The Perth Scorchers have signed New Zealand batsman Colin Munro for the 2020-21 Big Bash League season. Munro recently missed out on an NZC contract, but remains a highly sought-after T20 cricketer.

He is fifth on the ICC's T20I rankings for batsmen, and his T20I strike rate of 156.44 is the fourth-highest among batsmen with at least 500 runs. He was a key member of the Trinbago Knight Riders team that won the Caribbean Premier League in September, scoring 207 runs, including two fifties, at a strike rate of 133.54.

"To jump on board with such a successful, established club that has been playing great cricket since the BBL started was really what appealed to me… it's going to be pretty special to be part of it," Munro said.

"The Scorchers have some world-class players in their list, so to rub shoulders with them this summer is going to be really exciting."

Munro joins the England pair of Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone in the Scorchers' overseas contingent. While Munro will be available through the entire BBL season, Roy and Livingstone will miss the first three matches of the Scorchers' campaign while touring South Africa with England's white-ball squads.

Until Roy arrives, the Scorchers will have the services of the 24-year-old Nottinghamshire batsman Joe Clarke, who has been signed up as a replacement player. Clarke boasts a career T20 strike rate of 149.05, and finished fifth on the run charts in the 2020 season of the T20 Blast, scoring 371 runs at a strike rate of 175.00.

BREA, Calif. – Suzuki Motor of America Inc. has concluded its partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing’s motocross and supercross program.

The combined efforts of Suzuki and JGRMX were able to deliver solid results and raise the level of performance of each of the team’s riders.

“Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. is honored to have worked with a premier racing partner like Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Chris Wheeler, Suzuki’s MX Support Manager. “This partnership produced solid success and many strong friendships over the past several seasons and we would like to thank the entire team at JGRMX for their hard work, passion, and dedication to Suzuki racing.”

Wheeler added that Suzuki will announce its plans for the upcoming supercross and motocross racing season in the coming days.

At this time it is unknown what the future holds for the JGRMX program.

SEBRING, Fla. – Farewell was the theme of practice sessions Thursday as preparations got underway for the 68th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts at Sebring Int’l Raceway.

Renger van der Zande, who won’t be returning to Wayne Taylor Racing in 2021, recorded the fastest lap of the second practice session – 1 minute, 47.478 seconds (125.271 mph) around the 17-turn, 3.74-mile circuit – in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, the fastest of the first two practice sessions and best in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class.

The team battled back from mechanical issues earlier in the day to turn the fastest lap.

“We had a gearbox issue, but somehow we got it fixed just before this session,” van der Zande said. “I got in at the end just for a tire run, and I was fastest. I would say (that’s) not too bad for a driver without a job.”

Van der Zande will share the No. 10 car with Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon when the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale gets underway shortly after 10 a.m. ET Saturday. The team is two points behind the No. 7 Acura Team Penske Acura ARX-05 DPi driven by Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor and Alexander Rossi.

Taylor posted the fastest lap of Thursday’s 90-minute night practice session at 1:48.358. The session ran under green-flag conditions throughout.

While van der Zande was making his statement, so were two Porsche drivers in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. Laurens Vanthoor had the fastest lap in class in the No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 at 1:57.975 (114.125 mph), followed by Nick Tandy in the team’s sister car.

Porsche announced earlier this season that it would be discontinuing its factory GTLM program after the season. The team’s other entry – the No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 – had the second-fastest lap of the second session with Tandy behind the wheel (1:58.172, 113.935 mph).

Vanthoor will co-drive the No. 912 with Earl Bamber and Neel Jani. Tandy – who also led night practice – will share the No. 911 with Bamber and Fred Makowiecki.

The team held a farewell dinner Wednesday night, and Vanthoor echoed the sentiment of sadness surrounding the final race.

“It’s a program I really love to do,” Vanthoor said. “It’s coming to the end, to the last race. There’s quite a lot of goodbyes. … It’s kind of cool to have been a part of it. Beside that, we’re racing. We’re trying to go out with a bang.”

Mikkel Jensen had the fastest lap of Thursday in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class at 1:50.127 – set in night practice – aboard the No. 8 Tower Motorsport by Starworks ORECA LMP2 07. He’ll share the car with John Farano and David Heinemeier Hansson.

In the GT Daytona class, Steijn Schothorst was fastest at 2:02.352 (110.042 mph) in the No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 that won the Twelve Hours of Sebring last year. The car he’ll share this weekend with Franck Perera and Richard Heistand has only competed in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the TireRack.com Grand Prix at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta this season. With its best finish of eighth this season, Schothorst said the team is seeking some redemption to close the season.

“This year, we haven’t been having the luck on our side, I would say,” Schothorst said. “We’ve been fast pretty much all weekend we competed but didn’t get any good results. Since this is our last chance, we are very motivated to get it this time.”

SEBRING, Fla. – The all-time winningest driver in IMSA history will miss the 68th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts.

Turner Motorsport announced Thursday that Bill Auberlen, whose 62 victories are the most in premier series annals, will not compete this weekend after a possible exposure to COVID-19.

Auberlen is quarantined at his home awaiting test results. He was scheduled to compete in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge races this weekend at Sebring Int’l Raceway.

“Missing any race, much less the Twelve Hours of Sebring, is very disappointing,” Auberlen said in a statement released by the team. “This year is the 35th anniversary of my father’s win in 1985 as well as my first Twelve Hour win in 1995 – 25 years ago. You can’t imagine how hard it is for me to miss this race, but this COVID situation is such that we all need to remain as safe as we can. I will certainly be tuning in to cheer on the Turner Motorsport team and will be back behind the wheel of a BMW as soon as I can.”

BMW Motorsport driver Nick Yelloly will substitute for Auberlen in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 in the WeatherTech Championship race on Saturday.

Cameron Lawrence, a 2015 Rolex 24 At Daytona champion in the GT Daytona class with Riley Motorsports who also drove for Turner in the 2018 Rolex 24, replaces Auberlen in the No. 95 BMW M4 GT4 for Friday’s Pilot Challenge race.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – No spectators, no roars.

Paul Casey still had no problem finding enough energy from the sheer mystique of the Masters on Thursday in an opening round that was delayed seven months by a pandemic and then nearly three hours by thunderstorms.

It carried him to a 7-under 65, matching his lowest score at Augusta National and giving him a two-shot lead among those fortunate enough to get in 18 holes before it was too dark to continue.

“So many people like myself are just excited to play this,” Casey said. “This is a treat. It always has been and always will be a real treat.”

The autumn Masters brought a different course, for sure, some of that courtesy of the weather.

The downpour that began about 30 minutes after Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit their ceremonial tee shots, coupled with a November tournament with some Bermuda grass that still hasn't gone dormant, left Augusta National soft and vulnerable to low scores and far less punishment.

Defending champion Tiger Woods even got into the act. A notorious slow starter despite his five green jackets, he played his first bogey-free round at any major in 11 years and matched his low start at the Masters with a 68.

“I put a lot of it together today,” Woods said, his only regret not making a few more putts. He finished with eight pars.

The biggest crowd – about 100 people in this case – was two groups ahead of Woods watching Bryson DeChambeau smash shots into trees and one shot into the azaleas bushes behind the 13th green. He was lucky to find it because his provisional shot went into the creek. He still made double bogey, though he managed to scratch out a 70.

So much action, typical of the Masters, and so little volume.

And it was worth the wait caused by COVID-19.

“I was vocal earlier in the year about not enjoying golf in a pandemic,” Casey said. "I didn't know how the fan-less experience would be and so far, I've not enjoyed it. I've had nothing, or very little, to draw on from being out playing tournament golf. The Masters, though, this week it still has a buzz to it. There's an energy and a little bit of vibe.

“Yes, it's clearly a lot less than what we're used to. But there's something about this place. I felt excited to be here.”

The excitement for Casey began on the fearsome 10th hole when he hit his approach to a front pin about 5 feet away for birdie. He had eagle chances on both par 5s on the back nine and settled for birdies. He took on a left pin at the par-5 second with a 6-iron and watched the ball plop 6 feet away for eagle.

“You can’t hit that shot in April,” he said. “It pitched and stopped instantly, and that shot in April would have one-hopped over into the patrons.”

There was a lot to be excited about on several scorecards.

Webb Simpson played a tidy round, making eagle on No. 2 after the turn and finishing with seven pars for a 67. He was joined by Xander Schauffele, a runner-up to Woods last year, who had seven birdies in his round of 67.

“You're going at pins that you wouldn’t really feel that comfortable with,” Schauffele said. “There’s so many spots where your ball will stay. It was just really strange.”

Lee Westwood wasn't sure he would ever make it back to the Masters, earning a ticket back with his tie for fourth in the British Open last summer. The best player without a major showed he still has some life at age 47. He shot 31 on the front and limited the damage on the back for a 68, joining the group that included Woods, former Masters champion Patrick Reed, Hideki Matsuyama and Louis Oosthuizen.

Dustin Johnson, the world's No. 1 player, was among those who played in the afternoon and had to return Friday morning to finish. He opened with an eagle on No. 2 and was 3 under at the turn. Justin Thomas started with three straight birdies and was at 5 under through 10 holes.

Rory McIlroy also played in the afternoon, made bogey on his first hole and was struggling to make birdies. He was even par at the turn, which felt worse on a day like this.

The delay was the last thing the Masters needed with limited daylight hours leading to the two-tee start. Every minute counts, and it was doubtful 36 holes could be completed by Friday.

The loudest cheer  – applause, certainly not a roar – came for Nicklaus and Player hitting tee shots so early that they couldn't see where they landed. Five groups got through one hole before the siren sounded to stop play for 2 hours, 45 minutes. And then players began to light up the course as the clouds moved to the east and those famous shadows from Georgia pines stretched across the fairways.

It looked just the Masters, minus the spring blooms, even if it didn't sound like one.

In the 285 days since the U.S. men's national team previously played, it seemed there was a sea change for the Americans. The U.S. now has a player at Juventus in Weston McKennie, while Sergino Dest and Konrad de la Fuente are on the first-team roster at Barcelona. That's to go along with Christian Pulisic at Chelsea and Tyler Adams at UEFA Champions League semifinalists RB Leipzig.

With that kind of pedigree in its ranks, and youngsters like Borussia Dortmund's Giovanni Reyna and Valencia's Yunus Musah breaking through, expectations have been raised considerably, even as manager Gregg Berhalter tries to downplay them.

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Which is why Thursday's 0-0 draw against host Wales felt like a different kind of result on European soil. A look at the score and one would think that this was another one of those gritty, grind-it-out draws on the road, but it was nothing of the sort. The U.S. showed the kind of calmness and patience on the ball that has been rare in its trips to Europe. Playing out of tight spaces was the rule rather than the exception, with the three-man midfield of McKennie, Adams and Musah doing plenty to control the game's tempo.

Musah -- one of six U.S players to make their debut -- looked nothing like a 17-year-old, and while there were moments when he could have released the ball quicker, he showed plenty of ability in terms of running at defenses as well as vision. Given that Musah is eligible to represent England and Ghana as well as the U.S., Berhalter can only hope that he ultimately chooses to represent the U.S. over other contenders.

Reyna found the going a bit tougher, and at times was even guiltier of hanging onto the ball too long. He had some dynamic moments running with the ball, but also let his frustrations get the better of him. Midway through the second half, he barged into Wales defender Tom Lockyer in retaliation for what he perceived as a foul that went uncalled. It's precisely the kind of play that on the road in CONCACAF could be punished severely. Still, it was a day the 17-year-old Reyna will long remember.

As for Adams, the match was not only his first for the U.S. in 20 months, but one in which he anchored the U.S. midfield after Berhalter had dabbled with playing him at right-back. The American side looked better for having Adams' energy and passing in front of the defense, although John Brooks in particular looked composed in the back.

"I felt good because I think that's my natural position," Adams said. "Being out there, being able to kind of command everything that was going on in front of me, tell players when to go and when not to go, to initiate the press, when to stay back, it allows me to lead the team in a better way, I think. I was confident in the guys in front of me understanding the tactics so it made my job a little bit easier, but I love being the cover in front of the back line being able to win balls and then just give it to the guys in front of me and let them do their thing."

The U.S. was also extremely effective in its press, and the Americans' two best chances of the night came directly off turnovers in Wales' defensive third, although it should be noted that this was a Welsh side missing several key players, including Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, while Ben Davies and Ethan Ampadu remained on the bench.

Yet for all of the possession that the U.S. had, there was a distinct lack of punch in the attacking third. Some of this was down to Berhalter's decision to play Sebastian Lletget as a false nine, but it's important to drill deeper on how the approach fared. In terms of providing an outlet and allowing the U.S. to play out of its own half, Lletget did well, completing 28 of his 32 passes. On the one hand, this is precisely what Berhalter wanted Lletget to do. But farther up field, the tactic wasn't as successful, although that wasn't down to just the player.

"We wanted him to look for the third man more than he did," Berhalter said about Lletget. "I think he did it once or twice, but as he comes down and it needs to be laid off, and then we should be moving behind, I think the wingers weren't in a high-enough position to take advantage of that at times. That was something that we missed."

McKennie added that the U.S. was a bit beholden to looking for combination play rather than the run in behind the defense, something that the injured Pulisic would have helped with.

"A one-on-one type of player that can beat the defender, and get down the side and play a ball in or cross it, that's something [Pulisic] has done many times, as you saw in Gold Cup as well," McKennie said. "I think the dynamic movement in behind the line was something that we were missing. And that's something that we'll obviously look at in the video, just to see how many runs we made in behind the line to open up the space and just make that unselfish run."

It has to be said that this is a group that still needs time to develop chemistry. In addition to the lengthy hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. had just two days of training -- and just one full session -- prior to this match. But the question still remains: Who will get the goals and provide that presence in the box to draw more attention from opposition center-backs? For that reason -- and with Josh Sargent unavailable due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions -- it might have made more sense to get Nicholas Gioacchini on earlier or give Sebastian Soto his debut, although there is still another game to play against Panama on Monday. The forward depth chart has long been thin, and there are scant opportunities to see what the current group of forwards can do.

That said, the foundation of possession and pressing is one that looks a bit more ingrained in the players. Given the state of the game amid a pandemic, that is largely down to the progress U.S. performers have made at club level. But Berhalter will nonetheless be pleased that he has more to work with, and the Wales match counts as a step forward.

Projected No. 1 overall pick LaMelo Ball conducted an individual workout in front of head coaches and executives for the Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons on Thursday in Southern California, sources told ESPN.

Those three teams own the Nos. 2, 3 and 7 picks, respectively, in next week's NBA draft.

It was the second private workout Ball granted. On Wednesday, he conducted shooting, ballhandling and conditioning drills for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who own the top pick in the draft. Ball had met and interviewed with the Timberwolves, Warriors, Hornets and Chicago Bulls (owners of the No. 4 pick), respectively, over the past few weeks.

He also recently submitted for a medical examination that follows NBA protocol, a source said. The results of that exam will be dispersed to all 30 teams in advance of Wednesday's draft.

The Pistons' presence at the workout might be an indication they feel they have the assets to trade up on draft night, as it appears unlikely Ball still will be available with the No. 7 pick.

With the draft less than a week away, there is still no clear indication for how the top of it will shape up. Along with Ball, Memphis center James Wiseman and Georgia guard Anthony Edwards also are vying to be selected in the top three.

The Timberwolves previously met with and worked out Edwards but have received a cold shoulder from Wiseman. A source told ESPN that Wiseman views situations with the Warriors and Hornets as more favorable to his long-term growth, and he has conducted workouts with only those two organizations. Despite that, and the presence of All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, Wiseman remains a candidate for the Timberwolves, potentially with the view of trading him on draft night.

Edwards has conducted workouts with each of the teams picking in the top three and might still meet a second time with those franchises to solidify his candidacy in an attempt to separate himself from the pack.

Jonathan Givony is an NBA Draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service utilized by NBA, NCAA and International teams.