Lionel Messi passed up the chance to net his 300th La Liga goal and instead put a hat-trick on a plate for team mate Luis Suarez with an outrageous penalty routine.
Test discard Vinod Kambli made it possible, breaking the back of Railways' batting with two vital wickets, in the Ranji Trophy match.
Ravichandran Ashwin displayed his magic yet again to record career-best figures of 7 for 66 as India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series against South Africa after an emphatic 124-run victory in the third match in Nagpur on Friday.
Jose Mourinho had a smile back on his face after his Manchester United side comfortably beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor on Sunday to end a week of intense scrutiny in positive fashion.
Gurkeerat Singh turned in a superb all-round showing as India 'A' beat fancied Australia 'A' by four wickets in the final of the 'A' teams triangular series in Chennai on Friday.
'I'm definitely not going to change, players have to know that when they face me that I have my own way of playing and that is dribbling, scoring goals and helping my team mates'
Eden Hazard underlined his claims to be voted Player of the Year with another match-winning display as Premier League leaders Chelsea stormed 10 points clear with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Saturday.
The former India ace's goal gave JCT a 1-0 victory over Vasco in the National Football League.
Rohit Sharma and Lendl Simmons hit half-centuries as Mumbai Indians demolished Chennai Super Kings by 41 runs to win their second Indian Premier League title, in Kolkata, on Sunday.
A summary of Saturday's action in Ligue 1, La Liga and Serie A.
Images from the English Premier League match played between Arsenal and Crystal Palace on Monday
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday said 'consistent' performances will give his side confidence going into big ticket tournaments.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah took six second-innings wickets in Pakistan's crushing 133-run second Test win over West Indies in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday as they took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. - Scorecard: The wily spinner finished with 6-124 to secure his second ten-wicket haul in Test cricket after claiming four wickets in the first innings as West Indies were bowled out for 322 before tea on a weary fifth and final day pitch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
So it was surprising when a young Team India, led by Dhoni, made it to the final of the inaugural 2007 T20 Championships in South Africa. They met arch-rivals Pakistan in that thrilling, summit clash.
Opener Kieran Powell's half century along with spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Nikita Miller's magical spell, tightened the West Indies A grip over India A on the third day of the first unofficial Test at Gangothri Glades Cricket Grounds in Mysore on Friday.
The Master recalls it was his match-winning century on his 25th birthday.
After India clinched the five-match series against England 4-0, veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir praised the Virat Kohli-led side for their ruthless and lethal performance.
His 102 helped Australia recover from 45 for three to finish the day at 237 for five, 125 behind England's first innings total of 362 with five wickets in hand.
Roger Federer held firm against a furious fightback from fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, edging his former apprentice 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 in a Melbourne Park classic to reach the final of the Australian Open on Thursday.
Roger Federer used a dominant service game to beat Dutchman Robin Haase 6-3, 7-6(5) in Montreal on Saturday, setting up a Rogers Cup final against German Alexander Zverev.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com picks five performances that took spectators' breaths away in week 9: Five wonderful knocks and one magical spell of bowling.
Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain and evergreen AS Roma forward Francesco Totti lit up Serie A on Monday as the two teams won in contrasting fashion to boost their bids for an automatic Champions League spot.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Images from Monday's action at the French Open.
Ravichandran Ashwin produced another magical spell to scalp five wickets as India notched up a series-levelling 278-run victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka, denying the legendary Kumar Sangakkara a fairytale farewell from the game.
India 'A' coach Rahul Dravid says being dropped from Karnataka's Ranji Trophy-winning team must have acted as a catalyst for young Mayank Agarwal to work on his game.
Central Zone spinners, led by captain Piyush Chawla, weaved magic on a helpful track to steer the team to the Duleep Trophy title with a thrilling nine-run triumph over South Zone in New Delhi on Sunday.
The new Jumanji can easily be enjoyed by those unfamiliar with the original, feels Sukanya Verma.
Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad will start favourites when they take on the struggling-for-survival Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match, in Mohali, on Thursday.
Mumbai registered their first victory of the season, thrashing Odisha by 120 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group 'C' match at KIIT Stadium, in Bhubaneshwar, on Saturday.
A Paco Alcacer header gave Valencia a 2-2 draw in a highly charged La Liga clash against third-placed Real Madrid who had taken the lead with eight minutes remaining on Sunday.
Manchester City were sensationally knocked out of the FA Cup on Monday by third-tier Wigan Athletic who beat the 10-man Premier League leaders 1-0 in a stunning fifth round upset with a late goal by their talisman Will Grigg.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Maria Sharapova will be back in the US Open spotlight on Wednesday hoping she can come up with a winning encore to her electrifying first round victory over second seed Simona Halep.
A magical Lionel Messi goal, the first of a personal double, led treble-chasing Barcelona to a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the King's Cup final on Saturday.
Shaun Marsh and Matt Renshaw struck contrasting half-centuries on an engrossing day of cricket to help Australia take a first-innings lead of 48 against India in the second Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Several of India's former and current cricketers hailed batting sensation Harmanpreet Kaur after her magnificent century powered India into the final of the ICC Women's World Cup following a 36-run victory against Australia in the semi-finals, in Derby, on Thursday.
Mumbai Indians produced a clinical performance to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 18 runs in a high-scoring affair and register their maiden win in this year's Indian Premier League in Bengaluru.
As Ashish Nehra gets set to quit international cricket after the first T20I game against New Zealand in New Delhi this evening, Rajneesh Gupta presents the mighty fast bowler's top five performances.
Ashok Menaria produced an all-round show as India 'A' scored a convincing six-wicket victory over New Zealand 'A' in the second one-dayer between the countries to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
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