WOMEN’S FOOTBALL: Germany meet defending champions Spain in Sarajevo on Friday night for the European Under-19s Championship final. 

Germany needed extra time before squeezing past Austria 1-0 in the semi-finals, while the Spanish brushed aside Sweden 3-0 in their last-four clash. 

Spain have won the trophy on six of the last seven occasions it has been contested, with the Germans enjoying their last success in 2011.

HORSE RACING: Just one win still separated table-topping Billy Loughnane from Oisin Murphy in the flat jockeys’ championship after Wednesday’s racing. 

Defending champion Murphy, who has a marginally better winning percentage, was first past the post on Baileys Khelstar at Kempton after Loughnane had earlier steered home the Richard Hughes-trained Dubai Charm at Yarmouth. 

Rossa Ryan is third, nine wins behind Murphy.

MEN’S RUGBY LEAGUE: Penrith and Australia half-back Nathan Cleary won the Wally Lewis medal as player of the match after scoring two tries and kicking five goals in New South Wales’s 30-12 victory over Queensland. 

Wednesday evening’s win in Brisbane sealed a 2-1 State of Origin series win for New South Wales, but Queensland still hold the edge with eight more shield wins since the annual competition began in 1982.

WOMEN’S CRICKET: Hampshire Hawks will overhaul Surrey at the top of the Women’s Blast League One with a win at Edgbaston on Friday against lowly Warwickshire. 

The Hawks are only one point behind Surrey with two games in hand, but if they slip up they can be leap-frogged by third-placed Durham, who face Essex at Chester-le-Street. 

Bottom of the table Lancashire meet Yorkshire and the Blaze host Somerset in today’s other fixtures.