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Sophie Cunningham posts baptism on TikTok after signing new Fever deal

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Indiana Fever fan favorite Sophie Cunningham appeared to celebrate her new contract that will keep her teammates with Caitlin Clark by getting baptized a second time.

After signing a one-year, $665,000 contract Sunday, Cunningham posted a video on TikTok Tuesday of her adult baptism Tuesday.

“I got baptized when I was little but I was feeling a tug on my heart to do it on my terms as an adult! Such a fun, amazing day. Thank you Jesus,” she wrote.

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Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham reacts during a WNBA game against the Phoenix Mercury at PHX Arena in Phoenix, Ariz., Aug. 7, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)

The trio of Clark, Cunningham and teammate Lexie Hull proved to be an efficient and gravitating force in popularity when they were all on the court at the same time last year. Along the way, they earned a mysterious nickname on social media, which they later adopted for themselves — “Tres Leches,” which translates from Spanish to “three milks” and refers to a popular Latin American sponge cake.

“We saw it on Twitter at some point, and people ran with it,” Hull previously told Fox News Digital of the nickname. “It was funny.”

CAITLIN CLARK’S NEWEST FEVER TEAMMATE HAS DRAMATIC HISTORY WITH SUPERSTAR

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham arrives before a game against the LA Sparks at the Crypto.com Arena Aug. 5, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

Cunningham gained fame and favor among Fever fans when she started an on-court altercation with opposing players to defend Clark last year.

During a game between the Fever and the Connecticut June 17, physicality boiled into a brawl. After Sun guard Jacy Sheldon poked Clark in the eye and fellow Sun player Marina Mabrey shoved Clark to the ground, Cunningham committed a hard foul on Sheldon, initiating an on-court fight that resulted in three ejections.

Now, Cunningham is entering her second year in Indiana with the team expected to contend for a WNBA championship.

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Injured Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, left, and guard Caitlin Clark eact from the bench during the first half of a WNBA game against the Chicago Sky at United Center in Chicago June 7, 2025. (Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images)

Cunningham is among a growing number of women’s basketball stars to outwardly embrace Christianity and baptism.

Recent No. 1 WNBA draft pick Azzi Fudd and fellow UConn star KK Arnold reportedly got baptized after their game in the women’s Final Four earlier this month, according to People.com.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.

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Nisan 19, 2026
IPL 2026, KKR vs RR 28th Match Match Preview
Big picture: RR’s underbelly and Jadeja’s role

Having started the season with four successive wins, Rajasthan Royals (RR) were served a rude shock by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their latest outing. Perhaps for the first time in the IPL, the result was effectively sealed just after one over in the chase, as Praful Hinge reduced RR to 1 for 3 in their pursuit of 217.

The collapse exposed RR’s weak middle and lower-middle order, which looked even weaker in the absence of Shimron Hetmyer. Riyan Parag has been short of runs (49 in five games), Ravindra Jadeja has struck at 118.75, and Jofra Archer at No. 8 in the Impact Player era doesn’t infuse much confidence.

As an allrounder, Jadeja is supposed to provide the balance RR were lacking in the past few years. But he has bowled just seven overs in five games. In two games, he didn’t roll his arm at all. Since RR are anyway playing five frontline bowlers and with Parag available to chip in if needed, is there a case to bring in a proper batter in place of Jadeja? If RR go that route, Shubham Dubey and Ravi Singh are their options.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), RR’s opponents for the afternoon game at Eden Gardens, have much deeper and wider problems, and have just one point after six games. Only three teams have had a worse start to an IPL season: Mumbai Indians in 2022 (eight losses), Delhi Capitals in 2013 and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2019 (six losses each).

Another loss will push KKR to the brink of elimination. That Matheesha Pathirana is unlikely to be available for Sunday’s game doesn’t help either.

Form guide

Kolkata Knight Riders LLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Rajasthan Royals LWWWW

Key question

Team news: Hetmyer likely to return

KKR could field an unchanged side.

Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Tim Seifert (wk), 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Cameron Green, 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Kartik Tyagi, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Vaibhav Arora

Will RR bring back Shimron Hetmyer?•BCCI

In Parag’s words, Hetmyer was “rested” against Sunrisers Hyderabad. If he returns, Lhuan-dre Pretorius may have to sit out.

Rajasthan Royals (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Tushar Deshpande, 12 Sandeep Sharma

In the spotlight: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Sunil Narine

It’s difficult to take your eyes off Vaibhav Sooryavanshi when he is batting. Before the tournament started, there were murmurs of a second-season syndrome. But Sooryavanshi has shown no signs of it. In fact, he has even more incredible numbers this time. In five games so far, he has scored 200 runs – the most for RR – at a strike rate of 263.15.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s rapid starts have been a big boost for RR•Associated Press

Sooryavanshi’s first encounter with Jasprit Bumrah is a tale for the ages. On Sunday, he could be up against another great of the format: Sunil Narine. Even though KKR is having a horrid season, Narine has been as effective as ever. In five matches, he has picked up four wickets at an economy rate of 6.89. In the powerplay, he has bowled four overs for one wicket at an economy rate of 7.25. On a personal front, Narine needs four wickets to become the third bowler after Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to reach 200 wickets in the IPL.

Stats and trivia

Ajinkya Rahane has a strike rate of 94.93 (75 runs in 79 balls) against Sandeep Sharma in the IPL.

Ravi Bishnoi has dismissed Rovman Powell five times in 39 balls in T20s while giving away just 30 runs.

Narine has kept Hetmyer and Jadeja quiet. Across all T20s, Hetmyer has a strike rate of 102.72 against him and Jadeja 89.28.

Varun Chakravarthy has dismissed Donovan Ferreira three times in ten balls in T20 cricket while giving away just five runs.

Pitch and conditions

The last two afternoon games on this particular surface, pitch no. 4, were won by the team batting first. But KKR and RR might not be swayed just by that, because in the first of those, KKR almost chased down 239 against Lucknow Super Giants, and in the second, Italy gave England a massive scare chasing 203 at the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Quotes

“When things are not going your way, you tend to think too many things. I feel it’s all about being in the moment. Just go out there and try to enjoy the game, back ourselves as a unit rather than thinking about the things that are not in our control. As a team, we just have to go out there, play our game and be aggressive and positive from ball number one.”
Ajinkya Rahane, the KKR captain

“When I watch Riyan bat, he’s batting really well. He is hitting the ball off the middle, he knows the ball is going where he wants it to go. There are some days when you’re batting well, you are just not getting the runs. You hit a good shot and suddenly you are like, how did I get out doing that? In the middle order in T20 cricket, you’re not looking at long innings, you’re looking at impact, and that’s something that Riyan can do really, really well.”
Kumar Sangakkara, RR’s director of cricket and head coach, on Riyan Parag
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Nisan 19, 2026