Toss Pakistan chose to bat vs Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe will chase as they seek to win their first ever bilateral T20I series, after Babar Azam opted to bat on a new pitch in Harare. Although all three matches are being played at this venue, the strip used for the first two matches was being rested and a fresh pitch was prepared for the decider.

It's likely to still be tough for run-scoring, as was the case especially in Friday's match and Pakistan prepared a slew of changes in a bid to up the rate. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Sharjeel Khan came into the XI in place of Danish Aziz and Asif Ali, while Hasan Ali returned to the attack with Arshad Iqbal left out despite an impressive debut.

The hosts also made a change to their line-up, leaving out opening batter Tinashe Kamunhukamwe to make room for returning captain Sean Williams, who had a hand injury. Wesley Madhevere and Tarisai Musakanda will open the batting with Brendan Taylor to come in at No.4. Zimbabwe's attack is unchanged from the bowlers who dismissed Pakistan for 99 two days ago.

Zimbabwe: 1 Wesley Madhevere, 2 Tarisai Musakanda, 3 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Sean Williams (capt), 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Regis Chakabva, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Richard Ngarava

Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Sharjeel Khan, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Sarfaraz Ahmed, 6 Fakhar Zaman, 7 Faheem Ashraf 8 Usman Qadir, 9 Hasan Ali 9 Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Haris Rauf

Toss Chennai Super Kings chose to bat vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni opted to bat in the day game in Mumbai citing "heat" as one factor and the pitch potentially slowing down later as another. Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli was "pretty happy" to bowl first and said they had stacked their bowling attack accordingly.

Both sides made two changes each. The Super Kings were without the injured Moeen Ali, their second-highest scorer and most economical bowler with four wickets so far in the tournament. Imran Tahir replaced Ali whereas Dwayne Bravo came in for Lungi Ngidi.

The Royal Challengers brought in hard-hitting allrounder Dan Christian for the finisher's role in place of Kane Richardson, and fast bowler Navdeep Saini for Shahbaz Ahmed. Kohli said with Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj already in the XI, Saini was included to "go hard at the batsmen in the middle overs" with his pace. It will be Saini's first match of this IPL.

It was also only the second time a team chose to bat at Wankhede Stadium since 2017.

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Ravindra Jadeja, 6 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Imran Tahir, 11 Deepak Chahar

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Glenn Maxwell, 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 Washington Sundar, 6 Dan Christian, 7 Kyle Jamieson, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Navdeep Saini, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Mohammad Siraj

Aleksandr Sorokin sets world marks while Samantha Amend breaks national best at ultra-running track event at Ashford in Kent

Aleksandr Sorokin set a world record for 100 miles with 11:14:56 at the Centurion Running Track 100 in Ashford on Saturday (April 24) and then carried on to break another global mark for the furthest distance covered in 12 hours with 105.825 miles (170.3km).

At the same event, Samantha Amend broke Eleanor Robinson’s long-standing UK record for 100 miles with 14:34:05.

Sorokin’s performances beat the previous records of 11:19:18 for 100 miles and 104.88 miles for 12 hours set by Zach Bitter in 2019 in Wisconsin. 

The Lithuanian, who won the IAU world 24-hour title in 2019 and who outside athletics works as a croupier in a casino, averaged 6:45 per mile (sub-3hr pace) for his 100-mile effort. This was despite having to finish his final preparations on a treadmill due to being quarantined in the UK on the eve of the race.

He celebrated by striking a Usain Bolt-esque lightning pose on the track and then watched Amend break a national record.

Robinson ran 14:43:40 at Milton Keynes in 1990 but Amend broke that mark by almost nine minutes as she finished under floodlights at the Julie Rose Stadium.

Amend, who works for an IT company and races for Belgrave Harriers, has clearly been building into good form after winning the Dorney Marathon in 2:52:36 at the start of April.

Lunch Sri Lanka 648 for 8 dec (Karunaratne 244, de Silva 166) lead Bangladesh 541 for 7 by 107 runs

Sri Lanka were on the pursuit for quick runs on the fifth morning, moving to 648 for 8 and taking a 107-run lead over Bangladesh before declaring. The visitors started well in the morning session, taking four wickets in 13.1 overs for 50 runs, before Wanindu Hasaranga and Suranga Lakmal grew the lead with a quick 62-run stand.

Although Hasaranga fell for 41, he added crucial runs to Sri Lanka's push for an unlikely victory on the final day which had started with the wickets of their two overnight centurions.

Taksin Ahmed removed Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva in successive overs. Ahmed bowled de Silva off the inside edge, after the batter made 166 off 291 balls, with 22 fours. It ended the pair's 345-run fourth-wicket stand, the highest against Bangladesh for this wicket.

Next over, Karunaratne was caught at midwicket after mistiming a ball. His vigil lasted 437 balls, having struck 26 fours for his 244 runs. Ebadat Hossain had Pathum Nissanka caught behind for 12, before Niroshan Dickwella was run out for 31.

Hasaranga struck three fours in his 55-ball 43, while Lakmal was unbeaten on 23 off 31 balls, having struck the only six of the innings so far.

Sri Lanka had spent a wicketless fourth day to get near Bangladesh's 541 for 7. They batted 76 overs to add 283 runs. Karunaratne took a bit of time to get going, particularly in the nineties, but they batted more confidently for the rest of the day, until play was called off about an hour before the scheduled end.

The Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the top two teams in the IPL standings, face off in a clash of heavyweights at the Wankhede Stadium in the first match of the day. While the Super Kings have completed a hat-trick of wins in four matches, the Royal Challengers are yet to suffer a defeat. If they extend their unbeaten run, it will be the first instance of a franchise winning their first five games since the Rajasthan Royals in 2015.

For the Super Kings, the question will be whether to persist with Lungi Ngidi or bring death-over specialist Dwayne Bravo back after he was rested for their last match against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Jason Behrendorff is still not available for selection. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli would be cautious in his death-overs strategy against the team that has scored more than 100 runs in the last 10 overs in their last three matches and boasts of batting depth.

Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore is available to view in India on Disney+ Hotstar, Jio TV and Airtel TV.

When does the CSK vs RCB live streaming start?

The CSK vs RCB live streaming will start at 3:00 PM India Time April 25, 2021.

Where is the CSK vs RCB match being played?

The CSK vs RCB match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

On which TV channels will CSK vs RCB live coverage be available?

In India, Star Sports 1 and 1HD, Star Sports Select 1 and 1HD and SS1 Hindi and 1 Hindi HD will telecast the match live.

Where can one find CSK vs RCB live score and commentary online?

The fastest and most comprehensive live score and details will be available here: CSK vs RCB live score

What are the likely playing XIs for today's CSK vs RCB game?

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Ambati Rayudu, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 8 Sam Curran, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Deepak Chahar

Royal Challengers: Bangalore 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Shahbaz Ahmed, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Kyle Jamieson, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Kane Richardson, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Mohammad Siraj

Who are the captains for today's CSK vs RCB game?

The captains for today's game will be MS Dhoni (CSK) and Virat Kohli (RCB).

Who are the umpires for CSK vs RCB game?

The on-field umpires for today's game will be Anil Chaudhary and Virender Sharma. The third umpire will be Navdeep Singh.

Who will be the match referee for CSK vs RCB game?

The match referee for today's game will be Shakti Singh.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Saturday's UFC 261 featured two dominant performances by defending champions and one new titleholder who reclaimed her belt.

Kamaru Usman proved he is still getting better when he knocked out Jorge Masvidal, and Valentina Shevchenko made a case to be included in the GOAT conversation. Meanwhile, Rose Namajunas delivered once again in a big moment.

ESPN reporters Ariel Helwani, Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Phil Murphy react to the key moments from the card in Jacksonville, Florida.

Helwani: Usman proved there's no one better

After beating his rival Jorge Masvidal -- via a vicious right hand, the likes of which we've never seen from him before -- in the main event of UFC 261, Kamaru Usman told Joe Rogan that he considers himself the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

And you know what? Now that Khabib Nurmagomedov has officially retired, I think he's right.

I don't think this is me being a prisoner of the moment. The man has a very strong case that is worth recognizing.

Let us count the ways:

He's now won 18 consecutive overall and 14 straight in the UFC.

AND STILLLLLL!!! ????? pic.twitter.com/RSpyKWvUkx

— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) April 25, 2021

He has the second-best winning streak to start a UFC career (14) behind Anderson Silva's 16 straight.

That was his fifth welterweight title fight victory, which now ties Pat Miletich for third-most wins in 170-pound title fights. Only legends Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes have more.

He's been so dominant, he now has to fight the guys he's already beaten again -- Colby Covington, who he defeated in a classic back in December 2019, is next.

And perhaps most impressive of all? It still feels, after all these fights, like he's getting better.

Remember "30% Usman"? Remember "Snoozeman"? Who dares call Kamaru Usman boring after his last two performances?

You simply can't.

There was once a time where the fans -- and let's be honest, UFC president Dana White, too -- felt like he played it safe way too often. This did not endear Usman to the public.

But that is no longer the case. He just handed Masvidal his second TKO loss ever (in Masvidal's 50th pro fight) and his first since 2008. Amazingly, the last time Masvidal was stopped was in 2009, via submission. In other words, this doesn't happen often.

But thanks in large part to the recent work he's done with Trevor Wittman in Colorado, who also guided Rose Namajunas to a thrilling win tonight as well, Usman has turned into one of the most well-rounded fighters on the planet.

Heck, maybe even the best, too.

I'd put his recent resume up there with anyone's, including Nurmagomedov's.

And while I know it has bothered Usman in the past that he didn't get the attention and love that some of the other stars in the UFC received, I don't think he should worry about that anymore. His fighting is doing the talking these days. His star is shining bright. The best appears yet to come for "The Nigerian Nightmare."

Life is good -- certainly more dream than nightmare -- for the UFC's new pound-for-pound king.

Wagenheim: Saturday's pay-per-view was the kind of event only the UFC can produce

Valentina Shevchenko had just painted another masterpiece, adding to a splendidly bulging portfolio of masterpieces. The UFC women's flyweight champion, arguably the most dominant of all the fight promotion's elite title belt holders, had absolutely mauled former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade, taking her down seven times before bloodying her up and finishing her from a dangerous, demoralizing mounted triangle position at 3:19 of Round 2.

Then Shevchenko, a 33-year-old in her prime and Kyrgyzstan's greatest export, started to dance. She always dances to signify that she has once again extended her winning streak, twirling and twirling at the center of the cage. With this win, it's now seven victories in a row. It's been a full decade since Shevchenko has lost to anyone but Amanda Nunes, the two-division champ and the GOAT of women's MMA.

It was a magnificent championship moment at UFC 261 on Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida. And when it was over, the fans -- yes, there were some 15,000 pandemic-defying fans inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, the first live U.S. crowd at a UFC event in over a year -- did not head for the exits, gleefully buzzing about the greatness they had just witnessed. No, they had barely enough time to draw a few calming breaths before another pair of women entered the Octagon for another championship fight.

And that turned out to be the moment of the night.

In a highly anticipated clash of strawweight champion vs. former champ, Rose Namajunas regained the title with a stunning first-round head kick that crumbled Zhang Weili and her 21-fight winning streak. The end came just 1:18 into the bout, leaving Zhang protesting what she said was a premature stoppage (it was not) and Namajunas tearfully proclaiming, "I'm the best" (she is, at least at 115 pounds).

And guess what: There still was a title fight main event to come.

That one delivered the evening's coup de grace, as welterweight champion Kamaru Usman knocked Jorge Masvidal out cold with one howitzer of a right hand, earning his second victory over Masvidal in nine months. After getting the better of Masvidal in both striking and grappling exchanges throughout the first round, Usman closed the show with a crushing finish at 1:02 of Round 2, moments after Masvidal had smiled at Usman after absorbing a punch. The champ then wiped the smile off his challenger's face, securing his fourth title defense and 18th consecutive victory.

That's three championship bouts featuring five fighters who wear or have worn title belts. All competing on one night under one roof.

That is what separates the UFC from all other organizations in sports. Boxing delivers big fights as well, but doles them out sparingly, typically just one at a time on those rare nights when the greatest in the game collide. That's also the case for other MMA organizations, which do not have the roster depth of the UFC and cannot load up fight cards like Saturday's. This event was more like a full evening's slate of NBA or MLB postseason games, encompassing all the twists and dramatic turns.

Not every UFC event is so transcendent, of course. There's a fight card practically every weekend, and some weeks the main event produces barely a ripple in any weight division's top 10. But a night like Saturday delivers fans the "And there's more!" draw of those old Ronco infomercials on late-night TV, in which the offers kept building and building until they sounded too good to be true. Except this product delivered on all of its promises.

Okamoto: Shevchenko fights her way into GOAT conversation

I already felt like this going into UFC 261, and Valentina Shevchenko's performance only reinforced it: There is a battle for the title of female GOAT in MMA.

It feels like the topic of female GOAT is already wrapped up in the minds of many. We refer to double champ Amanda Nunes as the GOAT as if it is an absolute. As in, there is no one even remotely close to the conversation. And I kind of understand it, of course. She is the double champ. She's taken out the best names in two divisions, dominantly. And most importantly, she has two wins over Shevchenko.

But, I scored that second fight between Nunes and Shevchenko back in 2017 for Shevchenko. So did one of the judges involved. It was a split decision win for Nunes, and far from a definitive result. And also don't forget, that's in a weight class where Nunes holds a physical advantage. Shevchenko is the one taking on the challenge of moving up in weight every time she fights Nunes.

I'm not saying any of this to take away what Nunes has done, far from it. But I'm telling you right now, there is a case to be made that Shevchenko is the greatest female fighter we've ever seen.

Raimondi: Namajunas delivers once again in big moment

Rose Namajunas openly contemplated retirement after losing the UFC women's strawweight title to Jessica Andrade two years ago. She has been open about mental-health issues, specifically the post-traumatic stress she suffered following the infamous Conor McGregor bus attack in 2018. But once again on Saturday night, Namajunas proved she is one of the most mentally tough fighters in the UFC by delivering in another crucial moment.

Namajunas stopped Zhang Weili with a head kick to regain the women's strawweight title. When 2021 is up, Namajunas' finish will be a candidate for knockout of the year.

Rose Namajunas left the Octagon with gold around her waist ? #UFC261 pic.twitter.com/QrdjNHV8HF

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 25, 2021

Namajunas became the first female fighter in UFC history to regain a title she lost previously. Andrade slammed Namajunas on her head -- in a bout Namajunas was winning -- at UFC 237 in May 2019. At that moment, it was unclear if she would ever fight again. She said so herself. This was nothing new for Namajunas, though. She failed in her first shot at the title, in 2014 against Carla Esparza on the Ultimate Fighter Finale. Three years after that loss, Namajunas knocked out Joanna Jedrzejczyk to win the belt.

She did it again Saturday night. Namajunas has two career KO victories, and both came in title challenges. It doesn't get any more clutch than that.

Murphy: Smith proves title hopes aren't finished; Crute's stock still high

Anthony Smith's perfectly placed kick, which rendered Jimmy Crute unable to fight in the second round because of a leg injury, proved Smith's title hopes still have some life. This was his first non-headlining fight after a UFC-record -- for a non-champion -- seven consecutive main events. Smith is only 32, and this win will age well.

After the fight was waved off, @lionheartasmith and @CruteJim embraced in the Octagon ?

Stream #UFC261 on ESPN+ ▶️ https://t.co/11j8ptNbRf pic.twitter.com/gmjOzwZR32

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 25, 2021

For Crute, Jacksonville showed its appreciation of his chest-pounding willingness to fight on one leg. That image will stick with a lot of people. Assuming he rebounds -- and wise matchmaking should facilitate that -- this loss will carry a favorable asterisk, much like Sean O'Malley's to Chito Vera. And because the fight itself was competitive before Crute's injury, the UFC can hold Smith-Crute 2 in its back pocket for a rainy day.

Many may find Saturday's stoppage dissatisfying in a vacuum because no one wants to see an injury end a fight. But the outcome is Smith's stock rises, Crute's could remain largely unaffected and an appetite for rebooking remains.

There's only a dozen games left in the regular season for the Los Angeles Lakers after Saturday's 108-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. And even though the defending champions have been playing together for more than four months since the start of training camp, Lakers star Anthony Davis said the critical juncture the team finds itself in feels like a complete reset.

"It's like you're starting over with the guys and just trying to find a connection with these guys again," Davis said after his first two games back from a nine-week absence amounted to going 7-for-29 from the field in two losses. "They're trying to find a connection with me. So, it's like we're starting from zero, which is tough so late in the season."

Davis' return from a calf strain and Achilles tendinosis in his right leg didn't give L.A. the immediate lift it was hoping for. The Lakers are currently on a three-game losing streak and with two of those defeats coming against Dallas, their hold on the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference standings was cut to a precarious 1 1/2 game lead over the Mavs.

Davis scored 17 points in 28 minutes on Saturday and shot just 5-for-19 while doing so -- including a 1-for-5 mark in the fourth quarter when Dallas outscored the Lakers 29-14 to turn a tied game after three into a blowout.

"We've got to be able to get some wins," he said, looking ahead to the final two games of their road trip against the Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards. "This was tough for us. Orlando and D.C. are must wins for us, for sure."

The alternative would seemingly be disastrous as the Magic are 23 games below .500 and the Wizards are seven games below the even mark, but have gone 9-1 in their last 10 games.

Also chasing the Lakers, 2 1/2 games behind, are the Portland Trail Blazers, currently in the No. 7 spot. Seed Nos. 7-10 will participate in a play-in tournament to earn the final two postseason berths at the conclusion of the regular season. The higher-seeded teams in the 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9 matchups will need to win one game before the lower-seeded teams can win two in order to advance.

While Lakers coach Frank Vogel said before the game, "honestly, the standings don't really matter to us," and Kyle Kuzma echoed him afterwards by saying, "it matters for a lot of other teams in the league ... I don't think it matters much for us," perhaps L.A. should take heed. Especially with point guard Dennis Schroder admitting after the Dallas loss that L.A. would be in adjustment mode with Davis' re-integration and LeBron James' yet-to-happen return, "even probably some games in the playoffs."

If they're anticipating the recalibration period to last that long, securing the No. 6 seed or higher will bring with it the breathing room of a guaranteed seven-game series, rather than hoping those tweaks don't become problematic in a play-in scenario.

Vogel already made one adjustment to his rotation on Saturday, keeping Montrezl Harrell on the bench all game for the first time all season with a DNP. While the move was meant to free up minutes for Marc Gasol at backup center, even Gasol acknowledged how difficult the change was.

"It's not an ideal situation for anybody," he said. "We have a very deep team and if coach wants to play three guys or two guys for one spot, it's going to take a lot of buying in."

When questioned if Vogel's communication helped him navigate his own personal stretch of three straight DNPs prior to Saturday, he quipped, "You guys are asking the wrong guy. It's coach's decision. It's coach's call. ... So, don't ask me. I just work here."

It's as if Davis' return solidified just how much more work the Lakers have to do to get themselves right before they can be looked at as top contenders again. Davis' mere presence wasn't an immediate panacea. James' eventual return -- which could still be a week or two away -- might not be either.

"We're going to talk about it," Schroder said, acknowledging the kinks that need to be ironed out. "I think when Bron comes back, we're going to have a conversation as a team. Because our chemistry, like AD said, off the court is great. But on the court, we just got to turn it up some more."

Indeed, they will attempt to turn it up more with less and less time remaining in the regular season before the games really count and their repeat title bid is on the line.

"You've got to try and figure it out on the fly," Davis said, "which we're going to have to do."

On his way to second base on his first home run Saturday night, San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. turned toward his dugout and covered one of his eyes, teasing Los Angeles Dodgers starter Trevor Bauer for occasionally pitching with one eye closed. After crossing home plate on his second home run, Tatis imitated a strut popularized by UFC star Conor McGregor -- the one Bauer often deploys after dominant half-innings.

After the game, which the Dodgers won 5-4 at Dodger Stadium, Bauer made it a point to speak out in support of Tatis' actions.

"I like it," Bauer said. "I think that pitchers who have that done to them and react by throwing at people, or getting upset and hitting people or whatever -- I think it's pretty soft. If you give up a homer, the guy should celebrate it. It's hard to hit in the big leagues.

"So, I'm all for it. And I think it's important that the game moves in that direction, and we stop throwing at people because they celebrated having some success on the field."

Tatis' two homers -- on a chest-high cutter to lead off the game and on another cutter that tailed away from the strike zone in the sixth -- came one night after he homered twice on the 22-year anniversary of his father belting two grand slams in the same inning from Dodger Stadium.

His celebrations were a response to Bauer noticeably pitching with one eye closed when he faced the Padres during spring training, but also the way Bauer emphatically pounded his chest when he struck out Tatis to punctuate his outing in his first regular-season start against the Padres last weekend.

"Payback time," said Tatis, the first player with back-to-back, two-homer games against Cy Young Award winners, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. Tatis homered twice off Clayton Kershaw on Friday night.

"It's just fun," Tatis added. "When you know you're facing a guy like that -- he's doing his stuff, he's having fun on the mound, and when you get him you get him, and you celebrate, too. He's a hard guy to deal with."

Bauer said he didn't see Tatis cup his right hand over his right eye as he rounded the bases in the first inning, but he noticed players in the Padres' dugout doing it when Tatis homered off him again later.

In the fourth, Bauer struck out Eric Hosmer with a curveball and displayed his patented celebration of pulling out an imaginary sword -- a "sword" is a popular term for the awkward half-swing hitters produce when fooled badly on pitches. When Hosmer lined a ball back up the middle that nearly struck Bauer two innings later, he reached first base and did the sword celebration back at him.

"That's what it is to be a competitor," Bauer said. "I'm gonna go at you. I'm gonna get you sometimes, and you're gonna get me sometimes. We can have fun, we can celebrate it while we're still competing at the highest level. I just thought that was important to note tonight."

Before Tatis' big night, Bauer's archnemesis on the Padres was Manny Machado, who entered batting .632/.696/1.368 in 23 plate appearances against him. Machado has especially crushed Bauer's fastball in recent years, so Bauer instead attacked him exclusively with his slider. Bauer threw 13 consecutive sliders in three at-bats against Machado, producing a groundout and two strikeouts.

On the last one, Machado smiled and nodded his head toward the mound as he walked to the dugout. Asked if the plan was to simply throw sliders until Machado proved he could hit them, Bauer chuckled and said: "Yeah, basically."

The Padres and Dodgers will play their seventh game against one another in a stretch of 10 days on Sunday night. The two teams have split the first six meetings, with nine ties and four lead changes throughout.

They have been separated by two runs or less in 53 of the 57 innings.

"It's been great baseball all the way around," Tatis said. "I feel like we've been playing great games, and we're just taking the best out of each other."

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – When an early caution slowed the action on the streets of St. Petersburg, Michael Carter thought that his work to pull away from the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires field was all for naught.

But Carter didn’t need to worry; when racing resumed, he still could not be caught.

Carter took the win by over two seconds, a mammoth margin in MX-5 Cup competition, and leaves St. Petersburg with the points lead after six races in the 14-race championship.

Starting from the pole, Carter held off Gresham Wagner through the opening laps. Any mistake by Wagner meant he was pounced on by a train of cars behind him.

This gave Carter the opportunity to build a comfortable gap, until 10 minutes into the race, when the car of Aaron Jeansonne caught fire and brought out the race’s only full-course yellow. Jeansonne was able to pull off and exit the car.

When the track was clear and green flag racing resumed, there was 26 minutes left on the race clock. This created a hectic battle for second through sixth, which enabled Carter to once again pull away.

The fight for the final two podium spots was intense. Eventually, Sam Paley emerged as the breakaway driver to chase down Carter.

While scrapping for third, Wagner and Jared Thomas made contact in turn two. Thomas spun and was lucky to have not been hit by any of the cars packed up behind them.

Wagner continued on, and Thomas dropped down the order. He eventually climbed back to 16th at the finish.

Race one winner Selin Rollan did not get a chance to challenge for the podium. Contact with the wall in turn 10 damaged his car and he parked in pit lane with 10 minutes left.

Up front, Paley ever so slightly chipped away at Carter’s lead, but eventually ran out of time. Carter took the win by 2.210 seconds over Paley.

“That was how you want them to go,” Carter said. “You want to sit on pole, lead every lap, and win the race. We didn’t get that done this morning, but it was great to do that in Race Two. I worked my tail off to get that gap before the yellow and then when the yellow came out, I radioed ‘I just did all that for nothing!’ But fortunately, when we restarted, they got to racing really hard and I was able to do it again.

“The last 10 laps, I was just taking care of everything as much as I could.”

Carter’s two poles, two fast laps, runner-up finish in race one and win in race two have propelled him into the MX-5 Cup championship lead by 120 points over Wagner.

“Congrats to Sam (Paley), he drove his tail off and to Gresham (Wagner) as well after he had that problem in race one,” Carter added. “Also, a big thank you to everyone at Coaches Corner back in Savannah who watches us and supports us, a big thank you to them!”

Paley collected his second podium of his rookie season. His first top-three came in his Mazda MX-5 Cup debut at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway in January.

“Honestly, that was probably the hardest race of my entire life,” a red-faced Paley said. “I’m not going to lie, I’m out of breath! I really gave it 110 percent the entire time. We were the fastest car on track, but unfortunately the gap was just too big and we just didn’t have enough laps. I had the car and gave it everything I had so I’m satisfied with second, especially after the DNF in race one.

“It was a good, tough race.”

Third was a satisfying finish for Wagner after a drivetrain issue in race one forced him to retire. His relief was tempered with some regret for his contact with Thomas, though race officials deemed it to be a racing incident with no penalties issued.

Finishing fourth, 15 year-old Luca Mars had his best MX-5 Cup race weekend thus far. The rookie finished fifth in race one.

Rookie drivers had a strong showing on the streets of St. Petersburg; five of them finished in the top 10 in race two. In addition to Paley and Mars, Chris Nunes finished sixth, Juan Hernandez Leiva finished seventh and Daniel Williams finished eighth.

Bryan Ortiz, the 2019 Mazda MX-5 Cup champion, completed the top five.

Alex Bachoura earned hard-charger honors for advancing from 18th to 11th in the 45-minute race.

STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – Stafford Motor Speedway welcomed the Granite State Pro Stock Series to the half-mile oval Saturday as part of NAPA Opening Day, with Joey Polewarczyk Jr. winning the Casagrande Builders 75.

Eddie MacDonald took the lead from polesitter Josh King on the very first lap of the race.  Derek Griffith was third in the early going, with Polewarczyk and D.J. Shaw making up the top five.

Shaw got around Polewarczyk on lap four to move into fourth, and Derek Gluchacki took fifth as Polewarczyk slid back to seventh in line before the caution flew with four laps complete.

MacDonald took the lead on the restart with Griffith moving up to second. Gluchacki took third with Polewarczyk fourth and Shaw fifth. Casey Call was sixth while King slid all the way back to seventh in line.

The caution came back out with 11 laps complete as Mike O’Sullivan got into the turn one wall. Craig Bushey also had damage to the rear of his car after coming to a stop backwards on the track in the middle of turns one and two.

MacDonald took the lead back under green, while Polewarczyk and Shaw both got by Gluchacki to move into second and third place. Gluchacki was stuck in the outside groove and continued to slide backwards as Call took fourth and Dave Darling moved into fifth.

Polewarczyk took the lead from MacDonald on lap 15 at the line, while Gluchacki slid all the way back to 12th place before he could get back in line. Cory Casagrande was up to sixth at that point and started to apply pressure to Darling for fifth place.

Call slid up the track in turn one on lap 19, which allowed both Darling and Casagrande to move up to fourth and fifth as Call got back in line in sixth place. With 25 laps complete, the order saw Polewarczyk out front over, Shaw, MacDonald, Casagrande, and Darling.

Casagrande worked his way by Darling to move into third place on lap 34 as Polewarczyk continued to lead the race with Shaw running in second.

With 35 laps to go, Polwarczyk held a 1.5-second lead over Shaw with Casagrande, Darling and MacDonald making up the top five.

As the field began to navigate lapped traffic, Polewarczyk continued to slowly stretch out his lead over Shaw, while Darling got back by Casagrande to move into third place with MacDonald in fifth in a four-car train dueling for second place.

Casagrande was starting to apply heavy pressure to Shaw for second and he nearly made a pass for second on lap 55. Casagrande came back the very next lap and he made the pass on Shaw to move into second.

Casagrande’s move opened the door for Darling and MacDonald to follow him by Shaw and drop Shaw from second back to fifth.

Polewarczyk cruised to the checkered flag after that to win the Casagrande Builders 75.  Casagrande finished second with Darling, MacDonald, and Griffith rounding out the top five.

In support division action, Tyler Hines topped the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Michael Bennett won the 30-lap late model feature, Alexandra Fearn was victorious in the 20-lap limited late model feature, and Chris Meyer won the 20-lap street stock feature.

The finish:

1. Joey Polewarczyk Jr., 2. Cory Casagrande, 3. Dave Darling, 4. Eddie MacDonald, 5. Derek Griffith, 6. Devin O’Connell, 7. D.J Shaw, 8. Gabe Brown, 9. Derek Gluchacki, 10. Angelo Belsito, 11. Mike Mitchell, 12. Bryan Kruczek, 13. Mike Scorzelli, 14. Kevin Casper, 15. Josh King, 16. Tyler Tomassi, 17. Alexander Pearl, 18. Luke Hinkley, 19. Casey Call, 20. Bobby Pelland, 21. Adam Gray, 22. Craig Bushey, 23. Mike O’Sullivan, 24. Rick Duzlak.