🏏 Healy Is Really, Really Good

Time flies, it's Thursday, 31 March

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Sam Ferris and Lucy Watkin are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 10 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching 

🏀 10.30am - NBA - Celtics v Heat - TD Garden, Boston - Foxtel, Kayo

🏏 1.00pm - Sheffield Shield - Western Australia v Victoria - WACA Ground, Perth - Foxtel, Kayo

🏉 7.20pm - AFL - Bulldogs v Swans - Marvel Stadium, Melbourne - Channel 7, Foxtel, Kayo

All times are in AEDT

🏏 Australia advances to another World Cup final

There are about a hundred reasons why you should be supporting Australia's women’s cricket team. Actually, it’s more like 129 after Alyssa Healy’s heroics at the Women's World Cup.

The score: Australia 3/305 beat the West Indies 148. 

Golden points: The Aussies are into the World Cup final after a big win yesterday thanks to a massive knock by Healy. 

• Healy and Rachael Haynes added 216 for the first wicket which is the highest partnership ever in a Women’s World Cup finals match. 

• Even with Ellyse Perry out injured, the other batters had no problems piling on the runs before 6 bowlers chipped in with wickets.

• The highlight in the field was a ridiculous catch by Beth Mooney. Head to the bottom of the newsletter to check out the grab. 

They said it: “Someone was going to step up today and do a really good job for our group, and I think multiple (people) did...so it was just really pleasing.” - Healy is being too modest.

What’s next: South Africa plays England today. The winner of that plays Australia in Sunday’s final. Good luck because the Aussies are going for their 7th 50-over World Cup title.

Watch it: Here are some of the highlights from Healy’s explosive innings.

🏏 There goes my hero

There was not a dry eye in the house last night as Shane Warne was farewelled at a state memorial at his beloved MCG. But it wasn’t all tears of sadness with plenty of laughs had on a massive night for a massive icon. 

Golden points: About 50,000 people were at the MCG and another billion tuned in across the world to say goodbye to one of cricket’s greatest players and characters.

• Warne’s 3 children all gave heartfelt speeches and then unveiled the new Shane Warne Stand.

• There were some incredible stories from his former teammates, rivals and close mates from over the years.

• Robbie Williams, Elton John and Chris Martin were just some of the performers out of the many stars who all knew the King.

Key click: Here are some of the best pics, videos and stories from last night.

⛳ Tiger makes major progress ahead of the Masters

People normally run for the hills when there’s a whisper of a tiger sighting. But things work a little bit differently in golf when you hear that one of the sport’s all-time legends might be making a shock return.

Golden points: Tiger Woods could play at next week’s Masters after he was seen playing a practice round at the famous Augusta course.

• Woods has won the event 5 times but hasn’t played a professional tournament since he nearly died in a serious car crash in 2021.

• He did play in an event with his son in December and did really well, but he was able to travel in a golf cart in between shots. You can't do that at the Masters.

• Fans are getting giddy remembering the time Woods won the Masters in 2019 after serious back surgery. 

What’s next: We should get an answer by the end of the week and it probably comes down to how his body feels. Playing 72 holes at the first major of the year would be tough, but Woods loves a challenge. 

🎾 Kyrgios goes from saint to Sinner

Where’s the only place this week that you can get comedy, suspense, thrilling moments and some horror scenes? No, it’s not the Oscars. But it was in America and it involved an Aussie star.

Golden points: Nick Kyrgios was knocked out in his Miami Open Round of 16 match against Italy’s Jannik Sinner. But it was his battle with the chair umpire that made the highlights reel.

• Kyrgios played some epic shots but they were overshadowed by several run-ins with umpire Carlos Bernardes.

• He was penalised a point and had a game taken off him for abusing the umpire and smashing his racquet before he doubled down on social media. 

They said it: "The crowd hated him that much they told him to be quiet. I've never been a part of a match where an umpire was hated that much." - At least Kyrgios has the men’s doubles semis to look forward to with Thanasi Kokkinakis. 

Watch it: Kyrgios will not be sending a Christmas card to the umpire after this. 

⚽ Mo problems for Mo Salah 

There were lasers in Africa, heartbreak in South America and normality in Europe as a few more teams booked their tickets to Qatar for the men's football World Cup.

Golden points: A lot of the focus has been on Australia and June’s must-win game against the United Arab Emirates. But as the name suggests, there was plenty happening across the world yesterday.

• Cristiano Ronaldo is off to his 5th World Cup after Portugal beat North Macedonia 2-0. There was no repeat of last week’s shock win over Italy.

• Peru beat Paraguay 2-0 to finish 5th in South American qualifying. That’s big news for the Aussies because that’s who they’ll play for a spot in Qatar if they can beat the UAE.

• There was a big shock in Africa when Egypt was knocked out by Senegal on penalties. Liverpool star Mo Salah missed his spot kick but that’s hardly a surprise given he had lasers pointed in his eyes. 

What’s next: So we now know most of the World Cup teams. The next step is the draw which is on Saturday at 3.00am (AEDT). Click here to see who the 8 seeded teams are. 

👀 Quick singles

🏏 Victoria will be without opener Marcus Harris for the Sheffield Shield final after he was ruled out with COVID. Victoria plays Western Australia in Perth and you can get up to date with all the key info here. 

🏀 The Lakers and LeBron James are a real chance of missing out on this year’s NBA playoffs. LA lost to Dallas yesterday and it puts them back in 11th spot with only the top 10 a chance of making it into the finals.

⚽ German side Borussia Dortmund says it can’t match it with the bigger clubs if they decide to offer a massive contract to star striker Erling Haaland. There are reports Manchester City are about to offer the Norwegian young gun a deal worth more than $500 million. 

🎮 Olympic champion Usain Bolt has announced he's the new co-owner of a relatively new eSports company. The company is called WYLDE and is based in Ireland, and fans are hoping the internet connection will be as fast as Bolt.

🏉 Michael Hooper is back in a Waratahs jersey for the first time since 2020. The Wallabies skipper hasn't played for NSW for quite a while because of a stint in Japan, a couple of injuries and some time away to rest and recover. 

⚽ Barcelona eliminated their biggest rival and also set a world record in the women's Champions League. Barcelona won 8-3 on aggregate in front of 91,553 fans which is the biggest crowd ever for a women's football match.

🙃 Left of field…

If you’ve ever spent 5 minutes in a post-game press conference either at the ground or watching on TV then you know these interviews can be drier than overcooked beef. But not when NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is involved.  

Golden points: Antetokounmpo had the media in stitches yesterday when he rocked up to his presser with a book of dad jokes.

• “What do you call a cow on the floor?” he asked. “Ground beef”. Nothing dry about that answer.

• This isn’t going to be a one-time thing. Giannis couldn’t stop smiling when he told reporters he’d have another joke for them before Milwaukee’s next game.

• Why wouldn’t he be smiling? The Bucks won, they’re 2nd in the Eastern Conference and the ‘Greek Freak’ had a big game with 40 points.

Watch it: Giannis is clearly trying to replace Nikola Jokić as 'the Joker'.

📽 The highlight reel

Stop it! We didn't know Beth Mooney could also fly. But there's no denying it after she soared to take this catch at the World Cup. 

📸 Photo finish

The first look at the Shane Warne Stand at the MCG, unveiled by Warne's 3 children Brooke, Jackson and Summer last night. 

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

Tiger Woods blitzed the field in 1997 to win by 12 strokes.