South Africa's bowlers tuned up for the T20 World Cup with a dominant display to help the Proteas to a nine-wicket victory over New Zealand at Allan Border Field on Sunday.

Stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj claimed 17-3 as South Africa skittled the Black Caps for 98, chasing down the target in 11.2 overs led by opener Rilee Rossouw's 54 not out.

The Proteas, who are due to commence their World Cup campaign against a qualifier on Sunday in Hobart, triumphed without Quinton de Kock, who was rested, and skipper Temba Bavuma, who is being eased into training with a view to playing in their final warm-up game against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

Last year's World Cup runners-up New Zealand, who will face Australia in the tournament opener on Saturday at the SCG, struggled throughout with the bat, with Martin Guptill top scoring with 26.

Wayne Parnell (8-2 from two overs) removed opener Finn Allen and skipper Kane Williamson cheaply within the opening three overs. The Black Caps threatened to rebuild until Glenn Phillips fell for 20 skying a drive to Marco Jansen off Tabraiz Shamsi, prompting a collapse of 45-8.

There was little resistance after Guptill was trapped LBW trying to sweep from Maharaj for 26 from 23 deliveries, as Shamsi finished with 6-2 from his three overs including a rare maiden.

The Proteas made light work of the chase, with Rossouw's unbeaten 54 coming from 32 balls with nine fours and one six, while Reeza Hendricks added 27 from 24 deliveries.

Parnell responds with blistering spell

South Africa's attack was on song, led by Parnell who managed nine dot balls despite only being used for two overs up front. Allen had blasted Parnell for a maximum with the first ball of the game but the left-armer fought back with a spell which set the tone.

Carolina Panthers interim coach Steve Wilks says "no one is bigger than the team" after he kicked Robbie Anderson out mid-game in their 24-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

The Panthers wide receiver was seen in a heated argument with position coach Joe Dailey late in the first half, before resuming their verbal exchange midway through the third quarter. Anderson had been benched for the third quarter and had been sitting alone on a cooler, before the second argument.

Wilks, who was taking charge for the first time after Matt Rhule was fired in midweek, intervened and sent Anderson to the locker room.

"No one is bigger than the team," Wilks told reporters. "I'm not going to focus and put a lot of attention on one individual… I'm not putting a lot of energy into one individual."

Anderson has been linked with a trade away from Carolina and Wilks said when asked about the 29-year-old's future: "Right now everybody is being evaluated, as well as myself.

"We've got to figure out what's going to be right chemistry to put out on the field, offensively and defensively."

Anderson proactively spoke to reporters after the game, stating he was "honestly confused" by the situation.

"I wanted to be in the game. I've never had somebody yell to get out of the game," Anderson said.

"I was honestly confused and upset by that. I should be. I don't see nobody that is a true competitor, that knows the value they bring and has true passion for the game, that will be okay with being told not to do something or being taken out of something when they didn't do nothing wrong."

Anderson failed to have a catch in Sunday's game, having entered the game with 13 receptions for 206 yards.

The former New York Jets receiver had signed a two-year $29.5 million extension through 2023 prior to last season, but only had 53 receptions for 519 yards in 2021.

"I wouldn't say I want to be traded," Anderson said. "I'm going to let God follow his plans for my life. I'll let things take his course on his time.

"I've been in trade rumours before. It's part of the game. I don't let it affect me."

The Philadelphia Eagles withstood the Dallas Cowboys' second-half charge to maintain their undefeated run to start the season with 26-17 victory at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

The Eagles raced away to a 20-0 lead after 20 second-quarter points, before the Cowboys stormed back within three points when Cooper Rush found Jake Ferguson for a fourth-quarter TD.

But Jalen Hurts, who completed 15 of 25 attempts for 255 yards and rushed 27 yards on nine carries, added his second touchdown pass of the game for DeVonta Smith as the Eagles moved to a 6-0 start for the first time since 2004.

Cowboys QB Rush, starting for the injured Dak Prescott for the fifth straight game, threw three picks having previously gone 158 pass attempts without an interception. Rush finished making 18-of-38 for 181 yards with the one TD pass as the Cowboys moved to 4-2.

After a scoreless first quarter, Miles Sanders scored the Eagles' 13th rushing touchdown of the season, the most for a team league-wide through six games since 2005. Sanders finished the game with 18 carries for 71 yards.

From the next play, C.J. Gardner-Johnson intercepted Rush's pass, commencing the Eagles' drive for Hurts to lay off to A.J. Brown who crossed into the endzone after a nice step.

KaVontae Turpin's explosive kickoff run helped kicker Brett Maher get the Cowboys on the board prior to half-time, before Rush found Ferguson, allowing Ezekiel Elliott to score from the next play, capping a nine-play 79-yard drive.

The Cowboys had the momentum when Dante Fowler Jr sacked Hurts, with Rush finding Ferguson for a career-first TD in the last quarter to make it 20-17. But Hurts showed composure to lead a 13-play drive resulting in Smith's TD, before Gardner-Johnson picked another Rush pass intended for Ceedee Lamb.

The New York Yankees held their nerve in the ninth inning this time after Gerrit Cole set up a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians to force an ALDS-deciding Game 5.

Yankees starting pitcher Cole had eight punchouts across seven innings where he allowed only two runs at Progressive Field as the visitors squared up the series at 2-2 on Sunday.

The Guardians had rallied back from a 5-3 deficit to win Game 3 on Saturday, but Wandy Peralta closed it out comfortably this time, needing only seven pitches to claim the outs of Josh Naylor, Oscar Gonzalez and Andres Gimenez.

Facing elimination, the Yankees opted to shake up their lineup with rookie Oswaldo Cabrera replacing Isiah Kiner-Falefa at shortstop and Aaron Hicks shuffling into Cabrera's spot in left field.

Anthony Rizzo, who went two-for-four, drove in Gleyber Torres for the opening run of the game in the first inning, before the Yankees added two more in the second from a Harrison Bader two-run blast over deep left-center field from Cal Quantrill. Bader's blast was his third home run of the ALDS.

The Guardians rallied with runs in each of the third and fourth innings, firstly from Jose Ramirez's RBI bloop single into shallow left field followed by Naylor's solo homer.

Aaron Judge went one-for-four and tagged in the sixth inning from Giancarlo Stanton's sacrifice fly to pad the lead before Cole was retired after the seventh, with the Yankees bullpen finishing the job.

The win means the Yankees will host the series-deciding Game 5 on Monday for a spot in the ALCS against the Houston Astros.

The Yankees boast a 15-15 record in winner-take-all postseason games compared to Cleveland's 1-7.

World number one Iga Swiatek claimed her eighth WTA Tour title of the season, storming home to claim a three-set victory over Donna Vekic in the San Diego Open final on Sunday.

Swiatek improved her record in the United States to 24-1 this season with the victory in one hour and 47 minutes, getting past the Croatian qualifier 6-3 3-6 6-0.

The Pole previously won the US Open, along with the Indian Wells and Miami titles this season.

Top seed Swiatek secured her 64th win of the season, which is the most since Serena Williams won 78 in 2013.

Vekic ensured it was not easy for Swiatek, continuing her excellent week – knocking out Maria Sakkari, Karolina Pliskova, Aryna Sabalenka and Danielle Collins - with a strong second set.

The Croatian actually had to complete her semi-final earlier on Sunday after a rain-interrupted encounter with Collins, winning 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-2) after resuming 4-2 down in the third set, before taking on Swiatek.

Swiatek's dominance was felt, winning 82 per cent of her second-serve points, ruthlessly converting four of six break points as well.

Vekic only generated one break point for the match but she took it, keeping the match alive in the second set where she was more aggressive.

The 2022 US Open and French Open champion responded emphatically in the final frame, capitalising on three of four break points and winning 24 of the 29 points for the set to triumph.

The Buffalo Bills claimed a statement win as John Allen threw three touchdown passes as they improved to 5-1 with a 24-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Allen, who completed 27 of 40 attempts for 329 yards with no interceptions, found Dawson Knox for the game-winning touchdown with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bills sealed the win when Von Miller broke a double team to apply pressure on Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes whose pass for Skyy Moore was picked by cornerback Taron Johnson with 0:41 remaining.

It ended a seesawing contest that had four lead changes, was tied at every change and was within one score throughout, with the AFC East-leading Bills moving ahead of the AFC West-leading Chiefs who fall to 4-2.

Mahomes made 25 of 40 attempts for 338 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, with Bills rookie Kaiir Elam picking off a redzone pass in the first quarter. Chiefs wide receiver Travis Kelce made franchise history by reaching the record for consecutive games with a reception (132), finishing with eight receptions for 108 yards but no TDs.

JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had five receptions for 113 yards, spun past two defenders after receiving a Mahomes pass for the opening TD, before Allen found Gabe Davis to reply before half-time, with Harrison Butker's franchise-record 62-yard field goal tying it up at half-time.

Stefon Diggs, who had 10 receptions for 148 yards, added his sixth receiving touchdown this season when Allen found him for 17-yard score but the Chiefs responded again as Mahomes punched a pass to Mecole Hardman.

Butker put the Chiefs up 20-17 in the fourth quarter, but Allen found Knox in the endzone to flip the script.

Rams respond as Anderson thrown out by Panthers

The Los Angeles Rams ground their way to a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers to snap their two-game skid and move to 3-3.

Scores were locked at 10-10 with 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter when wide receiver Ben Skowronek swept down the outside and into the endzone for his career-first TD.

Matthew Stafford shook off the Rams' offensive issues to complete 26 of 33 passes for 253 yards and one touchdown for Allen Robinson, while Darrell Henderson rushed a fourth-quarter TD to pad the win.

Amid the Panthers' own offensive struggles, interim coach Steve Wilks threw Robbie Anderson out of the game after a heated argument with position coach Joe Dailey.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is "just getting started" and "has the quality to make Napoli dream this season", according to team-mate Victor Osimhen.

Kvaratskhelia, who joined from Dinamo Batumi in July, has played an instrumental role in the Partenopei's blistering start to the season.

The Georgia international has scored seven goals and provided eight assists in all competitions as Luciano Spalletti's side have raced to the Serie A summit, while qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages with two matches to spare.

The 21-year-old registered his eighth direct goal involvement of the Serie A campaign by setting up substitute Osimhen for the winner as Napoli defeated Bologna 3-2 at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Sunday.

"I am really happy for him, he deserves everything he is getting now," Osimhen told DAZN of Kvaratskhelia. "He is just getting started, you guys have seen nothing yet.

"I believe he has the quality to make us dream this season, he has big confidence, and we are here to help support him. You can see he has been decisive for us."

Osimhen also hailed the "solidarity" of the Serie A leaders as they recorded their 10th successive victory across all competitions.

"This is what we call team spirit," he added. "We started well; Bologna are a good team, but we needed these points.

"Big kudos to the coach for the second-half talk; he gave us the zeal to go out for this game. I am happy for this victory. I love the solidarity in this team, which is the most important thing at this level."

Milan's never-say-die attitude was the key to victory as Sandro Tonali's late goal gave the reigning champions a 2-1 away victory over Hellas Verona in Serie A.

That is the view of head coach Stefano Pioli, whose team went ahead within nine minutes when Rafael Leao's cross was turned into his own net by Miguel Veloso, but Verona were level soon after when Koray Gunter's shot deflected in off Matteo Gabbia.

With time running out, it appeared Milan would take just a point from the game, until Tonali swept home to secure a fourth straight league win for Pioli's side with eight minutes remaining. 

Milan move up to third in Serie A, crucially remaining just three points behind early leaders Napoli as they look to secure a second successive league title.

"[It was a] difficult game, we started well," said Pioli.

"Then we made a few mistakes too many, conceding too many chances. But as usual, the team was able to endure it and our qualities made us win the game."

When asked how positive he was feeling about his side ahead of a busy spell of fixtures, Pioli replied: "We have managed for the first time to win three consecutive games in this championship.

"We are growing, maybe I could have changed something more at the beginning, but we know how important this phase of the season is, and starting with a victory is the best way to face this period.

"They induced some mistakes with the pressure, we made some mistakes.

"But winning these difficult games means that we are growing mentally and in awareness, and that we never give up. This is a quality that my team has inside and knows how to bring out in the important moments."

Sunday's victory followed a midweek 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League, and Pioli acknowledged his team may have been struggling with fatigue despite the win over Verona.

"I know we can play better," Pioli added. "But the boys know it too.

"Character growth is important and allows us to overcome difficult obstacles like these.

"We hope to be able to recover some energy and even some players, an important period of competition awaits us. I'm not saying that they will be decisive for the whole season, but we are close."

Christophe Galtier and Marco Verratti insisted there are no problems in the Paris Saint-Germain dressing room, after fresh speculation linked Kylian Mbappe with a move away from the Ligue 1 giants.

Despite signing a new contract with PSG in May, newspaper claims from Spain in the past week suggested Mbappe wanted to get away from the Parc des Princes.

The France international, who has appeared far from content at times this season, denied after Sunday's 1-0 win over Marseille that he has asked to leave, and said he was in fact "very happy" in Paris.

Mbappe played the full 90 minutes of the Marseille game.

Head coach Galtier, who fumed at reporters on Friday after rumours of unrest within the squad, insisted the situation was under control.

"What's going on with Kylian? I said at a press conference that I was very honest, and I am very honest, even if some people make me look like I am not," the head coach told Amazon Prime Video.

"Nothing happens with Kylian. Obviously, I heard Kylian and heard not his discomfort, but the fact of really being in his preferred position, and that's also why we looked for a different system.

"But believe me that everything is going well in the dressing room. I have players who have a big character and strong personalities, but who are very great professionals."

Midfielder Verratti concurred with the PSG boss that there was no unrest in the ranks, after the reigning Ligue 1 champions ended a run of three successive draws across all competitions thanks to Neymar's strike in first-half stoppage time.

"Everything's fine," said Italy international Verratti, who became the first outfield player to appear 20 times in the Classique – a tally only bettered overall by former Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda (30).

"Sometimes in Paris, a small thing passes for a big thing, but we are used to it. We do a little abstraction, we try to be focused on the field. We play every three days, we don't have time to think about these things.

"We knew it would be a battle [against Marseille]. It was a tough game, which comes after three draws; it was a game to win absolutely.

"We could also score a second goal. We had chances, and it would have been important not to suffer until the last minute. We managed to win, we are happy."

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting earned plaudits from Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann after playing a starring role in Sunday's 5-0 demolition of Freiburg.

Facing a team who were unbeaten in their past 11 games, Bayern picked apart Freiburg as Choupo-Moting led the attack, finishing with one goal and one assist for his endeavour.

The former Mainz, Schalke and Paris Saint-Germain player featured for 66 minutes until Jamal Musiala was given a run-out.

It had been the 33-year-old Choupo-Moting's first game in the starting XI for Bayern this season. By the time he left the field, the Cameroon international had convinced coach Nagelsmann there could be plenty more starts for him this season.

"Choupo did very well, he brought his success in practice into the pitch and certainly he deserved to play a little bit earlier maybe at some stage," Nagelsmann said.

"I'm very happy to have him. We know we can rely on Choupo. He got a great goal. He's a great player all around. We're happy that we have him."

Choupo-Moting is hoping the standout display leads to more involvement, too. This was the first time he had played more than 21 minutes in a 2022-23 Bundesliga game.

The striker told DAZN: "I try to step on the gas every day in training and the boys see that. I know what I can do and that I can help the team.

"Julian knows that I see it that way and I told him so. It's nice that it worked out and of course I want to keep playing a lot and be successful with the team."

 

Bayern came into the game with just one win in their last six Bundesliga outings, four of which ended in draws.

Oliver Kahn, the club CEO, had demanded better results, and Bayern delivered on that request to move to second place in the Bundesliga, four points behind early shock leaders Union Berlin. They vaulted above Freiburg with the win.

Nagelsmann said: "I'm very happy with the result and the three points. There was definitely pressure before the game because Freiburg are successful and play good football and deserve to be near top of the table. The boys did a very good job and were very focused.

"In defence, we had one very dangerous situation in the first half where Freiburg didn't finish perfectly. I think we played nice football with great finishing. Big compliment to the team."

Bayern sit between Union and Freiburg now, with 10 rounds of games gone, in a top three that few would have predicted at the start of the season.

"Freiburg deserve to be there because they're playing very well," Nagelsmann said in his post-game press conference. "Union is one of the top teams in the league and they'll probably continue that over the next couple of weeks."

Bill Belichick celebrated his 324th career NFL win on Sunday as Bailey Zappe led the New England Patriots to a 38-15 victory at the Cleveland Browns.

This latest success moved Belichick into a tie for second for the most all-time coaching wins across the regular season and postseason.

The Patriots legend is now level with George Halas, trailing only Don Shula's 347.

The dominant defeat of the Browns was Belichick's 293rd regular season win, which has him third behind Halas (318) and Shula (328), while he leads all coaches with 31 playoff victories.

"I've got a ton of respect for coach Halas and the McCaskey family and what he did for professional football," Belichick said.

"The way that he and, since we're here, [first Browns coach] Paul Brown and others like them paved the way for us, as coaches, and paved the way for the National Football League to grow to what it is today. They laid down a lot of the building blocks."

Meanwhile, Zappe was as impressive in his second NFL start as he had been in his first, a 29-0 rout of the Detroit Lions last week.

The rookie fourth-rounder, who against the Lions became the fifth of five Patriot quarterbacks selected by Belichick outside the first round to win his first start, threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns in Cleveland, achieving a 118.4 passer rating.

Zappe is therefore the first rookie to win his first two career starts while recording a rating of at least 100 in both games since Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen in 1957.

Erik ten Hag defended his decision to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo during Manchester United's 0-0 draw with Newcastle United on Sunday, insisting he wants to keep the striker fresh for a packed fixture schedule.

Ronaldo, starting a Premier League for the first time since August 13, managed just a single shot before he was hauled off in the 72nd minute for Marcus Rashford.

The Portuguese superstar looked visibly annoyed as he walked off the pitch, and continued to shake his head in the dugout as United struggled to break down Eddie Howe's side.

United face Premier League matches against Tottenham and Chelsea over the next week, and Ten Hag said Ronaldo was brought off with a view to preserving him for those games.

"We have to recover as we have four games in 10 days and especially for the strikers, I want to keep them fresh," Ten Hag said.

"I want to keep them all fresh, we have to rotate because of some problems we have.

"[Anthony] Martial is not available in this moment, then Rashy [Rashford] was not well, so he did not have energy for the whole game.

"We had to plan to cover for the four games because we want to win or at least get a result in all four games."

The result was United's 76th Premier League goalless draw, 31 of which have come since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 (41 per cent) – the most of any side in the competition since the start of the 2013-14 season.

Despite the disappointing result, Ten Hag was pleased with his side's display and believes they deserved to claim all three points.

"I'm disappointed with the result, but I'm happy with the performance," the Dutchman added.

"A lot of elements of the team, the way of playing, we transferred on the pitch. We have seen that.

"The pressing the whole game was good. The second half possession was better. We made an improvement after half-time.

"Then you saw we dominate that game in the second half by far and also in the end the physical, again the mentality, how we kept going.

"You saw the problems they had and that is one of the best physical teams in the league. They all had cramp and we didn't because we let them run because we were good on the ball and our pressing was good."

The result left the Red Devils fifth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and still one ahead of Newcastle.

Sandro Tonali fired a late winner as Milan earned a 2-1 away victory over Hellas Verona to climb to third in Serie A and stay in touch with early leaders Napoli.

Stefano Pioli's visitors got themselves ahead early on when Rafael Leao's cross was diverted by Miguel Veloso into his own net, though the lead lasted just 10 minutes as Koray Gunter's shot came off Matteo Gabbia and nestled in the back of the net.

It looked as if Milan would have to settle for a draw until Tonali's cool finish in the 81st minute proved decisive.

Milan's fourth successive Serie A victory over Verona moves them up to third, just three points behind leaders Napoli as Pioli's men look to retain their title.

Kenny Pickett could not finish his second NFL start after going into concussion protocol, but the Pittsburgh Steelers ensured their quarterback could celebrate an unlikely first win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pickett – the first QB off the board in the 2022 NFL Draft – started for the first time in last week's big defeat to the Buffalo Bills.

But the rookie bounced back in some style against Tom Brady, securing a narrow lead before exiting the game midway through the third quarter. The Steelers protected that advantage to win 20-18.

Pickett had thrown his first career touchdown pass to Najee Harris on Pittsburgh's first drive.

A sloppy end to the first half allowed the Bucs to close the gap, but they headed in at halftime without having scored a TD – a first for a Brady team against the Steelers.

Pittsburgh lifted their game again following the restart, trading field goals before a hit on Pickett saw him leave the game, and was then ruled out.

Mitch Trubisky picked up the baton, though, connecting with Chase Claypool for another TD before Brady and Leonard Fournette belatedly responded.

A successful two-point conversion would have tied the game with time left for the Bucs to win it, but Brady's attempt was batted away, and Trubisky saw out only a second Steelers win of the year.

Another New York defeat for Packers on return to Lambeau

The Green Bay Packers gave up a home game to play in London for the first time in franchise history last week, losing to the New York Giants. And a return to Lambeau Field did little to lift Aaron Rodgers and Co., who fell to 3-3 with a 27-10 home loss to the New York Jets.

In fact, the Packers crowd appeared to turn on their team when a blocked punt gifted the Jets – now 3-0 on the road to start a season for the first time since 2010 – a two-TD lead their opponents could not recover from.

The Giants built on their upset of the Packers by doing the same to the Baltimore Ravens. They had trailed Green Bay 20-10 at halftime in Week 5 and were this time down by the same score in the fourth quarter, recovering for a 24-20 win to move to 5-1.

The Atlanta Falcons lost in Week 5 but also had momentum to carry into a matchup with the San Francisco 49ers after a 15-point fourth quarter against the Bucs. Following five straight games decided by seven points or fewer, the Falcons coasted to a 28-14 success.

Ryan extends Jags' miserable road run in AFC South

The Jacksonville Jaguars have not won a road game against an AFC South rival since 2017, a losing sequence of 13 games heading into Sunday's trip to the Indianapolis Colts.

It appeared as though Trevor Lawrence was to lead the Jags to a long-awaited win when the Colts trailed by a point at the Jacksonville 33 with just 23 seconds to play.

But Matt Ryan, having earlier passed Dan Marino (61,361) to climb to seventh all-time for passing yards, completed a pivotal TD pass to Alec Pierce to prolong the Jags' misery.

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