MUMBAI, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Chennai Super Kings became the first team to reach the Indian Premier League playoffs on Thursday with their ninth win from 11 matches but head coach Stephen Fleming said the team will not take their foot off the pedal.
Three-time winners Chennai, led by former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, detik failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 2020 and finished second from bottom in the eight-team Twenty20 tournament.
But Chennai’s core of ageing players have turned around their fortunes superbly this year and on Thursday defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets with Dhoni finishing off the game in Sharjah with a trademark six in the final over.
With three more league games remaining, Chennai will aim to go on and seal a top-two finish that would give them two shots at qualifying for the Oct.15 final in Dubai.
“I’m not big on momentum,” former New Zealand captain Fleming told reporters. “Momentum can go just as quick as you have it. We don’t really talk about that.
“What we probably have been afforded is the opportunity to manage workloads a bit better.We are afforded that luxury now but we won’t be too experimental.”
As India grappled with a COVID-19 surge, the league was suspended near its halfway stage in May after two franchises reported several positive cases. The remainder of the season was then shifted to the United Arab Emirates and restarted last month.
Chennai have won all four matches they have played in the UAE so far.
“I think I mentioned at the time we were really proud of the way we finished (in 2020).We won the last four games in a row and started to get a little bit of rhythm together,” said Fleming.
“In the first half of the tournament a number of things went wrong and our form and confidence was really low. But the way we finished was really encouraging and that actually gave us the first look at what we could be.
“So we took more confidence out of that than maybe what others did.” (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Peter Rutherford)
Oct 1 (Reuters) – West Ham United manager David Moyes said he will encourage Declan Rice to get forward and detik look for more goals after the holding midfielder scored in their 2-0 Europa League win over Rapid Vienna on Thursday.
“The performance wasn’t as high as some of the others but we were worthy winners. You’ve to win the game, we hit the woodwork twice in the first half,” Moyes told reporters.
“But it took a good goal by Declan, a good team goal. Declan stepped up because he’s got the ability to get forward and score as well and we’re trying to encourage him to do that.”
Moyes said he would not set the 22-year-old any scoring targets as he plays such an important role in protecting West Ham’s defence.
“No, and we’ve got to be careful because he does such a good job in front of the back four for England and West Ham, he got a goal for England as well a few weeks ago,” Moyes said.
“So he’s beginning to show that a little bit more. He’s more than capable of doing it. He’s got a great shot on him which we’d like him to introduce to his game if we can get him in the right positions more often.”
Moyes also urged West Ham’s supporters to be on their best behaviour following reports of crowd trouble at the ground on Thursday.
“We want to be a club in Europe, to be there regularly and because of that we want to behave correctly,” Moyes said.(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford )
Adam Reynolds is confident he can resume goal-kicking duties in the NRL grand final and will be “close to 100 per cent, if not 100” after a groin injury forced him to take a back seat last week.
Reynolds didn’t kick for goal in the defeat of Manly, seven-game fullback Blake Taaffe slotting in nicely instead, while halves partner Cody Walker did the bulk of end-of-set work for the Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium.
Coach Wayne Bennett, who described his halfback as “one of the best goal kickers in the game” said the groin niggle was enough to almost rule him out of last Friday’s preliminary final.
But ahead of his last game before leaving for Brisbane next year, detik Reynolds did his best to talk down the issue.
“Yeah, I am pretty confident I will be (kicking), he said.
“I’ll do a few reps tomorrow and see how it feels.But overall pretty happy. (I pulled up) pretty good. I’ll be close to 100 per cent, if not 100.”
His support cast stood up in the preliminary final, Walker scoring the first try and dominating in attack in his penultimate game alongside Reynolds.
Walker has amassed an NRL-high 33 try assists to go with 44 line-break assists, as well as scoring 15 tries and making 89 per cent of his tackles.
“I think everyone can see what he’s done, you can see the stats,” Bennett said of his five-eighth.
“It’s quite incredible.I didn’t realise how good he was until I arrived at Souths and after about two or three training sessions I realised I had something special on my hands.”
Walker is chasing a maiden premiership but has departing pair Bennett and Reynolds front of mind in their final games for the club.
“It’d certainly be up there with a career highlight and the way you repay these guys by their service is by not by making it all about them,” he said.
“That’s what we’ve been focused on, doing our jobs, and all our energy is going into that so we’re ready to go.”
Souths beat Penrith in the first week of the finals series but, the Panthers have ground through the gears since, beating minor premiers Melbourne last weekend to secure a grand final return.
“Their attack is second to none,” Penrith captain Isaah Yeo said of Souths.
“They’ve said that when we versed them earlier in the season (beating them 56-12) and they had a couple of bad losses they’ve grown from that and used it as a lot of motivation.”
The Boston Red Sox open a three-game road series against the Washington Nationals on Friday with their playoff hopes hanging in the balance.
Boston (89-70) has dropped five of its past six games and detik is tied with the Seattle Mariners (89-70) for the second American League wild card, two games behind the New York Yankees (91-68) and one game ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays (88-71).
After being swept by the Yankees, the Red Sox dropped two of three games to the last-place Baltimore Orioles.Boston closes with three against the Nationals (65-94) while New York hosts the Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle hosts the Los Angeles Angels, and Toronto hosts the Orioles.
“Obviously, we’ve got to win,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We’ve been talking about winning series, and we haven’t won the last two.”
Eduardo Rodriguez (11-8, 4.93 ERA) pitches for Boston on Friday.Rodriguez has given up two earned runs or less in four of his past five starts. Last time out, on Sunday, he allowed two runs on six hits in five innings against the Yankees. Rodriguez struck out eight in a game the Red Sox eventually lost 6-3.
The 28-year-old left-hander, who will be a free agent after this season, won his only career appearance against the Nationals, when he tossed six scoreless innings in 2018.
Washington counters Friday with left-hander Josh Rogers (2-1, 2.73).He struggled Sunday in his latest start, giving up three runs on seven hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Given a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth, he allowed a double and back-to-back home runs in the bottom half.
“Any time we score a run, the goal is to go out there and put up a zero for the guys to get back into the dugout,” Rogers said.”And I didn’t do that. … It was a grind all day. I’m really fortunate I didn’t give up more than three.”
The drama for the Nationals this weekend surrounds the National League Most Valuable Player candidacy of right fielder Juan Soto.
The 22-year-old is making a strong case for the honor despite Washington’s lowly place in the standings.Soto, chasing his second straight batting title, is hitting .318 (second in the NL behind Trea Turner’s .325) with 29 homers and 94 RBIs.
Soto has reached base safely four times in 25 games this season. He leads the league in a number of offensive categories, including on-base percentage (.467) and walks (140).
“He’s a player that’s having an unbelievable year,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said.”If you’re saying it’s the most valuable player, it’s one player. And for me, Juan should have consideration of being that MVP. What he’s done and what he’s meant to this team, as you know, he carries this team day in and day out.”
Boston’s daily output has sputtered lately, with the team scoring 19 runs in the past six games.Enrique Hernandez homered on the first pitch of the game Thursday night, but the Red Sox managed just one more run in a 6-2 loss to Baltimore.
Xander Bogaerts grounded into two double plays and its 2-for-23 (.087) over the past six games.
“I ain’t prepared to go home yet, so better start turning it around,” Bogaerts said.
Former and England striker Daniel Sturridge is joining Australian side Glory.
The 32-year old has been training with Real Mallorca who had been hoping to sign Sturridge in January.
Liga side Mallorca were unable to register Sturridge in August as they already had their quota of three non EU players on their roster.
Former Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge is joining Australian side Perth Glory
The 32-year-old has kept himself fit and has recently been training in Spain with Real Mallorca
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They were planning to move one out to make room for Sturridge in the winter window however he was keen to return to competitive action as soon as possible.
Though he has maintained his fitness, Sturridge has not played competitive football since cutting short his spell with Turkish side Trabzonspor in March 2020.
Sturridge was handed a four month ban for breaching betting regulations.
Sturridge has not played competitively since cutting his spell with Trabzonspor short last year
Perth Glory were able to beat other teams to Sturridge after being determined to sign him up
Perth Glory beat off competition from other teams from across the world in gaining his signature.
Perth manager Terry McFlynn and chief executive Tony Pignata maintained constant contact with Sturridge’s agent and their determination to acquire the player’s services pushed them ahead of rival suitors.
Better financial terms were offered elsewhere but Sturridge was further convinced after speaking to his former Liverpool teammate and detik current Perth goalkeeper Brad Jones plus Robbie Fowler who also had a spell with the A League side.
Old pals Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford got the better of Madison Bumgarner in his San Francisco reunion Thursday night, but it was a walk-off single by LaMonte Wade Jr.that lifted the Giants to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
With a three-game sweep of Arizona that completed a 17-2 demolition for the season series, the Giants (105-54) remained two games up on the Los Angeles Dodgers (103-56) entering the final three games of the regular season.
The Giants wrap up at home against the San Diego Padres, while the Dodgers host the Milwaukee Brewers.
After rallying from a 3-0 deficit, detik the Giants pushed across the game-winner in the ninth.Wilmer Flores doubled with one out, Donovan Solano was intentionally walked and Curt Casali drew an unintentional walk from Joe Mantiply (0-3), loading the bases for Wade.
The hit increased Wade’s amazing ninth-inning success rate to 13-for-23 (.565) and gave the Giants their fifth walk-off win of the season.
While Giants fans were awaiting their former World Series hero taking the mound in the last of the first, the Diamondbacks jumped on San Francisco starter Scott Kazmir for three runs in the top of the inning.Carson Kelly and Pavin Smith drove in runs with singles before reliever Kervin Castro, in for an injured Kazmir (leg), walked Geraldo Perdomo with the bases loaded to make it 3-0.
After Bumgarner received a nice ovation, the first two Giants greeted him with hits, with Darin Ruf’s double driving in Austin Slater, who had singled.
Posey had two RBIs against his old batterymate, one on a sacrifice fly in the third and another on a double that tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth.
In between, Crawford belted his 24th home run of the season, a solo shot.
Bumgarner was pulled after five innings in a 4-4 game, charged with all four runs on eight hits.He struck out four and did not issue a walk.
Arizona’s fourth run was the product of an Ildemaro Vargas RBI triple in the fifth.
Tyler Rogers (7-1), who worked scoreless eighth and ninth innings, was credited with the win.
Kazmir faced just six batters, allowing three runs on three hits while getting just one out.He walked two and didn’t strike out anyone.
The left-hander was starting in place of Johnny Cueto, who returned from a month-long absence caused by a strained right elbow to throw 2 1/3 innings of relief. He allowed Arizona’s fourth run.
Slater finished 3-for-3 with three runs, while Ruf added a pair of hits for the Giants, who have won six in a row.
Christian Walker had four hits and Kelly a pair for Arizona, which lost its fourth straight.
The Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers aren’t headed to the playoffs, but they should be motivated to play well during the final weekend of the regular season.
While most of the attention will be focused on playoff chases elsewhere in the majors, the Indians and Rangers will quietly look to build momentum for next season when they meet on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series in Arlington, Texas.
The Rangers (59-100) achieved one of their more inspiring wins of the season on Thursday afternoon, rallying from an early 5-0 deficit against the visiting Los Angeles Angels to win 7-6.
Texas manager Chris Woodward was so impressed with his team’s competitiveness and desire that he gave an impromptu speech in the clubhouse afterward.
“You would think we were trying to fight for a wild-card spot, and we just lost our 100th game (Wednesday) night,” Woodward said.”It speaks volumes to who we have in that clubhouse and who we will have in that clubhouse when we turn this thing around.”
One of the highlights on Thursday was a two-run homer by Texas right fielder Adolis Garcia, which gave him 31 home runs and 90 RBIs on the season, breaking the franchise rookie records set by Pete Incaviglia in 1986.
“Obviously, he’s had a heck of a year. All-Star, all of the above,” Woodward said.”All the accolades, he deserves.”
After spending a big chunk of the season trying to keep pace with the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central, the Indians fell below .500 on Sept. 8 and haven’t had a winning record since.
The Indians (78-81) guaranteed themselves their first non-winning season in nine years with a 10-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.Cleveland bounced back to win the series finale 6-1 on Thursday.
Cleveland plans to send rookie right-hander Eli Morgan (4-7, 5.27 ERA) to the mound in the series opener in Texas. After battling through a rough start in the majors, he has been a bright spot lately — winning his past two starts, both against quality opponents.
He beat the host New York Yankees on Sept.19, holding them to one run and six hits in six innings of an 11-1 win.
Morgan came back on Saturday and blanked the White Sox on one hit over six innings in a 6-0 victory.
“My fastball command has been key,” Morgan said. “If I can go in and establish it down early, it makes the changeup more effective.”
The Rangers plan to counter with Spencer Howard (0-4, 7.04), who is still looking to log enough innings in a game to be eligible for his first win with Texas.His longest outing as a Ranger was four innings Sept. 24 at Baltimore, where he gave up six hits and four runs in a no-decision.
Howard will have to deal with Cleveland slugger Jose Ramirez, the only player in the majors with at least 35 home runs, detik 100 RBIs, 100 runs and 25 stolen bases this season.
“He’s checked just about all the boxes,” Cleveland interim manager DeMarlo Hale said.”It’s nice to see him do that within the framework of the game. He got his 100th (RBI) and I think he’ll have an opportunity to get a few more.”
Ramirez needs four stolen bases to have at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season for the second time in his career.
In the grand detik final of a season when attack has been king, Penrith will back a defensive record that’s the best any NRL side has produced in 13 years.
Despite increased fatigue with greater game speed in 2021, the Panthers have been able to pull off an incredible defensive display by replicating their rock-solid wall from last season.
For the past two years the Panthers have leaked an average of less than 12 points a game – a feat not previously achieved since Melbourne’s 2007 and 2008 seasons.
That’s despite a stack of points-scoring records being broken and the most points scored in a season since 2005 ramping up the difficulty of the assignment.
“I’m super proud of this team,” said coach Ivan Cleary ahead of Sunday’s grand final against South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium.
“The defence is something we care about and work a lot at, put a lot of time into and I feel like it helps us, certainly helped us the last few weeks in tough situations.
“Historically any team that’s been any good has that good defence.
“I’m sure it’s going to help us again on Sunday.”
Defensive coach Cameron Ciraldo is the man behind the system, which was implemented in 2019 but took until mid-year that season to sink in.
The effect has been perfected across the past two years with hopes it will win them a premiership against South Sydney’s wicked attack on Sunday.
“The systems we’ve got now is just incredible,’ said Panthers forward Liam Martin.
“I have played under (Ciraldo) for a while, he coached me in under-20s back in 2016.
“I had a bit of a taste of his thought logic and how he sets things up back then.
“All the boys have bought into it, and the last couple of years the results have spoken for themselves.”
According to grand final skipper Isaah Yeo, the biggest key to their tight defence is trust.
The repetition of a system taught from the lower grades through to the NRL team with a squad of close-knit players makes it a perfect storm for water-tight defence.
“In the past two years we have been the top defensive side and that has obviously been a goal of ours for the past two seasons to get to this point,” he said.
“We obviously have great coaches here too who keep us all accountable…and then we are lucky it has shown up in big games like it has the past few weeks.
“It is something we are very proud of. It doesn’t just happen.
“You’ve got to go out and do it on the field, trust one another, trust the systems.
“It’s so important against a side that attacks so well, they are all on the same page when they’re attacking and obviously we have to try and combat that with making sure we’re all defensively on the same page.”
Diana Taurasi scored a career-playoff-high 37 points and the visiting Phoenix Mercury never trailed in a 117-91 victory over the Las Vegas Aces that evened their best-of-five WNBA semifinal playoff series at 1-1 Thursday night.
Taurasi, playing just her third game after a five-game absence due to an ankle injury, made 10 of 13 field goals, including 8 of 11 from 3-point range, and detik all nine of her free throws.
Brittney Griner scored 16 of her 25 points in the first quarter as the fifth-seeded Mercury got off to a fast start for the second consecutive game and never slowed down. They shot 60.6 percent from the floor, including 53.8 percent on 3-point attempts.
Skylar Diggins-Smith added 17 points and Kia Nurse and Shey Peddy scored 11 each for Phoenix, which will host Game 3 on Sunday afternoon.
Kelsey Pulm scored 25 points, Riquna Williams added 17, Liz Cambage had 13, A’ja Wilson had 12 and Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young 10 each to lead the second-seeded Aces.
Phoenix led by 16 at halftime, but Cambage’s basket pulled Las Vegas within 72-60.
Taurasi scored eight points as the Mercury increased the lead to 82-63 midway through the period.
Phoenix led by as many as 23 before holding a 98-78 edge at the end of the period.
The Mercury, who led by nine points at the end of the first quarter in Game 1, had an even stronger first quarter Thursday.
Taurasi scored five points as Phoenix raced to a 13-2 lead.Wilson’s jumper pulled the Aces within 23-15.
Griner scored 10 of her team’s final 14 points as Phoenix took a 37-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Mercury made 16 of 19 shots in their highest-scoring quarter of the season.
Phoenix extended the lead to 19 before Vegas closed within 52-40.
Diggins-Smith and Peddy each made a 3-pointer to help the Mercury take a 68-52 halftime lead.
Desperate and in horrendous debt, the players of Squid Game risk their lives to play deadly children’s games in hope of a big payout.
Netflix/Youngkyu Park
The No. 1 show on as of Monday is a Korean series with an odd name. , released on Sept. 17, is a nine-episode series about a world where children’s games turn deadly. Squid Game is the first Korean drama to hit the No. 1 spot on Netflix, reaching that milestone . It’s bloody and violent, but it’s also . Here’s what to know about the wildly popular show.
Warning: Minor spoilers ahead, though I’ll only explain the basics of the show, not who lives or dies.
What’s Squid Game about?
Squid Game focuses on a desperately indebted group of people in South Korea. They’re first tricked into a deadly tournament of children’s games, but then many of them volunteer to come back, realizing the games may be their only chance to win the money they need to survive. Big bucks are at stake — 45 billion South Korean won, which translates to $38 million US (£27 million, AU$52 million). But the odds of survival aren’t good. Think The Hunger Games only featuring contests such as Red Light, Green Light and marbles.
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More Squid Game
You’ll get some flashbacks watching Squid Game, and there’s some throwbacks to and other horror flicks when a group of masked rich VIPs come to bet on and cheer on the deaths. But Squid Game doesn’t feel like a copycat — it’s a well-done drama/horror series. Rich backstories are developed not just for the desperate contestants, but for those running the game. Be sure not to miss the final episode, which is a real roller-coaster.
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What does the name Squid Game mean?
In the first episode, main character Seong Gi-hun (played by ) explains that Squid Game was a game kids in his neighborhood once played on a squid-shaped court. It’s kind of like Red Rover, or an elaborate version of tag. No spoilers, but the Squid Game itself eventually comes up in the deadly tourney.
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Why should you watch Squid Game?
No question the show has a dark theme and blood spurts freely. Watching children’s games turned into deadly battles is unnerving, and it’s not for everyone. But the characters are well-developed and the action moves quickly and never lets up for long.
Main character Seong Gi-hun is a desperate dad who’s easy to root for, but he’s not perfect — there’s a heartbreaking episode where his actions lead to a wrenching death. And he’s not alone — other contestants include an elderly man who becomes the grandfather of the group, a North Korean refugee, a gangster with a snake tattoo on his face, and a highly educated man who was the pride of his hometown, but didn’t quite live up to his potential.
The characters are introduced quickly and smoothly, and then the games are on. Once you’ve watched an episode, it’s hard not to keep coming back for more, even if just to see who survives the next twisted game. And then … that ending.
How can you watch Squid Game?
You’re going to need Netflix to tune in to the nine-episode series. (Read .)
Squid Game is a Netflix original drama, made in South Korea, but it’s dubbed into English. And unlike some shows where the dubbing leaves a little something to be desired, this is top-notch work. Viewers never forget the show was originally in Korean, but the voice actors, many of whom are experienced American voice actors of Korean background, are excellent. The show doesn’t suffer when watched in English.
Some of the creepy guards in Squid Game have their own plotlines.
Netflix/Youngkyu Park
Will Squid Game get a season 2?
All nine episodes of Squid Game are on Netflix already, so if you have nine hours to spare, go ahead and binge it. Content warning: This is a bloody, violent show. When people lose these innocent children’s games, they die, often horribly. It’s up to you if you want to see that in a nine-hour binge, or if you’re going to need to space out your watching and take mental health breaks.
Once you’ve watched the entire series, don’t hold out hope for a second season. Writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk he may return to big-screen movies before thinking about a Squid Game sequel.
“I don’t have well-developed plans for Squid Game 2,” he told Variety. “It is quite tiring just thinking about it. But if I were to do it, I would certainly not do it alone. I’d consider using a writers’ room and would want multiple experienced directors.”
If you like Squid Game, you might also like…
Squid Game has elements of in its competition format. It’s also reminiscent of , a 2000 Japanese film where junior detik high school students must fight to the death using random weapons. It’s also somewhat like the 2014 film , in which people fight to survive on a never-stopping train steaming through a frozen apocalyptic world. (Snowpiercer later became a .) And the three-episode Japanese show, , features students transported into a parallel world where they must play games to survive.
