Australia have given themselves a head start in the Women's Ashes with victory in the first two ODIs, and coach Matthew Mott is confident there is more to come after they were able to win despite two stuttering displays from the top order.

They edged over the line by two wickets in the opening match - after which Mott was critical of the Australia batsmen's shot selection - followed by an improved performance in the second outing which ended in a four-wicket win, but it still needed an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 60 between Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen after England had fought back.

There has been a half-century apiece for Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry, but slimmer pickings for the rest of the top order: Nicole Bolton has failed twice, Rachael Haynes has 40 runs in two innings and captain Meg Lanning 34 runs.

"It's probably a blessing, I guess, you know some of that top order are due and the fact we are getting over the line without them is a real positive for us," Mott said. "They'll do a lot of work in the next couple of days but there weren't too many bad shots there, so that's a positive. We are two up, which is really important and from here on. When the batters get set we'd like them to get some big scores.

"The composure shown at the back end, it got tricky at one stage. Think England probably thought they had the game at six down and they were really composed. They made it look a lot easier than we thought it might be."

On Lanning, specifically, Mott said her dismissal in the second match was down to a fantastic piece of bowling from Katherine Brunt. "She got 90-odd in the practice game and looked in great nick, [it] was just a ripper of a ball, thought she looked well set and her intent was excellent. It took something special to get rid of her."

Victory in the third ODI in Canterbury would put Australia well on track to retain the Ashes in the multi-format, seven-match series. There are four points on offer for a win in the Test, and two for a draw, before the three-match T20I series with two points for a win, but memories of the last Ashes, when England fought back at the end, will be at the forefront of Australia's mind.

"It's huge. We want to get out as far in front as we can," Mott said. "We said from the start we had a bitter taste from the last one when they came back and drew the series, so the next game is the most important game."

LAS VEGAS -- An earthquake that struck in Southern California forced the postponement of the late games in the Las Vegas Summer League on Friday night, including the NBA debuts for No. 1 pick Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans and No. 3 pick RJ Barrett of the New York Knicks.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres played through the earthquake during their game at Dodger Stadium, though a WNBA game in Las Vegas also was stopped.

Estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey say a 7.1 magnitude quake hit in Southern California at 8:19 p.m. PT. The quake had been downgraded to 6.9 before seismologists restored the original magnitude. The quake was felt all the way in Las Vegas during the fourth quarter of the Pelicans-Knicks game inside the Thomas & Mack Center.

The overhead scoreboard in the arena was swaying, and officials elected to stop the game and have the teams leave the floor while gauging if it was safe to continue. After about a 15-minute delay, the decision was made to suspend the game with the Pelicans leading 80-74. The NBA announced later Friday that the game would not be resumed. The league also canceled the game involving the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets, which was to have been played after the Knicks-Pelicans.

"I was bringing the ball up, it felt like someone was pushing my hip, like I kind of leaned this way, and I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, what is going on?'" New Orleans guard Frank Jackson said. "And then I just saw everything shaking."

Said New Orleans' Christian Wood, who played collegiately at UNLV: "I've been a part of earthquakes, but nothing while playing basketball. It was cool, but I don't want to be a part of it anymore."

A game involving the Orlando Magic and the San Antonio Spurs inside the smaller Cox Pavilion, which is attached to the Thomas & Mack Center, initially continued without delay because that gym lacks an overhead scoreboard. The league ultimately decided to cancel that game after the third period, however, for "precautionary reasons."

"Safety comes first, second, third," NBA summer league executive director Warren LeGarie said.

Friday night's quake was centered 11 miles from Ridgecrest, California, a Mojave Desert town about 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Los Angeles. The same area was jolted by a 6.4 quake a day earlier.

Friday's quake was felt in downtown Los Angeles as a rolling motion that seemed to last at least a half-minute. It hit Dodger Stadium in the fourth inning when Dodgers second baseman Enrique Hernandez was batting. It didn't appear to affect him or Padres pitcher Eric Lauer, and the game continued without disruption.

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw told reporters afterward that he didn't feel the quake.

"Everybody's telling me about it," he said. "I was underneath in the tunnel, and the crowd's kind of going crazy, but I had no idea what was going on until somebody told me."

However, it was obvious to viewers of the SportsNet LA broadcast when the TV picture began bouncing up and down.

There was no announcement by the stadium's public address announcer. Some fans in the upper decks appeared to leave their seats and move to a concourse at the top of the stadium. The press box lurched for about 20 seconds.

Also in the Las Vegas area, a WNBA game between the Mystics and Aces at the Mandalay Bay Resort was suspended at halftime because of the quake.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LAS VEGAS -- Zion Williamson's first NBA show was a sellout.

And it ended earlier than the fans wanted.

The No. 1 overall draft pick by the New Orleans Pelicans didn't keep his adoring public waiting for his display of dunks and power. With tickets commanding more than $500 on the resale markets throughout the day from those desperate to be part of the crowd -- one that included LeBron James and Floyd Mayweather -- Williamson took the floor as a pro for the first time Friday night in the NBA summer league, scoring 11 points in nine first-half minutes against the New York Knicks and fellow former Duke star RJ Barrett.

But Williamson didn't play in the second half because of a knee-to-knee hit, and fans who were chanting "We want Zion! We want Zion!" weren't going to get any more than those first nine minutes.

The game was suspended in the fourth quarter after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit near Ridgecrest, California, around 200 miles from Las Vegas.

But the big attraction -- maybe the hottest ticket in Vegas on a night when Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn were doing their thing at Caesars Palace, Gwen Stefani was at Planet Hollywood and Wiz Khalifa was playing a late show at a nightclub -- had already ended earlier than anticipated.

"Obviously, the guy we drafted put a buzz in the air for everybody in here," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said.

That he did.

It would be inaccurate to say the whole NBA was watching. It only seemed that way.

James was in a baseline seat, a few spots to the right of San Antonio's DeMar DeRozan. Mayweather arrived a few minutes before game time. Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks was on hand, and so was Lonzo Ball -- James' teammate with the Lakers, until the trade that sends him to New Orleans as part of the Anthony Davis swap happens on Saturday. Davis arrived in the middle of the first quarter, sitting for a few minutes with James and agent Rich Paul, watching the Pelicans on what will be his final night as a Pelican.

James arrived for the Lakers-Bulls game that preceded the Pelicans-Knicks matchup, and gave his soon-to-be-former teammate Ball a big hug between games. It made sense that he was there for the Lakers. And it was no surprise that he stayed to see Williamson.

"I've never met him," James said.

Asked if he'd be willing to offer Williamson counsel, since he might be one of the few people in NBA history to enter the pro ranks amid such fanfare, James said he'd happily offer whatever he could.

"My line is open," said James, the No. 1 pick 16 years earlier.

The Pelicans tried a lob to Williamson on the first play after the tap, and he was cheered for getting fouled. Then again, he also was cheered for going onto the floor for warm-ups, for dunks in the layup line and when he was introduced as the fifth and final starter for the Pelicans in the pregame introductions. Fans even cheered when he would get off the bench to go back into the game.

"We're not going to do anything crazy with him," Gentry said. "This gives you an opportunity to test out the speed of the game and things like that. That's really all you learn from this."

There had been two sellouts in NBA summer league history in Las Vegas before Friday.

Then Friday sold out.

And Saturday has as well.

Sunday hasn't yet. Reason? Williamson isn't playing that day. The Pelicans play again Saturday night against Rui Hachimura and Washington. Summer league has gotten bigger and bigger each year, but The Zion Factor is very real -- and a league that set an attendance record in Vegas last summer is already well on its way to smashing that mark this year.

"People want to be part of something big and special," said Warren LeGarie, the summer league's executive director. "And Zion loves the game. My partner Albert Hall, the brains of this operation, he ran Adidas Nations and Zion was with him since he was 14 years old. He has a picture of Zion in a tub of ice because he's overheating because he loved to play so much."

And on Friday, at long last, he was in the NBA.

EPPING, N.H. – Defending NHRA Funny Car champion J.R. Todd powered down the hot track Friday evening for the provisional top spot at the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.

Todd drove his DHL Toyota Camry to a 4.022 second pass at 317.34 mph during the second round of qualifying. Todd is chasing his second No. 1 qualifier of the season, 12th of his career and first at New England Dragway.

“We’re starting the second half of the season and it’s really go time, to start making moves,” Todd said. “I said last year I wanted to be in the top five coming out of Indy and we’re hanging right around there right now. But that was a good run for the DHL Toyota there in Q2. I didn’t think it was going to hold, though. I’m kind of surprised (Ron) Capps didn’t run better than he did. But, hats off to (crew chiefs) Jon (Oberhofer) and Todd Smith for adapting to these hot conditions and making this thing rip like it is.”

Capps and teammate Shawn Langdon are currently in the second and third spots, respectively, following Friday’s sessions qualifying.

Clay Millican is also sitting in the top spot for Top Fuel at the 13th of 24 events on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series calendar.

Millican’s second qualifying run of 3.795 seconds at 326.71 mph in his Parts Plus/Laris Motorsports Insurance dragster earned the top spot of the day. He is looking for his second No. 1 qualifying position of the season, 22nd of his career and first at the NHRA New England Nationals.

“It was pretty obvious that everybody was having trouble,” Millican said. “There was no way a 3.79 was going to stay No. 1, I didn’t think. We were second car down the race track in that session and it’s a good race track but any race track is going to have trouble when it’s this hot outside.”

Despite finishing the World Cup with back-to-back five-wicket hauls, Mustafizur Rahman is focused on improving his accuracy to become a more consistent bowler at the death. He claimed 5 for 75 against Pakistan, to follow his 5 for 59 against India, and ended the tournament with 20 wickets at 24.20 but among bowlers who have taken at least 15 wickets, he conceded the highest runs per over.

After the Pakistan match, Mustafizur sat second to Mitchell Starc's 24 wickets in eight matches, although Starc, Jofra Archer, Lockie Ferguson and Mark Wood would have more opportunities to get past him in the rest of the competition.

WATCH on Hotstar (India only): Mustafizur's five-wicket haul

Significantly, he has not taken a single wicket in the first 30 overs of a game, having taken all of his wickets in the last 20 overs; 13 have come in the last five overs, in which he has taken a wicket in this World Cup every 7.50 balls. Mustafizur said that he wants to further work on his yorkers and sees playing more T20s as an opportunity to hone that skill.

"You always remember five-wicket hauls, especially if it comes during a World Cup," Mustafizur said. "The one against India was definitely a special one, and while everyone said that I have been able to prove myself at the big stage, I think I could have done a lot better. I think I need to improve on my variations. I have a cutter but my yorker is 50/50. I want to improve the accuracy of my yorker, particularly for the death overs. I think playing more T20s will help accuracy while bowling in the last ten overs of a one-day game."

Among the bowlers in the World Cup, Ferguson, Archer, Sheldon Cottrell, Lasith Malinga and Mohammad Amir are the top five wicket-takers in the first 20 overs, but Mustafizur is head and shoulders above the rest in the last 10 overs, in which he averages 12.73 for his 15 wickets, and has taken a wicket every 10 balls, although Starc's nine wickets in the final ten have come at just 7.77

ALSO READ: Bowling and fielding a massive letdown - Mashrafe

Since his debut in 2015 he has the second most wickets (48) in the last 10 overs of an ODI innings, second only to Jasprit Bumrah, and better than Rashid Khan. But it is a huge contrast in the first 20 overs where he averages 41.33, and it has developed into a situation where Bangladesh have lacked wickets in this phase throughout the World Cup, in which Mashrafe Mortaza, their main wicket-taker with the new ball in the last two decades, have also struggled for form.

Mustafizur said that he is comfortable bowling in the first 20 overs of the innings although he doesn't see himself as an out-and-out pace bowler, but a slightly different variation of it. "I am ready to bowl at any stage in the match. I am a slightly different pace bowler. I average about 135kph, so I am not that quick. I am happy with my speed but I should be able to add a few more variations to my bowling."

If Kawhi Leonard keeps the NBA waiting on his decision past noon Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers might need to push back the date of when the Anthony Davis trade becomes official.

Leonard has been deciding between the Toronto Raptors, Lakers and LA Clippers. If the best available free agent doesn't make his decision by noon ET on Saturday, the Lakers would need the New Orleans Pelicans, Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards to cooperate on pushing back the July 6 date -- the earliest the trade can be made official -- originally agreed upon in the Davis deal.

League sources told ESPN's Bobby Marks that the Pelicans, Hawks and Wizards are expected to cooperate with the Lakers if Leonard is still undecided by noon Saturday. The date was agreed upon initially in the Lakers and Pelicans' deal sending Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks for Davis. The deal was based on the Lakers using the $32 million in cap space created on a max free agent, such as Leonard or on other players available.

If the Pelicans, Hawks and Wizards do not agree to delay the date to make the trade official past Saturday should Leonard remain undecided, the Lakers' cap space would shrink to $30 million and Los Angeles would be able to offer Leonard only a four-year deal worth $127 million compared to the four-year, $138 million contract they can offer with $32 million available in cap space.

After agreeing to terms with the Lakers to deal Davis, New Orleans agreed to send the fourth overall pick (De'Andre Hunter) from the Lakers and the 57th pick (Jordan Bone) in last month's draft along with Solomon Hill to Atlanta for the eighth pick (Jaxson Hayes), the 17th pick (Nickeil Alexander-Walker), the 35th pick (Marcos Louzada Silva) and a 2020 first-round pick.

The Lakers created $32 million in cap space with help from Davis waiving his $4 million trade bonus, and by also agreeing to trade Moritz Wagner, Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones and a 2022 second-round pick to Washington, which sent cash to New Orleans.

The Lakers have been mostly in a holding pattern as Leonard mulls his decision. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Lakers agreed to sign Troy Daniels to a one-year, $2.1 million deal and Jared Dudley to a one-year, $2.6 million deal. The Lakers still have to fill out the majority of their roster around LeBron James, Davis and Kyle Kuzma.

The Pelicans cannot sign JJ Redick until Hill is traded to Atlanta, which later agreed to trade Hill and Miles Plumlee in a deal to Memphis for Chandler Parsons, league sources told ESPN's Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon. Atlanta's Hunter, New Orleans' Alexander-Walker and Hayes and Washington's Wagner, Bonga and Jones cannot play in the Las Vegas Summer League until the Davis trade is made official.

The Washington Wizards are trading Dwight Howard to the Memphis Grizzlies for CJ Miles, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Grizzlies will waive Howard, according to a league source. It is possible there no longer exists a marketplace of teams interested in signing the former All-NBA center.

The deal will save Memphis $3.1 million in salary-cap space.

Howard, 33, played only nine games for the Wizards last season because of a back injury. In the 2017-18 season, he averaged 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds in 30.4 minutes per game for the Charlotte Hornets.

Miles, 32, averaged 9.3 points in 22.6 minutes per game for the Grizzlies, who acquired the wing in February as part of the trade that sent Marc Gasol to the Toronto Raptors.

Christian Yelich gave boaters in Pittsburgh's Allegheny River a reminder Friday: If you sail too close to the Pirates' ballpark, prepare to be boarded.

While practicing for Monday's Home Run Derby (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), the Milwaukee Brewers slugger sent a bombardment of balls out of PNC Park and toward those enjoying the holiday weekend on the river.

With an MLB-leading 31 homers and counting, it hardly seems Yelich needs to practice for the event, but he took some soft tosses from former Marlins coach Pat Shine around 2 p.m. ET on Friday, with the aim of hitting them out of the park.

One of Yelich's massive shots broke a window of a houseboat, according to a report from Fox Sports Wisconsin, to which Yelich responded with a shrug emoji.

??‍♂️ https://t.co/si2mm6EOpY

— Christian Yelich (@ChristianYelich) July 5, 2019

Boat owner Clint Lohler estimated that at least four balls landed in the water near him, and he fished out one as a souvenir.

"When it started out, I thought it was a young kid throwing the ball in the river," Lohler told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I was like, 'Oh, there's a baseball.' So I went and got my pole. ... The next thing I knew, they were coming over the wall here and hitting the boats."

One concerned boater called police, according to multiple local reports. Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala joked on social media that he would love to bring Yelich in for questioning regarding the incident and suggested 7:05 p.m. ET -- the start time of the Brewers' game against the Pirates at PNC.

"The legend of Yeli," Yelich's teammate Ryan Braun said before the game. "That's how legends are made."

PNC Park is on the Allegheny River in the North Shore neighborhood. Boats dock on the river wall, and commuters to the neighborhood often park their cars elsewhere and travel via boat to work or to attend games.

The boaters had cause to be surprised. Since PNC Park opened in 2001, only five home run balls have landed in the river during games. Two of those were hit this season by the Pirates' Josh Bell -- who will also be among the eight contestants competing for the Home Run Derby's $1 million price next week at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

"You have to understand there's some inherent risk," Braun said. "Especially if you have guys like Yeli and Josh Bell practicing for Home Run Derby. I think there's probably added risk if you're parked anywhere on the river with your yacht or boat in that situation."