Week Ahead, May 13-19: Fight For 3 IPL Play-Off Spots; Man City & Arsenal In EPL Title Race

As we draw closer to the Paris Olympics, the sports calendar is abuzz with qualifying and other important tournaments across disciplines. With the Indian Premier League's 2024 season heading into its business end and the ICC T20 World Cup to follow soon after, the sports faithful has lots to look forward to in the days to come. (More Sports News)

Check out the key sports fixtures scheduled between May 13 and 19, 2024.

Cricket

IPL 2024's play-off race has well and truly heated up. The forthcoming week will be the last one of the league phase, post which just the two qualifiers, eliminator and grand finale will remain.

So far (after the end of the Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals game on May 12), Kolkata Knight Riders are the only outfit to have confirmed their play-offs berth, while Mumbai Indians have officially been knocked out. All the other teams in the fray have everything to play for, and will be in action in the week ahead.

The week will begin with a clash between Gujarat Titans and table-toppers KKR in Ahmedabad on Monday (May 13), and end with a double-header on Sunday (May 19) - Sunrisers Hyderabad host Punjab Kings in the afternoon (3:30pm IST) and Rajasthan Royals meet KKR in the evening. By then, we will certainly know who takes the remaining three play-off spots, and the fixtures to follow.

Elsewhere, the Pakistan men's team will be eager to bounce back after Ireland stunned them in the first game, marking the Irish side's first-ever T20I victory over Pakistan. The second T20I was delayed by rain, and awaits its commencement at the time of writing. The third and final match will be played in Dublin on Tuesday, post which the Men In Green will gear up for their England tour, which starts with the first T20I at Leeds on May 22.

Meanwhile, the Nida Dar-led Pakistan women will play their second (at Northampton) and third (at Leeds) T20Is against England on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The hosts lead the series 1-0.

Football

Just like IPL, the English Premier League is also into its last week of league action. The coming seven days are choc-a-bloc with mouth-watering clashes, starting with Aston Villa welcoming Liverpool late on Monday night (12:30am IST on Tuesday) and ending with current table-toppers Manchester City hosting West Ham late Sunday night (12:30am IST the following Monday).

Arsenal are the only real contenders to Man City for the 2023-24 title, and we will have a new EPL champion by the weekend.

Meanwhile, over in La Liga, Real Madrid are celebrating their record-extending 36th title even before the Spanish league has ended. Los Blancos face Alaves on Tuesday night, while Girona host Villareal on Tuesday and Barcelona face Almeria on Thursday.

Other Sports

The badminton circuit moves on to Thailand Open, a BWF 500 event which will begin on Tuesday and end on Sunday. The Olympics-qualified HS Prannoy and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty will headline Indian representation at the tournament, in what will be crucial preparation for the much-awaited Paris 2024.

As for golf, the prestigious PGA Championship will be played over the weekend at the Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky. All-time great Tiger Woods has confirmed participation at the event, which will begin on Thursday and end on Sunday.