Perry takes tight first game but lets slip 10-5 lead in the second
By Squash Mad Correspondent

Egypt’s reigning champion Nour El Tayeb retained her Cleveland Classic title after weathering a fierce attack from England’s Sarah-Jane Perry.

Perry had removed No.2 seed Joelle King in the semi-finals and launched a solid attack against the tournament favourite in the early phase of the final at Cleveland Racquets Club.

The physicality of top-class squash was evident in two brutal opening games. Perry was very accurate as she took the first game 12-10 and she started the second with a very good variation of shots and amazing racket skills to set herself 10-5 up.

That was not enough, though, to take the game, as Nour saved eight game balls to tie the match showing an incredible physicality and mental toughness to win it 14-12.

That fightback was a significant achievement for the Egyptian, who was runner-up in the Carol Weymuller Open at Heights Casino last week.

After the first two games, El Tayeb came out looking really strong and in dominant mood as the setback clearly got to Perry. El Tayeb used her short shots in a very smart way, always catching her taller opponent off guard.

The Englishwoman made a few mistakes in both the third and fourth games, which the top seed used to cruised her way and eventually win her second Cleveland Classic final, 10-12, 14-12, 11-5, 11-4 in 51 minutes.

PSA $51,250 Women’s Cleveland Classic 2020, Cleveland Racquet Club, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Final:
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) beat [3] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-1: 10-12, 14-12, 11-5, 11-4 (51m) 

Pictures courtesy of ANDREA DAWSON

The Sydney Sixers are concerned about the potential for the Big Bash final turning into the lottery of a heavily shortened match with a poor forecast threatening to ruin the showpiece occasion at the SCG on Saturday as well as the fundraising Bushfire Bash that will precede it.

Given current predictions, even a reduced game may be too much to ask with significant rain - much needed for the region - forecast from Thursday and right through the weekend. The Bureau of Meteorology is currently saying a 90% chain of rain for Sydney on Saturday with up to 25 millimeters possible.

An abandoned final would see the Sydney Sixers taking the title - their opponents, either the Melbourne Stars or Sydney Thunder will be known on Thursday - with a minimum of five overs per side needed to constitute a match. There is no reserve day for the final.

The double-header is already a sellout - although a few tickets may be released later in the week - with the bushfire relief match in the afternoon featuring a host of former greats including Brian Lara, Wasim Akram, Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne.

"You can't do anything about it. I've spent a lot of days sitting here at the SCG watching it rain, especially in Test match cricket. I think second place would be more worried than us," Josh Hazlewood said.

"The one thing we're worried about is getting one of those five, six, seven-over games. We either probably want it completely washed out or get the full game in. That's probably the only worry."

"It [a short game] certainly is a bit of a lottery for sure. If you've got five overs, a batter hits a couple of balls out of the ground it's game over just about or one bowler bowls a good over it's the same result. It is a bit of a lottery but that's what it comes down to sometimes."

Having earned a longer lead-in to the final, Hazlewood said that the Sixers would likely use their training days to work through a few potential scenarios for rain-reduced matches.

"Just with that threat of rain we'll probably practice a few of those, not super overs, but pretend you've only got one over in the game and batting again is the same, pretending you've only got 10 or 12 balls to face. A lot of good batting orders have those players at the top anyway so it's not necessarily going to change the order too much it's just how you bowl knowing you might only have six balls to make an impact on the final. It's going to be tough."

The Sixers do have the advantage of having played - and won - a Super Over this season having tied their match against the Thunder before winning the decider.

"We were pretty fortunate we had that experience early on in the season," Sean Abbott said. "We can definitely call upon the conversations we had after that game. That was an advantage we've had."

The feeling in the Sixers' camp is that it would be fun to have a Sydney derby as the deciding match of the season. "We've already sold out the game with the bushfire relief game beforehand. A Sydney derby would be great, especially as they had the Melbourne derby last year, but I'm just really excited to play a home final," Abbott said.

However, Hazlewood fancies the Stars to end their four-match losing streak in the Challenger at the MCG. "I think Stars will bounce back and get the win down there on their home ground. But I don't mind either way to be fair."

Glenn Maxwell will return to Australian colours for the first time since he took mental health leave at the start of the summer, having enjoyed a dominant Big Bash as captain of the Melbourne Stars, as part of the limited-overs squad to tour South Africa later this month.

However, there was no room for Maxwell's Stars team-mate and the BBL's leading run-maker Marcus Stoinis, who has been recast by his club as a top-order batsman who seldom bowls and is thus stuck behind the likes of David Warner, Aaron Finch and Steven Smith in the order of preference for places. Stoinis is a standby player in the event of any injuries to squad members before the tour.

Instead, the selection panel including its newest member George Bailey, recalled his Hobart Hurricanes team-mate Matthew Wade in the T20 squad, deeming him more flexible as someone who could take on either a middle-order role or serve as a back-up player for the top three. Mitchell Marsh has been recalled to both squads as an allrounder, his first outing in Australian colours since he fractured his hand when punching a wall after his dismissal in an early season Sheffield Shield match.

From the one-day squad that toured India, Ashton Turner and Peter Handscomb have lost their spots. Turner struggled in the two innings he had while Handscomb did not get a game but Marnus Labuschagne's emergence in the middle order has put a squeeze on places. D'Arcy Short, who was called up as a replacement for Sean Abbott, misses out on both squads.

"It is fantastic to have Glenn back in both squads given his brilliant form in the middle order for the Stars along with his results with the ball," national selector Trevor Hohns said. "Glenn was one of the first picked in the most recent T20 team at the start of the summer, prior to his break from the game.

"The same can be said for Mitch. He has been in tremendous touch with the bat for the Scorchers since his return from injury and is now back bowling well. His performances warranted inclusion in the area he operates as a powerful middle order batsman and handy bowler.

"Matthew Wade is also in red hot form with the bat. He is a very strong fielder; and a great person to have in any team. He can also substitute as wicketkeeper if required. Marcus Stoinis is a standby player for each squad and was unlucky to miss out due to the makeup of the current top order. It is terrific to have a backup player of his calibre in such good form."

For a tour of three ODIs and three T20Is that will see Warner and Smith return to South Africa for the first time since the Newlands ball tampering scandal in 2018, Maxwell has been named in the squads for both formats, as an acknowledgement of the shotmaking snap that was missing from the 50-over team in their 2-1 series loss in India last month.

Jhye Richardson, who had looked to be on the cusp of international selection when the summer began, also returns to the T20 squad after a strong BBL in what was overall a failed campaign by the Perth Scorchers. Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar have been retained as spin bowlers in the squad.

"Jhye Richardson also returns to the T20 side from injury with his performances demanding inclusion," Hohns said. "He is a terrific young player who has been sensational in all forms of the game; and is an extremely strong fieldsman."

Will Pucovski and James Pattinson have been included in the Australia A squad to face England Lions in a day-night four-day game at the MCG from February 22 with Moises Henriques rewarded for his impressive domestic performances with the captaincy.

Pucovski suffered another concussion playing for the Cricket Australia XI against the Lions on the Gold Coast on Sunday and was ruled out of the remainder of the three one-day games due to the quick turnaround between matches.

Pattinson is the one player to have appeared in this summer's Test side to be included in the A team. He played the last two Tests against New Zealand, at the MCG and SCG, following the hamstring injury suffered by Josh Hazlewood.

Michael Neser, who was in every Test squad without making his debut, is included along with legspinner Mitchell Swepson who was called up for the Sydney Test and is expected to tour Bangladesh in June.

Marcus Stoinis is handed some compensation for missing out on a recall for the limited-overs tour of South Africa with a chance to impress in the first-class arena while Usman Khawaja and Marcus Harris, who have not played since the Ashes, are given encouragement that they remains in the selectors' thoughts.

Josh Inglis, the Western Australia and Perth Scorchers wicketkeeper, will take the gloves with Alex Carey involved in the South Africa tour.

Henriques, who has led the Sydney Sixers to the final of the BBL, will captain the side in a season where he has averaged 56.62 for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield. Last month, Tim Paine name-checked him among potential all-round options for the Test side but said he would need to bowl more having only sent down 20 overs in the Shield.

Australia A squad Moises Henriques (capt), Jackson Bird, Marcus Harris, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Michael Neser, Kurtis Patterson, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson

Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal "will definitely start" as openers in the three-ODI series in New Zealand, maybe as early as in the first game on Wednesday, while KL Rahul will continue to keep wicket and bat at No. 5 to give him more time to settle into his new role, Virat Kohli confirmed at a press conference a day before the game in Hamilton.

Kohli was speaking before Agarwal had been named in the 50-over squad as the injured Rohit Sharma's replacement, but did say that the team management had asked for another opener. Sharma will now return to India to treat his calf injury.

"No, we are looking to stick to that same plan," Kohli said when asked of the possibility of Rahul opening in Sharma's absence. "It's an unfortunate situation that Rohit can't be a part of this series. In all formats, he's on the list first and the impact he's had is there for everyone to see.

ALSO READ: Chopra - Having Rahul keep and bat low isn't viable in the long term

"We don't have any one-day tournaments to look forward to so it's an ideal time for him to go away and rectify this as soon as he can. He played the T20I series, so from the team's balance perspective heading into a World Cup year, it doesn't hamper combinations.

"Prithvi's in the team and will definitely start and whoever the replacement is [Agarwal] - we've asked for an opener. KL will play in the middle-order, we want him to get used to that role at No. 5 and keep as well."

Kohli also emphasised the need to respect the 50-over format even in what is a T20 World Cup year.

"We've had five T20Is already, so it's not like we don't have a lot of T20 cricket (coming up)," he said. "We have the IPL as well, so we'll probably utilise that (to prepare for the World Cup). Last year, we didn't have much opportunity to prepare ourselves (for the 50-over World Cup) except for the games in front of you.

"We certainly expect a bunch of young guys who are good fielders to do the job collectively, not just focus on batting or bowling. It's about taking all three skills seriously and committing to all three completely" Virat Kohli on India's patchy fielding

"But T20s is very different, IPL is the most competitive T20 tournament you can ask for as a collective, and guys will look to get into the frame of mind in that tournament and not this early in a 50-over format because you don't want to play in a different manner.

"You have to respect the format and play to the pace of the 50-over game, and as I spoke of the combination Rahul playing in the middle-order, it's about guys settling in their roles and repeating that game after game. These things are all about creating good habits for different formats and then being able to switch. We're not looking at preparing for the T20 World Cup through this series. IPL will be the right platform (for that)."

Looking ahead to the ODI series, where New Zealand will be without Kane Williamson for at least the first two games, Kohli said India's immediate priority would be to up their fielding, which was "disappointing" in recent times.

"We have recognised it," he said of the efforts in the field in the T20Is, which India won 5-0. "The average age is 27 max, so we should be fielding way better than what we have. The standards in the last series overall wasn't that good from either side. It can happen in T20 cricket because it's fast-paced. And once you get into a nervous zone, it's difficult to get out of it because the ball keeps coming to you invariably.

"But even in one-day cricket, we've had fielding performances which we're not proud of and there's no hiding from it. We've spoken about it, we certainly expect a bunch of young guys who're good fielders to do the job collectively, not just focus on batting or bowling. It's about taking all three skills seriously and committing to all three completely, like we do towards bowling and batting. Sometimes in fielding when it's not a matter of execution or result immediately, things can be taken for granted. That's something we want to stay away from."

Big Picture

November 25, 2019. The last time New Zealand actually won a game. They've been winless in nine matches across formats since, and injuries have weakened them further. Their captain and premier batsman Kane Williamson has now joined Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, and Matt Henry on the injury list. Add to that, they will be without head coach Gary Stead, who has taken a break and has handed over the reins to bowling coach Shane Jurgensen for the three-match ODI series against India.

Wednesday's match against India will be New Zealand first ODI since that Super Over against England last year. New Zealand have lost three more Super Overs since. Having hit rock bottom in the T20Is against India, the only way for them is up.

They will welcome back Tom Latham, who has recovered from a finger fracture, and has proven his form and fitness in the 50-over Ford Trophy. In the injury-enforced absence of Williamson, Latham will also stand in as captain and will take back the gloves from Tim Seifert, who isn't part of the ODI side.

Jimmy Neesham, fresh off winning the Super Smash with Wellington Firebirds and a List A best of 5 for 29, returns to the side, as does fellow allrounder Colin de Grandhomme. The comebacks of Latham, Neesham, and de Grandhomme spruces up the middle order that struggled to finish games in the shortest format.

India, too, are missing some of their first-choice players, including white-ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who will miss the following Test series as well. However, unlike New Zealand, India have ready replacements who have had a taste of 50-over cricket in New Zealand, having been part of the shadow A tour. They will be buoyed by how they shook off the jet lag and bossed New Zealand in the T20Is, just days after their 2-1 come-from-behind ODI series win against Australia at home.

With both Dhawan and Sharma suffering injuries, Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw are set to slot in at the top and make their ODI debuts together. On the eve of the ODI series opener, captain Virat Kohli confirmed that KL Rahul will continue to bat in the middle order. This ODI series could be another chance for Manish Pandey to showcase his middle-order gears.

Form guide

New Zealand TWLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India WWLWW

ALSO READ: Who is Kyle Jamieson?

In the spotlight

Henry Nicholls is no dasher like Colin Munro at the top, and instead is more adept at building an innings. His solidity could be the ideal foil for the more attacking Martin Guptill at the other end in New Zealand's post-World Cup period. The left-hander is coming off Ford Trophy scores of 120, 62, and 55.

Around this time in 2018 in New Zealand, Prithvi Shaw led India Under-19s to World Cup glory. Two years later, he is ready for his ODI debut, with Kohli stating that India aren't looking at ODIs as preparation for the T20 World Cup across the Tasman Sea. Having been banned for a doping violation last year and overcome fitness issues, Shaw will be eager to make his second coming count.

Team news

Mark Chapman is likely to take up Williamson's No.3 position, and New Zealand could consider resting Tim Southee, who had a horror T20I series. Instead, Auckland's beanpole quick Kyle Jamieson could make his international debut. New Zealand might also have to choose been Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner on the spin front.

New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Henry Nicholls, 3 Mark Chapman, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 6 Colin de Grandhomme, 7 Jimmy Neesham, 8 Mitchell Santner/Ish Sodhi, 9 Kyle Jamieson/Tim Southee 10 Hamish Bennett, 11 Scott Kuggeleijn

India, too, might have to choose between Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Mohammed Shami is likely to return after being rested for the last two T20Is. Neither Kedar Kadhav or Shivam Dube inspire enough confidence and might miss the cut.

India: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Manish Pandey, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal/Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami/Navdeep Saini, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch and conditions

The Seddon Park pitch that was used the third T20I wasn't too flat and the ball did hold up in the second innings then. The weather is expected to be pleasant for the during of the game.

Stats and trivia

• Shaw and Agarwal will be the fourth Indian opening pair to make their ODI debuts together. Incidentally, Dilip Vengsarkar and P Sharma opened together on debut in New Zealand in 1976.

• Latham has an excellent ODI record against India: he has 593 runs in 13 innings at an average of nearly 54 and a strike rate of 90.53

• At six feet and eight inches (2.03 metre), Jamieson is the tallest cricketer in New Zealand.

Quotes

"You want to play every game you can for New Zealand and [I was] pretty disappointed to miss out on the T20 squad for the series just gone."
Jimmy Neesham

"We're not looking at preparing for the T20 World Cup through this series, IPL will be the right platform."
Virat Kohli

INDIANAPOLIS -- Almost two years to the day, Kristaps Porzingis was down underneath the basket in Madison Square Garden, holding his left knee, wondering what might become of his NBA career.

Fast forward to Monday night against the Indiana Pacers, and he was putting together two of the best back-to-back games of his career, doing something he never did in New York.

Porzingis finished with a season-high 38 points and 12 rebounds -- his second consecutive 35-point, 10-rebound game, after having only one in 222 previous games -- in an impressive 112-103 victory over the Pacers, made even more impressive by the fact guard Luka Doncic was missing his third straight game with an ankle injury.

"That's something in the future I want to figure out, how I can be effective also when Luka is playing," Porzingis said. "It's something we've been working on. I'm in a good rhythm now and I want to keep it going. I think we're playing pretty good basketball, we're moving the ball, playing aggressive."

Doncic will miss at least three more games as he recovers from an ankle sprain. But Porzingis found a rhythm early against Indiana, hitting six 3s and going 12-of-12 from the free throw line. The Mavericks ran the offense through the forward, using him in multiple actions and trying to force mismatched switches.

"We just go to a more free-flowing style. We call less plays," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We've done this enough now where guys are really getting a feel for how to play with each other when Luka's out. We need him back, but these guys are doing a great job."

Porzingis was critical of himself for one thing, though: his defense. He thought he should've done a better job against All-Star Domantas Sabonis, who finished one assist shy of a triple-double (26 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists).

"I take a lot of pride in my defense and I feel like Sabonis made some good moves on me," Porzingis said. "He got deep in the paint. I was a half-step late on a lot of those shots. I'm disappointed in that sense, but I'm glad we got the win."

Sabonis attacked Porzingis on the interior throughout the game as the Mavs mixed man-to-man and zone looks, but on the other end, Porzingis stretched the Pacers' defense to the max, well beyond the 3-point line.

"When he's hot, he's a special player," Sabonis said. "It's tough, even if you switch, he's taller than everybody and can just shoot over you, especially tonight he was getting calls, too. So it just made it a really difficult task."

The Pacers were playing their third game with Victor Oladipo back from a year off himself, and as they work to reacclimate him are adjusting to some choppy play. Oladipo is on a strict minutes restriction, and on top of it the Pacers were without T.J. Warren and his 18.4 points per game as he recovers from a concussion sustained in Saturday's game against the Knicks.

"In the second half, we didn't make any breaks for ourselves," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "When we were able to get back into the game, we would have a breakdown on the perimeter and they would get to the basket or get to the free throw line. They made big shots to stop our runs."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MIAMI -- Heat star Jimmy Butler cruised to a season-high 38 points on Monday, as Miami handed the Philadelphia 76ers their worst loss of the season 137-106.

It was simply Butler's night against his former team. He went 14-of-20 from the field, 2-of-2 from 3 and knocked down all eight of his free throws in 29 minutes, sitting out the entire fourth quarter due to the blowout.

"He was so assertive and aggressive," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Versus what they were trying to do, he was taking what was available to him, and he got in a great rhythm."

Butler scored 23 points in the first half, his second most in a half this season, and he went 7-of-10 for 19 points in the game with Ben Simmons as his primary defender.

"I'm never worried about offense. Hell, I'm never worried about defense," Butler said. "All I'm ever worried about is winning."

It was one of the best performances of the season for the Heat, who had just three turnovers. That's a franchise low for the team, and it tied a low for any team in the NBA this season.

"That was the best form of us tonight, and it really showed," Heat forward Bam Adebayo said.

Miami (34-15) claimed the season series 3-1 over Philadelphia with the victory, and it remained tied with Boston for the No. 3 seed in the East.

Meanwhile, the 76ers (31-20) completely imploded in the second half, getting outscored 81-54. It was eerily quiet in their postgame locker room.

"We were soft," said Simmons, who was a game-low minus-31 and had a game-high four turnovers.

It's not the first time Simmons has called the 76ers soft. In January 2019, Simmons said his team was "too soft" after it was dominated in the paint and on the boards in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Butler, then a Sixer, disagreed. But a month later, Philadelphia made a big splash in trading for Tobias Harris.

With this season's trade deadline looming Thursday, questions will arise about whether Philadelphia's roster is set up to compete for a championship. The 76ers remain the No. 6 seed in the East, four games back of home-court advantage.

The 76ers' rough spell continued Monday. They are 8-10 since a Christmas Day win over Milwaukee, with more issues becoming apparent with each loss. This is their fourth three-game losing streak of the season.

"The physicality side of things, we gotta step that up. That comes with experience, also just comes with personality," Simmons said. "Don't get bullied. Fight over screens, get through screens. If you gotta knock somebody over, knock 'em over. If you gotta hit somebody in the face and knock 'em down so they don't score, hit 'em in the face."

Philadelphia had its worst defensive efficiency (148.9) in a game in the past 20 seasons. Miami, on the other hand, had its best offensive efficiency (148.9) in a game in the past 20 seasons.

"Our defense was poor," 76ers coach Brett Brown said. "When you create three turnovers for a game, it's just not a reflection of who we are. I think we're the third- or the fourth-best defensive team in the NBA. And we weren't even close to that tonight."

Philadelphia sent Butler to Miami in July in a sign-and-trade deal that brought Josh Richardson to the 76ers. The move helped the Heat go from a playoff bubble team to an Eastern Conference contender, and it's contributing to the 76ers' current struggles.

Heat guard Tyler Herro (right foot soreness) and center Meyers Leonard (sprained left ankle) did not return after suffering injuries. Spoelstra didn't have an immediate update on their long-term statuses after the game, but Leonard was seen on crutches in the locker room, and Herro was walking with a long sock on his right leg and foot.

Andre Iguodala hasn't played a minute for the surprising Memphis Grizzlies this season, and come Thursday's trade deadline, there's a good chance he never will.

Dillon Brooks is among those on Memphis hoping that's the case.

With the trade deadline looming, the third-year guard didn't mince words when asked about speculation that Iguodala will be moved.

"A guy that's on our team doesn't want to be on our team," Brooks said after scoring 15 points as Memphis beat the visiting Pistons 96-82 on Monday night. "I can't wait until we find a way to trade him so we can play him, and I can show him what really Memphis is about."

At least two of Brooks' teammates appeared to agree with his comments.

Star rookie Ja Morant reacted with a shouting emoji on Twitter, while guard De'Anthony Melton posted a shrugging emoji.

? https://t.co/3q56BwIxBa

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) February 4, 2020

??‍♂️ https://t.co/Oe9y9idVWF

— De'Anthony Melton (@DeAnthonyMelton) February 4, 2020

Iguodala hasn't played for the Grizzlies this season. Last summer, the Warriors sent the veteran swingman, who is making $17.2 million in the final year of his contract, along with a lightly protected 2024 first-round pick to the rebuilding Grizzlies because they needed to shed his salary to execute the three-team, sign-and-trade deal for All-Star guard D'Angelo Russell.

But with Iguodala away from the team, the Grizzlies have emerged as one of the surprises of the 2019-20 season. Monday's win over the Pistons pushed them back to .500 on the season (25-25), and they hold a two-game lead over the Trail Blazers for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

"Andre Iguodala is a great player," Brooks said. "I feel like he's doing the right thing for his career, but we don't really care.

"It's not a distraction at all. I laugh at that type of stuff."