World Sports: Gujarat Giants Notch Up First Win In WPL 2024; Najmul Hossain Shanto Guides Bangladesh To Big Victory Over Sri Lanka In 2nd T20I

Welcome to the highlights of our coverage of the sports news and events on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. In an action-packed day for cricket, Vidarbha beat Madhya Pradesh by 62 runs in their Ranji Trophy semi-final clash in Nagpur and Bangladesh comprehensively defeated Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the second T20I of the three-game bilateral series. In the Women's Premier League, Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Gujarat Giants by 19 runs in match 13 - the latter's first win this season. Catch the highlights of all that transpired in the world of sports on Wednesday, here. (Cricket News | Football News)

The UEFA Champions League second leg had loads of action up it's sleeve as Bayern Munich thrashed Lazio 3-0 to overcome the first-leg deficit. Harry Kane scored two and Thomas Muller added another to send the Bavarians through to the quarter-finals. Paris Saint-Germain too entered the quarters with a 1-2 second leg win. A brace for the departing Kylian Mbappe was enough as the French club won 4-1 on aggregate.

Former South Africa women's pacer and current Mumbai Indians' star Shabnim Ismail has bowled the fastest delivery in women's cricket since speeds have been recorded. She clocked at 132.1km/h (82.08mph) playing for Mumbai Indians against Delhi Capitals in the Women's Premier League on Monday.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday reduced the four-year doping ban imposed on Romania's former world number one Simona Halep to nine months, which have already been served. The 32-year-old was suspended for four years last September by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after two separate doping infractions the previous year.

Indian boxer Nishant Dev started his Olympic Qualifier campaign in Busto Arsizio with a 3-1 victory over European Lewis Richardson in Men's 71 kg category. Other puglists Deepak (M51 kg), Narender (M+92 kg), Jaismine (W60 kg), Lakshay (M80 kg) & Shiva Thapa (M63.5 kg) lost opening bouts.

Indian tennis ace Sumit Nagal went down to South Korea's Seong-chan Hong after putting up a spirited fight in the final qualifying round of Indian Wells Masters. The 26-year-old Nagal lost 6-2, 2-6, 6-7 (4-7) on Tuesday. (PTI)

The pace bowling pair of Aditya Thakare and Yash Thakur battered the Madhya Pradesh tail as Vidarbha defeated their rivals by 62 runs to set up a Ranji Trophy title clash with Mumbai, on Wednesday. Madhya Pradesh, who were in a precarious position at stumps on day four at 228/6 requiring 93 more runs to win, withered in the face of hostile bowling from the duo who shared the spoils in the first session of the final day to earn Vidarbha a memorable semifinal win. (PTI)

The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Stadium in Dharamsala is getting ready for the fifth and final Test between India and England starting from March 7, Thursday.

“I’m really happy. Especially with the people I’m surrounded with — the manager, directors, the board — they are a group of amazing people and I’m really happy,” he said. City would like to help quell such talk by tying him to an even longer contract than his current deal, which runs until 2027. Manchester City take on FC Copenhagen in the 2nd leg of the UCL tonight at the Etihad Stadium. (AP)

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has hit back at claims from English opener Ben Duckett who famously claimed that Yashasvi Jaiswal has learned the aggressive batting from them. "Yashasvi Jaiswal learning from Ben Duckett? There was a guy called Rishabh Pant in our team, probably Ben Duckett hasn’t seen him play,” said Sharma.

Spanish state prosecutors have accused Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti of alleged tax fraud, claiming he used shell companies to hide parts of his income during his first stint at the club a decade ago. Prosecutors said in a statement that they are accusing Ancelotti of two accounts of tax fraud that would be punishable with four years and nine months of prison. They accused the Italian coach of having defrauded 1 million euros in 2014 and 2015. (AP)

The Indian men's hockey team will take on New Zealand in its opening match of the Paris Olympics on July 27, according to the schedule announced today. India, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists, are in Pool B and will take on Argentina on July 29, Ireland on July 30, Belgium on August 1 and Australia on August 2. Pool A consists of the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Great Britain and South Africa. The quarter-finals will be played on August 4 with the semifinals on August 6, while the bronze-medal playoff and the final will take place on August 8. (PTI)

For the second game running, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has won the toss and elected to bowl first in the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Sylhet. The visiting team have brought in Dilshan Madushanka for Akila Dananjaya, while Bangladesh are unchanged from the first match.

Playing XIs

Bangladesh: Litton Das (wk), Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Mahedi Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain.

Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka(c), Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Binura Fernando, Matheesha Pathirana.

Stacking up another impressive first in his nascent career, 22-year-old India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has broken into the top-10 of the International Cricket Council's Test batting rankings, riding on his red-hot form in the ongoing five-match home series against England. Jaiswal had climbed three places to be ranked 12th last week, and has now jumped two more spots to stand 10th, with 727 rating points to his name.

Youth world champion Ankushita Boro was out-punched 2-3 by Sonvico Emilie of France in the women' 66kg as India's dismal run at the Olympic qualifiers continued, PTI reports. Six of the nine Indian boxers have made first-round exits from the tournament so far. National champion Sanjeet (92kg) will square off against Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan later in the day.

Chasing Sri Lanka's target of 166, Bangladesh have rattled off 97 runs in the first 11 overs and now need 69 more in 54 balls in the second T20I. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy are at the crease and looking to get the job done for The Tigers.

Russian and Belarusian athletes have been barred from marching in the Paralympics 2024 opening ceremony in Paris, even if they are approved to compete as neutrals, Associated Press reports. The International Paralympic Committee has set limits on athletes from the two countries which are stricter than those detailed by the International Olympic Committee for the Paris Games that open a month earlier. The IOC in December had decided against a blanket ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes over the invasion of Ukraine.

“As the athletes will participate in an individual and neutral capacity, they will not march in the Opening Ceremony on August 28 or have a flag bearer at the Closing Ceremony on September 8,” the IPC said.

The home team canters home in the end. Bangladesh have notched up a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over the visiting Sri Lanka in Sylhet. Captain Najlum Hossain Shanto stayed unbeaten on 53 off 38 balls to guide his team past the 166-run target with 11 balls to spare.

The UEFA Champions League 2023-24's round of 16 knockout clashes are slated for later tonight. Real Madrid will take on RB Leipzig, and Manchester City will take on Copenhagen in the return fixtures.

Moroccan striker Noah Sadaoui struck the only goal of the match as FC Goa edged past East Bengal FC 1-0 for their first win in four games in the Indian Super League 2023-24 in Margao. The Gaurs thus moved to 32 points with this win, within touching distance of the top-placed Odisha FC (35), PTI reports. Contrastingly, the Red & Gold Brigade are three points behind the sixth-placed Bengaluru FC (21) and the match proved to be a setback ahead of their return leg derby against arch-rivals Mohun Bagan SG in Kolkata on Sunday.

We are one sleep away from the start of the fifth and final Test between India and England, in Dharamsala. The series may have already been decided in the hosts' favour, but there is lots to play for.

Before that, let's take a look at three key player battles to watch out for, in our report here.

That's all from us tonight. We will be back tomorrow morning with live updates of all that's breaking in the world of sports, including the fifth India vs England Test in Dharamsala. Until then, goodbye.