Tasmania 358 for 3 (Weatherald 185*, Doran 89*, Ward 51) vs Queensland

Tasmania opener Jake Weatherald was closing in on his highest first-class score after dominating the Queensland bowlers on day one of their Sheffield Shield clash.

The 31-year-old sent another reminder of the quality top-order batters in the Australian domestic scene, although after making an unbeaten 185 he said he had probably left his run too late to be in the Test equation.

Queensland captain Mitchell Swepson won the toss and sent Tasmania in under heavy cloud cover at Allan Border Field on Friday but Weatherald and fellow left-hander Jake Doran were in complete control when bad light stopped play an hour after tea with Tasmania 358 for 3 off 76 overs.

Weatherald and Doran added 161 off 177 deliveries in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand after Tim Ward had played a fine hand at No. 3.

Weatherald's highest Shield score is the 198 he made while playing for South Australia against Tasmania in 2019. He had made a couple of 40s in the opening Shield rounds this season but had been unable to make the most of the starts.

After the day's play he spoke of the welcome focus opening batters have had domestically this season after David Warner's retirement.

"It has been a bit of a circus going on in Australia trying to find an opener but it has been awesome to watch," Weatherald said. "I'm very happy for Nathan [McSweeney] getting a gig. I think he's deserved that spot.

"I definitely left my run too late but I think there are some good openers around. Sam Whiteman is playing very well and Caleb Jewel has been very good for a long time. Hopefully we can keep putting the pressure on the Australian boys."

Tasmania had been bowled out for 98 in the second innings of their previous Shield clash against Western Australia but none of that fragility was on show.

Queensland had themselves to blame with poor line and length from the bowlers and occasional shoddy fielding not helping their cause. Swepson appeared to run out of ideas as none of the six bowlers used troubled the visitors. They were missing strike bowler Michael Neser with a hamstring injury and his absence was felt.

Weatherald went after the bowling from the get-go as his strike-rate of 91.58 suggests.

"It probably felt in the last game that I was hanging back a bit so in this game there was impetus to come out and meet the ball and I thought that worked well on that wicket," he said. "It was nipping around a bit early but they gave us some opportunities to score which was good. It is a great venue to bat on and you get good reward."

Sydney Thunder 173 for 3 (Voll 97*) beat Perth Scorchers 170 for 5 (Mooney 97, Devine 44, Peschel 3-28) by seven wickets

Georgia Voll produced a blistering knock to give Sydney Thunder a thrilling seven-wicket win over Perth Scorchers that lifted them back to the top of the WBBL table.

Thunder dropped five catches at the MCG on Friday and Beth Mooney cashed in, hammering 97 from 64 balls. But Voll wouldn't be outdone by the competition's all-time leading run-scorer, responding with an unbeaten 97 from 56 deliveries to steer the to victory with one over remaining. It was the first time in three attempts this season Thunder have mounted a successful run-chase.

Voll hit 13 fours and a six in her career-best innings, surpassing the 92 she made against Adelaide Strikers earlier this month.

"It sits pretty high," Voll said of her player-of-the-match performance. "To be chasing sort of a biggish total and to have the backing from the coaches to just go out there and play my way and for it to come off like this is pretty special."

Voll's 64-run partnership with Heather Knight was crucial for Thunder. The 21-year-old revealed she took inspiration from Hobart Hurricanes opener Lizelle Lee's record-breaking feats with the bat this month.

"I actually watched Lizelle Lee bat the other day and noticed that I've been trying to go a little bit hard too early," Voll said. "I sort of just took my time a little bit more and took the strike off Atha [Chamari Athapaththu] at the start there as well. It was just sort of lucky to come off."

Mooney had looked like she would be the match-winner with the bat when she made the most of Thunder's dropped catches. She was put down three times before reaching 20 and again soon after ticking off another half-century.

Sophie Devine was also given an early life by Thunder and the experienced pair put on a 112-run partnership for Scorchers' third wicket. Devine fell to Taneale Peschel and Mooney was out lbw to Shabnim Ismail in the final over, falling narrowly short of what would have been her fourth WBBL century.

Amy Edgar removed Knight and Scorchers looked headed for victory when Thunder's required run rate climbed above 10. But Voll took charge with support from Anika Learoyd to guide Thunder home.

South Australia 110 and 53 for 3 trail New South Wales 394 (Patterson 71, Maddinson 69, Davies 56, Gilkes 55, McAndrew 4-90) by 231 runs

Kurtis Patterson has taken the next step in his revival as a first-class cricketer, hitting another half-century as New South Wales rammed home their advantage over South Australia.

Dropped from NSW's Sheffield Shield side for most of last summer and fearing his career could be over, Patterson made it three straight half-centuries for the Blues on Friday. With NSW well on top, Patterson struck 71 to help NSW to 394 late on day two and a first-innings lead of 284 at Karen Rolton Oval.

South Australia went to stumps at 53 for 3, still needing 231 more runs to make NSW bat again. Paceman Jackson Bird had taken 2 for 15 to follow his first innings heroics of 7 for 46.

Patterson took his time through the majority of his innings, crunching two boundaries through the covers and another through mid on. The two-time Test representative eventually lost his leg stump trying to glance Brendan Doggett, but Patterson has now clearly given himself a second life as a first-class cricketer.

He has made scores of 91, 66 and 71 since his return earlier this month, after only being recalled when NSW found themselves short on batters through Australia A duties.

Patterson was one of four NSW players to pass 50 against the previously-undefeated South Australians. After Nic Maddinson hit 69 on the opening evening, Oliver Davies blasted his way to 56 on day two by regularly taking on spinner Lloyd Pope down the ground.

Wearing a floppy hat, Davies used his feet to hit Pope for four through cover, down the ground for a big six and then over cover for four again in quick succession.

Matthew Gilkes also hit 55, while Nathan McAndrew took 4 for 90 for South Australia and Doggett 3 for 90. No South Australians were, however, able to replicate the joy of NSW veteran Bird on day one, who set up the Blues' dominance.

Nick Kyrgios says he feels "fit and healthy" after announcing he will return to competitive tennis at the Brisbane International at the end of December.

The 29-year-old Australian has played just one ATP Tour singles match in two years because of knee, foot and wrist injuries.

The Brisbane event starts the 2025 season and is a warm-up for the Australian Open which begins on 12 January.

"It has been a long journey of recovery to be where I am today," Kyrgios said.

"One of the goals I had set was to be able to play during the Aussie summer so I am excited that I get to start in Brisbane, which is one of my favourite tournaments."

In October, Kyrgios, who was beaten in the 2022 Wimbledon final by Novak Djokovic, said he was planning to return at December's World Tennis League event in Abu Dhabi.

He won the Brisbane International in 2018, defeating American Ryan Harrison in the final, and will be making his fourth appearance at the tournament.

I am feeling fit and healthy, and I am excited for my return to tennis following some time out of the sport," Kyrgios said.

In recent months, King has kept an open mind about whether the WTA Finals should be staged in Saudi Arabia.

The decision to hold the year-end tournament in Riyadh was criticised by some because of the country's human rights record.

Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia, while Amnesty International has cited the country's "jailing of women's rights activists, suppression of free speech and rampant use of the death penalty".

Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert considered the awarding of the Finals to Riyadh for a three-year term to be a "step backward" for women's tennis, but King, who is gay, argued it was important at least to engage with the Saudi authorities.

And now the first edition of the tournament has been completed, King says it is time for the WTA Tour and the players to decide if this should be a long-term arrangement.

"I think they have to decide. I know they [the Saudi Federation] did a lot of programmes. Let's see if they stay, let's see what happens.

"It's a really hard one. For the girls that live there, I want them to see the best too. I would love to see a female player come out of the Middle East as the number one in the world as she could influence in a huge way I think."

Requiring a result to get their autumn back on track, Argentina are hardly ideal opponents.

While last Friday's defeat saw Ireland beaten by the side who have got the better of them in the past two World Cup quarter-finals, this weekend brings them head-to-head with the most frequent thorn in their side at those global showpieces.

Los Pumas have knocked Ireland out of three World Cups, in 1999, 2007 and 2015, although the most recent of those successes is their only win from the past nine meetings between the pair.

On their last visit to Dublin three years ago, they were beaten 53-7 when, in contrast to this week, Ireland were coming in buoyed by a memorable victory over the All Blacks.

While the core of the Irish team and staff remains the same, Argentina have had two different head coaches since then. Mario Ledesma was followed by Michael Cheika for last year's World Cup with the now Leicester Tigers coach handing over to Felipe Contepomi after the semi-final exit in France.

The former fly-half, who preceded Johnny Sexton in the Leinster 10 jersey, worked with plenty of Ireland's matchday 23 during his spell as the province's assistant coach between 2018 and 2022, and has masterminded some impressive results in his short time at the helm of his country.

Led by the likes of Saracens' Juan Martin Gonzalez and Juan Cruz Mallia of Toulouse, his Argentina side beat South Africa, Australia and New Zealand during the Rugby Championship this year and split a July series with France, while developing an attacking brand of rugby.

Personnel might be part of that.

Jones earned rave reviews in his early England days, with captain Jamie George lauding the "crazy energy" he was coaxing from their defence. But Jones didnt have the endurance to match, handing in his notice after a little over seven months in post.

Joe El-Abd - Englands third defence coach in less than a year - has replaced him, initially splitting his duties between the national side and French second-tier club Oyonnax.

England have stressed that there is a continuity in defensive philosophy, but, even so, a changing cast of coaches wont have helped bed it in.

Then there is the nature of the tactics themselves.

Jones was the mastermind behind South Africas blitz defence, with tacklers rushing up in defence, attempting to shut down opponents time and space.

England have hoped to do the same.

When it works well, the tactic squeezes teams, denying them momentum and creating turnover opportunities. Those are the rewards, but the blitz is also high-risk.

On-rushing defenders are more easily evaded and, moving at pace, the holes they leave behind are hard to plug. A blitz defence can post impressive gainline numbers or contain a team for sustained periods, but, when it fails, the errors can also be more costly. Big territorial losses and heavy scoreboard damage can result.

South Africa centre Andre Esterhuizen says that a successful blitz lives on a knife-edge flipping from ferocious front-foot aggression to desperate corner-flagging cover in the blink of an eye.

"The biggest thing about that system is scramble," he told Rugby Union Weekly earlier this week.

"You are going to make misreads, you are going to make mistakes, but it is how your team-mates around you fix it for you.

"We say that 80% of your reads you are going to get right, but 20% you are going to get wrong and thats where we work hard and scramble for each other."

During his time with England, Jones said that finding that balance is key. He warned that an emphasis on aggression can, at times, tip too far and leave teams vulnerable.

"You have to push yourself to where the margins are so small and you're right on the limit of execution," he said.

England are still trying find that sweet spot and master a tricky tactic. Jacques Nienaber, former South Africa head coach, reckons it took the Springboks 14 matches to get right when he came into their set-up in 2018., external

Other than Kamboj, the two others to have achieved the feat of taking all ten wickets in an innings in Ranji Trophy are Bengal's Premangsu Chatterjee in 1956-57, and Rajasthan's Pradeep Sunderam in 1985-86. Overall, Kamboj is just the sixth Indian to achieve this feat in first-class cricket; the others are the legspin-bowling pair of Subhash Gupte and Anil Kumble (in a Test vs Pakistan, in Delhi, in 1999), and Odisha seamer Debasis Mohanty. Kumble is also one of only three bowlers in international cricket to have taken a ten-for in the same innings, getting it either side of England's Jim Laker and New Zealand's Ajaz Patel.

United States men's national team manager Mauricio Pochettino congratulated his side on its 1-0 win over Jamaica in the first leg of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals, though he noted the U.S. needs to improve "in all areas."

The result marked Pochettino's second win since taking charge in September, and his first with the U.S. in a competitive match.

"The first step is done," Pochettino said. "I congratulate my players because, in a difficult situation, they competed really well. I am so pleased. Of course, we need to improve in all the areas."

The two teams will meet again on Monday in St. Louis to determine which one will advance to the CNL semifinals in March.

The U.S. took an early lead through Ricardo Pepi's fifth-minute strike. The Americans almost doubled their advantage early, with chances from Antonee Robinson and Christian Pulisic.

Matt Turner played a pivotal role in securing the victory, denying Demarai Gray from the penalty spot in the 14th minute after conceding the initial foul.

Although victimized by Jamaica's Shamar Nicholson in the sequence that led to the penalty, center backs Mark McKenzie and Tim Ream delivered some key defensive plays in the second half to preserve the win, as did Yunus Musah, who tackled away Mason Holgate's close-range attempt in the 66th minute.

"I think we defend well in the second half," Pochettino said. "We concede some chances that maybe Jamaica can score, but I think overall I am happy in the way that the team competed. We didn't concede. Now we need to prepare for the second leg in St. Louis. It's going to be tough because Jamaica, like today, they show it today that they have very good players."

Pochettino added that his team will need to learn some lessons from the match.

"It's easier [to learn] when you win the games," he said. "You can learn fast, but I think yes, tough game. We need to be pleased and now try to design all the strategy and recovery and be ready for Monday."