Lionel Messi scored twice and created another for Sergio Busquets as Inter Miami beat Nashville 3-1 on Saturday to maintain top spot in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference.   Miami suffered an early setback when their defender Franco Negri deflected a corner from Daniel Lovitz into his own net in just the second minute of the game at Chase Stadium. Gerardo Martino's team have now failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 11 games and it could have been worse when three minutes later Josh Bauer blasted a shot against the bar.   But Messi soon had Miami on level terms -- the Argentine set free by a clever flick from Diego Gomez saw a shot parried out by Nashville keeper Elliot Panicco, but after Luis Suarez directed the loose ball back to him Messi slotted home to make it 1-1 in the 11th minute.   Two minutes later, Messi took advantage of some sloppy play from Nashville but his low right-foot shot came out off the post.   Everything Miami was creating was coming through Messi, who flashed a snapshot wide before moments later whipping in a cross for a Gomez header which was saved by Panicco's feet.   Six minutes before the interval, Messi's former Barcelona team-mate Busquets found the net for the first time in MLS, meeting the World Cup winner's corner with a fine glancing header at the near post.   But there was a blow for the home side just before the break when Paraguay international Gomez was stretchered off with an ankle injury, the latest in a series of injuries for Miami.   His replacement, Brazilian born youngster Leonardo Afonso, had the ball in the net but his effort was ruled out for offside.   Nashville came out strongly after the break but despite dominating possession for the opening 20 minutes of the half, they had little to show for their efforts other than a couple of off-target long-range efforts from German Hany Mukhtar.      Nine minutes from the end, Miami were able to put the game to bed when Afonso was ruled to have been brought down inside the box by Bauer and Messi slotted home the penalty. The goal was Messi's ninth goal in as many games in all competitions this season for Miami.   Martino was unhappy with the way his team had started so slowly.   "Regardless of how fortunate their goal was, we didn't start well in the first few minutes. They were more focused, more intense, they handled the ball better, they pressed," he said.   "There are a lot of things we need to correct, but I'd like to do it with the full squad. We have seven or eight players out which is a lot in a league as strict as MLS with the roster and budget issues," he said.   Miami have 18 points from their opening 10 games and Martino said that was a decent return considering the depleted squad he is working with.   "All this happens to us and we have still collected 18 points, which is significantly more than last year at this stage, we will be looking to accumulate points now so that the second part of the year is not as demanding and dramatic as last year," he said, referring to the ill-fated late chase for a playoff place.   Elsewhere in MLS on Saturday, champions Columbus Crew had to come from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw with Phil Neville's Portland Timbers.   The leveller came in the 74th minute via a superbly struck long-range blast from French full-back Steven Moreira.   Last season's regular season table toppers Cincinnati claimed an impressive 2-1 win at Atlanta United despite falling behind to a lovely, curling shot from Argentine midfielder Thiago Almada in the 59th minute.   The lead lasted just three minutes as reigning MLS Most Valuable Player Luciano Acosta led Cincy on a counter-attack and fed compatriot Luca Orellano to level.   Acosta completed a crazy five minutes when he grabbed the winner, tapping in after he was picked out by DeAndre Yedlin.   Source: BSS

Khaled Mahmud Sujon, the head coach of Abahani Limited believes the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) decision to bring back Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League (IPL) is right one because the ‘country comes first’ always.  Mustafizur is currently playing for Chennai Super Kings where he has been the form of his life, taking 10 wickets in five matches. Initially he was given NOC until April 30 but the BCB extended it by one day, just to give him the opportunity to play CSK’s match on May 1.  He thereafter would have to return to the country to play the five-match T20 series against Zimbabwe at home.  "What I believe at the end of the day is that the country should come first always," Mahmud said after Abahani's match against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium today.  "Had he (Mustafizur) played the whole IPL, I would have been happy. There would've been no issues if the national team didn't have any series. Now, some may argue that the New Zealand cricketers are staying back for the IPL. But you have to understand that they have no shortage of players. We don't have 10-12 bowlers like Mustafizur, we need to keep that in mind as well.”  According to Mahmud, BCB has taken the correct decision to call back Mustafizur from the IPL even though it’s not uncommon for the cricket boards around the world to allow their players to play IPL, instead of International cricket.  Yesterday, the chairman of the cricket operations of BCB Jalal Younus hogged the headline by saying that Mustafizur had nothing to learn by playing in the IPL. Mahmud differed with his statement but said that Younus might have tried to mean it in other sense.   "You can learn from everywhere. I think maybe he [Jalal] didn't mean it like that. He probably tried to mean that Mustafizur has been playing for many years, he is not a young pacer like Tanzim Hasan Sakib. He is already a very big name in world cricket. He probably meant it from that angle. The young Indian pacers can learn from Mustafizur, that's what he meant."  Mahmud also believes that Bangladesh might give Mustafizur rest in the first two T20s against Zimbabwe in a bid to manage his workload.  "Bangladesh indeed need not Mustafizur’s service to beat Zimbabwe. Jalal vai also spoke about Mustafizur's workload management. Mustafizur might not even play in the first two matches."  Source: BSS  

It is only a matter of time until Hardik Pandya hits form in the IPL, warned Kieron Pollard, saying he was "sick and fed up" of the flak levelled at the all-rounder. Pandya has been booed incessantly since replacing veteran Rohit Sharma as captain of five-time champions the Mumbai Indians for the current edition of the Twenty20 tournament. With the 30-year-old Pandya again failing to fire with bat and ball, Mumbai slumped to their fourth loss in six games this term when they faced Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. Mumbai batting coach Pollard gave his full support afterwards to Pandya, who captained Gujarat to the IPL title in 2022 and is expected to be a key player for India at the T20 World Cup in June. "I am sick and fed up of (people) looking to pinpoint individuals," Pollard said after Mumbai's 20-run loss at their Wankhede Stadium. "Cricket is a team game at the end of the day. "This is an individual that is going to represent the country in less than six weeks' time, and all are going to cheer him and want him to do well." Pandya leaked 26 runs in the final over of Chennai's innings including three straight sixes by M.S. Dhoni. The all-rounder then scored just two with the bat in the hosts' unsuccessful chase of 207. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was scathing. "Absolutely ordinary bowling, ordinary captaincy," he told Star Sports. Pandya has been under the cosh ever since returning to Mumbai from Gujarat and taking over the captaincy from the much-loved Rohit. Rohit, 36, who leads India in all formats, is an icon in Mumbai after leading them to five IPL titles.   Source: BSS 

The sacred flame for the Paris 2024 Olympics is to be lit Tuesday in ancient Olympia, birthplace of the ancient Games, for an epic torch relay stretching from the Acropolis to the South Pacific. Hundreds of dignitaries and spectators are expected to attend the ritual in the small Peloponnese town in southwestern Greece where the Olympics were born in 776 BCE, and where the ceremony is held every two years for the summer and winter Olympics. For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic imposed toned-down events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Games, spectators will be able to attend the torch relay events. At a rehearsal Monday, Greek actress Mary Mina brought the Olympic flame into life with the help of a parabolic polished mirror before handing it to the first torch bearer, 2020 Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos. It will be used as a backup in case overcast skies forecast for Tuesday prevent the mirror from producing flame. The ceremony will be conducted at the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach heading the list of dignitaries. French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will also be present. "We hear nature, the rustling of the leaves, there is a sacred silence," Artemis Ignatiou, the choreographer and artistic director of the Olympic flame ceremony, told state TV ERT about the ceremony's dance performance. "There are moments when we feel as if we are hovering above the ground. It's like travelling back in time," she said. American mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato is to deliver the Olympic anthem. The torch harks back to the ancient Olympics when a sacred flame burned throughout the Games. The tradition was revived in 1936 for the Berlin Games. Retired French swimmer Laure Manaudou, who won a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, is strongly tipped to be France's first torchbearer in Olympia, according to sources in Greece. During the 11-day relay on Greek soil, some 600 torchbearers will carry the flame over a distance of 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) through 41 municipalities. Carried by ship The Olympic flame will be handed over to Paris 2024 organisers in a ceremony at the all-marble Panathenaic Stadium, site of the first modern Olympic Games of 1896, on April 26. Nana Mouskouri, the 89-year-old Greek singer with a worldwide following, has been invited to perform at the ceremony. On April 27, the flame will begin its journey to France on board the 19th-century three-masted barque Belem, which was launched just weeks after the Athens 1896 Games. A French historical monument, the Belem carried out trade journeys to Brazil, Guyana and the Caribbean for nearly two decades. France's last surviving three-mast steel-hulled boat, it is expected to arrive in Marseille on May 8. Ten thousand torchbearers will then carry the flame across 64 French territories. It will travel through 400 towns and dozens of tourist attractions during its 12,000-kilometre (7,500-mile) journey through mainland France and overseas French territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific. On July 26 it will form the centrepiece of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on the river Seine -- the first time it has not been held in the Games' main stadium.   Source: BSS

Chelsea face a huge challenge to avoid breaching Premier League sustainability rules after posting an £ 89.8 million ($112 million) loss for the 2022/23 season. The Blues' wage bill soared to over œ 400 million last season, while they splashed out £ 745 million on transfer fees. But that investment in the club's first full season under an American investment consortium fronted by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly failed to deliver success on the field. Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League last season despite having the second highest wage bill, behind only English champions Manchester City. Mauricio Pochettino's men currently sit ninth in the table this season despite a further £ 454 million being spent on new players since June 30, 2023. Chelsea's losses were mitigated by the sale of a hotel for £ 76.3m to the club's parent company BlueCo. Figures for the current season are likely to be even worse as Chelsea are not involved in European football. A run to the Champions League quarter-finals last season was worth around £ 83 million. Football Association figures released on Friday also showed the west London club have spent a Premier League record £ 75 million on agents' fees alone this season. Chelsea are likely to have to raise significant sums from selling players before the end of June to avoid falling foul of the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules (PSR). Premier League clubs are allowed to lose a maximum of £ 105 million across a three-year assessment period. Chelsea posted a £ 121 million loss in the 2021/22 season. Everton have been deducted a total of eight points on two separate charges and Nottingham Forest docked four points for breaches of PSR this season.   Source: BSS

Mexican side Monterrey sent Lionel Messi and Inter Miami crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday after completing a 5-2 aggregate victory in their quarter-final clash.   Goals from Brandon Vazquez, German Berterame and Jesus Gallardo sealed a deserved 3-1 win on the night for the Liga-MX side, who advance to a semi-final with Major League Soccer champions Columbus.   Trailing 2-1 after last week's first leg in Florida, Inter Miami recalled Argentine superstar Messi to their starting line-up for the first time since his near-month-long injury absence.   But the presence of the eight-time Ballon D'Or winner was not enough to inspire Inter against a Monterrey side who looked far sharper in all departments.   Inter goalkeeper Drake Callender was forced into action early on, saving smartly after a bullet header by Monterrey's US international striker Vazquez.   Messi had Miami's best chance of the first half but he shot over the bar from just inside the area on 25 minutes.   Monterrey took the lead on 31 minutes after Vazquez punished a howler from Callender.   The goalkeeper miscued an attempted pass to Sergio Busquets and found Vazquez just yards from the Miami goal.   The American coolly picked his spot, sent Callender the wrong way and tucked away the finish.   Inter Miami created little of note thereafter, with Messi's former Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez rightly having a goal disallowed for offside in first-half stoppage time.   On 58 minutes, Monterrey left Miami with a mountain to climb with a fantastic strike from their own Argentine striker Berterame.   After crisp approach play, Berterame jinked clear of his marker on the edge of the area and crashed a thunderous strike into the top corner.   Six minutes later Berterame turned provider, chipping a cross to an unmarked Gallardo, who buried a perfectly timed header past Callender.   A miserable night for Miami ended in acrimony on 78 minutes when former Barcelona defender Jordi Alba was sent off after picking up his second yellow card for a stamp on Gallardo.   Diego Gomez nodded in a late consolation goal for Miami from Messi's inviting free-kick on 85 minutes but it was too little too late for the MLS club.   The CONCACAF Champions Cup is the premier regional club competition for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with the winner of this year's tournament earning a place at next year's expanded FIFA Club World Cup.   Mexican clubs have dominated the Champions Cup since Guadalajara won the first edition in 1962, lifting the trophy 38 times. Source: BSS  

Despite a 2-0 series defeat against Sri Lanka in the ICC World Test Championship, several Bangladeshi batters have shown progress in the latest ICC Men's Test Player Rankings. ICC released a new ranking update recently . Opener Zakir Hasan, who scored of 54 and 19, has climbed three places to reach the 75th position in the Test batting rankings. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, known for his all-round abilities, has also moved up the rankings, jumping from 99th to 88th position after a 81 not out in the second innings of the Chattogram Test. Another notable gain comes from Mominul Haque, who has moved up four slots to reach the 46th position after scoring 83 runs in two innings he played. The series also saw significant movements for Sri Lankan players, with all-rounder Kamindu Mendis and former captain Angelo Mathews making notable gains in both batting and bowling rankings. Sri Lanka's bowlers Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, and Lahiru Kumara also improved their positions following strong performances in the series.