Sports World: SL Sweep Series Vs BAN; AFC, MCFC In EPL Action - As It Happened

Sporting action takes shape for April 3, 2024 starting with football, as English Premier League returns for midweek clashes. The likes of Arsenal and Manchester City will take the field as they look to hunt down Liverpool for the top spot in the table. In America, the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals kick-start. In cricket, Sri Lanka have defeated Bangladesh by 192 runs in the second Test to clinch the series 2-0 while in Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders take on Delhi Capitals. Meanwhile, the build-up continues for the fourth Formula One race of the season - the Japanese Grand Prix slated for the weekend. Follow all the highlights from the sports world right here

Tottenham lost more ground in the battle for a top-four finish after they were held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham in their English Premier League 2023-24 clash. Ange Postecoglou’s side could have leapfrogged fourth-placed Aston Villa with a win and made the perfect start when Brennan Johnson tapped home early on for his fifth goal of the season.

West Ham, who let a 3-1 lead slip to lose 4-3 at Newcastle last weekend, were able to respond in the 19th minute when Kurt Zouma scored from Jarrod Bowen’s corner and they could have claimed all three points.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his second hat-trick in four days as Al Nassr crushed Saudi Pro League opponents Abha 8-0. Ronaldo hit a first-half treble against outclassed opponents languishing near the foot of the table. His latest hat-trick followed a triple strike in Al Nassr’s 5-1 drubbing of Al Tai on Saturday.

Juventus kept alive their hopes of silverware this season with a 2-0 first-leg win in their Coppa Italia semi-final against Lazio. Front two Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic scored in the early part of the second half to break open a previously underwhelming encounter at the Allianz Stadium in Turin.

The two sides also met in Serie A on Saturday, Lazio winning that game 1-0 with a stoppage-time goal from Adam Marusic, but Massimiliano Allegri’s side successfully turned the tables as he chases a record fifth Coppa Italia as coach to break a tie with Roberto Mancini and Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Philadelphia 76ers star and reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid returned to the fold, completing his two-month rehabilitation from left meniscus surgery.

Embiid played a key part in the 76ers' 109-105 win over Western-Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder in what was his first game since January 30.

Embiid’s return gives hope to a 76ers team that has struggled to tread water without the seven-time All-Star.

Top-seeded Jessica Pegula rallied from a set down to defeat fellow American Amanda Anisimova 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in a second-round match at the Charleston Open. Pegula had seven aces in the match and won despite capitalizing on just 4 of 15 break points. Anisimova converted on 4 of 8 break points.

Third-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece also advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria, while Magda Linette of Poland lost the first set at love and came back to beat No. 13 seed Dayana Yastremska of Bulgaria 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round match.

Lyon reached their first Coupe de France final for 12 years after beating Ligue 2 strugglers Valenciennes 3-0. They will play Paris St Germain or Rennes in the final following a victory inspired by captain Alexandre Lacazette at Groupama Stadium.

Lacazette struck twice during a six-minute spell shortly after half-time to subdue a team 28 places below Lyon in the French league pyramid, while Gift Orban added a third.

Saarbrucken’s incredible run in the DFB-Pokal came to a disappointing end as they lost 2-0 to Kaiserslautern in the semi-finals. Kaiserslautern failed to have a single effort on target in the first half at the Ludwigsparkstadion, but were a different side in the second period to book their place in May’s final in Berlin thanks to goals from Marlon Ritter and Almamy Toure.

Runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen face Dusseldorf in the second semi-final later tonight.

Despite a valiant unbeaten 81 by Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh slump to a crushing 192-run defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the second Test. Chasing a mammoth target of 511, the hosts were bowled out for 318 runs in the fourth innings.

With that, the Lankans sweep the two-match series 2-0 and end the tour on a high. They had earlier won the ODI series 2-1 and T20 series 2-1.

England suffered last-over heartbreak in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup as Carlos Brathwaite clubbed Ben Stokes for four successive sixes to seal an unforgettable West Indies win, on this day in 2016. England were strong favourites to lift the crown heading into the final over, with the Windies needing 19 off the last six balls of the match.

But Brathwaite launched an audacious assault on Stokes, heaving him over the ropes four times in a row to seal a four-wicket success.

Former India cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri believes the fan backlash towards Hardik Pandya could have been avoided, had Mumbai Indians shown "clarity in communication" while announcing him as the new captain. "...where I think this could have been handled better was with more clarity in communication," Shastri said on Star Sports.

"If you wanted Hardik Pandya as captain, then say that we are looking at the future. We are looking to build. Rohit has done a fabulous job, as everyone knows, and we want him to help out Hardik in these next three years as the team progresses.

"That communication, that clarity should have come out a little more for all this to die down. So it's not a case of you saying, 'No, we don't want Rohit Sharma,' or 'He was treated badly,' and all the things that are coming out in social media," he added.

The request for financial assistance to train abroad for several top athletes, including the Paris Olympics-bound trio of boxer Nikhat Zareen, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar and table tennis player Manika Batra, has been cleared by the Union sports ministry after a meeting in New Delhi.

Boxers Nikhat, Preeti Pawar, Parveen Hooda and Lovlina Borgohain will travel to Turkey for a foreign training camp along with their coaches and a physio, the ministry said in a statement.

With a host of top players competing in the Indian Premier League, New Zealand will be captained for the first time by all-rounder Michael Bracewell in a five-match away T20I series against Pakistan, starting April 18.

The likes of Devon Conway, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner and Kane Williamson are playing in the IPL, while Tim Southee, the team's leading T20 wicket-taker since the last T20 World Cup, has not been considered after a busy playing schedule across formats.

Squad: Michael Bracewell (c), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Dean Foxcroft, Ben Lister, Cole McConchie, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Will O'Rourke, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi.

American Aleksandar Kovacevic outlasted Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis to reach the second round of the US Men's Clay Court Championship, winning 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2), 6-4 in a match that lasted 3 hours, 16 minutes, Associated Press reports. He moves on to face No. 6 seed Jordan Thompson, who beat China's Wu Yibing 6-4, 6-4.

In other action, Gijs Brouwer, who was born in Houston and reached the semifinals of this event last year, was ousted in the first round by James Duckworth. The Australian defeated Brouwer 6-3, 6-3.

Promising young Indian badminton player Anmol Kharb has overcome a strong challenge from country-mate Malvika Bansod to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Kazakhstan International Challenge in Astana. The 17-year-old Anmol, winner of the Badminton Asia Team Championships gold and the reigning national champion, thwarted Malvika's challenge 21-13 22-20 in 59 minutes.

The world No. 333 will take on Indonesia's 21-year-old shutter Nurani Ratu Azzahra in the last-16 round.

Lucknow Super Giants' fast bowler Shivam Mavi has been ruled out of Indian Premier League 2024 after he failed to recover from his rib injury. The 25-year-old, who last played competitive cricket in August 2023, missed the entire domestic season for Uttar Pradesh but did turn up for Lucknow Super Giants' pre-season training only to be told that he would not play any part in this edition. He had suffered a rib stress fracture in August last year.

The Indian women's cricket team will travel to Bangladesh for a five-match T20I series slated from April 28 till May 9. As per the itinerary shared by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, India will land in Bangladesh on April 23 and leave the country on May 10.

The first match of the series will be a day-night affair and will be played on April 28, followed by games on April 30 (D/N), May 2, May 6 and May 9 (D/N). All the matches are scheduled to be held in Sylhet.

Chennaiyin FC have entered into a strategic partnership with English Championship side Norwich City FC to foster mutual growth, innovation, and football collaboration, according to PTI reports.

Both clubs signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday here and the deal is expected to bring in a wealth of experience, expertise, and unique footballing philosophies, along with the knowledge exchange, technical expertise, coaching methodologies, and player development strategies.

If it was not for timely advice from his uncle and former India drag-flicker Jugraj Singh, men's team vice-captain Hardik Singh would have shifted to the Netherlands back in 2017 when he was striving hard to kick open the door of national camp for himself without success, according to PTI reports.

Hardik, a star mid-fielder from Khusropur village near Jalandhar in Punjab, says he was on the verge of giving up his dream of playing for India if his maternal uncle Jugraj had not motivated him to stay focused.

Age is just a number for 96-year-old NS Dattatreya who will be participating in the 'TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2024' as the meet's oldest runner, according to PTI reports.

Dattatreya is an avid distance-runner and had previously participated in this Gold Label race scheduled to be held on April 28.

Having begun his distance running journey in January 2019, the nonagenarian has taken part in dozens of marathons and walkathons.

Luis Rubiales, the disgraced former president of the Spanish soccer federation, is reportedly returning from the Dominican Republic amid a judicial probe into the business deal to hold the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, according to AP reports.

Rubiales was set to arrive at Madrid's airport on Wednesday. A large contingent of journalists gathered outside the baggage claim area for arrivals.

The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday said it needs to find a suitable new international boxing body by early next year or risk boxing dropping out of the Olympics for the Los Angeles Games in 2028, according to AP reports.

The IOC stripped the International Boxing Association of the right to run the Olympic boxing tournaments in Tokyo in 2021 and Paris this year.

North Zone produced a collective bowling effort to dismiss East Zone for a modest 132 in the first innings on the opening day of their senior women's inter-zonal multi-day semifinal, which began in Pune on Wednesday, according to PTI reports.

In reply, North Zone reached 99 for three after Shafali Verma stroked her way to 57 not out off 83 balls, studded with 10 fours. India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, however, was dismissed for just 10 runs.

In-form Chennai Super Kings pacer Mustafizur Rahman is likely to miss the team's next IPL game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday as he has gone back to Bangladesh to complete his visa process for the T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean, according to PTI reports.

CSK have won two of their first three games. They face Sunrisers in Hyderabad on Friday.

Tottenham Hotspur recorded a 24% increase in total revenues for 2022-23 to reach a record 549.6 million pounds (USD 691 million) and said it was “in discussions with prospective investors," according to AP reports.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said the talks were a bid to “capitalize on our long-term potential.”

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat against Delhi Capitals in their Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, according to PTI reports.

DC are playing Sumit Kumar in place of injured Mukesh Kumar, while Angrish Raghuvanshi has been included in KKR's playing XI in the team's only change.

Mumbai Indians will soon get the much-required batting boost as the world's No.1 ranked T20 batter Suryakumar Yadav has cleared almost all the fitness tests at National Cricket Academy and is very close to playing his first IPL game of the season, according to PTI reports.

Suryakumar had undergone multiple surgeries -- one for a grade 2 ankle tear and another for a sports hernia -- and he last played in the T20 series in South Africa.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Wednesday said it has closed the investigation into a "verbal" complaint of "harassment" made by a woman employee against a male colleague as the "alleged victim and the other party do not wish to pursue the matter any further". Last week, a woman employee at the AIFF headquarters here had lodged a "verbal" complaint of "harassment"against a male colleague, but she did not press a formal charge. (PTI

East Bengal FC were back in the playoffs mix after registering an assertive 4-2 win over Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League on Wednesday. A brace each by Saul Crespo and Naorem Mahesh Singh ensured that the Red and Gold Brigade kept their playoff hopes alive after garnering only their second win in their last five matches.

We hope you have enjoyed our live coverage for today, till then good night!