International
Women’s World Cup: Australia deserved the win tonight due to consistency, says Meg Lanning

Australia skipper Meg Lanning believed her team deserved the 71-run win in the final against England to win the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup due to the consistency shown over a long period of time.
In the tournament, Australia were unbeaten in the league stage and extended their winning streak to the semi-final as well as the final to pocket their seventh ODI World Cup title.
“We have been extremely consistent over a long period of time and to come out and perform so well throughout the tournament. I think we deserve the win tonight. We knew we had to have a number of people contributing which we had throughout the tournament.”
“We had some young players come in and make an impact straightaway which is great for the team and great for the more experienced players to keep pushing them to get better. Off the field we had great support from the coaching staff and support staff to get us to this point,” said Lanning after the match.
In the final at Hagley Oval, Australia’s win was set up by wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy’s whirlwind knock of 170 off 138 balls as they posted a gigantic score of 356/5 after pushed into batting first.
“It was incredible (Healy’s knock), (especially) to do it in a World Cup final. Some of those shots she was playing were ridiculous and I think she set the base really nicely and it is something we have spoken about a lot as a batting group, being patient upfront and building the platform to explode at the backend and that is what happened today,” observed Lanning.
Lanning was quick to praise England vice-captain Nat Sciver for her unbeaten 148 keeping the defending champions in the hunt. “She (Nat Sciver) is an incredible player and played a really special innings, on any other day it would potentially be a match-winning one. We knew England would come hard at us and we expected a contest and we certainly got that.”
Lanning, who marked her 100th ODI appearance during Sunday’s final, appreciated leg-spinner Alana King and teenage pacer Darcie Brown stepping up in the absence of players like tearaway pacer Tayla Vlaeminck, leg-spinner Georgia Wareham and left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux in the mega event.
“There’s some good depth in our squad. Tay (Vlaeminck), Wolf (Wareham) and Soph (Molineux), big shoutout to you guys. We have seen Alana King and Darcie Brown come in and dominate and lift the team, so it is important not to rely on one or two players. Injuries are unfortunately part of the sport and we’ve been able to cover that this time around.”
Lanning expressed gratitude towards England, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and New Zealand for hosting the tournament successfully as well as to her own side as well as support staff members.
“Thank you to Heather and England for the contest today, thanks to everyone at the ICC, New Zealand Cricket for getting this tournament up, it’s been an incredible effort, lots of work going on behind the scenes. I want to thank our coaches and support staff who put so much time and effort behind the scenes to get us up and about to be able to play cricket. Well done to the team and we will certainly enjoy this one.”
Lanning signed off by saying that Australia will celebrate the victory and sink in the feeling of being 50-over World Cup winners for the first time since 2013.
“We will celebrate this one first, important to make sure to look back at this period and see how successful it’s been because there’s been a lot of hard work that has gone into it and hasn’t been easy. There’s been ups and downs through the whole thing, nice to be able to get to the end of this nice little block and be able to say we are World Cup champions.”
International
‘I’m happy here’: Cristiano Ronaldo pledges to continue at Al Nassr in Saudi Pro League

Portugese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has vowed to continue at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia despite walking away empty handed in this season. The 38-year-old has earmarked the tournament to be among the top five in the world.
Ronaldo, who signed a two and a half year contract with Al Nassr, scored 14 goals in 16 games in the season, with his side standing second behind Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro league. However, there were speculations about how long will he stay as reports of swap deal with Saudi-owned Newcastle United emerged, who have now qualified for next season’s Champions league.
In an official Saudi Pro League interview, the star footballer revealed:
“I’m happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here. And in my opinion, if they continue to do the work that they want to do here, for the next five years, I think the Saudi league can be a top five league in the world. I expected to win something this year, but we didn’t, but next year I’m really positive, but next year I’m really positive and confident that things will change and we go in a better way.”
Cristiano Ronaldo suggests he is still adjusting to strange training timings in Saudi Arabia:
Ronaldo also revealed how contrasting the training timings in Europe and Saudi Arabia are, elaborating:
“In Europe, we train more in the morning, but here we train in the afternoon or evening and in Ramadan, we train at 10 at night. So this is strange but as I tell you, these situations are part of an experience, memories. I like to live these moments because you learn with these things.”
With 837 goals in 512 games, Ronaldo is the combined highest goal scorer in history.
International
Lionel Messi to leave PSG at the end of the season, confirms club manager Christophe Galtier

Paris Saint Germain superstar Lionel Messi will leave the club at the end of the current season, manager Christophe Galtier confirmed on Thursday. Messi made 74 appearances for PSG in which he scored 32 goals and made 35 assists. In Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain has played 37 matches out of which they have won 27, lost six and drew four.
PSG had acquired Messi’s services two years ago in a record transfer deal after he left FC Barcelona in 2021.
Messi, who’s contract with PSG ends this season, is now being linked with with a move to Saudi Arabia while talk of a return to the Nou Camp has picked up in Spain in recent weeks.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner will play his final match for PSG against Clermont Foot on Saturday.
“I had the privilege of coaching the best player in the history of football,” Galtier said on Thursday. “This will be his last match at the Parc des Princes, and I hope that he will receive the warmest of welcomes.”
Messi’s envious record
In the Spanish La Liga football competition, Lionel Messi has scored 474 goals in 520 matches. In the French Ligue 1, Messi has scored 22 goals in 57 matches.
The 35-year-old while playing for Football Club Barcelona has scored 672 goals in 778 games. While playing for Paris Saint-Germain he has scored 32 goals in 74 matches.
No plan to bring Messi back: Barca president
FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta recently said that the club has re-established good relationships with Argentine legend Lionel Messi, but it would not pay any price to bring him back to the Camp Nou Stadium.
“I have spoken with Leo to somehow redirect the situation that occurred when I had to put the institution ahead of everything, including him, the best player in the world,” said Laporta in a Monday morning TV show.
International
Mark Zuckerberg strikes gold against jiu jitsu fighters, posts pictures on Instagram

In the past, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has appeared helpless in front of the US Congress where he has been slapped by fines, and fired 11,000 vulnerable employees after being hit by falling revenues. But outside the business arena where Meta is facing tough competition from TikTok and other rivals, Zuckerberg is a huge mixed martial arts fan.
Contrary to setbacks in the tech sector, the Facebook founder has tasted victory in jiu jitsu.
Striking gold, but in a different arena
- The billionaire who has trained with UFC fighters, posted pictures after winning jiu jitsu matches for the first time.
- The billionaire who tried his hand at martial arts, revealed that he won a gold medal in the Gi categroy and a silver medal in the No-GI category.
- His post on Instagram received comments from UFC featherweight and bantamweight category champions, as well as jiu jitsu hall of fame member Bernardo Faria.
Competitive or short tempered?
- The entrepreneur turned sportsperson, who also enjoys surfing, was seen getting into a heated argument after losing a contest during the tournament in California as well.
- On the work front, Zuckerberg’s firm Meta also surprised the markets by bouncing back with strong earnings, after struggling with loss of ad revenue.
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