Have England qualified for the World Cup?

England, and Harry Kane, took out some of the frustration of their recent indifferent performances with five goals in the first half against Albania. It was a case of Harrys and the Henderson as Harry Maguire scored the opener and Jordan Henderson notched a neat third after Kane’s first goal before the Tottenham man scored twice more before the break. Anyone who wonders why smaller teams generally come to Wembley and put everyone behind the ball got a lesson in what happens when inferior teams try to high press and compete as England ripped Albania apart time and again. The Three Lions now just need a point at San Marino tonight to guarantee top spot and book their place in next year’s World Cup.

Harry Kane Super Mega Minutes (settled at 219)

The England skipper has not been in the greatest form for club or country this season, but he looked back to his best in scoring a perfect hat-trick, all in the first 45 minutes. He started with a header from close range from Henderson’s dinked cross, then a left-foot finish from an angle and completed the hat-trick with a sumptuous right-footed scissors kick from Phil Foden’s cross in first half injury time. Buyers of Kane’s Super Mega Minutes, which is made up of his goal minutes but with the minutes for a second goal doubled, and those for a third goal trebled, will have been thrilled to see the Tottenham man back on form, though they’d have hoped for even more in the second half. As it was, buyers of the pre-match spread of 69-79 made a profit of 140 times their stake.

Who else impressed in the weekend World Cup Qualifiers?

France thrashed Kazakhstan 8-0 to guarantee their place at next year’s World Cup, with Kylian Mbappe scoring half of them. The PSG superstar had never scored a hat-trick for his country before, but it took just half an hour against Kazakhstan to put that right. Karim Benzema added a couple, and Adrien Rabiot and Antoine Griezmann grabbed one each before Mbappe completed the scoring with a late eighth. Dominique Rocheteau was the last players to score a competitive hat-trick for France in 1985.

Kylian Mbappe Super Mega Minutes (settled at 213)

Like Kane, Mbappe got his hat-trick early, with goals after 6, 12 and 32 minutes, so while buyers of his Goal Minutes and Super Mega Minutes will be in profit, they’d have preferred Kazakhstan put up some resistance for longer. Unlike Kane though, Mbappe did grab a late fourth to boost those profits a bit further. The PSG striker’s SMM spread pre-match was 107-127, so buyers made 86 times their bet. Interestingly, Benzema’s SMM make-up was 173, and buyers of his SMM at 97 would have made 76 times their money, only 10 less than Mbappe despite the Real Madrid man scoring only two goals (in the 55^th and 59^th minutes).

Who won the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham November Meeting?

We’ve had a weekend of top-class racing action from Cheltenham’s November meeting, with the highlight being Saturday afternoon’s Gold Cup. Last year’s winner Coole Cody put in a great effort in trying to make it back-to-back wins, only to fall at the penultimate fence. That left Midnight Shadow in front, and while 11/2 favourite Protektorat, Lalor and Dostal Phil all closed in, the 9/1 shot held on for trainer Sue Smith and jockey Ryan Mania. That trainer/jockey partnership teamed up to win the 2013 Grand National through Aurora’s Encore, but Mania retired the following year at the age of just 25, only coming back in 2019 after a five-year break.

Race Multi-Mules (settled at 16)

Midnight Shadow was a bit of a surprise winner of the Gold Cup, but at 9/1 in an ultra competitive renewal it wasn’t a massive shock either. Just about all of the fancied horses went well, and last year’s winner Coole Cody looked like he could challenge too until his late fall. The Race Multi-Mules market multiplies the racecard numbers of the first two finishers, and was set at 61-68. When number 8 Midnight Shadow was followed home by number 2 Protektorat, sellers at 61 pocketed a tidy profit of 45 times their stake.

Does Lewis Hamilton still have a chance of defending his F1 title?

Going into the weekend’s race in Brazil it looked doubtful but Hamilton enjoyed what he later described as “one of the best weekend – if not the best weekend – of my whole career”. On a track thought to suit rival Max Verstappen better, and given two penalties over the two races to leave him 25 places to make up, the Brit roared past the championship leader with 12 laps to go and is now within 14 points of the top with three races to go.

Lewis Hamilton Race Index (settled at 100)

Hamilton had started the sprint race in 20^th and last place after being disqualified from qualifying. He drove superbly to get to 5^th position on the grid, but was given another penalty, this time for an engine infringement, so started the Brazilian GP in 10^th. His Race Index spread – which awards 100/80/60/40/30/25/20/15/10/5 points depending on finishing position – was set at 60-65. Buyers therefore won 35 times their bet as the champ put on a display that will live long in the memory.

Who won the T20 World Cup?

Australia beat rivals New Zealand in the final of the T20 World Cup to claim the only piece of international cricket silverware that had previously eluded them. Mitchell Marsh hit the fastest half century in a World Cup final, just 31 balls – breaking the record set by Kane Williamson an hour earlier – and David Warner also scored another 50 as Australia chased down 172-4 pretty comfortably.

Sixes Squared (settled at 196)

Both these teams are packed with huge hitters and they didn’t let the fans down on the big occasion. Williamson hit half of the Black Caps’ six sixes, while Marsh and Warner, the stars of the show for the Aussies, smashed seven of their eight. In all, 14 sixes were hit, giving a Sixes Squared total of 196. Pre-match the spread was set at 136-152, meaning buyers trousered a profit of 44 times their stake.