Sports News Highlights: Arsenal Humble Man Utd In PL; Novak Djokovic Loses In Italian Open; PAK Beat IRE In 2nd T20I

Here are the highlights of the today's sports news for 12th May, 2024. In IPL 2024, CSK beat RR by five wickets in a highly crucial game for their play-off chances while RCB defeated DC to stay alive in the competition. Pakistan successfully chased down a 194-run target against Ireland with 19 balls and seven wickets to spare in the second T20I match in Dublin whereas Zimbabwe won the fifth T20I match against Bangladesh to finish the series with 1-4. In football, Arsenal's title hopes are alive after a victory over Manchester United. Novak Djokovic lost to Alejandro Tabilo in his third-round game at the Italian Open. Magnus Carlsen won the Superbet tournament in which the Indian GM R Praggnanandhaa finished fourth. Catch all the highlights of the today's sports news and events from here.

Kolkata Knight Riders sealed the first berth in the playoffs of the 2024 Indian Premier League season with an 18-run victory against Mumbai Indians in the rain-shortened match played on Saturday at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Milan ended their six-match winless run in all competitions with a thumping 5-1 victory over relegation-threatened Cagliari in Serie A at San Siro. This win has moved Stefano Pioli's team closer to securing second place, sitting on 74 points and seven ahead of third-placed Bologna.

Lionel Messi was forced to leave the Inter Miami game at Montreal in the first half after an issue in his left knee started bothering enough with the team trailing 2-0. However, Matías Rojas then netted a goal. Luis Suarez equaled the match 2-2 at intermission as Messi returned to the field. Later with the late show by Benjamin Cremaschi Inter took the 3-2 lead and won the match.

Burnley was relegated from the English Premier League after Micky van de Ven's 82nd-minute goal earned Tottenham a 2-1 comeback victory on Saturday. Vincent Kompany's Burnley had to claim all three points to keep alive its faint hopes of avoiding an immediate return to the Championship. Jacob Bruun Larsen's 25th-minute opener gave the visitors hope in north London, but Pedro Porro equalized seven minutes later with a powerful strike. (AP)

Benedikt Pichler's early goal was enough to earn Bundesliga promotion for Holstein Kiel after drawing at home with Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-1 on Saturday. Pichler scored in the second minute to ensure Kiel will finish among the top two in Germany's second division for automatic promotion to the top-flight. “We've rewarded ourselves for a fantastic season,” Kiel captain Philipp Sander said. “I don't think I'll sleep tonight.”

India's R. Praggnanandhaa scored yet another victory over world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway to keep himself afloat even as Wei Yi of China stretched his lead to a massive 2.5 points in the Superbet rapid and blitz chess tournament, a part of the Grand Chess Tour. With nine rounds still to come in the blitz event, Wei Yi has amassed 20.5 points with seven wins on the first day of blitz. Ending the day with 7.5 out of a possible nine, Yi, seems like a man possessed and unless a hurricane hits him, is poised to win the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour.

Kolkata Knight Riders medium pacer Ramandeep Singh has been fined 20 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during their match against Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens here.

The 27-year-old committed a Level 1 offence under Article 2.20 of the IPL Code of Conduct. He admitted to the offence and accepted the Match Referee's sanction. (PTI)

The Indian men's hockey team is gearing up for the upcoming Paris Olympics, figuring out the areas that "needed attention" following its whitewash by Australia in the five-Test series. The skipper skipper Harmanpreet Singh believes that the team is ready for the tough European leg of the Pro League.

"We are in the last stages of an intense training block right now. The team has worked on the areas we felt needed attention after the tour of Australia," said Harmanpreet in a Hockey India release.

Indian track athlete K M Deeksha set a new national record in the women's 1500m while Avinash Sable finished second in men's 5000m event at the Sound Running Track Fest in Los Angeles.

The 25-year-old Deeksha finished third in the final on Saturday after running the distance in 4:04.78, bettering the previous record of 4:05.39 set by Harmilan Bains in 2021 at the National Open Athletics Championships in Warangal. (PTI)

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bat first against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk.

In order to avoid a series clean sweep the Zimbabwe cricket team succeeded in beating Bangladesh in the fifth and final Twenty20 match on Sunday, by eight wickets.

Batting first, Bangladesh scored 157-6 but Brian Bennett's 70 off 49 balls, with five fours and as many sixes, set the platform of Zimbabwe's victory with nine balls to spare.

India's R. Praggnanandhaa scored yet another victory over world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway to keep himself afloat even as Wei Yi of China stretched his lead to a massive 2.5 points in the Superbet rapid and blitz chess tournament, a part of the Grand Chess Tour.

With nine rounds still to come in the blitz event, Wei Yi has amassed 20.5 points with seven wins on the first day of blitz. Ending the day with 7.5 out of a possible nine, Yi, seems like a man possessed and unless a hurricane hits him, is poised to win the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour. (PTI)

Esha Singh and Anish Bhanwala registered their second Olympic Selection Trial wins in the women's 25m pistol and men's 25m rapid-fire pistol (RFP) respectively in Bhopal on Sunday, according to PTI reports.

While Anish had won the first trial in the same event in Delhi, Esha had claimed the second trial in the women's 10m air pistol, also at the Karni Singh range in Delhi.

Zimbabwean all-rounder Sean Williams has decided to retire from T20Is. The left-handed player decided after the recently concluded five-match T20I series in Bangladesh. Bangladesh won the first four matches of the series, while Zimbabwe managed to get a consolation victory on Sunday, giving Williams a happy send-off from the format. Williams only played in the first and last game of the series. However, he will continue to represent Zimbabwe in ODIs and Tests.

Chennai Super Kings on Sunday clinched a five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in a low-scoring thriller to brighten their IPL playoffs qualification chances in Chennai on Sunday, according to PTI reports.

Chasing a modest 142 on a tricky surface, CSK made 145 for five in 18.2 overs with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad dropping the anchor to make a well-compiled unbeaten 42 (41 balls, 1x4s, 2x6s).

Rookie Sameer Rizvi hit an eight-ball 15 not out with three fours to end the game in a jiffy after Ravindra Jadeja became the third batter in IPL history to be adjudged out after obstructing the field.

Indian golfer Aditi Ashok returned a card of one-under 71 on the third day to be Tied-39 at the Cognizant Founders Cup on the LPGA.

Aditi, who has been having a modest season with a best of 21st at the HSBC women's World Championships in Singapore in February, had five birdies against four bogeys in the round, according to PTI reports.

Pranavi Urs produced a strong finish with three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine for a top-10 finish at the Aramco Team Series Korea, according to PTI reports.

Pranavi shot rounds of 69-77-69 for a 1-under 215 and was tied-seventh at the end of the competition. This was the second top-10 finish in six starts this season for the Mysuru girl, who has been an 'Order of Merit' winner in the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, before earning a status on the Ladies European Tour.

The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic lost to Chilean Alejandro Tabilo in the Round of 32 match of the Italian Open 2024 on Sunday. The final score was 2-6, 3-6 which eliminated Djokovic from the competition.

Sujeet Kalkal and Jaideep Ahlawat resisted their respective rivals well at the World Qualifiers on Sunday but could not add more quotas to India's kitty for the Paris Olympic Games, where the country will have only one male wrestler presenting his challenge, according to PTI reports.

In his crucial 65kg bronze medal contest, Sujeet matched USA's Zain Allen Retherford in terms of skills but conceded a takedown on counter attack to lose 2-2 on criteria.

Defending champion and joint national record holder 400m hurdler Vithya Ramraj pulled out of her event due to back pain as the National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Competition made a low-key start in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

Vithya, part of the Indian women's 4x400m relay squad that booked a Paris Olympics berth in the Bahamas recently, pulled out immediately after the start of the women's 400m hurdles final race on the opening day of the competition at the Kalinga Stadium, according to PTI reports.

Chennai Super Kings batting coach Michael Hussey on Sunday felt that the decision to give Ravindra Jadeja out for obstructing the field could have gone either way, according to PTI reports.

Jadeja became the third batter in IPL history to be adjudged out for obstructing the field after a miscommunication with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad during their chase against Rajasthan Royals in Chennai.

Novak Djokovic expressed his concern after being hit with a water bottle while signing autographs following his second-round win over Corentin Moutet at the Italian Open. The metal bottle fell out of a fan’s backpack and hit him directly on the head, causing initial blood and nausea. Although he felt fine the next day during training, he felt like a "different player" on Sunday and was defeated 6-2, 6-3 by Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, who is the 29th seed. Djokovic plans to undergo extra medical tests to ensure that he is okay.

Pakistan humbled Ireland with a thumping 7-wicket victory in the second T20I to level the series 1-1 on Sunday. Chasing 194, Pakistan lost their captain Babar Azam for a duck early but Fakhar Zaman (78 off 40) and Mohammad Rizwan (75 not out off 46 balls) stitched a 140-run partnership for the third wicket to ease the game. Azam Khan's cameo of 30 runs off 10 balls helped them win the match with 19 balls and seven wickets in hand.

Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa proved himself better than his peers and finished clear fourth while Magnus Carlsen came up with a rousing 8/9 performance on the final day to seal his place at the top of the tables in the Superbet rapid and blitz tournament, a part of the grand chess tour, according to PTI reports.

Leading by a huge 2.5 points margin going in to the last day with nine rounds of blitz still remaining, Wei Yi of China had to be content with a second place finish after a below par 5 points in the last nine games.

We will be taking your leave now. That's all from our side for today. We will join you tomorrow. Thanks and Goodnight!