Batsman David Warner has been dropped from Australia's one-day international squad while paceman Mitchell Starc will fly back home because of lower back soreness, the country's cricket board said on Sunday.
However, one goal proved enough for City who picked up their sixth successive league win to move four points clear of Liverpool, who host Aston Villa later on Saturday, at the top of the standings.
After making impressive debuts in their respective openers, Rising Pune Supergiants and GujaratLions will test each others' strengths when the two new entrants clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Rajkot on Thursday. The two teams feature a lot of faces from the suspended Chennai Super Kings and at least six players, who played in the same side till last year, will now be in opposite camps. Close friends and CSK teammates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina will now be devising strategies as rival captains. Both have admitted that playing in a jersey other than 'yellow' has been very "emotional" but have promised to give their all for their new teams. The Dhoni-led Pune Supergiants were very convincing and dominant when they handed defending champions Mumbai Indians a nine-wicket drubbing. They did not even require their middle order, packed with Dhoni himself and players such as Steven Smith, to come out with the top-order delivering it for them comfortably.
Liverpool's dream run was demolished in the most unlikely fashion by strugglers Watford on Saturday in what must be considered the most extraordinary reverse of the entire Premier League season. On the evening when the European champions were expected to complete the best sequence in the history of English football's top-flight with a 19th straight league victory, they were instead hammered 3-0 by the team lying one from bottom. Images from the EPL matches played on Saturday.
After opening with a 4-0 win over Chelsea, Monday's 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers, would have been a second straight win, had Paul Pogba converted his second half penalty kick.
Images from Saturday's action in the Premier League.
ending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad cruised into the Indian Premier League play-offs with an easy eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions.
Aaron Finch (69 off 39) stitched a 92-run stand with Dinesh Karthik (40 off 28) to lead Lions to 195 for five.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be aiming for revival when they clash against out-of-sorts Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League match.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's squad for the one-day international series in New Zealand next month, while in-form batsman Usman Khawaja has also been overlooked for the three-match series.
Gujarat Lions' star performer Aaron Finch is confident that their team can win five out of the next six matches to make it to the play-offs of the Indian Premier League after comprehensively defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Manchester City are top on goal difference, with Chelsea second and Liverpool dropping to third, two points ahead of Arsenal, who routed Fulham 5-1.
High on confidence after one of their splendid run-chases across 10 editions, Mumbai Indians will like to continue their winning momentum against a resurgent Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League encounter, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Buoyed by their thrilling last-ball win against Delhi Daredevils, a confident Rajasthan Royals will take on a beleaguered Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League cricket encounter in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Australia pace bowler Kane Richardson is to return home for further examination on a back injury and has been replaced by Joel Paris in the squad for their final one-day match against New Zealand in Hamilton on Monday. Richardson, 24, did not play in Australia's four-wicket victory in the second match in Wellington on Saturday. "Kane Richardson's back pain hasn't subsided sufficiently to take part in the final ODI in Hamilton," a Cricket Australia spokesperson told Australian reporters in Wellington on Sunday.
IMAGES from Saturday's English Premier League matches.
For the Gujarat Lions to roar, their top-heavy batting order must first win in unison against a consistent KKR bowling attack.
England opener Michael Carberry looks set to make his Ashes debut next week after being included in the team to face an Invitational XI in a warm-up match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
After a close season in which he said he wanted to leave the club but ended up staying at Old Trafford, all eyes were on Paul Pogba as Manchester United began their Premier League campaign on Sunday. Yet following a 4-0 home win over Chelsea, in which the French midfielder set up the third and fourth goals, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was full of praise for the former Juventus star.
Rising Pune Supergiants now face an uphill task of taming the rampaging Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League clash, in Pune, on Friday.
New outfit Gujarat Lions have witnessed a dream start to their debut Indian Premier League season and the team's head coach Brad Hodge feels they have plenty of match-winners who can help them continue in the same vein in the remainder of the tournament.
Stopping a resurgent Australia would not be easy but a confident India would look to end the series on a high when they compete in the fifth and final ODI match, in Nagpur, on Sunday.
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes fired home a late penalty to rescue a point for the visitors in a lively 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Friday.
Injury-prone all-rounder Shane Watson has been named in Australia's 13-man squad for Twenty20 matches against South Africa next month as he recovers from a calf strain.
Virat Kohli's elegant unbeaten 90 and some crafty bowling by their spinners secured India's comprehensive 37-run victory over Australia in the first Twenty20 International at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.
Australia rode David Warner's belligerent 127 to chase down a modest target and beat England by three wickets with 10 overs to spare in the first match of the tri-series, also involving India, on Friday. England's new One-Day International captain Eoin Morgan roared back into form with a scintillating 121 but his team was dismissed for 234 inside 48 overs against some impressive bowling by Mitchel Starc (4-42) and James Faulkner (3-47).
Steve Smith and George Bailey's brilliant knocks overshadowed Rohit Sharma's magnificent 171 as Australia beat India by five wickets in the first ODI of the five-match series in Perth on Tuesday.
Australia scrambled over the line for a two-wicket victory in the fifth one-day international against South Africa on Sunday to move back to the top of the world rankings less than three months before the World Cup.
Quaison fires Sweden to extra-time World Cup playoff win over Czechs
Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood received his reward for some fine domestic form on Wednesday when he was included in a pace-heavy 13-man squad for the first two One-Day Internationals against South Africa next month.
Will Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa both play the 1st ODI in Chennai on Sunday?
Backing Shaun Tait's surprise return to the Australian T20 squad for the three-match series against India, former pacer Jason Gillespie said the tearaway speedster will cause a lot of damage on Indian tracks if he makes the squad for the World T20 starting March 8.
West Ham United's hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a cruel blow as an own goal by midfielder Tomas Soucek and Harry Kane's first goal since December condemned them to a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.
Pushed to the bottom of the heap after three successive losses, it will take an extraordinary effort from Royal Challengers Bangalore to overpower table-toppers Rajasthan Royals when the two sides clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's Most Valuable PlayerS so far.
Australia beat Sri Lanka by 41 runs in their final Twenty20 game on Wednesday, avoiding a whitewash in the three-match series and salvaging some pride.
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
The 90th Annual Academy Awards have been announced. A quick glance at the winners, listed in bold.
It will not be the first time that the competition has had to be held outside India.
Gujarat Lions will have to fight off the fiery pacers of the Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League Qualifier 2, in New Delhi, on Friday.
