Sports World Today, January 17, 2024: India Beat Afghanistan In 2nd Super Over To Take Series 3-0; NZ Beat PAK By 45 Runs To Clinch T20I Series; Australia Bowl Out West Indies For 188 In 1st Test - As It Happened

Australian Open action continues onto Day 4 as Novak Djokovic and the rest look to progress. In cricket, the Indian cricket team eye a whitewash against Afghanistan in Bengaluru. Also, the Australian cricket team begins life sans David Warner as they take on West Indies in the 1st Test. In Hamilton, New Zealand look to clinch a series victory as they play Pakistan in the third T20I. The Dakar Rally will race toward its inevitable conclusion later this week, while the build-up towards the Winter Youth Olympics will continue. Follow all the developments live here. (Cricket News | Football News)

India defeated Afghanistan in second Super Over in a thrilling finale that saw many ups and downs. Despite Gulbadin Naib's heroics in the end, the visitors could not close the game and ended up on the losing side.

Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 121 along with Rinku Singh's 69 helped blitzed Afghanistan as the hosts posted 212/4 in the 20 overs.

Playing XIs

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.

Three hours from now, India will play Afghanistan in Bengaluru, looking to complete a 3-0 series win. Rain, thankfully, is unlikely to put a damper on the occasion, with the otherwise overcast Bengaluru enjoying bright sunshine and warm weather at the time of writing. Something to keep an eye out for would be India's line-up, with several key questions lingering in the air: will Rohit Sharma retain his place? Will there be much rotation? Will Shivam Dube shine again? And much, much more. 

England cricket great James Anderson has hinted at England's potential two-spinner line-up for their upcoming tour of India, to counter the host nation's spin-friendly pitches.  "There are only four seamers going, so we will not be expecting to bowl a huge amount of seam. It is just a slightly different role," Anderson told 'The Daily Telegraph'. "Reverse swing will play a big part. There might be occasions where we don’t open with a seamer. We might open with two spinners."

The defamation plea filed against former Indian cricket team captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will be heard by Justice Pratibha M Singh in the Delhi High Court on January 18, 2024. Two of Dhoni's former business partners had filed the plea,  Mihir Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das, who are seeking a permanent injunction and damages against Dhoni, several social media platforms and media houses. 

Teenaged Indian chess superstar R Praggnanandhaa defeated world champion Ding Liren of China in the fourth round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands. The win also helped him surpass the legendary Viswanathan Anand as the top-rated Indian player, PTI reports.

An engrossing day of Test cricket comes to an end in Adelaide. After the Aussies bowled with fire to skittle West Indies for 188 in the first innings, the visitors struck two early blows of their own to make things interesting. Australia are at 59/2 at stumps on Day 1 of the first Test, in what is a two-match series.

Both Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins finish with four-wicket hauls as Australia bowl West Indies out for a meagre 188 in the first innings of their first Test match in Adelaide. Kirk McKenzie got to a hal-century for the visitors but got little support frm the other end. It was down to number 11 batter Shamar Joseph (36 off 41 balls) to propel the Windies to a 150-plus total.

We have another major upset in the Australian Open, as early as the second round. Wimbledon 2023 runner-up Ons Jabeur was beaten 0-6, 2-6 by 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in 54 minutes. Meanwhile, former world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki too lost 6-1, 4-6, 1-6 to 20-year-old Maria Tomafeeva in her second-round match.

The Aussies have West Indies reeling in Adelaide. Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have ripped through the visitors' batting order. The Windies are eight down for 133 as we speak in the first game of the two-Test series.

Another comprehensive win for New Zealand. After putting a total like 224 on the board, only something extraordinary could have averted their win in the current scheme of things. Nothing of the sort happened, and the Kiwi bowlers restricted Pakistan to 179/7 in their 20 overs to canter to a 45-run win. With that, the hosts have clasped their hands around the trophy, having secured an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.

New Zealand have piled on another mammoth total against Pakistan in the ongoing T20I series. After a record-breaking 226-run total in the first T20I, the BlackCaps have now put 224 runs on the board in the third T20I in Hamilton. In reply, Pakistan are struggling at 138/6 after 16.2 overs, and still need 87 runs off 22 balls. Only a miracle can do it for the Men In Green from here, as the Kiwis look set to clinch the five-match series 3-0. Meanwhile, in a tiny moment of smile and sunshine, Pakistan wicket-keeper Azam Khan hit his first-ever T20I six before getting out. For someone with a T20I strike rate of 76, it sure would have brought some joy to what has otherwise been another disappointing day in the office for the visitors.