It sounded like a party. The Unity Stand was drowned in song that the so-called traditional watchers of the game in this country would not have recognised. The Gwijo Squad - a supporters' club formed in 2017 who sing Zulu and Xhosa songs - made their first appearance in this series and immediately changed its tone.

It didn't matter that South Africa were conceding the highest 10th-wicket partnership at the Wanderers and allowed England to finish on 400 or that the hosts were 60 for 4 in reply. In fact, it fuelled them. The worse South Africa's situation got, the louder the Gwijo squad's messages of hope rang out and the more they intended to inspire. They reserved the loudest for Temba Bavuma, son of this stadium and the only black African player in the XI.

"uTemba lo!
Abamaziyo!
Abazange bambona!!
Abazange bambona!!"

Loosely translated (credit to Makhaya Ntini) those lyrics mean: "That's Temba, and if you didn't know it before, you will see him now."

When Bavuma drove the first delivery he faced through the covers, teasingly close to the boundary, they erupted into a cheer that belied the seriousness of the situation South Africa, and Bavuma, were in. They're both chasing the game and they both have massive points to prove.

South Africa's chances of winning the match look increasingly thin, especially as the follow-on target is still 113 runs away. Defeat will mean a third consecutive series loss and may spell the end for captain Faf du Plessis. It was his dismissal - an unlucky one given that he was hit above the knee roll on a pitch renowned for its bounce, but the on-field decision was upheld on umpire's call - that brought Bavuma to the crease, with a grossly unfair burden.

South Africans expect Bavuma to perform, especially after the fracas over him being left out of the second and third Tests, despite having recovered from a hip injury and with his career-best 180 still to come. "In Temba we Trust," read one banner. But their faith was only repaid for 38 minutes, before Bavuma was caught, low in the slips, by none other than South Africa's arch-nemesis, Ben Stokes.

Only then, did South Africa's real hero (if anyone in their XI can be given such a lofty title) emerge. Anrich Nortje, whose nightwatchman's vigils in the first and third Tests earned him the respect his top-order should command, walked out to a hopeless situation.

Having dragged South Africa to the edges of an advantage earlier in the day, with his maiden Test-five-for, he was now expected to drag them away from the point of no return. Late in the day. With not so much as an acknowledgement that he was there. Unless you count the lady draped in a South African flag who managed to invade the playing area and make some solid ground towards the crease before security officials caught up with her.

In muffled tones, the Gwijo squad continued to sing while the Barmy Army overpowered them with their version of Living on a Prayer (We're halfway there, five wickets down and all that). It was hardly the reception that Nortje deserved.

His efforts in the morning saved South Africa's blushes after they had looked likely to endure a fourth successive opening session without claiming a wicket. Nortje changed that, during the course of an eight-over spell which injected energy into a limp attack and showed the advantage of proper pace on this pitch. Nortje kept the speedgun north of 145kph on almost every ball and the last delivery of the 48 he bowled in the morning clocked in at 148kph, more than an hour he sent down his first. If you want evidence of commitment and consistency, that's it.

Like most of the attack, Nortje erred with his lengths and was often bowling too short, but unlike them, he produced several threatening deliveries that targeted the body and teased the outside edge. With the old ball, he got Ollie Pope playing on, then Joe Root and Sam Curran in successive deliveries to put South Africa in a position from which they could limit England to something close to the average first-innings score at the Wanderers: 319. Nortje's 3 for 40 could have changed the game, and his new-ball strike to remove Chris Woakes should have meant the England innings was almost at an end.

Instead, it went on for another 8.2 overs as questions over du Plessis' captaincy mounted. Why were the bowlers persisting with short and wide lengths and lines? Why were there eight fielders on the boundary? Why was Dwaine Pretorius unused in that period? "I really don't have any answers for you," a sheepish Nortje said afterwards.

ALSO READ: Wood shines with bat and ball to push SA to the brink

No-one could have expected him to. Although Nortje has leapfrogged Kagiso Rabada to the top of the series wicket-takers' list, with 16 at 26.68, and in this match, he replaced Rabada as the leader of the attack, he is not the person who should be held to account. Nonetheless, he was the designed representative to address the media, after he was dismissed by the last ball of play. Again, it was not the audience Nortje would have wanted but, as he has already discovered, "you can't choose".

Those words came in reference to his first five-for being eclipsed by the batting fragility when he would have preferred it to have been taken in a dominant situation, but there are other things Nortje could not choose in this Test. He could not pick his bowling partners, and even though he refused to lay the blame on any of them ("It's a collective unit. It's not one or two of us.") it is obvious that Dane Paterson and Beuran Hendricks would not be first-choice if Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi were fit. He could not choose the fielding strategy, which seemed misguided, and he could not choose how early he was needed with the bat. Most of all he could not choose where the attention will focus today, and it's not on him.

Maybe for tonight, it's not even on South Africa's problems. Minutes after Nortje was dismissed, the Wanderers crowd began making their way to their Saturday nights and the Gwijo squad assembled for one last song and dance which they kept going all the way to the main gate. It sounded like a party. But the scorecard will tell that it really was not.

South Africa Under-19s 299 for 8 (Beaufort 85, Parsons 84, Bird 43, Lakra 3-48, Sanchit 3-57) beat UAE Under-19s 112 for 3 in 23.5 overs (Figy 36*, Aravind 31) by 23 runs (DLS method)

Bryce Parsons and Luke Beaufort struck classy half-centuries but it was inclement weather that had the final word in South Africa's game against United Arab Emirates. It ensured the hosts qualifed into the quarterfinals, winning by 23 runs via the DLS method in what was a must-win game for both sides.

UAE were at 112 for 3 after 23.5 overs when a dust storm - and subsequently rain - stopped play at 4pm. The rain relented thereafter, but conditions didn't improve enough for a restart, and the match was called off at 5.30pm, securing South Africa's quarterfinal appointment against Bangladesh on January 30.

Aware that the weather may play a role later in the day, UAE had begun their chase of 300 in blazing fashion, scoring 46 runs inside the first six overs, but they lost both openers within that period. No. 4 Ansh Tandon then fell in the tenth over, after which Jonathan Figy and Kai Smith put on an unbroken 45-run stand for the fourth wicket. Both batsmen were set and enjoying the pace on the ball, but then the weather got in the way.

UAE captain Aryan Lakra felt the game was his team's to be won, had it not been abandoned. He vowed to make an impression in the Plate League, where UAE now find themselves, fighting among the teams that finished in the bottom two of their groups.

"Really heartbreaking for the team," Lakra said at the post-match press conference. "We got pretty close. If it wasn't for DLS, we had two set batters in the crease. If we had the full game, we had enough firepower to chase the total down."

South Africa's innings, of 299 for 8, was set up by the 152-run third-wicket stand between Parsons and Beaufort, their third straight fifty-plus stand of the tournament. Parsons was the aggressor, scoring his 84 off 83 balls, and Beaufort dug in after his dismissal to finish with 85 off 104. South Africa were in a bit of trouble early on, losing openers Jonathan Bird (43) and Khaya Cotani in the 11th over, delivered by left-arm spinner Lakra, but the Parsons-Beaufort stand put them back on track. Fast bowler Sanchit Sharma, who removed both set batsmen, was the star of UAE's bowling performance, finishing with 3 for 57.

South Africa captain Parsons later said his team had learned a lot from their opening-game defeat to Afghanistan, especially with respect to batting against spin. He also looked forward to changing cities and move to Potchefstroom, which traditionally offers a faster surface.

"We've got good memories at Potchefstroom and it's now time to show the world what we can do," Parsons said at his press conference. "We don't know much about Bangladesh, so we need to focus on ourselves.

"The UAE spinners were really good today, so we played them well. Although the quarterfinals will now force every team to reset, we just want to carry on with the momentum. [After the Afghanistan loss] both our next two games were must-wins, so nothing changes for us.

"The boys have shown their character. We bounced back well after the first loss. The boys learned what mistakes they did against Afghanistan and practiced hard. We've shown in the last two games that we can play spin, get big scores, and we need to move away from that Afghanistan defeat."

South Africa's quarterfinal against Bangladesh is scheduled for January 30, while UAE now play Scotland in the Plate League on January 27.

Mark Wood admits he took a gamble on his fitness to make himself available for the fourth Test at the Wanderers, but is delighted that he did so after starring with bat and ball to put England on course for a memorable 3-1 series win.

Wood, who admitted to "soreness" after an energetic display in England's innings win at Port Elizabeth last week, seemed set to be rested from this game until Jofra Archer pulled out through injury shortly before the toss.

And ever since that moment, Wood has been England's most eye-catching performer (with ball, and less expectedly, bat) to underline both his effectiveness and his fitness. The highlight, in his day-job at least, was a delivery of 94.4mph that claimed the wicket of Pieter Malan, although his personal pick was a cover-driven six during his thrillingly free-wheeling tenth-wicket stand with Stuart Broad that left him "buzzing".

But as well as expressing delight in helping England gain the upper hand in the game, Wood was also thrilled that he had proved he could play back-to-back Tests. For Wood's career has been blighted by injury and the last time he attempted to play two Tests so close together, against South Africa in 2017, he struggled horribly.

"I've been through periods when I shouldn't have played when I did," said Wood. "At least two Test matches - the Lord's Ashes Test of 2015 and the Trent Bridge South Africa Test of 2017 - hurt my career and probably took me backwards."

"Probably until the morning of this game I wasn't in the team," said Wood. "I put a lot of effort into the last game and I was a bit sore after it. I hadn't played for six or seven months before it. I was just stiff and sore everywhere.

"But on the morning of the game I spoke to the captain and the coach and said 'if you want me, I'm ready to go'. I couldn't guarantee to them I could bowl 90mph in my fourth or fifth spells but I felt good in the warm-ups and I told Chris Silverwood: 'I'm not quite sure how it's going to go, but I'm ready to charge in for you one more time.'

"I'm glad I made that decision as it's gone well."

ALSO READ: Dobell: Time to end the Buttler Test experiment

Indeed it has. As well as three of the first six wickets, Wood struck a belligerent and unbeaten 35 to extend England's innings to 400. It's the first time since March 2013 that England have made successive scores of 400 in Test cricket, while his 82-run 10th-wicket stand with Broad, who thrashed an equally entertaining 43, was the highest for the wicket ever made in a Test on the ground. Incredible as it sounds, Wood has now hit as many sixes in his Test career - 10 - as David Gower did in the whole of his.

Afterwards, Wood credited his wife, Sarah, and his dad, Derek, for the help they had given him with his batting.

"I did a lot of work in the Newcastle indoor centre, behind the scenes there on the bowling machine," Wood said. "Sometimes with my Dad, sometimes with my wife feeding me the balls on the machine.

"I knew we were coming here and it was a bit bouncy, so I was working on how I thought they'd attack me, either at the stumps or at my head. My wife hit me [with the ball] a couple of times. She has been laughing, telling me to get in line.

"Dad as well is particularly spicy but Silverwood is the worst because he laughs when he hits you. You think the coach would be more supportive but he just laughs. He's still got a fast bowler in him I think.

"I was buzzing with the six I hit over cover-point. Externally you have to act all professional and that, but internally I was like 'what a shot that was'. I was trying not to look too buzzing."

But it's the bowling that really marks Wood out as a valuable player for England. And while, in those previous back-to-back Tests his figures have been pretty ugly - he finished with 1 for 131 in the match at Lord's and 0 for 129 at Trent Bridge - here he has already claimed 3 for 21. Not for the first time, the thought occurred that his statistics should be judged differently since he lengthened his run-up at the end of 2018. Since then, his 12 Test wickets have cost 14.75 apiece.

"Since I changed my run-up things seem to click a little easier," he said. "I'm not forcing it as much and I feel I have better rhythm. Plus, having an iconic stadium and quick pitch gives you extra incentive to impress."

According to CricViz, only Steve Harmison - like Wood, a product of Ashington and Durham - has bowled a quicker wicket-taking delivery for England since speedguns were introduced in Test cricket: a 97mph delivery to dismiss Glenn McGrath at Perth in 2006.

"I don't know if the ball to Malan was the best ball I've bowled," said Wood. "My first-ever wicket - well, it wasn't technically a wicket - was Martin Guptill at Lord's. It was a very similar ball but it turned out my foot was just over the line and it was a no-ball. I was pretty close this time but I just got a tiny bit of foot behind it.

"Winning this series would mean a hell of a lot to me. I want to affect games of cricket for England. It was nice to get some runs and get some catches in the last game, but I know my main suit is my bowling. To be able to win a series away from home against a quality opposition would be especially pleasing for me after coming through some hard times."

Jade Roper Tolbert, a former contestant on reality-TV series "The Bachelor," is no longer the winner of a DraftKings daily fantasy football contest from early January.

On NFL wild-card weekend (Jan. 4-5), Tolbert finished with the top score in DraftKings' Millionaire Maker contest. She bested more than 105,000 entries and thought she had won the $1 million top prize. Controversy ensued, however, and DraftKings began looking into allegations that Tolbert had worked with her husband, Tanner Tolbert, a known high-volume daily fantasy player, to circumvent entry limits into the contest.

On Saturday, DraftKings announced that it was updating the standings for "several contests" and began notifying impacted customers. Tolbert was no longer listed as the winner of the Millionaire Maker contest. An entry with the username spclk36, who had been in second place behind Tolbert, was now at the top of the leaderboard. Tolbert was no longer listed and as recently as Tuesday had not received the $1 million prize, according to her husband.

pic.twitter.com/PzMWYELLdy

— DraftKingsNews (@DraftKingsNews) January 25, 2020

DraftKings declined to expand on its statement, and Tanner Tolbert did not respond to messages from ESPN on Saturday.

Jade and Tanner each entered 150 lineups, the maximum allowed, from their individual accounts in the Millionaire Maker contest on wild-card weekend. Many of the couple's lineups were built around the same players but were kept unique by the quarterbacks they chose. Jade's lineups featured AFC quarterbacks, like Houston's DeShaun Watson and Buffalo's Josh Allen, while Tanner went with NFC quarterbacks like New Orleans' Drew Brees and Philadelphia's Carson Wentz. Out of their 300 entries, 298 were unique.

Fantasy experts say that exceeding the entry limit with unique lineups -- especially in contests involving just four games and therefore with a smaller player pool -- is an advantage. Jade has not spoken publicly as the controversy has played out over nearly three weeks, other than a joint statement the couple released after the contest, saying that her win was "nothing more than pure luck."

Jade is not a sports fan and has often poked fun at her husband's love of fantasy sports on social media. At a Hollywood event in November, when asked to name something that most annoys his wife, Tanner replied, "Fantasy football stuff."

The couple says Jade decided to try fantasy sports this season as a family activity and created an account in August. "We'll play for things like picking date night or loser cooks dinner," Tanner told ESPN in January. They also played for higher stakes, with each regularly submitting the maximum entries into weekly NFL contests and even an NBA contest on Christmas Day.

In August, DraftKings temporarily restricted Jade's new account, citing a "shared payment method with another DraftKings account," and requested additional documentation. According to emails reviewed by ESPN, the Tolberts complied with the requests, received confirmation from DraftKings that their information had been verified, and Jade began playing regularly.

The Tolberts, who met on the spinoff "Bachelor in Paradise," played on DraftKings openly throughout the season, never with much success or scrutiny other than from an occasional fan on social media. According to contest data provided by a third party and verified by ESPN, the Tolberts were down nearly $62,000 on their football entries at DraftKings this season before wild-card weekend.

"I just wish if [DraftKings] had problems with anything, they would have addressed them early on, since they knew we were husband and wife," Tanner told ESPN earlier this month.

DraftKings customers received emails notifying them of updates to past contests, some as far back as October. "As a result of these updated standings you had one or more entries move up to a higher payout level," the emails to customers stated. "We have credited your account with [dollar amount] as reflected below."

Allegations of multi-accounting -- one player using multiple accounts to exceed entry limits -- and collusion between players have plagued the DFS industry for years. DraftKings considers group play designed to gain an unfair advantage over other contestants to be "unacceptable behavior."

There was quite a bit of movement at the top of the college basketball career coaching wins lists Saturday.

North Carolina's Roy Williams moved into fourth among Division I coaches after posting his 880th career victory Saturday with a 94-71 victory over Miami.

With the win, he passed former Tar Heels coach and mentor Dean Smith and now trails only Bob Knight (902), Jim Boeheim (959) and Mike Krzyzewski (1,148) among Division I coaches.

Meanwhile, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins tied Adolph Rupp for seventh on the all-time list -- regardless of classification -- with win No. 876 after a 74-51 victory over Missouri.

Williams has had to be patient since tying Smith almost a month ago with a win against Yale. Plagued by injuries and shaky play, the Tar Heels on Saturday ended the program's first-ever six-game conference losing streak.

Brandon Robinson scored a career-high 29 points for UNC (9-10, 2-6 ACC), which had lost five games in a row for the first time since 2003.

Williams is 880-244 in his career, including 462-143 at North Carolina. It took him nine fewer games to pass Smith, who was 879-254 in 36 seasons with the Tar Heels.

Huggins, 66, has a career record of 876-363 in 38 seasons with Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State and WVU.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Halfway through the 2019-20 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers stand alone at the top of the Western Conference standings, and it's become clear that this new-look squad is among the best legitimate contenders to win the 2020 NBA Finals.

The main reason the Lakers are playing so well is pretty simple: They have LeBron James, arguably the most valuable player in the NBA right now.

On one hand, we shouldn't be surprised. After all, James has taken his teams to the Finals eight of the past nine seasons. But the man also is 35 years old, which is a downright ancient number by NBA standards. Superstars aren't supposed to dominate this league at that age.

If James scores 18 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC), he will pass Kobe Bryant for third place on the all-time scoring list, which is nothing short of astounding. Yet it's the way James is getting to this record that's truly incredible. While these kinds of milestones usually occur at the irrelevant end of a superstar's career, this one comes in the midst of a season where this dude is still the best player on the best team in the ferocious Western Conference.

LeBron is out here breaking sacred old-man records in the midst of a title chase and a legitimate MVP campaign. That's special.

After a rocky season in 2018-19, James is back playing at a ridiculous level on the wrong side of 35. Between his scoring, his passing and his defense, there's no question he's still in fine form. Just how rare is this? Bryant played his last playoff game at age 33. Michael Jordan played his at 34. Larry Bird hung it up at 35. Only Karl Malone won an MVP after turning 35, but James is making the case to be the second in an era defined by its breakneck pace and its hyper-athleticism.

Everyone defines MVP a little differently, and the case for the Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo has been seemingly overwhelming for much of the season. But James' midseason case for this being a real MVP race boils down to this: The Lakers look like the best team in the West when LeBron is on the court, and they look like a lottery team when he's not.

How valuable is that?

By almost any measure, the Bucks are the best team in the NBA, yet they still crush opponents when Antetokounmpo is on the bench, posting a net rating of plus-7.9. That would still rank No. 1 overall in the NBA.

Make no mistake, that's an impressive mark for Milwaukee's title chances. And, no, it's not Giannis' fault his team is awesome when he sits. But in a weird way it could hurt Antetokounmpo's MVP case -- and it's vastly different from what's happening in Lakerland.

Even though they have Anthony Davis, the Lakers without James are a negative team. They post a net rating of -1.6, which would rank 18th in the NBA -- in between the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls. Folks, the Pistons and Bulls aren't very good.

If LeBron wins the MVP this year, it will be because of his unmatched ability to make his teammates better. Outside of James, Davis and Danny Green, the Lakers roster consists of a hodgepodge of castoffs, aging role players and unproven youngsters. But here they are, 4.5 games up in the West. If you don't think James is MVP, name another player who could have brought this group to the top seed in the West.

Despite leading the NBA in scoring during the 2010s, James isn't even the leader in points per game on his own team. But he's still a top-12 scorer in the NBA, and he's an unmatched offensive engine when you consider everything else he does on that end.

James is still racking up over 25 PPG, and he still scores a vast majority of his buckets at the rim. But he's also taking more 3s than ever before, and he seems more interested in passing. That's good, because he's the greatest passer in the sport. Who else in the NBA makes these kinds of over-the-head, cross-court passes? Nobody, that's who, and that's partly because few scorers distract an entire defense as much as James.

When you're the best interior scorer of the past 20 years, your opponents collapse more and open up corners. Nobody in the game is better at punishing teams for doing that with breathtaking kickouts. Just ask Caris LeVert, who can only helplessly wave his arm as this rocket pass races past him and straight into the hands of his defensive assignment, Kyle Kuzma, who then drains a wide-open 3.

Corner 3s are special shots. Not only are they symbolic of the analytics era, but they also are the most assist-dependent look on the floor. Over 93% of NBA corner 3s are assisted, and perhaps it's unsurprising that nobody in NBA history has generated more corner 3 assists than James.

Corner 3 prowess is as much about passing as it is about shooting. P.J. Tucker leads the NBA this season with 55 made corner 3s. James has assisted on 72 overall. If you go back to the beginning of the player tracking era (2013-14), Klay Thompson leads all shooters with an incredible 580 made corner 3s. In that same time frame, James has assisted on a wild 830 of them. James Harden ranks second ... at 654.

So while we rightly associate sharpshooters like Thompson and Tucker with corner 3 success, those guys just punctuate the process. The truth is that many of their triples originate elsewhere on the floor, when a playmaker breaks a defensive concept and fires a ball to an open teammate in the corner. It's exactly that kind of action that makes James so valuable this season.

The Lakers have drained 344 3s with James on the floor. Between his own unassisted 3s and his assists, James has generated 57.8% of them. The Lakers are shooting better than 40% on the nine attempted 3s LeBron is creating per game. And his overall assists lead to more than 27 PPG, by far the best such mark in the NBA.

If there's one thing that separates regular superstars from the truly transcendent ones, it's the ability to elevate their teammates. On offense, this concept often presents in the form of passing, and if you study passing numbers around the league, James is far and away the NBA's best this season.

James has been the NBA's ultimate rising tide for over a decade, but for the first time in his career he's leading the league in assists, creating clean looks all over the court for his team.

Just look at this:

James doesn't just create a lot of shots with his passes -- he creates a lot of shots in great spots. A vast majority of his dimes occur either in the restricted area or beyond the arc, and he's assisted nobody more than Davis. Of James' 464 total assists, 117 (25.2%) have targeted AD this season.

As James ages gracefully into his late 30s and his downhill-locomotive-drives get a little slower and a little less terrifying, his passing has become paramount. He's the primary assister for all of the Lakers' top 10 scorers, including himself. A vast majority of his own buckets are unassisted.

Simply put, James is the best shot creator in the world. Consider these two stats showcasing his volume and efficiency:

• No player has created more shots with passes this season than James (1,017)

• Of the top 25 shot creators by volume in the NBA, shooters on the receiving end of James' passes are the most efficient, racking up a ridiculous 1.22 points per shot

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A post shared by Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) on Jan 24, 2020 at 7:29am PST

When you factor in James' scoring and his passing, he has his hand in over 52 points per game: 25 as a scorer, 27 as a passer.

We've become so accustomed to James' brilliance over the past 16 years that we're at risk of failing to appreciate the nuances of his third act. He ranks No. 1 both in ESPN's real plus-minus (RPM) -- measuring his holistic on-court impact -- and in defensive RPM, a reflection of how engaged he's been on that end.

He's still dominating the league at an age when most players are either retired or washed. He's played in 43 of 45 games. He's not only a legitimate MVP candidate, he's one of just three players from his draft class still playing.

As LeBron surpasses Kobe on the all-time scoring list, the thing that really stands out isn't the points. It's the incredible longevity and consistency of James' career. He may or may not surpass Giannis for the MVP this season, but he's definitely the most valuable player of the era.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Nerlens Noel underwent a procedure to repair a left cheek fracture and will miss Saturday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to the team.

Noel briefly went to the locker room during Friday's win over the Atlanta Hawks but returned to the game and finished with 10 points, his fourth straight contest in double digits. He is averaging 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season.

The Thunder said an update on Noel's status will be made next week. Oklahoma City hosts the Dallas Mavericks on Monday before starting a two-game road trip against the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.

New York Knicks shooting guard RJ Barrett will miss at least one more week as he continues to recover from a sprained right ankle.

The team said Saturday that Barrett has transitioned from crutches to a walking boot and that his next evaluation would take place in a week.

Barrett has not played since suffering the injury on Jan. 16 against the Phoenix Suns.

"It hurts. I never really been hurt before," Barrett said at the time. "I don't remember the last time I missed a game. But we play so many games, it was bound to happen."

Barrett is averaging 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – Michael Pickens thought that, perhaps, his quest for victory at Ruapuna Speedway on Saturday was off to a bad start before it had ever begun.

“Before (the race), I couldn’t even get the tennis ball over the fence (to the fans),” said Pickens of his plight during driver introductions. “I had to try three times to get it across!”

As it turned out, that was the worst problem he’d have all night long.

Pickens charged from fifth on the grid to take his ninth Accessman NZ Midget Car Championship victory in the 30-lapper, passing Zach Daum with 12 to go and driving away down the stretch to extend his record as the greatest New Zealand midget driver in history.

American Tyler Courtney started from the pole, but lost the lead on the initial start to Brad Mosen for the first half-lap before Mosen drifted wide in turn four and let Courtney back through.

By lap two, however, it was Friday high-point man Kaidon Brown surging up the inside to take control, all while Pickens surveyed the scrapping ahead of him from fifth place.

After dropping back as far as seventh, Pickens slowly but surely began his quest forward, but toward the front it was Daum who was on the move, taking second from Courtney on the fourth lap as he set his sights on the leading car of Brown out in front.

Undeterred, however, Brown opened up a 2.3-second margin over his nearest pursuer in Daum before a spinning Hayden Guptill forced the first caution flag of the feature with eight laps scored.

At that point, Zeb Wise had cracked the top five, while Pickens had clawed back to sixth in his effort to make tracks toward the front of the order.

Coming back to green, Brown led Daum, Courtney, Mosen, Wise and Pickens, but that order didn’t remain for long.

Pickens shot from sixth to fourth in less than a lap, then slid Courtney for third in turns one and two on the 10th rotation, moving into a podium slot behind Brown and Daum.

Brown looked untouchable in the lead before heartbreak struck with 13 laps complete, as his United Truck Parts No. 21 slowed at the end of the backstretch with terminal mechanical issues and coasted to a stop in the fourth corner, its quest for victory thwarted.

That put Daum into the lead over Pickens, and Pickens wasted no time once he could see the front of the field in sight. He tailed Daum on the restart, and at halfway it was Daum leading Pickens, Courtney and Mosen, with a gaggle of cars fighting for fifth behind them.

Three laps later, the fight was over, as Pickens put his nose underneath Daum down the backstretch and used a textbook turn-three slider to wrest away the lead at lap 18.

From there, the die was cast and Pickens was well on his way to victory.

It wasn’t quite that simple, as a four-car melee that saw Jeremy Webb get upside down in turn one after climbing from 18th to ninth bunched the field back up, but Pickens was not to be denied in any event.

Pickens pulled away from Daum over the final 12-lap run to the finish, with the show coming for the final podium spot between Courtney, Mosen and a charging Wise.

Wise found the top groove inside the final 10 circuits and used it to charge all the way to third, taking the spot for good coming to two to go and nearly having a run at Daum on the final lap.

But out front, the celebration was all Pickens’, as he celebrated his ninth career New Zealand midget championship victory and third in the last four years.

“Nine times, wow. That’s pretty special,” Pickens noted. “I thought eight was special, getting the record (for New Zealand championships), but nine feels amazing. It’s just a credit to everyone that’s around me and all those who work on this race car week in and week out. They make it possible. Justin Insley built a bad-ass weapon of a race car.

“The thing was spot on tonight; it was absolutely perfect,” Pickens added. “Once we got past Daum I knew we could hold on, and we pulled away there at the end. Just a great night.”

Brad Mosen and Logan Seavey completed the top five, followed by Hayden Williams, Courtney, Brett Morris Jr., Brock Maskovich and Ryan O’Connor.

The finish:

1. Michael Pickens, 2. Zach Daum, 3. Zeb Wise, 4. Brad Mosen, 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Hayden Williams, 7. Tyler Courtney, 8. Brett Morris Jr., 9. Brock Maskovich, 10. Ryan O’Connor, 11. Aaron Hodgson, 12. Duane Hickman, 13. Peter Hunnibell, 14. Max Guilford, 15. Tom Lumsden, 16. Michael Kendall, 17. Jeremy Webb, 18. Hayden Guptill, 19. Dave Kerr, 20. Kaidon Brown.

The final-round grouping that includes Bryson DeChambeau and Eddie Pepperell at the Dubai Desert Classic might spark some fireworks. 

Pepperell has never been one to hold back his thoughts on Twitter, but he has really let it fly as of late when it comes to DeChambeau’s admitted slow play and his recent jabs at world No. 1. Brooks Koepka. 

When the groupings came out for Sunday’s showdown in Dubai, Pepperell immediately took to social media to give his thoughts.

“Fully understand if Bryson wants to keep hitting it 40 (yards) past me tomorrow so we don’t have to chat,” he wrote. 

The tension is real.

Pepperell was even forced to apologize after calling DeChambeau a “twit” in August after the tweet gained a lot of attention.

DeChambeau became the center of the slow-play conversation at The Northern Trust last year, when a video showed him taking more than two minutes to hit an 8-foot putt. 

He has since admitted he’s “made mistakes,” but is improving his pace of play as a whole.

Ashun Wu leads the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at 11 under, DeChambeau is two back at 9 under and Pepperell is three behind at 8 under.