A fresh surge in the number of Covid-19 cases around the country has led to the BCCI suspending the proposed 50-over inter-state Vinoo Mankad Trophy for Under-19 men at least till the end of IPL 2021, which is scheduled to get over on May 30.

"While our endeavour was to get in as many matches as was practicable across different age groups in the season, prevailing circumstances have now forced us to suspend all age-group tournaments," Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, said in an email sent to the various state associations on Tuesday. "This is on account of the fact that active COVID cases are on the rise and organising tournaments requires intercity travel, strict quarantine measures and the creation and maintenance of bio-secure bubbles for the participants. Moreover, the situation is presently not conducive in some states."

On January 30 this year, the BCCI had announced its plans of hosting the domestic 50-over competitions for men, women and Under-19 men despite the Covid-19 situation. The men's national T20 tournament, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, was nearing completion at the time.

That meant no Ranji Trophy for the first time since its inception in 1934-35, and, along with a number of other cancelled tournaments, no Cooch Behar Trophy for the Under-19 men or any of the boys' Under-16 or Under-23 competitions. Similarly, there would be no age-group tournaments for women cricketers either.

"Our players' health, safety and well-being are our primary concern. I assure you that we will continue exploring a window for organising the age-group tournaments post the IPL 2021"

Jay Shah

The postponement of these tournaments assumes greater significance than usual because there is the next edition of the men's Under-19 World Cup scheduled for 2022 in the West Indies, and also the inaugural women's Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh tentatively slotted for later this year too.

"Considering the fact that the 10th and 12th Board Examinations are also around the corner across India, it is prudent that our young athletes have the opportunity to prepare and focus on these crucial examinations. Furthermore, our players' health, safety and well-being are our primary concern," Shah wrote. "I assure you that we will continue exploring a window for organising the age-group tournaments post the IPL 2021."

The BCCI had earlier asked the state associations to give their suggestions on the domestic calendar, which has had to be curtailed in a major way because of the pandemic and could only start in January this year.

The 2020 edition of the IPL was held in the UAE, with the four-match Women's T20 Challenge held alongside the playoffs of the men's event, and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was played across seven centres in India in January. That was followed by the all-format series between India and England - currently in progress - and the men's 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, which ended on March 14. The women's 50-over competition is currently on (final on April 4) and the 2021 edition of the IPL is slated to take place in India - only in Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata - between April 9 and May 30.

India's captain Virat Kohli has moved back into the top five of the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings for batsmen, while England's Jos Buttler jumped into the top 20 following their recent performances in the ongoing five-match series.

Kohli, who has led the T20I rankings before and currently tops the ODI list, gained 47 rating points and moved up one slot after making scores of 73 and 77 in the last two matches. Buttler meanwhile advanced five places to 19th after his match-winning 83 had fired England to a 2-1 lead on Tuesday.

Jonny Bairstow, who shared a 77-run partnership with Buttler in the third T20I, jumped two places to 14th, while Jason Roy was rewarded for scores of 49 and 46 in the first two matches by moving up to 24th in the rankings. In the bowlers rankings, Jofra Archer (34th), Mark Wood (39th) and Sam Curran (74th) all made notable gains.

For India, Shreyas Iyer (31st) and Rishabh Pant (80th) made up ground in the batting list, while Washington Sundar (11th), Shardul Thakur (27th) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (45th) all advanced in the bowlers rankings.

In the ODI Player Rankings for batsmen, West Indies' Shai Hope shot up to joint-seventh, after he had been named the Player of the Series against Sri Lanka for his recent scores of 110, 84 and 64. To cap West Indies' 3-0 series win, Nicholas Pooran (32nd), Evin Lewis (44th) and Darren Bravo (99th) also climbed up the rankings, while seamer Alzari Joseph advanced seven places to a career-best 27th in the bowlers list.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Hashmatullah Shahidi was the biggest mover in the Test Player Rankings for batsmen, leaping 47 spots to 90th, after becoming the first person from his country to score a double-century, against Zimbabwe. The team's captain Asghar Afghan, who scored 164 and shared a fourth-wicket stand of 307 with Shahidi, moved up to a career-best 65th on the list. Rashid Khan, who bowled almost 100 overs in the second Test, vaulted nine places to 32nd in the bowlers rankings.

Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams, who had kept Afghanistan waiting with his defiant 151 after following on, moved to a career-high 24th on the batting list with 621 rating points, the most by any player from the country since Brendan Taylor in 2014.

Toss Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bowl vs Afghanistan

Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams called correctly at the toss and decided to put Afghanistan in to bat in the first T20I in Abu Dhabi. Tarisai Musakanda and Tinashe Kamunhukamwe are set to open in the absence of their regular opening pair of Brendan Taylor and Chamu Chibhabha, while allrounder Brandon Mavuta also finds a spot in the T20I playing XI for the first time since October 2018.

The visa issue, due to which five of the Afghanistan squad members, including Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Gulbadin Naib, landed late in the UAE, forced them to field an XI with a number of changes. Hashmatullah Shahidi, who made a record double-century in the second Test against the same opponents last week, will play his first T20I game since his one-off appearance in 2013, while left-arm spinner Karim Janat, who last played a T20I in 2017, also makes his return.

The two-match Test series prior to the T20Is ended 1-1.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Karim Janat, Usman Ghani, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan (capt), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fareed Malik

Zimbabwe: Tarisai Musakanda, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Sean Williams (capt), Wesley Madhevere, Sikandar Raza, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Ryan Burl, Donald Tiripano, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava

Trent Williams and the San Francisco have reached a deal, sources tell ESPN.

Williams' deal with the 49ers is for 6 years, $138 million, making him the highest paid offensive lineman in NFL history. Of the $55.1 million guaranteed cash in the contract, $30.1 million comes in the form of a signing bonus.

The 49ers traded for Williams on the third day of the 2020 NFL draft, sending a fifth-round selection and a 2021 third-round choice to the Washington Football Team.

Upon joining the Niners, they agreed to add a clause in his contract that meant they could not tag him this offseason. Williams, 32, (July 19), went on to stabilize the left tackle position in place of the retired Joe Staley, starting 14 games and returning to his previous Pro Bowl form in the process.

All of that came in Williams' first season back after sitting out all of 2019 as he engaged in a dispute with Washington over the handling of his injury issues and his contract.

At the end of the season, Williams maintained that he hoped to re-sign with San Francisco but also acknowledged that he wanted to see what a premiere tackle could get on the open market since players at his position of that caliber rarely make it that far into free agency.

Since entering the league as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft, Williams has started 133 games, earning eight Pro Bowl berths and a second-team All Pro nod in 2015.

ESPN's Nick Wagoner contributed to this report.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard sat down for his post-game availability with his right hand wrapped in ice and sporting a Marvelous Marvin Hagler sweatshirt.

Lillard, perhaps the NBA's biggest boxing fan, looked like he just gone through a 12-round fight Tuesday night. And while it looked like the New Orleans Pelicans were going to run away with the decision, Lillard led the charge as the Trail Blazers fought back to snatch a victory in the final minute in a 125-124 win.

Lillard finished with 50 points and 10 assists as Portland overcame a 17-point deficit in the final 5 minutes, 55 seconds to come away with the victory. There wasn't a game-winning shot this time around, but Lillard did score seven points in the final minute.

The Pelicans had a chance to put the game away, but Brandon Ingram missed two free throws with 7.2 to play when New Orleans had a three-point lead.

"After he missed the two free throws, I was like, 'I'm sending this to overtime.'" Lillard said.

But that chance didn't arrive like he wanted. On the ensuing possession, the Pelicans fouled Lillard before he could get a shot up and sent him to the line. He knocked down both free throws with 5.2 left to cut the lead to one.

On the inbounds play that followed, the Blazers caught a break. Nickeil Alexander-Walker fumbled away the inbounds pass from Lonzo Ball, giving it back to the Blazers.

"Once the guy went to the line and missed the free throws and once we had that scramble on the inbounds, I knew if we got the ball back that he was going to win it, and he did it," said Blazers guard CJ McCollum, who returned Tuesday after having not played since Jan. 16.

With 1.2 seconds left, Lillard was fouled by Eric Bledsoe just inside the 3-point line. He made those two free throws to give the Blazers the lead. Ball's long inbounds pass to Zion Williamson connected but Williamson's contested hook shot outside the lane didn't fall.

Portland became the first team this season to come back from at least 17 points down in the final six minutes of a game. According to ESPN Stats and Information research, NBA teams were 0-236 in such situations this season.

"We needed some things to go our way," Lillard said of the comeback. "B.I. misses two free throws. Then we come down back on the defensive end and on the inbounds pass, they fumble it out of bounds. So some things had to go our way on top of us putting stops together and making timely plays on defense and offense."

As timely as Portland's stops were, a lot of the success late came down to Dame Time. Lillard needed only 20 shots to score his 50 points -- he went 13-of-20 from the field, 6-of-13 from deep and 18-of-18 from the free throw line, tying his career high in made free throws.

According to the Elias Stats Bureau, Lillard's 20 field goal attempts were the third-fewest in a 50-point game in the shot-clock era behind Adrian Dantley's 17 attempts in 1980 and Willie Burton's 19 in 1994.

Also from Elias, it was Lillard's third 50-point, 10-assist game, tying him with Tiny Archibald and Russell Westbrook for the second-most such games in NBA history, trailing only James Harden (eight).

It was Lillard's 12th 50-point game of his career, passing Allen Iverson for fourth-most since the merger (1976-77). Lillard is now tied with LeBron James.

Portland went 31-of-31 from the free throw line. It's the most free throw attempts in franchise history without a miss and they became the first team to shoot at least 31-of-31 from the line since the Phoenix Suns went 32-of-32 against the Seattle SuperSonics on Feb. 8, 2008.

In the final 5:55, Portland outscored the Pelicans, 25-7. The Blazers held New Orleans to 3-of-10 shooting and 1-of-3 from the 3-point line while also forcing the Pelicans into three turnovers in that stretch.

"You don't make a comeback like that if you don't play well on both ends," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "You have to play good defense for sure. There was some desperation, obviously. Can we sustain that level of desperation for 48 minutes? I don't know. Certainly that was a big part of it."

Defense has been an issue for the Blazers a lot this season. After Tuesday, Portland is 29th in the league in defensive rating (116.4).

Still, it was the Blazers' sixth win this season when trailing in the final minute, two more than any other team so far this season.

But for Lillard, if the defense can step up, then Portland won't need to fight its way back and look for the knockout punch late in games as it has recently.

"When we put it together mentally and we commit to that and become a better defensive team, that's when we'll level up overall. But we keep talking about it. We have to defend better and be consistent and all these things but, I mean, we gotta do it. That's what it comes down to. It's as simple as that," Lillard said.

"We gotta come out here and be committed to it and hold ourselves to that. As long as we don't do that, we'll win games and be who we've always been, but until we decide to take that step as a group ... that's when we'll look at games and be like, 'We won that game by 15,' or 'We won that game by 18.' People will expect a great effort from us in the playoffs. I think that's when the true respect will come when we can sustain a certain level defensively."

HAMPTON, Ga. – Logan Clampitt made an emotional return to eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory lane during Tuesday night’s 250-mile race at the virtual Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Clampitt took control of the fourth race of the season by passing polesitter Mitchell deJong on a lap-53 restart, following the only caution of the night, then held off defending series champion Nick Ottinger down the stretch run to the finish.

The Trabuco Canyon, Calif., native led 97 of 163 laps, including the final 43 revolutions of the 1.54-mile quad-oval, for his third career Coca-Cola Series win and first since Sept. 11, 2018 – a drought of 44 races.

“Man, this is so emotional. It’s been two and a half years, 44 races … this is amazing,” Clampitt said in victory lane. “I moved out here (to North Carolina) with Michael (Conti) to change my life, and this game has changed my life so much. Tonight was special. It’s my first win being away from my parents, but I’m glad I have my friends to celebrate with, because they’re all like family. I love them all.

“We put so much time into this series and so much has gone on the past two and a half years. When I was crossing the line to take the white flag, it didn’t even feel real,” Clampitt added. “It’s very hard to win in this series, but thankfully we got the right strategy in place, made the right adjustments on the last pit stop there, and thankfully qualified up for this race to put ourselves in position to win.”

With his victory, Clampitt becomes the fourth driver to lock up a playoff berth in the 10-driver eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series postseason field, giving him a shot to chase his first series championship.

“We’re finally locked into the playoffs, which is so huge,” Clampitt noted. “Now we have to finish (in the) top 20 (in regular season points), which we’ve done every season, but winning tonight was the first step and now we’ve done that.”

Ottinger, a teammate to Clampitt at William Byron eSports this season, cycled out as the race leader on lap 116 following the final round of green flag pit stops. However, he pitted two laps sooner than Clampitt did and thus had older tires on the virtual iteration of Atlanta’s worn-out asphalt.

In the end, those two laps of wear made all the difference, as Clampitt cut a near two-second deficit down to nothing over a five-lap span, then made the winning pass on the inside of turn three at lap 121.

From there, Ottinger could only watch as Clampitt drove away by 2.064 seconds at the checkered flag, but the Claremont, N.C., native had nothing but congratulations to give his teammate after the race.

“What a win for Logan, and what a night for this William Byron eSports team. A one-two finish tonight is exactly what we hoped for, and I’m so proud of Logan,” Ottinger said. “He’s been wanting another one for a couple of years; he’s been plenty fast enough and he proved it tonight. I definitely wanted that win too, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

“We tried jumping the two in front of us on a pit call there at the end, and we gave up a little bit of the tire advantage to try to hold Logan off,” Ottinger added. “I tried, and I just couldn’t do it. He was too fast. We run the same stuff and he just wielded the night.”

Williams eSports’ Zack Nichols completed the podium in third place, followed by JR Motorsports’ Michael Conti and Roush Fenway Racing’s Steven Wilson.

Four teams were represented among the top five.

Brad Davies, Keegan Leahy, Ryan Luza, Casey Kirwan and Garrett Manes closed the top 10, while polesitter Mitchell deJong faded to 19th after leading the first 52 laps uncontested.

Tuesday night’s lone caution flag waved on lap 49, when Bob Bryant was turned around on the frontstretch after contact from Zack Novak while Bryant was trying to get to pit road.

Both drivers continued, with Novak finishing 28th and Bryant coming home 29th.

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season continues March 30 at the virtual Auto Club Speedway.

The results:

1. 97-Logan Clampitt [7], 2. 25-Nick Ottinger [12], 3. 29-Zack Nichols [8], 4. 8-Michael Conti [13], 5. 17-Steven Wilson [28], 6. 88-Brad Davies [10], 7. 32-Keegan Leahy [3], 8. 4-Ryan Luza [9], 9. 38-Casey Kirwan [17], 10. 2-Garrett Manes [22], 11. 55-Vicente Salas [24], 12. 10-Graham Bowlin [20], 13. 9-Michael Guest [14], 14. 83-Bobby Zalenski [2], 15. 75-Matt Bussa [39], 16. 36-Chris Shearburn [4], 17. 41-Dylan Duval [34], 18. 33-Taylor Hurst [32], 19. 23-Mitchell deJong [1], 20. 6-Nathan Lyon [15], 21. 46-Jimmy Mullis [33], 22. 51-Ray Alfalla [29], 23. 21-Garrett Lowe [18], 24. 79-Ryan Doucette [38], 25. 14-Blade Whitt [36], 26. 11-Malik Ray [37], 27. 24-Jake Nichols [35], 28. 90-Zack Novak [30], 29. 77-Bob Bryant [26], 30. 67-Allen Boes [21], 31. 52-Jake Matheson [40], 32. 15-Caine Cook [31], 33. 3-Corey Vincent [19], 34. 47-Brian Schoenburg [16], 35. 37-Derek Justis [11], 36. 18-Femi Olat [23], 37. 66-Blake Reynolds [27], 38. 16-John Gorlinsky [5], 39. 44-Isaac Gann [6], 40. 1-Ashton Crowder [25].

Lead Changes: Seven among six drivers

Lap Leader(s): Mitchell deJong 1-52, Logan Clampitt 53-106, Isaac Gann 107, Mitchell deJong 108-113, Ray Alfalla 114, Blade Whitt 115, Nick Ottinger 116-120, Logan Clampitt 121-163.

Laps Led: Logan Clampitt 97, Mitchell deJong 58, Nick Ottinger 5, Isaac Gann 1, Ray Alfalla 1, Blade Whitt 1.

Hard Charger: 75-Matt Bussa (+24)

Rookie of the Race: 29-Zack Nichols (Williams eSports)

Caution Flags: One for three laps

Margin of Victory: 2.064 seconds

Time of Race: One hour, 28 minutes, 54.822 seconds

Average Speed: 169.391 mph

Pole Winner: 23-Mitchell deJong, 29.159 seconds (190.130 mph)

Fastest Lap: 97-Logan Clampitt, lap 110, 29.775 seconds (186.196 mph)

PITTSBURGH -- If this was a glimpse of what the goaltending situation will be like in Boston after veterans Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak move on, the Bruins will be in fine shape.

Dan Vladar made 34 saves for his first win in his first NHL start, and Boston outlasted the Penguins, 2-1, Tuesday night, as Rask missed his fifth straight game with an undisclosed injury.

Vladar made his debut in last summer's Stanley Cup playoffs when he relieved Halak during Game 3 of the second round against Tampa Bay. He settled in early with a diving stick save on Colton Sceviour and was nearly perfect the rest of the way.

"I'm just the happiest kid in the world right now," Vladar said. "It was always my dream to play in the NHL, I got the opportunity and I won. There hasn't been a better day for me hockey-wise."

Vladar and Jeremy Swayman are considered Boston's best prospects in net, and the win from the former couldn't have come at a better time.

Trent Frederic scored the lone goal of the third period, beating Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle through traffic.

David Pastrnak scored his 13th on the power play for the Bruins, who had lost nine of their previous 13 games. It was the Bruins' second win in their last seven road games following a 5-0-1 stretch away from home.

"There's no do-or-die games in the middle of the regular season," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "There's games where you have to be a little more dialed in and focused. This was one of those games."

Frederic's winner was the Bruins' third even-strength goal in their last six games. The Bruins have scored 33 goals in their last 14 games.

"People have to pitch in," Cassidy said. "We need it. It has been discussed."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sune Luus has returned from an illness to lead South Africa after missing the previous two games. On Wednesday, she called correctly and elected to bowl first again in Lucknow. Each of the four ODIs in the series so far has been won by the side chasing.

India, 3-1 down in the series, have pride to play for, apart from also trying to find a balance between winning and giving some of their youngsters an opportunity. There was a debut for allrounder C Pratyusha, while D Hemalatha, a middle order bat, got a look-in.

With the ball, Monica Patel, the left-arm seamer who debuted in the first ODI, returned as did Jhulan Goswami after missing the previous game due to a hand injury. Poonam Yadav, the legspinner, and Deepti Sharma, the allrounder, were given a rest.

South Africa made two changes. Luus returned in place of the big-hitting Lizelle Lee, who has been rested, while Nadine de Klerk came in for seamer Ayabonga Khaka.

India: Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Sushma Verma (wk), C Pratyusha, D Hemalatha, Priya Punia, Jhulan Goswami, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Monica Patel

South Africa: Sune Luus (capt), Laura Wolvaardt, Mignon du Preez, Lara Goodall, Anneke Bosch, Marizane Kapp, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Nadine de Klerk, Nondumiso Shangase, Tumi Sekhukhune

Australia coach Matthew Mott knows that he will have to manage the disappointment of players who fail to make the starting XI against New Zealand later this month, with the return of Tayla Vlaeminck and Ellyse Perry further strengthening their squad.

Fast bowler Vlaeminck will be carefully handled on her comeback to international cricket and will not be part of every match of the tour [of three T20Is and three ODIs]. She has not played for Australia since the tri-series before last year's T20 World Cup, which she then missed with a stress fracture of her foot. She also sat out this season's WBBL.

Vlaeminck returned to action in the WNCL last month and picked up six wickets in four games for Victoria, including 4 for 16 against ACT.

Perry is also available again, for the first since the World Cup after having missed the home series against New Zealand at the start of the season as she continued he recovery from a severe hamstring injury.

It means some tough selection decisions loom when narrowing down the final XI for the T20I series, which starts on March 28 once Australia complete their two weeks of managed isolation.

"There's going to be one or two very disappointed players that deserve to be in that team, but that's the byproduct of having success and having players who have been out of the team coming back in," Mott said. "We aren't exactly settled on that [final] XI. There are people at difference stages. In Tayla's case, we won't be looking to play her in every game over here.

"She's aware of that so we'll have to manage her through her return to play."

Having watched a lot of cricket from the sidelines, Vlaeminck is confident about her form and fitness heading into the series. "I gradually got to expose my foot and my body to the feeling of hitting the crease, so I wasn't going from zero to a hundred really quick," she told RSN Radio. "Took me probably a couple of games to find my rhythm again but feel like I'm back to that now.

"It was a long time between games but makes it so much more enjoyable when you get back out there."

From the last T20I Australia played, against New Zealand in late September, there is one certain absentee, with Delissa Kimmince having taken a break from the game. Allrounder Annabel Sutherland, who was part of the ODI side, was also ruled out of this tour because of a stress fracture.

"Ellyse has come off some really good cricket and is a world-class player so she'll have to get in there somewhere then it's about managing a couple of really unlucky players who will miss out," Mott said.

The only slight fresh injury concern heading into tour was around Beth Mooney, who missed a WNCL game with a thigh strain after making 163 against Western Australia. But she is expected to be fit.

"It was a smart [decision] from her, she nipped it in the bud," Mott said of Mooney skipping the game. "Kate Beerworth, our physio, is assessing everyone today and we'll know a bit more tomorrow but Beth seems to be moving around well."

Australia will train for the first time on Thursday in Christchurch and over the course of the next ten days, they will go through various match-based scenarios as they only leave managed isolation the day before the opening T20I in Hamilton.

"That's probably the most critical sessions we'll have," Mott said. "Our players have been playing a bit of cricket so we aren't worried about it, but just that spatial awareness for batters and bowlers to get out there in the middle, it's very different to the nets, they are craving that contest-type stuff. We'll put players in positions they'll likely be in during games."