Sports Highlights, March 24: Mexico Crowned CONCACAF Nations League Champs; Oklahoma City Thunder Win 6th Straight NBA Game

Earlier today, reigning Nations League champions Spain and France needed penalty shootouts to reach the semi-finals, where they were joined by Germany and Portugal. Spain were pegged back thrice by the Netherlands in a 3-3 draw after extra time in the second leg for a 5-5 aggregate score. Barcelona midfielder Pedri scored the decisive penalty kick after Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon had saved Donyell Malen라이브 바카라 effort as the shootout finished tantalizingly at 5-4.

France won the shootout by the same score against Croatia after leading 2-0 after 90 minutes to level the tie overall and force extra time, which saw no more goals scored. Dayot Upamecano scored the decisive spot kick after goalkeeper Mike Maignan brilliantly saved from Josip Stanisic.

Germany scored three first-half goals against Italy but then held on grimly for a 3-3 draw to win 5-4 on aggregate. And Portugal beat Denmark 5-2 after extra time in Lisbon after losing the first leg 1-0. Francisco Trincao scored twice for Portugal late on, with Cristiano Ronaldo missing an early penalty.

Check out the highlights of all the action, as it unfolded HERE.

Novak Djokovic has earned a record 411th ATP Masters 1000 match win by defeating Camilo Ugo Carabelli at the Miami Open round of 32, breaking a tie with Spaniard Rafael Nadal. The Serbian entered the tournament with 409 Masters 1000 victories, just one behind his long-time rival. With two wins in Florida, he has tied and broken the record.

Jayson Tatum nets 30 points, nine assists and nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics stretch their winning streak to five games with a 129-116 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA. Sam Hauser shoots 8 for 10 from long distance and scores 24 points, and Derrick White adds 17 points and eight assists for Boston, who were without Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. The Celtics (52-19) are five games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the top seed in the Eastern Conference with 11 games remaining.

Britain's 22-year-old Emma Raducanu has made her way into the round of 16 of the Miami Open as her opponent McCartney Kessler retires injured at the start of the second set. Raducanu needed just 30 minutes to take the first set 6-1 and an early break in the second set saw her speed into a 3-0 lead, before American Kessler, 25, was forced to retire because of a back issue.

Raul Jimenez scores his second goal on a penalty kick in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to power Mexico to a 2-1 victory over Panama in the CONCACAF Nations League. With that, Mexico win the tournament for the first time. Earlier, Canada beat the United States 2-1 in the third-place match.

Chennai Super Kings warded off their biggest rivals Mumbai Indians by four wickets, and Sunrisers Hyderabad buried Rajasthan Royals under a deluge of runs with a 44-run victory in the first double-header of Indian Premier League 2025. Check out what exactly happened, in our reports HERE and HERE.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander comes up with 26 points and eight assists, Aaron Wiggins nets 19 points and the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder take their winning streak to six games by holding on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 103-101. Alex Caruso scores 14 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:54 remaining after Oklahoma City squandered a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Hartenstein adds 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Jaylin Williams scores 12 points.

Tonight's Indian Premier League clash features northern franchises Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants. Both teams have several high-impact players who could swing the momentum of the match at any point. Check out three key battles from the game in our report HERE.

Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal has been rushed to hospital with a sudden illness halfway through a Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League match between Mohammedan Sporting Club and Shinepukur Cricket Club. The 36-year-old cricketer is said to have experienced chest pain, with a Sportstar report claiming he had suffered a heart attack. He is currently admitted in a hospital in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka.

India women's cricket team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, her deputy Smriti Mandhana and spinner Deepti Sharma are the three players to have bagged the highest Grade 'A' contract in the latest BCCI annual contracts. Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh and Shafali Verma have earned Grade B, with a total of 16 players being awarded contracts.

Pune will play host to the Billie Jean King Cup Asia-Oceania Group-1 tournament for the first time in India's tennis history, while Maharashtra will be hosting the event after a gap of 25 years from April 8 to 12 at the Mhalunge Balewadi tennis complex in Pune. “After the success of Mumbai Open WTA and the MahaOpen ATP Challenger, MSLTA in association with AITA and PMDTA is thrilled to get another event of the highest level,” said Sunder Iyer, secretary of Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association. MSLTA has hosted nearly all the big tennis events in Pune but never the BKJC or the FED Cup.

MS Dhoni's lightning-quick reflexes behind the stumps to get rid of Suryakumar Yadav during yesterday's CSK vs MI match have left former Australian opener Matthew Hayden gushing about the former Indian captain's abilities, despite not being in his prime. Dhoni showcased his brilliance once when he whipped off the bails in an instant off Noor Ahmad's delivery, sending Suryakumar Yadav back to the pavilion.

"He (Dhoni) was on fire," Hayden, the former Australia batter and Dhoni's teammate at CSK till 2010, said on ESPNcricinfo's T20 Time Out. "I mean Noor Ahmad was firing down the leg side and it was just a movement across the ball. They're difficult when you're sitting there sort of partially obscured by the batsman.

"Then the stumping was just superb, just such quick timing, great hands, good vision. He's still got it."

The United States men's football team may have suffered a shock loss to Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League third-place match, but head coach Mauricio Pochettino believes the team has enough time to improve for the 2026 World Cup. "It's better (to lose) now because I think we have time. Because we will be in this situation in one year's time, for sure. I will tell you, 'Houston, we have a problem. SOS," Pochettino told reporters after the match.

"Don't be pessimistic, and don't get bad feelings. We are all (disappointed) and the fans need to feel the disappointment that we didn't win. But I'm not going to allow (us) to feel pessimistic because I think we have good players. We are going to find a way to perform and, for sure, we are going to compete in a different way," he added.

Former Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal has undergone angioplasty after suffering a heart attack during a Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League match between Mohammedan Sporting Club and Shinepukur Cricket Club. He had been rushed to hospital after experiencing chest pain.

The treating doctors later issued an official medical bulletin. "He returned to us in a critical condition. We can call it a heart attack, and we subsequently did an angiogram and angioplasty to remove the blockage. The medical procedure has gone smoothly. He is currently under observation.

"The swift coordination between the medical staff at BKSP and the hospital ensured Tamim was treated quickly," the bulletin read. (PTI)

New Zealand will play at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the final of the Oceania confederation qualifying series. The New Zealand “All Whites” have reached the World Cup for the third time after qualifying in Spain in 1982 and South Africa in 2010. They join hosts Canada, the United States and Mexico and Japan, who last week became the first team to qualify for the 48-team tournament.

India women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur, her deputy Smriti Mandhana and all-rounder Deepti Sharma were on Monday retained in Grade A, the highest category of central contracts offered by BCCI. Pacer Renuka Thakur, all-rounder Jemimah Rodrigues, wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh and opener Shafali Verma managed to hold on to their Grade B contracts. Left-arm orthodox bowler Rajeshwari Gaikwad, who was in Grade B last year, didn't find a place this season.

The Billie Jean King Cup Asia-Oceania Group-1 tournament featuring six teams including India will be held in Pune at the Balewadi Sports Complex from April 8-12. The other teams in the competition will be New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Korea and Thailand. The competition will feature a round-robin format with all ties consisting of three matches, two singles followed by doubles clashes. The teams will be vying for two qualification spots available from the region.

Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma were retained in the highest category of the BCCI Central Contracts. New Zealand and Japan qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the Billie Jean King Cup Asia-Oceania will be held in Pune. That's all from our side. Goodbye and take care!