Josh Philippe has followed the lead of his idol Steven Smith and is reaping the rewards for hitting "thousands" of balls over the last few weeks, as he battled a mid-tournament dip in form which he has turned around with the Sydney Sixers preparing for the Big Bash finals

The Sixers' route may yet be tougher if the Adelaide Strikers take second place, and the double chance at qualifying for the final, but they are comfortably in the mix. Three wins on the bounce to finish the group stage has been an impressive way to overcome a stretch where they suffered at the hands of Marcus Stoinis' 147* and were on the wrong end of some rain.

Philippe has made half-centuries in the last two of those outings against the Brisbane Heat and the Melbourne Renegades which came after a run of five matches where he managed 8, 6, 7, 1 and 10 following his unbeaten 83 against the Strikers in Coffs Harbour. He is the Sixers' highest run-scorer from the regular season with 401 runs at 36.45, and a strike-rate of 126.10.

"To be honest I've hit thousands and thousands of balls, I've hit so many balls in the last few weeks. The thing with T20 cricket is when you miss out a few times it feels like it all happens so quickly," Philippe told ESPNcricinfo. "We've had so many games close together, just the last few weeks where I didn't get too many it felt like it all happened at once and I just kept backing myself, hitting a lot of balls, and hoping it would work out which it kind of did, which is nice.

"In the last couple of games I've just taken a few more balls to get myself in then starting to go, but sometimes you are chasing massive scores and don't have time to do that. It's all about reading the game, reading the situation, and the more you play the better you get at that."

Hitting masses of deliveries at training is something associated with Smith, and the pair have had the chance to bat together for the first time in their careers in the last two games. Smith was instrumental in getting Philippe to sign for the Sixers in 2018 and is never shy of saying how far he believes the younger man can go.

"Geez, he was striking some balls very cleanly again," Smith said after his unbeaten 66 completed the chase against the Renegades. "I've said it so much that kid has got some serious talent and he showed that again today. He just let me get into my innings before I could start getting a bit more expansive. That really helped."

When asked about direct comparisons, Smith joked before lauding his striking: "He's got a tiny head like me, so the boys give him a bit of stick about that. He's got a pretty unique swing, the way he hits so clean, that six he hit to the on side early on against [Dan Christian] was an amazing shot, the way he check-drove it and gained so much power just shows the talent he's got. He'll enjoy playing in those pressure situations, he'll learn. He's so young, he's got so much time on his hands."

What is it like to hear Smith so often praise your game? "It's amazing, really nice to hear so sorts of things. He's a massive idol of mine and I look up to him," Philippe said. "I'd love to one day get half as many runs as he's got at the next level. It's really cool to have that, and fingers crossed, I can keep making runs."

And if someone had told Philippe a few years ago that he would be batting alongside Smith he wouldn't have believed them. "I would have said 'you're dreaming' but it's pretty amazing. I'm stoked to be here and be in a really cool set-up with the Sixers. It's such a bonus that we get Smith, [Josh] Hazlewood and [Nathan] Lyon back playing and it's really cool to mix with those guys."

As Philippe noted, the Sixers have their Australia players back and there remains some hope that Sean Abbott may yet be able to return from the side injury that ruled him out of the ODI squad to tour India. That would be a boost because the one issue the Sixers have to ponder is how to fill to the hole left by their leading wicket-taker Tom Curran, who departs for England duty now the regular season has finished, having claimed 22 wickets capped off with 3 for 27 against the Renegades.

"[He has] some great skills, he has been magnificent with the ball and under pressure with the bat," Smith said. "Watching on TV that game that got to the Super Over [against Sydney Thunder] that was one of the best knocks I've seen at this Big Bash. He'll be a big loss. He's done his job as an overseas player, helped get us to the finals, now it's our job to get it done for him."

MIAMI -- LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard earned the first triple-double of his career in Friday night's 122-117 comeback victory over the Miami Heat. Leonard finished the game with 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, bringing the Clippers back from a 15-point deficit, while handing the Heat just their second home loss of the season.

"It's just a great honor," Leonard said. "But I'm just more happy with the win. I just feel good that we came in here and got a win tonight."

Playing without Paul George (hamstring) and Patrick Beverley (groin), both Leonard and the Clippers got off to a sluggish start. After going 2-for-11 to begin the game, Leonard closed strong -- scoring 17 points in the third quarter and hitting clutch shots and free throws in the final minutes.

Leonard said he became aware of the triple-double at the end of the third quarter, but the feat didn't become official until another rebound in the fourth quarter after a previous rebound had been taken away.

"I believe going into the fourth Coach [Tyronn] Lue told me 'Congratulations,'" Leonard said. "And I didn't know what he was talking about and he said I got my first triple-double so that's when I was aware."

The fact that Leonard -- in his ninth NBA season -- had never recorded a triple-double was stunning to his teammates and coaches.

"Actually I thought he had one already," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "Yeah, that's cool. And he had to -- [the Heat] were trapping him. And instead of trying to force it, he just kept taking the traps, moving the ball, getting guys open shots. And the whole key is like Kawhi said in [the locker room], 'I'm going to pass you that ball, but the key was that you guys made the shots.' That led to the end of the game where then he got his isos, and then he started scoring. So it was like he was a boxer and he just kind of took his time until he could throw punches."

After a disappointing loss to the lowly Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, Rivers and his players said they were proud of the way they bounced back behind Leonard's performance.

"Everybody plays different so I'm happy for him," Clippers guard Lou Williams said. "Maybe it'll be something that he's able to do continuously for us. He's such a selfless guy that he gave us credit for making shots for him for the triple-double. I'm happy for him, it was a good night. "

Leonard has now scored at least 30 points in seven consecutive games, joining World B. Free and Bob McAdoo as the only players to accomplish that feat in franchise history. Leonard's 33 points also matched Blake Griffin's record for most points scored in a triple-double in franchise history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

"That's crazy, man," Clippers guard Landry Shamet said. "Happy for him. Happy I got to be a part of it. Happy he passed me the ball a few times and I got the assists on there for him. That's cool, I guess. That still is crazy to me, a player as good as him. Obviously he had to have been close a number of times. He does so much for our team, he's great."

Rivers was particularly pleased with the fact his team dished out 33 assists and had only eight turnovers on the night. He says he believes the key is that Leonard has developed into a better passer in recent years.

"It's amazing," Rivers said of Leonard's first career triple-double. "But he's become a better passer as his career's come on. If you watched him even last year, scorer, rebounder, defender, and then towards the end of the playoffs -- scorer, rebounder, defender, passer. This year he picked up where he left off. He's been passing all year for us, so it's been phenomenal."

As Leonard completed his postgame news conference, a Clippers security official waited patiently by his side with the game ball in his hands. When asked what he would do with the ball, Leonard said he might use it differently than most other players would.

"Just take it home," Leonard said. "I don't know. I might shoot with it."

NEW ORLEANS -- It was officially game No. 2 for Zion Williamson in his young career Friday night and, not surprisingly, he felt better than he did two days earlier.

Williamson also ended up playing about 2&½ minutes more than he did in his debut, but there are still fans who want more.

The "We want Zion!" chants once again filled the Smoothie King Center as Williamson sat on the bench at the end of the fourth quarter in a 113-106 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry again said he understood the frustration of the fans but said they should understand where the team is coming from.

"It's the way we've decided, it's best for him right now and that's what we're going to stick to," Gentry said. "I know everybody gets real excited, and I hear every night that I'm the dumbest coach in the world about why would I take the guy out in the game of the last 5 minutes or 6 minutes? So I'll live with that knowing that we're doing the right thing."

Williamson finished with just under 21 minutes -- 20 minutes and 57 seconds, to be exact -- and had his second consecutive efficient performance. He finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 massive block while going 7-of-9 from the field. He missed his lone 3-pointer and struggled at the free throw line, going just 1-of-4.

In his first two games, Williamson is a combined 15-of-20 from the field. According to research by the Elias Sports Bureau, that's the best field goal percentage through two games in the shot clock era (since 1954-55), with a minimum of 20 attempts. That's out of over 300 players in this span with at least 20 attempts in their first two games combined.

Williamson said that while his conditioning improved as he works his way back from October knee surgery, he also felt as if the chemistry with his teammates was picking up. Still, he felt as if he could be doing more.

"I feel like I played all right," Williamson said. "I think I missed the few passes that Jrue [Holiday] and Lonzo [Ball] threw to me. I think that could've been a couple easy buckets. I was out there when we were getting beat on offensive rebounds, so I feel like I could've done better with that as well."

Williamson finished a team-high plus-16 against the Nuggets, so things are working when he is on the floor. The problem Friday was when he went to the bench.

Denver also finished with 24 offensive rebounds -- the most any team has ever had against the Pelicans. That led to 35 second-chance points, which according to ESPN Stats & Information research is tied for the most second-chance points any NBA team has scored this season.

The Pelicans have lost both games Williamson has played after winning 11 of their previous 16. Holiday said that even though adding Williamson to the lineup is different, the team still should be playing better.

"I felt like we go through stretches where, even when he's not on the court, we have to pick it up a little bit," Holiday said. "We'll figure it out."

Brandon Ingram, who had been playing at an All-Star level this season, has struggled from the field in the past two games. He went 6-of-22 against San Antonio on Wednesday and was 3-of-11 against Denver. The three field goals tied for his lowest in a game this season and equalled the mark for a game he left in the second quarter because of a head injury.

Ingram said that while the rotations have been different, he thinks the team will get it figured out.

It remains unclear how long the rotations will stay the way they are because of Williamson's restrictions. But Gentry was clear in noting that it won't be this way for long.

"It's frustrating right now because I think with him on the floor, obviously we're pretty good, but we also got to be sensible in our whole approach to it," Gentry said. "We got to understand, as I said right from the start, we got to think long term here. So he was able to play 20, 21 minutes tonight.

"I think he's shown he's getting more of a feel. The speed of the game and all of that. So we just got to be patient enough to understand to let him get to the point where he can play a normal rotation minutes. We will not deviate from that at all. If it will be a few more games, then that's what it's going to be and we just gotta understand."

When asked if Williamson could play the end of the fourth quarters instead of the beginning, to finish out games, Gentry said the medical team prefers it the way it is now.

"And I'm 100 percent with them," Gentry said. "So whatever they decide, because they know a hell of a lot more than us coaches."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland Athletics pitcher Mike Fiers didn't have any more to say regarding his role as a whistleblower.

Fiers declined to answer questions Friday about revealing the sign-stealing scandal that has engulfed Major League Baseball, instead saying he simply wanted to focus on the future. He spoke a day ahead of an A's fan event, his first public appearance since divulging that the Houston Astros used electronics to illicitly steal signs from opposing catchers in 2017.

"I don't want this to be a distraction to them, I want them to be ready for the season," Fiers said. "For me, it's all about getting ready for the season, playing baseball and not being a distraction to this team."

Fiers said he would take "baseball questions." As for the cheating scam and its aftermath, "I'm not talking about that right now," he said.

"We're moving forward," he reiterated several times without saying whether he expected to face scrutiny with his decision to disclose the Astros' cheating.

Fiers told The Athletic in a story published in November that his former club had used a camera in center field to steal signs on the way to winning the 2017 World Series championship.

His current manager and teammates were quick to applaud him for what he did.

"A lot was reported to the league, but it's tough to get something done unless a player that was there comes out and says something. It wasn't going to go down any other way," manager Bob Melvin said. "And this is significant enough that it needed to be addressed. And as time goes on, he'll be revered for doing this, for making the game a better place.

"You're seeing more sentiment come his way right now, as it should, because there's no place for this in baseball. This crosses a serious line. It needed to happen and MLB did what they should have done with it. And hopefully we're past this because it's an ugly black mark on the game."

Fiers' disclosure of Houston's elaborate scheme led to the seasonlong suspensions by MLB and ensuing firings of Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch. Alex Cora was dismissed by the Boston Red Sox after commissioner Rob Manfred identified him as "an active participant" in the cheating scandal when he was Astros bench coach. Cora led Boston to a title the following year, in 2018.

The Mets also parted ways with manager Carlos Beltran, who played for the Astros in 2017. Hired this offseason, Beltran was let go before ever managing a game for New York.

That means Fiers took out three managers -- 10% of the majors -- with one set of comments.

"There's a lot that goes into that decision, it's not just a purely spiteful or anything like that about making someone else pay," Oakland closer Liam Hendriks said. "It was about saving people's careers. It was about rectifying for those people whose careers that have been lost because of something like this.

"But it shows a lot of courage to be able to come up and say what he said knowing the backlash, knowing the repercussions of his actions. Talking to him, he is completely sound of mind with his decision, he is happy with the decision, and regardless of how certain people have been viewing him and been talking about him, he is happy with what's come from it."

Fiers, 34, spent part of the 2015 season and all of 2016 and '17 playing for the Astros.

Fiers pitched the most innings for the Astros in 2017 but was left off the postseason roster after compiling a 5.22 ERA. He signed with Detroit as a free agent the following offseason.

He is back in the American League West and set to begin the second season of a two-year contract worth more than $14 million that he signed with Oakland in December 2018 that pays him $8.1 million this season.

The low-budget A's finished second in the division to Houston each of the past two seasons, winning 97 games in consecutive years.

"Clearly MLB's drawing the line," A's general manager David Forst said, noting he isn't wondering where Oakland might have been in the standings. "I don't think about it that way. It's not for us to look back and say, 'What if?"

Houston, which won a majors-best 107 games last year, plays its first regular-season road series at the Oakland Coliseum beginning March 30. Fiers won't have to bat against Houston, so it's unclear what kind of response he will receive from around the majors.

When asked if he would handle the situation the same way again, Fiers again turned toward baseball.

"I just want to focus on this team and not the past," Fiers said.

White Sox left-hander Dallas Keuchel on Friday became the first member of the '17 Astros to publicly apologize for the team's sign-stealing scheme.

Keuchel was at a Chicago fan event and was asked about Fiers. Keuchel called it a "tough subject" because players rarely tell secrets outside the locker room.

"It sucks to the extent of the clubhouse rule was broken and that's where I'll go with that," Keuchel said. "I don't really have much else to say about Mike."

Fiers has been one of the steadiest starters for the A's, pitching his second career no-hitter on May 7 against the Reds and finishing the year a career-best 15-4 with a 3.90 ERA over 33 starts and his most innings yet at 184⅔.

"There's a lot of people I don't think would have had the courage to come out and say it until they maybe have been retired," Hendriks said. "My hat's off to him, he stood up tall and put the name behind the investigation that started this whole thing. We're happy the game's being cleaned up, and Mike Fiers is a big part of that."

The Washington Nationals and Ryan Zimmerman have agreed to terms on a $2 million contract for 2020 that includes the possibility of earning $3 million more in incentives, a source confirmed to ESPN's Jeff Passan on Friday.

The agreement was first reported by The Washington Post.

When Zimmerman, 35, became a free agent, he figured he either would be back with the Nationals -- or out of baseball.

"I think I've made my intentions pretty clear," Zimmerman said in December. "It's either play some more here or play more golf."

He was the first player drafted by the Nationals in 2005 after the club moved from Montreal to Washington, and he has played in every one of their 15 seasons. He holds franchise career records for hits, doubles, total bases, homers and RBI.

Zimmerman was around for the consecutive 100-loss seasons in 2008 and 2009, the frequent trips to -- and early exits from -- the playoffs from 2012 to 2017, and, of course, the World Series championship last year.

Injuries limited him to 52 games and a .257 average with six homers and 27 RBIs in 2019, although he was a key contributor in the postseason. He is expected to share time at first base in 2020 with newcomer Eric Thames and holdover Howie Kendrick.

"He's the classiest big leaguer I've ever been around. He's the culmination of a lot of hard work. The guy's been through some trials and tribulations. We all forget about the first six, seven years, when he played 160 games every year. I saw needles in his shoulder. I saw him play when he probably shouldn't have played earlier in his career," general manager Mike Rizzo said late last season. "That's the kind of man he is and the kind of player he is. You see when he's a healthy player, he's a pretty damn good one still."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

April event offers a 27.5km route or 55km challenge

A new all terrain ultra-marathon, ULTRA NORTH, is heading to Newcastle in April.

The event, which aims to showcase the industrial heritage and urban reinvention of Newcastle, Gateshead and Northumberland in the UK, is set to take place on Saturday April 25.

It comes after the inaugural ULTRA LONDON urban ultra-marathon was held in the UK capital in October.

There are two distances to choose from at the Newcastle event, a 27.5km route or a 55km challenge, with organisers aiming to attract runners and walkers of all abilities, whether seasoned ultra-runners, walkers seeking a challenge, or first timers looking to push themselves even further.

Starting and finishing in Newcastle, the event explores the industrial history of the area, offering participants the opportunity to explore the blend of urban, parkland, disused railway lines and woodland trails that the North East has to offer.

Those taking on the 55km will start their tour on Newcastle Quayside. The area that was once an industrial commercial dockside, after heavy redevelopment now boasts cultural, music and leisure venues, all under the iconic Tyne Bridge.

The 27.5km participants will join the route in Chopwell Wood, a site covering almost 900 acres of the Derwent Valley, making it the largest woodland in Tyne and Wear with a rich history of mining and timber production.

​A finish line close to the city centre awaits runners.

​Andy Graffin, director of product development at The Great Run Company who are staging the event, said: “We’re excited to be trying something new in the growing area of ultra-running.

“Many of Newcastle’s landmarks are world famous of course, but we also wanted the opportunity to showcase the hidden gems that the region has to offer.

“Providing participants with a suitable challenge and perhaps some surprises along the way, they will pass numerous landmarks and enjoy some lesser known points of interest on their active journey.

“Being in Newcastle, the event is accessible for participants and also for friends, family and supporters who can plan a route that will allow them to see their runner at numerous points along the course.”

For more information or to secure one of a limited number of entries into this year’s inaugural event visit ultranorth.co.uk

Kiki Bertens, the Dutch world number 10, is the latest WTA Tour star to feature in a BBC Sport column. In her third piece at the Australian Open, the 2016 French Open semi-finalist talks about matching her best run in Melbourne, her sadness at hearing Dutch wheelchair legend Esther Vergeer is fighting cancer and whether there should be a punishment for 'unnecessary' medical time-outs.

If you didn't see my second-round match in the Australian Open then that's a good thing - it was not a great one from my perspective!

The most important thing was that I won and I still managed to do that in two sets against Australian wildcard Arina Rodionova, despite not being at my best.

That win puts me into the third round in Melbourne for only the second time in my career so I'm very happy about that.

Now I will play Kazakhstan's world number 73 Zarina Diyas on Saturday for a place in the fourth round. Reaching the last 16 would be my best ever run here.

I've played Zarina once before when she beat me in Tokyo four years ago - that's quite a long time ago in tennis terms.

I think I'm a different player now, as I've explained in my previous columns, but she is playing really flat so that makes it tricky.

Against Rodionova, I wasn't at my best because my legs weren't moving that great.

That had nothing to do with the Achilles injury which forced me to pull out of Adelaide last week and which I am continuing to manage.

My side-to-side movement was really good and I got a lot of balls back in the court. It was more like when I had opportunities to come forward I wasn't really going through the ball with my legs.

So I stopped doing that and I was just trying to make as many balls as I could and let her finish it.

The injury did not bother me at all, but my team and I are still trying to find a balance so it does not become a bigger problem. That's why I decided not to play doubles here.

Sometimes I like to play doubles to get some matches in, I know the more matches I play the better the level of my tennis is going to be.

But at the moment my recovery is helped by the day off between matches, meaning I can rest and have just a light practice to be ready again for the next match.

I played alongside Australian world number one Ash Barty in Brisbane earlier this month and I loved playing with her, especially in her home town.

It would have been an amazing experience to play with Ash here, but it was the best decision physically not to play in the doubles.

Players need to consider if they really need medical timeouts

Earlier this week the issue of tactical medical timeouts was raised again when Caroline Wozniacki questioned why Dayana Yastremska used one at a crucial point towards the end of their second-round match.

Obviously taking a medical timeout is allowed at any stage of the match and you can do what you want to do.

I don't exactly know what happened in this situation and maybe it was a genuine injury.

I would like to see a rule change - or at least a discussion around the issue - where you can have an injury timeout but then you lose a point.

I think it needs something to make players consider if they really need the timeout.

I was sad to hear Dutch legend Vergeer's cancer diagnosis

Earlier this week I read the terrible news that Dutch wheelchair tennis legend Esther Vergeer has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Esther won an incredible 470 successive matches between 2003 and her retirement in 2013; that is why she is one of the biggest names in sport back home.

It is always really sad when you read something like that but it was good to hear her say she is full of positive energy.

I have met her on a few occasions and we know each other to say hello.

She is a huge star in the Netherlands and what she did for the sport in our country is unbelievable.

Diede de Groot is now the women's number one wheelchair player in the world and I think that is partly because Esther made the sport so big and inspired so many good players.

Esther is loved back home and means a lot to the people. She has done a lot for sport in the Netherlands and now she is chef de mission this year for the Paralympics in Tokyo so she is still really involved.

I wish her all the best in her fight and hope she returns to full health soon.

No time for an escape room, but I have been to the casino

Melbourne is a great city and one of the favourites place on tour for many players.

I've been playing and practising a lot - which is a good thing, of course - so I haven't done much yet around the city, other than a few dinners.

On Wednesday night we had a special dinner; actually, it was the birthday of my coach Elise Tamaela.

We went to Nobu - which is a favourite for the players - and that was a really nice celebration.

We got Elise a cake and it was brought to the table so we could sing 'Happy Birthday' to her. She was really happy with that… not!

Also I went to the casino one night with my team, although I don't play too much.

I just like to walk around and look at what is happening. It means we don't lose too much money!

I like to play a little bit of blackjack and a little bit of roulette but I'm not a big gambler.

One thing I really love doing is an escape room. We did that before I arrived here in Melbourne and we are definitely planning to do one here when we get the time.

But hopefully not too soon because that will mean I'm still winning!

Kiki Bertens was speaking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko at Melbourne Park.