SPORTS

Auckland, March 11 (IANS) New Zealand women have suffered a triple blow with injuries ruling out wicketkeeper-batter Izzy Gaze (hip flexor), pace bowler Hayley Jensen (hip flexor), and batter Bella James (quadricep) from the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka. "Wicketkeeper-batter Polly Inglis and left-arm seamer Bree Illing, who made their international debuts during last week’s ODI series, will replace Gaze and Jensen for the T20I series, while 22-year-old Central Hinds allrounder and former New Zealand A representative Flora Devonshire receives her maiden call up, replacing James," New Zealand Cricket said in a statement.In just her first three international matches, Inglis took five catches behind the stumps and scored 43 runs across two innings, while Illing took four wickets, twi...

Melbourne, March 11 (IANS) Australia and England will play a day-night Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in March 2027 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Test cricket, the Cricket Australia announced on Tuesday."The 150th Anniversary Test from March 11-15, 2027, will be the first time the Australian men have played a Test under lights at the MCG, the scene of the first Test match in 1877 and the Centenary Test in 1977 – remarkably, both won by Australia by 45 runs," it said in a statement.It will be the first day-night men’s Test match at the MCG, which follows the historic first day-night Test at the MCG earlier this year where Australia’s women completed an Ashes clean sweep.CA insisted staging the Test as a day-night match would allow more people to attend and watch the 150t...

New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) Indian cricket team stars are likely to gather in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand to attend the wedding of wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant's sister Sakshi Pant.The wedding ceremonies will take place at a secret location in Mussoorie on Tuesday and Wednesday. India skipper Rohit Sharma, star batter Virat Kohli and former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni are expected to attend the wedding.Sakshi Pant is getting married to businessman Ankit Chaudhary. The duo got engaged last year after dating for almost nine years. Former Indian captain MS Dhoni was among the attendees at the couple's engagement ceremony in London in January 2024. Sakshi, who studied in the UK, enjoys a large following on social media courtesy of her travel pictures and trendy outfits.Pant was part of the Cham...

New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) After playing a pivotal role in India’s 2025 Champions Trophy triumph with his all-round skills, Axar Patel is now likely to be appointed as the new Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).The all-rounder had stepped in to be DC’s captain in IPL 2024 when his predecessor Rishabh Pant was not allowed to play in a crucial game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) due to an over-rate offence.“Yes, Axar Patel is likely to be named as Delhi Capitals skipper for IPL 2025. The franchise had asked for KL Rahul to be the team's captain, but he very much wishes to contribute for the side as a player in the upcoming tournament,” sources told IANS on Tuesday.Axar has been with DC since 2019, and was retained for a whopping Rs 1...

Auckland, March 11 (IANS) Michael Bracewell will captain New Zealand for the first time on home soil in the upcoming five-game T20I series against Pakistan, starting at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on March 16. Bracewell was a star performer in their runner-up finish at the recent ICC Champions Trophy and is one of seven players from the squad set to join the T20 camp in Christchurch on Friday.The 34-year-old all-rounder, who has racked up 66 international appearances since debuting for the country in all three formats in 2022, captained the white-ball tour of Pakistan in April last year and said he relished the challenge of leading the side.“It’s a great honour and a real privilege to captain your country,” he said in a release. “I really enjoyed leading the side in Pakistan last year and ...

New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) After the Union Sports Ministry revoked the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India ((WFI), the national wrestling body chief Sanjay Singh expressed delight on the decision and announced that the WFI will conduct wrestling trials on March 15 in New Delhi. "Such a good news for all the wrestling lovers. We will be holding wrestling trials on March 15 in Delhi," Sanjay Singh told IANS.The Ministry lifted its suspension on the WFI on Tuesday, allowing the organisation to hold domestic tournaments and selection of national teams for international tournaments."In view of the findings of the Spot Verification Committee, the compliance measures undertaken by the WFI, and in the larger interest of Indian sports and athletes, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sp...

London, March 11 (IANS) Bruno Guimaraes scored the only goal as Newcastle United recorded an important win at West Ham United, boosting their UEFA Champions League qualifying hopes.The Magpies' skipper slid in to turn home a Harvey Barnes cross shortly after the hour mark at the London Stadium as Eddie Howe's side set themselves up for Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Liverpool in the best possible way.Guimaraes latched onto Harvey Barnes’ 63rd-minute cross to volley past Alphonse Areola, who produced a magnificent save to thwart a spectacular Max Kilman own-goal moments earlier.Eddie Howe’s side were comfortably in control thereafter, as they secured only a second win in five Premier League matches.Newcastle move up to sixth place – and two points off fourth-place Chelsea – while Graham...

Indian Wells, March 11 (IANS) The Australian Open champion extended her winning streak to 14 matches thanks to a topsy-turvy 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-4 victory over a player, who has troubled her in the past, Elise Mertens.Keys originally led by a set and 5-3 at Stadium 2 and had two match points on her own serve in the ninth game to advance to the fourth round.They slipped away. She saw two more match points dissipate in the tiebreak. But Keys recovered to seal the win.Keys has now won all nine three-set matches she has played in 2025. In fact, the last time she lost a deciding set was to Mertens, a 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4 heartbreaker in the fourth round of last year's US Open, WTA reports.Keys is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the second time, following her 2022 run. Her next opponent will...

Panchkula, March 10 (IANS) Hockey Haryana and Hockey Jharkhand secured contrasting wins in their respective semifinals to set up a summit clash in the exciting 15th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2025 - Division ‘A' here on Monday.In the first semifinal match of Division ‘A, ’ Hockey Haryana defeated Hockey Mizoram 4-0. Sonam (41’), Monika (42’), Manisha (47’), and captain Rani (57’) scored one goal each after Hockey Mizoram’s strong defence for more than two-straight quarters to secure their birth for the last dance on Wednesday.In the other semifinal match of Division ‘A’, both Hockey Maharashtra and Hockey Jharkhand showed splendid skills to restrain each other from scoring till the final whistle was blown and ended the game at 0-0.The match then went to the shoot-out t...

Mumbai, March 10 (IANS) Even though her team suffered a sixth consecutive loss to the Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), Gujarat Giants captain Ashleigh Gardner remained optimistic about getting the better of them in the knockouts after their narrow nine-run defeat at the Brabourne Stadium.Opting to bat first, Mumbai Indians built a solid foundation, thanks to a steady start by Hayley Matthews (27 off 22) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (38 off 31). But it was captain Harmanpreet Kaur who took charge with a well-paced 54 off 33 balls, mixing innovative shots with powerful hitting. Amanjot Kaur played the perfect finisher’s role, smashing 27 off just 15 deliveries, while Yastika Bhatia’s 13 off four balls further boosted MI’s total of 179/6.With a new opening pair of Kashvee Gautam an...