India reach T20 World Cup semi-finals vs England — and more

Chasing 196, India completed the victory with four balls to spare, setting up a highly anticipated rematch against England.

Since 2007, India have reached the semi-finals six times, lifting the trophy in 2007 and 2024. They join Pakistan and England as the only teams to reach the last four in six separate editions.

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has slammed the decision from referee Peter Bankes to send him off after the final whistle of their defeat to Manchester City.

Farke was shown a straight red card after running over to Bankes to express his frustrations.

The Leeds boss says he was particularly unhappy with there not being enough added time at the end of the game, but denied he ever used strong language and claimed Bankes was ready to send him off before he had even said anything.

“Perhaps Peter (Bankes) wanted to be the first one to give me a red card in my career,” Farke said. “I think he could also have given me a yellow card because I also don’t think I’ve received a yellow card at Premier League level.

“I’m a very self-critical person. Whenever I do a mistake I hold my hands up and say listen, I have to apologise because in my job I also have to be a role model but really in this case, this scenario, I think it shouldn’t be a red card. It’s really my honest belief.

“There will always be disagreements about situations in the game. During the game there were several decisions we can speak about. A possible foul in the build up before their goal on Brenden Aaronson, we can speak about the situation when a foul was given against JJ (James Justin), although it was a straight leg against him and he’s a doubt for tomorrow because it was a foul on him.

“I think there was a situation between Cherki and Gruev which I judged differently. I think there was a handball incident in the second half where I think it should be at least checked to have a look at.

“I think six minutes added time for this game was not enough but the referee judged it in a different way and we also have to live with it.

“But what I think should not happen at this level is more or less what happened in added time. Six minutes added time shown by the fourth official and this means you play at least six minutes added time.

“During this added time there were three occasions that the referee had to encourage the Man City player to be quicker. Two times with a goal kick and one time also from a throw in.

“Then there comes an incident where he even gives a yellow card for time wasting.

“I went to Oliver Langford (fourth official), a top guy by the way and in this game was excellent and said ‘listen, don’t let him show a yellow card because this is our time, we want to equalise’. He says ‘no Daniel, don’t worry, we will add this to the time no problem’.

“He encouraged them three times already to play quicker. He (Bankes) walks over to give a yellow card for time-wasting, this alone lasts 20 to 30 seconds, how long do we want to play in the end? 12 minutes? He said ‘don’t worry, Peter will deal with it, it’s not your problem’.

“I can’t tell you if we play one or two minutes longer if we would really have equalised but you never know, there is at least a chance.

“If it happens in the 46th minute, perhaps he can forget about something, but not if 90 seconds before you give a yellow card for time-wasting, you speak to them several times, the fourth official tells me don’t worry we will add this then after six minutes and nine seconds, we have the ball, want to bring a long ball in, he blows the whistle and ends the game.

“At this level, for me, this is a clear mistake and shouldn’t happen.”

Farke continued by claiming he would “never jog again” on the pitch.

“I was obviously not happy, not with the decisions but especially with the six minutes added time and I wanted to run over because I wanted to be the first and not anyone else coming to speak about the handball or the Gruev and Cherki situation,” he explained.

“I just wanted a short, quiet moment with the referee. I was running over because I wanted to ask him why he didn’t add a few seconds, at least 30 seconds or one minute added time if he gives a yellow card for time-wasting.

“I jogged over and there was not one bad word, I didn’t abuse him at all, I didn’t swear at him at all, I didn’t use one word of bad language. There was no flying arms or wild gestures. I was just jogging over to ask him for what do you give the yellow card over there if you don’t add any seconds.

“I don’t even finish for what because as soon as I arrived, he had the red card in his hands and sorry, didn’t speak to me, didn’t even watch me and just shows me a red card.

“I can’t say that I was unbelievably happy that he didn’t add any seconds but I just wanted to ask the question.

“After he showed the red card, also in this manner to more like embarrass me by showing the red card, to show the whole world, listen this guy is not worth to talk to. This guy is not even worth to look at him, then I was angrier but even then I didn’t use one bad word, I didn’t accuse him, not at all.

“You can also see it on the footage with the assistant. If I would have done something disrespectful I think he would have perhaps defended his mate, the referee, and they were also shocked a red card was shown and tried to speak to me more or less.

“This is not how we should work with each other. Listen, I have so much respect for all the referees, otherwise I would never last in this business for nearly 20 years without being shown a red card.

“I learned my lesson. I will never, ever jog again on the pitch although I don’t think you could be a shown a red card for jogging. I don’t think it’s something where you should be shown a red card.

“I have to admit, I’m not like a butterfly. I don’t look unbelievably cute and sweet when I jog. I have to admit this. The lesson I learned is I will never, ever jog on the pitch again but I don’t think a red card should be shown.

“With Peter, I respect him so much as a top, experienced referee. He was in charge of so many top games at this level. I don’t think he did something on purpose, I think he just misjudged or misinterpreted something.

“But in the end, I don’t take me too serious. I’m not more important than the players or the game. But I think it should be the same the other way round.

“If we meet each other in a few weeks and there’s something where we disagree and have a different opinion, it should be possible to ask at least a question or to speak about this. And even though we disagreed, to have a handshake.

“I will never, ever jog again. I will try to be as slow as I was as a player from now on on the pitch.”

Asled if he expects to be in the dugout against Sunderland, Farke replied: “If you ask me how I judge this situation, I don’t think this red card can stand.”

It’s a long-standing feature of this article to point out previous iterations of this article. When I wrote my first one eight years ago (holy crap, I’m getting old), the Rockies were trending in the right direction, and the ownership got precious little credit for it. So I wrote a string of articles focused on countering the narrative that the Monforts (“Cheapfarts”) didn’t want to spend to win, preferring to turn Coors Field into the best bar in LoDo. I stand by those takes at the time. 

Since then, an altogether different narrative has emerged: The Monforts were the baseball equivalent of the golden retriever wearing a necktie sitting at a computer. Sure, they demonstrated a willingness to spend their money on the roster, but after a Super Bullpen, the Ian Desmond Experiment, and especially the Kris Bryant Experience, it cannot be said that they had any idea what they were doing. Had the failures only been with the top-level signings while everything further down the roster functioned, we might be able to find a way to extend ample credit. Unfortunately, the “draft and develop” identity of roster construction has consistently failed to identify and develop MLB-level talent. The Rockies were increasingly viewed as a team stuck in the past, unable or unwilling to change. This was not only a narrative I had evidence with which to counter, but I believe these previews played a part in reinforcing it. 

That was the main theme of last year’s article, even with looming labor unrest between players and owners after the expiration of the 2026 collective bargaining agreement. While I did and do support MLB making structural changes (I wrote an only half-joking article last October titled “Contract the Dodgers”), my point then was that those changes would have no bearing on the Rockies because the team’s struggles ran deeper. At their core, the Rockies were dinosaurs stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits, with (most of) the rest of the league having evolved with the changing conditions of the game. And the reason they were stuck in those pits was because of loyalty, inability, or a tragic mix of both. (Stop picturing Dinger in tar pits! He’s a national treasure, you monster!)

So what should it tell us when a team that could never change actually changes? Yes, they have made changes before, but this time seems different somehow. This time, something at the core seems to have changed. My colleagues will address the front office and coaching staffs in the coming days, and there is a lot of evidence of structural change in those areas beyond mere swapping of personnel. But the changes manifesting at those levels start at the top. After three 100+ loss seasons, including a puncher’s chance at the modern loss record, the Monforts seem to have finally understood that the thing to do when you hit rock bottom is stop digging—you’re more likely to find tar at the bottom of that pit than oil. 

Obviously it’s too soon to tell: the team could improve by 19 games and still lose 100 again. But for those of us still left who care about the Rockies (and if you’re reading this article after the last four seasons, that includes you—and I just have to ask, who hurt you?), we may need to consider the possibility of hope. Yes, I know: it’s the hope that kills you. But we’ve been as good as dead with regard to hope for a long time with this team. And the way this offseason played out indicates that there is certainly something different happening. It remains to be seen whether or not “different” translates into improvement, and even if it does it may be a long time before we actually see results. After all, in sports as in life, nothing is guaranteed; there are only ever a small number of things in your control.

We may as well allow ourselves a little glimmer that we could be looking at the beginning of something…not big maybe, but at least not terrible. We should allow ourselves to hope, not only for the sake of our interactions with a (previously?) moribund baseball franchise in a cow town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, but for the sake of what it may signal about our own lives.

After all, if Rockies ownership can change, who’s to say you, me, we, or they can’t change, too?

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The UK Open is the next major to take place in the PDC.

This year’s edition of the World Baseball Classic gets under way on what is, to us, Wednesday night with games kicking off in Tokyo. Most teams will be playing exhibitions against a major league club on Tuesday or Wednesday with their pool play beginning on Friday. The Orioles players who are on these rosters will not be back in camp until their team has been eliminated from the tournament.

Here’s the players from the Orioles organization who are on WBC rosters and the schedules for their teams:

USA

• Gunnar Henderson

The star Orioles shortstop is the lone American representative this time around. He might be playing third base rather than shortstop, with Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. expected to get a lot of reps at short.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in Houston, Texas

• March 3: Exhibition vs. Giants, 3pm, ESPN
• March 6: vs. Brazil (road team), 8pm, Fox
• March 7: vs. Great Britain (home team), 8pm, Fox
• March 9: vs. Mexico (home team), 8pm, Fox
• March 10: vs. Italy (home team), 9pm, FS1

Canada

• Tyler O’Neill
• Micah Ashman

The Canadian outfielder O’Neill continued his Opening Day home run streak in his home country last year. He’s looked good so far this spring. Don’t get hurt while playing for Team Canada! Ashman, a reliever, was acquired from the Tigers for Charlie Morton last July.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in San Juan, PR

• March 3: Exhibition vs. Blue Jays, 1:07, MLB Network
• March 7: vs. Colombia (home team), 11am, FS2
• March 8: vs. Panama (home team), 7pm, FS2
• March 10: vs. Puerto Rico (road team), 7pm, FS2
• March 11: vs. Cuba (road team), 3pm, FS2

Great Britain

• Ryan Long

It’s a running joke on Camden Chat that Long is a distant cousin of our writer Stacey. Long, 26, was a 17th round pick in 2021 who has mostly topped out at the Double-A level.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in Houston, Texas

• March 6: vs. Mexico (home team), 1pm, FS1
• March 7: vs. USA (road team), 8pm, Fox
• March 8: vs. Italy (road team), 1pm, tubi
• March 9: vs. Brazil (home team), 1pm, tubi

Israel

• Dean Kremer

There are a number of MLB-experienced players on the Israel roster and one of them is Kremer, who might even be the best pitcher this team has.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in Miami, Florida

• March 7: vs. Venezuela (road team), 7pm, FS2
• March 8: vs. Nicaragua (home team), 7pm, tubi
• March 9: vs. Dominican Republic (home team), 12pm, FS1
• March 10: vs. Netherlands (road team), 7pm, Fox Sports

Panama

• Enrique Bradfield Jr.

We know he’s good on defense and we know he’s fast on the bases. Can he threaten enough power to be a decent major league regular? Mostly we’ll find out at Triple-A this year, though if he gets to face some MLB-caliber pitching in the WBC, that won’t be bad for him either.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in San Juan, PR

• March 6: vs. Cuba (home team), 11am, FS2
• March 7: vs. Puerto Rico (road team), 6pm, FS1
• March 8: vs. Canada (road team), 7pm, FS2
• March 9: vs. Colombia (home team), 12pm, FS2

Puerto Rico

• Jose Espada
• Rico Garcia
• Luis Vázquez

All three of these players appeared for the Orioles last season, although none had a major role. Garcia has a spot penciled in that’s his in the bullpen. Espada could make it as well. Vázquez has an opportunity to take a utility spot given that both Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg are starting the season on the injured list.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in San Juan, PR

• March 6: vs. Colombia (road team), 6pm, FS1
• March 7: vs. Panama (home team), 6pm, FS1
• March 9: vs. Cuba (road team), 7pm, FS1
• March 10: vs. Canada (home team), 7pm, tubi

Reserve players

The following players are on the Designated Pitcher Pool for their teams, meaning they are not on the active initial roster but could be added between rounds:

• Australia: Kailen Hamson
• Dominican Republic: Yaramil Hiraldo
• Mexico: Nestor German