After going down to Australia in a thrilling, rain-shortened semi-final at the T20 World Cup, South Africa captain South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk made it clear she would "rather lose than get a free pass" into the tournament's final.

Van Niekerk's views came in the wake of a five-run defeat for her side, having been set a DLS-calculated chase of 98 in 13 overs, with Australia having batted a full 20 overs to put on a competitive 5 for 134. Only hours earlier, the washed-out first semi-final had facilitated Group A-toppers India's qualification into their first T20 World Cup final, at the expense of England, and heightened concerns the second match in the double-header at the SCG would end similarly.

With rain forecast through the evening, the requirement of a minimum of 10 overs a side for the semi-final to yield a result kept defending champions Australia on tenterhooks. The hosts' innings had only just ended when a heavy spell of rain arrived, forcing a 40-minute delay and eating into the overs available for the South Africa chase. As with India, a washout in their semi-final would have propelled South Africa into Sunday's final on the basis of group position.

ALSO READ: 'Hope there's going to be a rule change' - Knight on reserve days

"I am not going to sit and lie and say, 'You don't think about it,'" van Niekerk said, when asked if her team had been tracking the weather updates through the day. "I have to give credit to the groundstaff; they did absolutely everything to keep us on the park. And we are here to play cricket. I'd rather lose than get a free pass into the World Cup final."

Before the game, van Niekerk had unequivocally lined herself up on the side of the debate that argued in favour of reserve days for world tournament knockouts. "To lose out because of weather is probably not ideal," she said on Wednesday. "And I don't think it should be like that. I believe in the future, semi-finals and finals should definitely have reserve days."

Merit, and not the elements, eventually decided the outcome of closely contested Australia v South Africa face-off. Laura Wolvaardt revived a flagging chase with an enterprising 27-ball 41 not-out after coming in at No. 5, with South Africa teetering at 3 for 24 in the fifth over. By the end of the ninth over, the required run rate had peaked at 10.75 runs an over, but two fours from Wolvaardt in the 10th injected much-needed impetus into the chase. Vitally, an outcome in the game was by now guaranteed.

With 32 needed off the last three, Wolvaardt kept South Africa in the hunt with an array of picture-perfect drives and straight-batted brisk hits, even as she lost partners at the other end and another incoming round of drizzle started titling the odds in Australia's favour. A six off the last ball of the 12th over reduced the equation to 19 off the last over, which eventually proved five runs too many for South Africa to alter their winless record against Australia in international cricket.

For van Niekerk, though, the character in Wolvaardt's fightback - and through the tournament where South Africa won three out of their four completed league games - stood out as a highlight of their campaign.

"I don't have to [do anything to keep her confidence up]," van Niekerk said. "She is a smart kid. First of all, she loves the game of cricket. The fact that she gave up medicine to play cricket, that says a lot. She loves cricket, she just wants to bat all the time, and gets upset if she doesn't bat.

"She gets upset when she sits on the side and it showed in this World Cup. She wanted to be out there. She apologised for not getting the last runs [laughs]. She couldn't have done anything more. She's been brilliant; she's my pick of the tournament as well."

With the big-hitting Chloe Tryon coming in as low as No. 6, questions over the order of the line-up lingered after South Africa came up short again - for the second time across the three most-recent world tournaments, their semi-final in the 2017 ODI World Cup also having ended in "heartbreak".

But van Niekerk defended the batting order. "No. I feel like Sune [Luus] and Wolfie did really well," she said. "They changed the momentum in the middle and then at the back end of the innings. I was still quite confident when Chloe went out there even with the last over; it's three hits away, especially for somebody with her power.

"She miscued a full toss; nine out of ten time she would hit that probably on top of the roof. That's the nature of the game. It's never easy to come in and just swing away, no matter how strong you are. Chloe came in at the right time. I think the second half of the last over was bowled in brilliantly. That stopped the momentum a bit."

On the eve of the semi-final, van Niekerk had backed her team - "the best" South Africa have had in a while - to make the final, even though she had conceded they were "babies" compared to four-time champions Australia. But the chasm in experience between the No. 1-ranked team and South Africa ultimately cost them another shy at a maiden title.

"They are experienced in knockout games," van Niekerk said. "Let's be honest, we've only been in three [semi-finals]; they've played countless. I have to give them credit, their plans were spot on. The way they started their tournament [losing to India], to where they are now - it tells you about the quality of their team.

"You can never write off the No. 1 team in the world, and they showed tonight why they are, and why they came back. At one stage, it was our game to win, and theirs to lose. [They] turned the tables again. It comes with experience, and confidence. I believed they are the deserved No. 1 team at the moment."

Daren Sammy will no longer captain Peshawar Zalmi effective immediately, and will instead move upstairs to take over as head coach instead.

In a major mid-season reshuffle, last year's finalists also announced Wahab Riaz is to take over as full-time captain, while Mohammad Akram, who was the head coach until now, will continue as director of cricket, as well as serving as the franchise's bowling coach.

This doesn't necessarily mean the tremendously popular Sammy has played his last game for Peshawar Zalmi, however. Peshawar said he would serve as head coach-cum-player for the next two years, suggesting he may still have a role to play on the field. However, Mohammad Akram, who made the announcement, was clear that his role with Peshawar was primarily as head coach, now.

ALSO READ: Sammy to become honorary citizen of Pakistan

"Daren is very close to my heart, and the Zalmi family's heart," Akram said. "It took a little persuading to come to this decision. Daren will be the new head coach of Peshawar Zalmi starting today for the next two years. His contract is already as a playing coach, so if the committee feels he's in form to play, he can take the field as well. But from today, he is head coach first."

For his part, Sammy's remarks suggested the decision to make the move had not been a completely harmonious one. Calling the decision "difficult" and insisting he was fully fit this season, he accepted he needed to do what the team required, and had ultimately agreed moving to a non-playing role was the best option.

"As a player, it's always difficult to make the transition," he said. "Like Akram said, we are a family, and throughout the years of playing and leading this franchise, we have shown it's not just a cricket team but a family. The truth is the last two years I've played not fully fit. This year, I feel I'm ready to go, but if there's one thing that made Peshawar Zalmi what it is, my message is to do what's necessary, what's best for the team. As a leader, I feel I've demonstrated that.

"This year, my preparation and form has not been exactly what I wanted it to perform in the best way possible. So we came to this decision to do what was best for the team. If I'm asking my players to do what's best for the team, then I must practice what I preach. I still have the option to select myself, but I think for this tournament right now, looking at the young players we have, it's time for me to lead the team in a different role."

Suggestions of some disagreements brewed when Sammy posted a cryptic tweet hours before the side's game against Karachi Kings on Monday, saying "I've learnt you are important until you've completed your role". When the game began, it was Wahab instead of Sammy who led the side, the fast bowler saying Sammy was "resting".

Sammy has been a mainstay of the Peshawar Zalmi side since its inception. Named vice-captain of the franchise in 2016, he has only missed three of the 53 games the team has played, the last one coming on Monday. He took over as captain in 2017 after Shahid Afridi stepped down, and his popularity in Pakistan soared when Peshawar's overseas contingent all travelled to Pakistan for the 2017 PSL final in Lahore, when Quetta Gladiators, who were playing them in the final, had to play without their overseas players, who pulled out due to security reasons.

On March 23, the day after the final on what is Pakistan Day, Sammy will be made an honorary citizen of Pakistan by the country's government in recognition of his "invaluable contribution to cricket in Pakistan".

The Philadelphia Eagles will let left tackle Jason Peters enter free agency by mutual agreement, the team announced Thursday, but said they will remain in communication as "each side continues to evaluate its options."

"We are appreciative of everything Jason has contributed to the organization over the last 11 seasons in Philadelphia, including building a first-ballot Hall of Fame career and helping us win our first Super Bowl Championship. Jason has been an incredible leader and person both on and off the field," the team said in a statement.

Free agents can officially sign with new teams on March 18 at 4 p.m. ET. Beginning at noon ET on March 16, their agents can negotiate contracts with other clubs.

Peters has built up Hall of Fame credentials over his distinguished 16-year career with the Buffalo Bills and Eagles. An undrafted tight end out of Arkansas, he has been named to the Pro Bowl nine times and an All-Pro six times while being widely regarded as one of the best tackles in the game.

Peters, who turned 38 in January, is not as dominant as he once was. He has dealt with numerous injuries in recent seasons, including a torn meniscus in his knee in 2019 that required minor surgery. Yet he has managed to start 29 of a possible 32 games the past two years, playing at a fairly high level over that span.

He signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the Eagles last offseason after starting all 16 games in 2018 despite suffering a torn biceps and a quad strain during the season. He suffered a season-ending ACL and MCL injury in 2017.

The Eagles moved up in the first round of last year's draft to select Peters' projected successor, Andre Dillard, 22nd overall. He started four games as an injury replacement his rookie season, with mixed success.

ESPN's Tim McManus contributed to this report.

PHILADELPHIA -- This Philadelphia 76ers star has a new nickname because of a hilarious wrong answer on "Jeopardy."

Who is Joel Embiid?

The Sixers All-Star center was featured on the quiz show Wednesday night in the first-round category of "Current Sports Nicknames." The $1,000 question was, "Joel Embiid in 2019 won the trademark for this nickname that also describes the 76ers' strategy of improving the team."

The answer is The Process.

The guess was "What is 'Do a 180'?"

View this post on Instagram

New year, New me!!! You can now call me JOEL "DO A 180" EMBIID

A post shared by Joel "The Process" Embiid (@joelembiid) on Mar 4, 2020 at 6:33pm PST

Embiid, introduced at home games as The Process, poked fun at the viral clip, changing his Twitter handle to "Joel 'Do a 180' Embiid???" He posted a picture of himself on Instagram with the caption, "New Year, New Me!!!! You can now call me JOEL 'DO A 180' EMBIID."

Someone on the "Jeopardy" staff might be a 76ers fan. Allen Iverson was the answer to a question in an episode late last year, and he also was guessed incorrectly.

Which teams are going to win the big NBA playoff races?

There's a heated race for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, with the winner likely getting a matchup against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. There are also key races for No. 2 and more seeds in each conference.

How will everything shake out over the final weeks of the regular season? Which potential opponents would give the Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks the most trouble? And which team is the real title favorite?

The ESPN Forecast panel of NBA experts makes predictions.

MORE: Latest NBA standings

Who will get the West No. 2 seed?

Only two games in the loss column separate the LA Clippers, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets, but our panel likes the Clippers as the overwhelming favorite to earn home court on the opposite side of the bracket from the Lakers.

ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI) and FiveThirtyEight projections also give the Clippers the nod here.

• Clippers: 81.6%

• Nuggets: 13.2%

• Rockets: 5.3%

MORE: ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Who will get the West No. 8 seed?

With the other seven West playoff spots essentially locked up, No. 8 is the race to watch.

More than 80% of our panel has one of the NBA's most exciting rookies facing LeBron in the first round, with Zion Williamson's New Orleans Pelicans taking the top spot here. New Orleans has one of the easiest remaining schedules in the league and finally looks healthy.

FiveThirtyEight also leans toward the Pelicans (43% chance to make the postseason), but BPI has moved Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies nto a slight lead (35.2% chance).

• Pelicans: 52.6%

• Grizzlies: 34.2%

• Trail Blazers: 10.5%

• Spurs: 2.6%

MORE: NBA's best 25 under 25: Ranking future superstars

Who will get the East No. 2 seed?

Falling to No. 3 in the Eastern Conference would mean a likely first-round matchup with either the Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers or Miami Heat, so this is a key race for the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors -- currently separated by just one loss.

Our panel likes Toronto and BPI agrees, but FiveThirtyEight prefers Boston.

• Raptors: 55.3%

• Celtics: 44.7%

MORE: How many real title contenders are in the East?

Who will get the East No. 7 seed?

The Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets are both overwhelming favorites to grab the last two playoff spots, according to the projection systems ... but which one will avoid the Bucks in Round 1?

Our panel gives Orlando a slight edge. Both BPI and FiveThirtyEight are on the same page there.

• Magic: 47.4%

• Nets: 44.7%

• Pacers: 5.3%

• Wizards: 2.6%

MORE: Biggest 2020 NBA draft moments to watch in a crucial March

Which potential second-round matchup would give the Lakers the most trouble?

The Rockets rank No. 2 overall (behind the Clippers) in FiveThirtyEight's full strength playoff rating, which assumes all key players are in the lineup. At its best, Houston's small-ball experiment might be able to give the big Lakers real trouble, and the Rockets run away with this vote.

Note: The Clippers -- favorites for the No. 2 seed -- were not included in this vote.

• Rockets: 65.8%

• Nuggets: 15.8%

• Jazz: 10.5%

• Mavericks: 5.3%

• Thunder: 2.6%

MORE: How Kristaps Porzingis sets up Luka Doncic and the NBA's best offense

Which potential second-round matchup would give the Bucks the most trouble?

FiveThirtyEight's full-strength playoff metric is less high on Miami -- the Heat rank outside the top 15, while Philadelphia is at No. 4. However, there's no certainty that Sixers superstars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are at 100% for the postseason, making Miami the pick here for our panel.

Note: The Raptors and Celtics were not included in this vote.

• Heat: 60.5%

• 76ers: 39.5%

MORE: Bucks keep making history, but do skeptics still have a case?

Which team should be the title favorites right now?

While there remain Bucks skeptics across the league, the majority of our panel believes in their front-runner status at the moment.

FiveThirtyEight slightly prefers the Clippers to win it all -- giving them a 25% chance compared to Milwaukee's 20% -- while BPI agrees with the panel, giving the Bucks a 64% chance to take the title.

• Bucks: 60.5%

• Lakers: 28.9%

• Clippers: 10.5%

MORE: LeBron has approached this Lakers season differently

_{Image credits: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports, Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports, Michael Dwyers/AP Photo, AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images, Mitchell Leff/Getty Images, Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images}

Red Sox ace Chris Sale has a flexor strain in his pitching arm and will be shut down from throwing for a week.

Red Sox interim manager Ron Roenicke updated Sale's status Thursday morning, telling reporters that an MRI showed no notable damage to the left-hander's elbow.

Sale underwent an MRI on Tuesday, and the results were examined by Red Sox doctors along with renowned surgeons Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

Roenicke said that neither Andrews nor ElAttrache recommended surgery for Sale's elbow.

"Doctors have advised him to wait another week before he starts throwing again," Roenicke said. "He'll start playing catch again. If everything is good, we'll progress."

Sale last faced hitters on Aug. 13, giving up five runs with 12 strikeouts over 6⅔ innings in a win at Cleveland. He was put on the injured list and shut down with elbow inflammation, ending his worst season at 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA in 25 starts.

The Red Sox already had said that Sale, 30, will start this season on the injured list after he reported to camp with pneumonia.

Last March, the Red Sox signed Sale to a five-year, $145 million contract extension. The new deal starts this season and runs through the 2024 season. Sale will earn $30 million per year from 2020 to 2022 and $27.5 million in '23 and '24.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hopes to play on Opening Day, but he is "frustrated" that doctors haven't determined the cause of soreness in the pectoral area near his right shoulder.

Judge said Thursday that he still needs to undergo more tests, telling reporters that sometimes he feels pain in his shoulder and other times he feels pain in his pectoral.

Judge said multiple tests he has already had "are coming back clean, so we're just trying to figure out what's going on."

Despite not playing yet in spring training and with Opening Day being three weeks away, Judge is not ruling out playing in the Yankees' season opener March 26 against the Baltimore Orioles, saying he needs only about 30 at-bats to be ready.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday that Judge was feeling better despite the uncertainty of his status.

After winning the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year award, Judge was limited to 112 games in 2018 because of a broken right wrist and 102 games last year because of a strained left oblique.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Quickly morphing into a marquee event on the POWRi calendar, the Turnpike Challenge has experienced a meteoric rise to national prominence since debuting in 2014.

A thrilling four-race swing throughout Oklahoma, the Turnpike Challenge is three weeks away from kick starting a new campaign for the POWRi Lucas Oil National and West Midgets and the POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League. From Creek County to I-44 to Port City, teams will be tested across four nights at three unique venues as they travel up and down the Oklahoma turnpike.

It all begins on Wednesday, March 25 with a three-hour practice session at Creek County Speedway. The next night, on Thursday, March 26, the season opener goes green at the Sapulpa, Okla. quarter mile with a full program for the POWRi National/West Midgets and the POWRi Outlaw Micros. With only one previous event in league history at Creek County, NASCAR Cup Series star Christopher Bell enters as the defending midget winner.

On Friday and Saturday, March 27-28, the series slides to the 405 for back-to-back showings at the I-44 Riverside Speedway in Oklahoma City. A host of six former Turnpike Challenge shows, the semi-banked sixth-mile has been on the Turnpike Challenge calendar since 2017. Home to four of Bell’s wins, last year’s return witnessed a pair of victories by California’s Logan Seavey, who broke the five-year reign by Oklahoma drivers. The 2019 event marked the debut of the POWRi Outlaw Micros at I-44 and saw trips to victory lane for Brady Bacon and Kaylee Bryson.

Everything comes to a head on Sunday, March 29 when the Turnpike Challenge concludes at Port City Raceway. The most visited track in Turnpike Challenge history, Port City has held seven races with four wins to Bell along with triumphs by Jason McDougal, Matt Sherrell, and Jonathan Beason in last year’s instant classic. A tight bullring eighth-mile, the Tulsa, Okla. facility has been known for producing some of the most intense, wheel-to-wheel combat you’ll see all season long.

With four races on the docket and over 1,000 points on the line, the Turnpike Challenge serves as a prime opportunity for competitors to begin their championship chase. From the always tough veterans to the rising rookies, this year’s field of title hopefuls is expected to be as stout as ever. Like last year, this year’s POWRi National Midget champion will punch his ticket to the VIROC Race of Champions at the Chili Bowl Nationals in January 2021.

The entire POWRi Turnpike Challenge will be broadcast live via SPEEDSPORT.TV.

WHEEL, Tenn. – The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series roars back into action this weekend with a waltz through Tennessee, Friday night at Duck River Raceway Park and Saturday night at Smoky Mountain Speedway.

Two-time and defending series champion Brandon Sheppard enters the weekend as the defending Morton Buildings Feature winner at Duck River, and he finished second last year to recent DIRTcar Nationals standout Jimmy Owens at Smoky Mountain.

At this time last year, Sheppard was leading by 16 points in the overall standings after winning four consecutive races at Volusia Speedway Park. This year, Sheppard has doubled that advantage, leading second-place Darrell Lanigan by 32 points. Ricky Weiss sits 54 points behind in third, while the Scott Bloomquist Racing duo of Chris Madden and Scott Bloomquist round out the top five, 90 and 110 points back, respectively.

Sheppard and the Rocket1 Racing team do have a lone tour victory to their credit this season, which they inherited in the first race at Volusia after original winner Dennis Erb Jr. was penalized. However, when glancing back into the history books, it has now been 15 consecutive World of Outlaws races since the last time Sheppard was the first car across the finish line.

This stands as the longest period of time without a natural feature win for 27-year-old Illinoisan since joining the full-time roster in 2017. Back on August 30 of last year, Sheppard won the opening night of action at Sharon Speedway’s Battle at the Border, and he hasn’t crossed the finish line first in an Outlaws race since. Previously, his largest gap between wins as an Outlaw was just five races, in 2018 – May 3 (third win) to June 14 (fourth win).

Despite his absence in Outlaws victory lane over the past few months, he’s managed to expand the points lead he claimed in season-opening event Vado Speedway Park, thanks to an incredible amount of consistency, similar to last year’s domination on the tour.

In Outlaws competition through the first seven races, the Rocket Chassis house car has finished outside of the top-five only once — a sixth in the second race at Volusia. Through the team’s first 17 races so far this year, only two have landed outside of the top-five. The team has yet to finish worse than 10th.

Those numbers are staggering. But if history is any indication, there’s one man in particular who’s proven himself a thorn in the side of Rocket1 over the past few seasons, and he goes by the name of Owens.

Other than Sheppard himself, Owens is currently one of the hottest dirt late model drivers in the country. Three consecutive DIRTcar Nationals victories at Volusia just doesn’t happen every year, let alone to someone who’s never won there before. But Owens did exactly that, outrunning Sheppard and the Outlaws three times last month. Now, he’ll look to do it again Saturday night at Smoky Mountain.

Looking back on historical trends, in Outlaws races since Sheppard’s full-time debut in 2017 where Owens has won, Sheppard has finished second to him three times – including twice just last year.

Sheppard will be aiming to repeat Friday at Duck River, and then do something on Saturday he’s never been able to do, beat Owens at Smoky Mountain.

Defending champion Francesco Molinari withdrew prior to the start of the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, citing a back injury.

Molinari was replaced in the field by K.H. Lee, who went out Thursday morning alongside 2018 API champion Rory McIlroy and former world No. 1 Justin Rose.

Molinari has not won an event, on any tour, since shooting 64 Sunday at Bay Hill a year ago to capture this tournament. He jumped to seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking at that point, but is currently 26th.