County Championship: Ian Bell century gives Warwickshire lead against Hampshire

an Bell is playing his first game as Warwickshire's new county captain

Specsavers County Championship Division One, Ageas Bowl

Hampshire v Warwickshire (close, day three)

Hampshire 202: McLaren 84no, Barker 5-58, Clarke 3-43

Warwickshire 283-6: Bell 130no, Woakes 66, Edwards 3-80

Warwhire 5 pts, Hampshire 2 pts

Match scorecard

Warwickshire captain Ian Bell made his first century in 10 months to give the England selectors a nudge and earn a first-innings lead against Hampshire.

Bell's six-hour vigil for an unbeaten 130, his 51st first-class hundred, has given the Bears a slim hope of victory.

After Monday's lost day, it took just four overs for the Bears to wrap up Hampshire's first innings for 202.

Warwickshire then struggled to 132-5, before Chris Woakes (66) helped Bell steer them to 283-6 at the close.

Building on Keith Barker's five-wicket haul on the first day, Rikki Clarke got the third day off to a good start for Warwickshire with two early wickets, starting with Ryan McLaren, to earn him figures of 3-43.

Having rescued Hampshire from 87-7 on Sunday, McLaren only added one to his overnight score before playing a Clarke bouncer onto his own stumps, departing for 85.

West Indian Fidel Edwards then slapped a four straight down the ground to earn a batting point before holing out, leaving James Tomlinson stranded on 23.

Edwards then gave Hampshire the perfect start by removing both openers, former Bears captains Ian Westwood and Varun Chopra.

But helped by partnerships of 49 with Jonathan Trott (27) and Sam Hain (25), and with Hampshire short of the injured Reece Topley, Bell took control.

Just a day after his 34th birthday, and on the same day that the sad news ofJames Taylor's early retirement broke, he shared a 151-run stand with Woakes, his fellow England hopeful, although the latter fell lbw to Edwards with the final ball of the day.

Warwickshire captain Ian Bell on James Taylor's retirement:

"It is an immensely sad day. We couldn't believe it when we were told this morning. Thoughts are with Titch and with a speedy recovery.

"He is one of the top blokes in English cricket and I know Chris Woakes is very close and really upset. It is shocking news."

Hampshire captain James Vince on James Taylor's retirement:

"It has been extremely sad. It is never nice when news like that comes out especially for someone who is so dedicated and hard working for the sport. To have it taken away like that is heart-breaking.

"He has always been an excellent performer and his numbers have been excellent. He had the world ahead of him in terms of international cricket and an extremely sad day."

View from the commentary box

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire's Clive Eakin:

"Warwickshire may have to pay a price for the way two of their players dominated the third day. The performances of Ian Bell and Chris Woakes in sharing a stand of 151 suggest they may be away from their county again and back in the England set-up before very long.

"Bell's century may not have been the most entertaining of the 51 he has scored in first class cricket, but it was calm, confident and faultless, apart from surviving a stumping chance on 95.

"Woakes paced his innings impressively and, having bowled well on the first day, has enhanced his international prospects.

"Hampshire will take encouragement from the way they kept Warwickshire tied down for long spells despite being a bowler light due to Reece Topley's injury and spinner Liam Dawson in particular bowled very tightly."

Masters 2016: Danny Willett predicts 'special' times ahead

Winning the Masters is a "fantastic start" to achieving "special things" in golf, says Danny Willett.

The Yorkshireman, 28, is the first European winner at Augusta since 1999 and only the fourth British champion.

"It's a great feeling and hopefully one we can have many more times," said Willett of his first major victory.

Willett's manager Chubby Chandler said the golfer could win another major this year and become number one in the world "without any doubt".

Carding a final-round five-under-par 67, the Englishman took advantage of defending champion Jordan Spieth dropping six shots in three holes.

The last European to win at Augusta was Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal, while the only other British champions have been Nick Faldo (1989, 1990, 1996), Sandy Lyle (1988) and Ian Woosnam (1991).

Chandler said Willett, a 2007 Walker Cup team-mate of three-time major winner Rory McIlroy, could "become one of the greats of his time".

• Report - Danny Willett pips Jordan Spieth to Masters title
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• A historic moment for British golf - Radio 5 live podcast

"He won't be distracted. He knows exactly what he's trying to do. Winning the Masters is the start of the journey, not the end of the journey," said Chandler.

"He knows exactly how many majors Rory has won and he will want to get up there and past Rory's tally. If you take Tiger Woods out, what is the next best tally of majors among current players? Phil Mickeslon with five."

Atleti pile pressure on wobbly Barca in Spain while Leicester continue march towards stunning Premier League title in England

It was certainly a week to forget for Barcelona in terms of domestic league displays.

The Catalan giants followed up their El Clasico defeat by arch rivals Real Madrid a week ago with a 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad at the weekend.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored the only goal as Barca’s wait for a first away win over Sociedad since 2007 continued.

It wasn’t the best way to warm up for their Champions League quarter-final second leg against their La Liga title rivals Atletico Madrid, who in turn will be full of confidence after their 3-1 league win over Espanyol – a result that blew the title race wide open.

Diego Simeone’s men maintained the pressure on pace setters Barca when they came from behind for the win.

Antoine Griezmann, Fernando Torres and Koke all found the back of the net as the capital club reduced Baca’s lead to just three points – only three weeks ago Barca’s lead was nine points.

They will now look to overturn a 2-1 deficit scoreline when they host Barca in the champions League on Wednesday.

Fearless Foxes

This time last season Leicester City were bottom of the table – 12 months on and they are on the verge of winning a the club’s very first English topflight title.

On Sunday Jamie Vardy scored a double to hand the fearless Foxes a 2-0 win over relegation strugglers Sunderland.

With his brace Vardy reached 21 league goals for the season – the first player from the club to surpass 20 goals since Gary Lineker 31 years ago.

Claudio Ranieri’s men are seven points clear of second placed Tottenham – who thumped Manchester United 3-0 the same day – and need three wins from their last five games to seal a remarkable Premier League crown.

Up and down

Up next is a list of players and clubs that stole the limelight for good or bad from last weekend’s action. It’s our up and down segment.

On the up is Cristiano Ronaldo whose goal scoring abilities are second to none. And the stats are there to prove it. At the weekend he scored against Eibar to become the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to reach the 30-goal mark in six consecutive seasons.

Andy Carroll is Up after hammering home a seven-minute hat-trick against Arsenal in a gripping 3-3 draw. His exploit in front of goal has given England manager Roy Hodgson a selection headache for Euro 2016. Will it be enough to persuade him to take a punt on the player – time will tell.

On the down is French first division side Monaco who were beaten 4-1 by Lille on match day 33. With the defeat the principality club relinquished second place in the league to Olympique Lyonnais, who six games ago were trailing Monaco by 10 points.

Road to Euro

There are two months to go until Euro 2016 and we will end our trip through the competition’s past with one of the coaches who re-wrote the football history books and is now hoping to write another chapter to his remarkable story this summer in France.

By leading Spain to victory at Euro 2012, Vicente Del Bosque became the first coach in history to win titles at theUEFA European Championship, the Fifa World Cup (South Africa 2010 with Spain) and the UEFA Champions League (with Real Madrid 1999-2000, 2001-2002).

We might be wrong

We’re not far off knowing which clubs are going to play the Champions League’s semi-finals. We already know the results of the quarter final first legs; but what about the return legs? Here are our predictions for those games. Add yours via social media using #TheCornerScores.

Manchester City 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain
Real Madrid 3-0 Wolfsburg
Atlético de Madrid 1-0 Barcelona
Benfica 2-1 Bayern Munich

Bloopers

Very often, the goalkeepers are the main content suppliers of our ‘‘Bloopers’‘ segment. Today we’re going to show you two of them. One, really lucky. The other, really clumsy. (Check out video above)

Ukraine: Tough challenges ahead for next government

Ukraine is in political turmoil as it seeks to form a new government.

It follows the resignation of Prime MinisterArseniy Yatsenyuk. His likely replacement is parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Groysman.

It is hoped a new stable coalition will push through reforms and reassure Ukraine’s chief backers, not least theIMF.

“Groysman’s government will first of all have to focus on the development of the economy and look for economic growth,” political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told euronews.

“The second important issue is to concentrate on social policies. Here, Groysman will have to find a balance between the IMF’s requests and the needs of social stability.”

Political infighting and corruption scandals fractured the Yatsenyuk administration. If appointed, Groysman, a long-standing ally of Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, has a tough challenge ahead.

“We have to talk about things that have not been done,” said Svitlana Zalishuk, a Member of Parliament with President Petro Poroshenko’s bloc.

“And this is why people are so disappointed with the government. Because it is also the price that society has to pay with these slow reforms, with not enough of the implementation of those policies that have been adopted in the parliament. We still didn’t manage to break away this vicious circle of corruption.”

US Vice President Joe Biden raised the need for more economic reforms in a phone call with the outgoing prime minister.

“I think the main focus should be the continuation of the reform process… IMF programme continuation and focussing now on privatisation because Ukraine has many, many assets it can privatise, which could potentially bring in billions of dollars of new investment,” said Andy Hunder, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine.

Aston Villa are all but relegated after a defeat by Bournemouth - their eighth in a row - left them 15 points from safety with five games left.

Steve Cook's close-range finish set the visitors on their way before Joshua King scored after a defensive mix-up.

Jordan Ayew reduced the deficit with a powerful shot beyond Artur Boruc.

Villa need to win their remaining five games to have any chance of staying up, but could be down before they play at Manchester United on 16 April.

Norwich, who are 17th in the Premier League table - 15 points clear of Villa - entertain fellow strugglers Sunderland at 12:45 BST on 16 April.

If the Canaries avoid defeat in that game, Villa will be relegated for the first time in 29 years.

Reaction from Villa Park and the rest of Saturday's Premier League games

Relive the action from Villa Park

White handkerchiefs as Villa get it wrong again

For 23 minutes on Saturday Villa were down before Jason Puncheon's 68th-minute winner for Crystal Palace against Norwich earned the Premier League's bottom club a temporary stay of execution.

Aston Villa scored their first goal in seven hours and 36 minutes - an unsuccessful challenge by Joshua King allowing Idrissa Gueye to set up Jordan Ayew.

Fans were in an unforgiving mood as the fractured relationship between home players and supporters continued.

There were thousands of empty seats at kick-off as some supporters chose to miss the first seven minutes in protest - seven being the number of times Villa have been champions of England.

Towards the end, other home fans were spotted waving white handkerchiefs - a sign of surrender - after another poor, careless performance.

Villa, who desperately needed a positive display to appease their disgruntled fans, set up to contain the Cherries yet were picked off at ease.

Bournemouth pass 40 points

Villa gave a full Premier League debut to 20-year-old midfielder Jordan Lyden - though he lasted only 45 minutes before being replaced at the start of the second half.

Fans made their feelings known to Villa's players and owner Randy Lerner, who was not present

By then the match was already as good as over for Villa following another performance in which they lacked leadership, character, fight and had only one shot on target.

In contrast, Bournemouth, who welcomed back forward Callum Wilson after a serious knee injury, were bright and breezy.

Lewis Grabban forced a full-length save from Brad Guzan before Cook's finish from a short corner on the stroke of half-time gave them the lead.

The Cherries doubled their lead when Ciaran Clark was robbed by King, who went on to finish smartly - and although Villa went on to score a first goal in over seven and a half hours, the visitors held on comfortably.

Bournemouth were tipped for relegation at the stat of the season yet they are challenging for a top-half finish after reaching 41 points with five games left.

Man of the match - Joshua King (Bournemouth)

Joshua King has hit form at a crucial stage of the season. Having netted in wins over Newcastle and Swansea, the former Manchester United youngster made it three in five games with a sublime finish after dispossessing Ciaran Clark.

What they said

Aston Villa caretaker manager Eric Black, speaking to BBC Sport: "Not going down today is a small consolation. We've conceded poor goals, but we have to remain professional until the end.

"We didn't create as many chances as we would have liked. Ultimately, if you concede poor goals it will be hard to score.

"I'm sure it's not easy to play in that atmosphere, but there have only been two or three victories here this season so I won't be criticising the supporters.

"They turned out again today, which I find remarkable. This is certainly not down to the supporters."

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe, tells BBC Sport: "This was really important for us. It was very nervy from both teams but I thought we dominated the ball and deserved it in the end.

"It was a difficult game to play in because of the toxic atmosphere. We made it that way with the way we started."

Stats you need to know

• Villa have made more errors leading to goals than any other side in the Premier League this season (14).
• Steve Cook has scored four Premier League goals this season - the only defender with more is Scott Dann (5).
• Joshua King has scored five times for Bournemouth this season - he managed just five league goals in three seasons in the Championship with Blackburn.
• Jordan Ayew scored his first Premier League goal since December, ending a run of 10 games without scoring.

Up next

Villa's relegation will be confirmed if they fail to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford next Saturday - something they have not done since 2009.

Bournemouth host Liverpool on 17 April.

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Home TeamAston VillaAway TeamBournemouth

Possession

Home41%

Away59%

Shots

Home6

Away12

Shots on Target

Home1

Away3

Corners

Home3

Away8

Fouls

Home13

Away11

Barcelona and Bayern Munich edge their Champions League ties

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Home wins in the Champions League as Barcelona beat Atletico and Bayern beat Benfica.

Louis Suarez scored a brace for Barcelona to give the Catalan team the edge against Atletico-Madrid in the all Spanish quarter final of the Champions League.

The Uruguayan was the man of the moment as he bundled the first home in the 63rd minute before doubling up in the 74th with a bullet header.

Fernando Torres slid home to give Atletico a precious away goal before he was sent off after receiving two yellow cards.

Bayern Munich played host to Benfica Arturo Vidal was a man in a hurry after he headed home after two minutes in for the Germans match at the Allianz Arena.

The visitors could have snatched a draw when Jonas’ second-half strike was blocked by Javi Martinez.

The goal will give the Bavarian outfit a slender lead and plenty to play for the rematch to be held in Lisbon in eight days.

Migrant arrivals to Greece slow amid tighter security on Turkish coast

Tighter security along Turkey’s coast is a key factor behind a sharp fall in the number of migrants arriving in Greece under the EU’s deal with Ankara.

Three days after the agreement came into force, new arrivals on the Greek islands from Turkey dropped to 68 in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning from 225 the previous day, data from the Greek migration ministry showed.

One of those intercepted by the Turkish coastguard and brought back to Dikili in Turkey was Khodor Hosary, a Palestinian man living in Lebanon.

“I applied for a passport in Lebanon. I am Palestinian and I am not allowed to live or work (there). You know, the Palestinian crisis in Lebanon. We don’t have a country or a land,” he said.

“Why are they doing this to us? We have been humiliated. We almost died. We had children travelling with us.”

Anger is also simmering on the Greek islands where asylum applications are piling up as migrants and refugeesseek to avoid deportation to Turkey under the agreement.

After a break out from a holding centre on Chios, hundreds of migrants and refugees are sleeping rough at the port.

Some 202 people, the majority from Pakistan, have been returned from Greece since the deal was implemented on Monday. Up to 13 of those sent back are said to have intended to apply for asylum.

Also intent on applying for asylum is Abdul Wahid Dar from Pakistan, one of those now gathered at the Chios port.

Showing papers to reporters, he voiced his fears at the threat of deportation.

“I think all the dreams will be broken if this happens because we came here, we spent a lot of money for this.”

Deportations from Greece have been suspended since Monday, with authorities overwhelmed by the
spike in asylum claims.

On the Greek island of Lesbos, Ali, 22, from Pakistan, said:

“They sent back two guys and they committed suicide. They put a rope around their necks and hanged themselves. If we go back we won’t be able to handle life. Some people have sold their homes. If they are taken back, they will die. What will they do?”

Aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières highlighted the plight of those awaiting deportation from the
Greek island of Samos.