USWNT 2026 TV schedule: Fixtures, results, live stream & how to watch the U.S. women's team

A complete guide to the United States' year, including fixtures in qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup

Editor's pick

Peacock

Peacock are the home of all USWNT friendlies including their upcoming games against Brazil.

DVR capabilities: No

Simultaneous streams: 3

Free trial: No

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$7.99

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Sling TV

Sling offers customers access to both truTV (Sling Blue) and TNT (Sling Blue & Sling Orange) as well as Telemundo for Spanish commentary coverage.

DVR capabilities: 50hrs – Unlimited

Simultaneous streams: 1 – 3

Free trial: No

Monthly from

$40

Get Sling TVEditor's pick

Peacock

Peacock are the home of all USWNT friendlies including their upcoming games against Brazil.

DVR capabilities: No

Simultaneous streams: 3

Free trial: No

Monthly from

$7.99

Get PeacockBest flexibility

Sling TV

Sling offers customers access to both truTV (Sling Blue) and TNT (Sling Blue & Sling Orange) as well as Telemundo for Spanish commentary coverage.

DVR capabilities: 50hrs – Unlimited

Simultaneous streams: 1 – 3

Free trial: No

Monthly from

$40

Get Sling TVEditor's pick

Peacock

Peacock are the home of all USWNT friendlies including their upcoming games against Brazil.

DVR capabilities: No

Simultaneous streams: 3

Free trial: No

Monthly from

$7.99

Get PeacockBest flexibility

Sling TV

Sling offers customers access to both truTV (Sling Blue) and TNT (Sling Blue & Sling Orange) as well as Telemundo for Spanish commentary coverage.

DVR capabilities: 50hrs – Unlimited

Simultaneous streams: 1 – 3

Free trial: No

Monthly from

$40

Get Sling TV

The United States women's national team entered a new era in 2024, with Emma Hayes making an immediate impact on a group in need of exactly that. Within weeks of starting her new job, the former Chelsea boss guided the U.S. to Olympic gold, sending a message to the rest of the women's game as a new World Cup cycle begins.

The four-time world champion suffered its earliest Women's World Cup exit in Australia in 2023 and Vlatko Andonovski left his role as head coach as a result. It's been a delight for the nation to see the team return to a title-winning level so soon, then. Now, with plenty of time until the next major tournament, the 2027 Women's World Cup, Hayes can focus on developing this exciting young generation of players, ensuring they are ready to challenge for the World Cup.

GOAL has everything you need to know about the USWNT's schedule, its fixtures and results and how to watch the team in 2026…

ImagnWhat fixtures has the USWNT had in 2025?

The USWNT's first fixtures of 2025 came at the SheBelieves Cup, where it won twice but was ultimately beaten to the trophy by an impressive Japan team in a tournament that also featured Australia and Colombia. In April, Hayes' side took on another top international side when it welcomed Brazil for a double-header and two rematches of the 2024 Olympic final. The wins were split, there.

The U.S. continued has continued its winning into the summer months, with China, Jamaica, Ireland and Canada all beaten in recent outings.

AdvertisementWhat is on the USWNT's schedule in 2025?

The USWNT has five fixtures on its schedule for the remainder of the year, with a double-header against Portugal set to take place in late October before a clash with New Zealand follows. Hayes' side will then take on Italy in two friendlies in the last international break of 2025.

How to watch the USWNT in 2025

The rights to broadcast the USWNT are the same as the men’s team and are split across several networks. For English-speaking viewers, the rights are held by Warner Bros and Discovery Sports, with every game live on Peacock and Max (formerly HBO Max). Approximately 50 per cent of games are also shown live across the TNT Sports channels.

Turner channels are available through streaming services like Sling TV and DirecTV Stream.

For Spanish-speaking viewers, the rights are currently with Telemundo Deportes, which streams games on Peacock, Telemundo and Universo.

Find out more about the best packages to watch the USWNT here.

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Getty ImagesWhat is on the USWNT's schedule in 2026?

U.S. Soccer has already announced one fixture for the USWNT in 2026, that which will see the reigning Olympic champion take on Paraguay during its January training camp. Five official international breaks will follow that fixture, including the November window in which the U.S. will participate in the CONCACAF W Championship. The top four teams in that tournament will qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup, with two more places in the intercontinental play-off tournament also up for grabs.

When South Africa and India went off the scale

A remarkable ODI played out in Raipur when conditions, injuries and two teams who did not want to give up went head-to-head

Alagappan Muthu04-Dec-20254:31

Gaikwad: I decided I’d try to be consistent in any game this year

Arshdeep Singh didn’t look back. He had done his bit – secured a false shot from Quinton de Kock – and just kept on jogging through. Wake up babe, a new celebrappeal just dropped.A few hours later, the India left-arm quick coaxed another mis-hit. And this time he whipped right round to see if the catch would be taken. On his face was a rare kind of anxiety. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was just north of seeing three dots appearing and disappearing while texting your crush.Arshdeep was on his haunches when Ruturaj Gaikwad did his part and ended Marco Jansen’s stay at the wicket. This game was no longer fun.Signs of South Africa going on to complete the joint-highest chase by any team against India in India began to show up in the 28th over. Rohit Sharma spent more time in Harshit Rana’s ear than at mid-off where he was supposed to field. In the 30th over, he went up to Rohan Pandit, who was making a big step up on Wednesday, umpiring in an India ODI for the first time. Those other four matches in Dubai between USA, UAE and Nepal can’t have possibly prepared him to deal with one of the biggest names in cricket expressing abject displeasure about the condition of the ball.Related

  • Ruturaj Gaikwad: 'I was pretty much confident' of batting at No. 4

  • Belief surges for South Africa as Markram makes amends in style

  • Rahul: Toss plays a 'huge part' and 'making a huge difference' with dew

  • Markram ton trumps Kohli, Gaikwad centuries for nervy win

  • Stats – Kohli with back-to-back tons again; SA ace record chase

Pandit went to Rod Tucker, who officiated the 2019 World Cup final, for a little help and he had zero sympathy for India’s plight. Even when India did eventually get a drier Kookaburra, it was whacked straight out of the ground. This game was now just cruel. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was just short of doing a simple stretch at the gym and hearing a very loud rip.”Even scoring 350 is very difficult when batting first,” Gaikwad said at the post-match presentation. “There’s moisture in the wicket in the first ten overs and the ball doesn’t come onto the bat that well. After 34 overs, there’s only one ball and the wicket also slows down, so it’s not easy to hit.We scored 350 in the last match, 360 in this match, so there’s an improvement of ten runs. Any more improvement you probably cannot pre-decide. You can think you will score 380-400, but the opposition is also good, they have got good bowlers. So you cannot have that gameplan.”Conditions did change, as Gaikwad said. The toss did matter, as KL Rahul said. Dew made run-scoring easier, as Aiden Markram said. But through it all an Indian side without Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj kept fighting. A South African side also skewered by injury refused to go away. Tony de Zorzi actually thought he could get the last 31 runs off 31 balls on one functioning leg. One attempt, hopping between the wickets, showed that though he was brave he was being foolish. He ended up watching the rest of the chase from the dugout, still kitted from head to toe.”I feel at phases we bowled really well,” Gaikwad said. “I think first 10-15 overs we bowled really well but after that there was obviously huge amount of dew and because of that the spinners were slightly out of the game and I think after that I feel every South African batter who ever came in chipped really well, played really well. So I think lot of credit goes to them, they batted really well and hats off to them.” He left out the part where the match-winner who went on to make 110 was dropped on 53.Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram were crucial in South Africa’s series-levelling win•BCCIUntil Wednesday, there had only been seven successful chases of even 300-plus scores against India in India. Keeping it there required an enormous effort from the hosts. Some of them came away a little worse for wear. Prasidh Krishna, whose role in the middle overs is to hit the deck, wasn’t getting any purchase. Still the team insisted that he keep trying and he would now hope they see his figures – 15.4 overs for 133 runs – with some leniency.South Africa running down 359 required a lot of composure. By the end, there were echoes of not one but two hall-of-fame finishes. The equation reading 27 off 30 took the mind back to Bridgetown. Keshav Maharaj’s appearance with the series on the line punched a hole straight through to Chennai 2023. The man still has ice in his veins. He was leaving balls in the 48th over, confident in his judgment that Rana’s bouncers were too high and would be called wide.In these situations, Indian cricket grounds become impossible engines. The silence in them turns deafening. This game – sandwiched between a seminal Test series result and T20 World Cup prep – had no business being this dramatic. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was everything.

Bumrah's magic seals opening-day honours for India

It was pitches in 2015-16, it was the tosses in 2019-20, but India took the pitch and the toss out of the equation in dismissing South Africa for 159 on the first day of the 2025-26 series. The visitors won the toss on a decent batting surface at Eden Gardens, raced away to 57 for 0 in 10 overs, but then became victims of Jasprit Bumrah’s 16th five-wicket haul and excellent support work from Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj. India, with a new No. 3 in Washington Sundar, were 37 for 1 in 20 overs possible before stumps.Guilty of playing too little bowling in the past, India went in with six of them as Washington moved to No. 3, making room for Axar Patel in the XI. For a while, as Siraj struggled for rhythm and Axar was taken down, it seemed India would need all the bowling they could muster.However, Bumrah had been excellent at the other end. Out of those 57, he had conceded only nine runs in five overs. He pushed himself for two more overs in that first spell, and produced two near unplayable deliveries. He went round the wicket to swing one in to Ryan Rickelton and then nip it away a touch to take the off stump. In his next over, he got Aiden Markram with one that kicked off a length. Bumrah ended his spell with figures of 7-4-9-2 out of a score of 62 for 2.Related

  • Captain Bavuma pursues the final piece of his validation

  • Rib injury sidelines Rabada from first Test

  • India enter bold new era with four-spinner strategy

It might not have been an unplayable pitch, but it had enough to keep bowlers interested. Kuldeep found that with some quick turn in his first spell. Accordingly, he and Shubman Gill went for a backward short leg as opposed to one in front of square. In no time he had Temba Bavuma edging one there for a sharp catch for Dhruv Jurel, who handed over the big gloves to the returning Rishabh Pant but retained his spot in the XI on the back of a century against West Indies and two against South Africa A.Tony de Zorzi and Wiaan Mulder somehow saw South Africa through to lunch, but immediately after they had to face the double trouble of Bumrah and Kuldeep. In just six overs, both had been sent back for an addition of just 15. Mulder, who got off the mark with a reverse-sweep off Kuldeep, fell lbw on the same shot for 24. De Zorzi got a similar delivery to the one that Rickelton did, but this one nipped in and beat him on the inside edge.The ball had just started to reverse for Bumrah, and Siraj took over to continue the nightmare for South Africa. Kyle Verrreynne’s big back lift was always an invitation for Siraj, who eventually hit him pad first right in front. In the same over, he hit the top of off of Marco Jansen.Axar Patel, 3-0-20-0 in his first spell, now returned to find some turn. With his long arms and low release creating an extreme angle, Axar becomes dangerous once he gets one to turn. He now had Corbin Bosch playing for the non-existent turn and had him lbw with what proved to be the last ball before tea.Jasprit Bumrah is congratulated by his team-mates after completing his five-for•Getty Images

Tristan Stubbs, the specialist batter, didn’t farm strike and left the two spinners Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj at the mercy of Bumrah, who had them both in one over to go level with BS Chandrasekhar on five-fors and into India’s top five. It consigned South Africa to their second-lowest score against India in the first innings of a match.Batting wasn’t quite straightforward for India either, which is where South Africa dearly missed Kagiso Rabada, who was out with a rib injury. In fading east Indian light, Jansen was on the money but couldn’t quite find the length with which he could threaten the stumps. He still got the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal on the cut.KL Rahul and Washington had to be watchful with little to gain really. In the brief period of spin possible, Maharaj came close to bowling Rahul, and Harmer showed he was a much-improved bowler from the one that toured India in 2015-16. That Bumrah five-for began to look even more important with a few puffs of dust towards the end of the day.

مواعيد مباريات برشلونة في شهر ديسمبر 2025.. تعزيز صدارة الليجا

يستعد فريق برشلونة، بقيادة المدرب هانز فليك، لخوض عدة مباريات في إطار منافسات بطولة الدوري الإسباني ودوري أبطال أوروبا، خلال شهر ديسمبر 2025.

ويحتل برشلونة صدارة الدوري الإسباني في الوقت الحالي برصيد 34 نقطة، بفارق نقطة واحدة فقط عن ريال مدريد صاحب المركز الثاني.

اقرأ أيضًا | هاجمه ريال مدريد.. حكم مباراة برشلونة وأتلتيكو مدريد في الدوري الإسباني

في حين أن برشلونة لديه 7 نقاط فقط ويحتل المركز الثامن عشر في جدول دوري أبطال أوروبا، مرحلة الدوري، ويواجه صعوبة بالغة في التأهل المباشر إلى دور الـ16. مواعيد مباريات برشلونة في شهر ديسمبر 2025

برشلونة وأتلتيكو مدريد، مباراة مُقدمة من الجولة التاسعة عشر من الدوري الإسباني، يوم الثلاثاء 2 ديسمبر 2025، 10 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، 11 بتوقيت السعودية.

ريال بيتيس وبرشلونة، الجولة الخامسة عشر من الدوري الإسباني، يوم السبت 6 ديسمبر 2025، 7:30 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، 8:30 بتوقيت السعودية.

برشلونة وآينتراخت فرانكفورت، الجولة السادسة من دوري أبطال أوروبا، يوم الثلاثاء 9 ديسمبر 2025، 10 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، 11 بتوقيت السعودية.

برشلونة وأوساسونا، الجولة السادسة عشر من الدوري الإسباني، يوم السبت 13 ديسمبر 2025، 7:30 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، 8:30 بتوقيت السعودية.

فياريال وبرشلونة، الجولة السابعة عشر من الدوري الإسباني، يوم الأحد 21 ديسمبر 2025، 5:15 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، 6:15 بتوقيت السعودية.

'Decisive' Leroy Sane earns Julian Nagelsmann's praise as Germany coach's controversial challenge reaps rewards from Galatasaray winger

Leroy Sane earned praise from Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann after starring in the four-time world champions' hard-fought 2-0 win over Luxembourg in a 2026 World Cup qualifying match on Friday. Nagelsmann had earlier issued a public warning to former Bayern Munich and Manchester City winger that he could lose his place in the national if he did not perform consistently.

Sane picking up form for Galatasaray

Sane, who moved to the Turkish Super Lig to join champions Galatasaray from Bayern Munich this summer, was off to a slow start in the new league but with time, he has started to adjust to the new set-up and is now slowly regaining his form. In 15 matches across all competitions in the 2025-26 campaign, the former City star has scored three goals and has as many assists. 

Speaking to recently, Sane shared about his initial struggles in Turkey, saying: "I had to settle in first. I had an adjustment period, so things didn't quite go as planned on the pitch at the beginning. I had to get to know my teammates, and they had to get to know me, how to interact on the pitch, how to play together. That took a little while. But now, in the last few games, I'm very happy with my performances and how I've played. I want to carry this momentum forward and keep going."

AdvertisementGetty Images SportNagelsmann praises Sane

After an impressive show in the World Cup qualifier on Friday – where Sane provided the assist for Nick Woltemade's opening goal before feeding Ridle Baku with a pass just outside the box from which the full-back set up the Newcastle star for his second of the night – Nagelsmann told : "He had two good actions that led to two goals. He had a few moments in the first half. He played a good game, had two decisive actions, and that's what it's all about in the end."

Sane, in turn, told the media: "I'm happy that I was able to repay Julian's trust to some extent. We had very good talks. Julian knows how I tick. That's normal, that's football, it's part of the game. I can't complain, I can only do my own thing. The World Cup is my big goal."

Nagelsmann's public warning for Sane

Sane's starring role comes in response to a public discussion around his role in the team following his decision to leave the Bundesliga for the Super Lig. National team manager Nagelsmann had warned Sane publicly that he needs to be outstanding for Galatasaray to hold on to a place in the squad. 

"If we had six or seven players to choose from in that position, then it would be significantly more difficult for him," he told reporters. "He knows that there aren't an unlimited number of opportunities to prove himself at the national team level. I told him that openly. Profile-wise, he has everything we need in that position. That's why he has this opportunity now. His scoring rate and performances have improved significantly compared to the beginning, both in the Super Lig and in the Champions League. But he still has steps to take to improve even further – both here and at the club."

Following his warning, Nagelsmann received criticism from several personalities in German football, but the 38-year-old defended himself, saying: "I didn't do this for fun. It was discussed with him. I know what he's capable of and I want him to bring what he's capable of onto the pitch. Leroy knows what is required and he also knows that there are not countless opportunities left to prove himself at the national team level, at least not under my leadership. I didn't use the phrase 'last chance' either. I said that he doesn't have countless chances anymore. That's a fact."

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Getty Images SportGermany eye World Cup berth

The 2014 World Cup winners will now aim to secure a berth in the flagship competition in North America next year. A win over Slovakia on November 17, with whom they are tied on points, would secure them a direct qualification, although a draw will also suffice as Germany have a better goal difference. 

موعد والقنوات الناقلة لمباراة الاتحاد والدحيل اليوم في دوري أبطال آسيا.. والمعلقين

يخوض فريق الاتحاد السعودي مواجهة قوية أمام نظيره الدحيل القطري، مساء اليوم الإثنين، ضمن منافسات بطولة دوري أبطال آسيا.

وتقام المباراة بين الاتحاد والدحيل على أرضية ملعب عبد الله بن خليفة بالعاصمة القطرية الدوحة، في إطار منافسات مرحلة المجموعة من دوري أبطال آسيا.

يدخل الاتحاد السعودي مواجهة الدحيل وهو يحتل المركز السادس في ترتيب مجموعته بدوري أبطال آسيا للنخبة برصيد 6 نقاط جمعها من انتصارين وخسارتين بعد مرور أربع جولات.

ويطمح الاتحاد إلى تحقيق الفوز ورفع رصيده إلى 9 نقاط، لتعزيز فرصه في المنافسة على التأهل، خصوصًا بعد النتائج المتقلبة التي شهدها خلال الفترة الماضية في البطولة القارية.​

طالع.. فيديو | الهلال يفوز على الغرافة بثنائية ويواصل تصدر دوري أبطال آسيا

أما الدحيل القطري فيدخل اللقاء محتلاً المركز السابع بالمجموعة برصيد 4 نقاط فقط، وذلك بعد فوزه في مباراة واحدة وتعادله مرة وخسارته في مباراتين، ويأمل الدحيل في الاستفادة من اللعب على أرضه وبين جماهيره. موعد مباراة الاتحاد والدحيل في دوري أبطال آسيا

تقام المباراة بين الاتحاد والدحيل، اليوم الإثنين في تمام السادسة مساء بتوقيت القاهرة، الساعة السابعة مساء بتوقيت مكة المكرمة والدوحة. القنوات الناقلة لمباراة الاتحاد والدحيل في دوري أبطال آسيا

تنقل مباراة الاتحاد والدحيل عبر قنوات ” beIN SPORTS 2 HD “، وقناة “الكأس 5”. معلقو مباراة الاتحاد والدحيل في دوري أبطال آسيا

ويتولى الثنائي المعلق حفيظ دراجي، وخالد الحدي، مهمة التعليق على أحداث المباراة.

ويُمكنكم متابعة أحداث مباريات اليوم لحظة بلحظة من مركز المباريات من هنــــا

Dhruv Jurel: too good to keep out, too good to just keep

He has made himself impossible to drop, pushing India towards the rare move of picking him as a non-keeping middle-order batter

Karthik Krishnaswamy11-Nov-2025It was clear even in January 2020 that Dhruv Jurel had big ambitions.Watch this video, produced during that year’s Under-19 World Cup in South Africa. “I just want to be a successful cricketer,” he says. “I want to play 200 Test match[es] for my India.”He seems to say these words with no thought of how outlandish they must sound coming from anyone, let alone someone who had played no senior cricket at that point. Or with no thought given to the hurdles in front of him, including Rishabh Pant, older than Jurel by only three-and-a-half years and by then already looking set for a long and extraordinary career.A year-and-a-half into his international career now, Jurel has played seven Tests, and all but one of them has come in the forced absence of Pant. This, typically, is life for the wicketkeeping understudy. Keeping is a specialist job, and for much of cricket’s history it was unusual for regular keepers to be good enough with the bat to play Test matches consistently as pure batters.Related

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Dhruv Jurel makes case for India Test spot with twin hundreds against South Africa A

It’s become a lot more common in recent times, of course, and Test teams now routinely line up with one keeper who keeps and one or even two who don’t. On Friday, South Africa are likely to line up at Eden Gardens with a keeping keeper in Kyle Verreynne and a non-keeping keeper in Ryan Rickelton.India, however, haven’t had much of a history of non-keeping Test keepers. Of the 13 India players who have kept wicket in 10 or more Tests (this weeds out specialist batters who have occasionally done the job, like Vijay Manjrekar and KL Rahul), only two have played as specialist batters in non-emergency situations (such as the crises of unavailability that led to Wriddhiman Saha’s debut and Jurel’s appearance in Perth last year): Budhi Kunderan (in three Tests, with Farokh Engineer keeping) and Dinesh Karthik (in seven, with MS Dhoni keeping).And both Kunderan and Karthik opened the batting when they played alongside another keeper. Stopgap or otherwise, and with or without the big gloves, keeper as opener is certainly an authentic Indian-cricket tradition.All this to say, then, that Jurel, against South Africa on Friday, could go where no India Test keeper with a career of any real length (sorry, Madhav Mantri and Chandrakant Pandit) has gone before: starting a Test series as a non-keeping middle-order batter, ahead of specialist contenders within the squad. And if it happens, it will happen because Jurel has made himself near-impossible to leave out.On September 15, before India A’s first unofficial Test against Australia A, Jurel had one century in 25 first-class games, and an average of 47.34. It was a record befitting his status as a keeper-batter of immense potential, but even if he had shown signs of an uncommonly good eye, technique and temperament, there was, as yet, not a lot of evidence to force India to pick him ahead of B Sai Sudharsan or Devdutt Padikkal or Sarfaraz Khan or a host of other candidates in a specialist middle-order role.Since then, Jurel has rattled off 140, 1, 56, 125, 44, 6*, 132* and 127* in five first-class games — two Tests against West Indies (in the first of which he scored that 125) sandwiched between India A matches against Australia A and South Africa A. His first-class average has jumped to 58.00.Gloves or no gloves, Dhruv Jurel has proved himself to be handy in the field•PTI How do you leave out someone with that record, in this form, who has already shown multiple times that he looks entirely at home in Test cricket? This is someone with a match-turning, Player-of-the-Match performance on a tricky, low-bounce pitch in just his second Test. Someone who, in his most recent match, scored a day-one century on a greentop against South Africa A when no other India A player — their XI included Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Padikkal and Pant — went past 24. Someone who had done the same sort of thing for India A — twin half-centuries when none of his team-mates scored one in either innings — at the MCG last year.India must have come very, very close to the conclusion that you don’t leave out such a player, in fact, and that you find any possible way to pick him. And they probably don’t have to think too long or hard about how they can do this, because there is a fairly obvious way, and a fairly obvious player to leave out.During the Tests against West Indies, Nitish Kumar Reddy looked like a luxury player India picked because they could afford to pick him — not so much for his utility for the immediate task at hand but for helping him grow into the game-changing player they believe he can become. India could afford, in that series, to pick an allrounder who is, at his present stage of development, a sixth bowler and, for all his batting promise, a No. 8 behind Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar who are far more accomplished with the bat at present.Jurel, except in one innings when India promoted Reddy to give him batting time, batted above all three allrounders during the West Indies series, and looked a natural fit in that position. Now, even with Pant back in their XI, there is every chance India will want the batting edge Jurel gives them over this current, work-in-progress version of Reddy, because South Africa’s attack is nothing like the severely depleted West Indies bowling they just faced.Kagiso Rabada is an elite fast bowler with the experience of two previous India Test tours. Keshav Maharaj is one of the world’s best fingerspinners and Simon Harmer a hugely experienced one, and both arrive with more subcontinent know-how than they did in 2019-20 and 2015-16 respectively. Senuran Muthusamy was a debutant and far more of a batter than a bowler when he last toured India, but now he’s fresh off a Player-of-the-Series performance in Pakistan.Jurel could be starting the Test series as a non-keeping middle-order batter, ahead of specialist contenders•Getty ImagesWho would you pick between Jurel and Reddy, against that attack, when you already have five bowlers?The question, however, isn’t quite as simple as that, because there’s a specialist batter in India’s squad, and that batter, Devdutt Padikkal, has been in pretty good form too, notwithstanding two lean games against South Africa A.Since his return from a hamstring injury suffered during the IPL, Padikkal has scored a 150 against Australia A and a 96 for Karnataka against Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy, and if an average of 38.40 across six first-class games in this period doesn’t look flash, there’s one mitigating factor in that he batted at No. 3 or No. 4 in all his innings, and typically faced a newer ball than Jurel had to.And if you put aside the question of current form, there’s the fact that the selectors and team management have long viewed Padikkal as the next batter in line for a middle-order role. Does a run of inspired form from another candidate change that view? And does that question become more awkward if that candidate is the reserve wicketkeeper?

“To select him now as a specialist batter in a Test XI that also includes Pant is another leap of faith, but it can’t be a particularly difficult one to make”

The answer, in normal circumstances, would be yes, it would be terribly awkward. But present circumstances are far from normal. Jurel isn’t on a random burst of inspired form; he’s showing India the run-scoring ceiling that everyone who has tracked him since his junior days has believed him capable of.Right through his career, people with a deep understanding of the game have looked at Jurel and seen a talent worth fast-tracking. Rajasthan Royals picked him in their XIs, or as an Impact Player, when they already had two keeper-batters as good as Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler, and did this when he had only played three previous T20 games.When he was first picked for India A, Jurel had only played 12 first-class games, and scored just one century. Three first-class matches later, he was in India’s Test squad. Then he spent two Tests on the bench before India gave him his cap and left out KS Bharat, who had been in and around the squad as reserve keeper for close to five years.So many leaps of faith, and so far, Jurel hasn’t once given the wise heads who have made them any reason to doubt their judgment. To select him now as a specialist batter in a Test XI that also includes Pant is another leap of faith, but it can’t be a particularly difficult one to make.

One Photo Perfectly Depicts Wild Range of Emotions in Shocking Ending to Game 6

Those three words were shouted in living rooms and typed out in group chats all over the world Friday night in the closing moments of the Dodgers’ 3–1 win over the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the World Series.

Trailing by two runs at Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays nearly completed a comeback in the bottom of the ninth. With a runner on first base and nobody out, Addison Barger smacked a gapper to left-center field for extra bases. It would’ve easily scored pinch-runner Myles Straw from first, but the ball got wedged in between the warning track dirt and the padded wall. It was ruled a ground-rule double, putting Straw at third and Barger at second.

The Blue Jays didn’t end up scoring a run. Tyler Glasnow got Ernie Clement to pop out, and Andrés Giménez lined into a double play with outfielder Kiké Hernández doubling off Barger at second base to end the game.

In the blink of an eye, Toronto went from likely making it a one-run game with nobody out to, whoops, three outs and we’re heading to Game 7.

In all the chaos, Getty Images photographer Mark Blinch caught the perfect snapshot from the perspective of the outfield. In one frame, Betts is pictured flying through the air into the outstretched arms of Hernández, and infielder Miguel Rojas is in the dirt looking like he can’t believe what he just witnessed. Meanwhile, Barger is on second base, realizing his baserunning mistake just cost the Blue Jays a chance to tie or walk-off winners in Game 6.

The Dodgers forced a Game 7 with their 3–1 win over the Blue Jays on Friday night. / Mark Blinch/Getty Images

They say a photo is worth 1,000 words? This one might be worth 1,000 emotions.

Following that wild ending, the Dodgers and Blue Jays will run it back Saturday night for a winner-take-all Game 7—MLB’s first in the World Series since the Nationals defeated the Astros in 2019.

First pitch for Game 7 is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre.

Mets Pitcher Hit Randy Arozarena in the Head on First Pitch of Little League Classic

The Little League Classic is meant to be a wholesome event, but Sunday's clash between the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners got off to quite the opposite start.

The very first pitch of the game from Clay Holmes ran up and in, catching Mariners leadoff hitter Randy Arozarena right around the head.

Karl Ravech had barely even finished introducing the game by the time Holmes's pitch clipped Arozarena as the Little League Classic was off to a rather awkward start.

"… on , and he gets drilled by Holmes, right off the bat," said Ravech.

Some words were exchanged between the two teams but Arozarena eventually took first base without incident and play resumed. The outfielder was able to remain in the game.

That certainly wasn't the first pitch fans in Williamsport were anticipating on Sunday evening.

Naseem Shah smiles at Test cricket on a rollercoaster day

He delivered more overs than any other bowler, was faster and better than any other, but was the most expensive of the three specialist quicks

Danyal Rasool27-Dec-2024Like blindly following the recipe book for an exotic dish, it was hard to say what Naseem Shah was cooking up at first this morning. He began groggily, throwing the ball up in search of swing as if this was a Rawalpindi winter day and not a Centurion summer one. He barely broached 135kph, and was much too wide, so any away movement only meant an extra lunge for Mohammad Rizwan. If something was brewing, it was difficult to tell what that might have been.But it was that kind of morning session, a bowling effort on psychedelics, balls just floating into the ether, hovering there briefly as if the laws of gravity had briefly been suspended, and barely kissing the surface before dancing away into the wind. On a pitch where banging the ball into the surface has been the most proven way to get results, Naseem was rejecting conventional wisdom, no discernible logic behind this iconoclasm. Mohammad Abbas, 13 years his senior, tried following the rulebook to a tee, bless him. But at his pace, with little work going into the ball off his wrist, even the Centurion surface struggled to give him a leg up.So Shan Masood took him off after a four-over burst. Naseem has built up quite the oeuvre of glorious failure, the universe seemingly conspiring to refuse to give him what he was owed. But he knows, better than most, how frugal with the distribution of joy the world can sometimes be, and he will have known that on this occasion, his empty-handedness was well-deserved.Related

Stats – Corbin Bosch's boss-mode outing in the Boxing Day Test

Pakistan lose their way after Bosch bash hands South Africa advantage

“You have to learn to adjust in new conditions,” Naseem admitted after the match. “It’s not easy but you have to be disciplined and adjust to different conditions quickly. The pitch here is at a bit of a height and the ground at a depression, so I think you have to adjust as a bowler, and it took me a few overs to do that.”But there was something Test cricket saw in Naseem, something it liked. In a country that has recently seen its express quick either lose their pace, or their interest in Test cricket, or both, Naseem still has it all.By his second spell, he was pushing up as high as 145.9kph, he had dragged his lengths back. The rebellious streak was gone, the spell was beginning to come of age, and the recipe book was being faithfully followed. When it still wouldn’t produce a wicket, Naseem dealt with the setbacks with wistful smiles rather than visible agitation. After all, he had seen from the dugout the fickle nature of Test cricket’s generosity; Kagiso Rabada had bowled better than any of the Pakistan bowlers without being rewarded for it.David Bedingham had ridden his luck against Naseem, surviving a review off the first ball of Naseem’s return spell. Pakistan, to be fair, managed their reviews about as efficiently as many lottery winners do their prizes, but it did signal a shift in intensity from a bowler whose ceiling remains a formidable force to handle. Bedingham soon paid the price for his insouciance when a shade of extra bounce, thanks to improved lengths and higher pace, became too hot to handle, and Naseem had begun to put a spell of proper old-ball Test match fast bowling together either side of lunch. Kyle Verreynne was goaded into a similar shot, and outdone by a similar delivery.By now, the crowd by Castle Corner had broken out into a chorus of grudging respect; South African spectators cannot help, it would seem, but respect a fast bowler operating at the top of his game. Chants of “Naseem! Naseem” began to go up every time he walked back to the mark, but it was the afternoon, and they were well lubricated by now, so you may be able to put some of the generosity down to that. Apparently, SuperSport Park sold more than 1 million Rand worth of alcohol on day one; the eye test would suggest day two wasn’t far behind.

“You have to learn to adjust in new conditions. It’s not easy but you have to be disciplined and adjust to different conditions quickly.”Naseem Shah

Naseem knew, though, that this day had been generous to Pakistan; none of the other bowlers had come close to matching his quality, and yet South Africa were suddenly seven down; the woefully out of form Marco Jansen was meat and drink for Naseem. By then Naseem’s second spell was a match-turning one: 3 for 28 in five overs, and the question turned from the size of South Africa’s lead to the possibility they may not get one at all.On other occasions, in other countries, that might have been work done for a brittle, express pace bowler, but Masood felt Pakistan had no other well to turn to. He tied Aiden Markram up at one end, inducing him into a false shot against Khurram Shahzad at the other end. And still Naseem bowled, him powering on from the media end blending into the background of the day. Drinks came and went, and Naseem was still there, pace slightly down, but banging it into the pitch and asking the same questions.”Fast bowling is not easy but you have to be ready. I always try to work hard and bowl more in the nets and even in domestic cricket.”The team needed it, and obviously when the captain asks you, you have to be ready. That is my habit as a fast bowler, to accept the ball when needed. I hadn’t known it would happen, but the captain thought about which bowler would be more impactful, and asked me to bowl. My body’s fine.”However, the good balls were no longer producing edges, and the occasional loosener that crept into his spell was being put away by Corbin Bosch, exactly the sort of player who Pakistan tend to allow dream career starts. There were five overs between Naseem getting a break, and the captain turning right back to him, but now, Test cricket was playing hard-to-get with him once more.The field had been spread out for Bosch, the sniff of optimism from the early afternoon had gone. The crowd, too, began to treat Naseem as the figure of heroic failure he was becoming as the innings dragged on, playfully booing every appeal, and then shouting “review it” once Pakistan’s profligacy had squandered them all.South Africa had added 88 for the last two wickets, and, despite delivering more overs than any other bowler, faster than any other bowler, better than any other bowler, Naseem’s figures showed he was the most expensive of the three specialist quicks. It is a wonder Naseem plays Test cricket with a smile on his face, but Pakistan are fortunate he does. And perhaps, a pleasant festive afternoon when Test cricket briefly smiles back is all the reward he needs.

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