🏏 Ash Goes Smash in World Cup Clash

Back to work, it's Monday, 14 March

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Sam Ferris and Martin Gabor are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 9.50 minutes

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching today

🥅 10.00am - NHL - Blues v Jets - Enterprise Centre, St. Louis - Foxtel, Kayo

🏏 4.00pm - Cricket - Pakistan v Australia - National Stadium, Karachi - Foxtel, Kayo

🏀 7.30pm - NBL - Breakers v Wildcats - MyState Bank Arena, Hobart - Foxtel, Kayo

All times are in AEDT

🏏 Gardner enjoys a walk in the park 

The Aussies are getting really close to securing a spot in the semis at the Women’s 50-over World Cup. They beat New Zealand on Sunday thanks to some big hitting from a player who had just spent 10 days in isolation. 

The score: Australia 8/269 beat New Zealand 128.

Golden points: It wasn’t a great start by Australia, but the returning Ash Gardner saved them with an unbeaten 48 off just 18 balls and then took 2 wickets for good measure.

• Gardner missed the first 2 games because of COVID but you wouldn’t have known.

• You know you’re going well as a team when Gardner isn’t even named player of the match. That went to Ellyse Perry who scored 68 and then got the big wicket of Sophie Devine. 

• The Aussies are now 3/3 after they got sweet revenge on the Kiwis who smashed them in a practice game. 

What’s next: There’s no rest for the wickedly good because Australia takes on the West Indies on Tuesday at 9.00am (AEDT). 

Watch it: But wait cricket fans, there’s heaps more. The men are in action in Pakistan in the 2nd Test. The Aussies are 8/505 heading into day 3 after Usman Khawaja scored 160. Play continues from 4.00pm (AEDT) on Foxtel and Kayo.

🏉 It's the finals countdown 

This week is like Christmas in July for AFL fans. Only, it’s in March. Not only does the new season start on Wednesday, but things heat up in the AFLW because the finals begin this weekend.

Golden points: The top 6 is sorted and that means we now know all the key info for the first week of the finals.

• There is nothing to worry about for the Crows and Demons because they finished first and second, which means they get the week off.

• Not only do they get to relax, but they also get to host the preliminary finals in the second week of the post-season.

• The Dockers just missed out on a home final, so they’re going to have to travel to play North Melbourne. Brisbane plays Collingwood in the other elimination final. 

Key click: Here’s a good snapshot of how the AFLW finals work.

Ladder look: Here's where your team finished this season.

🏉 Melbourne thunderstruck by injuries

Melbourne Storm supporters would have felt like Homer Simpson when he was offered cursed frozen yoghurt. The Storm beat the Wests Tigers on Saturday. That’s good. But they lost 3 players to serious injuries. That’s bad.

Golden points: Robert Jennings (knee) and Christian Welch (Achilles) could miss the rest of the season. And the bad news keeps coming because talented middle forward Brandon Smith will also miss a few weeks with a broken hand.

• Welch had just been named co-captain and was in great form after recovering from a couple of serious knee injuries in the past.

• This is a big deal for the Storm because they’ve lost heaps of really good forwards over the past few years.

• There is some good news because they’ll get Cameron Munster, Chris Lewis and Harry Grant back from suspension for Thursday’s game against South Sydney. 

They said it: “We are going to have to find some extra players from somewhere." - coach Craig Bellamy says the Storm will try to sign some players to replace their injured brigade. 

🎾 Spectator leaves Osaka in tears

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka has been knocked out of the Indian Wells tennis tournament in the second round. That’s pretty big news by itself. But the big talking point was the crowd abuse which left her in tears.

Golden points: A fan heckled Osaka early in the first set, yelling “Naomi, you suck”. 

• The incident rattled her as she went on to lose the first set 6-0, but not before she asked the chair umpire if she could borrow the mic to talk to the crowd.

• Osaka said she was triggered by something similar that happened at the 2001 Indian Wells event when the Williams sisters and their dad were racially abused by the crowd. 

• Osaka has battled mental health issues for a number of years, and this was her first event since the Australian Open in January. 

Watch it: Here’s a video of the crowd booing the Williams family in 2001. It’s why Venus and Serena boycotted the event for 14 years.

⚾ Take me out to the ballgame 

The word 'strike' is usually a good thing in baseball. Well, maybe not if you’re a batter. But it’s been driving fans mad with the start of the season in doubt because the league and owners and players couldn’t agree on changes. But you can relax because the lockout is over and it’s time to play ball.

Golden points: The long delay was because the league and players couldn’t agree on a new collective bargaining agreement. What’s that? It’s basically the playing conditions. It’s pretty important. 

• Games were cancelled and people started to panic that the season might not go ahead.

• It took more than 3 months, but the lockout is over, and the season is back on. 

• There are some big changes. A couple of extra teams will make the playoffs, minimum wage has gone up and teams can now advertise on jerseys.

Key click: There’s a lot to unpack, so read this to find out what went down. 

👀 Quick singles

⚽ Melbourne’s victory sets up a local derby for a spot in the A-League Women grand final. The Victory will now play Melbourne City, with the winner to take on Sydney FC in the big one. 

🏎 Lewis Hamilton says his Merc still has a lot of work to do after his car was outpaced at F1 testing. That’s a problem because Max Verstappen, that’s the guy who beat him for the title last year, clocked the fastest time.

🏀 The National Basketball League has locked in the final few rounds of the regular season. Things are heating up with Melbourne United just ahead of Perth and Sydney.

⚽ Tom Brady was in the crowd to watch Cristiano Ronaldo become the all-time leading goal scorer in professional football. Ronaldo scored a hat-trick for Manchester United against Tottenham to take his tally to 807. 

❄ Ben Tudhope carried the flag for Australia at the Winter Paralympics closing ceremony as the Games in Beijing finished up overnight. It was the second time he was named flag bearer after he won Australia's only medal at the Games. 

🏉 The Brisbane Broncos remain unbeaten after they snuck past the Dragons in the best game of the NRLW season. The Knights are the only team without a win in their first year in the comp.

🙃 Left of field…

If you wanted to watch the Players Championship this weekend then the weather literally rained on your parade. Not ideal if you’re on the couch, but it’s even worse if you’re a player or spectator in Florida. Or is it?

Golden points: Heavy rain has led to massive delays, and that’s seen some pretty wacky behaviour on and off the course.

• The players kept it pretty chilled with some Netflix. Rory McIlory even swapped the clubhouse for some episodes of Mickey House Clubhouse with his family. 

• But the fans were never going to be so subdued. They turned the 17th hole into a slip and slide course to provide other spectators with some action. 

Watch it: Check out some of the thrills and spills. You get the feeling they’ll start building sandcastles in the bunker if the rain continues. 

📽 The highlight reel

There are knock outs and then there's knocked out of the ring. That's what Leigh Wood did to Michael Conlan to retain the WBA regular featherweight title in Nottingham, England, on Saturday night. 

📸 Photo finish

Aussie batter Marnus Labuschagne produced an instant meme when cameras caught him in the dressing room after being run out for a duck in the second Test against Pakistan. He saw the funny side of it, eventually. 

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

There were 4 teams on 28 competition points, but the Adelaide Crows finished on top with the best percentage.