🗞 Final Bound

G'day sports fans,

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🏏 Final Bound: Pat Cummins saw the team home by three wickets in World Cup semi-final, setting up date with India.

The unbeaten hosts remain the only barrier between Australia and their sixth men's 50-over title as Pat Cummins' men limped over the line in a low-scoring thriller to see South Africa add to their catalogue of heartbreaking World Cup semi-final defeats.

The Proteas had been in with a chance thanks to David Miller, who posted 101 off 116 balls in a rescue act after irresistible new-ball spells from Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc reduced the Proteas to 4-24. SA finished on 212.

South Africa's spinners then strangled their opponents on the crumbling surface before an inspired late spell from Gerald Coetzee (2-47) saw the fiery paceman remove Australia's last two recognised batters in Steve Smith (30) and Josh Inglis (28) with 20 still to win.

But Pat Cummins, for the third time this year after the Edgbaston Test and the Afghanistan miracle, held his nerve in a tense finish. The Australia captain hugged partner Mitchell Starc (14no) after cutting Marco Jansen for the match-winning boundary.

"... Captain Calm (Cummins) has done it again, under all sorts of pressure, extreme pressure, he's managed to drag his team across the line." - Said Ricky Ponting.

It sets up a mouth-watering decider in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Australia will be looking to continue their strong 50-over legacy with their sixth men's ODI title, but will need to overcome hosts India who are yet to lose in this tournament.

🇦🇺 icymi: The AFL has released the 2024 fixture, headlined by 14 consecutive Thursday night matches, as well as a league-high seven prime-time matches awarded to Brisbane and Carlton.

With the first 15 rounds fully locked in, the league will confirm times and dates for round 16 and beyond midway through 2024.

As for Anzac Day (round seven) which falls on a Thursday in 2024, the AFL has committed to a double-header, with the traditional Essendon and Collingwood MCG blockbuster, followed by GWS hosting the Lions at Manuka Oval.

Reigning premiers Collingwood will also have four prime-time Friday night matches, including a blockbuster against rivals Carlton in round eight at the MCG.

Essendon, Fremantle, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and the Eagles did not receive Thursday night games.

📺 Watch: Cooper Hamilton (GWS) the poet read out their fixture list in style (Twitter)

🤝 Shoutout to our friends at Swysh. Together with their charity partners Swysh has just surpassed over $1 MILLION in donations to charities across Australia and New Zealand from the sale of personalised video messages. 

🥊 Australian world champion Jai Opetaia will feature alongside heavyweight megastars Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder on a fight card to be held in Saudi Arabia on December 24 (AEDT).

Opetaia will defend his IBF and The Ring Magazine cruiserweight belts against undefeated British fighter Ellis Zorra, with the pair facing off for the first time at the official press conference in London.

🎾 Nick Kyrgios concedes "the stars have to align a little bit" for the him to make a successful comeback after more than a year out of professional tennis.

While the 2022 Wimbledon finalist maintains he's hungry for a return, Kyrgios is now unranked after being sidelined since September last year with knee and wrist issues.

"The stars have to align a little bit," Kyrgios told the Tennis Channel. "And with Zverev [who came back after shattering an ankle], he's an incredibly hard worker. That's his reputation.

"He ticks all the boxes and, if someone like that can come back from an injury like that, I think that's what I have to draw inspiration from for sure.”

⚽️ Exactly 18 years since the Socceroos qualified for the 2006 World Cup with a famous penalty shootout win over Uruguay, Australia kickstarted its journey to a sixth-straight men’s World Cup with a dominant 7-0 win over Bangladesh last night.

🏎️ Formula One World Champion, and cyborg Max Verstappen says this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix is "99% show and 1% sporting event".

The triple world champion said he is "not looking forward" to the razzmatazz around the race, the first time Formula 1 cars have raced down the city's famous Strip.

Other leading drivers were more equivocal about the hype.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso said: "With the investment that has been made and the place we are racing, it deserves a little bit [of] different treatment and extra show."

⚽️ Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are monitoring Bayern Munich's 23-year-old Canada defender Alphonso Davies but think he wants to join Real Madrid.

🏃🏾‍♀️💨 The second fastest women in history and Five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah has split with her coach eight months before she will attempt to defend her sprint titles at Paris 2024.

According to her management team, the 31-year-old parted with Shanikie Osbourne because of the "extremely excessive" terms sought by the coach.

The Jamaican won 100m, 200m and 4x100m gold at Tokyo 2020 after winning 100m and 200m gold at Rio 2016.

🥊 Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will fight for the undisputed heavyweight title on 17 February [local] in Saudi Arabia.

Briton Fury, 35, is the WBC champion with Ukraine's Usyk, 36, holding the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.

The winner in Riyadh will become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999.

⚽️ Following an historic treble winning season 2022/23, Manchester City has broken the Premier League revenue record, reporting revenue north of AU$1.2B.

🏀 The NBA has suspended Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green for five games without pay for "escalating an on-court altercation" in Tuesday's contest with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the league announced Wednesday.

While Lakers big man Anthony Davis admitted the tightness in his left hip flared up in the first half Thursday, he would not blame his poor play on it in a 125-110 loss to the Sacramento Kings.

"I just played bad," - Davis sad after a season-low performance.

🎾 Andrey Rublev grew so frustrated during a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals that he repeatedly hit himself with his racquet — so hard that he bloodied his left knee.

💰 A record payout: Sacked College Football Coach Jimbo Fisher, who will get paid at least $7M a year for the next 8 years to not coach Texas A&M anymore.

🏈 Injury Report: Deshaun Watson will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a broken bone in his throwing shoulder, the Browns announced Wednesday.

‌By season's end, the Browns will have paid Watson over US$90 million to play 12 games (~US$7.5 million per game).

TODAY

04:00  - PGA TOUR -  RSM Classic, Round 1 (Fox Sports)

06:00  - Men's NCAA -  Wyoming Cowboys v Saint Louis Billikens (ESPN 2)

08:00  - Men's NCAA -  LSU Tigers v Dayton Flyers (ESPN 2)

10:30  - Sheffield Shield -  Victoria v Queensland Bulls (Kayo Sports)

11:30  - NBA -  Miami Heat v Brooklyn Nets (ESPN 2)

12:15  - NFL -  Baltimore Ravens v Cincinnati Bengals (ESPN)

13:30  - Sheffield Shield -  Western Australia v South Australia Redbacks (Kayo Sports)

14:00  - NBA -  Golden State Warriors v Oklahoma City Thunder (ESPN 2)

19:30  - NBL -  Adelaide 36ers v South East Melbourne Phoenix (ESPN)

SATURDAY

04:00  - PGA TOUR -  RSM Classic, Round 2 (Fox Sports)

04:00  - College -  Men's NCAA Regular Season (ESPN 2)

06:45  - UEFA EURO Qualifiers - (Optus Sport)

08:30  - College -  Men's NCAA Regular Season (ESPN 2)

10:30  - Sheffield Shield -  Victoria v Queensland Bulls (Kayo Sports)

10:30  - Sheffield Shield -  Tasmania Tigers v New South Wales Blues (Kayo Sports)

11:00  - College -  Men's NCAA Regular Season (ESPN 2)

11:30  - NBA -  San Antonio Spurs v Sacramento Kings (ESPN)

13:30  - Sheffield Shield -  Western Australia v South Australia Redbacks (Kayo Sports)

14:00  - NBA -  Utah Jazz v Phoenix Suns (ESPN)

15:45 - Thousand Guineas, 1,600m (7, SKY1)

16:25 - Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes, 1,400m (7, SKY1)

16:45 - The Hunter, 1,300m (7, SKY1)

17:30  - NBL -  Cairns Taipans v Tasmania JackJumpers (ESPN)

20:00  - NBL -  Brisbane Bullets v Perth Wildcats (ESPN)

SUNDAY

02:05  - Premiership Rugby -  Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints (Stan Sport)

03:00  - NHL -  Ottawa Senators v Minnesota Wild (ESPN 2)

04:30  - Premiership Rugby -  Harlequins v Saracens (Stan Sport)

05:00  - PGA TOUR -  RSM Classic, Round 3 (Fox Sports)

06:45  - UEFA EURO Qualifier -  Netherlands v Republic of Ireland (Optus Sport 2)

10:30  - Sheffield Shield -  Victoria v Queensland Bulls (Kayo Sports)

10:30  - Sheffield Shield -  Tasmania Tigers v New South Wales Blues (Kayo Sports)

11:00  - NBA -  New Orleans Pelicans v Minnesota Timberwolves (ESPN)

14:00  - NBL -  New Zealand Breakers v Illawarra Hawks (10 Peach, ESPN or Kayo Sports)

16:00  - NBL -  Melbourne United v Sydney Kings (10 Peach, ESPN or Kayo Sports)

17:00  - Formula 1 Las Vegas Race, Round 22 (Fox Sports)

17:40 - Japan Mile Championship, 1,600m (Sky1)

19:30  - ODI World Cup Final (Channel 9, Fox Cricket, or Fox Sports)