Commonwealth Games: England win netball gold on dramatic final day

England's netballers stunned overwhelming favourites Australia, and Scotland's Callum Hawkins collapsed while leading the men's marathon, on a dramatic final day at the Commonwealth Games.

The Roses, having reached their first major final, claimed gold with a 52-51 victory against the hosts thanks to Helen Housby's last-second winner.

Chris and Gabby Adcock won mixed doubles badminton gold in an all-English final, before Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge added the men's doubles title.

There were also medals for England in the wheelchair marathon, table tennis, squash and rugby sevens.

Scotland's Robbie Simpson claimed bronze after compatriot Hawkins' misfortune in the marathon, but the country's basketball team missed out on a podium finish on the Gold Coast.

Prince Edward declared the Games over at a spectacular closing ceremony that featured an appearance by eight-time Olympic champion Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

The flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation was lowered and presented to Birmingham, hosts in 2022.

England's route to the netball gold-medal match had not been without drama, as they fought back to beat Jamaica 56-55 in the semi-final.

But the tension was ramped up several notches in a fiercely contested final on the Gold Coast.

Australia, buoyed by a home crowd and the world number one ranking, opened a four-point lead in the final quarter, but Tracey Neville's side fought their way back into the game.

Having pulled level at 51-51, Housby scored in the last second to give England victory in their first appearance in a major final.

It was the first time since netball was introduced at the Games in 1998 that Australia and New Zealand had not contested the final, and surpassed the Roses' previous best result of silver in a round-robin World Cup in 1975.

"It's my dream come true," said head coach Neville. "The girls have worked so hard over the last international phase.

"Australia are the renowned world number ones and to beat them at that time, I'm really, really proud - the feeling of that is amazing."

Scotland's Hawkins had a two-minute lead with little more than a mile to go in the men's marathon when he began to weave, before falling over on the kerb.

In hot conditions, the 25-year-old continued for another couple of hundred metres before collapsing again, hitting his head on a roadside barrier.

He was taken away in an ambulance and was sitting up and talking, but questions were raised over why medical staff took a couple of minutes before attending to him.

BBC Sport commentator Steve Cram said it was "a disgrace".

But Peter Jardine of Scottish Athletics told BBC Scotland that Hawkins, who had been running for a little over two hours, initially refused medical treatment after collapsing because he "feared he would be disqualified".

Australia's Michael Shelley took gold, with Hawkins' team-mate Simpson claiming bronze.

Elsewhere, John Smith took silver in the men's T54 marathon ahead of fellow Englishman Simon Lawson. Compatriot Jade Jones was third in the women's race.

England were guaranteed a gold medal in the badminton mixed doubles with the Adcocks facing team-mates Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith in the final.

It was the husband-and-wife pairing who secured a 19-21 21-17 21-16 victory, but Ellis bounced back to win the men's doubles gold alongside Chris Langridge. Smith and Sarah Walker lost in the women's doubles final.

Those medals meant England's badminton team secured their best Commonwealth haul in 16 years.

Elsewhere, England's Liam Pitchford and Tin-Tin Ho took mixed double table tennis silver after losing the final to Singapore's Ning Gao and Mengyu Yu, while countryman Samuel Walker missed out on singles bronze to India's four-time Games gold medallist Sharath Achanta.

English duo Daryl Selby and Adrian Waller claimed a silver medal after their defeat by Australian pair David Palmer and Zac Alexander in the men's squash doubles final.

Compatriots James Willstrop and Declan James beat Scotland's Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban 11-9 11-9 to win bronze.

England also clinched rugby sevens bronze in both the men's and women's events with a 21-14 victory over South Africa and 24-19 success against Canada respectively.

However, Scotland missed out on a bronze in the men's basketball after a 79-69 defeat by New Zealand in their medal match.