Saturday's rearranged Allianz Premier 15s match between Gloucester-Hartpury and DMP Durham Sharks has been postponed because of flooding.

With more rain forecast, the decision was made to postpone the fixture.

It leaves just one game remaining with Exeter Chiefs hosting Saracens as the league resumes after a two-week break because of Covid-19.

The Rugby Football Union has introduced a twice-weekly lateral flow testing programme for club players and staff.

Premiership club London Irish have appointed former Italy international Corniel van Zyl as an assistant coach.

Van Zyl won eight caps for Italy at lock, representing Pumas, Rotherham Titans, Cheetahs and Treviso over the course of his playing career.

"I'm excited about getting to work with this talented group," he said.

"It has always been a goal of mine to coach in the Premiership."

Van Zyl joins Declan Danaher and Brad Davis as assistant coaches on the Exiles' staff.

"His experience and know-how will complement the coaching staff that we've already got in place here," Kidney told the club website.

Wales fly-half Elinor Snowsill has backed the prospect of the women's 2021 Six Nations being moved to spring.

But Bristol Bears' Snowsill, 31, says the move means the women's event can shine away from the shadow of the men's tournament.

She says some have been "surprised" by her support, which is also based on the chance to play in better conditions.

"It's surprising to quite a few people, but I'm actually quite glad about it for two reasons," 56-times capped Snowsill told BBC Radio Wales.

"It gives us the opportunity to see how the tournament would work as a stand-alone tournament apart from the men's and so we don't have to work our fixtures around the men's. We can actually see how it works alone.

"Secondly, from a personal perspective as a fly-half I'd much rather be playing in slightly warmer weather and hopefully play some more, a bit more attacking rugby, free-flowing rugby where you're not trying to play in the snow and wind and rain.

"It has been great being alongside the men's Six Nations because we get a lot more publicity alongside that.

"You get your squad announcements at the same time and all this sort of thing so there's definitely been benefits for growing our game by having it alongside the men's over the last few years, but a lot of people are questioning now is the game ready to be a stand-alone tournament?"

Snowsill also believes moving the women's tournament away from the same calendar slots as the men's showpiece means broadcast games can be watched by more fans.

"Fans of the women's game sometimes couldn't watch all three games at the same time because they were at 2pm on a Saturday or 12pm on a Saturday to suit working around the men's scheduling," she said.

'It's brilliant to be back playing'

The Premier 15s in which Snowsill plays for Bristol resumes this weekend after a break for organisers to set up Covid-19 testing.

Bears are not involved this weekend, but Snowsill is "really, really pleased" the testing regime has been implemented and is relishing her side's trip to Loughborough Lightning next Saturday.

"They've now been able to get testing in place so all we have to do is turn up to training half an hour earlier," she said.

"We get tested, we sit in the car, wait for the results and 15 to 20 minutes later the results are there and all the other protocols are still in place.

"We wear masks at all times, apart from when we're actually on the pitch training and we still get temperature tested.

"It's brilliant to be back playing."

LAKE VIEW, S.C. — Nick Guererri captured the first DIRTcar Sportsman Modified feature at Lake View Motor Speedway for a $2,000 payday Friday night.

Guererri overcame veteran driver, but rookie Sportsman Modified pilot, Willie Milliken and held off a pair of Buff brothers, Justin and Andrew, for the coveted victory.

The yellow flag flew before the first lap was recorded as Robert Gage slowed to a stop on the backstretch leaving a trail of fluid in his wake.

But from there it was game on. The entire 30 laps went non-stop with action all over the beautiful Lake View Motor Speedway surface. Milliken, a local hero of late model racing, looked right at home behind the wheel of the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified.

Lifting the left front confidently off the corners, it looked as though Milliken would run away with the $2,000 check and leave the New Yorkers scratching their heads. Just after the halfway point the leader Milliken caught up with the tail of the field. That’s when Nick Guererri saw his chance for a run on the leader.

Guererri sized up the No. 26 and dove to his inside. The two remained side-by-side, banging wheels for two laps until Milliken gave way and Guererri took sole possession of the lead.

As the laps ticked down Justin and Andrew Buff closed the gap on Guererri’s Land of Legends Raceway sponsored sportsman. But it wasn’t enough. Guererri held on to win with Justin Buff finishing second and Andrew Buff in third.

“This feels pretty darn good,” Guererri said. “We’re out here freezing but my family is watching at home and I’ve got the most dedicated group of guys right here. They’ve been helping us all week. I appreciate everyone that got us down here and you guys having us. What a race.”

Not only was this the first time for DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds at Lake View but it’s also the first race of 2021 for most of the drivers. Guererri brought down a brand-new car and was hoping for positive results despite the unknowns.

“This win lets me sleep tonight,” Guererri said laughing. “This is a new car and I am always nervous going out for the first time in a new car. We’re looking forward to tomorrow and either way, we are coming out of here with a win so one out of two wouldn’t be bad.”

The finish:

1. 25G-Nick Guererri 2. 42-Justin Buff 3. 92-Andrew Buff 4. 26-Willie Milliken 5. 72NY-AJay Potrzebowski Jr. 6. 34-Kevin Root 7. 38-Zach Sobotka 8. 61-Johnny Scarborough 9. 8-Alan Fink 10. 79-Jeffrey Prentice 11. 7Z-Zachary Payne 12. 1-Robert Delormier 13. 72-AJay Potrzewbowski Sr. 14. 22-Johnny Bruno 15. 42D-Daryl Nutting 16. 19C-Brandon Carvey 17. 2B-Bryce Bailey 18. 22B-Mike Bruno 19. 36-Tyler Murray 20. 5-Derrick McGrew 21. 63-Steven Constantino 22. 01R-Robert Gage 23. 64-Tyler Corcoran 24. 78-Grant Hilfiger

OCALA, Fla. — Stewart Friesen captured the second round of the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco Modified Sunshine Swing Friday night at Bubba Raceway Park.

Friesen held off Michael Maresca to win the 40-lap event on the three-eighths-mile Florida dirt track to post his first victory of the season.

Erick Rudolph, who won Thursday night’s opener, finished third with Max McLaughlin and Billy Decker rounding out the top five.

Tanner Van Doren won the companion 602 crate sportsman main event.

Friday night’s Sunshine Swing opener was broadcast live on SPEED SPORT TV affiliate Dirt Track Digest TV. Saturday’s event can be seen on the streaming network as well.

The finish:

Feature (40 laps): Stewart Friesen, Michael Maresca, Erick Rudolph, Max McLaughlin, Billy Decker, Matt Sheppard, David Schilling, Mike Gular, Anthony Perrego, Matt Stangle, Cale Ross, J.R. Heffner, Danny Bouc, Danny Creeden, H.J.Bunting, Mike Mahaney,  Jordan Siri, Brett Haas, Billy Pauch Jr., Kyle Weiss, Tyler Dippel, Jeremy Smith, Rusty Smith, Brandon Hightower, Jimmy Horton, Danny Hieber, Joseph Watson, Tyler Siri.

LAKE CITY, Fla. — Five trips around the North Florida Speedway stood between Jason Garver and his first career DIRTcar UMP Modified Winternationals Feature victory. All he had to do was make the move on race-long leader Lucas Lee.

The local hero from Starke, Fla., was running a several car-length distance behind Lee Friday night when the yellow flag was displayed for debris on the track. This put Garver on the inside of the second row for the ensuing restart, just inches off Lee’s rear bumper.

“Under that caution, I thought, ‘man, this is my only chance, I can’t let him get away,’” he said.

Garver got a tremendous restart and chased Lee around the three-eighths mile for only a lap before getting the run he was looking for as they exited turn two. Lee won the drag race into turn three and held the middle groove while Garver dug down low.

“I got a good restart on him,” Garver said. “I was probably about a half-car on him at the flag stand, so I knew for sure that was my chance. I just got some good bite right there and was able to get alongside of him.”

When Lee slipped up turn two on the very next lap, Garver was right there and ran through the open door with a big blast on corner exit. He beat Lee to Turn 3 this time and made him pay with a big slide job as they raced through turn four. Garver clicked off his first lap led of the race and brought it home three circuits later for his first trip to victory lane in a UMP Modified.

“It means a lot to me,” Garver said. “I’ve raced 20-something years; it means a lot. This is pretty big. I can’t really put it into words.”

Before the yellow flag was thrown, Lee had been on a mission, putting his dominance on display by lapping all the way up to sixth position while leading every lap to that point. Needless to say, he was not happy to hear “yellow, yellow, yellow” over his one-way radio with only five laps to the finish.

“I didn’t really want to see it,” Lee said. “But, it happened, and we came home second.”

Before it was thrown, however, Garver had almost given up.

“I was glad to see the caution,” he said. “Lee had the race before then; I didn’t feel like we were going to do anything.

“We got a really good restart, he and I raced side-by-side for a lap or two, really good racing. We were able to pull it off, and it meant a lot to us.”

Indeed, it had meant a lot to his friends, family in attendance and especially his crew. A gold trophy, a $1,000 billboard check and a large group of smiling faces awaited him as he cleared the scales and headed toward Victory Lane, feelings of past struggles now exorcized as he jubilantly climbed from his Shaw Race Car.

“We’ve been close to winning some of these here at North Florida the last couple years, but the cards just didn’t play out. Tonight, lady luck was with us,” Garver said.

The finish:

Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 27-Jason Garver, 2. 12L-Lucas Lee, 3. 21J-Clay Harris, 4. 12H-Jason Hughes, 5. 25-Tyler Nicely, 6. 96M-Mike McKinney, 7. 88-Chris Smith, 8. 7D-Brad DeYoung, 9. 15-Dave Baker Jr, 10. 2J-Troy Johnson, 11. 6-Ryan Fowler, 12. 2-Nick Hoffman, 13. 72-Todd Neiheiser, 14. 6B-David Baldwin, 15. 17-Clinton Gillen, 16. 25W-Allen Weisser, 17. 7T-Drake Troutman

GIBSONTON, Fla. — Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series point leader Brandon Overton picked up his first victory of the season on Friday night at East Bay Raceway Park.

Overton grabbed the lead from Tim McCreadie on the 27th lap and went on to claim his eighth career series win. A spirited battle for the lead consumed over half the race with more than five different race leaders.

Tyler Bruening started 11th and charged to second at the finish for his best career LOLMDS finish. McCreadie came home in third followed by 21^st-starting Devin Moran and Shane Clanton.

Brian Shirley started on the pole and led the first eight laps until Jimmy Owens took over the lead, but a few laps later Shirley regained the point. Shirley stayed in front until lap 26 when Mike Marlar took over the lead. Marlar’s lead was short-lived as he held the lead for just one circuit until McCreadie charged ahead after a restart. McCreadie could not hold off Overton who charged around him with 22 laps to go.

“After the heat race, I said this one is going to require a lot of luck,” Overton said. “I got the lead at the right time. I knew if I just kept hanging around the top three that I would get a win before the end of the week. I started to feel like I was going to leave here without winning and that wasn’t going to sit well with me.”

Bruening was elated on the podium with his highest finish in LOLMDS competition.

“We have been really good, but we’ve gotten tangled up in some stuff that wasn’t our doing this week,” he said. “We have had some really good speed. Now it’s up to the me to put it all together as the driver, because this car is fantastic. Thanks to my dad [Greg] and Marshall Green at Capital Race Cars. I am thrilled to be up here on the podium.

McCreadie had his best finish of the 2021 campaign as he rounded out the podium.

“We have all been chasing our tails all week and we’ve just been behind in our plans. We had a good run tonight, so that’s cool. We just need to be a bit better.”

The finish:

Brandon Overton, Tyler Bruening, Tim McCreadie, Devin Moran, Shane Clanton, Mark Whitener, Hudson O’Neal, Earl Pearson Jr., Billy Moyer Jr., Josh Richards, Jimmy Owens, Rick Eckert, Stormy Scott, Ricky Thornton Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Tony Jackson Jr., Tanner English, Mike Marlar, Wil Herrington, Kyle Bronson, Kyle Strickler, Frank Heckenast Jr., Mason Zeigler, Boom Briggs, Spencer Hughes, Brian Shirley, Bobby Pierce, Jonathan Davenport, Chase Junghans, Gregg Satterlee.

SYLVANIA, Ga. — Ten-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz etched his name in sprint car racing history books yet again by claiming the first round of the inaugural Sugarlands Shine Southern Tour presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts at Screven Motor Speedway Friday night.

Schatz, who now owns 19 career All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victories, scored his triumph from the outside of row two, eventually passing Tyler Courtney to take control on lap 18.

The Fargo, N.D., native earned $8,000 for his efforts, also solidifying a first- All Star win at this track.

“It’s great to be back racing, first and foremost,” said the driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Carquest Auto Parts/Curb Records/Ford Performance sprint car. “Hats off to this entire Carquest team. These guys have been digging and working as hard as they can to get the car better. All of these preseason races are great for us because it gives us an opportunity to try some things. I just tried to go where the car in front of me wasn’t and it all worked out.”

Before Schatz took command on lap 18, it was a shootout for the top spot. ASCS national champion Sam Hafertepe Jr., took command from outside the front row to lead the first two circuits before being overtaken by Sheldon Haudenschild on lap three.

Haudenschild’s campaign at the front of the field was short-lived, as the pilot of the Stenhouse Jr Marshall Racing No. 17 was forced to spin to avoid involvement in an incident involving lap cars. Hafertepe inherited control on lap seven.

Courtney was next to throw his hat into the ring, making his move around Hafertepe to earn the race lead on lap 15. Courtney was a threat on a few attempts prior to his official takeover, but Hafertepe was able to fend off the charge.

Meanwhile, Schatz lurked just behind the pair of front-runners. Utilizing the very bottom groove of Screven Motor Speedway, Schatz followed Courtney past Hafertepe on lap 16, only to miss a slide job attempt on Courtney on lap 17.

Schatz redeemed himself the next circuit and squeezed by Courtney at the exit of turn four to take control.

“We knew the top was going to be good. I just tried to find a line that was going to work the best for us,” Schatz continued. “This surface changed so much over the course of the race and it actually got a lot slicker than I thought it would. It really came in nice for me through the middle and bottom. You could really go anywhere.”

Aaron Reutzel finished second on Friday night after a late move around Courtney on lap 24. Courtney, Carson Short and Hafertepe filled the top five.

The finish:

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 2. 83-Aaron Reutzel [7]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 4. 21-Carson Short [6]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [2]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason [9]; 7. 18-Gio Scelzi [8]; 8. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 9. 13-Justin Peck [13]; 10. 11-Ian Madsen [11]; 11. 5-Brent Marks [12]; 12. 101-Kerry Madsen [15]; 13. 14-Tony Stewart [18]; 14. 33M-Mason Daniel [19]; 15. 3C-Cale Conley [17]; 16. 39M-Anthony Macri [10]; 17. 18J-RJ Jacobs [22]; 18. 73-Scotty Thiel [16]; 19. 48-Danny Dietrich [24]; 20. 28-Skylar Gee [20]; 21. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 22. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [21]; 23. 11K-Kraig Kinser [23]; 24. 14R-Sean Rayhall [14] Lap Leaders: Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (1, 2), Sheldon Haudenschild (3-6), Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (7-14), Tyler Courtney (15-17), Donny Schatz (18-30)

MSG analyst Dave Maloney received a text from his daughter this week: "What is wrong with the Rangers?"

It's the same question most Blueshirts fans are asking after the team kicked off the season with a 2-4-1 record. Such is the nature of the NHL's unforgiving 56-game schedule, where a slow start can feel insurmountable and a losing streak of five or six games could derail all playoff hopes.

Maloney texted his daughter back: "The expectations got a little beyond where they are reality-wise."

That's the easiest explanation. The Rangers famously admitted to a rebuild in February 2018, and have since jettisoned nearly all of their veterans from their 2014 Stanley Cup Final team (forward Chris Kreider is the lone survivor).

As Maloney, a Rangers defenseman in the 1970s and '80s, points out, it was a completely new approach for New York management. "They had never tried to build this way," he says. The Rangers, especially over the past two decades, notoriously boosted their team by going after glitzy free agents and trade targets.

Management never assigned a timeline to the current rebuild, but expectations heightened when the Rangers won the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft lottery (to land Kaapo Kakko), and the No. 1 pick in 2020 (Alexis Lafrenière). Things also accelerated when they landed one big free agent prior to the 2019-20 season, Artemi Panarin, and he was so outstanding in his debut season, he finished in the top three in league MVP voting.

There's no question the Rangers had legitimate postseason expectations this year -- or, at least to take a step forward. A thrilling win against the Sabres on Thursday -- which saw Lafrenière score his first NHL goal, in overtime -- quelled some of the panic, but there are some fundamental issues with this team preventing them from being a true contender. Here's a look at what has gone wrong, and what aspects are fixable.

Is it the goaltending, or the defense?

The simplest place to start with Rangers is their goaltending, which ranks 24th in the league in save percentage (.894) through seven games.

"Those of us who have been around in the [Henrik] Lundqvist generation, were treated to spectacular goaltending night in and night out, and that was the outlier," Maloney says. "There weren't many franchises that got that goaltending. So it's not as much what's wrong with [Alexandar] Georgiev and what's wrong with [Igor] Shesterkin. It's that this franchise was accustomed to goaltending that was out in his own universe, relative to the rest of them."

It's a fair point, but the Rangers chose to buy out Lundqvist this offseason -- in large part because they had so much faith in the 25-year-old Shesterkin, long viewed as one of their best prospects. Management also had firm belief in the 24-year-old Georgiev, and prioritized re-signing him as a restricted free agent this offseason.

Kevin Weekes, the longtime NHL goaltender (including two seasons with the Rangers) and NHL Network analyst, says it's too early to push the panic button on Shesterkin, given his track record.

"I think it's more of an 'everybody relax' situation, because this is uncharacteristic of him," Weekes says. Shesterkin had a .953 save percentage in his last season in the KHL, before coming to North America. He was so good in the AHL as a rookie last season that the Rangers called him up in January, and he posted a .932 save percentage through his first 12 NHL starts.

"One thing that is different right now is he's allowing goals through his body," Weekes says. "Like [opponents are] finding holes, which most goalies in the NHL don't do -- unless you're going through a rough patch. But everyday NHL goalies don't allow them very often. For that reason, he looks smaller in the net, even though he's not a small guy. I think it's a confidence thing. I know from putting myself in the spot in terms of positioning, and you know you're in the right spot, and somehow the puck can find a hole. If that happens once, you shrug it off. If it happens two, three times you start second-guessing yourself, and the next thing you know you're misplaying pucks that would hit you routinely in your body."

Weekes played under Benoit Allaire, who is still the Rangers' goalie coach.

"Benny has always been a big advocate of, you have to stop the first [shot]," Weekes says. "Don't worry about the second or third one yet, but you have to stop the first one. He works a lot on guys' ability to react to the first shot to be able to make a save on the first shot. And for whatever reason, that hasn't been the case for Igor so far."

According to Weekes, Allaire also is "one of the best in the business" at getting goalies extra practice time to do goalie drills -- which has been challenging due to the condensed schedule. "It's just a very different setup this season," Weekes says. "And then someone will say, 'Well what about John Gibson [who has thrived so far this season]?' Well I know for a fact John Gibson was skating with [Ducks goalie coach Sudarshan Maharaj] early. That's paying a lot of dividends for him. I'm not suggesting that Igor hasn't been skating early, but I do know that has helped John Gibson."

Defense is the next issue of concern for the Rangers. The blue line was shaky all of last season, and their only offseason fix was trading Marc Staal and replacing him with Jack Johnson (who was bought out by the Penguins). Things are looking up, and the biggest pleasant surprise of New York's season thus far is the emergence of rookie K'Andre Miller. The 21-year-old looks poised and plays confidently, mostly playing with Jacob Trouba on the first pairing.

Johnson has become a target of negativity for fans, especially when paired with Tony DeAngelo. Both players have been healthy scratches on occasion so far.

"Johnson has been around for 14 years, and he has a certain style," Maloney says. "The question is: Does it work with Tony? Is he Marc Staal with Tony? The reality is, he likes to move around, he likes to be perhaps a little too aggressive at times, and it's just figuring out where it all fits."

More changes ahead?

The Rangers have shuffled around their line combinations so often, it sometimes feels like coach David Quinn is treating the regular season like an extended preseason -- which teams weren't afforded in this accelerated season.

"It's a little bit of the chicken or the egg. If you're winning, you don't have to change anything," Maloney says. "There's a valid argument to letting things grow a little bit, and develop. [Quinn] is looking for that combination that's going to work, but there just hasn't been enough consistency to stick with a set of lines."

Last season, Panarin and Ryan Strome were a magic combination, and the Rangers outscored the opposition by 23 goals at even strength when they were on the ice together. This season, Quinn has kept the duo mostly intact, but he has tinkered with their third linemate nearly every game, and puts the rest of the lines in a blender regularly.

Yet outside of Panarin (eight points in seven games), the top veteran players -- Strome, Mika Zibanejad, Kreider -- have not been producing at a high level, and it's hard to pinpoint exactly why.

"It is an obvious question and the obvious answer is, 'Yes, we're not getting enough from our top six,' for sure," Quinn said after Tuesday's frustrating loss to the Sabres.

Weekes, who attended last week's game at Madison Square against the Devils, put it bluntly.

"I don't really know what their identity is this year," Weekes says. "Last year, as the season went on, they established their identity and how they wanted to play. Even with Mika out, they still played well. And obviously 'Breadman' [Panarin] was the best athlete in New York sports last year and Zibanejad was a game-breaker. You knew what you were getting from them as the season went on.

"This year, they haven't established their identity: Are we a pressure team? Are we a forecheck team? Are we an off-the-rush team that attacks? Are we a shutdown defensive team -- well, we know they're not that. Are we a physical team? Well, there's some elements of physicality with Trouba, [Brenden] Lemieux and Kreids, but as a team they just look disjointed to me."

There's no doubt the Rangers have high-end skill players, and they should be a team that relies on its own energy, but they haven't been able to sustain it through full games -- and have often lost confidence and looked dejected when adversity hits late.

A spotlight is on Lafrenière as the No. 1 pick. Asked what he sees in Lafrenière, who scored his first goal with an overtime winner Thursday night, Maloney said: "A 19-year-old that's still feeling his way around. A little bit nervous."

It should be noted that the 2019 No. 1 pick, Jack Hughes, also didn't have a standout rookie season in New Jersey, but looks much improved as a sophomore.

"A lot of times this generation, a top player who is a top pick is deemed to be the next one," Maloney says. "Like, [Lafrenière] is the next [Sidney] Crosby because he won back-to-back player of the year awards [in the CHL] just like Sid. Or Kakko is going to be the next [Mikko] Rantanen in Colorado; he took two and a half years until he was strong enough, or whatever. Not everyone is Sid, and not everyone is [Connor] McDavid."

Kakko, Maloney noted, is also still figuring it out. NHL personnel folk often say it takes about 150-200 NHL games to know who a player truly is; neither high draft pick is even close to that number. According to The Athletic, the Rangers' average age this season is 25.6, the lowest in the league. New York has just four players over age 27.

"If you look at the Islanders, Washington, Boston, they're all heavy teams," Maloney says. "I wouldn't consider the Rangers a heavy team. As your young guys get older, they'll be heavier. Not as much weight as much as they'll be heavier on their ability to know how to play. You're a different guy at 19 than you are at 21 and 22 let alone 23 and 24. So there's so many things here; if you take an honest, not-panicked assessment of where you are, there's a lot of things in place here, it's just not there yet."

So maybe it's not about "fixing" what's wrong, as much as it's about easing off the panic button after a bad stretch that unfortunately happened at the start of the season.

Sydney Sixers 1 for 168 (Vince 98*) beat Perth Scorchers 6 for 167 (Inglis 69*) by nine wickets

James Vince's unbeaten 98 enabled defending champions Sydney Sixers to secure a home final in style, which will be staged at the SCG, as they aim to go back-to-back with a crushing nine-wicket victory over Perth Scorchers in Canberra although the Scorchers will get a second chance in the Challenger on next Thursday.

The Scorchers were behind the game early having struggled after batting first - their preferred method - reaching 1 for 11 after three overs on a surface that began with some life but eased beautifully for the Sixers' chase as dew played a part.

Steve O'Keefe was superb with 1 for 20 off his four overs without conceding a boundary. Josh Inglis' 69 off 41 balls, and a fifth-wicket stand of 59 with captain Ashton Turner, gave them something to work with in the field but the Sixers with 0 for 43 after the Powerplay.

Vince, who was missed twice in the field, and Josh Philippe added 92 for the first wicket in less than nine overs to leave the result in little doubt. Vince closed in on a century but after Daniel Hughes blocked three deliveries a wide from AJ Tye denied him the dip at a boundary with boos ringing around the ground.

The Scorchers will hope that their home-ground advantage in Perth in a few days lifts them to a better performance to allow a rematch next Saturday.

Barely putting a foot wrong

The start of the chase promised much in the contest between Philippe and Jhye Richardson, two of the standout players of the tournament, but after Richardson beat the edge first ball it comfortably went Philippe's way as he took 13 off it, including a six over the leg side. Vince joined in during the second over against Jason Behrendorff although in less convincing fashion with an outside edge to third man then a pull that burst through Richardson's hands at short fine leg. But both batsmen were away and the run-rate pressure was eased. Vince was dropped on 23 by Aaron Hardie as he back-tracked from mid-off, following up the left-off with three consecutive boundaries. Against the run of play, Phillippe swept Liam Livingstone to short fine leg but the damage had been done.

The full Vince

Vince went to his half-century with a six off Turner that just evaded long-on and such was the dominance of his strokeplay that the chance for a century - it would have been his second in T20 - loomed into view with the result a foregone conclusion. The innings had been studded with the trademark Vince elegance and he went to 97 with a thumping straight drive off Richardson but then took a single and when Hughes pulled a boundary it led a slightly surreal finish. Hughes blocked and left three deliveries - with Vince seemingly having said just to win the match - before Tye sent down a loopy bouncer with the first delivery of the 18th over that had to be called wide which was followed by some reluctant handshakes.

That'll cost you, Mitch

The lack of DRS has been a continual debate in this edition of the BBL and it was front and centre in this match when Mitchell Marsh was given caught down the leg side against O'Keefe. Marsh wasn't even looking at the umpire after attempting to glance the delivery away and could barely believe it when the finger went up. He screamed his frustration at the crease then as he started to walk away appeared to direct more anger towards the umpire - something that will likely land him with a fine. It is likely there will be a form of review system in place for next season, although it may not be a full DRS with all the bells and whistles. Alex Carey, on Channel Seven commentary for the match, said that was even necessary for obvious howlers although for the Marsh type of dismissal, even though replays suggested a clear gap between bat and ball, Snicko would be required.

Inglis shines

With 37 players selected across the two squads for the tours of New Zealand and South Africa, Inglis can count himself unlucky not to be among the names. After a slow start to this season's BBL he has been prolific since slipping into the middle order, following a superb tournament last year and impressive Sheffield Shield returns for Western Australia, and could easily have gone on either tour. In this innings rebuilding was needed from 2 for 39 when he arrived then later 4 for 85 in the 13th. He paced it well, bringing an early increase in tempo and then quickly helping Turner take 34 off the Power Surge. His fifty came from 34 balls and he managed two further sixes off the last four deliveries he faced. But the easing conditions that helped Inglis flourish played perfectly into the Sixers' hands.