Cricket West Indies (CWI) will conduct a "thorough postmortem" after the Windies' embarrassing early T20 World Cup exit.

West Indies are the only team to have won the T20 World Cup twice, but they failed to qualify for the Super 12 stage in Australia.

Nicolas Pooran's side crashed out with a whimper at Bellerive Oval, where Ireland hammered them by nine wickets to advance along with Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Netherlands on Friday.

The Windies suffered a stunning defeat to Scotland in their first game of the tournament in Hobart on Monday and despite beating Zimbabwe in midweek, will be on the plane home.

West Indies finished bottom of Group B and it appears there may be consequences for such an abject failure.

CWI president Ricky Skerritt said in a statement: "I am deeply disappointed with the performance and results of our team in Australia, and I appreciate the sense of utter frustration that is being experienced by many.

"The ongoing inability of our batsmen to prevail over opposing slow bowling continued to be an obvious weakness in Australia, and untimely shot selections seem to be deeply embedded in the T20 batting culture of our senior team.

"However, I want to assure stakeholders that a thorough postmortem will be carried out on all aspects of our World Cup preparation and performance and that solutions will be found in keeping with CWI's strategy to improve the quality and sustainability of cricket on all fronts, and in all formats.

"West Indies cricket is bigger than any one individual or event, and continues to need the input and support of all stakeholders."

LeBron James was encouraged by the Los Angeles Lakers' ability to limit the Los Angeles Clippers scoring on Thursday, despite ultimately losing the game.

The Clippers ran out 103-97 victors at Crypto.com Arena in Kawhi Leonard's first outing in 16 months.

It was another frustrating game for the Lakers as they failed to land enough of their shots, especially from three-point range, which was also an issue in their season-opening loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Having only hit 10 from 40 from beyond the arc on Tuesday, the Lakers were successful with just nine from 45 attempts against the Clippers, who scored as many from 16 fewer shots.

Speaking after the defeat, LeBron was in no mood to focus on the negatives, instead praising his team-mates for putting pressure on the visitors at the other end of the court, limiting them to just 80 shots in the contest.

"I'm definitely not going to sit here and harp on [about] what we can't do every single game," he said. "That's not a leader.

"What I know we can do? We can defend our ass off. We did that tonight, which gave us an opportunity to win and we just couldn't make it happen. But I'm OK with that."

On his team's inefficient shooting, James added: "If we're reliant on [that] every single game, then we're in trouble.

"So, I'm not worried about that or thinking about that. It's how hard we play, how aggressive we play, how determined we are to go out and compete every night.

"And we've got to defend. When we defend, we're going to give ourselves a good chance to win."

Erling Haaland could become the first player in world football to make a transfer worth £1billion, according to his agent Rafaela Pimenta.

Haaland left Borussia Dortmund to join Manchester City after they activated a £51.2million (€60m) release clause in his BVB contract in May, and the striker has already begun to pay that fee back by making an incredible start to life in England.

The Norwegian became the first player to score as many as nine goals in his first five Premier League appearances in August and has already netted three hat-tricks in the competition.

Haaland has hit the net 15 times in 10 league games for City, and Pimenta, who manages the agency built by the late Mino Raiola, believes he could make history with his next move.

Asked to put a price on Haaland by Sky Sport Italia, Pimenta said: "One billion, that's what I think. 

"If you put together his football value, his image value, his sponsorship value, it is one billion, for sure.

"It's also normal to compare Erling with [Kylian] Mbappe, so you have a little bit of an idea of the market. I think Erling will be the first player to achieve a transfer around one billion." 

Haaland's incredible form has coincided with speculation linking him to Real Madrid, but Pimenta would be open to discussing a new contract with City instead of instigating a move away.

Asked whether Haaland could already be in line for a new deal, she said: "I hope so! If they want to discuss it today, I would be happy. Why not?"

However, Pimenta kept her cards close to her chest when questioned on reports claiming Haaland's current contract has a release clause allowing him to join Madrid on favourable terms. 

"The good and bad of being a lawyer is that you know what you cannot say," she added. "You don't need someone poking you, saying; 'Don't say this, don't say that'. I cannot talk about it."

Gabriel Magalhaes has signed a new "long-term" contract with Arsenal, the club announced on Friday.

While Arsenal did not specify the length of the new agreement, media reports suggest the contract runs until the end of the 2026-27 season.

Gabriel joined Arsenal from Lille in 2020 for a reported fee of £23million (€26m) and, after an initial season of adaptation, became a key player for Mikel Arteta last term.

The Brazilian made 35 appearances in the Premier League in the 2021-22 campaign as the Gunners narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification.

They are well on track to right that wrong this season, however, with Arteta's side top of the Premier League after 10 matches, sitting four points clear of Manchester City.

Gabriel has featured in all 10 games, of which Arsenal have won nine, and formed a strong partnership with William Saliba at centre-back – only Newcastle United (nine) have conceded fewer goals than the Gunners (10).

He hopes making a long-term commitment is a precursor to winning trophies at the club.

Following the announcement, Gabriel said: "I'm very happy to sign this new contract with Arsenal, because it's such a big club.

"It's my dream and today is the best day of my life. I'm so happy to extend my contract here.

"Every game the supporters are pushing the team in the stadium. It's why I'm so happy to stay here. Arsenal is my home.

"In the future, I want to win games for Arsenal, I want to win trophies with Arsenal and stay here for a long time because it's my home."

Arteta has routinely praised Gabriel during his time at the club, and the new deal vindicates his faith in the 24-year-old.

"Gabi has shown huge qualities since he joined us. He is a young player with a great work ethic and his consistent strong performances have been hugely important to us over the past two seasons," the Arsenal boss added.

"Working with Gabi every day is a pleasure, he has formed strong relationships with everyone at the club and we're so pleased that he has committed to us on a long-term contract."

Until now, Napoli have pretty much risen to every challenge this season as they aim to win the Scudetto for the first time since 1990.

They sit top of the Serie A table after 10 games and are one of just two teams to not lose a game, with Luciano Spalletti's men already beating Lazio and Milan away from home.

While their past three league games – wins over Torino, Cremonese and Bologna – would have always been expected to yield Napoli victories, a slightly trickier run begins this weekend.

Before the break for the World Cup, Napoli still have to face Rangers and Liverpool in the Champions League, plus high-flying Udinese, second-placed Atalanta, Sassuolo and, first up, Jose Mourinho's in-form Roma in Serie A.

Sunday's trip to the capital poses a real threat to a historic achievement that is…

… within touching distance

While Napoli's Champions League exploits – hammering Liverpool, Rangers and Ajax, twice – have attracted plenty of praise, the true extent of their form doesn't appear to have really registered outside of Italy yet.

However, they are undeniably on a remarkable run across all competitions.

Napoli have won each of their past 10 matches, meaning they are just one victory away from equalling the longest such run in the club's history.

That 11-game winning streak was recorded between April and September 1986, the Diego Maradona era.

Although the run ended in September, that was still the season Napoli won their first Scudetto.

Kvaradona

Napoli may not have a player of Maradona's ilk this time, though supporters have certainly taken to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

The Georgia winger only joined in pre-season, but his impact has been phenomenal.

Already he has been involved in 13 goals in 14 appearances in all competitions, which is more than any other Serie A player.

He heads into the weekend on a particularly effective run, too, having registered one assist in each of his past four games. The last Napoli player to have a better run (five games) was club great Lorenzo Insigne in early 2016.

The 'Kvaradona' nickname is seemingly here to stay.

Napoli's versatile arsenal

As good as Kvaratskhelia has been for Napoli this term, it wouldn't be fair to say they're completely dependent on him.

In fact, the Partenopei have earned themselves a reputation for being adaptable and versatile.

For starters, they've had 15 different scorers in Serie A this season, which is the joint-most with Bayern Munich across the big five leagues.

And on top of that, Napoli's 35 goals from set-pieces (including penalties) since the start of last season is more than any other Serie A team.

Omens on Napoli's side?

Mourinho has Roma in good shape. They're fourth in Serie A and go into the weekend having won each of their past three league games – they last managed four successive top-flight wins in August 2020.

But their recent record – for what it's worth – against Napoli is pretty poor, having only won one of their previous eight Serie A meetings, a 2-1 victory in November 2019.

On top of that, Roma are winless in their past 12 home league games against teams in the top four at the beginning of the matchday, losing the three most recent examples.

A Roma win will put them just a point behind Napoli, however. Regardless of the latter's fine start to the season, they won't be expecting a straightforward contest.

Romelu Lukaku is expected to return from injury when Inter host Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League next Wednesday, Simone Inzaghi has revealed.

Lukaku scored 24 goals as Inter won the Serie A title in the 2020-2 season, and was expected to play a key role in another tilt at the Scudetto after returning on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

However, a thigh injury has kept Lukaku sidelined since August, with the Belgium striker's recovery taking longer than was initially expected.

With Inter bidding to secure qualification for the Champions League round of 16 next week, Inzaghi is keen to get Lukaku back, but he will not feature at Fiorentina in Serie A on Saturday.

"He has been training partially in a group for two days. He has to regain his condition, but he is very motivated," Inter head coach Inzaghi said. "Finally, after a very long time, he has overcome the injury. 

"He will not be with us tomorrow in Florence, [but] we try to bring him back on Wednesday. He has to find his condition, but after seeing him work, I am confident."

Inter finished just two points behind rivals Milan at the culmination of the Scudetto battle last season, but are already eight points adrift of leaders Napoli this campaign.

Asked whether Inter could still play a part in the title race, Inzaghi added: "Now we have to look at the calendar, to be realistic. 

"There is a gap and they are racing ahead, now the goal is to recover points in the league and go through in the Champions League.

"What matters most is to think game-by-game, now there are so many games missing until the [World Cup] break, and we have to get there in the best possible way."

Inter have won on their last two Serie A trips to Fiorentina; only once in their history have they won three successive away league games against the Viola (between 1977 and 1980).

Meanwhile, the Nerazzurri are unbeaten in their last 10 league meetings with Fiorentina (W5 D5), having lost five of their previous six games against them (W1).

Courtney Lawes will miss England’s pre-Autumn Nations Series training camp next week as he continues to work through his return to play protocols.

Lawes was initially named in a 36-man squad by Eddie Jones this week, but the lock will not travel to Jersey.

Captain of his country in the series win over Australia in July, Lawes has been suffering with concussion issues after taking a blow to the head during Northampton Saints’ derby defeat to Leicester Tigers last month.

The absence of Lawes will cast doubt on whether he will be fit for the Red Rose's first November Test against Argentina at Twickenham on November 6.

London Irish's Tom Pearson has been added to the squad and will join up for a five-day camp on Monday.

Head coach Jones would face a decision over who would lead his side if Lawes is unable to play, with Owen Farrell among the contenders to have the honour once again.

England will face Japan, New Zealand and world champions South Africa next month after taking on the Pumas.

Shan Masood is a doubt for Pakistan's opening game of the T20 World Cup against arch-rivals India after taking a blow on the head during training on Friday.

The batter was taken to hospital after he was struck during a practice session at the MCG.

It was revealed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that Masood's neurological observations are normal, with the left-hander suffering superficial bruising.

The 33-year-old is asymptomatic but will undergo another concussion test on Saturday.

If passed fit, Masood is expected to come in at number three for Pakistan when they take on India in a huge showdown in Melbourne on Sunday.

Fakhar Zaman, a late addition to the squad as a replacement for Usman Qadir, would be the most likely replacement for Masood if he misses out.

Pakistan travel to Perth to face Zimbabwe next Thursday after taking on India.

Simona Halep said she felt "confused and betrayed" after being handed a provisional suspension for failing a drug test.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced on Friday the 31-year-old had tested positive for roxadustat, a prohibited substance, after providing two samples while competing at the US Open in August.

She was notified of a rule violation on October 7 and now faces a fight to avoid a ban from the sport.

In a statement, the ITIA said: "While provisionally suspended, the player is ineligible to compete in or attend any sanctioned tennis event organised by the governing bodies of the sport."

Swiftly responding, former French Open and Wimbledon champion Halep denied all knowledge of taking the substance and said the sanction was the "biggest shock" of her life.

"Today begins the hardest match of my life: a fight for the truth," she posted on social media.

"I have been notified that I tested positive for a substance called roxadustat in an extremely low quantity, which came as the biggest shock of my life.

"Throughout my whole career, the idea of cheating never even crossed my mind once, as it is totally against all the values I have been educated with. Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed.

"I will fight until the end to prove that I never knowingly took any prohibited substance and I have faith that sooner or later, the truth will come out.

"It's not about the titles or the money. It's about honour, and the love story I have developed with the game of tennis over the last 25 years."

The 31-year-old former world number one announced in September she would miss the rest of the season after undergoing nose surgery, with it unclear how long her recovery would take.

It is too early to read anything into the new NBA season. After all, the 2022-23 campaign is only getting started.

Then again, premature assumptions are all part of the fun of following sport, especially basketball.

Things began well for the Golden State Warriors as the defending champions beat the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night.

Hauls of 33 points from Stephen Curry, 20 from Andrew Wiggins and 18 from Klay Thompson were enough to see the Warriors beat LeBron James and the Lakers 123-109 on Tuesday, though they will likely expect a sterner test from the Denver Nuggets on Friday.

The visitors have two-time MVP Nikola Jokic to call on, with the Serbian showing off his abilities with a strong opening performance against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

Jokic recorded 27 points, four rebounds and six assists, though it was not enough to stop his team suffering defeat.

The Jazz ran out 123-102 victors, with the Nuggets defense unable to stop their opponents from scoring 75 points in the first half at Vivint Arena.

Coach Michael Malone was pleased with his team's response in the second half, but acknowledged the league will not allow you to "pick and choose".

''In that first half [the Jazz] outworked us and I think to a man everyone in [our] locker room would agree,'' Malone said. ''We looked like a different team, felt like a different team [in the second half]. But in this league you can't pick and choose when you play.''

Against a Warriors team capable of taking a game away in an instant, that has to be the main area of focus for Denver at Chase Center.

Following the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole incident that Steve Kerr described as "the biggest crisis we've had since I've been coach here", the Warriors will be hoping to further put that behind them with another home win.

Repeat their impressive showing from their opening game, and you would be a fool to bet against that happening.

PIVOTAL PERFORMERS

Golden State Warriors – Stephen Curry

I mean… who else?

Curry continued his inspired form from last season's Finals to top-score against the Lakers, recording six rebounds and seven assists on top of his 33 points, though he only shot four from 13 three-point attempts.

If he can find his range against the Nuggets, who knows how many points he could put up? Which will take pressure off his teammates and allow them to focus on stopping Jokic.

Denver Nuggets – Aaron Gordon

In reality, it's Jokic, but his high levels are almost there to be taken for granted right now.

In addition, Wednesday showed that even a brilliant outing from him does not lead to a win for Denver without others helping him, which Gordon at least did, and will likely need to do again.

His 22 points, 10 rebounds and two assists provided some support, but those points scored and rebound numbers were way up on his average for last season (15.0 and 5.9 per game) so the test will be to repeat it.

KEY BATTLES – Nuggets have to tighten it up

Although the Nuggets leaked points like a sieve in Utah, it was not due to one particular opponent running riot.

Utah's top scorer was Collin Sexton with 20, but seven Jazz players reached double figures on the night, showing that Denver did not seem capable of stopping anyone from finding the hoop.

They averaged 110.4 points against in the league last season, the 14th best in the NBA, and will surely need to keep the champions down there or below if they are to stand a chance.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Nuggets actually enjoyed a productive time against the Warriors last season, winning the first three meetings against them, before Golden State took the fourth. Since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, the Warriors have won 16 of their 27 clashes (Denver winning the other 11).

Pep Guardiola has apologised after Manchester City fans sang chants referencing football stadium tragedies against Liverpool, but he does not feel the rivalry between the clubs has become "toxic".

City suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season at Anfield on Sunday, with Mohamed Salah's second-half goal enough to secure a 1-0 win for the Reds.

However, the game was overshadowed by several off-pitch incidents.

Guardiola alleged home fans threw coins at him; police said they were investigating an apparent attack on City's team bus; and Liverpool criticised the conduct of some away supporters.

The Reds accused City fans of singing "vile chants relating to football stadium tragedies" and vandalising the concourse with graffiti of a similar nature.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's meeting with Brighton and Hove Albion, Guardiola said those responsible did not represent City and insisted the club's recently established rivalry with Liverpool is not out of control.

Asked whether contests between Liverpool and City had become "toxic" on Friday, Guardiola said: "I don't think so, [not] from our side, I'm pretty sure of that.

"I didn't hear the chants. If it happened, I'm so sorry. It does not represent what we are as a team or as a club if this happened.

"We can behave perfectly and [correct] our mistakes, without a problem."

The PGA Tour has filed a federal civil lawsuit against LIV Golf's financial backers, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and governor Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, per filings in Manhattan.

The complaint, filed under seal in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, is the latest move in the bitter war between golf's leading organisation and its breakaway opponent.

It follows the PGA Tour filing a counter-suit against LIV Golf last month, levelling accusations of interference in player contracts.

More than 30 players have been suspended from competing on the tour since their defection, while US players have been excluded from Ryder Cup consideration.

A number of players previously filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, though several – including six-time major champion Phil Mickelson – have been asked to be removed from that action.

Al-Rumayyan is also the chairman of Premier League outfit Newcastle United and heads up Saudi-owned petroleum company Saudi Aramco.

Pep Guardiola remains hopeful Kyle Walker will be fit to feature at the World Cup as he offered positive updates on fellow England internationals John Stones and Kalvin Phillips.

Walker has not featured for Manchester City since suffering an abdominal injury in the Premier League champions' 6-3 win over Manchester United earlier this month.

The 32-year-old subsequently underwent surgery, leaving his chances of making the trip to Qatar in the balance and dealing Gareth Southgate another selection headache.

Chelsea right-back Reece James also faces a race against time to make the squad, while Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold has been in poor form this season.

However, Walker offered hope to England supporters last week, telling BBC Radio 5 Live he was "confident" of returning to action before the tournament begins.

Speaking ahead of City's Premier League meeting with Brighton and Hove Albion, Guardiola offered an update on the condition of his England trio, saying: "I haven't spoken to the doctors about Kyle. 

"Hopefully it can happen, if he's selected, that he can go to the World Cup.

"John has trained for the last two days with us, tomorrow, he's on the list. Kalvin is incredible, he's much better as well. They are recovering very well."

City fell to their first defeat of the campaign against Liverpool last Sunday, but are expected to get back on track against a Brighton side yet to taste victory under new boss Roberto De Zerbi (D2 L2).

On Saturday, De Zerbi could become the first Premier League coach to fail to win any of his first five games at the helm since Scott Parker in April 2019, but Guardiola has backed him to have a "massive" impact in the competition.

"I'm really happy he is here, I saw the last two games he had here, and he is already playing the way he wants to play," Guardiola added. "His impact in England will be massive in the future.

"He was counter-cultural in his country. In Italy, they mainly play in an incredible way which gave them a lot of success as a country, but he plays a completely different way to Italy.

"His Sassuolo team was an incredible example that no matter the quality or investment that you have, if you believe in something 100 per cent, the way your team plays, you can do it.

"He's a really good example for every manager. At the start, it doesn't matter about the results, what matters is the way you believe and the way you want to see your team playing football."

City have won their last nine Premier League home games, scoring at least three goals in each. There have only been two longer such runs in English top-flight history, both recorded by Aston Villa (12 in 1897 and 13 in 1930-31).