English duo into 100m semi-finals

Lewis-Francis set a stadium record in his first-round heat

England sprinters Mark Lewis-Francis and Marlon Devonish both progressed to the semi-finals of the men's 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Lewis-Francis clocked 10.41 seconds in his second-round heat, while Devonish recorded a time of 10.21 secs.

But their England team-mate Jason Gardener is out of the competition after he finished fifth in his heat.

World record holder Asafa Powell has cruised through, as have Aziz Zakari, Patrick Johnson and Michael Frater.

Injured Malcolm limps out of 100m

But there was heartbreak for Welsh hope Christian Malcolm who pulled up halfway through his first-round heat with a hamstring injury.

The captain of England's athletics squad, Gardener withdrew from England's sprint relay squad and is heading home for treatment to a back complaint.

"Because of the problem with my back, I've now also got a hamstring pull and I couldn't really give it everything. Every time I pushed hard, I could feel the hamstring tighten and I had to ease off," he said.

England's Goldie Sayers gave a disappointing performance in the javelin, finishing in fifth place with a best throw of 57.29m, while her team-mate Shelley Holdroyd had to be helped out of the arena after picking up an injury.

In the women's 100m heats, English trio Laura Turner, Emma Ania and Nwnyika Onuora all went through to the semis, with Turner running a PB of 11.43 secs.

Northern Ireland's Anna Boyle also qualified as a fastest loser.

In the men's shot-put, England's Carl Myerscough qualified for the final in third place with a throw of 18.95m.

Myerscough will be joined by team-mate Mark Proctor, but he was well short of his best with a throw of 15.91m only just taking him into the final.

And in the women's 400m heats, England's Christine Ohuruogo looked impressive as she won her heat in 51.97 secs, and Kimberly Wall and Catherine Murphy also went through.

But the rest of the field may well be running for the silver medal with current Olympic and world champion Tonique Williams looking in ominous form.