went over to finish off a 95 metre play with 15 minutes to go, and though Steve Matai replied soon afterwards the Bulldogs rounded things off with their sixth try from Corey Thompson.

Bulldogs coach Des Hasler said it had been a very significant victory for his side. "It says a lot about the culture of the club. It is the sort of win that is very important later in the year," said Hasler.

Speaking of Mbye's contribution so far this year, he added: "With the injuries we have had, he has been critical in the first seven rounds. He is good under pressure; he can play a lot of positions."

The Bulldogs are1.95 to win their next game against Wests Tigers, who are 1.87.

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