Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns progress, Atlanta Hawks keep series alive

THE Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns have sealed their spots in the Western Conference semi-finals.

The Nuggets won 112109 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 136-130 as both clinched 4-1 series wins.

The Nuggets and Suns will now face each other for a conference final spot, with the first match in Denver on Saturday.

In the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Boston Celtics 119117 to keep their series alive.

Reigning NBA Most

Valuable Player Nikola Jokic was once again the inspiration for the Nuggets as he scored 28 points with 17 rebounds and 12 assists.

Jamal Murray added 35 points for the Western Conference top seeds, who are through to the semi-finals for the fourth time in five seasons.

In Phoenix, Devin Booker top-scored with 47 points

Royals surge to top of IPL after blistering batting against Super Kings

YASHASHAVI Jaiswal and Adam Zampa led Rajasthan Royals to the top of the Indian Premier League with a sensational knock in a 32-run win over Chennai Super Kings.

Jaiswal plundered 77 from 43 deliveries to propel the Royals to 202-5 from their 20 overs on Thursday.

The Royals opener finally succumbed to Tushar Deshpande in the 14th over, though the damage had been done, with Rajasthan having reached 132 at that stage.

Jos Buttler scored 27 as he helped mount an opening-wicket partnership of 86 with Jaiswal, who also saw Sanju Samson come and go.

Dhruv Jurel added 34 from 15 balls and Devdutt ed by the brilliant Zampa in the 10th over, who took 3-22.

Shivam Dube's 52 handed Chennai hope, yet with Zampa sending Moeen Ali packing, the Super Kings were battling against the odds.

In the end they just did not have enough, Dube's dismissal in the final over capping off a fine win for the Royals.

IPL first for the Royals

No team had surpassed the 200 milestone in an IPL match played in Jaipur until now, with the Royals holding that unique record.

They are onto 10 points and sit top of the pile.

Jaiswal the star of the show for the Suns, who recovered from an opening game defeat against the Clippers to reel off four straight wins.

The Clippers, without the injured Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, led by 10 points at the start of the second half but Booker scored 25 of his points in the third quarter as the Suns overcame that deficit to progress.

"Those guys don't stop fighting," Booker said of the Clippers afterwards.

"That's been the story of the whole series. Even though they were down men, we knew they were going to bring it."

In Boston, Trae Young scored a three-pointer with just 1.8 seconds remaining to seal a dramatic victory for the Hawks and keep their series against the Celt- ics alive.

The Celtics had looked to be easing to victory after dominating much of the second half, and led by 13 points halfway through the fourth quarter before the Hawks rallied late on.

Young finished with 38 points, 13 assists and four rebounds as the Hawks forced a game six in Atlanta on yesterday with Boston leading the series 3-2.

"We were tough-minded," said Hawks coach Quin Snyder. "It's tough to be down through the whole game. We were hanging in there and hanging in there. We just didn't capitulate."(BBC Sport)’

Afcon 2027: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda mount joint bid for tournament

KENYA, Tanzania and Uganda are set to bid to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.The three East African neighbours have submitted a joint expression of interest with the Confederation of African Football (Caf), the governing body that organises the biennial tournament.

Three other nations have also registered interest - Algeria, Botswana and Egypt.

Egypt hosted Afcon as recently as 2019, while earlier this year Algeria hosted the African Nations Championship (Chan) - the pan-continental tournament for locally-based playersmeaning those two countries are unlikely to struggle when it comes to infrastructure requirements.

The next edition of Afcon takes place in Ivory Coast at the beginning of next year but no decision has yet been made for 2025 the prospects of Kenyan football".

Kenya has just one stadium approved for international games by Caf, the Nyayo National Stadium in its capital Nairobi.

Padikkal tallied up an unbeaten 27 from 13 to nudge the Royals over the 200 mark.

Despite Ruturaj Gaikwad's 47, the Super Kings lacked the pace needed in the chase, and his stand was end-

While Zampa impressed with the ball, it was Jaiswal's knock that really put the Royals in command.

The opener struck 12 boundaries, including four sixes, with his 77 coming at a strike rate of 179.06. (Sportsmax).

However, it is unclear how much investment will be needed to allow either Botswana's or the joint East African bid to succeed.

Until last week, Botswana's bid was also due to be a joint one, but Namibia dropped out at the last minute, citing financial concerns.

The country was stripped of the right to host the 2018 Chan just four months before the finals because several venues were not ready.

In December, the Kenyan government released a statement about its prospective 2027 bid revealing its cabinet had "sanctioned the revitalisation of football as a key cog of our nation's social fabric" in a bid "to revive

"This national effort will encompass the rebuilding of the national men's team and women's team," the statement added.

The four bids now have until 23 May to submit final official plans before inspection visits in June and July.

CAF is yet to make a decision on who will host the 2025 Afcon, having stripped Guinea of the right in October due to insufficient preparation.