Week In Review, June 17-23: Afghans Trump Mighty Aussies At T20 WC; Copa America Kicks Off

The multi-sport bonanza continued in the third week of June, leaving sports nerds spoilt for choices. The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 headed closer to the semi-finals and UEFA European Championship towards the round of 16, even as the Copa America 2024 kicked off with Lionel Messi creating another piece of history. (More Sports News)

Let us recap all that went down across sporting disciplines between June 17 and 23, 2024.

Cricket

The semi-finals spots at ICC T20 World Cup 2024 stand half decided. South Africa edged out West Indies in a tense thriller to advance from Group 2 alongside England. The two spots from Group 1 are still undecided, and that is largely due to Afghanistan's historic win over Australia.

The Afghans produced a scintillating all-round performance to trounce the mighty Aussies by 21 runs in Kingstown. The victory, Afghanistan's first-ever against Australia, not only kept their semi-final hopes alive but also opened up a wide variety of qualification possibilities in Group 1.

The India vs Australia clash slated on Monday (June 24) evening gains much more significance, as a result. And so does Afghanistan's face-off with Bangladesh the following morning.

Back home, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian women completed a 3-0 ODI series sweep over South Africa in Bengaluru. India's strong show was studded by Smriti Mandhana's superb run of scores. With two centuries and a 90-run knock, Mandhana finished as the undisputed Player of The Series with 343 runs (and one wicket).

Football

The second week of UEFA European Championship 2024 saw hosts Germany sealing their place in the round of 16 and also topping Group A after a come-from-behind 1-1 draw with Switzerland.

Spain progressed from Group B, and Italy will need to beat Croatia to ensure their passage. As for Group C, England will need at least one point from their game against Slovenia to advance. Denmark will sail to the next stage of the competition if they manage to win against Serbia and have a better goal difference than Slovenia.

Netherlands and France are well placed in Group D, though none of them were yet to confirm their berth. From Group F, Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal made their way into the last 16.

Elsewhere, Copa America kicked off with defending champions Argentina blanking Canada 2-0, even as Lionel Messi assisted both goals and also broke the record for most appearances at the continental competition (35).

Meanwhile, Indian football witnessed yet another unsavoury episode with Igor Stimac opening a can of worms after being sacked by the All India Football Federation as head coach. Tearing into AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, Stimac said stress over the scenario made him undergo heart surgery, among other allegations.

Other Sports

After finishing runners-up at the ATP Perugia Challenger and attaining a career-high ranking of 71 last week, Indian tennis ace Sumit Nagal checked off another box by officially qualifying for the Paris Olympics. The 25-year-old shared the news via his social media channels and expressed his joy and pride at the big upcoming opportunity.

Rising Indian table tennis star Sreeja Akula became the first from the country to win a WTT Contender Singles title, defeating Ding Yijie of China 4-1 in the final in Lagos. She also returned with a second gold as she, along with Archana Kamath, prevailed over compatriots Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade 3-0 in the women's doubles final.

In not-so-good news, wrestler Bajrang Punia was suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency for the second time, three weeks after its Anti-Disciplinary Doping panel had revoked his suspension on the grounds that NADA had not issued a “notice of charge” to the wrestler.

And in Formula One, Max Verstappen held off Lando Norris at the Spanish Grand Prix to claim his seventh victory of the season.