Perth Scorchers 5 for 138 beat Sydney Sixers 4 for 137 (Perry 62*) by five wickets

Marizanne Kapp was forced to retire hurt with an elevated heart rate, a problem she has managed during her career and struck her during the T20 World Cup earlier this year, as the Sixers suffered a second defeat against the Scorchers. They were led to victory by an outstanding innings from Beth Mooney who herself battled the heat. Kapp was playing nicely on 33 when she had to retire and medics ruled her out of the match so the Sixers were a key bowler down. Although Stella Campbell removed Sophie Devine in the first over it was a wayward display but they managed to fight back after the Scorchers reached 1 for 72. However, with the asking rate just above a run-a-ball, Megan Banting was dropped at long-on on 3 in the 17th over by Ellyse Perry, who parried the ball for six, and contributed a handy innings in a stand of 36 with Mooney which sealed the game. The stuttering Sixers had again lost early wickets as Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner fell in the Powerplay and Kapp's retirement in the 14th over meant they lost a set batter ahead of the final push. Perry reached fifty off 41 balls but did not really cut loose in the closing overs, facing just 11 of the last 30 deliveries.

West Indian batsman Nicholas Pooran is set to join the Melbourne Stars at the start of the BBL season as cover for new signing Jonny Bairstow.

Bairstow, along with a host of other England internationals are unavailable until after Christmas due to England's limited-overs tour of South Africa which finishes on December 9. Australia's international border security rules due to Covid-19 require travellers from overseas to quarantine for 14 days in a secure hotel upon arrival.

But Australia has a travel bubble with New Zealand where West Indies will be touring at the end of November with the T20I series concluding on November 30. Pooran, who is not part of the Test squad, is likely to be allowed to travel to Australia from New Zealand without quarantining having already done so in New Zealand prior to the series following his arrival from the IPL.

Pooran was courted by several BBL clubs last year but was unable to play in the tournament.

Hobart Hurricanes have signed South African Colin Ingram as cover for Dawid Malan in the early part of the tournament. Ingram previously played for the Adelaide Strikers and was part of their tournament triumph in BBL07, but left the club in abrupt circumstances the following year after captaining the Strikers for part of the season.

Adelaide Strikers have re-signed Sussex opener Phil Salt after he made an impressive BBL debut last year scoring four half-centuries at a blistering strike-rate of 164.09.

Australia's hard international border will affect a number of the BBL clubs with Bairstow, Malan, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Lewis Gregory, Liam Livingstone, Jason Roy all touring South Africa. Malan may get to leave for Australia a week earlier than his countrymen as he is only part of England's T20 squad.

Gautam Gambhir, the former India batsman, believes it will be a "shame" and "Indian cricket's misfortune" if Rohit Sharma isn't considered for the full-time white-ball captaincy going forward.

Gambhir was speaking on ESPNcricinfo's T20 Time Out soon after Sharma led Mumbai Indians to their fifth IPL crown, by beating the Delhi Capitals by five wickets in Dubai. Apart from leaving his mark as a captain on the field, Sharma killed off the chase by scoring a quickfire 68 to set up an easy win.

"If Rohit Sharma doesn't become India's captain, it's their loss, not Rohit's," Gambhir said. "Yes, a captain is only as good as his team and I completely agree with that, but what are the parameters to judge a captain on who is good and who isn't? The parameters and benchmark should be the same. Rohit has led his team to five IPL titles."

Gambhir had earlier in the tournament spoken of the need for Virat Kohli, India's current captain across formats, to be accountable for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are yet to win an IPL title in 13 seasons - Kohli has been captain for eight of those. The franchise have made the playoffs only three times under Kohli's captaincy - this year, they crashed out in the Eliminator to finish the tournament with five consecutive losses.

"We keep saying MS Dhoni is India's most successful captain. Why? Because he has won two World Cups and three IPLs," Gambhir said. "Rohit has won five IPL titles, he is the most successful captain in the history of the tournament. Going forward, it'll be a shame if he doesn't get India's white-ball or just T20 captaincy. Because he can't do much more than this. He can only help the team he captains to victories. So if he doesn't become India's regular white-ball captain, it will be their loss."

Gambhir also clarified this was by no means a suggestion that Kohli's captaincy was "poor", but merely an observation of who is more suited to the job, given they both started captaining their IPL franchise around the same time, in 2013. Kohli took over the captaincy mid-season that year from Daniel Vettori, while Ricky Ponting stepped down to hand over the reins to Sharma after a poor start.

Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles - in 2012 and 2014 - even suggested India could consider a split-captaincy model going forward, with Kohli continuing to lead in Test cricket and Sharma taking over the white-ball captaincy.

"They can also consider split-captaincy," he said. "No one is poor. Rohit has shown in white-ball cricket how big the difference is between his and Virat's captaincy. One player had led his team to five titles, the other hasn't won yet. I'm not saying this because Kohli is a poor captain. But he has received the same platform that Rohit has, so you have to judge both of them on the same parameters. Both have been captains in the IPL for the same length of time. I feel Rohit stands out as a leader."

NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks have shut down their practice facility after three employees tested positive for the coronavirus, the team said in a statement on Tuesday.

The closure comes less than a month before players are slated to return to their home markets to begin training camp for the 2020-21 season, which begins Dec. 22.

The NBA allowed teams to reopen their practice facilities on Oct. 30. According to a memo that the league sent to teams and was obtained by ESPN, players were required to be tested for COVID-19 every day and must continue to return negative tests in order to access the facility and participate in group workouts.

The Knicks said that all three employees who tested positive for COVID-19 are asymptomatic. The results were discovered during "routine screenings," the team said.

As COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise around the country, Westchester County -- where the Knicks' practice facility is located -- has been identified as a hot spot in New York. The state's positivity rate is 3.09%, according to the New York State Department of Health. The positivity rate in Westchester County is 4.6%.

This marks the first time New York's positivity rate has been above 3% since May.

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Hangtown 100 promoters Matt Wood and Scott and Kami Russell have been forced to cancel the event that was scheduled for Nov. 19-21 at Placerville Speedway.

The event was to feature the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series.

Recent state geographic limitations due to COVID-19 pertaining to who can attend, including fans and participants, necessitated the cancellation of the Hangtown 100. Refunds will be processed immediately and registration credits from the BCRA race held will carry over to next year.

“The 2020 season has been rough on the racing community and we know this only makes a bad situation worse,” said Wood. “We are sorry to make this announcement but please believe we exhausted all possibilities and felt it was necessary to get the word out as quickly as we could. We will be back in 2021 bigger and better than ever.”

However, USAC has announced the addition of two events at Merced (Calif.) Speedway on Nov. 20-21 to the series schedule.

With the addition of the two events, the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season will now conclude at Merced on Nov. 20-21. The event at Merced will pay 50 appearance points to all licensed competitors each night toward the championship standings.

No spectators will be allowed at the Merced events, which will be streamed live online.

On Friday, Nov. 20 at Merced, the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets will be joined by the Hoosier Tire Wing 360 Sprint Cars  On Saturday, Nov. 21, USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget action at Merced is teamed with the BCRA Midget Lites and Hobby Stocks.  Both night, pit gates open at 1 p.m. PT, with the drivers meeting at 5 p.m. and cars on track at 5:30 p.m.

The previously scheduled non-point special event for the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series at Merced on Nov. 25 has been canceled.

SEATTLE -- The expansion Seattle Kraken expect to have the main portion of their training facility open in plenty of time for the team's first NHL season.

The primary NHL rink, locker rooms, training areas and front office space are on target to be finished by mid-July, Kraken senior vice president for digital and fan experience Todd Humphrey said Tuesday.

The training center is be constructed in two phases with the initial focus on finishing the needed facilities for the team to play its first season in 2021-22. The second phase, which includes two additional rinks that will be used for community activities, should be finished in the late summer or early fall of next year.

"It's important because if the NHL gets back to a regular schedule we need to have an expansion draft, an amateur draft, rookie camps, etc.," Humphrey said. "So it's coming at us quick."

The training facility is the anchor of a large redevelopment in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle. The training center is 167,000 square feet and will have seating for 1,000 fans surrounding the practice rink. There will also be retail and dining options inside the building.

The Phoenix Suns have had discussions about acquiring All-Star point guard Chris Paul from the Oklahoma City Thunder, sources told ESPN.

Talks have been ongoing and continued to gather traction, but there is no deal imminent, sources said. There is currently a moratorium on trades as the NBA goes through procedures to start next season ahead of the league's draft next week.

The Thunder have given star players such as Paul George and Russell Westbrook input on trade destinations in the past and have shown an openness to work with Paul on a trade now, sources said.

The Suns have a promising young roster led by Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. The team finished last season strongly by going 8-0 in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida, narrowly missing the play-in tournament.

In addition to their young roster, contributing to the Suns' momentum is the near completion of the first phase of a $230 million renovation of Talking Stick Resort Arena. They also are set to open a new, $45 million state-of-the-art practice facility this month.

The Suns could have in excess of $20 million in salary-cap space going into the transaction season, leaving the possibility they could assemble a trade and still look for other free agents.

Paul played a season under Suns coach Monty Williams in New Orleans from 2010 to 2011 and has spoken highly of him in the past. Paul also has praised the Suns' style of play.

"His basketball mind ... I used to get so excited before the games about the plays he was drawing up," Paul told reporters before facing Williams' Suns in December.

Paul has two years and $85.5 million left on his contract, which is a motivating factor for the rebuilding Thunder to consider trading him. The Thunder, however, have told teams they remain interested in keeping Paul for next season, as well.

He is coming off a season in which he averaged 17.6 points and 6.7 assists as he led the Thunder to the playoffs. After the season, he was named second-team All-NBA.

ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski contributed to this story.

CONCORD, N.C. – Last week, one of the rarest achievements in World of Outlaws racing was accomplished again; this time by Kyle Larson.

Countless racers have realized their dreams of competing with either the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series or the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series come true.

How many can say they’ve done both, though? Very few.

For the first time since 2016, a new member was added to this unique crew when Larson made his debut with the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series to go along with his 20 World of Outlaws Sprint Car wins.

The list of 14 and counting is chalked full of legends and local heroes alike.

From World of Outlaws champions Donny Schatz, Dave Blaney and Rick Eckert; to all-around motorsport icons Tony Stewart, Ken Schrader, Brett Hearn, Billy Pauch; to the lower-level legends like John Garvin Jr., Dave Murdick, David Scott, Charlie Swartz, John Vandenberg and Larry Wight; this crowd has it all.

Let’s take a look at these guys and their accomplishments:

Kyle Larson
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars – 94 Starts / 20 Wins
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models – 2 Starts / Best Finish: 8th

The newest member of this elite group, Larson made his World of Outlaws Late Model Series debut last week at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in record-setting fashion. Setting Fast Time both nights, Larson walked away with a new track record (14.183 seconds) and established his career-best with the series as an eighth-place run in his second night out. To go along with his new adventure into late model land, the 28-year old Larson already has 20 World of Outlaws Sprint Car wins to his credit, 12 of which came in his earth-shattering 2020 campaign.

Although he’s heading back to the NASCAR Cup Series to race for Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, Yung Money has stated he’ll still be competing on dirt when available. He even expressed interest in making his first attempt at the iconic Prairie Dirt Classic, a $50,000-to-win World of Outlaws Late Model event set for July 30-31, 2021 at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway.

Donny Schatz
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars – 1,882 Starts / 299 Wins
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models – 22 Starts / Best Finish: 3rd

The ten-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car champion holds a resume with the wings that is more than guaranteed to earn him a ticket to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame one day, but did you know Donny is even a maestro with the fenders on? Strapping into his own Rocket Chassis No. 15 late model when his Tony Stewart Racing No. 15 sprint car sits idle, Schatz has said he enjoys late models for the challenge, while it still presents an opportunity to have fun on a less-serious scale.

A winner of 299 career World of Outlaws Sprint Car features, Schatz first attempted the World of Outlaws Late Models in 2014. He quickly established his career-best of third-place at his home track of River Cities (N.D.) Speedway on July 10, 2015; in only his eighth-career start, Schatz was only beaten by soon-to-be National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famers Tim McCreadie and Josh Richards.

Tony Stewart
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars – 48 Starts / 3 Wins
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models – 2 Starts / Best Finish: 16th

As a three-time NASCAR Cup Series, IndyCar champion, and USAC triple crown champion, it’s no surprise to see Stewart’s name on this list of diverse drivers. Smoke is a three-time winner on the World of Outlaws Sprint Car trail, recording victories at Ohsweken (Can.) Speedway in 2011-12 and another at Lernerville (Pa.) Speedway in 2012.

His only two career starts with the World of Outlaws Late Models came at Eldora (Ohio) Speedway, a track he owns, in the summer of 2007 and 2008.

Dave Blaney
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars – 508 Starts / 94 Wins
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models – 2 Starts / Best Finish: 16th

Another versatile talent, the elder Blaney brother has an extensive NASCAR Cup Series career (473 races) to go along with his 1984 USAC Silver Crown title and prestigious 1995 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship. A 2014 inductee to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, Dave made two appearances with the World of Outlaws Late Models throughout his career.

His late model debut came on June 26, 2004 at Sharon Speedway, a track which he owns. He ended up 16th that night and returned to a late model four years later when he made his most recent appearance at Delaware International Speedway.

Rick Eckert
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars – 1 Start / Best Finish: LCS
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models – 618 Starts / 37 Wins

A legend on the World of Outlaws Late Model trail, Eckert owns the record for most feature starts in series history at 618. His 37 victories rank sixth on the all-time wins list and he’s a perennial top five candidate in every other major statistical category. At 54 years old, Scrub is still a consistent contender with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet, proving that with his runner-up result at this year’s $50,000-to-win USA Nationals at Cedar Lake (Wis.) Speedway.

His lone attempt with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series came way back in 1989, when a then 24-year old Rick drove his father Junior Eckert’s No. 0 against The Greatest Show on Dirt at Lincoln (Pa.) Speedway just down the road from his home in York.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Rory McIlroy has played in 11 Masters and made countless other trips to Augusta National. 

His most recent trip came two weeks ago with his father, Gerry. While McIlroy certainly wanted to get an early feel for how the course would play in fall conditions, he also enjoyed getting to share another special moment with his dad at the iconic club.

“I've been very fortunate that I've shared that experience with my dad here a few times,” McIlroy said. “I always think back to growing up at Holywood Golf Club [in Northern Ireland] and playing with him there, and to think that 20 years down the line, that we'd be walking up the 18th at Augusta together and playing. I've even got goosebumps just talking about it. It's really cool and I definitely don't take it for granted.”

That recent scouting trip also included quite the match, as McIlroy described. The four-time major winner, who can complete the career grand slam Sunday in Augusta, had his hands full with his dad as they added another chapter to the duo’s long history of competing against each other. Gerry and his pal, Augusta National member Jimmy Dunne, teamed up to take on McIlroy and Cole White, the son of one of Dunne's other friends and a buddy of Matt Wolff.

“It was the young guys took on the old guys," McIlroy said. "The old guys actually beat us, but I think we lost on the first tee. I think there's too many shots given.”

United States men's national team goalkeeper Zack Steffen feels he's already grown on the field with club side Manchester City, even though he's only been with the first team for a little over two months.

Steffen, 25, signed with Man City back in July of 2019, but spent the 2019-20 season on loan with German side Fortuna Dusseldorf. Steffen was brought in this season primarily to back up Ederson, but he has backstopped the club to two wins in the EFL Cup.

"Their goalie coach is really detailed, and is very eager to make me a better goalkeeper," Steffen told reporters ahead of Thursday's friendly against Wales. "And then just working with those guys day in and day out, the training, the level of intensity and skill and talent and everything that goes into it, I feel myself growing."

In terms of what areas have been sharpened, Steffen pointed to the technical side of his game.

"It's just so much more detailed than anything I've ever really been a part of, whether that's hand positioning when you're just catching the ball, or it's a set position on a certain shot, or one-v-one.

"There's so many little aspects that I obviously knew of and I know the techniques, but I feel like I never really got the reasons why you do that. And so, I feel like I'm learning some new techniques obviously but [also] some reasons of why these techniques are gonna help me in the long run."

Steffen's brief spell with City has now allowed him to see manager Pep Guardiola up close. He said while he's still in the process of getting to know the manager and staff, he's been impressed with what he's seen so far.

"I feel like [Guardiola] has a good balance of being focused in intense," Steffen said. "But with that he brings humor, and he brings just his genuineness, and just kindness. So it's been cool to see how he works, how his coaching staff works."

Steffen added that he's also noticed an increase in how players are treated now that he's in the Premier League.

"The player care is just more prominent," he said. "They want us to be fully focused on football, and they really help us out and worry about everything else whether that's cars, whether it's banking, whether it's housing, family stuff. Anything at all, they're one call away, one text away, and they really make us feel comfortable."

But for the next week, Steffen's job will be to integrate himself with a U.S. side that hasn't played a match since February, with many first choice players rejoining the U.S. team for the first time in over year. Steffen's last appearance for the U.S. came on Oct. 15, 2019 in a 2-0 loss to Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League.

"The vibe so far has been really good," he said. "Everybody's excited to be here and everybody's excited to see each other, meet one another. Training has been short and sharp and quick. It's obviously tough when there's so many new guys and we don't have so many training days. But now we're excited for the game, we're excited to get on the field each day and learn from one another and see what everybody's really made of."