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Rocchiccioli's career-best seven gives Western Australia control
Western Australia 112 for 1 (Whiteman 67) trail Queensland 147 (Rocchiccioli 7-52) by 35 runs
WA (24.91 points) are in last place, with Queensland (27.75) third on a table topped by South Australia (36.93). But with three games including this fixture remaining, Rocchiccioli's feats have given WA a superb opportunity to jump up the ladder.
The 27-year-old had never previously taken five wickets in a first-class innings but spun his way to a career-best day. He captured seven of the last nine wickets to fall as the Queensland batsmen struggled.
Ben McDermott top-scored with 37 from 112 balls. Next best were No.10 Mitchell Swepson (20 not out) and No. 8 Xavier Bartlett (20).
Matthew Renshaw, Jimmy Peirson and Michael Neser were among those to fall cheaply against Rocchiccioli and paceman Cameron Gannon.
Neser fell to a superb one-handed catch from Rocchiccioli, diving to his right from his own bowling. He also took a smart, diving return catch to dismiss Renshaw.
WA's openers Whiteman and Sam Fanning then cashed in for the visitors with their unbroken partnership. Whiteman set an aggressive tone, smacking seven fours and three sixes in his 88-ball innings before being bowled by Tom Whitney about 25 minutes before stumps. Fanning was more circumspect, striking two fours from his 107 deliveries.
Athapaththu to leave WPL early to play for Sri Lanka
ESPNcricinfo has learnt that as of now, Athapaththu is going to be available for UPW until February 26, which is four more games for them, before she tends to national duties. After their game on February 26, against Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru, UPW will fly to Lucknow for the final league phase of the tournament where they will play three home matches. They have played just one game so far and they left Athapaththu out of the XI in that clash they lost to Gujarat Giants.
In 2024, the calendar clash between the final leg of WPL and the T20I series in New Zealand had become a much bigger issue when England captain Heather Knight (RCB) and Lauren Bell (UPW) had opted out of WPL completely to represent their national team. Coincidentally, Athapaththu had replaced Bell for UPW then.
With additional reporting from Andrew Fidel Fernando
BOSTON -- Sweden rallied after falling behind just 35 seconds into the game and Samuel Ersson made 31 saves Monday night to beat the United States 2-1 in the 4 Nations Face-Off round-robin finale, handing the title game-bound Americans their first loss of the tournament.
The nightcap meant nothing to either the Americans or Swedes: The U.S. had already clinched a spot in Thursday night's championship game against Canada, which beat Finland earlier Monday, and Sweden needed Canada to falter to have a chance of making the final.
With some fans wearing powdered wigs and colonial-era tricorn hats, the Boston crowd bellowed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the game -- a response to the Canadians who booed the U.S. national anthem before the early matchups in Montreal. Chants of "U-S-A!" rang out through the TD Garden in the final minutes, with goalie Jake Oettinger pulled for an extra skater, but the Americans couldn't beat Ersson to force overtime.
Chris Kreider gave the Americans the lead in the opening minute, but Gustav Nyquist tied it a dozen minutes later, and Jesper Bratt gave Sweden the lead with less than a minute remaining in the first period. The next two periods remained scoreless despite the Americans having an overall 32-23 edge in shots on goal.
The Americans reached the final by winning their first two round-robin games, against Canada and Finland. The North American rivals will have a change to reprise the fight-filled round-robin matchup that was the most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final hockey game since 2019.
The Americans started the game a player down with Auston Matthews out, and then Brady Tkachuk left in the second period after colliding with Ersson in the crease. More disappointing for the Boston fans was Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy being scratched from the lineup.
Are Højlund's woeful shot numbers a root cause for Man United's tough season?
If you don't shoot, you don't score. It's a basic mantra you probably heard from your under-8s coach.
Well, there are 139 players in the Premier League alone who shoot more than the center forward of Manchester United. That's right: One hundred one footballers who have played as many minutes or more as Rasmus Højlund, but have a higher shots-per-90 number.
Put differently, there are 187 outfield players who have played at least 1,200 minutes, like Højlund. More than half of them have taken more shots on goal than he has -- a list that includes defenders, holding midfielders and other players who don't spend much time at all in the opposing penalty area.
When it comes to understanding why Manchester United have trouble scoring goals -- only four teams have scored fewer than their 28 -- one reason could be that number: 1.20, the number of shots their center forward takes every 90 minutes.
If you don't shoot, you don't score.
Compare Højlund's 1.20 to his peers at other top clubs: Erling Haaland (3.82), Nicolas Jackson (3.24), Ollie Watkins (3.26), Alexander Isak (3.09), Luis Díaz (2.71), Darwin Núñez (2.60), Dominic Solanke (2.59). Heck, even the much-maligned Kai Havertz clocks in at 2.54.
Obviously goals (let alone shots) aren't the only metric to judge a center forward. But when you have a central striker -- especially in a 3-4-2-1 system -- who doesn't score much (he has two league goals) in part because he rarely shoots, it's worth diving into further. Because you're tempted to conclude that the issue is either Højlund or Ruben Amorim's system or some combination of the two.
Is it the system? Well, Amorim played the same system at Sporting CP, and his center forward there, Viktor Gyökeres, is averaging 4.59 shots per 90 minutes this season after notching 3.52 last season (and scoring 51 league goals since August 2023, which is more than four times as many as Højlund). Sometimes Amorim uses another center forward, Joshua Zirkzee. He isn't having the sort of season to write home about -- and has spent time in attacking midfield too, further away from goal -- but he still manages 1.96 per game, nearly twice as many as Højlund.
So is it Højlund? You're tempted to think so. He doesn't shoot much under Amorim and didn't shoot much under Erik ten Hag (it was marginally better at 1.40, but still very much subpar.) For that matter, he didn't shoot much in the season he spent at Sturm Graz in Austria, either, registering 2.10 shots per 90. The only time his number nosed above 2.5 is in the six months he was at Atalanta, when he reached 2.65, albeit on a far more attacking, high-tempo team.
If you don't shoot, you don't score.
Does this make Højlund the culprit of all the club's attacking woes? No. Obviously, there are other factors at play here. At United, he's alongside midfielder Bruno Fernandes, who averages 2.98 per 90, and that's bound to drive down his numbers. Not to mention, of course, that a center forward's job isn't just shooting on goal: Roberto Firmino didn't shoot much or score much for Liverpool, and he did rather well. Plus, Højlund just turned 22, and it's safe to assume he can improve with age.
That said, there's clearly a problem here. A central striker who shoots so infrequently either isn't getting himself into positions to shoot, lacks the confidence to shoot, or plays for a team that doesn't provide him the right kind of service to get into scoring situations. (Or, possibly, all of the above.)
It's up to Højlund to improve. It's up to Amorim to fix what United do in the final third. And if there is no uptick in his shots (and because they're correlated, his goals), it's up to the club to decide when to cut their losses and find somebody who will fire on goal at the right time.
If you don't shoot, you don't score.
No. 3 Duke loses F Brown to dislocated shoulder
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Third-ranked Duke defeated Virginia 80-62 on Monday night but lost key reserve forward Maliq Brown in the process.
Brown dislocated his left shoulder with 1:21 left in the first half, Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said, and did not return. He was expected to get imaging done later Monday.
"He's a big loss for us," Scheyer said. "Find out what the deal is and then go from there. I don't know more than that."
The 6-foot-9 junior, who transferred from Syracuse, is second on the team with 30 steals and third with nine blocked shots.
"He's been a great teammate," Kon Knueppel said. "He's very unselfish and [a] great passer. ... He's very, very impactful for our team."
The game -- which was Duke's third straight victory -- was a homecoming for Brown, who grew up in Culpeper, an hour away.
Brown had two points, two assists and a rebound in 10 minutes. He appeared to injure his left arm reaching into a passing lane to deflect a ball.
An hour after the game, Brown emerged from the locker room to greet family and Duke fans. He took photos with his arm in a sling before heading to the team bus.
With Brown sidelined, Duke turned to Patrick Ngongba II, who scored eight points and grabbed a rebound in 11 minutes.
Scheyer said Ngongba has developed over the season and will be ready to contribute if Brown's injury keeps him out for the Blue Devils' next game, which is against Illinois on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Scheyer noted Ngongba played significant minutes in the Blue Devils' win over Wake Forest in January.
Scheyer said that players who aren't getting much playing time in his program compete in "stay ready" games to keep them sharp and prepared in the event they're pressed into action.
"I've seen such growth from him throughout the season," Scheyer said. "He's been in some big-time moments."
Kyler Johnson Taking Youth, Experience into Fourth ASCS Season
CONCORD, N.C. Kyler Johnson is set to embark on his fourth full-time season with the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) National Tour this year, aiming to turn the experience hes gained into his first feature win.
After three straight years of racing against the best the National Tour has to offer, the 21-year-old form Quinter, Kan., has garnered five top-five finishes and 26 top 10s. Each year has been a new step, a new lesson. In year four, Johnson wants his next climb to be a win.
Whenever we decided to join the National Tour, we didnt really have any idea of how it would go; we didnt have any expectations, he said. But Id say weve definitely met our expectations. Hopefully, this year, we can exceed them as far as getting a win at the national level and seeing where that takes us.
Johnson started his journey in 360 Sprint Cars at 19 years old, moving up from the 305 Sprint Car ranks. He earned a career-best finish of third at 81 Speedway in 2023 and entered 2024 strong with a fourth-place finish during the second race of the year at Red Dirt Raceway.
His 2024 stats may not indicate growth with fewer top 10s and a lower finish in the final points standings than 2023, but Johnson knows that doesnt tell the whole story.
I feel, as a driver, Ive definitely grown as far as my race craft and all that type of stuff, he said. The 305 kind of teaches you some bad habits, so breaking all them habits and becoming just a better driver overall.
Our team has grown tremendously from where we started when we first joined the National Tour. Our engine program is finally getting built-up, and thats a big deal when youre qualifying every week.
His best teachers have been the veteran drivers around him. During his career-best night at 81 Speedway in 2023, Johnson claimed the pole for the main event and raced against 2023 Series champion Jason Martin and Tour regular Matt Covington before settling for third.
Its cool to be competing against the guys you grew up watching, Johnson said. You can learn a lot from the veterans. If you have any questions, its pretty easy to learn from them just by watching them.
You go back and watch races, and you see how they get through traffic and when they make what maneuvers. And just simple questions about setups and what theyre thinking. Matt Covington and I we beat a lot of ideas off each other, and its been a huge help to us and our program.
Johnson took lessons from Martin and Covington, even drivers like Sam Hafertepe Jr., Jason Johnson, Shane Stewart and others, before he even started racing, learning what it took to be an ASCS driver from the grandstands at dirt tracks around the Great Plains. However, his best teachers were the ones he had at home.
Kyler is a third-generation racer, continuing the family tradition that began with his grandfather Jons ventures in Sprint Car racing in the 1970s and 1980s. Kylers father, Cody C.J. Johnson, raced Sprint Cars locally and regionally in the 1990s with the National Championship Racing Association (NCRA). In his 20-plus years on the track, C.J. won six NCRA championships (2000, 20112015) and garnered several Feature wins at tracks around Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
C.J.s expertise has been invaluable for Kyler since he started his Sprint Car career in 2019.
Hes always there to tell me what I should do going into Turn 1 sometimes, Kyler said about working with his dad. He puts me in his shoes, I guess, as far as helping me set up and get through the night. He does all the setups on the car. Hes one of the crew chiefs on this team.
Just having a dad that was out there and ran pretty competitively and won several championships is huge. He knows how to points race, and thats one of the biggest things he was really good at finishing nights and putting nights together. Very rarely did he take himself out of a night. Thats one of the biggest things, just keeping yourself in it until the end.
Johnson begins the next chapter in his development as a regular on the ASCS National Tour with his BK Trucking, Don Ott Racing Engines-powered Maxim Chassis No. 45x car on Saturday, April 12, at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, Okla.
JGR Taps Almirola For Nine-Race Xfinity Series Schedule
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. Aric Almirola will return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year for nine races behind the wheel of the No.19 Young Life Toyota GR Supra with Joe Gibbs Racing starting this week at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
I am thrilled for Young Life and JGR to be partnering this season. Its Young Lifes goal and ministry to reach and know kids by name, engage them with fun and adventure, and introduce them to Jesus Christ, said Newt Crenshaw, president and CEO of Young Life.
This partnership is playing a part in making that happen, as well be poised to reach more kids, make a lasting impact, and show them the love and excitement that both racing and faith can offer.
Young Life was a lifelong passion for J.D. Gibbs, who served on the ministrys national board before his passing in January 2019. The J.D. Gibbs Legacy Fund was established to honor J.D. and support Young Life with its continued mission in youth ministry.
Im excited to have this opportunity to get behind the wheel again and have Young Life represented on the car with me, said Almirola. I know Young Life was a central focus in the life of my friend J.D. Gibbs and it means so much to me to have this opportunity to bring awareness to the great work they do introducing Christ to young people all over the world.
Almirola is certainly no newcomer to JGR, having started his career racing Late Models with the team in 2004. He made his Xfinity Series debut for JGR in 2006 driving a partial schedule across the next two seasons before leaving to pursue a full-time Cup Series ride. The veteran driver would earn three Cup Series wins while competing full-time across 12 seasons before deciding to step away from the Cup Series following the 2023 season to spend more time with his family.
The Tampa, Florida native returned to JGR with a partial schedule in 2024 capturing two wins, eight top-five, and nine top-10 finishes across 14 NASCAR Xfinity races with the team. One of those two wins last season was in Kansas with crew chief Seth Chavka, who will be in charge of the No.19 team in 2025.
The ministry of Young Life has played a key role in my life and my entire families lives and was also a huge part of my friendship with J.D. Gibbs, said Dave Alpern, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. To see that ministry highlighted on one of our race cars is an incredible blessing to me and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and the winningest driver in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history is set to return to Spire Motorsports for a five-race campaign this year, beginning with this weekends FR8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Busch, 39, earned a pair of Craftsman Truck Series wins for Spire Motorsports in 2024 and is the defending winner of the FR8 208. In addition to his victory last February at the high-speed 1.54-mile suburban Atlanta quad-oval, Busch also collected the checkered flag last April in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.
With my long-standing relationship with Jeff (Dickerson) and having a lot of my former employees still working on the Craftsman Truck Series teams at Spire Motorsports, its cool to be able to hop back in their Chevy Silverados five times and work towards filling those trophy cases, said Busch. I still really enjoy being a part of the process of evaluating their equipment and being a mentor to the young drivers in Spires lineup.
Its fun trying to help speed up their learning curve by passing on a few pointers here and there.
Once again, Busch will work with crew chief Brian Pattie and Spire Motorsports No. 7 team for a pair of races including Atlanta and later this season at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 23). He will also see time behind the wheel of the teams No. 07 Chevy at North Wilkesboro Speedway (May 17), Nashville Superspeedway (May 30) and finally Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Intl (Aug. 8). Crew chief Allen Hart calls the No. 07 teams efforts.
My schedule will consist of some tracks where Ive had a lot of success in the Truck Series, like Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville but also two tracks that Ive never raced at in a truck North Wilkesboro and Watkins Glen, added Busch. So, Im looking forward to hopefully adding a couple more tracks to the list of places where Ive won across my Truck Series career.
Busch is one of the most accomplished drivers in NASCARs modern history. The Las Vegas native advanced to the Championship 4 for the Cup Series in five consecutive seasons from 2015-2019 and has won some of NASCARs most prestigious races, including the Brickyard 400 (2015 and 2016), Southern 500 (2008) and Coca-Cola 600 (2018). Busch enters the 2025 season with 63 wins in NASCARs premier division and is one of only two active multi-time champions.
In addition to his two Cup Series titles, he won the 2009 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and is the all-time wins leader in that series (102) as well as the Craftsman Truck Series (66). Busch also ranks first all-time among Truck Series drivers with an average finish of 6.5 and second all-time with 8,050 laps led.
Busch has made 58 starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway across all three of NASCARs national touring series. In 28 races in Cup Series competition, the father of two has logged two wins,10 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. His resume includes three Xfinity Series wins in 14 starts, 10 top fives and 11 top 10s. In 14 Craftsman Truck Series races at the iconic Hampton, Ga., venue, Busch has compiled two poles, seven wins, 10 top-five and 11 top-10 showings.
Im thankful to have Kyle back with our NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team this year, said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. Having one of the best drivers in NASCAR history in our equipment and in our shop makes everyone better. He won a couple last year with us and we all know when he straps in that we have one goal and that is to add to the trophy case in the shop that, ironically, he built.
I think people sometimes overlook how good Kyle is working with young drivers and his ability to teach them. The standard he sets is one that both Rajah (Caruth) and Andres (Perez de Lara) can benefit from.
Team USA forward Brady Tkachuk left the Americans' 4 Nations Face-Off game against Sweden on Monday night with an undisclosed injury.
Tkachuk, who plays for the Ottawa Senators, lost an edge while driving to the Sweden net in the first period and slammed his side into the goal cage just 7:37 into the game. He went back to the U.S. bench in discomfort and eventually left for the trainers' room.
He returned to the ice for a short 14-second shift later in the period but did not come back out with the team for the second period. USA Hockey announced that he would not return to the game at Boston's TD Garden.
Tkachuk had five shifts in the game for a total of 1:55 in ice time. He had two goals in the Americans' win over Finland last week.
It's another injury concern for the Americans, who will play for the 4 Nation Face-Off championship Thursday in a rematch against archrival Canada.
Matthew Tkachuk, Brady's older brother, missed Monday's game out of injury precaution. The Florida Panthers star sat out the final 12:36 of the third period of Team USA's win over Canada because of a lower-body injury.
The Tkachuk brothers helped set the tone for that 3-1 victory with two fights within the first 3 seconds. They play on either side of center Jack Eichel to form one of the more effective U.S. scoring lines.
Auston Matthews, the team's No. 1 center, and defenseman Charlie McAvoy also sat out against Sweden for injury precautions.
Matthews had some upper body soreness after the win over Canada. He has one assist in two games for the U.S., averaging 20:16 in ice time. McAvoy has averaged 19:36 in two games with no points.
The U.S. inserted New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider and Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson into their lineup against Sweden, playing with 17 skaters (11 forwards, 6 defensemen) in the game.
Matthew Tkachuk, Matthews and McAvoy are all expected to return for the championship game against Canada. Brady Tkachuk's status is unclear.
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