Sports World Today, January 7, 2024: Australia Women Beat India Women By Six Wickets In 2nd T20I; Liverpool Beat Arsenal In FA Cup - As It Happened

Liverpool ran away winners at the Emirates against Arsenal in their third round fixture of the FA Cup. In cricket, Indian women's cricket team lost by six wickets to Australia women in the second T20I to draw series level. Indian squad was announced for the Afghanistan three-match T20I series with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma making their return. Follow the updates of today's sporting action here. (Cricket News | Football News)

11:59 PM: And That's All Folks

And with that we bid adieu to what has been an exciting week for Indian sports. See you in the coming week!

11:51 PM: Liverpool Through To The Fourth Round

Arsenal are knocked out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool. 

11:30 PM: Liverpool Score In FA Cup Third Round Tie Against Arsenal

A Jakub Kiwior own-goal has handed Liverpool a vital goal against Arsenal in their third round fixture in the FA Cup.

11:00 PM: Bangladesh Cricket Team Captain Shakib Al Hasan Wins Parliament Seat

Bangladeshi cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan won a seat in the country's parliament Sunday after a landslide victory in a general election boycotted by the opposition. The 36-year all-rounder, who leads the country in all formats of the game, beat his rival by a margin of more than 150,000 votes in his constituency in the western town of Magura, the district's chief administrator Abu Naser Beg said.

10:49 PM: Arsenal Vs Liverpool FA Cup Tie, Half-Time Update

Hosts Arsenal missed a host of chances to put it past the Liverpool net in their FA Cup third round fixture at the Emirates. For Liverpool, they are solely missing Mohamed Salah upfront as the trio of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliot aren't working at all.

10:10 PM: Australia Women Beat India Women In 2nd T20I, Level Series 1-1

Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse Perry star as Australia women roared themselves back in the series with a thumping six-wicket win in the 2nd T20I at Navi Mumbai.

9:40 PM: FA Cup Update

Manchester City thrash Huddersfield Town 5-0 with Kevin de Bruyne marking his return. West Ham United were held by Bristol City as well as Nottingham Forest who drew 2-2 with Blackpool.

9:32 PM: United Cup 2024

Reigning Olympic champion Alexander Zverev saved two match points in a remarkable comeback to win his singles tie in an epic three-setter and then helped clinch the United Cup final for Germany in the deciding mixed doubles match on Sunday.

Read more about it here

9:00 PM: Arsenal vs Liverpool Line-Up In FA Cup

Arsenal XI: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Rice, Jorginho, Odegaard, Saka, Havertz, Nelson.   

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Quansah, Gomez, Elliott, Mac Allister, Jones, Gakpo, Nunez, Diaz.

7:10 PM: India T20I Squad For Afghanistan Series Announced

6:55 pm: IND-W Vs AUS-W, 2nd T20I - Toss Update

Australia Women have won the toss and have opted to field

Teams:

India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh(w), Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Thakur Singh, Titas Sadhu

Australia Women (Playing XI): Alyssa Healy(w/c), Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, Grace Harris, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt

6:53 pm: Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus Is Out Of Today's Game Against Liverpool Due To Injury 

6:00 pm: Ross Branch Tops Stage 1 for Hero at Dakar Rally

Hero MotoSports Team Rally made a strong start to the Dakar Rally as its rider Ross Branch topped the opening stage of the iconic off-roading event. In total, three Hero riders crossed Saturday’s finish line successfully, with Branch finishing first among 136 competitors in the bike category.  After a spectacular performance in Stage 1, Branch leads the field with a healthy 12-minute advantage.

5:30 pm: Pollard Replaces Rashid Khan As MI Cape Town Captain In SA20

Former West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard on Sunday replaced Rashid Khan as captain of MI Cape Town in SA20, beginning on January 10, according to the PTI reports. The Cape Town outfit had initially named ace leg-spinner Rashid as their skipper but the Afghan is still recuperating from his injury.

Meanwhile, MI Emirates appointed West Indian batter Nicholas Pooran as their captain for ILT20.

5:10 pm: ICC Rejects Usman Khawaja's Appeal Against Armband Sanction

Australia opener Usman Khawaja suffered a setback after his appeal against the sanction imposed on him for wearing a black armband during the opening Test against Pakistan was rejected by the International Cricket Council, a report said on Sunday. Read more here

5:01 pm: Dimitrov Claims Brisbane Title

Second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov beat top-seeded Holger Rune 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a tightly fought men's final which stretched over 2 hours, 13 minutes and contained only one break of serve. Dimitrov, ranked 14th, claimed his ninth career title and his first since the ATP finals in 2017.

4 pm: India's 1st Para Sports Pavilion

The Paralympic Committee of India and Indian Oil Corporation Limited have collaborated to set up the country's first Para Sports Pavilion, which will debut at the Purple Fest Goa scheduled to take place from 8-13th of January 2024.

3 pm: Nadal To Miss Australian Open

It is official. Rafael Nadal will miss the upcoming Australian Open 2024 in Melbourne due to an injury revealed in an MRI. The Spanish tennis titan shared the update on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), adding that he will fly back to Spain to see his doctor and get some treatment and rest. More details in our report here. 

2:10pm: Pujara Slams Ranji Double Ton

Exhibiting his hunger for runs to the national selectors just two weeks ahead of the five-match India vs England Test series at home, Cheteshwar Pujara has struck his 17th first-class double century in Ranji Trophy 2024. Pujara remained unbeaten on 243 off 356 balls on Day 3 of the Saurashtra vs Jharkhand encounter in Rajkot - his side's very first match of this season. Read our report on Pujara's momentous knock here.

1:45 pm: Rybakina Wins Brisbane Title

Elena Rybakina claimed her sixth career title with a 6-0, 6-3 rout of top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka to win the the Brisbane International in a perfect tune-up for the first major of 2024. Sabalenka, who had won five of her seven previous meetings against the fourth-seeded Rybakina, had no answer to the world No.4's laser-like groundstrokes and deft touches at the net as Rybakina dominated the final and stamped her credentials as one of the favourites for the upcoming Australian Open.

1:05pm: NBA - Rockets Edge Bucks

Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. posted double-doubles and teamed for a critical late 3-pointer as the Houston Rockets fended off the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 112-108. Sengun paired 21 points with 11 rebounds while Smith added 14 points and 12 boards. After Milwaukee shaved what was once a 21-point deficit to 102-99 on a pair of Giannis Antetokounmpo free throws with 1:50 left in the game, Sengun fed Smith for a corner 3-pointer 18 seconds later to help the Rockets secure the victory. Antetokounmpo was exceptional, finishing with 48 points and 17 rebounds. But Damian Lillard (18 points, eight assists) and Khris Middleton (10 points, five assists) combined to shoot just 8-for-25 as the Bucks lost for the third time in four games.

12:32pm: Warner Wants To Coach

Batting great David Warner has expressed his ambition to take up coaching in future, while also predicting that sledging will be gone from the sport within the next decade as players of different countries share dressing rooms in domestic leagues like IPL. The 37-year-old Warner played his final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, helping Australia sweep the series 3-0 against Pakistan. He has already announced retirement from ODIs but will be available for T20Is and T20 leagues across the globe.

11:24am: Latest In NHL

Filip Forsberg scored two goals in the third period to help the visiting Nashville Predators defeat the Dallas Stars 4-3. Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist, Ryan O'Reilly assisted on both of Forsberg's goals and Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves for the Predators, who have won three of four. Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn each scored in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit, Thomas Harley contributed two assists and Scott Wedgewood made 18 saves for Dallas, who have dropped three in a row for the first time this season.

10am: Copa Del Rey Update

Real Madrid easily handled fourth-division club Arandina 3-1 and moved into the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey 2023-24 season. Joselu, Brahim Diaz and Rodrygo scored for the defending Copa champions, who also finally debuted young Turkey international Arda Guler after a series of injuries. Also, Atletico Madrid defeated third-division club Lugo 3-1 on Saturday.

8:30am: FA Cup Update

Chelsea have booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round as four second-half goals took them past Championship side Preston at Stamford Bridge. Elsewhere, Aston Villa won an FA Cup tie for the first time since 2016 after Matty Cash hit a late winner at Middlesbrough. Earlier, Newcastle United had punched their ticket into the FA Cup fourth round with a win over rivals Sunderland.

Preview!

India women will be aiming to pick up where they left off against Australia women in the second T20I of three; the Women in Blue took a 1-0 lead with a masterful performance with both the ball and the bat. Later in the night, Arsenal will welcome Liverpool for their third-round FA Cup tie, with the winner of the contest moving onward. When the two met previously in the Premier League, they played out a 1-1 draw. In the coming days, other big-ticket events will commence, such as the Australian Open, the AFC Asian Cup, the Africa Cup of Nations, and the U-19 World Cup. The build-up to those continues in the early days of the new year