WEST LEBANON, N.Y. — Kenny Tremont Jr., who clinched his 15th Lebanon Valley Speedway modified championship by taking the green flag, celebrated with a convincing win in Saturday night’s 101-lap Mr. Dirt Track USA event on the high banked half-mile.

The Super DIRTcar big block series win, worth some $25,500, was Tremont’s second consecutive score in the event.  It came at the expense of polesitter Ronnie Johnson, who got the best of front row companion Brett Hearn n the initial start and prevailed through a handful of restarts that saw Hearn get even but not quite by before Johnson’s momentum off the banked turns put him back in command.

As the duo battled, Tremont was clawing his way forward from the eighth starting position, surviving especially hard battles with first Wayne Jelley and then Danny Johnson.  As the race neared the halfway point, he finally got by Johnson to take over fourth, then had a back and forth tussle with Andy Bachetti for third that saw Tremont finally prevail on a lap 48 restart.

That put Tremont on arch-rival Hearn’s bumper and after another set of side by side laps, he put Hearn away on lap 53 and set out after Johnson.

A yellow for a Mike King spin on lap 65 that collected J.R. Heffner and series leader Matt Sheppard saw Bachetti and Hearn swap third back and forth on the restart while Tremont started working on Johnson, using the low groove to attack in the turns but not quite getting by.

“I was working hard there and decided I had to start moving around on the track because I knew I couldn’t do what he was doing,” said Tremont. “I finally got so I could hit the turns in the middle, then cut down under him and it paid off.”

Pay off it did, as Tremont, Lebanon Valley’s all-time leading winner, ran even with Johnson on lap 92, then pulled off a slide job the next time they hit turn three to take command.  From there he pulled out to a turn lead before the checkers flew.

“Losing one to Kenny Tremont here is nothing to be ashamed of,” said Johnson. “I was good, but he’s got a lot more laps here than I do.  We got beat by experience tonight.”

Hearn, who rounded out the podium finishers, tipped that he “was trying to play possum and be ready to go at the end but to do that, you have to have your tires at the end.  I had a tire that chunked off and I thought that Kenny’s right rear was coming apart too but when it was time to go, he went.”

Bachetti was fourth, with Mat Williamson turning in a strong run to claim fifth.

Jelley led the second five, trailed by Eddie Marshall, Stewart Friesen, Pete Britain and Marc Johnson.

When asked about Hearn’s observation about his tire, Tremont said “I worked it hard getting to the front and it’s used up, but it felt good the whole way. I should probably get a medal for working so hard to get by Wayne (Jelley) and Danny (Johnson). Danny and I may have touched once there but nothing serious.”

Notable events that changed the complexion of the race included fast timer Keith Flach hitting the turn three wall on lap 44 while climbing through the field and a frontstretch melee caused by Mike Mahaney’s crippled car that slowed on the frontstretch, then turned sharply, collecting Jack Lehner and Brian Berger.

In supporting action, Jason Casey claimed the track Pro Stock championship with a win over Chad Jeseo and Nick Arnold while Whitey Slavin prevailed over Jeff Watson and Rob Maxon in the crash-filled sportsman finale.

The finish:

Feature (101 Laps): 1. 115-Kenny Tremont [8][$]; 2. 2-Ronnie Johnson [1][$8,000]; 3. 20-Brett Hearn [2][$3,000]; 4. 4-Andy Bachetti [5][$1,800]; 5. 88-Mat Williamson [6][$1,600]; 6. 45-Wayne Jelley [7][$1,400]; 7. 98-Eddy Marshall [16][$1,300]; 8. 44-Stewart Friesen [15][$1,200]; 9. 21A-Peter Britten [11][$1,100]; 10. 33-Marc Johnson [4][$1,000]; 11. 111-Demetrios Drellos [17][$800]; 12. 9s-Matt Sheppard [13][$700]; 13. 25-Erick Rudolph [25][$600]; 14. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [9][$575]; 15. 91-Billy Decker [24][$550]; 16. 55-Mike King [21][$525]; 17. 26-Ryan Godown [26][$500]; 18. 74-JR Heffner [20][$500]; 19. 99L-Larry Wight [14][$500]; 20. 27j-Danny Johnson [3][$500]; 21. 11A-Kyle Armstrong [12][$500]; 22. 43-Keith Flach [10][$500]; 23. 37-Paul StSauveur [27][$500]; 24. 99-Kolby Schroder [22][$500]; 25. 35-Mike Mahaney [19][$500]; 26. 2L-Jack Lehner [28][$500]; 27. 606-Brian Berger [29][]; 28. 35L-LJ Lombardo [18][]; 29. 97-Bobby Hackel [23][]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – American Flat Track’s Springfield Mile II at the Illinois State Fairgrounds has been postponed due to overnight inclement weather and rescheduled for Monday.

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LONDON -- Gunnersaurus Rex had just finished greeting Burnley off their bus in the bowels of the Emirates, extending his great green claws toward manager Sean Dyche, Ashley Barnes and Ben Mee. Goalkeeper Nick Pope had taken a conspicuously wide turn to avoid him, and someone in the small crowd of observers registered displeasure -- "That's a bit out of order" -- but Gunnersaurus seemed unfazed by Pope's blind eye. His toothy grin stayed, as ever, glued to his friendly face.

He waited for his Arsenal to arrive. When their own bus eased up, Gunnersaurus tapped the crest of his red jersey, made sure his feet were planted squarely on the cement floor, and opened his arms. Matteo Guendouzi, the curly haired midfielder, was among the first to reach him. Guendouzi accepted a hug with all of his heart.

After the last of the players had passed him, Gunnersaurus made for the elevator that would take him to the concourse behind the family section of the stands. He had a minder but still banged his head on a beam along the way. It's hard to be 7 feet tall in England. He rode up, and the lift doors opened. An elderly woman waiting on the other side had to put her hand to her chest to keep from falling over. She wasn't expecting to see a dinosaur at a football game.

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It's been more than 25 years since Gunnersaurus first appeared at one, and people still register the most complete surprise whenever they see him. Their faces light up. Their eyes go nearly as wide as their smiles. Gunnersaurus is like a machine custom-built to spread joy.

An admiring crowd of supporters surrounded him. He was soon trapped in the concourse, unable to move, a modern-day Gulliver tied to the ground by the Lilliputians and their curious love. Children have a particular affinity for Gunnersaurus, and he does for them, but adults also express an unabashed affection for him. Gunnersaurus responds without a whisper of irony. He is particularly drawn to people in wheelchairs. He smothers them in the warmest embrace.

There was a huge poster on the wall of the concourse where he stood. It depicted a young Arsene Wenger, then the overseer of the Invincibles, the unbeatable Arsenal of 2003-04. It included a quote from Brian Clough, marveling at the 49-game winning streak Arsenal then enjoyed. "It's better than being in heaven," Clough said.

Gunnersaurus stood in front of that poster and dispensed hug after hug. One boy, maybe 12 years old, forgot that he was supposed to be cool, and he turned his back to Gunnersaurus and executed a trust fall into his belly. Gunnersaurus draped his arms around the boy, the boy closed his eyes, and his father took a picture of him with a smile of pure bliss.

Arsenal are highly secretive about Gunnersaurus and his private truths. The contents of the ark of the covenant would be easier to see; there are royal families that are less guarded.

Here is what we do know: According to official club lore, Arsenal embarked on a rebuild of the North Bank at Highbury Stadium in the summer of 1993. Deep underground, workers discovered what at first seemed a large boulder. Or perhaps, they feared, it was an unexploded bomb from the war. You can imagine their alarm when they carefully brushed away the last of the earth and learned what they had really found. It was an enormous egg.

The egg was warm to the touch. Memories have been clouded by time, but some of the workers claim that the egg shook a little. They carefully lifted it out and carried it to a sheltered corner of the ground. They wrapped the egg in Arsenal blankets. It didn't take long for it to crack. Some of the workers stepped away from the egg and its mysterious occupant. Others were drawn toward it.

At last, the egg broke wide open and Arsenal officials will say only that they were "shocked and surprised" by what they saw next. They were almost certainly much more than that. Because out came a baby dinosaur. It was green, round in the middle, with a long, full tail. He soon grew 7 feet tall. Arsenal fitted him in a full kit, complete with football boots. And on Aug. 20, 1993, they revealed him to the public at Highbury before a match against Manchester City.

The dinosaur, the bewildered crowd was told, had been named Gunnersaurus Rex, which became Gunner to the lazy and disrespectful. Arsenal went on to beat City 3-0, and if anyone that day had been scared of the dinosaur that had taken its place among them, they weren't scared of him anymore. Besides, he seemed such a happy dinosaur. No matter what happened around him -- rain, defeat, moments of silence -- he smiled his big smile. Gunnersaurus could stay. He had found his forever home.

In the summers of my youth, I was a mascot: Boomer, the Parks Canada beaver. Unlike Gunnersaurus, of course, I wasn't real. I was wearing a costume. I was exposed to countless curiosities whenever I put it on. When I was Boomer, children gathered around me like birds to bread. Adults surrounded me in concentric circles, too. I was always amazed by how many, including the grown-ups, forgot that inside that costume, there was a man. So many people seemed only too willing to accept that a giant anthropomorphic beaver, dressed like a park ranger, was suddenly bumbling about in their midst.

There were vulnerabilities in playing such an outsized part. I couldn't see my feet, which made it surprisingly hard to walk. My enormous head became wedged in door frames. I was very, very hot. A certain segment of the population takes deep pleasure in watching mascots suffer; I was once set upon by a group of first-graders who beat me within an inch of my natural human life. I had nightmares that I would fall into the nearby canal and nobody would try to rescue me, because they would see that I was smiling and would confuse my frantic pawing at the air for waving. The white of my beaver teeth, each the size of a book, would be the last that they would see of me when I disappeared into the murk. No wonder they would think I was fine. I wasn't a man with dreams drowning inside a costume. I was a beaver returned to his habitat.

I can't imagine what it's like to be an actual dinosaur, unable to speak, unable to express any emotion beyond quiet delight. Gunnersaurus knows all too well: This summer, he was hit hard in the gob by a child taking a penalty kick, yet his mask remained.

What is it like to be so famous and yet so unknown? Gunnersaurus recently won the online World Cup of Football Mascots, besting FC Metz's Grayou, a dragon; West Brom's Boiler Man, a hot-water heater with arms and legs; and Partick Thistle's Kingsley, a surly sun, maybe, with a unibrow. He has been invited to appear at hundreds of weddings and bar mitzvahs and birthday parties, and he recently gained his 100,000th follower on Instagram. He is easily the most popular dinosaur in the world. In football, as in life, everything changes. But Gunnersaurus is always there.

A 37-year-old man in Cambridge named Peter Lovell claims to have "invented" Gunnersaurus. Lovell is a man of enthusiasms, the sort of person who walks into a bar filled with strangers and leaves with friends. He has materials to support his claim, including the drawings of Gunnersaurus he allegedly made when he was 11 years old. His parents were Scotland Yard detectives, he says, and massive Arsenal fans, which made him an Arsenal supporter with a prodigious eye for detail. In 1993, the Junior Gunners held a contest to design a new mascot, his story goes; inspired by "Jurassic Park," which had come out that same summer, he sat down at his kitchen table and soon produced his fully realized proposal for a dinosaur named Gunnersaurus Rex. He won the contest, and the Gunnersaurus of his imagination came to life that August. He hasn't stopped telling people what he believes he did, mostly because it means he rarely buys a beer. "It's the ultimate anecdote," he says.

Some of Lovell's story checks out. "Jurassic Park" did, in fact, give a lot of people dinosaur fever in the summer of 1993. Lovell's drawings, with front and side views of a dinosaur that looks very much like the actual Gunnersaurus, resemble the mug shots his parents would have brought home and laid on that same kitchen table. (Lovell's Gunnersaurus was yellow, not green, and his only uniform was a jersey. The real Gunnersaurus, thankfully, also wears shorts.) Lovell's eyes even go wet with tears when he talks about how much his supposed young success changed the course of so many important things.

"It always gets me," he says. "It was one of those moments in the history of my life, if it hadn't have happened. ... How it transformed me, helped to form a growing mind, the confidence it gave me, the belief. So much has come from that belief. That's the moment I went from being intimidated by the world to believing that I could do anything. It's beautiful."

But Peter Lovell must be delusional. As earnest as he appears, as much as it would be lovely to think that a boy with some paper and crayons could sit down at a table and conjure something so wonderful as a dinosaur that has brought happiness to thousands for more than a quarter-century, Gunnersaurus is real. He wasn't invented. He was born out of a giant egg and grew 7 feet tall.

I've seen him. I've hugged him. I have felt his comforting squeeze, the buttress-like strength of his arms, the gentle trace of his claws on my shoulders, his fuzzy green skin on my face. Gunnersaurus is as real as Santa Claus. He is as real as grace. He is as real as every last one of our childhood hopes, the affirmation that good things will come to us if only we believe.

That beautiful day I spent with Gunnersaurus at Arsenal, a teenage boy with hearing aids in his ears made his approach in the concourse. Gunnersaurus sensed his presence and turned. The boy held out his arms and Gunnersaurus held out his, and they fell into a cuddle. The boy took a long time to let go. When he did, he smiled and put his hand to his lips and then opened his palm toward Gunnersaurus. He signed "Thank you" to the dinosaur. Then Gunnersaurus signed "Thank you" back to the boy.

If that encounter wasn't real, if that moment wasn't as true and heart-swelling as it felt in the suddenly blurry light of that magical afternoon, then what is?

If Josh Hazlewood is happy that the pressure he has applied on England's top order has helped force the hosts into a change in batting order for the upcoming Test at Old Trafford, then his words about what that change represents apply equally to Australia given the sorts of adjustments being pondered by the touring side.

It is plausible that Australia may make as many as four changes to their team from the XI that took the field in Leeds, recalling the fit-again Steven Smith and Mitchell Marsh and also including Mitchell Starc - Peter Siddle is also in contention for a return. Such a shift would certainly outstrip England's shuffle of Joe Denly up the top and Jason Roy to No. 4, raising questions about exactly which team is better-placed entering the penultimate Test of an absorbing series.

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Having got so infuriatingly close to retaining the Ashes in England for the first time since 2001, the Australians have been confronted with the dilemma of balancing introspection about Headingley and Ben Stokes with the fact that their plans so far for this series had taken them to the very brink of victory.

In that sense, Australia's situation heading into the fourth Test bears the essence of the British General Bernard Montgomery's remark that operation Market Garden, a failed attempt to capture a series of bridges into Germany to shorten the Second World War, was "90% successful" because every bridge but the last one, over the Rhine at Arnhem, was taken. Hazlewood noted that while Australia's bowlers had been "90-95%" successful, there was plenty about the remaining 10% that needed work.

"Whenever the other team are changing plans [it] means you're doing something right," Hazlewood said. "Whoever is at the top, whatever the order, it's the same plans, what we've talked about before, keeping it simple, patient, disciplined.

"It certainly feels like I'm bowling well. Ever since I bowled at Worcester a few weeks back, I took it into Lord's and Headingley. I think I'm not trying to do too much, try and be very simple, not try and swing the ball, occasionally I do when it gets a bit older but just hitting that right length with the new ball, making them play, not try and do too much, try and keep it simple. Dry that scoreboard up, build pressure with maidens, make him play on the front foot, not try and do too much as a whole group."

"It's a bit like one-day cricket: nice, soft ball, the wicket's really good and we spread the field. It was extraordinary hitting." Hazlewood reflecting on the final phase of England's chase in Headingley

Having been the dominant bowler of the Headingley Test, claiming nine wickets through a masterful combination of control, optimum pace and movement both ways, Hazlewood's final over was to be thumped for 19 by Stokes. Weighing up how the final hour of the Test played out, he reckoned that better communication between the captain Tim Paine and the bowlers may have been useful.

"It can feel like it's moving pretty quickly in those situations," Hazlewood said. "The crowds are quite loud as well, it's hard to hear people, we certainly could have taken our time a little bit more and communicated a little bit better with the field, the skipper and bowler. I thought we stayed pretty calm throughout it. Things happened pretty quickly at certain stages, good learning experience, hopefully better for it.

"We looked at it on the whole - a very good performance from our bowling group. We got beaten by a helluva player at the end. We've certainly talked about that, what we could have done differently with fields, different bowling, more of a one-day game at the end, different ways to get Leach on strike to face a few more deliveries. We'll hopefully do a bit better next time. We always sit down and discuss what happened and we could have done better and what we did well as well.

"That's important to discuss what we did well: 90-95% of that game we bowled really well. So don't gloss over that either and obviously talk about what we could have done better. I bowled the one over in that hour, hour-and-a-half. It's a bit like one-day cricket: nice, soft ball, the wicket's really good and we spread the field. We probably could have changed a few things there. It was extraordinary hitting. I thought Nath [Lyon] was the best chance of getting a wicket or a catch somewhere, get Stokes out. There were a few big chances."

Starc's potential inclusion for one of the final two Ashes Tests, having worked assiduously on his economy and lengths over the course of this tour so far, would add a more destructive edge to the Australian attack when it comes to yorkers and knocking over the tail. His scorcher to tunnel under the bat of Stokes at Lord's during the World Cup will be remembered ruefully by Australians present at Headingley, and Hazlewood said Starc's ability to blast out tail-enders had now been augmented by greater control and also a constructive attitude to being left out.

"You come to expect that these days. He bowled really well with the new ball as well," Hazlewood said. "He hit some really good lengths, found some swing. The pace looked up there throughout the whole game, he looks fit and firing. That's where we want to get to as a squad, I think, have those six [bowlers in the squad] all firing, even Michael Neser bowling really well this game keeps pressure on you as a player in the team. It's always good, healthy competition.

"He [Starc] has worked really hard on a lot of things in the nets and we've seen it in this game as well. I think it's how hard the guys work off the field, the 6-7 [in the squad] who aren't playing. That's a great measure of how the group's going. That they are putting pressure on the guys who are playing. That can make the difference. They can easily mope around. It's a long tour. They're buzzing around, and working on their games, and it's great."

India Green 440 (Akshath 146, Lad 64, Wakhare 5-103) and 98 for 3 (Shorey 44*, Unadkat 1-8) drew with India Red 441(Lomror 126, Nair 90, Jadeja 4-135)
Points: India Red 3, India Green 1

India Green qualified for the final of Duleep Trophy 2019-20 on the basis of a superior quotient despite Avesh Khan's 56-ball 64 from No. 10 denying them a first-innings lead against India Red on day four in Alur.

India Green had to avoid a collapse in the second innings to make it to the final. Although they lost their openers - Faiz Fazal and Akshath Reddy - with just 24 on the board, Dhruv Shorey's unbeaten 44 ensured they were always well ahead of India Blue's quotient. With no result in sight, both captains shook hands at tea.

The final, to be played between these two teams, will start from September 4 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Earlier, India Red started the day on 404 for 9, still 36 in arrears. But Avesh's maiden first-class half-century took them to 441, one run ahead of India Green's first-innings total. Avesh, who struck two fours and seven sixes in his knock, added 73 for the tenth wicket with Sandeep Warrier, the latter contributing only 5.

On the third evening, Avesh had come in with the side on 368 for 8 and saw Akshay Wakhare falling on the same score, with India Red trailing by 72 at that stage. But in one Dharmendrasinh Jadeja over, he smashed four sixes, three off them on successive balls and took the side past 400. On Sunday morning, he hit two more sixes - both off Rahul Chahar - but the shot that brought the loudest cheer from the dressing room was a reverse shot off Chahar that almost went for a six. With the legspinner targetting the rough from round the wicket, Avesh hit with the spin and found the deep-cover boundary to level the scores.

In the 138th over of India Red's innings, Priyam Garg was hit on the back of the neck while fielding at silly point. Garg found himself in the line of the ball while taking evasive action against a back foot punch by Avesh Khan. Garg's helmet had a neck guard, which softened the impact.

Garg was conscious but in pain and lay down near the pitch as the team physio applied an ice pack to the injured area. An ambulance was brought on to the field and as a precaution, he was taken to hospital to run some tests where he cleared the first concussion test.

"Initially, we had suspected a concussion and that's why took him for some scans. But he never showed any signs of a concussion," India Green physio Prasanth Panchada said. "Still we are sending the MRIs to another radiologist for a second opinion but as of now he is fine and can bat as well."

Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat v New Zealand

Sri Lanka chose to bat in the first T20 in Pallekele - the start slightly delayed due to rain.

The hosts will field offspinner Akila Dananjaya, despite his action being currently under suspicion by the ICC. Making his T20 international debut, meanwhile, is legspinning allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga. Kasun Rajitha, Isuru Udana and captain Lasith Malinga make up the frontline pace options, with seam-bowling allrounder Dasun Shanaka also there for support.

New Zealand, meanwhile, will be without fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, who had fractured his thumb at training on the eve of the match, and is now in substantial doubt for the two remaining T20Is as well. Legspinner Todd Astle and top-order batsman Tom Bruce were also omitted. Seth Rance, Scott Kuggeleijn, Ish Sodhi, captain Tim Southee and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner comprise the primary bowling options.

New Zealand have won each of the last three T20s between these sides.

Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Mendis, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 5 Shehan Jayasuriya, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Akila Dananjaya, 10 Lasith Malinga (capt.), 11 Kasun Rajitha

New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Tim Seifert (wk), 4 Colin de Grandhomme, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 Daryl Mitchell, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Scott Kuggeleijn, 9 Tim Southee (capt.), 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Seth Rance

Nick Webb has emerged as the front-runner to take over from Shankar Basu as India's strength and conditioning coach. Luke Woodhouse and S Rajnikanth are the other two shortlisted by a BCCI panel comprising the senior selection committee and fitness expert and former Bengal batsman Ranadeep Moitra.

The shortlists were made after all candidates were put through theory and practical assessments at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. A final decision on the appointment will be taken by Rahul Johri, the BCCI chief executive.

"We had 12 names to look at, five of them were foreigners, and then we brought the list down to five people," Moitra told ESPNcricinfo of the screening process. "We had discussed the science and theory part of it earlier, and then, once we met at the NCA, we had a more practical test, with some of the junior cricketers there. At the end of it, we decided on the top three."

Webb's prior experience and him being "sensitive to the needs of the subcontinent" went in his favour. He has previously worked with the New Zealand women's team and domestic side Central Districts. Prior to his involvement in cricket, he has held similar position with Auckland-based rugby league outfit Warriors.

"See, all of them have experience, and all of them have their plus points. All of them, obviously, were strong contenders," said Moitra, who turned to fitness and conditioning after his cricket career, even working as assistant to Gregory Allen King with the Indian team in 2004.

"Some of them came with experience of working with international cricket teams. But we felt Nick was more sensitive to the needs of the subcontinent. Not that the others were not, but we felt Nick was firm but easy-going, more open, not too rigid."

Woodhouse is currently the national lead for strength and conditioning for the England women's rugby team, while Rajnikanth is contracted with Delhi Capitals in the IPL.

The BCCI was forced to look for new candidates after Basu decided against a contract extension following a four-year stint with the Indian team. The 2019 World Cup that finished in July was his last assignment.

Southern Vipers 145 for 5 (Bates 37) beat Loughborough Lightning 143 (Bates 3-22) by five wickets

Southern Vipers overcame a mid-innings wobble to edge past Loughborough Lightning and advance to the final of the Kia Super League in a nerve-jangling run chase at Hove.

Suzie Bates and Danni Wyatt had started the Vipers' chase of 144 with real intent, as they took the score to 71 for 0 off the powerplay.

But Loughborough spinners Sarah Glenn and Kirstie Gordon both struck in the middle overs to cause a hiccup and, as scoring became harder, only a crucial 22-run stand for the sixth wicket snuck the Vipers over the line and into the final.

"That was probably our best bowling and fielding performance of the tournament, and that set us up really," said Tammy Beaumont, the Vipers captain. "Danni and Suzie were exceptional in the powerplay. Danni is seeing it beautifully at the moment and Suzie is so experienced and then the middle order managed to see us home.

"We did so well with the ball. At one stage I thought we were going to be chasing 160 on what was a good wicket so to keep them to 143 was an outstanding effort."

Loughborough's attack laid claim to being the best in the competition when at full strength, but they were two bowlers short and it showed in a ragged powerplay. Kathryn Bryce (Scotland) and Hayley Matthews (West Indies) were both on international duty, and Shabnim Ismail, the overseas replacement fast bowler, missed the final group game and was unavailable as a result.

Ismail had originally been reported as unavailable due to visa problems, though according to Kate Cross, the Lancashire seamer on Test Match Special, they were largely of her own making: as it turned out, she had failed to apply for one.

It meant that Lightning were at least one bowler light, and when Wyatt and Bates decided to attack early on, they had few answers. Wyatt thrashed 19 off the second over, bowled by Jenny Gunn, and Bates followed suit as the pair put on 71 in the powerplay alone.

Quick wickets then pegged the Vipers back. Gordon bowled Bates with a delivery that was little short of a slow left-armer's dream, pitching on middle and spinning away from the bat to hit the top of off, before Wyatt was smartly stumped by England opening partner Amy Jones off Glenn's legspin.

Beaumont cut a frustrated, busy figure in her innings of 24, which also accounted for Maia Bouchier via a sloppy run-out, and after slashing four boundaries she chopped a Gunn slower-ball onto her stumps to leave the Vipers reliant on their lower-middle order.

Fi Morris struggled for timing in a scratchy, 16-ball 7, and Paige Scholfield and Amanda-Jade Wellington endured a nervy couple of overs where they could only scrap singles and the Lightning turned the screw. But Wellington's reverse-swept four off Glenn left them needing single figures, and Scholfield then charged down to deposit a length ball for another boundary over midwicket to seal the win.

Loughborough's innings of 143 was a frenetic affair, which jagged and veered rather than ebbing and flowing, and looked not far short of a par score on a wicket that offered something for the spinners.

Lauren Bell, a tall, wiry seamer who bowled with good pace and found prodigious swing, struck twice early. First, Jones - who had put a miserable Ashes series behind her by scoring 300 runs at 37.50 in the tournament - was perhaps fortunate to survive a convincing lbw appeal, before attempting to ramp a ball that moved in from outside off and succeeding only in playing it onto her off stump.

Then Bell struck again inside the powerplay to remove the dangerous Chamari Atapattu, trapping her lbw from around the wicket. While Bell is still a raw talent, as evidenced by the five wides and two no-balls she bowled, the makings of a future England player are there for all to see. She touched 70mph, and has regularly been part of their academy squads - at 18, she has a bright future.

Skipper Georgia Elwiss led the rebuilding job alongside Georgia Adams after the powerplay, and the pair added 55 in 6.1 overs, but when Elwiss flicked a Tash Farrant ball out to Wyatt at midwicket, she decided to take on one of England's best fielders and was duly run out coming back for a second run.

From there, things only got more frenzied. Mignon du Preez's international career has seen her play the role of accumulator, but she has struck at comfortably over 140 this season, and whacked a pair of sixes before holing out to Wyatt to end a tumultuous 11-ball innings of 21.

Gunn and Abigail Freeborn both did their best to keep things moving, but Bates cleaned up the tail in her final over, with Wyatt claiming her third catch at deep midwicket before Gordon's stumps were rearranged.

Western Storm did the double over both sides in the group stage, and will be confident of getting past the Vipers in the final, but flashes of form from Wyatt and Bates will have made it clear that they will need to strike early with the ball.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Colts quarterback Andrew Luck took out a full-page ad in the Indianapolis Star to thank his fans following his retirement on Aug. 24.

"Thank you for an incredible eight years," the No. 1 overall pick of the 2012 draft wrote. "... For helping me grow on and off the field. ... It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent the Colts and the city of Indianapolis on the world's stage."

In today's Sunday Star, retired QB Andrew Luck thanks the city of Indianapolis and Colts fans.

Be sure to pick up a copy that has a special section dedicated to the career of No. 12. pic.twitter.com/lgLLt7lT6u

— IndyStar (@indystar) September 1, 2019

Luck suddenly announced his retirement after he said constant injury problems over the past few years took his love for the game away. He called his retirement the "hardest decision of my life. But it is the right decision for me." Luck played in all 16 games just once over the past four seasons.

The 2018 NFL Comeback Player of the Year was booed by fans when he walked off the field at Lucas Oil Stadium at the end of the Colts' game against Chicago on Aug. 24.

Luck finished his career with 2,000 completions, 3,290 attempts, 23,671 yards, 171 touchdowns and 83 interceptions.