DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – At three-quarter distance in the 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona, Wayne Taylor Racing found its way to the front of the field at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

NTT IndyCar Series star Alexander Rossi was at the wheel of the Taylor team’s Acura DPi as the 18th hour of competition was completed just before 10 a.m. ET.

Co-driving with Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque, it was Castroneves who wheeled the car for most of the 17th and 18th hours before Rossi took over.

“It’s been absolutely amazing. No question, coming from Penske to Wayne Taylor Racing … it’s interesting, trying to make sure the car is good not only in the beginning, but at the end (of stints),” said Castroneves. “A different mentality, but right now we’re ahead of the game.”

The No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac was second in DPi at the three-quarter benchmark, 5.572 seconds back with Kevin Magnussen driving. Felipe Nasr was running third in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac.

With just over five and a half hours to go, the No. 31 was taken to the garage with gearbox issues. Nasr reported the machine was “stuck in third gear” before taking it pitside.

Tower Motorsport’s No. 8 Oreca with Mattheiu Vaxiviere remained in control of the LMP2 class, with a second and a half lead over the No. 18 Era Motorsports Oreca of Kyle Tilley.

In LMP3, the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 of Oliver Askew maintained a four-lap advantage over the No. 33 Ligier JS P320 of Wayne Boyd.

The GT Le Mans class continued to be ruled by Corvette Racing, with a one-two punch led narrowly by Nick Tandy in the No. 4 C8.R over teammate Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 C8.R.

Tandy’s co-driver, Tommy Milner, was part of a photo finish for Corvette Racing in 2016 at the Rolex 24 and noted that it could happen again on Sunday afternoon.

“We’re definitely not counting our chickens yet — there’s still a long way to go,” said Milner. “It would be fun to see two Corvettes racing at the end, racing hard, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a red or black car too.”

The GTD class featured a thrilling battle between Maro Engel in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG and Daniel Serra in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 through the 18th hour.

The duo exchanged the lead several times, with Serra’s Ferrari taking the lead by a nose several times in the tri-oval but Engel’s Mercedes leading in the infield section.

At the end of the hour, Serra was in front by two seconds in class.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Midway through the 19th hour of the 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona, a major mechanical issue dropped the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac from Action Express Racing out of contention for the overall win at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Felipe Nasr was at the wheel of the two-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title-winning entry when he “heard a loud bang” in the process of going to fourth gear in the infield section of the 3.564-mile course at turn six.

From there, the 28-year-old Brazilian brought the car – co-driven by Pipo Derani, Mike Conway and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott – back to the pit area at a crawl with gearbox issues.

Nasr was running on the lead lap, inside the top five, when the issue occurred.

The Action Express team brought the entry to the garage for repairs, which took nearly two hours to complete before the No. 31 came back to the race track, 22 laps off the lead pace with Chase Elliott in the car for a third driving stint.

Nasr spoke to NBC Sports about what he felt behind the wheel prior to the car’s return to competition with Elliott behind the wheel.

“There were two different things (that happened), and I don’t think they were connected,” Nasr relayed. “We had an exhaust issue; that’s why the engine was sounding a little weird, but we kept going and we had pace. Then, unfortunately, when I was leaving turn six on the transition up to the banking … when I was going up to fourth (gear) was when I lost the drive (train). It was a pretty loud bang on the gearbox, so that was fourth gear done.

“It’s a shame. I feel terrible for everyone. Everyone put in hard work all weekend, starting on pole. I don’t know what to say. We’ve got to come back with better luck next time.”

Neither the No. 31 Cadillac nor Nasr has ever triumphed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and that goose-egg in the win column will continue for another year, something that disappointed Nasr greatly after he climbed from the car Sunday morning.

“That’s racing, right? This is the hardest race we go to and that’s why this is the biggest race of the year,” Nasr said. “It caught us off guard this time … but this is still the race that I really love coming to. I really enjoy being here. It is what it is. The season is long.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With four hours remaining in the 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona, Wayne Taylor Racing is in position to capture its third overall victory in a row in the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic.

Wheeling the No. 10 Acura DPi, Filipe Albuquerque held a 6.332-second edge over six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac right at the conclusion of a cycle of green-flag pit stops.

For most of the preceding two-hour block, Simon Pagenaud and the No. 48 Ally Cadillac for Action Express Racing were in the pursuer role of the Taylor entry, running second before pit stops and a driver change – with Mike Rockenfeller taking over for Pagenaud.

The No. 48 was scored third at the end of the 20th hour of racing.

“We’re making them sweat a little bit,” said Pagenaud of the Wayne Taylor Racing team. “I’m having a blast and I always have a blast coming here.”

Overall, 670 laps and nearly 2,400 miles were completed at the end of 20 hours of racing.

The race ran green from the 628th lap after a debris caution with five and a half hours to go bunched the frontrunners back up.

That led to an hour and 12 minutes of uninterrupted competition, with Magnussen taking the Ganassi Cadillac to the point a lap after the restart before having to serve a drive-through penalty for wheel rotation on the previous pit stop.

That miscue handed the lead back to Alexander Rossi and the No. 10.

At the 20-hour benchmark, the No. 18 Era Motorsports Oreca of Ryan Dalziel held a 26.037-second margin over the No. 8 Tower Motorsport Oreca of Timothe Buret.

The LMP3 class continued to be commanded by the No. 74 Riley Motorsport Ligier JS P320 of Scott Andrews, with a two-lap lead over the nearest challenger in class.

Corvette Racing continued its mastery of the GT Le Mans class, with the No. 3 C8.R taking over the class lead from the sister No. 4 C8.R entry.

Nicky Catsburg held a 6.814-second margin over Alexander Sims with four hours remaining.

And in GT Daytona, the picture of the lead battle changed dramatically with four hours, 16 minutes to go after the leading No. 57 Winward Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Philip Ellis clipped the grass entering turn one.

That created contact with the challenging No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo of Matteo Cressoni that spun the Ferrari out of a battle for the top spot and into the turn-one tire barriers.

After that, Ellis’ main challenger became the No. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Luca Stolz, who ran second for SunEnergy1 Racing by 2.164 seconds at the end of the 20th hour.

Lionel Messi and Barcelona will take legal action against Spanish newspaper El Mundo after it released the leaked details of the forward's record-breaking contract on Sunday.

El Mundo published documents relating to Messi's four-year deal, signed in 2017, and gave an intricate breakdown of the €555 million he would receive if all add-ons were met. The report claimed that Messi's contract is the biggest ever signed by an athlete.

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Sources have confirmed to ESPN that Messi will take action against El Mundo and any Barca personnel involved in the leaking of the contract. There are only four copies of the contract -- Messi has one, Barca have another, La Liga has a copy and so does Cuatrecasas, the law firm used by the Argentina international.

Barca, meanwhile, responded by denying any involvement in the leaking of the contract and said they would also take "appropriate legal action" against the newspaper.

"In view of the information published today El Mundo, in relation to the professional contract signed between FC Barcelona and the player Lionel Messi, the club regrets its publication given that it is a private document governed by the principle of confidentiality between the parties," the Catalan club said in a statement.

"FC Barcelona categorically denies any responsibility for the publication of this document, and will take appropriate legal action against the newspaper El Mundo, for any damage that may be caused as a result of this publication.

"FC Barcelona expresses its absolute support for Lionel Messi, especially in the face of any attempt to discredit his image, and to damage his relationship with the entity where he has worked to become the best player in the world and in football history."

According to El Mundo, Messi would receive a maximum of €555,237,619 ($673,919,105) over four seasons, if a series of conditions were met.

Including image rights, the report explains that Messi was paid a €115m renewal bonus and a €77m loyalty bonus split into two payments -- as revealed by ESPN in November.

Messi is also said to earn around €72m annually in addition to add-ons for playing more than 60% of games throughout the course of a season, Champions League progression, winning La Liga or the Copa del Rey and winning FIFA's The Best.

A number of those performance-related add-ons have not been met and it should also be noted that Messi accepted a salary cut when the coronavirus pandemic first affected football last March.

Therefore, he will not earn the full €555m written into the contract, which expires on June 30.

Messi's future beyond then remains unknown. He tried to leave the club last summer but was shut down by then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

In a recent interview, he explained that he has not yet made a decision on his future and will decide his next step when the season ends.

Since pushing to leave, Bartomeu has left Camp Nou and a new president will be elected on March 7. All three candidates for the presidency -- Joan Laporta, Victor Font and Toni Friexa -- have expressed a desire to keep Messi at the club.

However, negotiations over a new deal will not be able to begin until March and the new terms will have to correspond with the club's new financial position.

The club's annual accounts, dated August 2020, revealed earlier this month that the Catalan club's gross debt has risen to nearly €1.2 billion.

LONDON -- If in doubt, trust the old dependables. They were on the periphery of the last throes of the Frank Lampard era, but goals from the unlikely double act of Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso secured Thomas Tuchel's first win as Chelsea boss against Burnley on Sunday.

Chelsea dominated possession and territory against the well-organised visitor, but the relentless pressing from the Blues nullified any Burnley threat -- restricting them to just one shot on goal -- and instead saw Tuchel's side dominate the middle of the pitch and craft half-chance after half-chance only for the two veteran Spaniards to guide the side home to a 2-0 victory.

For all the talk of their expensive summer signings and how Tuchel needs to find the right cocktail to unlock their potential, it was the old dependables who delivered. This was Alonso's first match action since September; Azpilicueta was sidelined towards the end of Lampard's tenure with Reece James often preferred, as was Antonio Rudiger. Another player on the periphery was Callum Hudson-Odoi, forever linked with a move to Bayern Munich, but he has become Tuchel's go-to right-wing-back and again, like his performance midweek against Wolverhampton Wanderers, was a constant threat down the flank and kept Burnley's defenders spinning.

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While they're looking for the real Timo Werner and Kai Havertz to step up, there is a quiet renaissance going on among the old guard who, in a different world, may have been looking at the last 24 hours of this transfer window as a chance for respite elsewhere. This is certainly the case for Alonso.

When Alonso last featured in September, Lampard's side were just three games into the new Premier League season. The then-manager's trust in Alonso evaporated in the 3-3 draw at West Bromwich Albion, compounded by an alleged bust-up between the pair in the immediate aftermath of that match, and the Spaniard would never again feature under Lampard. Alonso saw new signing Ben Chilwell take his spot at left-back.

Alonso emerged from the wilderness to put in a typical performance of old: constantly chasing, hustling and then darting forward. He grabbed Chelsea's second goal in the 84th minute as he found himself beautifully poised for a classy finish, teeing up his own volley off his chest and thigh to smash past Nick Pope at the near post.

"We opted for a bit more size, this was not a reflection on [Chilwell]," Tuchel said after the match. "Marcos is used to play in this role, and has good timing for arriving in the box. We are very happy that he could score the second goal that finished the game."

Again Chelsea played a flexible 3-4-3 with Alonso's and Hudson-Odoi's work rate key to their transitional play, but also their defensive stability. Thiago Silva was a rock at the centre of Chelsea's defence while Rudiger and Azpilicueta had license to carry the ball out of defence when space was offered. That movement led to Chelsea's opener, where they moved the ball quickly from near their own box through the midfield to Hudson-Odoi, whose inside ball allowed Azpilicueta to finish.

The early signs of Tuchel's reign are a preference for defensive stability, and attacking around the fringes of the opposition. It's reminiscent of Pep Guardiola's use of wing-backs, but this is a Chelsea now anchored in pressing and counter-pressing; they effectively go out to suffocate the opposition, starving them of opportunities and then hit with their own punches.

"Very complete performance, again defensively and offensively," Tuchel said. "It was very strong physically with the long balls and duels in the air, fighting for the second ball. We had plenty of active defending, never passive."

Chelsea did have opportunities to stretch the lead, but a combination of Burnley's doggedness in defence -- spearheaded by the outstanding James Tarkowski -- and Chelsea's lack of clinical finishing in front of goal kept it at two. Tuchel was pleased with the two goals, but said post-match: "It should be a signal to the guys up front it was down to the defenders to score. We lack the final touch and delivery."

Werner's woes continued in front of goal, and it looks increasingly like it will be a long-term project to bring the best out of him. He operated primarily in his preferred position -- just on the left, in the half-space, looking to time his runs to perfection -- but it's still to click with him. He had a handful of half-chances, and even kicked the ball against his leg in the first half in what could've been his best opportunity, but you sense he will continue to rediscover his confidence under Tuchel. The new manager said earlier in the week the pressure is getting to Werner, and it's because Chelsea's No. 11 cares.

Those who have played for Tuchel say he bases his player-facing motivational approach on whether they need a hug or a rocket. With Werner you sense it's the former, but this will take time. He needs one of those fortunate, ugly goals to lift the weight off his shoulders.

Mateo Kovacic was outstanding in the middle, while Jorginho is the key cog in their transitional game. Mason Mount brought plenty of energy and drive, but Tuchel needs to figure out exactly how he will fit into this 3-4-3 setup. Havertz is the most likely long-term answer to that inside-right spot, but his game time was restricted to 10 minutes from the bench while Hakim Ziyech was left out due to fatigue. Christian Pulisic added plenty of vigour as a half-time replacement for Tammy Abraham, but they need to fine-tune their attacking precision to see their embarrassment of riches finally click in front of goal. When it does come together, they are going to be ruthless.

This was comfortable for Chelsea and looked like one of those run-of-the-mill victories for a team playing with confidence and knowing the importance of grinding out wins against spirited, tricky opponents like Burnley. But we are just six days into the Tuchel era, and so he has gone to the tried and tested to build confidence back into the side. They may not be the long-term key protagonists in Tuchel's Chelsea plan, but for now they are the glue slowly papering up the cracks left by the turbulence of the past week.

Brisbane Heat 3 for 162 (Heazlett 74*, Peirson 43*) beat Sydney Thunder 8 for 158 (Billings 34, Cutting 34*, Steketee 2-22, Swepson 2-28) by seven wickets

Sam Heazlett and Jimmy Peirson took full toll of some obligingly loose death bowling from the Sydney Thunder at Manuka Oval to rocket the Brisbane Heat into a preliminary final meeting with the Perth Scorchers, also to take place in Canberra on Thursday after a late change due to a snap lockdown in Western Australia.

The Heat had control of the Thunder's innings for most of its journey thanks to a tight initial powerplay and then quality overs of spin from Mitchell Swepson and Marnus Labuschagne. However some characteristic big hitting from Ben Cutting allowed the Thunder to hammer 48 from the final four overs of their innings and set-up a defendable tally.

A couple of early wickets gave the Thunder further reason for optimism, but Heazlett held his nerve to get himself set alongside Labuschagne, before counter-attacking boldly and in the end definitively in the company of the wicketkeeper Peirson. The Heat, having won two finals in a row from fourth on the table, are now two more wins from plucking the title itself.

Heat plans give and take away

Quite transparently, Brisbane's new ball plan called for a single over from Xavier Bartlett before he was subbed out for Morne Morkel. But so well did Bartlett bowl, bending the white Kookaburra late and at decent pace, that not only should he have had Usman Khawaja out lbw but his opening maiden raised questions of whether or not the Heat should divert from the blueprint and give him another over. Chris Lynn elected not to step in, handing the ball to Ben Laughlin and leaving Bartlett's contribution to end with 1-1-0-0.

Whatever the debate over this decision, the Heat ended up enjoying much the better of the powerplay anyway. Laughlin should have had Alex Hales caught at short third man only for Mark Steketee to mistime his jump and see the ball skate through his unsteady fingers. Steketee, though, bowled beautifully at the other end, rewarded when Hales jammed a catch to mid on to depart for just eight after a dominant BBL.

Swepson's middle overs, Cutting's late show

Much as Khawaja and the captain Callum Ferguson tried, the Thunder were unable to build much momentum at all through the middle overs, held back largely by the spin of Swepson and Labuschagne on a surface that gave them just enough assistance. Swepson's command of changes in pace while bowling a stumps-threatening line was testament to his evolution over recent years. Alex Ross and Daniel Sams were both beaten comprehensively on the back foot to each be lbw, while at the other end Labuschagne tempted Khawaja into a stumping.

At 8 for 134 with 10 balls remaining, the Thunder were staring at the sort of total they had themselves successfully chased to knock out the Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba. Cutting, though, had plenty of reason to be focused against the Heat after a running verbal battle with his former club for much of the season. He was able to find the range of Morkel, cracking one six over midwicket in the 18th over that pinged off the top of the Bradman Stand, then following up with two more telling blows in the 20th. Brendan Doggett chimed in with a couple of boundaries and suddenly the Heat was facing a pursuit closer to 160.

Heat regather after initial reverses

When Joe Denly and then Lynn were dismissed cheaply by the hard new ball, the Heat captain causing scenes of unrestrained jubilation when he miscued Doggett wretchedly to mid off, the game was drifting very much towards the Thunder. Brisbane's response may in the past have been to panic; certainly that had been a not uncommon occurrence in recent seasons. Instead, Labuschagne and Heazlett took their time, calmly allowing the required rate to drift towards 11 per over but building a base from which to attack.

Importantly they did not allow Tanveer Sangha or Chris Green to be as impactful as their Heat counterparts, leaving plenty of overs for the pacemen to bowl in the closing overs. Labuschagne's exit, to a highly debatable run out decision when it could not reasonably be determined whether the bails had been first dislodged by the ball or Sam Billings' gloves, looked to be a blow to the chase, but also allowed the busy Peirson to enter the fray with plenty of balls to spare.

Heazlett and Peirson bring it home

What the calm, "take it deep" attitude of the Heat did was it presented a scenario where the Thunder bowlers could not afford to miss their marks as the overs ran out. Heazlett was by this time well established at the crease, familiar with the pace of the pitch, and able to capitalise with some panache from all the various errors in line and length the Thunder's pacemen proceeded to serve up. Peirson was as effective himself, their left-right combination helping to bring further errors from the bowlers, with the runs piling up at better than two per ball.

There will doubtless be plenty of post-mortems from the Thunder and their coach Shane Bond on why the Sydney side's bowling fell apart so completely. But the value of set batsmen for the closing stages was writ large across a stand worth 92 from 44 balls, bringing a conclusion that was both dramatic in its turnabout but also remarkable for how much ease the Heat ultimately won with. For Heazlett, given an arguably premature ODI debut in New Zealand as far back as 2017, it was a cathartic performance; demonstrating quality that has seldom been seen on this stage. A light sprinkling of drizzle in these overs made the ball fractionally greasy, aiding Heazlett as he feasted square of the wicket.

West Indians 257 (Brathwaite 85, Rishad 5-75) and 291 (Bonner 80, Campbell 68, Mukidul 4-59) drew with BCB XI 160 (Naim 45, Cornwall 5-47) and 63 for 2 (Yasir 33*, Shadman 23*, Reifer 2-7)

A few more runs on the board would have delighted the West Indians at the end of their three-day game against the BCB XI at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chattogram. They were placed on a precarious 190 for 7 before useful lower-order contributions from Joshua Da Silva (46) and Raymon Reifer (49*) saved them, after half-centuries from John Campbell and Nkrumah Bonner on the second day. Eventually set a target of 389, the hosts finished on 63 for 2 in 29 overs in the fourth innings.

The West Indians lost No. 3 Bonner (80) early in the day before Da Silva and Reifer's partnership. Da Silva struck three fours in his over two-hour stay, while Reifer was unbeaten on 49 off 94 balls, having hit five fours and a six. The duo added 82 runs for the eighth wicket in 28.3 overs.

BCB XI seamer Mukidul Islam took four wickets while Khaled Ahmed picked up a three-for. Saif Hassan and Towhid Hridoy took three wickets between them.

In reply, the hosts lost Saif and Mohammad Naim to Reifer, before Shadman Islam (23*) and Yasir Ali (33*) took them to stumps without the loss of any further wickets.

The likes of Saif, Shadman and Yasir would not have taken much confidence from this game. It remains unclear whether Saif or Shadman will open with Tamim Iqbal in the first Test, starting February 3 across town, at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

For the West Indians, their captain Kraigg Brathwaite, didn't bat in the second innings but he would be pleased with the efforts of Bonner, Campbell, Da Silva and Reifer. Jermaine Blackwood, Shayne Moseley and Kyle Mayers would, however, look to get more confidence from the nets.

After play, Brathwaite said that he was satisfied with the fact that his batsmen got two hits in the middle, while his bowlers, too, got to bowl enough overs. He was especially happy with how Rahkeem Cornwall, who took a five-for in the first innings, and Bonner performed.

"I am very happy. I thought the guys got a good blow," Brathwaite said. "The batters got two chances to bat. Some guys got good scores. Fast bowlers and spinners got to bowl in the second innings where we could get 29 overs in. So I am quite happy. We got ten wickets in the first innings, which was good. I think the guys are ready to go.

"I was very impressed [with Cornwall]. He bowled well, created a lot of pressure with dot balls. I know Rahkeem's ability. I knew he was always a quality offspinner. It is good to see him in these conditions. I know he will do well in this Test.

"It was very good to see Bonner get to a nice score. I thought John batted well in both innings. I don't want to single out guys. Everyone is working really hard. I am happy with all the batters. They are confident, so we have to enjoy it out there."

As Ben Foakes picked up his oversized Player-of-the-Series cheque following England's clean sweep in Sri Lanka in November 2018, it was unthinkable - barring injury - that he would play only two out of their next 18 Test matches. But after a pair of underwhelming games in the Caribbean two months later he was squeezed out of the side, and with Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler ahead of him in the pecking order, he has found it impossible to get back in.

Heading into the impending series in India, Foakes has an opportunity to show England what they have been missing. Buttler is due to fly home after the first Test, with Bairstow already back in the UK as the ECB rest and rotate their multi-format players, clearing the way for Foakes to take the gloves from the second Test onwards.

"Obviously the way I started in Sri Lanka, I did expect to play for longer," Foakes told the media from his hotel-room quarantine in Chennai on Sunday. "I did expect to get more of a run at that stage. I guess it's tricky to control your emotions in that sense: I obviously got pretty high with all the things going on then and it gets taken away from you because I didn't get runs in the West Indies. It happened so quickly.

"It's a tricky thing to get your head around I guess. I didn't perform as well as I'd have liked when I went back to Surrey, had a bit of a break from cricket and came back pretty fresh and performed alright.

"I know the strength of competition with the keepers is so high [that] there are going to be times when I'm not playing. That's something I have to accept and be at peace with. If I do get a chance at any stage just try to enjoy it and embrace it, and do as well as I can."

The past 12 months have been frustrating for Foakes. After being named in the Test squad to tour Sri Lanka last year, he admitted in an interview with ESPNcricinfo that he had felt "burned out" by the end of the 2019 season, in which he averaged 26.13 in first-class cricket for Surrey.

As a result, he took some time off the following winter rather than travelling to Australia with the Lions or seeking out a chance to play franchise cricket, and travelled to Sri Lanka with his love for the game rekindled. Two weeks later, the squad flew home with the Covid pandemic sending the world into lockdown, and he had to endure the frustrations of a summer running drinks while in the Test bubble as cover for Buttler.

Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that he is phlegmatic in his outlook on his imminent recall. "I haven't had as much cricket as I would like in the last year and a half so I'll just try to get back into competitive cricket and give it my all," Foakes said.

"I would expect it's probably a case of Jos is the number one, and I'm just seeing these three games as a chance to try and stake my claim and do as well as possible and enjoy playing for England, and enjoy the experience.

"India is an incredible place to play: [they have] a star-studded line-up and a country that is so passionate about the game. To get an opportunity out here would be amazing and something I'm really looking forward to."

If Foakes is somewhere near his best in India then the debate around England's keeping options will doubtless rumble on. With the bat, he is excellent against spin but unproven against the quicks and lacks Buttler's panache; with the gloves, Buttler has made clear strides in recent months but there remains little doubt that Foakes is the better keeper.

And while he was fulsome in his praise for Buttler - "he's been amazing, he's a world-class player" - Foakes provided a glimpse into his own thinking on the role of the modern wicketkeeper when asked by a local reporter about his take on India's parallel situation, which sees Wriddhiman Saha competing with Rishabh Pant.

"I think you need a blend of both," Foakes said. "You can't have someone that can't keep who is scoring loads of runs but makes loads of mistakes, but at the same time, however good a keeper is, they're going to have to contribute with the bat.

"It depends on a few things, like the balance of the side - I suppose if you've got a batting line-up that is banging out 600 every time then you go for a specialist keeper, but if you want a frontline batter then potentially you sacrifice a bit of the keeping ability."

Performances in the coming weeks will help England determine which combination they think is more attractive.

South Africa Women 133 for 5 (Brits 66, Amin 2-21) beat Pakistan Women 115 for 7 (Riaz 39, Naseem 33, Ismail 5-12) by 18 runs

A second consecutive half-century from Tazmin Brits and career-best figures of 5 from 12 from experienced fast bowler Shabnim Ismail powered South Africa to a series win with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. Defending 133, Ismail and Marizanne Kapp reduced the visitors to 20 for 4 in the sixth over before middle and lower-order contributions from Kainat Imtiaz, captain Aliya Riaz and Ayesha Naseem took Pakistan past 100, but they fell 18 runs short.

Opting to bowl, Pakistan opened with left-arm spinner Anam Amin who took a return catch to send back Lizelle Lee for 6 in the fifth over, and along with medium-pacers Diana Baig and Aiman Anwer, she hekped restrict the hosts to 43 for 2 at the halfway mark. Brits and Laura Wolvaardt then collected 16 runs off Riaz in the 12th over and even though Wolvaardt fell to Nashra Sandhu for 13, Brits combined with the middle order to smash 49 off the last five overs, with five fours and two sixes. Brits eventually fell in the last over but her 66 off 58, studded with eight fours and a six, powered the hosts to a challenging total.

Pakistan went off track in the chase early with their top four contributing 4, 2, 1 and 0 as Ismail and Kapp hit the stumps thrice within the first six overs. Kapp set the tone by starting the innings with a maiden before Ismail had Muneeba Ali caught behind and bowled Nida Dar off consecutive balls in the fourth over in a new-ball spell of 3-0-9-3.

From 20 for 4, Riaz (39 off 40) first stitched a partnership of 28 with Imtiaz off 38 balls, and then put on a quick 65 in 42 balls with Naseem (33 off 22), but they couldn't pull the asking rate below 11 runs an over. Riaz even struck Sune Luus for 16 in the 15th over, but the required 55 from the last 30 balls proved to be out of reach. Ismail returned in the last over to remove both Naseem and Riaz to wrap up the win.