🏏 Khawaja's Purple Patch Continues

G'day, it's Tuesday, 22 March

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

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

Today's listen time: 9.30 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching 

🏏 9.00am - Women's World Cup - South Africa v Australia - Basin Reserve, Wellington - Foxtel, Kayo

🥅 10.30am - NBA - Heat v 76ers - Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia - NBA League Pass

🏏 4.00pm - Cricket - Pakistan v Australia - Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore - Foxtel, Kayo

All times are in AEDT

🏏 Testing times in Lahore

Australia and Pakistan have been spending most of their lives living in a batter’s paradise this series. But the ball finally had a win yesterday to leave the hosts in a good position to win the 3rd and final Test.

The score: Australia 5/232

Golden points: Winning the toss and batting this series has usually meant a monster first innings score. But the Aussies are in a tricky position. They lost early wickets before Usman Khawaja saved them.

• Australia were 2/8 but half-centuries to Khawaja and Steve Smith steadied the ship.

• Khawaja’s 91 continues a sensational series but he fell just short of another 100 thanks to this cracking catch.

Watch it: The 3rd Test continues on Foxtel and Kayo from 4.00pm (AEDT). But before that, the Women’s 50-over World Cup is on with Australia playing South Africa in Wellington. These are the only unbeaten teams left in the tournament, and Australia can seal top spot with another win.

⚽ Hey Arnold, you can't do that

There aren’t many nicer things than an autumn stroll on Sydney’s northern beaches. Anyone can do it unless you’re supposed to be in isolation after testing positive to COVID.

Golden points: Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has been fined $25,000 after he was caught breaking isolation rules in Sydney over the weekend.

• He was spotted going for a walk by the beach without a mask on when he was supposed to be isolating for 7 days.

• It’s another setback for the Aussies who will be missing a few players for their must-win games against Japan and Saudi Arabia because of the virus.

• There is a chance Arnold could be on the bench for Thursday’s game, but he’ll have to return a negative test once his isolation period is over. 

What’s next: The equation is pretty simple for the Socceroos. They’ve gotta beat Japan in Sydney on Thursday and then win in Saudi Arabia next Wednesday to have any chance of automatically qualifying for the Qatar World Cup.

🏉 AFLW finals finally locked in 

Things rarely go to plan, and that’s why pencils have erasers. Just look at the AFLW finals schedule which has been moved back a week. It’s not what people wanted, but hey, at least it means another week of action.

Golden points: Collingwood’s elimination final against Brisbane was meant to be on last weekend but got postponed because of COVID. That’s forced a few changes to the finals schedule.

• That game will now be played on Sunday at 1.05pm (AEDT), with the winner to play the Demons in the prelim final.

• The 2 prelim finals will be on 2 April and the Grand Final will be played in the arvo on 9 April. 

What are the chances… the AFL faces a similar issue? Well, just look at the Blues. Carlton coach Michael Voss is in COVID protocols and will miss Thursday’s game against the Western Bulldogs along with a couple of other guys from the coaching staff.

🎾 20 is plenty for Rafael Nadal 

It turns out Rafael Nadal is human after all. After 20-straight wins to start 2022, the Spanish tennis star finally lost a match. But even in defeat, Nadal still had a big win. 

The score: Taylor Fritz beat Rafael Nadal 6-3 7-6 to win the Indian Wells title

Golden points: This was Nadal’s first loss of the season. The streak ended at 20, but it did include his 21st Grand Slam title after he won the Australian Open.

• There was more good news for Nadal, and we’re not talking about the prizemoney. He’s moved up to 3rd in the world rankings, behind Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic, who is back on top.

• It looked like the Indian Wells final was going to be called off after Fritz’s coaches told him not to play because of an ankle injury. It’s a good thing he didn’t listen to them. 

• Nadal’s streak is over, but Iga Świątek is just getting started. She won the women’s final at Indian Wells and has now won 11 matches in a row. 

They said it: “I have never experienced worse pain before a match. I took a couple of steps and screamed.” - Fritz looked fried before the match. 

⚽ Footballing royalty set for crowning moments 

The only thing better than one scoop of ice cream is 2 scoops…or an entire tub. The same logic kind of applies to football because England’s 2 biggest clubs are getting ready for 2 massive matches.

Golden points: Liverpool and Manchester City have been drawn against each other in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on 17 April.

• That's huge. But that’s only half of it because the teams play each other a week earlier in a game that could decide the English Premier League title. 

• Liverpool travels to Manchester on 11 April for a game that’s worth staying up for. City is on top by one point with 9 games to go so a win against their closest rival could win them their second title in a row. 

Watch it: Check out the highlights from Liverpool and Manchester City’s quarter-finals yesterday. 

👀 Quick singles

⚽ Forget about Sydney's property prices because the bidding war to buy Chelsea is starting to get serious. Billions of dollars are being mentioned with a number of groups looking to buy the English Premier League club after Russian owner Roman Abramovich decided to sell.

🏏 The West Indies held on for a draw against England thanks to one of the longest batting efforts in Test history. Opening batter Kraigg Brathwaite faced 673 balls in the match, which is the most by a West Indian in Test cricket.

🏉 The Raiders have suffered a blow to their NRL premiership hopes with veteran hooker Josh Hodgson ruled out for the season. It means Hodgson has played his last game for Canberra because he’s off to Parramatta next year. 

⚽ Barcelona has recovered from a messy off-season to move up to 3rd spot in Spain after a 4-0 win over Real Madrid. They struggled early on this season after Lionel Messi left, but they’ve now won 5 league games in a row. 

🏉 Dragons forward George Burgess has been charged with sexually touching another person without consent. The NRL veteran will appear in court on 13 April. 

🏈 NFL Quarterback Matt Ryan is the latest QB to be traded this offseason. Ryan is a former MVP and now he's heading to the Colts for a 3rd-round draft pick. 

🎾 Tennis legend Boris Becker is back on court, but not the good kind. He's been charged for hiding assets, like his grand slam trophies, after he filed for bankruptcy in 2017. 

🙃 Left of field…

It looks like there's something about Mary. Wait, that’s not it. But it does look like there could be a friendship blossoming between Ben Stiller and Nick Kyrgios.

Golden points: The Aussie tennis star had some words for the American actor at a match last week, and they took to social media to continue the rally.

• If Dodgeball is anything to go by then Stiller has some pretty solid skills, although he admitted he needs a bit of help when it comes to tennis.

• Kyrgios said he’d be more than happy to help and even suggested they make a movie together. Did someone say Siuuuulander? 

Your turn: What would be the title of a Kyrgios-Stiller buddy comedy? Send us your best ideas and we'll reveal the best ones on Friday. 

Watch it: If you missed it last week, here’s what went down at Indian Wells.

📽 The highlight reel

American golfer Sam Burns seems to know the Valspar Championship pretty well. Check out this pretty putt that helped him win the title for the 2nd year in a row. 

📸 Photo finish

This is what happens when you never skip leg day at the gym. Just a reminder that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson turns 50 in less than 2 months.  

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

The Socceroos beat Japan 2-1 back in 2009. It's been a while, but we'll always have the 2006 World Cup.