The Connecticut Sun must dig deep to claim a place in the WNBA Finals when they face the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of their semifinal matchup, says coach Stephanie White.

The Sun pulled out a dramatic 92-82 win in Game 4 on Sunday and tee up a decider for Tuesday, evening up the series at 2-2.

Alyssa Thomas led Connecticut with 18 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds in Game 4, keeping the Sun's hopes of a fifth finals appearance – and a second in three years – alive.

White expects both teams to step things up a gear for the decider, warning the Sun have no margin for error if they are to advance.

"Both of these franchises have been here," White said. "We have a lot of players on our roster that have been here that understand certainly what it takes and that effort is not going to be good enough.

"We expect them to make adjustments. We'll make some tweaks and adjustments as well. ... It's about players making plays.

"It's about the extra efforts, the hustle plays. It's about not being denied and finding something deep inside of you that just allows you to come out on top."

Napheesa Collier carried Minnesota in Game 4, finishing with 29 points and 13 boards, and she believes having home advantage at Target Center could be crucial on Tuesday.

"You work so hard in the regular season because you want this advantage," Collier said.

"Obviously you want to go home for that game and since we are, it's really nice to have that homecourt advantage." 

Coco Gauff believes she has proven to herself that she is going in the "right direction" after winning the China Open in Beijing.

Gauff triumphed 6-1 6-3 in Sunday's final, beating Karolina Muchova in just 76 minutes to claim her second title of 2024, after winning the Auckland Open in January.

She is also now the first player to win each of her first seven WTA hard-court finals in the Open Era.

However, after winning the Cincinnati Open and her maiden grand slam at the US Open last year, Gauff struggled at the start of the hard court swing this time around.

After an early exit at the Paris Olympics, she only won once across at Toronto and Cincinnati before seeing her US Open title defence ended in the last 16 by Emma Navarro.

"Everybody can do everything in practice," Gauff told WTA Insider. "This time, when the pressure is on the line, I was just trying to force myself to do things I was uncomfortable with.

"So yeah, I think the result is now reassurance that I am in the right direction.

"A lot of times people forget that I'm still in the developmental phase of my career and nothing is going to be great.

"Most of the people doing well are 25 and older in the top 10, maybe with the exception of Iga [Swiatek]. We have a long way to go, and I still have a lot that I need to work on, and I'm proud of myself thus far.

"I didn't have a complete game at 15, and I don't have one right now, but I've been on tour playing every week almost, trying to be better. I'm just super proud of that."

Gauff will be in action next at the Wuhan Open, making her first appearance at the tournament. 

JuJu Smith-Schuster declared "the band is back together" after helping the Kansas City Chiefs stay perfect for the season with Monday's 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints.

Smith-Schuster had seven catches for 130 yards as the Chiefs overcame the absence of injured receiver Rashee Rice to make their first 5-0 start since 2018 – the team's first campaign with Patrick Mahomes as their starting quarterback.

Kareem Hunt also excelled, rushing for 102 yards and a touchdown – his first score for the Chiefs since they released him six years ago, before bringing him back last month.

Smith-Schuster, meanwhile, returned to the team in August, having played a key role in their 2022 Super Bowl-winning season.

Speaking after the victory, the former second-round draft pick said: "It's pretty cool getting the guys back. I'd say it's like the band is back together."

The Chiefs are one of just two teams, alongside the Minnesota Vikings, to boast a 100% record for the season.

Quarterback Mahomes hailed the impact of both Smith-Schuster and Hunt after their latest win, comparing the former to his favourite target, tight end Travis Kelce.

"It's a credit to not only the guys and how hard they work, but coach [Andy] Reid and just knowing their skill sets and how to put them in great positions," Mahomes said. 

"Kareem just runs extremely hard. He gets every yard out there, catches the ball, does whatever it takes in order to go out there and win.

"[Smith-Schuster] fits in well in this offense and so he did a great job today. It was cool to get those guys going.

"Trav is kind of one of a kind, but he [Smith-Schuster] has a good feel for the entire concept of the play and so he knows how to get into the open spots.

"He did a good job today of beating man when they played man and finding windows to get big catches."

Patrick Mahomes threw for 331 yards, Kareem Hunt rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown, and the Kansas City Chiefs remained unbeaten with Monday's 26-13 win over the scuffling New Orleans Saints.

The reigning two-time Super Bowl champions also got four field goals from Harrison Butker and a rushing touchdown from rookie Xavier Worthy to join the Minnesota Vikings as the only teams to start this season 5-0. It's the first time the Chiefs have won their first five games in a campaign since 2018, Mahomes' first season as the team's starting quarterback. 

New Orleans has now lost three straight following a 2-0 start and had starting quarterback Derek Carr exit in the fourth quarter with an oblique injury.

Carr threw touchdown passes to Rashid Shaheed and Foster Moreau before departing, but was held to 165 yards on 18-of-28 passing. The Saints managed just 220 total yards against a Kansas City defence that also intercepted Carr on the game's opening possession to stop a drive inside Chiefs' territory.

The Chiefs marched 78 yards in 10 plays following the turnover to take a 7-0 lead on Hunt's 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. They extended the margin to 10-0 on Butker's 26-yard field goal early in the second.

Shaheed hauled in Carr's deep pass for a 43-yard touchdown to get New Orleans on the board with 8:36 left before half-time, but two more Butker field goals sent Kansas City into the break owning a 16-7 advantage.

The Saints closed the gap again early in the fourth quarter, as Carr capped an 8-play, 65-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Moreau with 14:16 remaining. Kicker Blake Grupe missed the extra-point try, however, to keep the Chiefs' lead at 16-13.

Kansas City responded on the ensuing possession, though. A 50-yard completion from Mahomes to JuJu Smith-Schuster moved the Chiefs deep into New Orleans territory, and Worthy slithered into the end zone from three yards out on a hand-off three plays later to push Kansas City's lead to 23-13 with under 12 minutes to go.

Salvador Perez's solo home run ignited a four-run fourth inning that sparked the Kansas City Royals to a crucial 4-2 win over the New York Yankees in Monday's Game 2 of the teams' American League DIvision Series.

Tommy Pham, Garrett Hampson and Maikel Garcia each delivered run-scoring singles during the big inning, while four Kansas City relievers kept the Yankees' potent bats largely quiet the rest of the way as the Royals evened this best-of-five series at 1-1.

Garcia finished 4 for 5 to tie a franchise record for hits in a post-season game.

The fifth-seeded Royals, making their first post-season appearance since 2015, will now host the next two meetings with Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday in Kansas City.

New York, the AL's top seed, got a ninth-inning home run from Jazz Chisholm but a shaky performance from starting pitcher Carlos Rodon, who held the Royals scoreless for the first three innings before getting hit hard in the fourth.

Perez, the last remaining member of Kansas City's 2015 World Series champion team, started the uprising with a long home run to left field that tied the game at 1-1.

Yuli Gurriel followed Perez's blast with a single and took second on Rodon's wild pitch before scoring the go-ahead run on Pham's one-out single.

Pham stole second and later crossed the plate on Hampson's two-out single that chased Rodon. Garcia then greeted reliever Ian Hamilton with a single to bring in Hampson, who advanced to second on the throw home to try to prevent Pham's run, for a 4-1 advantage.

Angel Zerpa (1-0) and John Schreiber threw a scoreless inning each to protect the lead before Kris Bubic worked the seventh and eighth to maintain the three-run cushion.

Lucas Erceg came on in the ninth and allowed Chisholm's lead-off homer, but retired the three of the next four Yankee hitters for his third save of these playoffs.

Rodon struck out seven in 3 2/3 innings, but was charged with all four runs while surrendering seven hits.

Cole Ragans threw the first four innings for Kansas City and issued four walks, but allowed just one run on three hits while striking out five.

New York's lone run against Ragans came in the third. Gleyber Torres drew a lead-off walk, moved to second on an Austin Wells single and came home on Giancarlo Stanton's single.

Carpenter's homer in ninth gets Tigers even with Guardians

In the AL's other Division Series, Kerry Carpenter's three-run homer off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in the ninth inning broke a scoreless tie and lifted the Detroit Tigers to a much-needed 3-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians.

With two on and two out in the top of the ninth, Carpenter drove a slider from Clase over the right field wall to finally put Detroit ahead in a game dominated by pitching and defence to that point.

Beau Brieske then struck out two in a perfect bottom of the ninth to allow the sixth-seeded Tigers to send this best-of-five series to Detroit tied at 1-1. Game 3 will be held Wednesday at Comerica Park.

Clase, the AL leader with 47 saves during the regular season, retired the first two Detroit hitters in the top of the ninth before Jake Rogers extended the Tigers' half of the inning with a single. Trey Sweeney followed with a single before Carpenter delivered just the third home run Cleveland's usually dominant reliever has allowed in 2024.

The blast also ended Detroit's 17-inning scoreless streak to begin this series, which the second-seeded Guardians opened with Saturday's 7-0 victory. 

Clase had not permitted more than one run in any of his 75 previous appearances this season and yielded just five earned runs in a combined 75 1/3 innings going in.

Carpenter's homer made a winner out of Will Vest after the right-hander threw one scoreless inning in relief of Detroit ace Tarik Skubal, who held the Guardians to just three hits and struck out eight in seven innings.

Cleveland used five pitchers to keep the game 0-0 through eight innings, with former Tiger Matthew Boyd striking out five over the first 4 2/3 innings.

Both teams had scoring chances earlier in the contest, with the Tigers nearly taking the lead in the eighth after putting two on with two out. Wenceel Perez then greeted Clase with a sinking line drive that was caught by a diving Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan to end the threat.

Cleveland threatened in both the fifth and sixth, but came away empty both times as Skubal induced inning-ending double-play grounders with two runners on base on both occasions.

England have been dealt a triple injury blow before their Nations League matches, with Kobbie Mainoo, Morgan Gibbs-White and Ezri Konsa pulling out of the squad.

Earlier on Monday, the Three Lions were boosted by the confirmation that Harry Kane's injury against Eintracht Frankfurt was not serious, and he would be able to play a part in the October fixtures.

However, the trio did not arrive with the rest of the squad at St. George's Park, and Lee Carsley is not expected to call up any replacements.

Mainoo made his international debut earlier this year and has made 10 appearances for England, with one of those caps coming under Carsley against Ireland, but a knee injury that forced him off for Manchester United against Aston Villa will keep him out.

Konsa was also forced off in the second half of that match, having suffered a hamstring injury in the 0-0 draw.

Gibbs-White, who was handed his senior England debut by the manager last month, also sustained his issue on Sunday, in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea. At under-21 level, the midfielder made 15 appearances under Carsley, with only six players featuring more under him.

England host Greece at Wembley on Thursday before travelling to Helsinki to face Finland on Sunday.

Jarell Quansah has signed a long-term contract at Liverpool.

The defender has been at the club since the age of five and enjoyed an impressive breakout season under Jurgen Klopp last season.

He made 33 appearances in all competitions under the German and netted his first goal for the club in the Europa League in December against Union Saint-Gilloise.

Among Liverpool players in the Premier League last campaign, he made the joint-third most blocks (eight) and won 22 of his 25 tackles in the competition.

So far under Arne Slot, he has made just two appearances, playing the first half of their top-flight opener against Ipswich Town and the EFL Cup match against West Ham.

"I couldn't be happier at this minute," the 21-year-old told Liverpool's website.

"I think the way the new manager has come in; his coaching style has definitely been a massive part of that and I think it is the best club in the world for me to develop at and become a better player.

"I think the players around me, who I'm looking to work hard off and listen to, I think they're the best in the position at the minute. So, like I said, there is probably no better place I could be."

Liverpool are also reportedly in talks with Ibrahima Konate over a new contract, while the futures of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who are all in the final year of their contracts, are still yet to be sorted.

Ireland avoided being on the wrong end of a series sweep with a stunning 69-run victory over South Africa in their final ODI.

South Africa won the series 2-1 but finished with a whimper as they struggled to get on the front foot against the attack-minded Irish on Monday.

Captain Paul Stirling spurred Ireland on their way to victory with his knock of 88, including 11 boundaries, before Harry Tector's enterprising 60 gave them a bigger edge.

Andrew Balbirnie (45), Curtis Campher (34) and Lorcan Tucker (26) also strengthened their grip on the encounter before Lizaad Williams found his footing for South Africa.

He finished with 4-56 after an impressive show in the death overs, which was their only positive in the field, as he helped stop Ireland at 284-9. However, the Proteas had given themselves a mountain to climb that only grew as they lost three early wickets.

Graham Hume (3-29) was the standout for Ireland, but Mark Adair (2-54) and Craig Young (3-40) also played their part, even as Jason Smith's 91 gave South Africa some hope. 

Kyle Verreynne (38) and Tristan Stubbs (20) had helped steady the ship before that, but after Smith's stand was cut short, a late collapse ensured South Africa would fall short in the chase on 215 with 29 balls remaining.

Data Debrief: Ireland finish on a high

Ireland pulled off a shock win in the second and final match in their T20I series against the Proteas last month, and once again ensured they would leave Abu Dhabi in high spirits.

Stirling and Balbirnie combined for their first 100-run partnership in an ODI, helping Ireland to their first-ever win over South Africa in the format. 

Smith can leave with his head held high though - having been taken for a duck in his first ODI, he made a vast improvement with his 91 on Monday, getting nine fours and four sixes. 

Naomi Osaka will not play at her home Japan Open next week due to a back injury, organisers confirmed on Monday.

The 26-year-old was forced to retire during the last 16 against eventual champion Coco Gauff at the China Open in Beijing last week because of the same injury.

Osaka was on a three-match winning streak before her meeting with Gauff, having also registered her first comeback victory in two years earlier in the tournament when she beat Yulia Putintseva in the second round.

However, the four-time grand slam winner has not recovered in time and will not be able to play on home soil when the tournament starts on October 14.

"Due to injury, Naomi Osaka has decided to withdraw from the tournament," the Japan Tennis Association said in a statement.

Osaka is still scheduled to play in the Pan Pacific Open Tennis Tournament 2024 in Tokyo, which begins on October 21.

Her last appearance in her home country was at that tournament in 2022, when she withdrew in the second-round match with abdominal pains. 

Bayern Munich confirmed Harry Kane did not suffer a serious injury against Eintracht Frankfurt and will be available for England in the international break.

Kane, who has already netted 10 goals in nine appearances for Bayern in all competitions this season, was substituted in the 72nd minute of their 3-3 draw with a suspected thigh injury.

The England captain was assessed by the Football Association's (FA) doctors on Monday, with the German side announcing no "structural injury" was found.

Kane, who made his 100th appearance for England during their last match against Finland, will be available for the return leg in Helsinki, and their match against Greece at Wembley prior to that.

While the striker has been given the all-clear for international action, Dayot Upamecano and Mathys Tel have both withdrawn from their respective France squads.

Upamecano scored against Frankfurt but was subsequently taken off in the second half after also sustaining a thigh problem, while Tel is suffering with a shoulder injury.

Pep Guardiola admitted that Ederson came close to leaving Manchester City in the transfer window but stayed because a fee could not be agreed.

The Brazilian was linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League in the off-season, with both Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad both reportedly interested in his signature.

Since joining the club in June 2017, Ederson has kept 113 clean sheets in 257 Premier League appearances, more than any other goalkeeper in the competition since his debut.

He has won 15 major trophies with City, including six Premier Leagues, two FA Cups and a Champions League title, as well as the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup.

Ederson has played in all seven of City's Premier League matches so far this season, keeping just one clean sheet and conceding eight goals from an expected goals on target (xGoT) of 8.54.

Guardiola is delighted that he was able to keep hold of Ederson, who continues to play a pivotal role in the team.

"He is an important figure with our team," Guardiola told the club's website.

"We are lucky to have him, and I hope he is happy. Eddy knows us really well and what we have to do.

"He knew from day one that I didn't want him to leave. The truth is the offer didn't come. The real offer.

"They make an offer but the keeper, who won four Premier Leagues in a row, he has a value and a price. Otherwise, he cannot leave.

“If the offer did come, maybe he should not be here. This is the truth.

"Ederson is so strong, but when he changed his mind, in one second he said he is here, and he is going to do his best."

Brendon McCullum does not believe England were missing James Anderson's coaching during a difficult start to the first Test against Pakistan.

Gus Atkinson got England an early wicket, but they soon struggled as Shan Masood, whose 43-ball half-century is the second-fastest by a Pakistan skipper in Tests, and Abdullah Shafique both struck centuries.

However, they made a strong finish to the first day, taking three wickets in the final session, with Pakistan reaching stumps on 328-4.

Anderson, who has been acting as England's fast-bowling consultant since his retirement, was not in Multan on Monday but is set to join up with the team on day two.

After a tough day in the field, McCullum insisted Anderson was still on hand to coach the players despite not being present, and believes this shows the impact he has already had on the side.

"Two months ago, you guys were saying that he didn't deserve to be a coach just yet," McCullum told Sky Sports.

"Now, it's like, 'We're missing him' - and I think that's a great affirmation of how good an impact Jimmy Anderson has made in a short period of time.

"He's got [WhatsApp] groups set up with the bowlers and is always feeding information through Jeetan Patel. We live in a world where you can still communicate without being face-to-face… I don't have any qualms whatsoever.

"I'm absolutely delighted for him that he gets the opportunity to do something he loves doing and when he gets here, he'll be right in the thick of it as he has done as bowling coach since he came in."

Masood and Shafique added a 253-run partnership for the second wicket but fell softly to Atkinson and Jack Leach before Chris Woakes had Babar Azam lbw as England gave themselves some hope in the closing stages.

Assistant coach Jeetan Patel, who was working with the fast bowlers in Anderson's absence, was particularly proud of how they kept pushing despite the heat.

"I couldn't commend them any more," Patel said. "I think the toil they put in today was high-end: the way they tried different things to take wickets, the different fields they had, the way they fielded.

"To take those three wickets tonight was a testament to the work they'd done in the first two sessions. We're pretty happy with how it's ended up, with them four down."