DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney may be good friends off the track, but that didn’t keep them from tangling on the final lap of Tuesday night’s Busch Clash at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Both drivers were seeking their first win in the season-opening, non-points exhibition event that annually features NASCAR Cup Series pole winners and other designated stars of the sport.

Blaney was leading on the final lap when Elliott dove deep into the final chicane coming toward the checkered flag. Elliott’s Chevrolet made contact with the right-rear corner of Blaney’s Ford, sending Blaney spinning in a cloud of smoke a few hundred feet from the finish line.

As Elliott tried to get his car going quick enough to grab the win, Kyle Busch ducked underneath Elliott’s slowly-moving machine, stealing the victory in the final seconds and denying both young stars their moment in the sun.

Elliott crossed the line as the runner-up, while the last-corner spin relegated Blaney to 13th.

It was a moment that shocked many onlookers, considering the duo’s well-known friendship.

Understandably, neither driver was particularly happy about the circumstances Tuesday night that cost them both a shot at a Busch Clash win.

“I certainly wasn’t trying to wreck him. That’s a dumb question,” said Elliott of Blaney. “But obviously I was thinking that I could pass him and win the race, or I wouldn’t have done it. I was coming into a tight corner there, and I drove in so hard to the right that my angle was really bad. I just had to stop, really, to try to make the corner. At that point we were side-by-side trying to stay off the curb. We both know that the curb, you don’t want to hit any more of it than you have to.

“I hate it. Like I said on TV there, I certainly don’t want to wreck him out of anybody.”

Blaney didn’t necessarily cast blame on Elliott, but it didn’t mean he enjoyed the final outcome, either.

“Obviously, he didn’t mean to wreck me. But I ended up wrecked. It’s kind of just what it is,” noted Blaney. “Of course, you never mean to wreck anybody, usually. I know he didn’t mean to. But (he) drove off in there pretty deep. Personally, he wasn’t going to make the corner, I don’t think. It was going to be very hard for him to do it. It’s just a shame that we ended up getting turned around.”

In spite of his friendship with Elliott, Blaney said those thoughts didn’t cross his mind down the stretch. If anything, Blaney admitted that his own mistakes gave Elliott the chance to be in the picture at all.

“I didn’t do the best job on the white flag (lap) after I got by him. I didn’t do a great job of getting away from him,” Blaney recalled. “I kind of missed turn one, let him get to me in (turn) three there, then in (turn) five as well. I just couldn’t put a crazy, clean lap together. I hit the mud real bad. I thought I was in a good spot out of six, then I hit the dang mud on the bus stop at the back and let him get right to my bumper. That just set it up.

“We’re really good friends off the race track, but we’re both really hard competitors and we race each other really hard,” Blaney added. “I knew he would make a big move. Any competitor would. If you don’t go in there trying to win the race, what are you there for? It’s just a shame that it got us wrecked. We’re just as hard competitors as we are good friends. That’s the way it is. I race everyone the same.”

Elliott did have a conversation with Blaney after the race in an attempt to smooth over the situation.

“I just apologized,” Elliott said. “If you’re going to do (the bump-and-run), at least you need to go win. That’s the sure sign of not doing it on purpose … is when you don’t win the race after wrecking somebody. That’s just my bad. I tried to get that across. Obviously he’s frustrated, and he should be.

“It wasn’t awkward (to apologize). We’re friends. Friends can have tough conversations,” Elliott continued. “I know he knows I didn’t try to wreck him on purpose, just to hand the win to somebody else. He’s frustrated; he should be. He had the lead coming into the last corner and he didn’t win the race. I would be (frustrated) too.”

Put simply, Elliott’s biggest disappointment was that neither he nor Blaney left with the trophy.

“More than anything, I hate neither one of us won. You hate to hand it to somebody else like that.”

Elliott and Blaney will now turn their focus to Daytona 500 pole qualifying on the 2.5-mile Daytona oval Wednesday night, both trying to secure front-row starting spots for the 63rd edition of The Great American Race.

BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Stewart Friesen held off a hard-charging Peter Britten to win the 30-lap DIRTcar Nationals Super DIRTcar Series opener Tuesday night at Volusia Speedway Park.

Britten, in a new Ryder Racing-sponsored Bicknell chassis big-block modified, threw everything he had at Friesen in a mad duel through lapped traffic. Friesen held off the No. 21a machine for the checkered flag with an aggressive line around the top side of the half-mile track.

“It was a very technical race track,” said Friesen. “That’s the closest I’ve ever driven a big-block modified to a wingless sprint car, I just backed it in. There’s not much grip on the right front.”

Britten and Friesen battled hard throughout the first half of the race. After a long green-flag run during the midpoint of the 30-lapper, Friesen caught the rear of the field. What ensued was a memorable duel where both drivers crisscrossed from top to bottom trying to find the fastest way around the lapped cars and each other.

“I was trying to get through the lapped cars as quick as I could, but it was tough because it was so slick,” Friesen noted. “I kept losing the right front. I felt Peter [Britten] give me a shot out of four one time, but the Halmar team prevailed.”

With 19 laps to go, Britten got under Friesen on restart and drove by the No. 44 in turn one, but a caution flag flew for a hard crash involving multiple cars including Jim Britt, Tyler Jashembowski, and Dave Rauscher. Unfortunately for Britten, the pass was nullified as the lap was incomplete.

“If I hadn’t gotten that caution and gone out ahead, Friesen was fast but we were right there with him,” Britten said. “It would have been interesting to see if we could have held him off. But I’m just tickled to be there.”

Expectations are high for Britten as he moved to a Bicknell-built chassis for the first time in his career. With an all-new all-black paint scheme, it’s hard to avoid the Batmobile comparisons given his nickname “Batman.” But it hasn’t all been good luck for Britten in Florida this year.

“We wrecked a car and it’s been a thrash since then,” Britten said. “A lot of people helped me to get to where I am even to just make it back to the race track. Me and Dylan [Zacharias] thrashed on this thing day and night basically to get it ready. It’s a good feeling to be up here for sure.”

Friesen, who also competes in the NASCAR Truck Series, is now an eight-time DIRTcar Nationals feature winner after the $4,000 victory.

Rounding out the podium was the Gypsum Racing No. 91 of Billy Decker, who passed Max McLaughlin for third on the last lap. Decker and McLaughlin traded sliders in the closing stages of the feature, but the veteran came out on top.

The finish:

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen [2][$4,000]; 2. 21A-Peter Britten [3][$2,000]; 3. 91-Billy Decker [6][$1,000]; 4. 32C-Max McLaughlin [4][$800]; 5. 88-Mat Williamson [7][$700]; 6. 9S-Matt Sheppard [8][$650]; 7. 25-Erick Rudolph [18][$600]; 8. 1D-Tyler Dippel [11][$550]; 9. 4-Billy VanInwegen [9][$500]; 10. 16X-Dan Creeden [5][$450]; 11. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [1][$400]; 12. 19-Tim Fuller [15][$375]; 13. 7MM-Michael Maresca [16][$350]; 14. 23-Kyle Coffey [19][$325]; 15. 14-CG Morey [28][$300]; 16. 8-Rich Scagliotta [21][$300]; 17. 17-Rob Pitcher [22][$300]; 18. 1-Darwin Greene [17][$300]; 19. 46-Jeremy Smith [23][$300]; 20. 17D-Marcus Dinkins [32][$300]; 21. 30-Ryan Godown [10][$300]; 22. 20-Brett Hearn [14][$300]; 23. 48T-Dave Rauscher [20][$300]; 24. 19M-Jessey Mueller [24][$300]; 25. 26-Derrick McGrew [25][$300]; 26. B52-Brandon Hightower [30][$300]; 27. 88T-Tyler Jashembowski [29][$300]; 28. 2-Jack Lehner [12][$300]; 29. 6-Matt Stangle [13][$300]; 30. 118-Jim Britt [26][$300]; 31. 33T-Cass Bennett [31][$300]; 32. 01W-Justin Wright [27][$300]

Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte has called on Juventus to "show more respect" and claimed he was insulted through their Coppa Italia semifinal second leg in Turin.

The match finished 0-0 with Juve progressing to their sixth final in seven seasons with a 2-1 victory over two legs.

- Coppa Italia on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only)

Conte was caught on camera aiming an obscene gesture just before half-time, while Juve president Andrea Agnelli could be seen shouting curse words.

"Juve should tell the truth and I believe the fourth official should cite what happened throughout the entire match," Conte told Rai after the game. "More sportsmanship and respect for those at work is needed here."

Conte was Juve manager from 2011 to 2014 with Agnelli as his president, though their relationship was soured with the ex-Chelsea boss' sudden departure to manage Italy.

Elimination from the Coppa Italia has heightened the pressure on Conte as Inter only have the Serie A title to fight for this season. They are two points behind leaders AC Milan.

Inter were knocked out of the Champions League at the first stage when they finished bottom of their group.

Despite producing an impressive display in 2-0 league victory over Juve, they were soundly beaten 2-1 at home in their Coppa Italia semifinal first leg just over two weeks later.

Atletico Madrid's Champions League last 16 home leg clash with Chelsea will be played in Bucharest, UEFA confirmed on Wednesday.

The move comes after the Spanish Government extended restrictions on the arrival of flights from the United Kingdom beyond the game's matchday on Feb. 23.

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The decision also saw Manchester United's Europa League away leg at Real Sociedad switched from San Sebastian to Turin on Tuesday.

Liverpool's first leg away to RB Leipzig on Feb. 16 has been moved to Budapest as a result of travel restrictions in Germany, as has Manchester City's first leg at Borussia Monchengladbach on Feb. 24.

Both legs of Arsenal's Europa League round-of-32 tie against Benfica have also been moved to neutral venues.

Bucharest's National Arena was the venue for Atletico's 2012 Europa League win, when they beat fellow La Liga side Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to claim Diego Simeone's first trophy in charge of the club.

"Our club has agreed the change of venue -- date and time remained unchanged -- with UEFA," Atletico Madrid said in a statement. "Given the impossibility for the English team to travel to Spain, Atletico Madrid has been looking for alternatives during the last few days, taking into account factors such as access to the country, availability of facilities, stadiums and the situation of the pandemic."

Bucharest's National Arena -- a 55,634 capacity stadium, inaugurated in 2011 -- regularly hosts the Romania national team, as well as the country's two biggest clubs, FCSB (formerly known as Steaua Bucharest) and Dinamo.

Atletico Madrid are top of La Liga, ahead of giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, and favourites to win the title for the first time since 2014.

They qualified for the Champions League round of 16 after finishing second behind Bayern Munich in group A, while Chelsea topped group E ahead of another Spanish side, Sevilla.

Restrictions on UK flights to Spain, with only Spanish and Andorran citizens and residents allowed to travel, were first introduced on Dec. 22.

They have now been extended multiple times, with the latest ruling on Tuesday seeing them prolonged until March 2.

The Spanish Government said the measures were "to protect the health of citizens and control the spread of the new variant of the (COVID-19) virus."

Since Atletico Madrid last won the Spanish title in 2014, the average number of points needed to win La Liga has been 86. Even if Monday night's 2-2 draw at home to Celta Vigo was disappointing, especially conceding such a late equaliser, it's a very good bet that with 51 points in the bag Atleti are, at most, 12 wins away from what would be only their third Spanish title win in 44 years. Heady times.

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In fact, if you take into account Atleti have games in hand on Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla FC, perhaps it's as few as eight or nine wins which will give Diego Simeone and his band of brothers that golden champion feeling.

But hold on a minute. The fixture list has obstacles for Los Rojiblancos. The champions-elect must try to win away in some of Spain's most testing places -- at Sevilla, at Villarreal, at Athletic Bilbao, at Barcelona, at Levante and at Real Betis.

The "Amen Corner" of Atleti's title charge, if I may call it that in honour of them trying to "Master" Spain, runs like this: away to Granada, away to Levante, at home to Levante four days later, away to Villarreal, at home to Madrid, at home to Athletic, away to Getafe, at home to Alaves, away to Sevilla and then away to Betis.

In the midst of all that there are Champions League tests against a tougher, revived Chelsea under new manager Thomas Tuchel.

You emerge from that bruising run without too many "bogey" matches, without a bloody nose, points sliding out of your grasp, without injuries, suspensions or a loss of morale and, frankly, you're nearly on top of the podium.

Whether Atleti achieve it or not isn't simply about the marvellous squad they've assembled, about their points advantage or the fact that Spain's "Big Two"(Madrid and Barca) are in deep upheaval.

It's less evident than their playing attributes but Simeone has a strong central core of gnarled, battle-scarred footballers who've been disrespected, discarded, pushed around, insulted, felt fear for their lives -- but who, to a man, have reacted.

This isn't quite the "Dirty Dozen" -- a specially assembled squad of streetwise misfits who'll break all the rules, nick your medals if you drop your guard but fulfil the mission because they've nothing left to lose but self respect.

But it is a squad full of those who've fed off the survival instinct, who are fired by an aggression and determination which should see them through the bumps, bad luck and wobbly moments of an intense title run-in.

Simeone is a good starting example. Top general, massive salary, the most successful coach in Atleti's entire history -- but haunted.

Their Champions League final defeats, particularly the acid burn of losing to Madrid twice, each time in the most horrible circumstances of either conceding a last-minute equaliser (2014 in Lisbon) or Juanfran's crucial penalty clipping the post and bouncing wide (2016 in Milan), absolutely haunt him. He's admitted, perhaps not wisely, that the infamous Champions League anthem, which gives so many football people goosebumps and fills them with ambition, '"makes me feel pure pain every time I hear it."

A driven man? More driven than Miss Daisy.

His first lieutenant in this "Dirty Dozen" metaphor is, of course, Luis "El Pistolero" Suarez.

All his life he's had to fight. Fight to work his way up the football ladder, fight to win recognition, fight to win the sport's big prizes and, above all, fight to restore people's respect and admiration after the various controversial episodes which, temporarily, have made him a pariah figure. Every damn time he's fought back and moved up.

Then, at Barcelona, he not only establishes himself as the best striker partner Lionel Messi has ever enjoyed but he proves that he's one of the most technical, smartest centre-forwards of the modern era.

Until he falls foul of the embarrassing, now former, Camp Nou president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Picked upon, booted out the door and shown zero respect, never mind affection or gratitude. Just the other day he used Spanish radio to confirm: "It was brutal the way that I was disrespected by FC Barcelona. I wanted my kids to see me leaving with dignity and honour. The proper way. When the moment came to tell the kids what they were doing to me it was very hard.

"Maybe I could have insisted on staying, taken my salary and done my best in the circumstances but I knew that at the first hint of difficulties I'd come under attack. For my own pride and self respect, given how they were treating me, I needed to move."

You think he's putting all that anger, all that competitive rage into his season at Atleti? Damn tootin' he is -- 16 goals, two assists, leader of the Pichichi scoring charts and both Barcelona and Madrid looking at his heels at the top of the division. Burn baby burn. It's a Suarez inferno.

These narratives count in the deep midwinter of a title challenge. Who's driven more by the scent of silverware than salary? Who's got something to prove or experiences which are psychological scars -- events to tell you never to be intimidated or tentative again?

Strangely enough, Jan Oblak's in that group. He's had something to prove since almost the very beginning at Atleti. Signed to replace the outgoing Thibaut Courtois in the summer after the 2014 title season and a Champions League final loss, the Slovenia international had been Benfica's No. 1 as they won the domestic Treble.

Moving to Atleti for €14 million, Oblak was suddenly relegated to second choice behind Miguel Angel Moya and, out of the blue, had to confront the idea that Atleti had immediately lost all faith in him and wanted to send him back to Portugal.

Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira told the club's TV station that: "I never thought that Oblak would be returning here but the world's a weird place and Atleti have offered him back to us... we said 'no' of course."

Whether it was true, whether there was some mischief making... whatever. Oblak, in a new, strange, demanding environment, was hit with doubt and disrespect.

It's an experience which either makes or breaks you. From that day to this, where many would argue he's the best keeper in the world, has been quite a journey -- still fuelled by the 'I'll show everyone!' mentality.

The list goes on -- many, perhaps most, of Simeone's disciples have steel about them, forged by experiences which have no relationship to their talent, their wealth, their exalted status.

Take Saul, for example. He was a Real Madrid starlet -- they call them "Mirlos" (after birds who are usually dark or mottled in colour but who, when they have white plumage, are exceptional). For whatever reason his talents weren't appreciated and he's often explained how he was bullied -- by fellow players but, in his view, by those who were central to the structure of the youth Academy. After having his boots and his snacks "stolen" the worst came when an offensive letter was sent to one of the coaches -- purporting to be from Saul when, categorically, it wasn't. He quit. Atleti came calling, he loved the idea and... here we are.

He's won five trophies with Atleti and played in three youth-level European finals for Spain. Don't for a second think that being mistreated and picked upon hasn't fired him up to be the man, the winner, he is. The names and the similar character traits just keep coming. Simeone's fighters.

Kieran Trippier is another good example. Beaten in his, now, home stadium for Tottenham Hotspur in a Champions League final where they never got going against Liverpool, he left the Metropolitano that night willing enough to speak to reporters. He castigated himself for poor form, a poor season and swore that he'd be ferocious in pressing a "restart" button. Weeks later he'd secured a move to Atleti, was diligently learning Spanish at a rate which would have scared the daylights out of Gareth Bale and he established himself as an essential part of Simeone's attacking wide-defender system. An Englishman abroad -- but one fuelled by an iron desire to replace bitter memories with sweet, silverware alternatives.

Koke? Held up at gunpoint a couple of years ago so that the thugs could rob his expensive watch. Shrugged it off. Barely an impact. He hated, though, the fact that last season some of the most loyal Atleti fans and media were speculating about his form, his worth to the team and his motivation. Especially at a time when he'd been dropped by Spain's national team since the disastrous 2018 World Cup in Russia. Response? A special season this term; driven, important, responsible. Leading the team he's always supported and adored, he was restored to La Roja starting XI by Luis Enrique just in time to be one of the standout players when Spain thrashed Germany 6-0.

Made of the right stuff, Koke -- like Simeone, Suarez, Trippier, Oblak, Saul, and Angel Correa, who could only arrive and play for Atleti after a six-month recuperation following heart surgery in 2014 at the age of 19.

Joao Felix -- rejected by Porto as a kid for being "too slight" is Atleti's record signing. He is awfully glad he fought through the temptation to quit football altogether in disgust at his treatment at Os Dragões. Marcos Llorente, misused and then discarded by Zinedine Zidane at the club he loved, where his father, great uncle and grandfather all starred -- proving those at the Bernabeu wrong with every run, assist and goal. Yannick Carrasco, who so powerfully regretted moving to play for Dalian in China that he moved back to Atleti, delighted to knuckle down and follow Simeone's rules to apply the best he can.

The theme is that they all have scars. They've all been in battles, won and used the experiences. There's still a long road from here to the winners tape -- but please don't doubt the motivation, character or hardiness of Simeone and his band of brigand brothers.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have appointed Sanjay Bangar as their batting consultant for the 2021 edition of the tournament, announcing the development with a tweet on Wednesday. Bangar joins Mike Hesson (team director), Simon Katich (head coach), Sridharan Sriram (batting and spin-bowling coach), Adam Griffith (bowling coach) and Shankar Basu (strength and conditioning coach) as part of the team's support staff.

We are delighted to welcome Sanjay Bangar to the RCB Family as a batting consultant for #IPL2021!

Welcome aboard, Coach! #PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #NowARoyalChallenger pic.twitter.com/SWKLthSyXl

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 10, 2021

Bangar, who served as India's batting coach from 2014 before being replaced by Vikram Rathour in 2019, also has coaching experience in the IPL. He joined Kings XI Punjab as assistant coach in 2014 before being promoted to head coach during the season, but he stepped down from the role in December 2016. He was also a player in the Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders set-ups before retiring in 2013, and was also a part of the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala as batting coach.

The Royal Challengers overhauled their coaching set-up in August 2019 after three poor seasons in a row, where they finished bottom of the eight-team table twice and sixth once. Hesson and Katich joined the ranks, and under the new set-up last season, they reached the playoffs for the first time since 2016 before being knocked out in the Eliminator by the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Bangar, who played 12 Tests and 15 ODIs between 2001 and 2004, scored 8349 runs in first-class cricket and picked up 300 wickets, leading Railways with distinction when at his prime in the Indian domestic circuit.

Big picture

Oh, how the tables have turned! How beautifully the momentum has shifted West Indies' way, and the pressure towards Bangladesh.

West Indies hold the lead in the series, and therefore the edge, after their debutants Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner put together a comeback for the ages on the fifth day in Chattogram. Mayers' unbeaten 210 was only the second time a batsman struck a match-winning fourth-innings double-century. That it came from a debutant, who had very little familiarity with the pitch he was batting on, made it all the more remarkable. Bonner's 86 was a coming-of-age innings for a cricketer who has waited long. While Shannon Gabriel's show of deadly pace on such a slow pitch on the third evening was inspirational.

A delighted Phil Simmons, the West Indies coach, continued to be cautious, stressing on finishing the job, something they have failed to do on several previous occasions. But, while the Chattogram win didn't come easy - Test wins don't - it is also true that such a result can do wonders to the overall confidence within a squad.

Quite the opposite is the case in the Bangladesh camp. Bad as the result was, the news that Shakib Al Hasan wouldn't be fit for the second Test made things worse. And opening batsman Shadman Islam joined Shakib on the sidelines when he failed to recover sufficiently from the hip injury he sustained while fielding in the first Test. Soumya Sarkar - who underwent the PCR test on February 7 and has been kept in isolation since - has been named Shakib's replacement, while no replacement has been named for Shadman.

Who slots in for Shakib is just one of many questions staring at the Bangladesh team management. Whether the spinners can find their rhythm in the Dhaka Test is going to have a bearing on their fortunes, because, while Mehidy Hasan picked up eight wickets in Chattogram, more would be expected from Taijul Islam and Nayeem Hasan. Bangladesh have a spin-centric bowling strategy, that has now failed more often than it has worked for them, and with the Dhaka pitch likely to be assisting spinners, the make-up of Bangladesh's team will need careful thought.

Form guide

Last five completed matches, most recent first

Bangladesh LWLLL

West Indies WLLLL

In the spotlight

After his match-winning knock in Chattogram, Kyle Mayers will have the eyes of the world on him. He has called himself "a student of the game", and it will be interesting to see how the newcomer goes, now that he will have a fair bit of hype to live up to.

A maiden Test century to go with eight wickets in the Chattogram Test has given Mehidy Hasan back his Test spot. But he will have to put in another big performace, especially in Shakib's absence.

Team news

Whenever Shakib isn't around, Bangladesh struggle with team balance. They have Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, Yasir Ali and Saif Hassan among frontline batsmen and Taskin Ahmed, Abu Jayed, Ebadat Hossain and Hasan Mahmud among bowlers in the squad. Among them, Sarkar is the closest they have to an allrounder.

Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mominul Haque (capt), 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Liton Das (wk), 7 Mehidy Hasan, 8 Nayeem Hasan, 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Abu Jayed

It is unlikely that West Indies will make changes to the XI from the side that won in Chattogram. They have fast bowler Alzarri Joseph and left-arm spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Kavem Hodge and allrounder Raymon Reifer waiting in the wings, but they might have to continue to wait, barring an injury.

West Indies (likely): 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 John Campbell, 3 Shayne Moseley, 4 Nkrumah Bonner, 5 Kyle Mayers, 6 Jermaine Blackwood, 7 Joshua Da Silva (wk), 8 Rahkeem Cornwall, 9 Jomel Warrican, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Shannon Gabriel

Pitch and conditions

The pitch should help spinners more than the one in Chattogram did. Sides batting first in the last five years have averaged around 332, with five out of six teams winning the match after batting first.

Stats and trivia

• The 216-run partnership between Mayers and Bonner in Chattogram was the highest between two Test debutants in 57 years.
  
• Mehidy is two wickets short of 100 in Test, while Liton Das is 34 runs short of reaching 100 Test runs.
  

Quotes

"We start from zero again. We have to go back to the process, we have to practice and prepare well. It is going to be a different wicket, ground and everything. It is important for us to assess again. Going over the processes and ensure we do well."

Nkrumah Bonner on what Phil Simmons told the team about the second Test

"It would have been great to have Shakib bhai in the side in Mirpur but in his absence, myself, Taijul bhai and Nayeem have to take more responsibility. We will try to bowl more in the right areas, so that they can't play us easily."

Mehidy Hasan about dealing with Shakb's absence

Finding some permanent answers to Australia's long-standing middle-order issues in T20 international cricket is top of the agenda for stand-in coach Andrew McDonald in the upcoming five-match series against New Zealand.

Australia's T20I side was extremely settled and well-oiled in the lead-up to the cancelled home T20 World Cup in Australia last year.

McDonald had joined Justin Langer's coaching group in November of 2019 and with four BBL titles between the pair, they helped mould a team that won nine of 10 games over a 12-month period on the back of settled top-four and a five-man bowling attack that featured spin twins Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa alongside three fast bowlers. But even at their best, there were still question marks over the best options in the difficult middle-order batting roles.

Those questions have grown louder in the lead up to the 2021 World Cup in India. Australia have lost four of their last six T20Is against England and India and have tinkered with that settled line-up through a combination of form, injury, and the need to rest three-format players.

New Zealand presents an opportunity for one or two players to stake their claims for a permanent place in Australia's middle order with McDonald keen to see how the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Turner and Ben McDermott might go in those rules.

"There's no doubt that the players that played in those positions at times haven't performed the way that they've liked to perform," McDonald said. "But you've mentioned a couple of guys there that have got some experience within the Australian team of recent times in Marsh and Stoinis and those two present great middle options for us.

"We've seen Stoinis' growth and improvement through the IPL, in particular, starting against spin, and the intent starting against spin as well. So he's grown. Mitch Marsh, I thought had an outstanding BBL, albeit had a small setback with injury but his power-hitting, in particular, his power-hitting with wider deliveries is something that he's improved. So that makes him a bit of a handful. Ashton Turner is no doubt someone who has been earmarked for awhile as a very composed, smart finisher and we saw that play out in Mohali a few years ago and he's starting to return to that similar form."

One of the issues for the middle order is the lack of opportunity given the dominance of Australia's top four. In the 15 T20Is Australia has played since October 2019, no player has had more than 3 innings batting in the No. 5-6 slots. Turner and McDermott both filled the roles in the year prior but lost their places in the side. McDermott has returned to the top of the order for the Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL with great success while Turner is the only true middle-order specialist in the squad.

Australia has had a history of trying to shoehorn top-order players into the specialised role. They do have another BBL opener in Josh Philippe who has experience at No.6 in T20 cricket. Aaron Finch has already stated Philippe would bat in the top three on this tour but he played his first nine T20s for the Sydney Sixers in 2018-19 batting at No.6 with an impressive average (27.40) and strike-rate (152.55). McDonald didn't rule out experimenting with him down at the order at some stage in the series.

"Philippe started his career at six for the Sixers, so he's had exposure in those roles," McDonald said.

"We've got enough guys there that have had exposure. It's really whoever gets that opportunity takes it, and there's no doubt that they can lock away that spot moving forward."

McDonald has a difficult assignment in New Zealand. Head coach Justin Langer was scheduled to head to South Africa with the Test team but after the Test tour was cancelled, he was not re-assigned to New Zealand and is instead resting at home in Perth. Australia's all-format regulars like Steven Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood are also at home, as are Moises Henriques, Sean Abbott and Mitch Swepson who featured in Australia's most recent T20I XI. All were headed to South Africa and none were added to the New Zealand squad.

McDonald's task is to try and balance the long-term view of filling the missing pieces into Australia's first-choice T20 side for the World Cup, whilst picking the best team to win the series at hand.

"It's a good question and there's no doubt we will be working back off the World Cup plans," McDonald said. "I think it's really as simple as working out who the locks are for the World Cup and then fitting the other players potentially in and around that. But also exposing them to positions that they may not have been exposed to before in a sense that, for example, Josh Philippe, if Warner and Finch are opening in the World Cup then does that look like him batting somewhere else in the order. We'll need to find that out, there's no doubt about that."

"I think that it's probably hands down the best period of players in New Zealand's history and some of these players that we're currently seeing are going to go down as greats and that's what makes them difficult to play against"

Australia's stand-in coach Andrew McDonald

The series may also provide an opportunity to find out if the tried and trusted formula picking five specialist bowlers is the best way to go for the World Cup in India, or whether Australia could potentially be successful with a different structure with more allrounders to deepen the batting.

"We've played two spinners and three quicks across the journey," McDonald said. "Is that the formation to win a World Cup? Well, you'd say that's probably our best formation but do we need to learn to play another way as well at times. And does that potentially look like more an allrounders team? A bit like the 50-over team. We've got a few things that are on the table and we're discussing."

Marsh is expected to bowl during the series after suffering a side strain during the BBL but the Australian camp won't rush his return given they have will have limited training time during their 14-day quarantine.

Whilst Australia are focussed on solving some long-term issues with their side ahead of the World Cup, they are wary of the New Zealand outfit they are about to face which features some experienced names and some fresh faces.

"They've unearthed some new talent in Phillips, Seifert and Devon Conway," McDonald said. "They've added probably to the depth. But I always think with New Zealand, one of their strengths is their ability to work through with the ball. I think they've got some quality bowlers that execute under pressure. They're a calm team as well. Well led by Kane. It's almost like they've got a predictable element to them in terms of their performance. We're going to have our work cut out. Quality players across the board. I think that it's probably hands down the best period of players in New Zealand's history and some of these players that we're currently seeing are going to go down as greats and that's what makes them difficult to play against."

England captain Joe Root's match-winning 218 in the first Test against India has taken him to No. 3 in the ICC Test batting rankings, while India captain Virat Kohli has slipped to No. 5.

Root, who came into the tour on the back of an incredible run in the two-Test series in Sri Lanka - where he scored 426 runs - made a double-century on the second day of the Test in Chennai and helped England pile up 578 runs. He followed it up with a quick 40 in the second innings to stretch England's lead, which eventually helped them go 1-0 up in the four-match series and kept them in contention for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

Kohli, who returned from paternity break having missed the last three Tests against Australia, dropped points after making scores of 11 and 72 - the highest in India's second innings - in Chennai. Australia's Marnus Labuschagne also slipped to No. 4 as a result of Root's gain. Kane Williamson at No. 1 and Steven Smith at No. 2, however, retained their positions in the table. With 883 rating points, Root is ahead of Kohli for the first time since November 2017, and is currently 36 points behind Williamson and eight behind Smith.

There were gains for England in the bowling department as well, with James Anderson rising to the third spot from sixth - moving past Neil Wagner Josh Hazlewood and Tim Southee - following his match haul of 5 for 63 in the first Test. Stuart Broad, who was not in the playing XI in Chennai, is only four rating points ahead of him at No. 2 in the chart, which is led by Australia's Pat Cummins. England spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess, who played major roles in the Chennai win, also reached their career-best rating points, moving up to the 37th and 41st positions respectively.

Meanwhile Rishabh Pant, who made an 88-ball 91 in the first innings, became the first full-time wicketkeeper from India to reach 700 rating points among batsmen, retaining his 13th position.

Following West Indies' historic win in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram, Kyle Mayers, who made 210 not out on debut in the fourth-innings chase, recorded the highest-ever rating points - 448 - for a West Indies batter on debut and entered the table at 70th spot.

Pakistan's 2-0 sweep over South Africa at home saw Hasan Ali - who picked up ten wickets in Rawalpindi - go up 21 places to No. 23. Among Pakistan batters, Mohammad Rizwan, who was also named Player of the Series, moved up 19 places to a career-best 16th place after his scores of 26 and 115.

Following news that Australia will tour Bangladesh ahead of this year's T20 World Cup, BCB's chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury has said that they will also host England and New Zealand. He, however, said that formal announcements will only be made once the tour dates are confirmed by the boards.

Chowdhury had said that Australia would play three T20Is as well as a two-match Test series in Bangladesh. But since CA and BCB couldn't quite fit in the Tests, they have found time for an extra T20I match.

"Both boards (CA and BCB) have agreed in principle for Australia's tour of Bangladesh before the World Cup T20, which is going to be held in October," Chowdhury said. "It has been scheduled as such. Ahead of the World Cup T20, England, Australia and New Zealand will tour Bangladesh, but a tri-series hasn't yet been decided.

"I think we had a commitment with Australia that they would play two Tests and two T20Is. Since we could fit the T20s we will increase it to three. It is not that it is replacing anything. We would have fit in a Test match if there was enough space. It will be a good preparation for us ahead of the World T20. We have an opportunity to play some high-profile teams."

According to the ICC's published FTP, England are scheduled to tour Bangladesh in October to play three ODIs (as part of the ICC's ODI Super League) and three T20Is.

Meanwhile, Chowdhury added that all teams can fit in their World Test Championship matches until April after the timeline was extended from March. As such, the BCB is working on a tour of Sri Lanka to play the three-match Test series that was postponed twice last year.

"It should be clarified that most of the FTP commitments currently are for the World Test Championships and the ODI competition (ODI Super League). There's a guideline to complete the WTC matches before the final in June. The guideline to arrange those matches has been extended to April, from March.

"To fit in these postponed series, both teams have to be available. At the moment only Sri Lanka is available till April. It is not possible to fit in the rest of the (postponed) matches. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are free in April so we are trying to schedule the two or three Tests of the WTC during that time."