Sports Highlights, March 2: Marc Marquez Wins Thailand Grand Prix Sprint Race; Philadelphia 76ers Pip Golden State Warriors In NBA

A very good morning to all our readers on yet another action-packed Sunday. From high-stakes overnight football to NBA and then cricket fixtures, the sports caravan continues to roll on, with enough and more fixtures to keep you hooked. Watch this space for a lowdown of all that unfolds.

In Saturday's fixtures in the FA Cup, Man City beat Plymouth 3-1, AFC Bournemouth beat Wolves on penalties, whereas the likes of Crystal Palace and Burnley too advanced to the next round.

John Cena vs CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre vs Logan Paul vs Damian Priest vs Seth "Freakin" Rollins: Elimination Chamber match for an Undisputed WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 41

Liv Morgan vs Bianca Belair vs Alexa Bliss vs Bayley vs Naomi vs Roxanne Perez: Elimination Chamber match for a Women's World Championship match at WrestleMania 41

Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus vs Nia Jax and Candice LeRae

Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens for an UNSANCTIONED MATCH

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! Randy Orton has returned to the WWE, as the The Viper RKOs Kevin Owens in the Elimination Chamber. Moreover, the entrants is a star-studded one - John Cena. Logan Paul. CM Punk. Seth Rollins. Damien Priest and Drew McIntyre.

As per reports, Inter Miami skipper Lionel Messi will not feature in the side's Major League Soccer match against the Houston Dynamo on Sunday.

John Cena attacked WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in the company of The Rock at the WWE Elimination Chamber 2025.

India's Yuki Bhambri and his Australian partner Alexei Popyrin stunned the world number one pair of Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic in their men's doubles round of 16 match at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday.

Australian former bikie gang member Ryan Peake is on the verge of winning the New Zealand Open. Earlier, the 31-year-old received a delayed clearance to travel to New Zealand because of his criminal record.

Karun Nair was finally dismissed on day 5 of the Ranji Trophy final between Vidarbha and Kerala as the 33-year-old was stumped on 135 by Aditya Sarwate. However, Kerala's worries did not end there as Vidarbha's lead has stretched over 300 runs.

The four semi-finalists are confirmed - Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa.

However, India will play in the first semi-final, in Dubai on Tuesday 4th March and the Kiwis will play in the second semi-final, in Lahore on Wednesday 5th March.

So, the permutation is simple - If Rohit Sharma & co win today, they will meet Australia but if the BlackCaps emerge victorious, it will be them facing the Aussies, with India taking on South Africa.

India's Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli and his Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos stunned top seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni of Argentina in straight sets to win the Chile Open tennis tournament in Santiago.

New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips has said that Virat Kohli's "legacy" will shine through the years while "inspiring" generations of young cricketers ahead of their clash in the Champions Trophy 2025 on Sunday.

Kohli will become the seventh Indian player to achieve the feat after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Rahul Dravid, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh.

Spaniard Marc Marquez has topped the podium for the Thai MotoGP main race with Alex Marquez in second position. Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati is third.

• Marc Marquez (ESP) – Ducati Lenovo Team, Ducati GP25 – 1:28.782

• Alex Marquez (ESP) – Gresini Racing, Ducati GP24 – 1:28.928

• Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) – Ducati Lenovo Team, Ducati GP25 – 1:28.955

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner has won the toss and opted to bowl first in their final Group game against India on Sunday.

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy

New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke

Thanks to their excellent first-innings lead, Vidarbha have won their third Ranji Trophy title, after their final game against Kerala was drawn.

Lydia Ko conquered the LPGA's Women's World Championship, winning her first title at her 11th attempt with a dominant four-stroke win over Ayaka Furue and Jeeno Thitikul in Sunday's final round.

The upcoming games scheduled in La Liga this evening:

- Leganes Vs Getafe

- Barcelona Vs Real Sociedad

- Mallorca Vs Deportivo Alaves

- Osasuna Vs Valencia

Tomas Machac celebrated his first Tour-level title as he beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to triumph at the Acapulco Open. Machac will break into the ATP's top 20 next week after a 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 victory over the Spaniard.

Spain's Marc Marquez completes a double with victory in the opening race of the MotoGP season at the Thailand Grand Prix. The 32-year-old six-time former champion wins the sprint race at the Buriram International Circuit in his first competitive outing for his new team Ducati, and hence will start Sunday's race on pole. For the second day in a row, Marc beats his younger brother Alex into second, finishing 1.73 seconds clear of his 28-year-old sibling.

With that, we conclude our coverage here of today's sports news from around the world. Live updates will continue on our dedicated blogs for the India vs New Zealand encounter in Champions League and the Indian Super League clash between East Bengal and Bengaluru.