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In the end of an era for Indian Test cricket, Virat Kohli follows fellow batting star Rohit Sharma into retirement.

India batsman Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket, bringing down the curtain on a sparkling career in the longest format just days after captain Rohit Sharma did the same.

Kohli, who made his debut in 2011 and scored 30 centuries and 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 over 123 tests, is expected to remain available for one-day internationals.

The 36-year-old quit Twenty20 International immediately after India won their second 20-over World Cup trophy in the West Indies last year.

“It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in test cricket. Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on,” Kohli posted on Instagram on Monday.

“It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life.

“There’s something deeply personal about playing in whites. The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever.”

While Kohli’s final test wrapped up a 3-1 test series defeat by Australia in January, which saw India relinquish the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade, he will be remembered most for his spell as captain between 2014 and 2022.

Kohli won 40 of his 68 tests in charge of India to become the country’s most successful skipper in the format, and sits fourth in the list of captains with the most test victories.

Only Graeme Smith (53), Ricky Ponting (48) and Steve Waugh (41) won more tests as captains.

India suffered only 17 defeats with Kohli at the helm as he guided the side to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021, when they lost to New Zealand.

He was also part of the team that lost the second World Test Championship final to Australia in 2023.

“I’m walking away with a heart full of gratitude – for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way,” he added.

“I’ll always look back at my test career with a smile.”

India’s next test assignment is a five-match series in England from June 20.

OKLAHOMA CITY — UCLA earned a No. 9 NCAA softball national seed and will host a regional during its first season as a Big Ten member.

The Bruins (49-10, 17-5 Big Ten) lost to Michigan 2-0 in the Big Ten tournament title game, but still earned the right to host the Los Angeles Regional. UCLA is making a record 40th appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Regional No. 2 seed Arizona State, Regional No. 3 seed San Diego State and Regional No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara also earn bids in UCLA’s regional, with the Regional No. 1 seed Bruins playing UC Santa Barbara at 4:30 p.m. PDT Friday (ESPN+) and Arizona State playing San Diego State at 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN2).

Texas A&M earned the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I softball tournament on Sunday, edging four-time defending national champion Oklahoma for the top spot and leading seven Southeastern Conference teams seeded in the top eight.

Oklahoma won the SEC regular-season title by a game over Texas A&M in its first season in the conference. Texas A&M and Oklahoma tied for the conference tournament title after the championship game was canceled because of bad weather.

No. 3 seed Florida, a national semifinalist last season, and No. 4 Arkansas also represent the SEC. Oklahoma State, which has made five consecutive Women’s College World Series appearances, is in the regional with Arkansas.

The final eight teams in the 64-team field will play in the WCWS from May 29-June 5 in Oklahoma City.

No. 5 seed Florida State, the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season champion, is the top-seeded team from outside the SEC. The Seminoles won the national title in 2018 and were runners-up in 2021 and 2023.

Florida State is followed by three more SEC teams. Texas, the national runner-up two of the past three seasons, is No. 6. Tennessee, with hard-throwing Karlyn Pickens, is No 7. South Carolina is No. 8 after being picked 15th out of 15 teams in the preseason SEC poll.

No. 10 seed LSU could be challenged. Nebraska, led by former Oklahoma pitcher Jordyn Bahl, also will be in the Baton Rouge Regional. Bahl was the Most Outstanding Player of the World Series in 2023.

Clemson, the ACC tournament champion after knocking off Florida State in the title game, is No. 11.

No. 12 seed Texas Tech, the Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion, features NiJaree Canady, the reigning National Fastpitch Coaches Association Player of the Year. Canady did not allow a run in 16 2/3 innings at the Big 12 Tournament and was named its Most Outstanding Player.

Arizona, which lost to Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game, earned the No. 13 seed.

Duke reached the WCWS for the first time last season and will host a regional this year as the No. 14 seed.

Another SEC team, Alabama, is the No. 15 seed.

Oregon (47-7), the Big Ten regular-season champion, was seeded 16th.

Brunt writes for the Associated Press.

With Ulster having had to cut their cloth accordingly in a different financial landscape, there will be a concern that off-field struggles impacting on-field results becomes something of a spiral.

Already, the pattern of the season’s conclusion seeing plenty of experienced stalwarts heading out the door was set to be repeated.

John Cooney has been a talisman for the province since arriving from Connacht in 2017 but the 11-times capped Irish international has signed a three-year deal with Brive.

Lock Kieran Treadwell, who has also won 11 caps for Ireland, will return to Harlequins, while Andy Warwick and Alan O’Connor, who have represented Ulster a combined 421 times, are among the summer exits too.

All told, eight departing players accounted for 93 outings this season and, to date, the impressive signing of Northampton Saints number eight Juarno Augustus is the only confirmed arrival.

While more are set to come in, the loss of income associated with missing out on knock-out rugby in the URC and the Champions Cup next season will not make it any easier to build a competitive squad.

DENVER — The Colorado Rockies have fired Bud Black, the winningest manager in franchise history, after a 7-33 start that’s one of the worst in Major League Baseball history.

Colorado promoted third base coach Warren Schaeffer to be the interim manager, the team announced Sunday after a 9-3 win over San Diego. That victory wasn’t enough to save Black’s job after the Rockies lost 21-0 to the Padres on Saturday night. They also fired bench coach Mike Redmond. Hitting coach Clint Hurdle takes over as interim bench coach.

The Rockies have the worst 40-game start since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who were 6-34.

“Our play so far this season, especially coming off the last two seasons, has been unacceptable. Our fans deserve better, and we are capable of better,” said Rockies owner, chairman and CEO Dick Monfort in a statement. “While we all share responsibility in how this season has played out, these changes are necessary. We will use the remainder of 2025 to improve where we can on the field and to evaluate all areas of our operation so we can properly turn the page into the next chapter of Rockies Baseball.”

Colorado was 19 1/2 games out of first place in the NL West before Sunday’s win. The Rockies have been outscored by 128 runs so far this season. The only team since 1900 with a worse run differential through 40 games was the 2023 Oakland Athletics (-144).

The seventh manager in team history, Black initially found success with Colorado when he led the Rockies to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2017 and ’18. They haven’t finished with a winning record since and are coming off two straight 100-loss seasons. Colorado has a .353 winning percentage since 2023.

Black’s contract was set to expire following the season. He signed a one-year extension in October.

Black was 544-689 in nine seasons while wearing the purple pinstripes. He surpassed Hurdle last season for the team record in both games managed and wins.

The easygoing demeanor of Black seemed to be a good fit for a Rockies team relying heavily on youth. The lineup features a nucleus of Gold Glove winners Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle, along with the recent call-up of highly touted outfielder Zac Veen, who has since been sent back down. On the mound, they’ve promoted prized pitcher Chase Dollander, the ninth overall draft pick in 2023.

But little has gone right for Black and the Rockies. They allowed 10 or more runs in four straight games, culminating in the football-like 21-0 score Saturday.

A team owned by Monfort and run by general manager Bill Schmidt didn’t make any splash moves to bolster a spiraling club. Their payroll this season is listed at $125.7 million and is 20th in the league, according to Spotrac, a site that tracks payroll.

One reason for the Rockies’ free fall has been the health of slugger Kris Bryant, who’s struggled to stay on the field after signing a $182 million, seven-year contract ahead of the 2022 season. He’s currently on the injured list with lumbar degenerative disk disease.

Before taking over the Rockies, Black spent time in charge of San Diego. He was 649-713 in nine seasons with the Padres and was named the NL manager of the year in 2010.

In addition to his managerial stints in San Diego and Colorado, Black spent seven seasons as the pitching coach for the Angels, who made it to postseason three times and were World Series champions in 2002.

Before breaking into the managerial ranks, Black spent parts of 15 seasons on the mound after the left-hander was picked by Seattle in the 17th round of the 1979 draft. He spent time with the Mariners (1981), Kansas City (1982-88), Cleveland (1988-90, 1995), Toronto (1990) and San Francisco (1991-94). He finished 121-116 with a 3.84 ERA over 398 games.

Black was with the Royals when they won the 1985 World Series, making one start and a relief appearance against St. Louis.

Graham writes for the Associated Press.

Brian White scored on a header in the 70th minute and the Vancouver Whitecaps rallied to tie LAFC 2-2 on Sunday to extend their unbeaten streak to 11 games across all competitions.

The Whitecaps (8-1-3) lead all MLS teams with 27 points and hold a five-point edge over Minnesota in the Western Conference. They are 6-0-5 during the streak.

On the tying goal, second-half substitution Ali Ahmed headed the ball into the center of the box and White headed it into the net. White also scored in the 26th minute to pull Vancouver within a goal.

White is tied for the MLS goals lead with eight and has 13 goals across all competitions. He returned to the lineup Sunday after missing a victory last week over Real Salt Lake because of a tight hamstring.

Mark Delgado opened the scoring for LAFC (5-4-3) in the eighth minute, and Denis Bouanga connected on a penalty kick in the 19th.

Match of the Day 2 looks at the events that led to Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis confronting manager Nuno Espirito Santo on the pitch after his side’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Leicester at the City Ground.

READ MORE: ‘We are all frustrated’

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Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run homer during Baltimore’s four-run sixth inning, and Maverick Handley got his first two career RBIs in the Orioles’ 7-3 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Zach Eflin (3-1) pitched five innings of two-run ball in his return from a monthlong injury absence for the Orioles, who took two of three in this weekend series between last-place clubs. Baltimore finished its trip by winning for only the second time in eight games.

Handley, the Orioles’ 27-year-old backup catcher, was playing in his fourth major league game. He drove in Emmanuel Rivera with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and his sacrifice bunt brought in Rivera again in the sixth.

Matthew Lugo hit his first career homer as a pinch-hitter in the ninth for the Halos, who went 4-6 on their 10-game homestand.

Tyler Anderson (2-1) yielded one earned run over five innings for the Angels, who committed two errors and several other fielding gaffes.

Adley Rutschman got credit for an RBI triple in the first when Taylor Ward lost his simple fly ball in the sun. Ward atoned later in the first, driving in Jorge Soler with a double and scoring on Logan O’Hoppe’s single.

Ryan Mountcastle had an RBI single in the fifth after the Angels walked Tyler O’Neill to get to him.

Key moment

Eflin had rough spots in his first start since April 7, yielding five hits and two walks, but he struck out five and provided a decent outing for a team struggling with its patchwork rotation.

Key stat

Handley’s RBI sacrifice bunt was the Orioles’ first since 2021.

Up next

Yusei Kikuchi (0-4, 3.83 ERA) takes his ninth shot at winning a game for his new team when the Angels visit the Padres on Monday. Cade Povich (1-3, 5.55 ERA) pitches at Camden Yards on Tuesday when the Orioles host Minnesota.

Ex-Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy and former Southampton boss Russell Martin discuss defender Trent Alexander-Arnold being jeered by Liverpool fans after confirming he will leave Anfield this summer.

READ MORE: ‘Not nice to hear’ – were jeers ‘shocking’ or ‘understandable’?

Watch Match of the Day 2 on BBC iPlayer