Author: Australian Associated Press

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Mitchell Marsh steers Australia to big win over India in rain-hit first ODI

Mitchell Marsh hit an unbeaten 46 off 52 balls while Virat Kohli was out for an eight-ball duck as Australia crushed India by seven wickets to spare in a rain-affected ODI series opener in Perth.

Four rain delays totalling three hours and 40 minutes caused havoc as India stuttered to nine for 136 off a reduced 26 overs at Optus Stadium. Under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, Australia required just 131 for victory from their 26 overs, with Marsh and Josh Philippe (37 runs off 29 balls) ensuring the hosts made light work of it.

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Wallabies star Len Ikitau wins John Eales Medal after ‘exciting’ year

  • ‘Flickitau’ is first centre to win Australia’s top prize

  • Tabua Tuinakauvadra crowned top Wallaroos player

Wallabies star Len Ikitau has won the John Eales Medal, becoming the first centre to claim Australian rugby’s highest individual honour.

Ikitau enjoyed a phenomenal year in the gold jersey, opening the voting period in spectacular style by delivering the magical match-winning flick pass to Max Jorgensen in Australia’s epic win over England at Twickenham last November.

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Marnus Labuschagne firms for Test selection with fourth century in five innings

  • Right-hander hits second straight Sheffield Shield ton for Queensland

  • Place in Australia’s Ashes team all but assured with knock of 159

Marnus Labuschagne appears certain to return to Australia’s team for the Ashes, his fourth century in five innings making a compelling case to selectors.

Fresh off posting 160 in the opening round of the Sheffield Shield, Labuschagne struck 159 for Queensland at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

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Four-time Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus announces retirement from swimming

  • Titmus first Australian since Dawn Fraser in 1964 to win back-to-back gold medals in the same event

  • Swimming great steps away as the current 200m freestyle world record-holder

Four-time Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus has announced her shock retirement from swimming, saying the seed was sewn by her cancer scare before the Paris Games.

The 25-year-old, who grew up in Tasmania, will retire as one of the greatest distance swimmers of all time.

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‘Counterfeiting a code’: NRL announces 10-year ban for players who engage with R360

  • Agents who take players to unregistered competitions also face ban

  • Rules will ‘protect future of the game’, ARLC chair Peter V’landys says

The NRL has vowed to ban any player who leaves the code for R360 for 10 years, as it fights to fend off the threat of the breakaway rugby competition.

In a statement on Wednesday, the NRL also threatened to ban any agent if they take a player to the rebel competition.

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AFL trade deadline day: Charlie Curnow joins Sydney from Carlton; Hawks fail in bid for Bombers’ Zach Merrett

  • Blues’ star forward gets his move despite late snag

  • Clayton Oliver to GWS, and Christian Petracca joins Suns

Carlton’s two-time Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow will join Sydney in the biggest deal of the AFL trade period.

Despite last-minute haggling before the deadline of 7.30pm on Wednesday, Hawthorn were unable to convince Essendon to trade away captain Zach Merrett.

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Carter Gordon returns to Wallabies squad after early end to NRL stint

  • Former Gold Coast Titan flyhalf lured back by Rugby Australia

  • Coach Joe Schmidt selects 34 players for Tests starting 25 October

Carter Gordon could be the Wallabies’ flyhalf again by the end of the month after securing a release from his NRL deal to be part of Australia’s spring tour.

The 24-year-old’s move to the Queensland Reds was confirmed on Monday after Rugby Australia secured a release from the second and final year of his Gold Coast contract.

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Pat Cummins concedes he is ‘weeks away’ from bowling and unlikely to play in first Ashes Test

  • Australia captain to learn this week whether he will be fit for opener

  • Star quick says he is ‘less likely than likely’ to face England in Perth

Pat Cummins has admitted he is unlikely to play in the Ashes opener, conceding a return to proper bowling is still some time away.

Cummins is expected to learn this week whether he will be able to feature in Perth on 21 November, with officials conceding the quick is facing a narrow timeline.

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Chiefs or Pythons? NRL’s 19th team name revealed by PNG prime minister James Marape

  • Public naming competition had more than 20,000 submissions

  • Rugby league franchise joining in 2028 will be known as Chiefs

Papua New Guinea’s new team to enter the NRL in 2028 will be known as the Chiefs, the country’s prime minister, James Marape, has announced.

The club’s name was unveiled at Santos National Football Stadium before kick-off in the men’s annual match between the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII and their Pacific neighbour on Sunday.

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‘Amazing number’: Alex de Minaur hits new milestone on path to Shanghai quarters

  • Australian beats Nuno Borges 7-5 6-2 to reach 50 victories this year

  • World No 7 to face Daniil Medvedev in last eight as draw opens up

Alex de Minaur has hailed the milestone 50th tour-level victory in his best ever season as “amazing” after easing into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

But now the Australian No 1 hopes his win – a 7-5 6-2 win over Portugal’s Nuno Borges – is just a staging post on his way to what could be his first ever ATP Masters 1000 triumph.

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Daria Kasatkina, Australia’s No 1 women’s tennis player, takes career break citing ‘mental stress’

  • Russian-born star has ‘hit a wall and can’t continue’

  • She promises to be back in 2026 and ‘ready to rock’

Australia’s women’s tennis No 1 has put her career on hold for the rest of the year stating “mentally and emotionally I am at breaking point”.

Daria Kasatkina, who switched nationality from Russia to Australia earlier this year, immediately becoming national No 1, blamed the “emotional and mental stress” related to that change, the strain of not seeing her family and the relentless schedule of the tennis circuit.

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Roosters star James Tedesco wins his second Dally M Medal

  • Big win completes year of redemption for fullback

  • Tamika Upton of the Broncos wins women’s award

James Tedesco has romped to his second Dally M Medal with the Sydney Roosters star finishing 22 points clear of his nearest rival.

In a big night for the Roosters, Tedesco claimed the NRL’s highest individual honour for the first time since sweeping the awards in 2019.

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Brisbane end Penrith’s five-peat dream with stunning comeback win to book place in NRL grand final

  • Broncos defeat Panthers 16-13 at Suncorp Stadium

  • Comeback victory sets up grand final showdown with Melbourne Storm

Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds has stepped up in the biggest moment of his career to end Penrith’s five-peat dream with a stunning 16-14 comeback victory.

The Broncos’ win in the NRL preliminary final has set up a grand final showdown with fierce rivals Melbourne.

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Former A-League players who deliberately got yellow cards for $10,000 cash spared conviction

Ex-Macarthur Bulls players Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis will serve a two-year conditional release order for their part in the football betting scandal

Two former A-League players who deliberately received yellow cards in exchange for $10,000 have escaped a conviction on their criminal record.

Ex-Macarthur Bulls duo Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis will serve a two-year conditional release order, similar to a good behaviour bond, after they were sentenced in Sydney on Wednesday.

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Gold Coast Suns’ Matt Rowell pulls off Brownlow Medal upset

  • Midfielder beats favourite Nick Daicos to top honour

  • Bailey Smith and Jordan Dawson make up top four

Gold Coast midfielder Matt Rowell has pulled off a Brownlow Medal upset by beating red-hot favourite Nick Daicos to collect the AFL’s highest individual honour.

Surging to 20 votes after 11 rounds, Rowell could not be stopped as he denied Collingwood superstar Daicos, who for a third-straight year had been one of the major fancies.

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