World Sports: Australia Beat India In Penalty Shootout Of FIH Pro League Clash; Royal Challengers Bangalore Pip UP Warriorz In WPL

Welcome to our coverage of the sports news and events on Saturday, February 24. In hockey, Harmanpreet Singh and Co suffered an agonizing penalty-shootout loss to the Aussies in their key return-leg fixture of the FIH Pro League 2023-24 in Rourkela. Not too far away in Ranchi, the Indian batting stuttered its way to 219/7 in response to England's first-innings total of 353 on Day 2 of the fourth Test. And after a nail-biting season-opener, the Women's Premier League 2024 witnessed another thriller in Bengaluru, with the Royal Challengers Bangalore edging UP Warriorz by just two runs. Catch the highlights of all the action here. (Cricket News | Football News)

Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals in a closely fought encounter in the WPL 2024. Five runs were required of the final delivery with MI's S Sajana hitting the ball out of the boundary line for a maximum to send the reigning champions into delirium.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, two of the greatest tennis players ever played the game, apparently met on a plane.

The Russian Olympic Committee has lost an appeal against its suspension by the International Olympic Committee. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday that it had dismissed the ROC’s appeal against the suspension imposed in October. The IOC objected to the ROC incorporating four sports bodies representing regions of eastern Ukraine, which it calls “a breach of the Olympic Charter”.

England thrashed Austria 7-2 in a women's international friendly with debutant Grace Clinton scoring one of the goals. The Lionesses needed that win in Spain after failing to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games 2024.

Former Karnataka junior cricketer K Hoysala passed away Friday after suffering a cardiac arrest following a match against Tamil Nadu in the South Zone IA & AD tournament. He was 34.

New Zealand batter Devon Conway has withdrawn from the third and final T20I against Australia. The 32-year-old injured his left thumb while keeping in the second T20I on Friday. Australia have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The third and final T20I at Eden Park, Auckland is scheduled for Sunday. The Trans-Tasman rivals will then meet in a two-Test match, starting Thursday.

India dismissed England for 353 in the first innings of their fourth Test on Day 2 with Ravindra Jadeja cleaning up the tail. The hosts' reply, however, got off to a not-so-promising note, losing skipper Rohit Sharma for two runs. Follow live updates HERE.

Liverpool, who are reportedly chasing a quadruple in Jurden Klopp's final English season, will go to the Czech Republic for their UEFA Europa League 2023-24, round of 16 first leg clash against Sparta Prague for. Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen, who set a new German record of 33 games unbeaten with a Bundesliga win over Mainz, face Azerbaijani outfit Qarabag.

Full draw here:

Sparta Prague vs Liverpool; Marseille vs Villarreal; Roma vs Brighton; Benfica vs Rangers; Freiburg vs West Ham United; Sporting CP vs Atalanta; AC Milan vs Slavia Prague; Qarabag vs Bayer Leverkusen.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek stunned by qualifier Anna Kalinskaya 6-4 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Dubai Championships. The multiple Grand Slam winner from Poland was up 4-2 but consistency began to desert her and Kalinskaya won four straight games to take the first set. Swiatek did save two match points to break for 3-5 in the second set but still lost the match. The 40th-ranked has defeated three top-10 players in a row, starting with No. 9 Jelena Ostapenko, then No. 3 Coco Gauff for her first top-five win, then Swiatek in their first meeting. The 25-year-old Russian will face Jasmine Paolini of Italy in Saturday's final.

According to reports, David Warner will take at least 10 days to regain his full fitness. The Aussie opener has an adductor issue, and has already been ruled out of the final T20I against New Zealand in Auckland. But the 37-year-old, who retired from Test and ODI cricket last month, is expected to be fit for the Indian Premier League 2024, which starts March 22.

Smriti Mandhana's Royal Challengers Bangalore will face the Chamari Athapaththu-led UP Warriorz in the second match of the Women's Premier League 2024. Here's a look at three key battles, including an Aussie rivalry -- Ellyse Perry vs Alyssa Healy. Read more

All roads lead to Perth, Australia, where the two WWE Elimination Chamber matches will take place, with six wrestlers competing in each match, one for women and the other for men. Here's all you need to know about the first pay-per-view event.

In Rourkela, the Harmanpreet Singh-led India men's hockey team will take on Australia in their FIH Pro League match. India are currently placed fourth in the standings with 11 points from six matches, while Australia are unbeaten so far, registering six outright wins from as many games. India lost to the Netherlands 2-4 in their last outing.

At Tea on Day 2 of the fourth Test, India were 131/4 in 38 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan unbeaten. England made 353 in their first innings.

Yashasvi Jaiswal got out for a brilliant 73, losing his battle to Shoaib Bashir. But the Indian opener joined an elite list. He now has 618 runs in seven innings, and the youngster is the fifth Indian to score 600 or more runs in a Test series, after Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Sardesai, Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli.

WWE Elimination Chamber 2024 kicks off with the six-women match, and it looks something like this -- Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair vs Liv Morgan vs Tiffany Stratton vs Naomi vs Raquel Rodriguez.

Becky Lynch wins the six-women Elimination Chamber, thus earning the right to fight for the Raw Women's Championship title at WrestleMania.

England made 353 runs in the first innings with a gritty knock from veteran Joe Root and a quickfire half-century from Ollie Robinson. India started well but kept losing wickets in between and were left for 219 for 7 at the stumps on Day 2. Dhruv Jurel is unbeaten with Kuldeep Yadav at the crease. India are still trailing by 134 runs.

ENG - 353/10 (104.5)

IND - 219/7 (73)

Indian tennis star Sumit Nagal has received a wildcard for the main draw of the Dubai Championship, an ATP 500 event, according to PTI reports. While the qualifiers of the tournament began on Saturday, the main draw matches get underway on Monday. Nagal will be up against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, currently world number 49, in the opening round.

India's para shuttlers Suhas Yathiraj, Pramod Bhagat and Krishna Nagar have progressed to the men's singles finals in various categories at the Para Badminton World Championship in Pattaya, Thailand, PTI reports. World No. 3 Yathiraj, a Paralympic silver medallist, defeated world no. 1 Lucas Mazur of France 21-16 21-19 in the men's singles SL4 semi-final to reach the finals for the first time in his career. Lucas is a reigning world champion and paralympic gold medallist.

The two teams have taken the field for their all-important return fixture in the FIH Pro League 2023-24 season. Having lost in Bhubaneswar, the Harmanpreet Singh-led India will aim to make amends with a win against Australia in Rourkela. As is guaranteed in any hockey match in Odisha, a vibrant crowd will be behind the home team.

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has called Jammu and Kashmir's para cricket team captain Amir Hussain Lone a "real hero and an inspiration", after meeting the sportsperson during his trip to the valley. Posting a video of his interaction with Lone on social media, Sachin wrote, “To Amir, the real hero. Keep inspiring! It was a pleasure meeting you”.

The match ends in an agonizing defeat for the Indian team. Australia drew level 2-2 in the final quarter of the FIH Pro League 2023-24 hockey match to force a penalty shootout. Harmanpreet Singh and Co just couldn't deliver in the crunch moments and lost the shootout 0-3 at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela.

The Women's Premier League 2024 is off to a blockbuster start. The league has witnessed the second cliffhanger in as many days, with Royal Challengers Bangalore edging out UP Warriorz by two runs in a last-over thriller.

A day after Sajeevan Sajana's last-ball six heroics in the Women's Premier League 2024 season-opener, it was the turn of another Kerala all-rounder to come to the party. Asha Sobhana made the most of a spin-friendly surface in Bengaluru to conjure a magnificent fifer that not only stung the UP middle-order but also stifled the scoring rate to swing the game Bangalore's way.

In action days after new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe completed his purchase of a minority stake in the club, Manchester United lost 1-2 to Fulham at home in the English Premier League. Meanwhile, fourth-placed Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest 4-2, relegation-threatened Everton conceded a late equalizer to draw 1-1 at Brighton and Crystal Palace beat next-to-last Burnley 3-0.

That's all from us today. We bring our coverage for the day to an end, and will be back tomorrow morning with all things sport, starting with the New Zealand vs Australia T20I in Auckland. Until then, goodbye.