Hardik Pandya’s IPL 2026 form sparks MI playoff doubts

Hardik Pandya has struggled in the IPL 2026 season, amassing only 146 runs in eight innings with a best of 40 and a strike rate of 136.44. In bowling, he has taken just four wickets in seven overs, conceding 12.26 runs per over. The captain’s poor form has been a key factor in Mumbai Indians’ poor campaign, as the team has lost seven of its first nine matches and faces a slim chance of reaching the playoffs.

Talladega Superspeedway has a reputation for making grown men nervous, and it delivered on that promise in a big way during Sunday's Cup Series race. What started as a relatively calm, fuel-saving affair turned into a full-scale demolition derby when race leader Bubba Wallace got a bump from Ross Chastain at the end of the back straightaway that sent his No. 23 Toyota sideways at exactly the wrong time, in exactly the wrong place, in front of exactly the wrong crowd of cars. catcross.biz

The result? A 26-car catastrophe that sent smoke billowing through Turn 3 and left pit crews scrambling to piece together what was left of their machines. NASCAR fans know the drill at Talladega. The "Big One" isn't a question of if, it's a question of when and who. This time, it came for nearly two-thirds of the field.

By the time the red flag came out at Lap 116 to clear the debris, some of the biggest names in the sport were either parked in the garage or waiting in line at the infield care center. Connor Zilisch, Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Carson Hocevar, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Larson were all swept up in the carnage. So were Kyle Busch, Josh Berry, Shane van Gisbergen, Joey Logano, and Tyler Reddick, among others.

It was, in short, a very bad Sunday for a whole lot of very expensive race cars.

How the "Big One" Unfolded

The chain of events started simply enough. Wallace was leading the race when Chastain made contact with the back of his Toyota at the end of the back stretch. That push destabilized Wallace's car and sent it sliding toward the outside SAFER barrier just as Cole Custer was closing fast. Custer dove down to avoid Wallace, but by that point the pack had closed in three-wide, and there was simply nowhere for anyone to go.

"Got wrecked there, unfortunately," Wallace said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. "Our Xfinity Toyota Camry was a little unstable getting pushed, but manageable. Maybe that hard of a hit was too much, and so unfortunately, we wiped out a bunch of cars."

Wallace sounded measured but clearly disappointed. He mentioned that Talladega is a track where his team arrives with real confidence, making the early exit sting even more. He also noted plans to regroup for Texas with a better gameplan in hand.

Joey Logano Explains Why Talladega Bumpers Are So Dangerous

One of the more thoughtful takes on the whole mess came from Joey Logano, a three-time Cup Series champion and someone who knows a thing or two about surviving superspeedways. Logano put the physics of the situation in terms just about anyone can understand.

"You have round bumpers and unstable cars and cars that you're able to pop the bubble real easy and get to each other's bumper," Logano explained. "But when you get there, you've got to be careful because they're not stable. When you get two basketballs against each other, it's not gonna push straight. It's frustrating."

That basketball analogy is actually a pretty perfect description of what happens at Talladega. Two round objects in contact have no natural tendency to push in a straight line, which means even a well-intentioned bump can go sideways in a hurry. Literally.

Kyle Larson Had Nowhere to Hide

Kyle Larson, the two-time defending Cup Series champion, watched it all unfold from inside his cockpit with very little time to react. His description was direct and to the point.

"They just checked up hard and then, yeah, then I saw smoke and all of it," Larson said. "That was just a big wreck. I mean, I didn't hit anything too hard. But a lot of cars, it seemed like. It started from the front of the field. Unfortunate."

Larson also touched on one of the trickier strategic puzzles of the day: figuring out when to conserve fuel and when to race. Stage 1 ended up being heavier on the conservation side than he anticipated, while Stage 2 ratcheted the intensity up considerably. "I don't know where you find the middle ground," he admitted.

It is the kind of dilemma that makes superspeedway racing so different from anything else on the NASCAR schedule. Conserving fuel can keep you alive in the pack, but it can also leave you flat-footed when things get intense.

What We Can Learn From the Talladega Big One

Talladega crashes like this one are not flukes. They are features. The very characteristics that make superspeedway racing thrilling are the same ones that make events like this almost inevitable. Cars running inches apart at close to 200 mph, dependent on drafting and bump drafting to gain positions, are always one awkward push away from disaster.

A few takeaways worth considering: Bump drafting at the front of the pack is among the highest-risk maneuvers in motorsport. The lead car has no protection from a shove gone wrong, and as Wallace found out, a small miscommunication or too-hard a push can go catastrophic in under a second. Additionally, the "three-wide" formation, while exciting from a fan perspective, drastically reduces the margin for error. There is simply no room for a car to recover once it gets out of shape.

There is also a team-management angle here. Tyler Reddick, who had just announced a contract extension with 23XI Racing earlier that same Sunday, was caught up in the crash. Despite taking damage and later cutting a tire at Lap 182, Reddick and his crew fought back to finish 15th. Kyle Busch's Richard Childress Racing team also made enough repairs to earn a 10th-place finish. Those recoveries are reminders that Talladega is not over until it is over, even for cars that look done.

The race was ultimately won by Carson Hocevar in a thriller of a finish, but Sunday will likely be remembered less for who won and more for the sheer scale of what happened in Turn 3. Twenty-six cars. One bump. The Big One does not disappoint.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith isn't shy about where his allegiance lies when it comes to the NBA.

A noted fan of the Boston Celtics despite growing up in Louisiana, Smith was asked ahead of his celebrity softball game about the highly anticipated Game 7 matchup between Boston and the Philadelphia 76ers.

“Boston’s gonna bring it home,” Smith said confidently.

The prediction adds another layer to one of the NBA's most historic rivalries. This marks the 16th playoff meeting between the Celtics and Sixers, and the ninth time the series has gone the distance to a Game 7. Historically, Boston has had the edge, owning 27 Game 7 victories—the most in NBA history—and a 6-2 record against Philadelphia in those winner-take-all matchups. The most recent Game 7 between the teams came in 2023, when Jayson Tatum delivered a historic 51-point performance to eliminate the Sixers. Now, the two sides will meet again in Boston, with the Celtics trying to avoid blowing a 3-1 series lead.

Momentum, however, has shifted dramatically. After Boston controlled much of the series early, Philadelphia has surged behind standout performances from the dynamic trio of Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and Joel Embiid. The Sixers have outscored the Celtics significantly over the past two games and already secured two wins at TD Garden, setting the stage for a high-pressure finale. Adding to the intrigue is Tatum's health. After missing most of the season recovering from an Achilles injury, he has looked dominant throughout the series, but exited Game 6 early with what he described as minor leg stiffness. While he downplayed the concern, his condition will be closely monitored heading into Game 7.

Despite the uncertainty and shifting momentum, Smith is sticking with Boston—a bold pick in a rivalry where history, pressure, and unpredictability all collide in one final showdown.

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Eagles WR DeVonta Smith picks Celtics over Sixers in Game 7

Last placed Bundesliga side Heidenheim certainly delivered an interesting result on Saturday afternoon. The smallest club in the German top flight nearly pulled off a sensational upset victory over German record champions Bayern Munich.

Carrying a 3-2 lead into second half injury time, Franck Schmidt’s FCH nevertheless only earned one point via a 3-3 draw after Bayern’s Michael Olise snatched an equalizer at 90+10. The fact that Heidenheim earned one point instead of three renders matters interesting.

Can Heidenheim still be relegated this weekend?

They can. If both St. Pauli (against Mainz) and Wolfsburg (against Freiburg) win their Sunday fixtures, Heidenheim (on 23 points) can no longer hope to catch up. This is because Wolfsburg and St. Pauli face each other on the season’s final matchday. Schmidt admitted that he hadn’t quite figured that out when speaking alongside Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany at the post match press conference.

Frank Schmidt’s ‘relegation race’ arithmetic

“If we lost today, we could have been relegated tomorrow,” Schmidt began in response to a journalist’s question about the relegation race, posing a question himself after his opening remark “That’s now not possible tomorrow?“

A journalist reminded him of the potential permutation.

“Phrew,” Schmidt replied. “I’m actually a qualified bank clerk, but I can calculate that quickly. Look, it honestly doesn’t matter and I’ll tell you why: Other places [in the table] don’t interest me.

“I can simply convey to you that if we continue to play as we have in recent weeks and today, I believe we can win our final two games,” Schmidt continued. “And the only time to look at the table is after [the season] is over.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

Three clubs had the chance to snatch the last remaining Championship play-off place on the final day of the season.

And all three - Hull City, Wrexham and Derby County - occupied that one place over the course of an early afternoon of footballing drama played out across East Yorkshire, north east Wales and the East Midlands.

Spoiler alert: Hull City were the one to get over the line with their victory against Norwich.

And below is a snapshot of how the Tigers came out on top at the end of a day that started with Hollywood-backed Wrexham in sixth and saw Derby threatening to gatecrash the play-offs when leading Sheffield United at half-time.

How it played out

It all began with Wrexham in pole position to continue their hopes of challenging for promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.

Numbers were crunched by statisticians (see the table above) and predictions aplenty were made by pundits who had the Red Dragons - a club going for a fourth-successive promotion under the ownership of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac - as favourites to finish sixth.

How quickly that changed once their game against Middlesbrough, Hull's meeting with Norwich and Derby's date with Sheffield United kicked off at 12:30 BST.

12:34: Middlesbrough's Tommy Conway opened the scoring at Wrexham, dropping the Welsh side out of play-off places. At this point, it's advantage Hull.

12:36: The Tigers, who were feeling their way through the early moments of their game with Norwich, are only sixth for a matter of seconds as Sam Szmodics' tap-in finish for Derby gave the Rams an early lead. This advantage sends Derby, who started the day eighth, above both Hull and Wrexham into sixth in the live table.

12:58: A wondrous free-kick from Josh Windass gets Wrexham back level against automatic-promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough. But it's still advantage Derby by a point.

That goal coincided with Norwich taking the lead at Hull, which had the Tigers momentarily losing touch in eighth place before Oli McBurnie levelled within two minutes.

13:11: A bullet header from Sam Smith had Wrexham ahead against Boro for the first time and back back up to sixth. Cue pandemonium at the the Stok Cae Ras.

13:13: At this point, it's worth highlighting that Wrexham incredible journey from non-league football to be within touching distance the Premier League is the focus of a smash hit docuseries. Why say that now? Well, because of the season-defining plot twist the followed just two minutes later when David Strelec levelled with a close-range finish to stun the expectant hosts.

13:19: That Middlesbrough equaliser had changed the half-time picture somewhat. It meant Derby were back up to sixth and within 45 minutes of play-off football.

13:52: A misplaced pass from Derby's Joe Ward has a seismic effect on this game and the play-off race. The ball is quickly and coolly moved on to Tom Cannon in the box, who slots Sheffield United's equaliser into an unguarded net as Rams defenders swarm in collective panic around him. With the score 1-1 at Pride Park, and both Wrexham and Hull also locked in stalemates in their respective games, Derby drop back to eighth with Wrexham wriggling back up to sixth.

13:59: And it only got worse for Derby, as Sydie Peck put mid-table Sheffield United - a team with nothing to play for - ahead for the first time. Barring a spectacular turnaround, Derby were as good as out of contention.

14:01: Wrexham replaced Derby in sixth for less than 10 minutes, with the complexion of the table transformed again when McBurnie grabbed his and Hull's second goal of the day to edge them ahead in their game against Norwich and above the Red Dragons in what had whittled down to a tug-of-war for sixth between two sides playing 150 miles apart from one another.

14:26: We were into nerve-jangling territory as Wrexham's draw with Middlesbrough was confirmed. With a lengthy amount of stoppage time being played out at Hull, the Welsh side had to wait to see if Norwich would do them a favour and peg the Tigers back.

14:30: Hull City, a side that had failed to win in six games leading up to their final match of the season, held on for victory and booked a play-off date with Millwall. They end up two points clear of Wrexham in seventh. Derby's defeat consigned them to an eighth-placed finish.

Hull pride, and vows to get better - the reaction

Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside after the matches were over that the the topsy-turvy football that had unfolded would have been "excellent for you all in the media".

"For me, it was a new experience," he said. "I've never been part of a game, where three teams can reach the play-offs [on the final day]. I learned something new, that you have to be calm and believe in your team."

But for all three sides, battling it out for a Championship play-off place in the 46th game of the campaign was proof of incredible progress made by each.

Just 12 months ago, Hull were a side fighting for survival on the final day of the 2024-25 season. After that, the club was put under a transfer embargo.

And it is with players picked up on free transfers and on loan that Jakirovic has moulded a side that is now challenging for a place back in the top flight.

"I'm very proud of everyone at the club, from the groundsman, to our security and those in the kitchen - all those people around us have made it a good environment to work in, where we are very happy and come into the training ground with a smile on our face every morning," he said.

"It's like a puzzle. Every man is very important in our environment to make sure that we stay positive, optimistic and that are together when we are losing or winning. And that was the main thing all season."

Wrexham, whose rise of recent years has been well documented thanks to the profile of their owners, will not get the chance to go on to try to complete a history making fourth promotion.

But boss Phil Parkinson came out with a promise - that should really read as a warning to those in the second tier next season - that his side "will be even stronger next year".

"Of course we'll always look to try and add to that to give ourselves an even better chance, but we'll have a break now and we'll come back and go again," Parkinson said.

As for Derby, their play-off near miss has come after a transformative period for the club that was in administration just four years ago.

They, like Hull, only avoided relegation on the final day last season in what was their first campaign back in the Championship after two years spent in League One.

Rams boss John Eustace echoed Parkinson's sentiment when talking about wanting to see his side continue to build to become one of the Championship's top contenders next term.

"I don't think they [players] will want to rest - they will want to go again," he told BBC Radio Derby after their defeat.

"The progression we have made this season has been outstanding. Over the course of the season, were we good enough to get into the top six? Maybe, maybe not. We have come up just short, but what an unbelievable effort. Every single one of the players has been outstanding."

• Latest Hull City news, analysis and fan views
• Listen to Hull City content on BBC Sounds