The following are the top stories at 2125 hours: STORIES ON WIRE: SPO-CRI-WOM-IND-LD AUS Indian batters flop as Australia win by 4 wickets to seal multi-format series Gold Coast, Oct 9 (PTI) Indian bowlers put up a valiant effort with very few runs to defend before rookie Tahlia McGrath won the battle of nerves at the death, guiding Australia to a four-wicket victory in the second women’s T20 International and also clinch the multi-format series 9-5.

SPO-CRI-IPL-QUALIFIER1-DC-CSK-PREVIEW Quaifier 1: Experienced CSK hold edge over Delhi Capitals Dubai, Oct 9 (PTI) Chennai Super Kings’ old guards with an uncanny knack of owning the big stage at right moments, will start as favourites against a solid Delhi Capitals line-up led by ‘young pretender’ Rishabh Pant in what promises to be an exciting first IPL Qualifier here on Sunday.

SPO-BOX-IND-COACH Army’s Narender Rana set to be appointed Indian men’s boxing team’s head coach New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) The Boxing Federation of India has decided to replace men’s chief coach C A Kuttappa with Army Sports Institute’s Narender Rana ahead of this month’s world championship, which is also set to mark the end of High Performance Director Santiago Nieva’s tenure.

SPO-CRI-IPL-MI-ROHIT May be Hardik will start bowling from next week, have confidence in his abilities: Rohit Abu Dhabi, Oct 9 (PTI) India’s senior chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma had said that Hardik Pandya would be bowling in IPL but Indian vice-captain and MI skipper Rohit Sharma is expecting the all-rounder to start bowling from ”next week” even though he won’t like to put a timeline on the subject.

SPO-CRI-WT20-ISHAN Virat Kohli has said that I will open in T20 World Cup, says Ishan Kishan Abu Dhabi, Oct 9 (PTI) Back in form with two successive fifties in the IPL, young wicketkeeper batsman Ishan Kishan said skipper Virat Kohli has told him that he will be seen as an opener in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup. SPO-CRI-AFGHAN-FLOWER Flower appointed Afghanistan’s consultant for T20 World Cup Kabul, Oct 9 (PTI) Former Zimbabwe captain and England coach Andy Flower has been named as Afghanistan’s national team consultant for the T20 World Cup, the Afghanistan Cricket Board said.

SPO-CRI-IPL-RCB-DC-BHARAT Had asked Maxwell if he wanted strike but he said ‘you can finish it off’: Bharat Dubai, Oct 9 (PTI) Royal Challengers Bangalore’s latest star Kona Bharat said that his senior partner Glenn Maxwell had complete faith that the Andhra wicketkeeper-batter could finish off the last IPL league game against Delhi Capitals, which he did with a last-ball six.

SPO-GOLF-IND-LAHIRI Lahiri shoots 70, makes cut easily at Las Vegas Las Vegas, Oct 9 (PTI) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri shot one-under 70 in the second round to make the cut comfortably at the Shriners Children’s Open here.

SPO-HOCK-IND-SREEJESH Nothing is certain but want to stay with this team till Paris Olympics: Sreejesh New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) Veteran India goalkeeper P R Sreejesh wants to compete at the Paris Olympics but said on Saturday a lot will depend on his fitness and performance in the run-up to the 2024 Games.

SPO-CRI-IPL-PONTING Loss against RCB chance for players to reflect: Ponting Dubai, Oct 9 (PTI) Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting feels the defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last league game of the ongoing IPL has given his team a ”chance to reflect” ahead of the playoffs. SPO-CRI-WOM-IND-AUS-HARMANPREET Harmanpreet joins chorus for women’s IPL Gold Coast, Oct 9 (PTI) India’s T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur stressed on the need for a women’s IPL after her team failed to close out a tight game against Australia in the second match of the three-match series here on Saturday.

SPO-FOOT-IND-SAFF SAFF Championship: India face Nepal in must-win match Male, Oct 9 (PTI) A beleaguered Indian football team faces Nepal in a must-win match in the SAFF Championship here on Sunday.

SPO-GOLF-SHARMA-SPAIN Sharma lands two eagles in second round, moves to 3rd place in Spain Madrid, Oct 9 (PTI) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma played one of his best rounds of the season to force his way into contention at the halfway stage of the Acciona Open de España.

SPO-GOLF-WOM-IND Amandeep Drall lies 2nd, Vani 11th in LETAS event in France Tourrettes, Oct 9 (PTI) India’s Amandeep Drall carded a fine three-under 69 to move to the second place after the second round of the Terre Blanche Ladies Open.

SPO-SHOOT-WORLD-IND India ends junior worlds with 30 medals, tops table Lima, Oct 9 (PTI) Indian shooters Anish Bhanwala, Adarsh SIngh and Vijayveer Sidhu combined to win the gold medal in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol team event as the country ended the ISSF Junior World Championship on top of the standings here.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)