The credibility of Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend rests on the "must-win" Six Nations game in Italy, says former scrum-half Andy Nicol.

Scotland were beaten narrowly by Ireland and England in their opening two Six Nations games after a disappointing World Cup campaign.

Nicol believes a loss in Rome would send them into the "depths of despair".

"It's a must-win in every sense, for the players and fans, but definitely for Gregor Townsend," he said.

"Wins are what give you credibility. In his first year he had three, which was on the back of Vern Cotter finishing his reign with three. That was the first time Scotland had done that back-to-back.

"The Six Nations is a tough competition, but this is the game that Scotland can target and say 'if we play well, we win'. Without a win tomorrow, it takes you into the depths of despair.

"The players need to get a win and I think they will."

Scotland are fifth in the table, having failed to score a try in their opening two games, with bonus points keeping them ahead of opponents Italy.

Nicol, who won 23 caps for Scotland, believes the key to success in Rome is for Townsend's side to play without fear of losing.

"So many times we've come to Rome and just tried to avoid losing because of the pressure," he said. "Unfortunately this game is exactly as it has been over many years - the wooden spoon decider.

"We have to try and eradicate that and just go out and play. Scotland need to come out and set the tempo.

"If we do that, with the attacking players we've got, I think we can win, and win quite well."

Darren Sammy has played a major role in the return of top-flight cricket to Pakistan, and the country has decided to express its gratitude in style, by extending an honorary citizenship to the former West Indies captain. Arif Alvi, the Pakistan president, has signed off on the same, and Sammy will also receive the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the country's top civilian award, on March 23 in Islamabad.

The idea of the honorary citizenship was initiated by Javed Afridi, the owner of Peshawar Zalmi, the team Sammy has represented since the start of the PSL in 2016. The PCB followed up on it with the federal government in light of Sammy's "invaluable contribution to cricket in Pakistan".

St Lucian Sammy, 36, has been Zalmi's premier marquee player from the beginning of the PSL. Ahead of the second edition, Shahid Afridi, who led the team in the first season, stepped down and handed the reins to Sammy, and he has led them since - they won the title in 2017 and were the losing finalists in 2018 and 2019.

More than that, though, it's Sammy's support to the Pakistan cause that has endeared him to people in the country. He was the first to agree to tour Pakistan when the PCB wanted to bring the PSL final to the country.

Then, when an ICC World XI was lined up tour Pakistan for three T20Is in September 2017, Sammy - a part of that squad - spoke to the other tourists as part of a security briefing.

At the time, he had said, "I did brief them quickly about my experience in Lahore for the PSL final. We've had the best security team, who have also briefed them. Like I said before, it's important. I get to play in front of my fans in St Lucia and around the world and we see how passionate they are, and to get an opportunity after so long, they are all happy to be part of that process.

"First thing I said to guys after the PSL final - apart from all the security and the protocol - once I stepped on the field, it felt like playing in St Lucia. That is my honest experience - the crowd were just hungry for cricket, to see their icons and role models play in the game. That is what it felt like. That is what I briefed the players when the coach [Andy Flower] asked me about my experience."

West Indies 3 for 80 (Taylor 26*, Campbelle 25*) . beat Thailand 9 for 78 (Koncharoenkai 33, Taylor 3-13) by seven wickets

West Indies opened their T20 World Cup campaign with a win they would have expected, though not without a sizeable fright chasing a small target against a Thailand combination that lost their first ever match at an ICC global event but won plenty of friends along the way at the WACA Ground in Perth.

If Thailand's batting order found themselves struggling to handle the pace and bounce of a pitch that could not have been more different to that prepared for the opening night on the other side of the continent, they bowled and fielded with tremendous skill, determination and no little flare to have the West Indies in early trouble in their chase. But for a DRS reprieve for Shemaine Campbelle, West Indies may have been 4 for 27 chasing 79 to win.

As it was, Campbelle and the captain Stafanie Taylor had to work extremely hard to build the partnership that closed out the fixture, allowing West Indies to notch a valuable opening victory. As for Thailand, they now know they belong among the world's best company, and other sides will need to be wary.

Full report to follow...

LOS ANGELES -- Anthony Davis went from injured to insurmountable; fragile to a force to be reckoned with in the Los Angeles Lakers' 117-105 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday at Staples Center. And his performance -- 28 points, 13 rebounds and 7 blocks in only 31 minutes -- left his team again stumping for his candidacy as the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year.

Davis had exited the game after taking a Jaren Jackson Jr. knee into his right shin area less than a minute into the first quarter. He missed the rest of the quarter and the first several minutes of the second, needing to return to the locker room to receive treatment on the bruised right calf muscle and for hamstring tightness the collision caused.

Then he came back in and wreaked havoc on the Grizzlies' offense -- one of the hottest teams in the league since the calendar turned to 2020 -- holding Memphis to its lowest-scoring output in its past seven games.

"He does everything," LeBron James said of Davis. "He's able to protect the rim, he's able to guard in the post, he's able to switch out to guards. He's able to block shots when guys are shooting floaters and runners. Get steals. I mean, he does everything defensively for us. That's why he's Defensive Player of the Year. He just does everything for us, it's not one thing he doesn't do well defensively."

L.A. really clamped down in the second quarter when Davis made his return, outpacing Memphis 32-19 in the period while holding the Grizzlies to 37.5% from the field.

At times he was charged with guarding the massive 6-foot-11, 265-pound Jonas Valanciunas. On other possessions, he found himself keeping in front of the waterbug-like, Rookie of the Year favorite Ja Morant.

Both players -- Valanciunas was 4-for-11 and Morant was 5-for-14 -- had a rough go of it with Davis patrolling the court.

"He's the best defender in the league from a versatility standpoint and what we can do," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. "His ability to switch out and mix it up in transition, all of those are areas he impacts the game. He's the best defender in the league, simplest way to put it."

Davis, who came in third for DPOY in 2017-18 while playing for the New Orleans Pelicans, said that the hardware isn't his main motivating factor.

"I'm not playing defense for that, but it is appealing. I mean, that award, I would love to have that award several times before I retire -- which is not soon," he said. "[I am] just trying to set a standard for one, myself, and two, my team, on the defensive end and the rest of the guys will follow. ... I'm talking to guys, covering for guys and I think if I continue to do that I put myself in position to win that award.

"But I just want us to get back to being the defensive team that we are and I know that starts with me with a defensive mindset."

The Lakers, whose defensive efficiency numbers allow 106.2 points per 100 possessions, rank fifth in the league.

That's not good enough for Davis.

"We're going to continue to get better and I'm going to continue to get better and try to position ourselves to be the No. 1 defensive team in the league," he said.

While Davis admitted to Spectrum SportsNet during an on-court postgame interview that he expected his right calf to be "pretty sore and tight" Saturday, he sounded plenty motivated to get right for Sunday.

That's when the Boston Celtics come to town, the team that absolutely drubbed the visiting Lakers the last time they played -- 139-107 on Martin Luther King Day.

"The worst loss of the season for us, we didn't play our best at all, so we remember that for sure," Davis said. "We feel like we owe them. It's going to be a fun game so, they remember that. I'm pretty sure they're thinking like, 'We beat them guys by 40,' or something like that. They're thinking about that, we're obviously thinking about it, so [we are] going to come out a little different."

Harvard and Trinity sweep through 9-0 and meet in semi-finals
By CSA Reporters 

The 2020 College Squash Association National Collegiate Women’s Team Championships started with a full day of highly competitive action on Friday.

All five divisions had matches at Yale University’s Brady Squash Center in Payne Whitney Gymnasium throughout the day. Today (Saturday), some of the competition also moves to the Hopkins School across town.

The match results stayed relatively true to the seeding coming into the event, although there were a few close matches and one notable upset. The intensity should ramp up today when the semi-final matches get under way. Live streams of all courts and live scoring in the draws can be found on the Tournament Homepage.

Howe Division:
Despite many close results between the Howe Division teams during the regular season, the top four seeds advanced to the semifinals with relative ease. The closest match of the day featured the cross-country rivals Yale and Stanford, the 3- and 6-seeds, respectively. The match finished with a close 5-4 scoreline, but on the backs of two extra-point, five-game wins in the first wave, Yale clinched the victory by jumping out to a 5-1 lead. The contests between the top three positions were all close five-gamers with great squash on display.

The other Howe Division winners on the day were top-seeded Harvard, second-seeded Princeton, and fourth-seeded Trinity. Harvard and Trinity cruised to 9-0 victories – against Columbia and Penn, respectively – and will meet in a top-class semi-final. Princeton jumped out to a quick early lead over Drexel and ran away with it for an 8-1 win.

Kurtz Division:
Similar to the Howe Division, regular season results between Kurtz Division representatives did not carry over to the match-ups featured. Once again, all four top seeds advanced to the semi-finals, and only one match had a close scoreline. In the 4-versus-5 match between Brown and Williams, Brown jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and looked in control. In the later waves of matches, however, Williams made a push for a comeback. In the end, Brown’s Danielle Benstock overcame Williams’s Melissa Swann in three games to clinch the victory for the Bears.

The top two seeds in the division, Dartmouth and Virginia, had smooth roads to the semi-finals with matching 9-0 victories. Third seed and defending Kurtz Cup Champion Cornell also moved on successfully by capturing a decisive 8-1 win over George Washington. Both semifinals will be rematches of close contests from the regular season and should provide some excitement this afternoon.

Walker Division:
The Walker Division teams were the first on court and did a nice job getting the action going for the rest of the day. True to form, the top four seeds also advanced to the semi-finals in this division, all with relatively comfortable scorelines. The closest match of the day in the Walker Division was the local rivalry between 2-seed Franklin & Marshall and 7-seed Dickinson, which ended in a 6-3 F&M win.Top-seed Amherst College dispatched familiar foes Hamilton by a 9-0 scoreline, and the Mammoths will meet another NESCAC rival, Wesleyan, in the next round. Wesleyan repeated their result against fifth-seeded Bowdoin from earlier in the season with a 7-2 win. Wrapping up the list of Walker Division victors was Tufts, who handled the challenge from 6-seed William Smith, also by the 7-2 scoreline.

Epps Division:
The Epps Division produced the first upset of the tournament, and it came from a team that has a bright future in the CSA. 6-seed Georgetown, who has plans to moved to varsity status this fall, came into their match with third seeded Mount Holyoke as the highest ranked club team and with something to prove. They succeeded in making their point with an emphatic 8-1 victory and a trip to the semi-finals, where they will face the second seed, St. Lawrence.

Once again, the close seeding proved true in the 4-versus-5 match-up with another 5-4 scoreline, this time with the higher seed Colby taking down fifth seed Haverford. The match was knotted at 4-4 with the third position players on court, and it was Colby’s Sabrina Teope who prevailed in the fifth game. Colby now moves on to a rematch with top-seeded Connecticut College, who cruised past Bucknell 9-0.

E Division:
In the 11-team E Division Draw, teams seeded sixth through 11th faced off in preliminary rounds of play on Friday evening. As one might expect, the closest match of the final session featured the eighth and ninth seeds, Fordham and Bard. These two teams played to a close 5-4 match during the season, and the result was repeated later on with Fordham again emerging victorious. The match was decided in the last 30 seconds of play, with Bard tying the match at 4 wins apiece immediately followed by Fordham clinching the victory on a neighboring court. Washington University in St. Louis and Colgate were the other two teams to move on to this morning’s quarter-finals. 

2020 CSA National Collegiate Women’s Team Championships.

Full results and live streaming links here

Pictures by MICHAEL BELLO courtesy of CSA

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- It was one of the best days of Pavel Francouz's life.

Francouz finalized a $4 million, two-year contract extension with the Colorado Avalanche, and then made 26 saves to record his first NHL shutout in the team's 1-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.

"A lot of good stuff happened to me today," Francouz said. "It is a day to remember and a great feeling for us. I have to thank the guys because they played really well in front of me today. They blocked a lot of shots, and they were desperately trying to get the shutout for me."

It was the 27th career game for Francouz, who has taken over since Philipp Grubauer sustained a lower-body injury in a Feb. 15 loss to Los Angeles. The 29-year-old Czech goaltender is 2-1-1 with a 1.80 goals-against average as the Avs' top goalie.

"Once you play more games in a row, you just start feeling better," he said. "You don't have to think that much you just go with it."

The Avalanche have won a season-high five straight on the road. Their 19 victories and 40 points away from home are third in the league.

Colorado's victory -- its 10th in its past 14 games -- and Dallas' loss to St. Louis moved the Avalanche into second place in the Central Division. They have 77 points and trail the Blues by three points.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Before training camp, as nine new Oklahoma City Thunder players were getting to know one another while the organization itself was recalibrating to a post-Russell Westbrook world, coach Billy Donovan sat down with the three point guards on the roster and presented a bold plan.

They -- being Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder -- are three of Donovan's five best players. And he needed to find a way to play them all as much as possible, which would probably include playing all three of them together.

Paul is listed at 6-foot-1. Schroder is a generous 6-1. And Gilgeous-Alexander is the giant of the group at 6-5. None of the three is listed at more than 180 pounds. They're all playmakers. They're all scorers. They all thrive with the ball in their hands.

"If we moved it, if we shared it and if we played together, it would be really hard to guard," Donovan told them. He saw it simplified: Two of the three would always being playing against defenders scrambling to close out on the perimeter.

"And you're all really good at that," he said.

Despite the positional and vertical challenges of it, Donovan wanted to try it. The counterlogic was obvious, and when Donovan floated the idea publicly at media day, it was met with heavy skepticism.

"I hoped it would work," Paul said, leaning on the word "hope" pretty heavily. "We all have different personalities -- you never know what different guys' goals are and whatnot -- but I was excited about it. The biggest thing was that Billy sat us all down. We met, us three and Billy, and talked about the possibilities of what it could be, and thankfully all of us are giving up a little bit here and there for the success of the team."

Now, Donovan's plan hasn't just been validated 56 games into the season, with a sparkling 34-22 record and fresh off the lineup's dismantling of the Denver Nuggets in crunch time for a 113-101 statement win on Friday. The strategy has redefined the Thunder's season -- and the possibility to hope for something more ahead.

The Thunder are the league's undisputed clutch-time maestros, with a league-best plus-27.3 net rating in a league-high 38 games that feature a score within five points in the last five minutes of regulation. They are 25-13 in clutch-time games, with the best offense in the clutch at an absurd 123.5 points per 100 possessions. Paul leads the league in clutch scoring (128 points), Gilgeous-Alexander is 12th (79) and Schroder is 27th (62). When that trio is on the floor, OKC outscores opponents by 29.6 points per 100 possessions.

OKC's preferred closing group -- the three guards, plus center Steven Adams and power forward Danilo Gallinari -- is the best lineup in the NBA by net rating with a minimum 150 minutes (plus-30.2 per 100 in 159 minutes). And 52.8% of those minutes have come in the fourth quarter.

"They've all coexisted, they've all found a way to make each other better," Donovan said of the three guards. "I felt like it could work, but it wouldn't have worked if those guys didn't have the attitude and mentality they had towards it. Really it was them, the way they handled it."

Against the Nuggets, it was Paul's midrange mastery that took over. He snaked around screens, weaved through traffic, dribbled in, dribbled out and knocked down shots. It has become almost a formula the Thunder abide by: Get through the first three quarters, keep it close, release the point guard. It is set up by Donovan playing different duo combinations throughout the game, setting up the final few minutes with the three guards finishing the game.

If the Warriors had the death lineup, the Thunder have the endgame lineup.

"If you guys had mics on all of us you'd get a chance to see we're all each other's biggest cheerleaders," Paul said. "I've seen teams where guys aren't necessarily rooting for each other. They want you to do bad so they can be in the game. But we're not like that in here and it's refreshing and nice to see."

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the point guard trio has played 90 minutes together in clutch time, and 157 minutes total; 47.7% of the time in the fourth quarter, 42.1% of the time in the last five minutes and/or overtime, and 24.1% of the time in the clutch. "It's not like I'm trying to hold it to the fourth," Donovan said. "I just don't want it to be at the expense where we're trying to play that way and the other portions of the game we're not as good. There's a balance you have to find."

The Nuggets themselves are no clutch-time slouches, either. They're 23-12 in clutch-time games, the second-most wins in the league behind Oklahoma City. They found their way to the top tier of the West with a ground-and-pound approach, playing close games and winning behind timely stops and execution.

The Thunder wound up outscoring the Nuggets 35-24 in the fourth quarter. Denver's sloppy finish on Friday was uncharacteristic but also possibly evidence of the rhythm the Nuggets are trying to rediscover. The past two months have had games where the first priority was to field a playable rotation and the second was to try to win with whatever was cobbled together. Friday's starting lineup of Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton, Paul Millsap and All-Star Nikola Jokic returned in Oklahoma City intact for the first time since Jan. 6 because of injuries to everyone except Jokic.

The Nuggets weathered the storm behind the pendulous brilliance of Jokic, who took on a more vocal leadership role during the past couple of months. In the face of the recent attrition, Denver entered Friday's game still No. 2 in the West. It might look as if moving is a chore and that he's tucking the ball into bed rather than shooting it, but Jokic is a ruthless tactician.

"If you want to sleep on the Nuggets, if you want to sleep on Nikola, keep on sleepin'," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of his perception at the lack of appreciation for Jokic's season. "We're not concerned about any of that stuff. We know who we have. We have an MVP candidate, we have the best center in the NBA. And we're gonna continue to play through and rely on him to lead this team on and off the court."

Jokic was his typical fantastic self, scoring 11 of Denver's first 13 points and finishing with a game-high 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting. He's averaging 20.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 6.9 assists; but since Jan. 7 the production has cranked to 24.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 7.8 assists.

"He's not going to bed at night wondering why no one's not talking about him," Malone said. "He doesn't care. He's reading his book on horses, we're winning games and he's happy. If he's happy, I'm happy."

Jokic, and Malone, weren't very happy after Friday's game. OKC carved the typically stout Denver defense, and if this was a preview of a possible postseason matchup, it had to give Malone some pause. Those final five minutes are when the Nuggets often do their best work, and in this case, the Thunder outscored them 18-9 in the last 5:31 of the game. With Schroder battling through a tweaked ankle, the three-guard lineup was deployed a little later than usual but was on the front end of putting the wraps on another win.

The prevailing theme from everyone is unselfishness, but it's also about connectivity. The Thunder have had reps in crunch time, and it's obvious to everyone that Paul is good in close games. He produces winning possessions, consistently locating the best possible shot more often than not. But he doesn't monopolize. On Friday, he had his moments, but he also leaned on Gallinari, he gave the ball to Schroder to let him work a mismatch, he had Gilgeous-Alexander bring it up to initiate the offense. The plan is to let whomever is cooking to serve the meal, and if needed, help clean the table afterward.

"We just want to win," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "And whatever it is in that situation, we're willing to do. We have guys that are unselfish, and that's why it works."

The Houston Rockets have the NBA's attention with their radical small-ball swerve, but the Thunder have been at their gamble since day one. It was borne out of necessity rather than strategy -- like most trendsetting moves -- but they committed to it and have leaned in. It's their not-so-secret weapon and what keeps them as the frisky, dangerous, nobody-wants-to-play-them wild card in the Western Conference playoff bracket.