Sports this weekend: India vs England ICC World Cup, Rugby World Cup final, El Clasico and more

With the week nearly coming to an end and a majority of the world gearing up to let their hair down on Friday evening, we take a look at all the sporting action that’s in store over the coming weekend (all timings in IST).

Cricket:

ICC World Cup (Star Sports Network): The caravan that is the 13th edition of the ICC World Cup rolls along with the fourth double-header of the tournament taking place on Saturday, 28 October.

A resurgent Australia face high-flying Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand (10.30 am) in the first of two fixtures on the day in Dharamsala, with the winner of that match possibly moving to the second spot depending on the result of the Pakistan-South Africa fixture. Bangladesh and Netherlands, who occupy the eighth and 10th slots on the table, fight for mathematical survival in the second fixture of the day in Kolkata.

The biggest cricketing fixture of the weekend will be India’s meeting with defending champions England at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday, with the Men in (light) Blue hoping to collect six wins in as many outings.

WBBL (Star Sports Network): Melbourne Renegades face the Ellyse Perry-led Sydney Sixers in the only fixture on Saturday (6.30 am) at Melbourne’s Junction Oval. Sunday will feature a double-header; the Junction Oval will play host to Melbourne Stars’ fixture against Perth Scorchers in the first fixture (9.30 am) while the second will witness Adelaide Strikers host table leaders Brisbane Heat at the Karen Rolton Oval (1.40 pm).

Rugby (Sony Sports Network): New Zealand face fierce rivals and fellow three-time champions and current title holders South Africa in the final of the Rugby Union World Cup at Stade de France in Paris on Saturday (Sunday in India, with kick off at 12.30 am).

The two sides share a storied rivalry in the sport that spans decades, and had met in the final of the 1995 World Cup, which marked the Springboks’ return to the sport after two decades of isolation due to Apartheid.

South Africa had defeated New Zealand 15-12 back then, and the All Blacks will hope to go level this time around and edge ahead of the Boks on title count.

Before the big final though, England face Argentina in the third-fourth place playoff fixture at 12.30 am on Saturday (Friday in Paris).

Football:

European Club Football: The biggest footballing event of the weekend will be the Barcelona vs Real Madrid fixture in LaLiga (Sports18/JioCinema), a.k.a ‘El Clasico’ at 7.45 pm on Saturday. That along with the Manchester derby (Star Sports Network) — United vs City at the Old Trafford Stadium on Sunday at 9.30 pm, where Pep Guardiola’s defending champions.

Here are some of the major European club fixtures over the weekend:

Premier League (Star Sports Network):

Chelsea vs Brentford (5 pm, Saturday)
Arsenal vs Sheffield United (7.30 pm, Saturday)
West Ham United vs Everton (6.30 pm, Sunday)
Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest (7.30 pm Sunday)

LaLiga (Sports18/JioCinema)):

Cadiz vs Sevilla (12.30 am, Saturday)
Atletico Madrid vs Alaves (1.30 am, Sunday)

Serie A (Sports18/JioCinema):

Juventus vs Hellas Verona (12.15 am, Saturday)
Inter Milan vs AS Roma (10.30 pm, Sunday)
Napoli vs AC Milan (1.15 am, Sunday)

Bundesliga (Sony Sports Network):

Bayern Munich vs SV Darmstadt 98 (7 pm, Saturday)
RB Leipzig vs FC Cologne (10 pm, Saturday)
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Dortmund (8 pm, Sunday)

Ligue 1:

Brest vs Paris Saint-Germain (5.30 pm, Sunday)
Marseille vs Lyon (1.15 am, Sunday)

UEFA Women’s Nations League (Fancode): World Cup runners-up England square off against Belgium on Saturday (12.15 am). The Lionesses had beaten Scotland 2-1 in their first game on 23 September before suffering a defeat by a similar margin against the Netherlands three days later.

Netherlands face Scotland at exactly the same time as England-Belgium while the kickoff for the Iceland-Denmark fixture is 15 minutes before these two.

Indian Super League (Star Sports Network): Mumbai City FC square off against Hyderabad FC in the only fixture on Saturday at 8 pm at the Mumbai Football Arena. Saturday was supposed to be a double-header, but the Mohun Bagan Super Giant vs SC East Bengal derby clash has been postponed for now.

On Sunday, Chennaiyin FC host Punjab FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai with kickoff at 8 pm.

I-League (Eurosport TV): The I-League, which has effectively become Tier Two of Indian football this year with the Indian Super League the top tier, kicks off on Saturday with Real Kashmir squaring off against Rajasthan United in the tournament opener in Srinagar at 2 pm. Later in the evening, Gokulam Kerala square off against debutants Inter Kashi at the EMS Stadium starting 8 pm.

The following day Sreenidi Deccan faces NEROCA FC at 4.30 pm while Mohammedan SC squares off against Aizawl FC at 4.30 pm and 7 pm respectively.

Hockey

Women’s Asian Champions Trophy (Sony Sports Network): The second day of the seventh Women’s Asian Champions Trophy at Ranchi’s Jaipal Singh Stadium witnesses hosts India face Malaysia in their second outing of the tournament, with play starting at 8.15 pm. Before that, defending champions Japan take on South Korea at 4 pm while Thailand face China in the second fixture of the day at 6.15 pm.

Asian Para Games (FanCode): The final day of the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China will take place on Saturday, 28 October. India stretched their medal count to 99 on Friday and while they are sure to go past the 100-medal mark for the first time ever, they will hope to try and win a few gold medals to try and jump past South Korea and Indonesia to the fourth spot in the fourth edition of the Para Games.

Formula 1 (Star Sports Network): The Mexican Grand Prix takes place at Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on Sunday (Monday in India, with the race starting at 1.30 am).

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