CRICKET
Dhoni takes Chennai to final
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 70 and an unbeaten cameo from skipper M.S. Dhoni helped the Chennai Super Kings reach a ninth IPL final with a four-wicket win over the Delhi Capitals on Sunday. Chasing 173 for victory, Chennai rode on a 110-run second-wicket partnership between Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa (63), but were in trouble after the two departed. Delhi pace bowler Tom Curran needed to defend 13 off the final over and got Moeen Ali out for 16 on the first ball, but Dhoni (18) kept his calm to smash three boundaries and take the team home with two balls to spare. “My innings was a crucial one,” 40-year-old Dhoni said. “Delhi has a very good bowling attack. They exploited the conditions well, so we knew it would be tough.” The first IPL qualifier had the top two teams in the league table clash, with three-time champions Chennai getting a direct entry into Friday’s final — their ninth in 14 seasons. Delhi, led by Rishabh Pant, are to have another shot at securing a berth in the final when they play the second qualifier tomorrow. “We are going to rectify our mistakes, learn from it and hopefully, we can move on and play the final,” Pant said.
SOCCER
Panama stun the US 1-0
Panama on Sunday won their first FIFA World Cup qualifying match against the US with a 1-0 victory in Panama City. Anibal Godoy’s glancing header on 54 minutes secured all three points for Panama at Estadio Rommel Fernandez Gutierrez to jolt the US’ bid to reach next year’s finals in Qatar. It was a deserved win for Panama, who created the better scoring chances against a disjointed US lineup. The US had moved to the top of the CONCACAF qualifying standings after a 4-1 win over Honduras last month was followed by a 2-0 win over Jamaica in Austin on Thursday last week, but the momentum built up by those two wins evaporated after US coach Gregg Berhalter named a new-look starting lineup for the clash against Panama. Only four players who started in Thursday’s win over Jamaica were named in Sunday’s starting lineup, with forwards Brenden Aaronson and goalscoring teenager Ricardo Pepi left on the bench. In their absence, the US struggled to offer any kind of attacking threat against Panama. “It was clear we didn’t have our best stuff,” Berhalter said. “I think we came up short in a number of areas.”
FOOTBALL
Buffalo have their revenge
The Buffalo Bills on Sunday avenged their defeat in last season’s American Football Conference title game with a convincing 38-20 NFL victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen out-dueled counterpart Patrick Mahomes in a game that included a weather delay of more than an hour, torching the vaunted Chiefs offense for 315 yards (288m) and three touchdown passes. Allen also rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown as Mahomes delivered one of his worst NFL performances. He threw two interceptions, the second — off the hands of Tyreek Hill — was returned 26 yards for a third-quarter touchdown that swelled the Bills’ lead to 31-13. Mahomes also gave up a fumble late in the fourth quarter that extinguished all hopes of an unlikely Chiefs rally. “I think this is going to be made a bigger deal than it is. We’re in Week 5,” Allen said. “Four wins doesn’t get you to the playoffs. We ended up with a win. That’s our goal each and every week.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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