As the ball dropped into the cup, Rickie Fowler crossed his arms over his putter and looked skyward. A big exhale, a smile, and then – over the shoulder of caddie Ricky Romano – a triumphant raise of his club to a flock of ecstatic fans.

After 1,610 days, golf’s man in orange was back in the winner’s circle.

Triumph at the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday ended the Fowler’s four year wait for a sixth PGA Tour title as the 34-year-old emerged victorious from a three-way playoff at Detroit Golf Club in Michigan.

Having finished level with compatriot Collin Morikawa and Canada’s Adam Hadwin at 24-under overall, Fowler lasered his birdie putt from 11 yards at the first replay of the 18th hole to clinch his first Tour title since the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February 2019.

“It’s just nice to have this one out of the way,” the American later told reporters.

“I’m obviously going to soak this one in and celebrate a bit … it’s been a long road.”

There was a special something – or rather, someone – new at celebrations this time around. An emotional Fowler gave his winner’s interview cradling his daughter Maya, born in November 2021.

She had been at the 18th green to witness the crowning moment with Fowler’s wife Allison Stokke Fowler, a fellow athlete and former pole vault star. The new champion dedicated his win – “the missing link” – to the pair.

“It was tough just because everything else in my life was amazing and then to have the one thing that I obviously love doing … it was kind of the missing link,” Fowler said.

“So to have everything start to click and come together, and obviously all this started prior to Maya being born, it’s been an amazing ride.

“To finally get one finished off, Maya may or may not really ever remember it, but at least we’ll have some special images to help her remember today.”

Long road

The route back to silverware has been a grueling one for the Californian. A two-time major runner-up in 2014 and world No. 4 in 2018, Fowler’s ranking gradually dropped following triumph in Arizona in 2019.

By July 2022, he found himself outside the world’s top 150 ranked players for the first time since his rookie season on the PGA Tour 12 years prior.

Yet 2023 has marked a resurgent year for the fan-favorite golfer as eight top-10 finishes in 20 starts have rocketed Fowler back up the rankings. A major title remains elusive, with Fowler’s final day slide at the US Open extending that wait, but the tied-fifth performance in Los Angeles was another indication of a return to form.

Now, he’s world No. 23 and $1.584 million better off after a lucrative winner’s payout.

“You hope the struggles don’t last, but sometimes they last longer than you would hope for,” Fowler said.

“Being that I’ve been one of the best players in the world, plenty of good finishes and wins, I knew what I was capable of, but it’s tough when you’re struggling for that long of a period of time.

“But I knew it wasn’t far off and just kind of had to keep putting the time in, keep grinding, keep pushing. Then started to see some positive results and starting to build some confidence and momentum last fall.”

Near-misses for Hadwin and Morikawa extended the pair’s search for further PGA Tour wins. Hadwin was looking to add to his maiden title at the Valspar Championship in 2017, while Morikawa was hoping to end a two-year wait for his sixth PGA Tour victory.

Morikawa’s last triumph was at the 2021 Open Championship, his second career major win.

The 26-year-old will look to repeat the feat at Royal Liverpool later this month, but on Sunday, he was content to give Fowler his flowers.

“It’s not like this is a one-time thing, he’s been playing phenomenal golf,” Morikawa told reporters.

“People love him. The fans still come out to see him no matter how he’s playing, but he’s been playing well.

“Look how he’s been playing, especially the US Open, the scores he’s been posting last week, it’s awesome. The grind isn’t easy. It never is, doesn’t matter where you are.”

Eugene Amo-Dadzie leads what appears to be an ordinary life: he’s a husband, a father, and works nine-to-five as a chartered accountant in London.

But away from his family and his profession, Amo-Dadzie also happens to be one of the fastest men in the world, this year running the 100 meters in under 10 seconds for the first time.

The sprinter’s career trajectory is unlike any of his rivals’ on the track and field circuit. He only started training seriously at the age of 26 and still balances athletics with his regular job as an accountant.

A promising sprinter throughout school, Amo-Dadzie had lowered his 100m time to 11.3 seconds by the age of 17. But he says he was “getting dominated” at competitions and ultimately drifted away from athletics while some of his rivals went on to compete at a junior international level.

He went off to university and later qualified as a chartered accountant, only putting his speed to use when playing soccer recreationally.

“I was that guy who would watch on the couch and I’d be like: I was quick in school. If I tried, I could have made it,” Amo-Dadzie recalls.

“If I joined an athletics club, I could have been there. My best friends had been giving me grief for years … For whatever reason, I was just content with thinking that I could have made it.”

It was while walking past an athletics track in London that Amo-Dadzie experienced a change of heart. Returning home from a soccer game, he had stopped with a friend to watch a local meet when he was once again asked why he had never taken sprinting seriously.

“That was the moment something in my mind switched and I didn’t have an answer for him,” says Amo-Dadzie. “I didn’t have any reason to give him as to why I’d never tried it.”

And so began a steady rise through the sport’s ranks for the “world’s fastest accountant” – a moniker Amo-Dadzie adopted as his times became faster and faster.

He has worked with coach Steve Fudge since 2017, focusing more on process rather than targeting certain times.

In 2019, his first full year of training, Amo-Dadzie ran a personal best of 10.55 seconds, which was subsequently lowered to 10.2 seconds in 2021 and 10.05 in 2022.

This year has been a major breakthrough, the 30-year-old earning his first international vest in March and then breaking the 10-second barrier for the first time in Austria last month.

Which begs the question: does he regret the time he spent not pursuing the sport?

“The answer to that is really simple,” says Amo-Dadzie. “I truly believe there’s a season and a time for everything. And everything happens for a reason … Starting at 26 with the head I had on my shoulders – I was a married man, I was a career man, I had a maturity about me.

“I guess, thank God, that I’ve been able to navigate this space a lot better.”

He now hopes to compete at the world championships in Budapest in August and the Olympics in Paris next year – scarcely fathomable achievements for someone who only joined an athletics club for the first time in his mid-twenties.

To just compete for his country, let alone at a major championship, was a “surreal moment” for Amo-Dadzie.

“I didn’t even grow up with the dream of being an athlete, but God would have it that that’s where I’ve ended up,” he says. “It was unbelievable and I’m incredibly proud of it. God willing, there’s more to come.”

Days after he first competed for Great Britain, Amo-Dadzie had returned to the more familiar environment of his office in London, looking over spreadsheets in his accountancy job.

It’s fair to say that he leads a starkly different life compared to many of his rivals on the track, most of whom benefit from sponsors and funding.

“It keeps me grounded,” says Amo-Dadzie. “It is a difficult balance – I’m a husband, I’m a father, I’m also a governor of a primary school. There are some weeks where I am truly stretched quite thin, but I’ve got an incredible support team.”

His 100m time of 9.93 seconds places Amo-Dadzie in the top five British men of all time; it was also his country’s leading time this year until Zharnel Hughes broke the British record in New York last week.

Despite his sudden success, Amo-Dadzie cuts a relaxed figure at track meets. He puts earphones in as he prepares to race and likes to dance to upbeat gospel music in the warmup area.

“I’m vibing and I’m enjoying myself,” he says, rarely overawed by a sense of occasion.

“For me, it’s very much believing and trusting in the talent that God has given me and knowing that I belong in those spaces.”

Over 80 million people are under severe storm threat from northern Mississippi to Massachusetts Monday ahead of the Fourth of July – threatening more damaging wind gusts, power outages, large hail and possible tornadoes.

A slight risk for severe storms, level 2 of 5, stretches from northern South Carolina to southern New Jersey, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charlotte, Washington, D.C. and Virginia Beach. Cities including Jackson, Birmingham, Atlanta, Charleston, Roanoke, Newark and New York are all under a marginal risk for severe storms.

Meanwhile, a separate storm system is bringing another slight risk of severe weather across parts of The Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Minnesota, including Rapid City and Pierre.

Severe weather has already battered parts of the US over the weekend, hitting Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Iowa.

There were at least eight reports of hail in Missouri on Saturday, including some reports house windows were broken by the frozen pellets, according to the National Weather Service. There were also several reports of severe wind, including in St. Louis, where large trees were uprooted, the NWS said.

The weather has created challenges for Americans planning to fly for the holiday. According to the tracking website FlightAware, at least 7,697 flights into, out of, or within the United States had been delayed as of 3 a.m. Monday. At least 464 US flights have been canceled Monday.

There were also over 214,000 homes and businesses across the East without power early Monday morning, including over 55,000 in Missouri, according to Poweroutage.us.

A flash flood warning was put into place for nearly five million people in Illinois, including residents of Chicago, due to thunderstorms and heavy rain. The rain caused delays and cancellations for some sporting events scheduled for Sunday in the Windy City: The Chicago Cubs had to push their game against the Cleveland Guardians back by several hours, and NASCAR had to alter its racing slate and truncate one of its scheduled races.

Extreme heat continues

As other parts of the country see stormy weather, over 30 million people are under heat alerts across the West Coast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic and the Carolinas Monday.

Heat alerts continue for the Mid-Atlantic and will mainly include parts of the Carolinas and Virginia through the day on Monday. Raleigh could see heat indices up to 108, Charlotte could see heat indices up to 105 and Virginia Beach could see heat indices up to 109.

Parts of the Southwest and West will also be under heat alerts for the next few days, with excessive heat warnings spreading from southwest Arizona through central California and also into southern Nevada – where high temperatures could range from 105 to 115. Death Valley, California, could reach 125 degrees, and Phoenix, Arizona, could see high temperatures up to 115.

A Filipino ad agency has come under fire for using footage of other countries in a promotional video for the country’s new tourism campaign, “Love the Philippines.”

Days after the campaign launched on June 27, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said it was investigating allegations that the video contained several shots of countries other than the Philippines.

In a statement, the department said they sought confirmation on the originality and ownership of all materials used in the video multiple times and were “repeatedly assured” by the agency that everything was “in order.”

“The DOT did not pay, and will not pay for this material. The material can be attributed to the DDB,” Zara-Loyola said.

On Sunday, DDB Philippines issued a statement “profusely” apologizing for the “highly inappropriate” use of foreign stock footage in the video, which has since been taken down.

 The agency added that it’s “fully cooperating” with the investigation.

“The AVP (audio-visual presentation) in question, uploaded by the agency on social media, was intended to be a mood video to excite internal stakeholders about the campaign,” the agency said. “This was a DDB initiative to help pitch the slogan.”

‘Love the Philippines’ campaign

While the department insists “no public funds” were used for the video in question, they said they accept some responsibility for the backlash.

“The DOT holds the responsibility of promoting the country to the highest standard. Therefore, it will not hesitate to exact accountability and take the necessary action to protect the interest of the country even as it continues to exhaust all efforts to develop and promote the Philippine tourist industry,” the department said in its statement.

Frasco said the new campaign aims to reintroduce what the country has to offer post-pandemic.

“‘Love the Philippines’ is a recognition of our natural assets, our storied history, our rich culture and diversity. There is so much more to the Philippines than the fun and adventure that we have so far articulated to the world,” she said in a speech launching the new campaign.

However, controversy over the recent video may threaten the campaign’s future before it’s fully taken off.

If the issues aren’t resolved, Rep. Joey Salceda said he may question the continued use of government funds.

Inspectors are due at a North Carolina amusement park Monday as they continue investigating a roller coaster shuttered since shortly after a dad spotted a crack at the top of one of its steel support pillars.

The Fury 325 will stay closed until inspections and repairs happen, park officials have said. It’s one of the tallest and longest rides in a massive park that straddles the North and South Carolina state line.

Wagner reported the incident to the park’s guest services but still felt uneasy after he left, he said, “so, I called Charlotte Fire.”

“They called me back within 10 minutes and advised the ride was shut down,” he said.

Fury 325 is “the tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America,” with a peak height of 325 feet and reaching 95 mph, the park says. A “giga” roller coaster has a drop between 300 and 399 feet, according to Kings Island amusement park in Ohio.

The rest of the Carowinds amusement and water park is open Monday, its website says.

All rides, including Fury 325, “undergo daily inspections to ensure their proper functioning and structural integrity,” Carowinds said.

“Safety is our top priority,” it said, “and we appreciate the patience and understanding of our valued guests during this process.”

Rize province, on the Black Sea coast near Turkey’s northeast border with Georgia, is still largely unknown to many international travelers. Yet it is here that some of the country’s most untouched alpine terrains continue to fascinate nature lovers who want to take the road less traveled.

Away from Rize itself – the seaside city which lends its name to the province – the area’s valleys and plateaus, surrounded by high-altitude mountain ridges, have remained largely rural. With high rates of rainfall, Rize’s mountain villages (yayla) become a point of escape from summer temperatures.

Çamlıhemşin is the most attractive part of Rize province. A rural district surrounding Çamlıhemşin town, this is a place where nature remains mostly untouched. Simple guesthouses, cafes run by young people who left the city to live a simpler life, and artists who find inspiration in unspoiled tranquility lie at the heart of this area.

From the Black Sea coast, the road to Çamlıhemşin cuts through a mountainous valley of effervescent green, along the torrential Fırtına River that descends all the way from the Kaçkar mountains.

Time seems to have stood still in this place of pastures, valleys and high altitude alpine villages. Forestry, beekeeping and animal herding are still the main sources of income. Here’s what to do around Çamlıhemşin.

Traditional stays

Many of Çamlıhemşin’s traditional Karadeniz (Black Sea) houses, which have timber-frame facades, now serve as family-owned guesthouses where travelers can delve into local culture.

With a lack of dining options in the area, they’re mostly responsible for treating their guests to homecooked meals – most notably full Turkish breakfasts including local dish mıhlama, a mixture of melted cheese and cornmeal which is served hot with bread.

At Puli Mini Hotel a traditional Karadeniz house made of weathered chestnut wood and stone in Çamlıhemşin town center, almost every window looks directly out onto the Fırtına River, as fresh air tousles the simple white curtains in the six bedrooms. Puli’s café serves creative dishes made from local ingredients, from stuffed vine leaves to tavada hamsili pilav (baked anchovy pilaf).

A little further out of town, on the mountainside, Dudi Konak is quite the sight with its historic stone and wood façade exuding the aesthetic of a historic Karadeniz.

Built in the early 20th century by the Tarakçıoğlu family, who acquired their wealth as bakers and hoteliers in Russia, the dilapidated mansion has been meticulously renovated to house 24 modern rooms with views of the valley and beyond.

Life on high

Up in the mountains, around an hour south of Çamlıhemşin’s town center, Rize’s yayla (alpine villages) harbor the essence of local life and staying here is more akin to visiting a family in their mountain cabin.

Roads are often undeveloped, requiring a 4×4 vehicle, and the simple lodgings tend to be old Karadeniz houses with panoramic views from their high-altitude perches.

Staying in the yayla for a few days to trek through the green pastures and woods, discover wildflowers and breathe in the pristine air, is the most precious part of the Rize experience.

In alpine village Pokut, Zeyne and Ahmet Şişman have made visitors feel like family for years at their beautiful guesthouse Plato’da Mola. Facing the Fırtına Valley in all its undulating glory, the traditional village house has six rooms where guests wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread and the sound of cow bells outside.

The family’s homemade meals revolve around the milk from their free range cows and the boons of nature all around. You’ll find fresh clotted cream, cheese, butter, honey and jams, eggs from their own chickens, homemade bread, and produce from the garden.

In Gito, another village, retired couple Fatma and İbrahim Birben decided to open their own home to guests with the belief that beauty can only multiply when it’s shared.

Their guesthouse Son Mohikan Dağ Evi welcomes those who have longed for nature with its simple rooms and terrace overlooking the mountains. In the evenings, after a day spent exploring the plateau on foot, home-cooked meals are served followed by little concerts by the family – who all happen to be musicians.

A mountain castle

One of Rize’s most stunning sights, perhaps only rivaled by the Sümela Monastery near Trabzon, Zilkale castle appears suddenly in the middle of the valley, the snow-tipped peaks of the Kaçkar Mountains looming in the background.

The medieval castle is believed to have been built between the 14th and 15th centuries and some historians have suggested that it was originally an Armenian chapel built by the emperor of Trebizond, then turned into a castle by the Ottomans in the 19th century. Either way, the inner castle – accessible via a stone pathway – has excellent views of the valley from beyond the walls.

Where old meets new

About five miles south of Çamlıhemşin’s town center, the village of Şenyuva has become a kind of refuge for former city dwellers who have returned to their Rize roots to live a simple life.

Endearingly incongruous with its traditional surroundings, Zua Coffee is the village’s only third-wave coffee shop, run by Apo and Elif Taşkın, who moved here from Istanbul. A place for locals and visitors alike, the café serves espresso varieties with a calming view of nature. The couple are dedicated to foraging produce, and make desserts with ingredients such as elderflower, wild strawberries and blackberries.

“We thought that a quiet life in Rize would be enough for us, so we decided to live here together after we got married. Now we have a four year old son and a small circle of friends,” says Elif, who is originally from the area.

“Even though activities are limited here, being in nature creates a sense of wholesomeness. From the end of May until mid-October, the season for visiting the alpine villages begins. We recommend staying at one of the guesthouses to really experience the local culture and cuisine.

“We also strongly recommend using local guides to discover the trekking routes and to really experience the rich local culture. Online maps are not really enough, and the weather can be very unpredictable. Uğur Biryol at Pokutsal Tur is one of our most trusted guides.”

Next to Zua, Peri Dükkan’s baby blue door beckons you in to browse a beautiful assortment of Black Sea specialties with a local, sustainable and organic philosophy. Owner Deniz Demirci Tarakçı sells local honey vinegar, homemade syrups with endemic fruits and flowers, herbal teas from the Kaçkar mountains, candles, soaps, textiles and more.

Right across from Peri, Çinçiva Kafe is one of the few restaurants that serves authentic Black Sea fare. A traditional wooden house with a terrace above the river, the cafe’s full Turkish breakfast includes homemade pastries, jams and spreads, cheeses, olives and mıhlama – plus, endless rounds of freshly brewed Turkish tea. Lunch and dinner dishes include local trout cooked in butter, potatoes with clotted cream, düğün kızartması (a local dish of fried meat) and cornbread with vegetables.

The artists of Rize

No More Lies, one of Istanbul’s most respected street artists, is a native of Rize, having spent every summer in the mountains since his childhood. “Peace and tranquility are the essence of this place,” he says, “I had some friends from Istanbul come visit me and they didn’t leave the house for days, because even the view and the quiet were enough for them – they didn’t really need anything else.”

From his desk inside his home in the mountains, the artist looks out the window at the evergreen valley, often swathed in morning mist. “One of the main reasons why people come here are the yayla. My favorite is Elevit Yaylası because, unlike the others, you won’t find any cafes here, the residents only have their own homes and not much else,” he says.

“I would avoid Ayder Yaylası [one of the most popular villages], which has sadly become overcrowded and too touristic over the years. Instead, villages like Amlakit and Hazindağ are worth seeing for their natural beauty.”

After living in cities like Barcelona and Istanbul, then being a nomad for three years chasing after plants, botanical artist Işık Güner decided to settle in Rize in 2015, and now lives in a cabin on top of a mountain in the Fırtına Valley.

“I spent every summer in my childhood in Çamlıhemşin and if you had a good childhood, the memories, tastes and smells follow you throughout your life,” she says.

“Here, I’m surrounded by flowers, which is essential for my profession, and it’s impossible not to be inspired by this place.

“The state of tourism in Rize is not very pleasant because visitors often arrive without much knowledge about the local culture or the nature. They need to learn how to best travel through landscapes that are still very much untouched and wild, how to respect the flora and fauna.

“I think the purpose of coming to Rize shouldn’t be to rush through everything and take a few selfies. It should include staying for a while in a yayla, to really breathe in the air, to absorb nature’s fragrances, to drink from its streams. Perhaps only then can you understand where you are and become a part of this amazing natural world.”

Feride Yalav-Heckeroth is a freelance writer based between Istanbul and Lake Constance and the author of her own guidebook, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Istanbul. Her writing has been published in Kinfolk, Brownbook, The Travel Almanac, Wallpaper*, Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler.

China is on track to double its wind and solar energy capacity and hit its 2030 clean energy targets five years early, a new report has found.

The country is expected to produce 1,200 gigwatts of solar and wind power by 2025 if all prospective plants are built and commissioned, according to the study from the non profit Global Energy Monitor.

Solar capacity in China is now greater than the rest of the world combined. Its onshore and offshore wind capacity has doubled since 2017, and is roughly equal to the combined total of the other top seven countries, according to the report.

Dorothy Mei, project manager at Global Energy Monitor, said China’s surge in solar and wind capacity was “jaw-dropping.”

The country’s renewable energy boom is the result of a combination of incentives and regulations, according to the report. China pledged in 2020 to become carbon neutral by 2060.

But, while China may have become the global leader in renewable energy, the world’s biggest producer of planet-heating pollution is also ramping up coal production.

“China is making strides, but with coal still holding sway as the dominant power source, the country needs bolder advancements in energy storage and green technologies for a secure energy future,” Martin Weil, a researcher at Global Energy Monitor, said in a statement.

Coal power permitting in China accelerated rapidly last year when new permits reached their highest level since 2015, according to a report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air and the Global Energy Monitor.

The amount of new coal projects permitted was equivalent to two large coal plants a week, the report found.

The country turned to coal last year in large part because of devastating heat waves and drought, the worst in six decades, which saw a surging demand for power at the same time as hydropower capacity plunged as rivers ran dry.

“China is rapidly and successfully scaling up its deployment of renewable power and has become the largest investor into renewables globally. This is both a cause and consequence of rapidly falling costs of renewable energy as compared to coal power,” he said.

Tsang hopes that relative cheapness of renewable energy will persuade China to kick its coal habit.

“China’s ability to build and deploy homegrown, cost-competitive renewable energy at speed and scale further calls into question the economic viability of new coal projects into the future,” he added.

In 2021, the IEA said that no new coal-fired power plants can be built, and no new oil and gas be developed, if the world is to limit warming to 1.5  degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to a report from ERG.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sauntered to his fifth consecutive win after dominating at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Dutchman was largely untroubled as he extended his lead at the top of the driver’s championship to 81 points – with a third world title already seeming inevitable.

“I don’t like to think about that yet,” Verstappen told reporters after the race when asked about winning another championship.

“I’m just enjoying the moment driving this car, working with the team.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won an exciting battle to beat Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez into second.

Once again, Verstappen started on pole and cruised to his seventh win out of this season’s nine races.

It rounded off a near perfect weekend for the 25-year-old who also won Saturday’s sprint race.

“I think the whole weekend we have done a really good job. The sprint weekend is always very hectic and a lot of things can go wrong and luckily a lot of things went right for us this weekend,” Verstappen added.

However, Verstappen did see his run of leading 249 successive race laps end in Austria when he pitted on lap 26, allowing Lecleric to take a very temporary lead.

Before the start of the Grand Prix, a minute’s silence was held in tribute to the 18-year-old driver Dilano van’t Hoff who died during a junior race in Belgium on Saturday.

The Dutchman was killed as the result of a crash during the second Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) race at Spa-Francorchamps.

“Extremely sad to hear the news about Dilano today,” Verstappen tweeted on Saturday. “I want to send my condolences to Dilano’s family and loved ones. Rest in peace.”

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has requested a trade away from the franchise that drafted him over a decade ago, according to his agent.

The seven-time NBA All-Star point guard has been the star of the Blazers franchise, but he’s now looking for a new home.

It is no secret that Lillard admires the Heat, making it clear when speaking on a Showtime podcast last month.

Talking about a potential trade, the former NBA rookie of the year said: “Miami is the obvious one, and Bam [Adebayo] is my dawg, for real.”

The Miami Heat are coming off the back of a loss in the 2023 NBA Finals and their playoff success under head coach Erik Spoelstra is a far cry to the Blazers’ postseason record.

The Heat came up short against Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets in last season’s Finals but will feel that Lillard could help the team go one step further.

The prospect of Lillard playing alongside Adebayo and, the Heat’s star man, Jimmy Butler will send shivers down the spines of the rest of the NBA as they will surely become a formidable big three.

“What has not changed for us is that we’re committed to winning, and we are going to do what’s best for the team in pursuit of that goal.”

The 11-year NBA veteran was at his irrepressible best during the 2022-23 NBA season, averaging 32.2 points and 7.3 assists.

Australia took a commanding 2-0 lead in this year’s Ashes Series after winning an ill-tempered Test match against England on Sunday.

England had a mountain to climb at the start of the day, chasing down the remainder of the 371 runs set by its opponent, and the job was made even more difficult after the controversial dismissal of batsman Jonny Bairstow.

Bairstow had walked down the wicket thinking the over was finished, but Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw the ball at the stumps and the England batsman had to be given out.

The dismissal was in keeping with the laws of the game but there are debates over whether Carey’s actions were in line with the spirit of cricket.

Speaking on BBC’s Test Match Special, England captain Ben Stokes said that he would have withdrawn the appeal if he was in the position of Australian captain Pat Cummins.

“Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no,” he said.

Known for its serene atmosphere, Lord’s Cricket Ground has previously been a safe space for Australian teams of years gone by, but following Bairstow’s dismissal, Australia awoke a beast that nobody knew was hiding.

The majority of England fans inside the ground were left furious by the decision and started vociferously chanting at and booing the Australian players.

There were also choice words between England’s Stuart Broad and Carey, with the batsman heard telling the wicketkeeper: “That’s all you’ll ever be remembered for.”

The drama then continued off the field as members of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), who owns Lord’s, were seen confronting Australian players outside the changing rooms just before lunch.

“It is alleged players and staff from the Australian team were verbally abused, with some being physically contacted, as they made their way to lunch through the members area,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Australia’s captain Cummins said: “The MCC came and apologised for the behavior of some of the members. I think some of them might lose their membership over the way they behaved.”

In a statement later on Sunday, the MCC said: “We have unreservedly apologised to the Australian Team and will deal with any Member who has not maintained the standard we expect through our disciplinary processes.

“It was not necessary to eject anyone from the ground, and we are pleased to say that there was no repeat of this as the players resumed the field for this afternoon’s session.”

Ben Stokes masterclass

England’s captain Stokes was batting alongside Bairstow when the controversial wicket fell and it seemed to ignite something inside the 32-year-old.

Providing flashbacks to his famous innings in the 2019 Ashes at Headingley, Stokes took it to the Australian attack, channeling his inner anger at the earlier wicket.

He managed to stay calm as tensions were rising around him and delivered a masterful innings of incredible ball striking – hitting 155 before being caught by Carey.

Once the wicket of Stokes fell, Australia sauntered to a win – beating England by 43 runs – but discussions surrounding the controversial run out will continue for the foreseeable future.

The third Ashes Test will be held in Headingley, Leeds, on July 6.