Scarlets coach Brad Mooar says the region are intent on keeping Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny.

Halfpenny produced another impressive performance in the 16-14 Welsh derby win over Cardiff Blues with an 11-point kicking display.

Liam Williams will rejoins Scarlets from Saracens next season but Mooar says the region want both players.

"We will be extremely keen to keep Leigh on board, 11 out of 10. Is that keen enough?" said Mooar.

"He is a champion. He is loving his rugby at the moment and bouncing into work.

"He is an absolute professional in how he prepares. For our younger players watching a bloke like that, you can set your watch to how he trains.

"He has settled on a performance plan that gets him ready to play and works for him.

"There is no fear of him not putting the work in, it's more case of saying you have had enough, you can come off now. Have a rest, get home, do some dishes or something!"

"There are probably two guys who I have seen prepare like that. Leigh is one of them and the other would be Owen Franks (New Zealand prop).

"They are utter professionals who I learn from and the way they do that is magnificent."

Former Wales coach Warren Gatland called Halfpenny the best defensive full-back in the world. Mooar recognises that element of his game but also believes he is developing his attacking edge again.

"There is no surprise he kicks the goals and takes the high balls and is in position across the field as he covers more ground than anyone in the game," said Mooar.

"He is probably one of the bravest guys around and that shows with the stuff in the air.

"When he is enjoying the game he is going to start enjoying the gaps and he has a turn of pace.

"It's something we spoke about with Leigh and said to him we think we can help him keep getting better and become more of an attacking threat at the back.

"He has bought into that and he is loving it. He is a genuine run-kick-pass threat now and tends to make the right decisions."

Halfpenny's kicking haul against Cardiff Blues was supplemented by a trademark interception try from Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies who was up against national rival Tomos Williams.

Davies could face another Wales' Six Nations opponent on 11 January when Rhys Webb's Toulon travel to face Scarlets in the Challenge Cup.

Webb is eligible again for Wales after it was announced he will return to Ospreys next season.

"Things like head-to-heads are lovely for you guys and spectators to look at but for our guys it is just a matter of playing for the team and our boys will do that," said Mooar.

"Gareth is another bloke who is enjoying his rugby and coming to work. He is leading meetings, bringing ideas and driving standards. When you are preparing like that that's when you deliver consistent performances."

Mooar will hope Davies is passed fit after coming off against Cardiff Blues early in the second-half with a sore knee.

Wales trio James Davies (back), Rob Evans (neck) and Johnny McNicholl are all back in training after missing the victories over Ospreys and Cardiff Blues.

McNicholl and Evans are expected to be passed fit to face Toulon but Davies is again set to miss out after being sidelined since the end of the World Cup on 2 November.

TULSA, Okla. — Three days, 252 individual races, and 2,196 laps later, the stage is nearly set for the finale of the 35th annual Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout.

Looking at a run of 65 events on Saturday, the final day of competition will begin with Restricted A-Class B-Features.

A quick review of Friday’s action, 90 rounds of competition through heat races, D Features, C Features and qualifiers yielded 84 different winners with Brenden Bright, Bryce Lucius, Gage Robb, Kris Carrol, Robbie Smith and Tyler Walton coming out as the only drivers to earn a pair of wins.

Racing resumes Saturday morning. The River Spirit Expo Center opens at 8 a.m. with racing on track at 9 a.m. (CT). Opening Ceremonies are slated for 6 p.m. with Last Chance Qualifiers and A Features to follow.

The results:

Outlaw*

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 73C-Shawn Conde[3]; 2. 2B-Nathan Benson[6]; 3. 17M-Christian Bruno[1]; 4. 9M-Matt Moore[5]; 5. 1H-Connor Lee[7]; 6. 5R-Ryan Rocha[8]; 7. 2D-Jeffrey Abbey[9]; 8. 1X-Brent Crews[2]; 9. 41T-Chase Cabre[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 31M-Tres Mehler[1]; 2. 73T-Tanner Carrick[2]; 3. 144-Damon Paul[7]; 4. 14-Blake Battles[5]; 5. 91A-Alec Frisell[6]; 6. 10-Patrick Lundy[3]; 7. (DNS) 00-Tony Sinquefield; 8. (DQ) 16-Nicklas Bailey[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 61-Eli Bookout[3]; 2. 83C-Chance Crum[6]; 3. 74-Xavier Doney[5]; 4. 12-Corbin Gurley[1]; 5. 22M-Rees Moran[2]; 6. 28-Austin Ullstrom[7]; 7. Z78-Zach Drummond[8]; 8. 13H-Brad Hannum[4]; 9. (DNS) 9J-Jon Randall

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 1J-Ben Worth[2]; 2. 10J-Blake Hahn[4]; 3. 1$-Kortland Stephens[8]; 4. 95X-Nicholas Fauci[1]; 5. 77A-Sage Bordenave[9]; 6. 50-David Mogle[5]; 7. 10E-Matt Ebarb[6]; 8. 99-Josh Ames[3]; 9. 21X-Tom Calico[7]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Anton Hernandez[4]; 2. 25J-Delaney Jost[1]; 3. W46-Whit Knisley[5]; 4. 8B-Michael Bullock[7]; 5. 6T-Christopher Townsend[9]; 6. 93-Matt Carr[8]; 7. 413-Charles Corte[6]; 8. 73-Jason McDougal[3]; 9. 51F-Gary Taylor[2]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Cole Roberts[2]; 2. 22L-Gage Laney[5]; 3. 33M-Ryan Mueller[1]; 4. 14R-Jake Nail[3]; 5. C2-Chase Porter[7]; 6. 76-Mason Caswell[4]; 7. 35X-Buddy Schweibinz[6]; 8. 18P-Caleb Pence[9]; 9. 37B-Blake Carrick[8]

Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Curtis Jones[1]; 2. 42A-Emerson Axsom[6]; 3. 1F-Jason Friesen[3]; 4. 39-Russ Disinger[4]; 5. 1V-Johnny Boland[7]; 6. 14Q-Blaine Baxter[5]; 7. 9H-Kaden Holm[8]; 8. 43C-Cameron Willhite[2]; 9. 88C-Joshua Ullstrom[9]

Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 36K-Kris Carroll[1]; 2. 21K-Thomas Kunsman[7]; 3. 54-Trey Gropp[4]; 4. 8L-Brian Lunsford[5]; 5. 91S-Tyler Walton[2]; 6. 26-Jordan Feagle[8]; 7. 44E-Eric Ankiewicz Sr[6]; 8. 5X-Bradley Huish[3]; 9. 66-Jase Randolph[9]

Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 91-Jared Peterson[2]; 2. 17D-Angelina Dempsey[3]; 3. 131-Dusty Young[5]; 4. 01-Mitchel Moles[8]; 5. 80-Cody Caldwell[6]; 6. 7R-Andy Rein[7]; 7. 17-Robert Harbert[1]; 8. 122-Lane Warner[9]; 9. 17K-Kurt Stellhorn[4]

Heat 10 (8 Laps): 1. 7X-Kole Kirkman[2]; 2. 88G-Garrett Hulsey[6]; 3. 11A-Avery Goodman[5]; 4. 70-Dustin Dixon[4]; 5. 27W-Shawn Wicker[8]; 6. 95J-Jim Radney[9]; 7. 7K-Mason Keefer[7]; 8. 18-Wyatt Siegel[3]; 9. 23T-Travis Rewerts[1]

Heat 11 (8 Laps): 1. 77S-Robbie Smith[2]; 2. 21A-Adam Barth[1]; 3. 94-Cale Thomas[9]; 4. 17J-Jacob Johnston[3]; 5. 44K-Cory Kelley[4]; 6. 29-Scott Sawyer[8]; 7. 3J-Jordan Howell[6]; 8. 23L-Tyler LaPointe[5]; 9. 53-Tomas Partington[7]

Heat 12 (8 Laps): 1. 12T-Trey Robb[2]; 2. 21H-Brady Bacon[8]; 3. 8-Chris Andrews[6]; 4. 938-Bradley Fezard[4]; 5. 15H-Dayna Hill[7]; 6. 19-Justin Robison[3]; 7. 67-Jason McCoy[5]; 8. (DNS) 1T-David Schilling; 9. (DQ) 5T-Ryan Timms[1]

Heat 13 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Layden Pearson[4]; 2. 59-Kyle Spence[5]; 3. 51-Cannon McIntosh[1]; 4. 12C-Cole Christensen[2]; 5. 117-James Scott[7]; 6. 88-Tony Penick[3]; 7. 52-Cameron La Rose[6]; 8. (DNS) 82-Jason Woods; 9. (DNS) 18E-Steve Finn

Heat 14 (8 Laps): 1. 18N-Noah Burlison[3]; 2. 14H-Harley Hollan[7]; 3. 99E-Eastin Ashbrooke[1]; 4. 21G-Garth Kasiner[5]; 5. 12L-John Campbell[2]; 6. 72-Chris Tarrant[8]; 7. R7-Brenden Bright[6]; 8. 92H-Jordan Herrman[4]; 9. (DNS) 36-Tuesday Calderwood

Heat 15 (8 Laps): 1. 12G-Gage Robb[2]; 2. 51B-Joe B Miller[5]; 3. 4S-Spencer Hill[1]; 4. 34V-John Vreeland[4]; 5. 7T-Taylor Neilson[3]; 6. 44X-Trevin Littleton[6]; 7. 21T-Ty Hulsey[8]; 8. 95-Paige Moss[9]; 9. (DQ) 23M-Rhea Lynn Moss[7]

Heat 16 (8 Laps): 1. 141-Corey Day[3]; 2. 44R-Branigan Roark[1]; 3. 17A-Quinn Jones[6]; 4. 11T-Mike Thompson[4]; 5. 14K-Noah Key[5]; 6. 16T-Brittany Trogdon[8]; 7. 13P-Justin Porter[7]; 8. 8X-Austin Shores[2]; 9. (DNS) 08K-Brad Best

Heat 17 (8 Laps): 1. 07X-Troy Morris[5]; 2. 91M-Chris Cochran[4]; 3. 1-Bryant Wiedeman[3]; 4. 11B-Kaylee Bryson[8]; 5. 12B-David Jacobs[2]; 6. 02-Ashton Torgerson[9]; 7. 21-Caleb Stelzig[7]; 8. 129-Kyle Amerson[6]; 9. 71H-Mason Hannagan[1]

Heat 18 (8 Laps): 1. 7P-Jake Andreotti[2]; 2. 21J-Kameron Key[5]; 3. 21L-Dylan Kadous[1]; 4. 41E-Brian Carber[3]; 5. 35A-Aubrey Smith[8]; 6. 92-Eric Paxson[6]; 7. 48T-Tanner Holm[4]; 8. 14P-Josh Pierson[7]; 9. (DNS) 77-Ryan Sullivan

Heat 19 (8 Laps): 1. 10R-Craig Ronk[3]; 2. 23R-Skylar Rhoades[4]; 3. 20J-Junior Ankiewicz[5]; 4. 96S-Brandon Sampson[6]; 5. 23-Josh Castro[7]; 6. 79-Matt Taylor[2]; 7. 07-Zak Gorski[1]; 8. (DNS) 24C-Tristan Ullstrom

Heat 20 (8 Laps): 1. 721-Jonathan Beason[5]; 2. 49-Michael Faccinto[3]; 3. 47R-Tyler Rennison[2]; 4. 7-Aidan Borden[6]; 5. 101-Brock Berreth[7]; 6. 214-Robert Tidabach[4]; 7. 14D-Jake Hagopian[8]; 8. 11S-Colton Booten[1]

Heat 21 (8 Laps): 1. 20S-Steven Curbow[4]; 2. 12S-Adyn Schmidt[2]; 3. 24-Ryan Shorthose[8]; 4. 17X-Molly Day[6]; 5. 51X-Joshua Huish[1]; 6. 26M-Patrick Lawson[7]; 7. 711-Ty Englehart[3]; 8. 34-KJ Snow[5]

Heat 22 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Chase Randall[2]; 2. 28Q-Austin Quick[7]; 3. 6W-Colin White[5]; 4. 97-Scotty Milan[8]; 5. 22G-Jared McIntyre[6]; 6. 33-Cody Barnes[3]; 7. 78-Autumn Ankiewicz[4]; 8. 72W-Kurt Westerfield[1]

Heat 23 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Alex Bright[1]; 2. 12K-Frank Galusha[6]; 3. 91B-Kevin Bayer[7]; 4. 880-Austin Torgerson[5]; 5. 71E-Caden Englehart[3]; 6. 38J-Jimmy Wood[2]; 7. 5-Chase Hyland[8]; 8. 33N-Ty Nevins[4]

Heat 24 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Nick McFarland[1]; 2. 23C-Trey Marcham[7]; 3. 7N-Darin Naida[4]; 4. 33C-Cole Tipton[2]; 5. 3R-Hunter Rhoades[3]; 6. 2J-Jaxon Bishop[6]; 7. 32T-Drake Turner[5]; 8. 16F-Alec Carberry[8]

Heat 25 (8 Laps): 1. 81-Frank Flud[1]; 2. 98P-Miles Paulus[3]; 3. 9B-Brad Sutton[5]; 4. 88J-Joey Amantea[6]; 5. 10K-Koda Oller[2]; 6. 27-Devin Feger[7]; 7. 26W-Cody Williams[8]; 8. 2X-Jadyn Friesen[4]

C-Features (Top 2 advance to the corresponding B-Feature)

C Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 27-Devin Feger[1]; 2. 10K-Koda Oller[4]; 3. 44X-Trevin Littleton[8]; 4. 21T-Ty Hulsey[7]; 5. 13H-Brad Hannum[10]; 6. 88-Tony Penick[6]; 7. 72-Chris Tarrant[2]; 8. 10E-Matt Ebarb[5]; 9. 53-Tomas Partington[9]; 10. Z78-Zach Drummond[3]; 11. 24C-Tristan Ullstrom[11]; 12. (DNS) 80-Cody Caldwell; 13. (DNS) 73-Jason McDougal; 14. (DNS) 9J-Jon Randall

C Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 5T-Ryan Timms[10]; 2. 23T-Travis Rewerts[11]; 3. 22G-Jared McIntyre[1]; 4. 16T-Brittany Trogdon[2]; 5. 7T-Taylor Neilson[5]; 6. 92H-Jordan Herrman[9]; 7. 9H-Kaden Holm[4]; 8. 16F-Alec Carberry[8]; 9. 413-Charles Corte[6]; 10. 18P-Caleb Pence[7]; 11. 71E-Caden Englehart[3]; 12. (DNS) 5X-Bradley Huish; 13. (DNS) 51X-Joshua Huish; 14. (DNS) 36-Tuesday Calderwood

C Feature 3 (10 Laps): 1. 12C-Cole Christensen[1]; 2. 14D-Jake Hagopian[5]; 3. 91A-Alec Frisell[4]; 4. 35X-Buddy Schweibinz[7]; 5. 3R-Hunter Rhoades[3]; 6. 14P-Josh Pierson[9]; 7. 12-Corbin Gurley[2]; 8. 33N-Ty Nevins[10]; 9. 33-Cody Barnes[6]; 10. 122-Lane Warner[8]; 11. 11S-Colton Booten[11]; 12. (DNS) 18-Wyatt Siegel; 13. (DNS) 08K-Brad Best

C Feature 4 (10 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Tipton[1]; 2. 95X-Nicholas Fauci[2]; 3. 72W-Kurt Westerfield[10]; 4. 5-Chase Hyland[3]; 5. 92-Eric Paxson[4]; 6. 44E-Eric Ankiewicz Sr[5]; 7. 2X-Jadyn Friesen[8]; 8. 37B-Blake Carrick[9]; 9. 17-Robert Harbert[7]; 10. 32T-Drake Turner[6]; 11. 34-KJ Snow[11]; 12. (DNS) 2D-Jeffrey Abbey; 13. (DNS) 79-Matt Taylor

C Feature 5 (10 Laps): 1. 2J-Jaxon Bishop[4]; 2. 5R-Ryan Rocha[1]; 3. 48T-Tanner Holm[8]; 4. 1X-Brent Crews[9]; 5. 41T-Chase Cabre[12]; 6. 38J-Jimmy Wood[6]; 7. 1T-David Schilling[11]; 8. 22M-Rees Moran[3]; 9. 14K-Noah Key[2]; 10. 26W-Cody Williams[5]; 11. 88C-Joshua Ullstrom[10]; 12. 3J-Jordan Howell[7]; 13. (DNS) 07-Zak Gorski

C Feature 6 (10 Laps): 1. 93-Matt Carr[1]; 2. 44K-Cory Kelley[2]; 3. 91S-Tyler Walton[3]; 4. 129-Kyle Amerson[7]; 5. 66-Jase Randolph[8]; 6. 7K-Mason Keefer[5]; 7. 50-David Mogle[4]; 8. 78-Autumn Ankiewicz[6]; 9. 17K-Kurt Stellhorn[9]; 10. (DNS) 76-Mason Caswell; 11. (DNS) 67-Jason McCoy; 12. (DNS) 18E-Steve Finn; 13. (DNS) 43C-Cameron Willhite

C Feature 7 (10 Laps): 1. 52-Cameron La Rose[5]; 2. 26-Jordan Feagle[1]; 3. 95-Paige Moss[8]; 4. 8X-Austin Shores[9]; 5. 23L-Tyler LaPointe[7]; 6. 10-Patrick Lundy[6]; 7. 12L-John Campbell[2]; 8. 214-Robert Tidabach[4]; 9. 77-Ryan Sullivan[10]; 10. (DNS) 28-Austin Ullstrom; 11. (DNS) 13P-Justin Porter; 12. (DNS) 00-Tony Sinquefield; 13. (DQ) 14Q-Blaine Baxter[3]

C Feature 8 (10 Laps): 1. R7-Brenden Bright[5]; 2. 29-Scott Sawyer[1]; 3. 16-Nicklas Bailey[7]; 4. 51F-Gary Taylor[10]; 5. 12B-David Jacobs[3]; 6. 99-Josh Ames[8]; 7. 26M-Patrick Lawson[4]; 8. 711-Ty Englehart[6]; 9. 21X-Tom Calico[9]; 10. 7R-Andy Rein[2]; 11. (DNS) 19-Justin Robison; 12. (DNS) 21-Caleb Stelzig; 13. (DNS) 82-Jason Woods

To see more results, turn to the next page.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Four-time Indoor Auto Racing Series TQ Midget champion Erick Rudolph ducked under Shawn Nye with 25 laps complete in Friday’s 40-lap TQ Midget Indoor Auto Racing Series feature and kept Nye at bay for the victory inside the PPL Center.

Rudolph won in a car built by Mark Lafler that was fielded with 10-nch tires as opposed to the 13-inch tires all of Lafler’s cars have used previously.

“The smaller tire took a little getting used to,” Rudolph admitted. In fact, Rudolph spun on his first lap of time trails but brushed it off to post a sixth fastest time on his second lap.

“The car really didn’t drive that much differently. I was able to make the same kind of passes I was making before,” Rudolph added. Rudolph started fifth

Nye was driving an all new car completed just days earlier by his brother Tim and that TQ was also on 10-inch tires.

“I really thought I might win the race,” Nye said. “The problem I was having was with brakes going away. But finishing second to Eric (Rudolph) in an Indoor TQ race with a totally new car is like a win for us.”

Matt Janisch, who had won the Friday Allentown race a year ago, was a solid third at the checkered, ahead of Andy Jankowiak and Jon Reid.

Tim Buckwalter, who started 22nd, Ryan Bartlett, Briggs Danner, Matt Roselli, from 24th and last, and first time Series starter Michael Barnes, from 21st were sixth through 10th.

Jankowiak out-qualified 44 other TQ Midget drivers in time trials posting a 7.425 clocking, just ahead of Anthony Sesely at 7.462.

Tyler Brown was the fourth and final leader of the Champ Kart co-feature, winning over Jeremy Tuttle, Mike Perry, T.J. Reed and Dan Marsden.

The finish:

Feature (40 Laps): 1. Erick Rudolph, 2. Shawn Nye, 3. Matt Janisch, 4. Andy Jankowiak, 5. Jon Reid, 6. Tim Buckwalter, 7. Ryan Bartlett, 8. Briggs Danner, 9. Matt Roselli, 10. Michael Barnes, 11. Tommy Catalano, 12. Tyler Thompson, 13. Timmy Catalano, 14. Jeremy Haudricourt, 15. Earl Paules, 16. Anthony Payne, 17. Pat Bealer, 18. Kyle Lick, 19. Mike Bednar, 20. Anthony Sesely, 21. Timmy Solomito, 22. Ryan Tidman, 23. Ryan Flores, 24. Scott Kreutter.

Real Madrid have held talks with teenage Flamengo midfielder Reinier, sources have told ESPN.

The 17-year-old Brazil youth international is being followed by a number of top European clubs and has also attracted interest from Barcelona and Manchester City.

Additionally, a Barcelona source told ESPN that the club have scouted the player on several occasions, but that Flamengo's valuation of Reinier is too high for the Catalan club.

Sources close to the player have told ESPN that he is weighing up his options and has not yet made a decision on his future, with his Flamengo manager Jorge Jesus recently hinting that the player is set for a move to on of Europe's top clubs.

Reinier, who was an unused substitute in Flamengo's Club World Cup final defeat to Liverpool last month, has a €30m release clause. A source also told ESPN Brazil that Madrid had already made an offer of €25m, but that Flamengo were holding out for the full release.

Under the terms of his contract, Reinier's clause will rise to €35m in June for the summer transfer window and to €70m after that.

Sources at Real Madrid have told ESPN that if a deal were to be agreed during the January window, Reinier would not join Zinedine Zidane's first team squad immediately.

Two options under consideration are the teenager joining Real Madrid Castilla for the rest of the 2019-20 season, or remaining on loan at Flamengo for the time being.

India's captain Virat Kohli has said that having a strong pool of "game-ready" players has set the scene for their T20 World Cup campaign in Australia later this year.

India will be without seamers Deepak Chahar (injured), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (injured) and Mohammed Shami (rested) for their upcoming three-match T20I series at home against Sri Lanka, but they have able back-up options in Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur. In addition, their premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is set to return to international action for the first time September 2019.

On the batting front, they will be without the rested Rohit Sharma, but they still look in fine shape, with Shikhar Dhawan returning from injury to partner the in-form KL Rahul at the top of the order.

"T20 is something we don't have any problems in picking players," Kohli said of India's bench strength on the eve of the series opener in Guwahati. "Because you have the IPL. At a very competitive level, the guys have been performing season after season.

"And all the players you see are probably the most important Indian players in their team in the IPL. So, from that point of view, it's about figuring out which player can fit in at what time and what's the strongest combination you can take to the World Cup.

"And everyone's game-ready, which is the most important thing and the biggest plus of having a squad like this with guys who have played a lot of T20 cricket, as I said, at a very competitive level.

"So, yeah the next few series will be very exciting to see [as to] who stands up under pressure situations and how they react to pressure when maybe Rohit or maybe myself, or KL or Shikhar at the top haven't fired."

In Dhawan's absence, Rahul had enjoyed a longer stint at the top during the limited-overs series against West Indies and embodied India's new, attack-at-all costs approach in T20Is. Now, with Rohit rested, Dhawan will have an opportunity to regain his touch after recovering from injury.

Dhawan didn't quite have the weight of T20I runs behind him in 2019, and suffered two major injuries that year. However, he was the top scorer in T20Is in 2018, with 689 runs in 17 innings at an average of 40.52 and strike rate of 147.22.

Kohli discussed the possible toss-up between Rahul and Dhawan for the second opener's slot while keeping all the cards close to his chest.

"Rahul's has done really well for himself and it's good for the team as well that he's coming into his own," Kohli said. "We know how good a player he is and what he can do with the bat. We are happy that he's got runs so consistently.

"Look, these things happen in cricket that some guy gets injured and another guy comes in and grabs that opportunity. I think it all boils down to who is batting [well] at that moment.You want to go into a tournament with the strongest XI you can compile. Shikhar has been unfortunate in terms of injury but he's an experienced player. That's the dynamic of the squad.

"When Rohit comes back, it's going to be a difficult thing to address because Shikhar is an experienced player but KL is playing so well. We have to decide the best combination to go with and what's the best eleven we can go with."

Kohli was also particularly enthused with the progress made by both Saini and Thakur - both of whom were not part of India's T20I squad for the West Indies series. Saini has cracked T20 cricket after bowling lengthy spells in the Ranji Trophy while Thakur has been drafted back on his back of his impressive performances in the IPL and more recently in the ODI series decider against West Indies in Cuttack.

Kohli believed that having all bases covered on the bowling front will benefit India on the larger grounds in Australia during the T20 World Cup.

"Saini is a different case because he has come from the domestic set-up into the IPL and into the Indian team," Kohli said. "So, he has bowled quite a bit and has good understanding of lines and lengths and he's obviously got pace. Thakur, again, has played a lot of T20 cricket and has been playing the IPL for a while. And, he's quite experienced in that regard.

"Bhuvi, Bumrah, we really don't have to discuss [about them]. Shami is again someone who will always stay in the mix. And Deepak Chahar has bowled really well for the number of games he has played.

"Because the tournament is in Australia, you will need these many options and back-ups to be able to take firstly your strongest squad and have those back-ups in place who also can come in and do the job.

"It's good that we've identified five or six guys and it will be priority based on who goes and back-ups will be in place for fast bowlers. Small niggles can happen now and then, so we're pretty sorted in that regard. So, not a worry at all."

India finished 2019 unbeaten in Tests, shed their conservative approach in T20Is, and were also on a roll in ODIs until New Zealand stopped them in their tracks in the 50-over World Cup semi-final. Another World Cup year has dawned, and Kohli set India's focus towards the ICC tournament, challenging them to build on the gains from the past year."We want to keep the standard as high as we can because it's very important to understand that there's a young influence that's coming into the team now," he said. And they need to be able to take the same culture and same mindset forward. Little transitions keep happening and we want to make sure that the guys who are coming in are on the same page and get up to speed as soon as possible."We need to keep growing these younger guys into guys who will take the team forward. I think the main focus is on that and the ICC tournaments that are coming along, that's something we are going to target."

It's impossible to calculate the effort devoted to the craft of pitch framing in the past 15 years of professional baseball -- or, if you prefer the more elegant term used by some catchers, pitch presentation. Thousands of man-hours have been put in to learn the slight turn of a shoulder or a wrist that can dress up the quality of a pitch -- not to mention the countless days of video review and the daily feedback from staffers.

Along the way, there has been a dramatic evolution of style, from the manner in which Jose Molina worked to receive the ball in the center of his body to Tyler Flowers' extending his gloved hand and seemingly catching the ball at the edge of the swing path.

This refined art has made the difference in millions of dollars of earnings between catchers who received pitches properly and those who didn't, and it will basically become obsolete sometime in the near future, once major league baseball implements an electronic strike zone. The subtle shoulder and wrist turns won't matter anymore because machines will judge whether pitches passed through the strike zone before reaching the catchers.

The electronic strike zone is no longer theoretical. It's a matter of when, not if, now that the umpires have acknowledged that the league has the right to implement the technology under the terms of the recently negotiated labor agreement. (The guess here is the 2022 or 2023 season.)

The most progressive teams in baseball have greatly valued pitch framers, from the Astros to the Rays to the Brewers, in the belief that a small handful of strike calls can make an enormous competitive difference. Yasmani Grandal just got $73 million from the Chicago White Sox, and his reputation as a strong defensive catcher is built on his consistent ability to get strike calls for his pitchers.

VADO, N.M. — Three days into the new decade Chris Madden is right back at it again, picking up a win in the first World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series feature of the year on Friday night at Vado Speedway Park’s inaugural Battle at the Border.

Madden, who ended last season on a hot streak aboard his Scott Bloomquist Racing machine, picked up where he left off.

“It’s pretty awesome, it definitely keeps the momentum going,” Madden said. “I definitely want to stay consistent.”

Two-time and defending series champion Brandon Sheppard was gaining on Madden in the final laps but was ultimately unable to catch the leader, settling for second while Ricky Weiss finished third.

Setting PFC Brakes Fast Time and a track record during qualifying, Madden was simply dominant throughout the night. The Gray Court, S.C.-native led flag to flag in the first heat and drew the outside pole for the feature.

He grabbed the lead from Weiss on the second lap and controlled the 30-lap main event.

A three-car battle between the podium finishers ensued shortly thereafter, Madden showing the way into lapped traffic as Weiss snuck a nose under on lap 10 and got his second lap led in before Madden took it right back one circuit later.

“I thought maybe I could’ve given Madden a little run for his money there,” Weiss said. “I got beside him, just the lap cars didn’t play in my favor.”

The next 15 laps tightened up the leaders as they dove head-first into a long chain of lapped traffic that threw everyone, including Madden, a curveball.

“I was able to get my right rear fired up and get my momentum going to pull back by Ricky on the start,” Madden said. “Then, we were out there holding our own and I guess those lapped cars might’ve knocked the yuke tires into the infield, and a whole bunch of dirt and crumbs started coming across the racetrack, so it got pretty sketchy then.”

Sheppard benefitted the most from the changing terrain, getting underneath Weiss off of turn four on lap 18 to take second at the line. From that point forward, Sheppard held his ground in the runner-up spot and remained in hot pursuit of Madden, but still felt as though he had the car to win when the checkered flag dropped.

“Once we got lined-out there, Ricky slipped up and I was able to get to second,” Sheppard said. “I think I had a better car than them guys did. I stayed right on Madden’s bumper the whole time.”

Sheppard’s Rocket Chassis house showed its strength on the track Friday night, but met its match in Madden.

“We had a really good racecar, I could drive wherever I wanted to go,” Sheppard said. “The momentum line, kind of diamonding the corners off and keeping your speed up was about the best line, and that was what Chris and I were both doing there, so it was going to be hard to pass him.”

As for Weiss’ venture through traffic, he was forced to make extra passes to regain position after slipping back a bit in the final third of the race.

“I knew our car was real good, it was definitely good enough to run up front with Madden. It was maneuverable, I just needed a few breaks with the lapped cars,” Weiss said.

The finish:

Feature (30 Laps) 1. 0M-Chris Madden [2][$5,000]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard [3][$3,000]; 3. 7-Ricky Weiss [1][$2,000]; 4. 0-Scott Bloomquist [4][$1,500]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar [5][$1,200]; 6. 0e-Rick Eckert [8][$1,100]; 7. 3s-Brian Shirley [9][$1,000]; 8. 97-Cade Dillard [7][$900]; 9. 12-Ashton Winger [6][$850]; 10. 28-Dennis Erb, [19][$800]; 11. 32-Bobby Pierce [11][$750]; 12. 29v-Darrell Lanigan [13][$700]; 13. 28m-Jimmy Mars [12][$650]; 14. 18-Chase Junghans [10][$625]; 15. 2s-Stormy Scott [18][$600]; 16. 99jr-Frank Heckenast [16][$575]; 17. 20RT-Ricky Thornton, [20][$550]; 18. 1P-Earl Pearson, [14][$525]; 19. 21jr-Billy Moyer, [17][$500]; 20. 1st-Johnny Scott [21][$500]; 21. 91-Tony Toste [15][$500]; 22. 99B-Boom Briggs [23][$500]; 23. 66c-Matt Cosner [26][$110]; 24. B1-Brent Larson [24][$500]; 25. 42s-Don Shaw [22][$500]; 26. 4G-Kody Evans [28][$110]; 27. 6-Blake Spencer [25][$110] Hard Charger: 28-Dennis Erb,[+9]

Jofra Archer is expected to be fit to play in the third Test in Port Elizabeth after scans on his right elbow showed no serious damage. England are also increasingly confident that Mark Wood will be available for that game, an encouraging boost for a side who have enjoyed little luck on the tour to date.

Archer was deemed unfit for selection in Cape Town after reporting a sore elbow during training ahead of the match. An initial scan was inconclusive, but further tests have shown relatively minor bruising which is not expected to keep him out of the next game, which starts on January 16.

Wood was not played a Test since the final match in the Caribbean in February, having sustained a serious side stain in the World Cup final, but he is bowling with good pace in the nets and seems to be injury free.

The prospect of both Archer and Wood being available for Port Elizabeth is tantalising. While the pair - perhaps the two fastest England-qualified fast bowlers currently in the game - have formed an effective partnership in white-ball cricket, they have yet to play a Test together. Their availability would provide their captain, Joe Root, with a welcome element of pace in his attack, and might also put a bit of pressure on the England bowlers in action in Cape Town.

England have yet to make a decision over whether to call-up a replacement for the injured Rory Burns. At present Jonny Bairstow is the only reserve batsman in the squad but, with only two Tests to play after this, it may well be they decide they do not need to add to the 18-man party they currently have in South Africa.

Four-day Test matches could become mandatory as part of the World Test Championship from 2023, but Virat Kohli isn't in favour of the proposal. The India captain, who has recently been at the forefront of boosting the image of Test cricket in the country, reckoned that tinkering too much with Test cricket will have an adverse effect on the health of the format.

"Four-day Tests? Look, I'm not a fan of [it]," Kohli said on the eve of the T20I series opener between India and Sri Lanka in Guwahati. "I think the intent will not be right then because then you will speak of three-day Tests, where do you end? Then you speak of Test cricket disappearing. I don't endorse that at all.

"I don't think that's fair to the purest format of the game - how cricket started initially and five-day Test matches was the highest of tests you can have at the international level. According to me, it shouldn't be altered."

In 2018, Kohli had also raised concerns over ECB's 100-ball competition that is set to kick off later in 2020. Kohli had said that he was "hurt" by the commercial side of cricket assuming top priority over "real quality" of the game.

On Saturday, Kohli echoed similar thoughts and suggested that day-night Test cricket is the "most that needs to be changed" in the longest format.

"I was asked about the 100-ball [cricket in England], I said I'm not going to try myself in another format because there's already so much going on and with Test cricket I don't think we need…Day-night cricket is the most that needs to be changed about Test cricket, according to me. I mean then you're purely going to be talking about getting the numbers in and entertainment."

India were initially reluctant to play day-night Tests because of the unfamiliarity of the format and challenges of sighting the pink ball. In May 2018, India had rejected Cricket Australia's proposal to play a day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval. However, the comfort of playing at home, in Kolkata, prompted India into becoming among the last sides in joining pink-ball Test cricket by playing against Bangladesh.

India's first day-night Test last November attracted sell-out crowds, and now there's a possibility that India might play another day-night Test in Australia, later in 2020.

"Day-night [cricket] is another step towards commercialising Test cricket and creating excitement around it, but it can't be tinkered around too much. I don't believe so."

The concept of regular four-day Test cricket has divided opinions in the past week. England captain Joe Root had backed it, saying "it's worth trialing" while the likes of Nathan Lyon and Glenn McGrath, much like Kohli, were against fiddling with the longest format.

The ICC is likely to formally consider four-day Test cricket later in 2020 in order to free up calendar that is clogged with too many matches and T20 leagues.

Memories of missed opportunities spurred on Marnus Labuschagne to his career-best 215 during the second day at the SCG. 

Three times in 2019 he had passed 140 (185, 162, 143) before falling short of the double-century, but this time there was no mistake although the tension grew - in the crowd at least - as Tim Paine kept stealing the strike before Labuschagne brought up the landmark with one of his least convincing shots, edging Colin de Grandhomme to third man, cheered on by his parents in the crowd.

In this Test season - which has seen Labuschagne set a new record for the most runs by an Australian batsman in a five-match summer - he made 185 and 162 in the two Tests against Pakistan, caught in the gully in the first of those, then cleaned up by an excellent delivery from Shaheen Afridi in the other.

He recalled the view of Matthew Maynard, the coach at Glamorgan where he spent the pre-Ashes spell last year, when he had previously fallen in sight of a double.

"He has sent me a few messages when I threw away a couple of my opportunities to get a double," he said. "One day he said 'there's only five times in your life that you can make a triple and you threw it away today, well done'. I was like, 'that's a bit stiff', but he's been great. Even those small things, as a player sometimes you don't realise that in the moment. Especially on a high score you are playing with a bit more freedom instead of realising the opportunity you do have."

Labuschagne started the second day at the SCG on 130 and said that during the last six months, when his form has hit career-best level, he has found it easier to resume an innings after success the previous day.

"At times it has affected me especially when I was a bit younger it definitely did. I probably didn't go on and make big scores enough. But over the last year, being able to really come back and it doesn't matter what the situation of the game is, it's just about making sure of my process and back to each ball and not getting too far ahead of yourself."

Labuschagne was in action again at the end of the day when he was given the penultimate over which started with a drag down that Tom Latham pulled powerfully into Matthew Wade's helmet at short leg. Wade remained on the field and then passed a concussion test after play, with the protocols meaning he will have another in the morning.

"I've been hit there plenty of times so I know the feeling, and it's never nice when you're the bowler - drag one down first ball right in the slot," Labuschagne said. "Luckily he's alright and everything is all good. It is never good to be the bowler in that circumstance."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.