Sports World: PV Sindhu Beats Wen Yu Zhang In Spain Masters; Pressure Piles On IND Football Coach Igor Stimac - As It Happened

In today's sporting action, the IPL 2024 between SRH and MI dominated the headlines as the Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by 31 runs. In football, Women's Champions League Quarter-finals sees clubs in second leg action. PV Sindhu advanced in the Madrid Masters. Get all the sports hightlights and updates for March 27, 2024 right here. (Cricket News | Football News)

A bunch of international friendlies are taking place, including England vs Belgium. The hosts England are trailing 1-2 at the break.

The England vs Belgium international friendly ends in a 2-2 draw. Jude Bellingham’s 22nd goal of the season salvaged the stalemate for England. The Real Madrid midfielder continues his outstanding form going into this year’s European Championship.

Bellingham underlined his importance to Gareth Southgate’s team ahead of the Euros with a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time at Wembley Stadium to ensure England avoided back-to-back defeats, following a 0-1 loss to Brazil.

The prodigious Lamine Yamal and Endrick shone brightest as Brazil drew 3-3 with Spain in the 'One Skin' international friendly that was set up to highlight the fight against racism after a series of insults aimed at the Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior, Associated Press reports.

Vinicius was relatively quiet in a match in which Brazil equalized with a penalty converted by Lucas Paqueta deep into stoppage time after Rodri's spot kick in the 87th had put Spain ahead.

Germany's preparations for European Championship 2024 stepped up a notch with a 2-1 win over the Netherlands in their friendly match in Frankfurt. Niclas Fullkrug was the matchwinner for Julian Nagelsmann's team, who had to come from behind after Joey Veerman's early opener.

Maximilian Mittelstadt’s error proved costly for that goal, but he responded with a stunning equaliser just seven minutes later.

That set the stage for substitute Fullkrug to write the headlines as he bundled in off his shoulder from Toni Kroos' 85th-minute corner.

Indian doubles tennis bulwark Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden progressed to their third men's doubles semi-final in 2024, beating Dutchman Sem Verbeek and Aussie John-Patrick Smith at the Miami Open.

The duo, who had won the Australian Open earlier this year, overcame several unforced errors in the first set to win the gruelling quarter-final 3-6, 7-6 (4), 10-7.

Defending champion Daniil Medvedev and top seed Carlos Alcaraz have both entered the quarter-finals of Miami Open. Medvdev beat Dominik Koepfer 7-6 (5), 6-0, while Alcaraz cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 23 seed Lorenzo Musetti.

Second seed Jannik Sinner too moved into the last eight, as he produced a strong showing to see off Christopher O’Connell. The Italian came through 6-4 6-3 in windy conditions after weathering early problems. 

The Pakistan Cricket Board has reportedly lost faith in the ability of Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi to lead the national side, and feels former skipper Babar Azam is the best choice to captain the side once again.

A PTI report quoted sources in the PCB think-tank saying that the board had come to the conclusion that, with no viable option available, Babar was the best choice to lead the side again.

"The funny part is that the powers that be appear to have lost faith in Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi's ability to lead the national side in Test and T20 formats with the change in the board's chairmanship," a source was quoted as saying in the report.

Babar had quit as Pakistan captain across all formats after his team failed to make it past the group stages during the ODI World Cup in India last year. While Masood was appointed captain in the Test format, Shaheen was made the T20I skipper.

Gujarat Titans pacer Mohit Sharma has admitted that it is hard to replace a bowler of the calibre of Mohammed Shami, as his team slumped to a crushing 63-run loss at the hands of reigning Indian Premier League champions Chennai Super Kings.

"Any team is bound to miss a bowler like Shami, and you can't replace him with anyone. But injuries are uncontrollable, and you must see how to move ahead with it," said Sharma, who played for CSK between 2013 and 2015 and has been with the Titans since 2022, at a post-match press conference.

Austin Reaves notched up a triple-double and drilled a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 37.8 seconds left in the second overtime, as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 128-124, in the NBA despite the absence of LeBron James.

Reaves had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 47 minutes, Anthony Davis tallied 34 points and 23 rebounds in 52 minutes and D’Angelo Russell had 29 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.

Beaming after his second-string team defeated a stunned India in their own backyard in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match, Afghanistan football coach Ashley Westwood claimed that the visitors were "always the dominant" side and should have won even the first leg game which ended in a draw.

"We remained confident even when we were trailing. To be honest, we also could have won the earlier match. We were always the dominant side in the match," Westwood said referring to the first leg clash in Abha, Saudi Arabia which ended in a goalless draw.

England’s all-time record scorer Harry Kane opened his international goal account within 80 seconds of making a “dream” debut on this day in 2015. Kane netted almost immediately after coming on as a 70th-minute substitute against Lithuania at Wembley, wrapping up a 4-0 win with a thumping far-post header.

The then 21-year-old, who had already scored 29 goals for Tottenham that season, was given a standing ovation as he took to the field and it did not take him long to get the sell-out crowd back on their feet as, with one of his first touches, he found the back of the net.

Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Raheem Sterling scored England’s other goals, but the headlines belonged to Kane after a one-sided Euro 2016 qualifier.

Novak Djokovic has revealed that he has split from coach Goran Ivanisevic. The partnership was hugely successful, with Djokovic enjoying the most dominant period of his career through his early and mid-30s.

Ivanisevic became the Serbian’s main coach in March 2022, having previously worked alongside Djokovic’s long-time mentor Marian Vajda for several years.

Pistol shooter Bhavesh Shekhawat, who left the preparatory camp for the Asia Olympic Qualifiers in December last year without informing the national federation, has been selected for the trials to pick the Paris Olympic Games 2024 squad after apologising for his disciplinary breach, PTI reports. The trials will be held in Delhi and Bhopal in April and May respectively.

Shekhawat, who competes in 25m rapid-fire event, left the camp on December 29 and was incommunicado till January 4 this year, forcing the National Rifle Association of India to replace him in the squad for the Olympic qualifiers in Jakarta.

Ace India shuttler PV Sindhu will take the court later today for her round of 32 match at Madrid Spain Masters. Seeded second at the BWF Super 300 tournament, Sindhu is up against Canada's Wen Yu Zhang. Sindhu is looking to seal her berth at Paris Olympics and a good showing in Madrid will more or less confirm her ticket for the quadrennial extravaganza in July-August.

Indian defender Bijay Chhetri has joined Uruguayan football club Colon FC on loan until the year-end, his Indian Super League (ISL) club Chennaiyin FC said on Wednesday, according to PTI reports.

Chhetri thus became the first Indian footballer to sign for a Latin American club. Colon is based in Montevideo, while the club competes in Segunda División Professional (second division) of the country, where it is currently placed third on the Group B league table.

An experienced Shubhankar Sharma is hopeful that being in a relaxed mind space with an overall improvement in his game will help him break his title jinx at the Hero Indian Open and keep him firmly on course for a ticket to Paris Olympics, according to PTI reports.

The 26-year-old Indian, a two-time DP World Tour winner, will be one of favourites. when the prestigious tournament begins at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Thursday.

Former Ryder Cup player Nicolas Colsaerts from Belgium led his team to victory at the Pro-Am event of the Hero Indian Open at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram on Wednesday, according to PTI reports.

Colsaerts, who has three DP World Tour wins against his name in a total of 10 pro wins, carried his team comprising three ladies -- Anjali Chawla, Meera Luthra and Kusum Anand -- to a fine win.

Former India footballers feel there is 'discord' in the changing room and demanded the ouster of head coach Igor Stimac following India's shocking 1-2 defeat to Afghanistan in the World Cup qualifiers, according to PTI reports.

Talismanic Sunil Chhetri struck in his landmark 150th international fixture but the 117th-ranked India squandered the one-goal advantage at halftime to let in two second-half goals by the world No 158 Afghanistan in their return leg clash in Guwahati on Tuesday.

Istanbul is set to host the 2027 European Games, giving the Turkish capital a chance to show it can stage an international multi-sports event as it eyes the 2036 Olympics, according to AP reports.

The European Olympic Committees group said Wednesday that its executive committee unanimously picked Istanbul as the host, although the decision still needs to be approved by national members at a meeting in June.

Endrick had the ball in his hands and looked ready to take the late penalty that would give Brazil an equalizer in its friendly against Spain.

It was a chance for his second goal of the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. After a few words with Lucas Paqueta, though, the 17-year-old Endrick handed the ball to his teammate, who converted the stoppage-time penalty for a 3-3 draw on Tuesday, according to AP reports.

Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia will miss the rest of the season after suffering a setback in his recovery from a thigh injury.

The 20-year-old suffered the injury when making his Blues debut as a substitute against Crystal Palace in December.

Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu progressed to the second round of the Madrid Spain Masters with a straight-game win over Canada's Wen Yu Zhang in Madrid on Wednesday, according to PTI reports.

Sindhu, who finished as runner-up in the last edition, saw off world no. 49 Zhang 21-16 21-12 in a lop-sided contest.

Keen to move past water-guzzling synthetic pitches, the International Hockey Federation is set to mandate dry turfs at all major events after the Paris Olympics and the world body made a stop-over in India on Wednesday to extol the virtues of the innovation that has not yet been embraced by the country, according to PTI reports.

Delhi Capitals' Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly said pacers Anrich Nortje and Ishant Sharma have regained full fitness, bolstering their bowling attack ahead of the IPL clash against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Thursday, according to PTI reports.

Led by Rishabh Pant, who returned to the cricket field after almost 15 months following a horrific car crash, DC didn't have the best of starts, losing by four wickets against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Chandigarh last Saturday.

Cricket Australia has yet again expressed interest in hosting an India-Pakistan Test series if the two Asian neighbours agree to play against each other in future at a neutral venue, according to PTI reports.

India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since 2012-13 due to the diplomatic tension between the two nations. They lock horns only at the ICC or continental events.

World champion Pankaj Advani of India oozed class with a triple century break of 305 as he tamed compatriot Rovin D’Souza and cruised to a comprehensive 1197-156 point win in his opening Group-A league match of the All India CCI Billiards Classic in Mumbai on Wednesday, according to PTI reports.

Advani, who last November won a grand double, triumphing the time format and long-up in the IBSF World Billiards Championship, played with sublime touch as he executed his shots with perfection and took complete control of the match.

Indian team's star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and defender Camila Caram from Chile women's side are the two players appointed as co-chairs of the International Hockey Federation's new FIH Athletes Committee, according to PTI reports.

The duo will be direct contributors to the 'Athletes First' approach enshrined in the FIH 'Empowerment and Engagement' strategy'.

A 20-year-old tennis player from Kazakhstan has been provisionally suspended for a doping violation, the sport's integrity agency said Wednesday, according to AP reports.

Arslanbek Aitkulov, who reached a career-high world singles ranking of 1,250 in November, tested positive for prohibited substances while competing in a tournament in Qatar in January, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said.

Records tumbled left-right and centre as Sunrisers Hyderabad smashed 277 for three, the highest total in IPL history, to leave Mumbai Indians shell shocked in Hyderabad on Wednesday, according to PTI reports.

Travis Head (62 off 24) and Abhishek Sharma (63 off 23) came up with a sensational display of power-hitting, that saw the latter snatching the franchise record for fastest fifty from the Australian within minutes.

Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia was ruled out of the rest of the season Wednesday after suffering a setback in his recovery from a thigh injury, completing a frustrating first year at the London club. The 20-year-old Lavia joined Chelsea from relegated Southampton late in the summer transfer window for a reported fee of 58 million pounds ($74 million) but has only made one appearance in all competitions this season — as a 58th-minute substitute against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Dec. 27. (AP)

We hope you enjoyed our sports coverage! Till then, good night!