Jude Bellingham snatched Real Madrid a dramatic 3-2 Clasico win over champions Barcelona on Sunday to take them 11 points clear at the top of La Liga with six matches remaining. Los Blancos twice came from behind with Vinicius Junior and Lucas Vazquez netting to level Andreas Christensen and Fermin Lopez strikes, before Bellingham rammed home the winner in stoppage time to virtually guarantee his team the title. Barcelona, second, bounced back with a strong performance after their Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain but their last stand was demolished by Bellingham. Madrid showed the same grit to stay in the match as they did midweek against Manchester City on the way to the final four in Europe, before Bellingham's knock-out blow left the Santiago Bernabeu crowd delighted. The England international, Madrid's top scorer with 21 goals across all competitions, netted twice in Madrid's Clasico win over Barcelona in October and is shining in his first season in Spain. "We had a great night with our fans, something we all deserved, we took a huge step towards La Liga," Vazquez, key in all three Madrid goals, told Real Madrid TV. "We've had a very good season, we're on a very good path, now we just have to polish it off and we'll go for everything." Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti made three changes from the side that beat City, with Eduardo Camavinga moving to left-back to replace Ferland Mendy, while Luka Modric started in midfield. Madrid's penalty-saving hero against City, goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, made an early mistake to hand Barcelona the lead. The Ukrainian strayed from his line to try and deal with a corner but got nowhere near the ball and Christensen nodded into the empty net. However Madrid were quickly level through Vinicius, who fired over a fine chance before levelling from the spot. The sensational Vazquez escaped Joao Cancelo far too easily and was tripped in the area by 17-year-old Barca centre-back Pau Cubarsi. Vinicius rolled home from the spot for his 19th goal of the season across all competitions. Barcelona were not deterred and made inroads down their right flank with Lamine Yamal giving Camavinga a torrid time.  'Disgrace'  The 16-year-old starlet thought he had struck with a clever flick from a corner but Lunin pushed the ball to safety, with Barcelona arguing it had already crossed the line. La Liga does not contract goal-line technology and using VAR the officials could not confirm the ball had completely entered the goal, so the Catalans were left frustrated. "We deserved much more given the way we played but there's not much we can do," said Xavi. "(Not having goal-line technology) is a disgrace." Yamal appealed for a penalty minutes later when Camavinga clipped him in the area but the referee waved their cries away. Raphinha and Ilkay Gundogan both sent free-kicks narrowly off-target, with Barcelona only having converted one since Lionel Messi departed in 2021. Barcelona were dealt a blow on the stroke of half-time when midfielder Frenkie de Jong was taken off on a stretcher after hurting his ankle in a challenge by Fede Valverde. Xavi also brought Lopez on for Christensen at half-time and it paid dividends for the coach after a slower start to the second half. The midfielder was in the right place at the right time to finish after 69 minutes when Lunin could only parry Yamal's low effort back into danger. However Madrid, seeking a fifth league and Champions League double, swiftly struck back when Vinicius crossed to the back post and Vazquez arrived to finish having lost his marker Cancelo. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen made a brilliant save to thwart Vinicius at his near post as the forward sprinted through on goal with Madrid looking to strike and virtually wrap up their La Liga title. Bellingham dealt the killer blow, despite largely being kept quiet by the Catalans until he appeared to emphatically decide the match in stoppage time from Vazquez's cross. "We fight until the end and we never accept we're beaten," Vazquez added.   Source: Yahoo

Sanju Samson led from the front as Rajasthan Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 20 runs in their opening match of the Indian Premier League on Sunday. Captain Samson hammered an unbeaten 82 off 52 balls to steer inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan to 193-4 after they elected to bat first in Jaipur. Rajasthan's New Zealander quick Trent Boult then struck two early blows to rattle the Lucknow batting, which finished on 173-6 despite an unbeaten 64 by West Indies' Nicholas Pooran. Lucknow, who made the play-offs in the last two seasons since their debut alongside Gujarat Titans in 2022, lost regular wickets but skipper KL Rahul attempted to keep the chase on track in his 44-ball 58 despite his slow start. The left-handed Pooran then took charge and along with Rahul put on 85 runs for the fifth wicket but the asking rate kept climbing. Rahul fell to Sandeep Sharma after his fifty and Marcus Stoinis's departure left Pooran with a lot in the final few overs. Samson remained the hero as he took on the opposition attack and built key partnerships including a 93-run third-wicket stand with Riyan Parag, who made 43. Samson hit six sixes on a pitch with variable bounce where Lucknow bowlers took a beating except Krunal Pandya, who returned figures of 0-19. The Rajasthan innings witnessed a nearly 10-minute halt in the first over when a cable of the spidercam broke as technicians scurried to sort out the wires on the field. Source: BSS

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley won her first Republican primary in Washington, D.C. She broke Donald Trump's sweep of the Republican primaries, but it is unlikely to change the trajectory of the contest. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley won her first contest in the Republican presidential nomination race in Washington D.C. on Sunday. Her triumph in the D.C. primary breaks rival Donald Trump's sweep of the Republican presidential voting contests. In the US electoral system, voters head to the polls for either primaries or caucuses depending on the state they live, to elect a candidate for the presidential election. The presidential nominees are then declared during conventions held later in the year. The general election takes place on November 5.  Haley wins D.C. ahead of Super Tuesday The former United Nations ambassador has pledged to stay in the race at least through Super Tuesday this week, when 15 states and one US territory will vote. Trump has a commanding lead according to opinion polls in nearly all of those states. Trump won the most delegates in the eight early-voting states in January and February and is poised to rack up more delegates on Super Tuesday. To win the Republican nomination for the presidential election ballot in November, a candidate needs to secure at least 1,215 delegates. In Washington D.C., Haley won 62.9% of the vote, while Trump garnered 33.2%. Because Haley won more than half of the votes, she won all 19 delegates that were up for grabs, but is still a long way off winning the party's nomination. Republicans in Washington reject Trump "It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos," Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement. Haley was the first woman to win a Republican primary in US history, her campaign said. Washington is one of the most heavily Democratic jurisdictions in the nation, with only about 23,000 registered Republicans in the city. The capital's moderate set of Republicans, many of whom work in politics, are vastly different from those in other states. They believed that Washington could represent Haley's best chance to win a primary. Trump's campaign issued a statement shortly after Haley's victory sarcastically congratulating her on being named "Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and D.C. insiders that want to protect the failed status quo." Though Haley faces near-impossible odds in her quest to win the Republican nomination, her win will likely inoculate her from criticisms that she is not able to win a single primary. Some Republicans, however, will see her popularity in Washington as a negative. Many party leaders, including Trump, portray the city as one that is run by elites out of touch with their voters.

Paolo Garbisi's injury-time penalty hit the post as Italy were denied a first Six Nations victory in France. The fly-half looked set to seal the historic win until the ball fell off the tee, which resulted in a rushed attempt due to the shot clock. Ange Capuozzo's late try and Garbisi's difficult conversion had drawn Italy level against the 14-man hosts. Centre Jonathan Danty saw his high tackle upgraded to a red card during a half-time review. The 31-year-old made direct head-on-head contact with Juan Ignacio Brex in an upright tackle at the end of a frustrating first half for the French. The hosts dominated early on and scored the opening try through Charles Ollivon but lacked accuracy throughout. The Azzurri, who have beaten France twice in Rome during the Six Nations, remained in touch thanks to penalties from Martin Page-Relo and Garbisi. Despite having an extra player for the entire second half, Italy never threatened until the closing stages when history was in sight. The draw means Italy's victory in Cardiff two years ago remains their only championship win in their last 45 attempts.   Source: BBC

Yashasvi Jaiswal hit an unbeaten double century to help India to its biggest-ever win Sunday, crushing England by 434 runs in the third Test to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Chasing 557 for victory, England's batting fell like a pack of cards with the loss of eight wickets in the final session to be dismissed for 122 on day four in Rajkot. "In Test cricket... when you're playing well you have to make it big," Jaiswal told broadcasters after the stunning win. "Test cricket is hard, but I thought that when I'm in there, I need to give my 100 percent," he said. Ravindra Jadeja got Mark Wood out for 33 as the final wicket -- and his fifth -- and he kissed the pitch as India registered their greatest win in terms of runs. It was England's second-biggest Test loss since their 562-run defeat to Australia in 1934. England lost their openers, including first-innings centurion Ben Duckett run out on four, before tea and Jadeja then rattled the middle-order with his left-arm spin. Jadeja was named player of the match for his seven wickets in the Test and 112 with the bat in the first innings. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root extended their poor run in the five-match series, out for four and seven respectively. Skipper Ben Stokes attempted to resist the Indian bowling but fell lbw to left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav for 15 in his 100th Test. "We're 2-1 down in the series but still have two games left," Stokes said. "We leave this game behind -- know we've got to win the next two to win the series." 'Bat till the end' The left-handed Jaiswal stood out with his 214 off 236 balls to flay the opposition attack before India declared their second innings on 430-4. The opener returned to bat in the morning session after he retired hurt on 104 late on day three due to back pain. "Today when I came, I wanted to make sure that I take the game forward and bat till the end," Jaiswal said. He raised his second double ton in consecutive matches with a single off Root and jumped for joy. Jaiswal hit a record-equalling 12 sixes in his knock, which included three straight hits over the fence off James Anderson -- a first for the veteran quick who has 696 wickets in 185 Tests. Jaiswal now stands level with former Pakistan great Wasim Akram, who also hit 12 sixes in an innings against Zimbabwe in 1996. He put on marathon stands that included an unbeaten 172-run partnership with debutant Sarfaraz Khan, who made 68 for his second half-century of the match. The 22-year-old Jaiswal, who hit a match-winning 209 in the second Test, remains the leading batsman in the series with 545 runs. Indian bowlers set up victory after they bowled England out for 319 in the first innings, after the tourists' batting collapsed from 299-5 despite the absence of star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Saturday. Ashwin, who left the Test midway on day two due to a family emergency hours after taking his 500th Test wicket, returned to the field and got his 501st wicket on the fourth day. Off-spinner Ashwin, 37, became only the ninth bowler in Test history and the second Indian after fellow spinner Anil Kumble (619) to reach 500 wickets. Skipper Rohit Sharma's 131 and his 204-run stand with the left-handed Jadeja steered India to 445 in the first innings after they elected to bat. England won the opener by 28 runs but India bounced back in the second match. The fourth Test starts on Friday in Ranchi. Source: BSS

West Indies recruit Kyle Mayers came up with a stellar allround performance in his first match in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as Fortune Barishal bolstered playoffs hopes, cruising Sylhet Strikers past by 18 runs at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.    Mayers contributed 31 ball-48 with three fours and as many sixes in batting before claiming 3-12 in bowling to script Barishal's sixth victory in 10 matches, which propelled them to third spot in the point table behind Rangpur Riders and Comilla Victorians.    Sylhet with six points are still in the race mathematically but their chances looked almost over.   After deciding to bat first, Barishal put up 183-6 with Mushfiqur Rahim playing team-high 52, apart from Mayers' 48.   Mayers however sliced middle order, which was key in reducing Sylhet to 40-6 in 9.4 overs. Benny Howell and Ariful Haque then hit fluent fifties and shared a 108-run, the highest for seventh wicket in BPL history, but that still proved to be insufficient.   Howell's 32 ball-53 was laced with five fours and two sixes while Ariful smote five fours and four sixes in his 57 off 31.   Mayers dealt a double strike in the first over of the innings, as he removed Harry Tector and Najmul Hossain Shanto, both for duck, much to the despair of Sylhet, who needed to win this match badly to keep them in the race.    Mayers then also took the wicket of skipper Mithun for 10 while spinners Kashav Maharaj and Mehidy Hasan Miraz further caused the damage with the wicket of Angelo Perera and Ryan Burul.   Howell and Ariful raised the prospect of unlikely victory before Barishal bowler held the nerve to seal the deal.   Barishal were slumped to 65-3, losing skipper Tamim Iqbal (19), Ahmed Shehzad (17) and Soumya Sarkar (8) inside the ninth over.   Mayers and Mushfiqur Rahim thereafter put on 84-run for the fourth wicket to lay a solid platform. Mushfiqur hit three fours and four sixes and provided the late impetus with Miraz (15) after Mayers was dismissed.    Tanzim Hasan Sakib claimed 3-48 for Sylhet.   Source: BSS

Over 100 million people were eligible to vote, but the country is still reeling from a deadly bomb blast in Balochistan on the eve of the election. DW has the latest.   More than 128 million voters were registered  Key issues included the economic crisis, security issues and the power of the military The projected front-runner is former Premier Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League Former Prime Minister Imran Khan was barred from running At least 26 people were killed in a bomb blast in Balochistan on the eve of the election   Pakistan counts votes, electoral commission demands results Pakistan's vote count following their national election on Thursday was marred by delays, leading the Election Commission of Pakistan on Friday moring to order returning officers to speed up the release of results. By 3 a.m. local time (2200 GMT, Thursday), more than 10 hours after polls closed, only four provincial assembly results had been announced. The delay has been blamed on "internet problems" after the closure by authorities of internet and phone access during the day. The Interior Ministry said communications outages were "to maintain law and order" after two explosions on Wednesday by the "Islamic State" killed 28 people.  Polls predicted a low turnout from the country's 128 million eligible voters.   

Fortune Barishal won against Rangpur Riders in the third match of the Bangladesh Premier League. Barishal defeated Rangpur by 5 wickets with 5 balls remaining at Mirpur in the capital Dhaka on Saturday. For Fortune Barishal, Tamim Iqbal scored the highest 35 runs, Mushfiqur Rahim 26, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 26, Mahmudullah 19 and Shoaib Malik 17.   Earlier, Rangpur Riders posted a 135-run target, with Shamim Hasan scoring 34, Mehedi Hasan 29, Nurul Hasan 23 each.   The 10th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League began on Friday. Seven teams - Comilla Victorians, Durdanto Dhaka, Fortune Barishal, Rangpur Riders, Sylhet Strikers, Chattogram Challengers and Khulna Tigers are competing in the T20 tournament.

Left-arm spinner Nahid Hasan scripted a history by becoming the first Bangladesh woman cricketer to win the ICC 'Player of the Month' award for her brilliant performance in November. She beat compatriot Fargana Hoque and Pakistan's Sadia Iqbal to achieve the accolade. "This is a moment to cherish," a highly elated Nahid described her reaction after winning the award. "To be recognised by such a distinguished panel of cricket experts means a lot and winning the ICC Women Player of the Month award will be a massive source of inspiration and motivation for me." Nahida Akter achieved the Player of the Month crown after tearing through opposition batters in her side's closely fought victory over Pakistan in Mirpur last month.   The first ODI encounter of the series saw Akter claim three wickets for 30 with a consistent spell of pressure bowling. With Pakistan chasing down a lowly 82 for victory, the spinner kept the contest competitive, claiming the wickets of Sidra Ameen, Bismah Maroof and Aliya Riaz to trouble the tourists in their charge to victory.   A quieter second match followed before she once more starred in the decisive third fixture. A superb economical 10-over spell produced three wickets for 26 runs as the tourists stumbled to 166 for nine in their 50 overs, laying the foundations for Akter's teammates to seal the series with the bat in a seven-wicket victory.   Nahida claimed the Player of the Series accolade after having taken seven wickets at an impressive average of 14.14 across the three matches.   "We have played some amazing cricket in recent months and I am so happy to have contributed to the successes we have tasted as a team. I must thank my captain, coaches and teammates for always believing in me and that has allowed me to play my natural game against quality opponents and perform under pressure," she added.   The 23-year-old is already the highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in Women's T20Is and the third-highest in ODIs.   Meanwhile, Australia opener Travis won the 'Player of the Month' award in Men's category after his performance in semifinal and final played a key role in helping Australia win the ICC Cricket World Cup for the record sixth time. Source: BSS

A dream debut by Matthew Forde helped guide the West Indies to a series-clinching four-wicket win over England in the decisive third and final match of their One-Day International series at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday. In a rain-affected encounter, the 21-year-old Barbadian delighted the few home supporters among a majority English audience with figures of three for 29 as the tourists were restricted to 206 for nine off 40 overs after being put in. Then, with the West Indies stuttering at 135 for six in pursuit of a revised target of 188 off 34 overs, Forde (13 not out) joined Romario Shepherd (41 not out) in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 56 to take the Caribbean team to their first ODI series triumph over England for 16 years and their first at home against these opponents for 25 years. "This is a dream come true," said an overwhelmed Forde, who was named Man of the Match, in reflecting on his contribution. "The wicket was a bit tacky so it was just about bowling the right line and length. And when I came in to bat, it was just about turning over the strike and getting Sheppy on strike as often as possible." Brought into the team in place of Oshane Thomas and given use of the new ball, the hometown boy claimed wickets in his first two overs and added a third in his fifth to put England immediately on the back foot. Ben Duckett offered the only substantial resistance with a pugnacious innings of 71, getting meaningful support from Liam Livingstone (45) in a stand of 88 for the sixth wicket after they had slumped to 49 for five in the tenth over. Forde removed Phil Salt to a low catch at mid-off and then had Zak Crawley taken at second slip. He added the wicket of the other opener, Phil Jacks, two overs later via a wicketkeeper's catch. Jacks was almost the unlikely hero for England with the ball, taking three wickets for 22 runs, including topscorer Keacy Carty for 50, to seem to tilt the balance of the match in his side's favour. - A few short - However Jacks and the other slow bowling options Rehan Ahmed and Liam Livingstone could not separate the pair of Shepherd and Forde and when 24 runs were smashed off returning seamer Gus Atkinson in the 30th over, the result was effectively sealed. "We were a few short with the bat," said England captain Jos Buttler in reflecting on the loss. "We fought hard with the ball but it just wasn't enough. This is the start of a long journey for this side. Hopefully we can build something for the future." For West Indies captain Shai Hope, who took the Man of the Series award with a tally of 192 runs at an average of 96 across the three matches, both the result and the contributions of younger players were encouraging. "It's great to see these other guys chipping in with the bat and as long as we continue in this vein it can develop into a very good batting group," he said.   Source: BSS