India 497 for 9 dec (Rohit 212, Rahane 115, Linde 4-133) beat South Africa 162 (Hamza 62, Umesh 3-40) and 133 (de Bruyn 30, Shami 3-10) by an innings and 202 runs

India needed just 12 balls to complete a whitewash over South Africa, winning the third Test inside 15 minutes on the fourth morning. Debutant Shahbaz Nadeem took the last two wickets in two balls to dismiss South Africa for their lowest total of the series and ensure India secured a second successive victory by a margin of more than an innings.

Concussion substitute Theunis de Bruyn was unable to add to his overnight score of 30, his joint-highest on the tour. After a confident, relaxed approach late on the third evening, uncertainty returned and de Bruyn tried to adjust from going forward to defend to hanging back to cut a shorter delivery from Nadeem. He managed only an under-edge, which Saha, back after leaving the field with a thumb injury on the third day, gobbled up.

The next ball, No. 11, Lungi Ngidi, hit hard in the direction of non-striker Anrich Nortje, who was struck on the wrist. The ball rebounded off Nortje and Nadeem was wise to the possibility of the catch. He completed it to end South Africa's innings and their tour on as unlucky a note as they have had over the last three weeks.

Faf du Plessis lost all three tosses, even when he asked his vice-captain Temba Bavuma to call in his place in Ranchi. As a result, India have enjoyed the best of the batting conditions but that is no explanation for South Africa's hapless effort. Their seamers have not had the fire they are known for - perhaps as a result of lack of support - their spinners have been ineffective and their batting unable to withstand a sustained Indian attack of pace, aggression and turn.

As a result, the teams stand at opposite ends of records. South Africa last lost consecutive Tests by an innings in 1935-36 against Australia, while India have extended a hot streak at home. Since losing to England in December 2012, India have won 12 Test series (two one-off Tests included) at home. They are also atop the World Test Championship points table, having collected all 120 available in this series.

"Bhaad mein gaya pitch [to hell with the pitch], 20 wickets and the [World Test Championship] points are what we are after," coach Ravi Shastri told Star Sports after India wrapped up the Ranchi Test against South Africa to seal the series 3-0.

India needed just 12 balls on the fourth morning to take the remaining two wickets. But they didn't follow the age-old template of 'spin to win' at home. It was their fast bowling duo of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav who made the ball talk and had South Africa's batsmen jumping and hopping before being sucker-punched.

"Our aim was to take the pitches out of the equation," Shastri said. "You have to take 20 wickets, whether it's Johannesburg, Mumbai, Delhi, Auckland or even Melbourne where we won [against Australia]. So the task was to take 20 wickets. How do you do that? For that, you need fast bowlers, spinners, a complete bowling unit.

"Once you take 20 wickets, with the batsmen we have, if that clicks, it's like a Ferrari. The batting line-up we have, with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, [Cheteshwar] Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, if they start scoring, and then you have five bowlers who can take 20 wickets."

Apart from the fast bowlers coming to the fore, Rohit Sharma left his imprint as a Test opener. Having started the series with twin hundreds in the Visakhapatnam, he capped it off with a maiden Test double-ton to set up India's innings victory. Ajinkya Rahane played one of his more fluent knocks to make a century, as the pair set up a big first-innings total.

Along the way, Rahane may have quelled notions of his form being patchy, but Shastri had no such doubts. "Ajinkya Rahane was always there, he never going anywhere as a middle-order batsman," he said. "His scene was he had to rediscover himself and he did that. Rohit Sharma's is a different scenario altogether. As an opener, your mindset has to be different. As an opening batsman, you can be dismissed within the first ten balls.

"You don't know how the pitch will behave. On the first day here, it was a difficult pitch but he endured. First two hours he faced everything; he had to leave the balls, was beaten, was struck on the pad but his thinking was he needed to survive those two hours, maybe the wicket will be good to bat on after lunch. And that's what exactly happened.

"As an opening batsman, the mindset is you can be dismissed off the first ball itself. If there is help from the pitch, bowlers would beat you ten times. You may look ugly as well. But you have to survive that period. Because once that period is gone, there is only one dada [boss], the opening batsman. And when an opener scores 150-200, the job satisfaction he gets, that no one else can get. So what Rohit did in this series was tremendous."

Shastri was equally delighted for debutant Shahbaz Nadeem, calling it a debut well earned after 15 years of toil in first-class cricket. The left-arm spinner picked up four wickets apart from effecting a superb run-out late on the third day.

"Extremely impressed," Shastri, himself a left-arm spinner, said of Nadeem. "Yesterday [on Monday], when he got his first wicket, I was saying if Bishan Singh [Bedi] is watching, it would be a glass upstairs, 'cheers young man, beautifully bowled'. He has a classic left-arm spinner's action, he comes over the top, great wrist position, the way he gets the ball to go up in the air and dip. That was a spinner's delight.

What a splendid 1st Test wkt fr #Nadeem...he did #Bavuma twice..in the air..& then off the pitch...excellent spectacle..!! Well done Nadeem..!!

— Bishan Bedi (@BishanBedi) October 21, 2019

"I never spun the ball that much, I never had that kind of loop or dip but to just watch it from the outside, it was classical. Four-hundred-and-twenty-plus wickets, the guy has put in the yards, it's about time he gets the distance. I am glad he finished off this game, in front of his home crowd. Starting your first Test matches and take four wickets.

"What was remarkable was the way he started. There were no nerves, first three overs maidens. Every ball on the spot. It's a testament to the fact that this guy has played so much of domestic cricket that for him a Test match or a first-class game is the same. He just has to come out and do his job, batsmen will change their [approach] but nothing that he does has to change."

The BCB has called an emergency meeting of its directors on Tuesday in response to the players' strike. They have less than 48 hours to convince the players to play the next round of the first-class National Cricket League matches in four venues across the country, and just a little more time to convince them to start training in a prep camp for the tour of India. The India tour begins on November 3.

The cricketers put out an 11-point demand on Monday, which they said must be fulfilled before they will take part in any on-field activities. A majority of those demands are financial commitments that the board has to make publicly. Apart from the call to bring back Dhaka Premier League's players transfer in the 2019-20 season, even the players understand that the rest of the points can only come into effect from next year.

So far, there are mixed reactions from within the BCB, with some directors accusing the cricketers of "blackmailing" the board, while others have said that they understand the players' stance in these difficult circumstances.

Director Jalal Yunus said that instead of going to the media, the players should have gone to the board with their demands. "We had no idea that the cricketers were so angry, disappointed and upset," Yunus told Bengali daily Samakal. "They could have placed the demands at the board before issuing the ultimatum. However, they went to the media to call off all cricketing activities. This is nothing but blackmailing."

Speaking to the same newspaper, Mahbubul Anam, another influential board director, accused the cricketers of being part of a "wider conspiracy". "They can have demands but before going to the media, they should have come to the BCB," Anam said. "The board president is always in touch with these cricketers.

"They could have followed the process of going through the CEO, cricket operations chairman and board chief, and if their demands weren't met, then they could have gone for action. I believe something else is behind the cricketers' call for the strike. It is a conspiracy against BCB."

But Akram Khan, the former Bangladesh captain and now a board director in charge of cricket operations, had a conciliatory tone: "These things always start with a movement. Once you sit with the board, it is no longer a movement. The board is there to serve the cricketers' purpose. I hope there will be reconciliation between the players and the board. We will try to solve their issues in the board meeting [on Tuesday]."

ALSO READ: What do the Bangladesh players want?

Veteran board director Ahmed Sajjadul Alam said that he feels most of the demands are "reasonable", and they can be met after discussion with the players.

The cricketers have also generally received support from outside the cricket board, including some former cricketers. One of them, Salim Shahed, said that he was impressed by how the cricketers didn't bring only their own issues into focus.

"They didn't just talk about themselves," Shahed told the Bengali daily Kaler Kantho. "They wanted improvement in salaries for groundsmen, coaches, trainers, physios. They spoke about infrastructural improvement. They also didn't drag the age-group cricketers in to their strike. They are only looking to ensure a better future for them."

Canada 159 for 7 (Kumar 57, Abioye 2-26) beat Nigeria 109 for 8 (Onwuzulike 39, Heyliger 3-16) by 50 runs

Canada remain the last undefeated team in Group B of the T20 World Cup Qualifier after coasting past Nigeria by 50 runs in Abu Dhabi on Monday night. Nitish Kumar once again top-scored making an unbeaten 57 off 36 balls, though he and the rest of the Canada line-up were beneficiaries of some porous fielding from Nigeria.

Nigeria's bowlers put in a diligent effort led by Chima Akachukwu in the Powerplay. The medium pacer dislodged both openers, captain Navneet Dhaliwal and Rodrigo Thomas, by sticking to a full length as the former holed out to long-off while the latter was bowled driving to make it 41 for 2.

Kumar arrived in the fourth and stayed until the end, unfurling a series of drives and cuts to pepper the off side boundary. Wickets continued to fall at the other end though as Abraash Khan could not capitalize on a botched runout chance after the keeper took the bails off before the ball arrived, eventually driving a catch to long-off for Daniel Gim's first wicket. Sylvester Okpe covered 20 yards to hold onto a skied slog off his own bowling to dismiss Ravinderpal Singh. Saad Bin Zafar was given leg before to fall to Daniel Akeju in the 17th to make it 112 for 6 in the 17th.

It could have been even trickier for Canada had Sulaimon Runsewe held onto a simple skied chance at point when Kumar was on 37 off Akeju, but the chance went down. Kumar survived another close shave on 43 when a lofted drive pierced through a leaping effort at long-on for six, then brought up his 50 off 32 balls on the next delivery with a scorching straight drive past the umpire for a boundary.

Hamza Tariq showed little mercy at the opposite end. The former Trinbago Knight Riders representative hammered three sixes - over long-off, cow corner and extra cover - in his rapid cameo to lift Canada to an easily defendable total.

Only two out of the top eight in Nigeria's batting order made it into double-digits in reply. Runsewe and Chimezie Onwuzulike shared a 57-run third-wicket stand to rebuild after Dillon Heyliger's double-strike in the second over had reduced Nigeria to 2 for 2. But the most memorable moment during 18-year-old Runsewe's run-a-ball 27 was his sprint off the field at the end of the seventh over for a toilet break. The umpires held up play for Runsewe, and he was greeted with uproarious applause and laughter from the Nigeria bench upon his return.

But there weren't too many more smiles from Nigeria afterwards. Runsewe eventually fell slicing Saad's left-arm spin to Dhaliwal at point. Onwuzulike ran out the captain Onikoyi two overs later with a poor call to cover before his own innings ended missing a flick across the line to Dhaliwal's part-time medium pace to make it 77 for 5 in the 13th. Nigeria's lower order did their best to stretch the match to the full 20 overs, but Canada was under little pressure the rest of the way.

Offspinner Chris Green has been encouraged that Australia's selectors are taking notice of his nomadic T20 career ahead of next year's World Cup as he returns home ahead of the Big Bash season with the Sydney Thunder.

Green has traversed the global over recent months taking part in Canada's Global T20, the T20 Blast and the CPL having earlier in the year played in the PSL.

Most recently he was with the Guyana Amazon Warriors who strung together 11 wins on the bounce to reach the CPL final before falling short against the Barbados Tridents. He continued to excel in his role as a leading Powerplay bowler, conceding under a run-a-ball in that phase of the innings - as well as claiming a career-best 4 for 14 against the Tridents in the group stage - and since April 2016 has the best Powerplay economy (5.96) in the world.

This is yet to earn him international honours - with Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar selected in Australia's T20I squad to face Sri Lanka and Pakistan - but he has been told he is not too far away and will have the chance to shine against international opposition on Thursday as part of the Prime Minister's XI side against the Sri Lankans in Canberra.

"I've been fortunate to get some good feedback and the opportunities to play in the CA XI game against South Africa [last season] and now the PM's game is good feedback to know that you are thereabouts and that's pretty much what the selectors have told me," Green told ESPNcricinfo. " [They said] if you keep putting in performances you will push your case, but I'm fully aware that Zampa and Agar have been doing a good job and Nathan Lyon has been bowling well in one-day cricket as well.

"I sort of see of my role as very different to those three so I have to keep growing my game and if I can contribute with the bat more consistently I think that will enhance my chances in the future. My dream is to play cricket for Australia, much like every kid growing up with a cricket bat in hand. I'm just looking forward to the opportunity back on home soil and enjoying the challenge."

Green's record in the Powerplay may yet be a point of difference that interests the selectors, but the man himself is not one to delve too deeply into the numbers.

"It's nice accolades to get, but to be honest I don't really pay too much attention to them," he said. "For me it's more about competing in the moment on a ball-by-ball basis and hopefully winning those battles will put my teams in good positions. My focus isn't really on the numbers, it's more about having fun."

After the Canberra match there will be some grade cricket for Green ahead of the new Big Bash season which begins on December 17. It is a chance for Green to spend some time on home soil and, briefly at least, unpack the suitcase but he is quite happy jetting around the globe.

"I've got pretty good at packing and unpacking, being home and settling in, that feeling when you sit down on the couch, is really nice. I can't complain at the moment, I really enjoy what I do, the opportunities I've been fortunate enough to get have been so much fun.

"The journey I've gone on has been unbelievable experience. I really feel that due to the high-pressure nature and fast pace that the way that T20 is it's really excelled my growth as a cricketer and a person. I still pinch myself on a day-to-day basis to be playing around the world."

After the six T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which begin in Adelaide on Sunday, Australia's next matches in the format will be after the Big Bash on tour in South Africa. That is followed by three more in New Zealand at the end of March.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Emboldened by his terrific Week 6 performance, New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold entered Monday night playing and talking like a true franchise quarterback. By the second quarter of the Jets' 33-0 loss to the New England Patriots, he was talking like a beaten man.

"I'm seeing ghosts," Darnold -- mic'd up by ESPN -- said on the sideline after his third turnover.

It was an early Halloween gag, presented by the man who has haunted the Jets for two decades.

Confused and rattled by Bill Belichick's suffocating defense, Darnold set a career high with five turnovers -- and that includes his college career at USC. He threw four interceptions and lost a fumble as the Jets (1-5) lost their eighth straight to the Patriots (7-0).

Statistically, it was one of the worst passing days in Jets history. Darnold finished with a 3.6 passer rating; the worst is 2.7, set by J.J. Jones in 1975 (minimum 20 attempts).

Darnold threw an interception on his first pass of the game, serving as a a bad omen. He was stunningly careless with the football, constantly throwing off his back foot into tight coverage.

Two interceptions came in the red zone, three came in New England territory and three came against a blitz. Before Monday night, he had only one career interception versus the blitz, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He also was involved in a safety, when he failed to catch a high shotgun snap and batted the ball out of the end zone.

In only three starts, Darnold has three red-zone interceptions, tied with Baker Mayfield for the league lead.

It was a brutal night for the second-year quarterback, who showed so much promise in last week's win over the Dallas Cowboys -- his first game after missing three games due to a bout with mononucleosis.

Facing the Patriots for only the second time in his career, Darnold completed only 11 of 30 passes for 86 yards. He connected only nine times with his wide receivers, who couldn't beat New England's man-coverage schemes. The lone bright spot was Le'Veon Bell, who rushed for a season-high 70 yards.

Darnold received little help from his makeshift offensive line, which started two players who began the season as backups -- left guard Alex Lewis and rookie left tackle Chuma Edoga, who made his first career start at the position.

The pass protection was poor at times, as the offensive line communicated poorly against the New England blitzes, resulting in unblocked rushers.

His first interception happened when right guard Brian Winters didn't block blitzing linebacker Jamie Collins. Darnold panicked and heaved a floater that was picked off by safety Devin McCourty, his fifth of the season.

On Darnold's fumble, the offensive line slid to left, leaving linebacker John Simon free on the right side. The Patriots tricked them by faking a "Cover Zero" blitz, then rushing only four. The result was a strip sack.

The Patriots converted the fumble, deep in New York territory, into a touchdown, making it 24-0 in the second quarter.

And on it went.

During the run-up to the game, Darnold expressed supreme confidence, saying his offense will be "unstoppable" once tight end Chris Herndon returns from a hamstring injury. He praised the New England defense, but added, "Just like any other team, they're not unbeatable. So we just go out there, find the weakness in the defense and keep working it. That's what we're going to do on Monday night."

The Patriots used that comment as motivational fuel. McCourty, in his pre-game huddle on the field, mentioned the quote in his pep talk to the defense.

For first-year coach Adam Gase, it was another embarrassing loss to the Patriots. In two games, they were outscored, 63-14. In the first meeting, he had to start third-stringer Luke Falk, who has since been released.

This time, Gase had no excuses.

HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros issued a statement late Monday denying a Sports Illustrated report regarding the behavior of a team executive in the aftermath of the club's pennant-clinching win in the American League Championship Series on Saturday.

According to the report, during the postgame celebration in the Houston clubhouse after the Astros' 6-4 win over the Yankees, assistant general manager Brandon Taubman turned to a group of female reporters -- including one wearing a purple, domestic-violence-awareness bracelet -- and repeatedly yelled, "Thank god we got Osuna! I'm so f---ing glad we got Osuna!"

Last season, Houston closer Roberto Osuna, 24, served a 75-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy. Osuna, then a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, was charged in May 2018 with domestic assault, however the charge was later withdrawn when the woman he is alleged to have assaulted made it clear she would not travel from Mexico to Toronto to testify.

Osuna agreed to a peace bond, which required him to not contact the woman and continue counseling.

He was acquired by the Astros shortly before the end of that suspension.

This season, Osuna led the AL with 38 saves, but he blew a two-run lead in the Astros' series-clinching win, giving a two-run homer to New York's DJ LeMahieu in the ninth inning. Houston won in the bottom of the inning of a Jose Altuve home run.

The Astros statement read, "The story posted by Sports Illustrated is misleading and completely irresponsible. An Astros player was being asked questions about a difficult outing. Our executive was supporting the player during a difficult time. His comments had everything to do about the game situation that just occurred and nothing else -- they were also not directed toward any specific reporters. We are extremely disappointed in Sports Illustrated's attempt to fabricate a story where one does not exist."

Taubman was promoted to assistant GM by the Astros late last season. He was worked for the club since 2013.

Mikko Rantanen will not return to the Avalanche's game Monday night against the Blues in St. Louis due to a lower-body injury suffered early in the second period.

The All-Star right winger was skating up ice near the boards when his skate appeared to get caught in the ice, causing his left foot to go sideways.

After gathering himself, Rantanen immediately went toward the Avalanche bench and to Colorado's locker room. He was ruled out of the game late in the second period.

Rantanen leads the team with five goals and 11 points this season.

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The Border War is returning to college basketball.

The acrimonious rivalry between Kansas and Missouri, once the longest continually played series west of the Mississippi River, will resume next season in Kansas City. The schools have agreed to play six times, with four of those matchups taking place on their respective campuses.

"Having coached a lot of games versus Missouri in my time in Kansas, I could not be more excited to start this series up again," Jayhawks coach Bill Self, who had been among the biggest reasons the teams haven't been playing, said in a statement announcing the series Monday night.

The series began in 1907 with a pair of wins by Missouri in Lawrence. The schools went on to play 269 times over 105 years. The last meeting was on Feb. 25, 2012, when the No. 4 Jayhawks rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to beat the No. 3 Tigers in overtime at Allen Fieldhouse.

The reason the series ended can be traced to Missouri's decision to depart its longtime home in the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. During a period of chaotic conference realignment, the Tigers moved to what they considered a more lucrative league -- even though it made far less geographic sense -- and in doing so, left the Big 12 scrambling for its very survival.

Many coaches and administrators at Kansas not only took umbrage with their decision, but held a grudge for years. Among them was Self, who was asked periodically over the years if he could envision playing the Tigers again, and he was usually steadfast in his refusal to schedule them.

Tensions finally cooled enough that on Oct. 22, 2017, the schools agreed to play an exhibition game in Kansas City dubbed "The Showdown for Relief" to raise money for hurricane relief efforts.

Kansas won 93-87 in the teams' first meeting in five years.

The thousands of fans who turned up for the game, coupled with the buzz it generated on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri border, piqued the interest of new Kansas athletic director Jeff Long. He was not part of the conference-realignment mess and harbored no ill will toward Missouri, making him the ideal figure to help patch up relationships and ultimately resume the rivalry.

"One of the best aspects of college athletics is rivalries," Long said. "We have quietly sought input from fans and supporters on the renewal of this series, and we believe the overriding sentiments are that this historic rivalry should resume."

After the initial game scheduled for Dec. 12, 2020, at the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City, the schools will alternate between Allen Fieldhouse and Mizzou Arena for the next four games. The final scheduled matchup will return to Sprint Center, though it's possible the series continues.

It's also possible that the basketball matchups are just the beginning.

"Hopefully, this renewal on the hardwood will lead to more opportunities down the road in other sports," Tigers athletic director Jim Sterk said. "Rivalries make college sports great, and there is no question that when Missouri and Kansas face off in any sport, it's important to a lot of people."

Odell Beckham Jr. posted Monday on social media that he had been fined by the NFL for wearing pants that did not cover his knees during Cleveland's loss to Seattle on Oct. 13.

The Browns' star wide receiver posted a letter from the league on Instagram, telling him he'd been fined $14,037 for violating the NFL's policy on uniforms and equipment.

On top of the letter, Beckham added the caption, "14 k for some pants that are NOT gonna protect me from anything ... this shxt is ridiculous."

Earlier this month, Beckham railed against the NFL's fine system after being fined for an altercation with Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

"I think it's crazy. ... The NFL finds ways to just take it. They're going to take it from you," he said at the time. "I understand a penalty, getting fined for that. But pants above the knees, a shirt hanging out -- and we're talking about a T-shirt that cost $5 to make, and you're getting $5,000 taken from you. Pads above your knees, and I'm like, 'You really think that this little knee pad covering my kneecap is going to affect, if somebody hits me, weighs 250 pounds, running 18 mph.' I don't do physics, but if I get hit, this is not going to protect me.

"It's just stuff like that [that] I feel like we can come to a better agreement and simplifying things and not taking the money out of the pockets of the players who are putting money into this entire game. It's just tough. It sucks to get fined for socks. Or in the middle of the game, have someone come up and it's like, 'Oh, your jersey is out.' I'm like, 'Bro I'm not worried about my jersey in the middle of the game.' I'm worried about what assignment do I have. A visor, this. All those little things that could be eliminated ... stuff that doesn't need to be so strict. ... I just wish they could not worry about some of that stuff. Worry about the game. Worry about the other things that are going on."