From India’s thumping win over Sri Lanka in the first Test to Manchester City’s rout of Manchester United in the Premier League, here are the top sporting headlines from the week gone by.

CRICKET

Chasing 245, the Pakistan team fell way short of the mark and was all out for 137 in 43 overs, losing its 11th straight game against neighbour India in the 50-over format during their Women’s World Cup game on Sunday. (REPORT)

Despite a disastrous batting performance rescued by a record partnership between Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar, a disciplined bowling performance saw India thrash Pakistan by 107 runs to top the table in the 2022 Women’s World Cup.   –  AFP

IPL 2022 complete schedule: The IPL 2022 will begin with Chennai Super Kings taking on Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. (REPORT)

Ravindra Jadeja picked nine wickets across two innings for his finest performance in Tests as India thrashed Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs. (REPORT)

Seven toppers of the Elite Groups –  Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Karnataka, Mumbai, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have directly qualified for the quarterfinals. Meanwhile Jharkhand, the Elite group team with the least points, will face Nagaland that topped the Plate Group in the pre-quarterfinal. (REPORT)

Shane Warne, one of cricket’s all-time greats, has died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52 in Koh Samui, Thailand, while on holiday. (REPORT)

Warne claimed 708 Test wickets in a 15-year career for Australia between 1992 and 2007.   –  AP

Ahead of his 100th Test for India, Virat Kohli said he can look back at his stint as captain with pride having instilled a dressing-room culture which helped the team achieve memorable victories across the world. (REPORT)

FOOTBALL

Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez both scored twice as Manchester City restored its lead at the top of the Premier League to six points with a 4-1 derby victory over Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. (REPORT)

Manchester City’s Caroline Weir scored twice as the side came from a goal down to beat Chelsea 3-1 in the Women’s League Cup final on Saturday, winning the trophy for a fourth time. (REPORT)

Manchester City’s Caroline Weir scores their third goal.   –  Action Images via Reuters

Faced with the threat of financial sanctions targeting Russians, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich confirmed on Wednesday he is trying to sell the Premier League club he turned into an elite trophy-winning machine with his lavish investment. (REPORT)

Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga struck scorching goals from outside the area to lead Real Madrid from behind to beat Real Sociedad 4-1 and increase its lead in La Liga. (REPORT)

Hyderabad FC ended all hopes of the defending champion Mumbai City FC to try and retain the Indian Super League (ISL) title as it beat MCFC 2-1 at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa. Kerala Blasters joined Hyderabad, ATK Mohun Bagan and Jamshedpur FC in the playoffs. (REPORT)

The qualification for the 2023-24 AFC continental competitions would be to have play-off matches between the winners of 2021-22 and 2022-23 editions in the Indian domestic leagues. (REPORT)

The Russian Football Union is ready and waiting on Friday to file a formal appeal against the joint decision by FIFA and UEFA to exclude its national and club teams from international competitions. (REPORT)

American coach Jesse Marsch was hired by Leeds on Monday, with the club hoping a late-season change in manager can help to preserve its English Premier League status. (REPORT)

TENNIS

Roger Federer is unlikely to play this year’s Wimbledon as the Swiss great continues to recover from knee surgery, his coach Severin Luthi was quoted as saying in a Swiss newspaper. (REPORT)

France is easing its vaccination rules later this month, which could pave the way for Novak Djokovic to compete at this year’s French Open. (REPORT)

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action.   –  AP

Andy Murray is bringing back Ivan Lendl as his coach, reuniting about four and a half years after the pair split up for a second time. (REPORT)

Novak Djokovic split with his long-time coach Marian Vajda at the end of the 2021 season, ending one of tennis’s most enduring and successful partnerships, the Serbian former world number one said. (REPORT)

Spain’s Pedro Martinez won the Chile Open clay-court tournament on Sunday with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, Martinez’s first professional title. (REPORT)

Russia has been banned from defending its Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup titles but its players will still be allowed to compete at the Grand Slams and in regular tour events. (REPORT)

World number one Ash Barty on Thursday withdrew from the Indian Wells and the Miami Open tennis tournaments, saying her body has not recovered after her January triumph at the Australian Open. (REPORT)

Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan survived three match points to beat Frederik Nielsen and Mikael Torpegaard 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6(4) in the doubles rubber that sealed the Davis Cup World group play-off tie for India against Denmark, in front of a capacity crowd at the Delhi Gymkhana Club on Saturday. (REPORT)

Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan with the tricolour after winning their doubles match to take a 3-0 lead, at the Delhi Gymkhana in New Delhi on Saturday.   –  V V Krishnan

The Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) stance in the case of Chinese player Peng Shuai has helped the organisation land a multi-year title sponsorship deal with American medical device maker Hologic, the New York Times reported on Thursday. (REPORT)

TABLE TENNIS

India bagged silver medals in the mixed doubles (REPORT) and women’s doubles (REPORT) events at the WTT Contender in Muscat.

ATHLETICS

Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge, the two-time Olympic marathon champion and world record holder, won the Tokyo Marathon in Japan with a time of two hours two minutes and 40 seconds on Sunday. (REPORT)

The stunning performances of the jumpers at the recent Indian Open jumps meet in Thiruvananthapuram, including the likes of Ancy Sojan and M. Sreeshankar, will have an asterisk against them in the World Athletics’ results section with a ‘NWI’ denoting no wind instrument. (REPORT)

The video of Tamil Nadu pole vaulter Pavithra Venkatesh speaking about the Railway authorities, who had pushed her and four of her teammates and their equipments out of the train for not getting the requisite permission for the pole vaults, has gone viral among the athletes. And it has forced the Tamil Nadu Athletic Association (TNAA) to take up the issue. (REPORT)

MOTORSPORTS

Russian Nikita Mazepin will not race in Formula One this season after his U.S.-owned Haas squad on Saturday severed ties with the 23-year-old and title sponsor Uralkali over his country’s invasion of Ukraine. (REPORT)

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen will stay at Red Bull until at least the end of 2028, the squad said on Thursday, after signing a five-year contract extension that will make him one of the sport’s top earners alongside Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton. (REPORT)

FILE PHOTO: Formula One world champion Max Verstappen will stay at Red Bull until at least the end of 2028.   –  GETTY IMAGES

Formula One will no longer race in Russia after the sport terminated its contract with the promoter of the Russian Grand Prix, it said on Thursday, in response to the country’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. (REPORT)

Motorsport UK on Wednesday banned Russian and Belarusian license holders from racing amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (REPORT)

SHOOTING

Indian shooters Shriyanka Sadangi and Akhil Sheoran bagged the bronze medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions mixed team event of the ISSF World Cup here on Sunday. (REPORT)

The Indian trio of Shri Nivetha, Esha Singh and Ruchita Vinerkar combined to win the gold medal in the women’s 10m air pistol team event of the ISSF World Cup on Wednesday. (REPORT)

Former world No.1 and Asian Games gold medallist Saurabh Chaudhary struck gold in the new format in men’s air pistol in the shooting World Cup in Cairo, Egypt. (REPORT)

File picture of Saurabh Chaudhary.   –  PTI

Following the respective decision of the IOC Executive Board and a meeting with the IOC President,  the ISSF decided that athletes from the Russian Federation and Belarus will not be allowed to take part in ISSF Championships. (REPORT)

WRESTLING

Russian wrestlers Dariya Leksina, Aleksey Shchekov and Elena Vostrikova were provisionally suspended on Thursday after tests showed they had used prohibited substances, the International Testing Agency (ITA) said. (REPORT)

BOXING

Six-time World Champion Mary Kom has decided against participating in the trials for the upcoming IBA Elite Women’s World Boxing Championships and 2022 Asian Games, that is scheduled to start on Monday, with an aim to give more exposure to the upcoming boxers and focus on her preparations for the Commonwealth Games. (REPORT)

Mary Kom: “I would like to withdraw to give opportunity to the younger generation to make a name for themselves on the International stage and get exposure and experience of major tournaments. I would like to focus on the preparation for the Commonwealth Games only.”   –  Ritu Raj Konwar

India’s champion boxer Nikhat Zareen believes that her mantra – never give up attitude, the hunger for success and willingness to put in that extra effort  – will take her a long way in the year 2022 which also features Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the World Championships later this year. (REPORT)

Tyson Fury says he will retire after next month’s defence of his WBC title against fellow British heavyweight Dillian Whyte in London, stating he has “nothing to prove”. (REPORT)

CHESS

Following a three-way tie involving teenagers, Arjun Erigaisi proved first among equals. With an amazing display of quality and consistency, Arjun, 18, won the National chess title with 8.5 points after his superior tiebreak score kept him ahead of the Tamil Nadu duo of D. Gukesh, 15, and P. Iniyan, 19. (REPORT)

Divya Deshmukh played out an 18-move draw with Soumya Swaminathan following a three-fold repetition of moves to claim her maiden National women’s chess title on Wednesday. (REPORT)