Shell-shocked Spurs sample the cool seaside air at Brighton on Saturday but it'll be far from an enjoyable trip given that they're feeling the heat from all sides.

The game has taken on enormous significance for a club who have failed to register a Premier League away win since January. The 7-2 mauling from Bayern Munich on Tuesday night will have left gaping wounds. I'm told the players sat in stunned silence in the dressing room after the match for an hour until, eventually, Jan Vertonghen agreed to front up and try to explain to TV interviewers how his team could collapse so dramatically.

Brighton, a more adventurous side under new manager Graham Potter, will look to exploit Tottenham's current fragility. Has it been long enough for the Spurs players and manager to regroup? You can be sure there have been crisis meetings behind the scenes and another defeat escalates things into a full-blown crisis. But in any case, there's a feeling that things are not quite right at the club and that the dam might be about to burst.

A good team has not suddenly become a bad one. Perhaps a certain staleness has set in or a feeling that without bigger investment, Mauricio Pochettino has taken the club as far as he can.

To be fair, Pochettino has performed wonders on a limited budget to make Tottenham top four regulars, qualifying for Europe's most prestigious competition every season. That is an achievement in itself. Ask Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, all of whom have had to "slum it" on Thursday nights in the Europa League in recent times. But Pochettino's team suffered a stunning 13 Premier League defeats last season as well as the current streak without an away victory.

The manager recently spoke of some players having "different agendas," taken as a reference to Christian Eriksen's foiled desire to move to Real Madrid. The Danish playmaker said it was not about money but a search for the silverware that, for all their talent, Spurs cannot seem to win.

You have to wonder if that frustrated feeling has spread to some other long-serving members of the squad. Emotionally, they have given so much and may be finding it hard to go to the well again. Even Pochettino himself admitted last week that he still felt sick and devastated by losing that Champions League Final against Liverpool. All of this stress may be just taking the edge off performances, especially in that vital area of commitment and desire to win back possession.

The squad surely needed freshening up more than just the addition of the very useful Tanguy Ndombele in midfield. Danny Rose, Toby Alderweireld and Eriksen might all have gone in the summer, but all three stayed. They have all been good servants but every club needs a few new faces to keep everyone on their toes. That simply hasn't happened on the Tottenham High Road and while the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min continue to exude menace, there are questions to answer elsewhere.

- Inside Tottenham's collapse: Players question tactics
- Ogden: Pochettino might not pull Spurs out of this tailspin
- Pochettino: Spurs must stay together after 7-2 rout

Was it right to sell Kieran Trippier to Atletico for a knock-down fee?

What has happened to Dele Alli? He's not having the impact he should and misses too many games.

Hugo Lloris' howler against Southampton was a reminder that his errors come a little more frequently than they once did.

Can Harry Winks stay fit to become a dominant midfield force for club and country?

What's going on with the erstwhile defensive rock Vertonghen, who was axed from the team at the start of the season?

And will Daniel Levy loosen the purse strings for the squad enhancement that's surely now needed?

When a team lets in seven goals at home, it's time for a long look in the mirror for all concerned, but don't be surprised to see Spurs bounce back with a win or two. These are very proud and good footballers with a fine manager. They could be a bit exhausted as a group that's been through so much together without the rewards they probably deserved, and Bayern's goal bonanza might spark the beginning of the end of this Spurs era. The smart money now says that something has to give.

Brighton is normally a fun place to visit. Tottenham need to make sure they don't hit the rocks again on the Sussex coast.

Australia Women 8 for 281 (Lanning 73, Mooney 66, Haynes 56) beat Sri Lanka Women 124 by 157 runs

An all-round team effort from Australia earned them a 157-run victory in the first ODI against Sri Lanka at Allan Border Field. Three of the top five posted half-centuries, with Meg Lanning's 73 the top score, before five bowlers shared the wickets.

Given the high standards set by the Australians they will be disappointed no one was able to convert into three figures with Rachael Haynes and Beth Mooney also falling when set to push for a century.

With the ball, Ellyse Perry set the tone with a wicket in the opening over while Tayla Vlaeminck again stood out with her pace while Ash Gardner collected 2 for 9 from nine overs.

Sri Lanka enjoyed a moment of early success when they removed the in-form Alyssa Healy for 8, three days after her world record T20I innings of 148 not out. This time, Healy got a leading edge which was well taken in her follow through by Achini Kulasuriya.

The innings was then set on course by a second-wicket stand of 126 in 21 overs between Haynes and Lanning. After both played themselves in, a standout feature was their footwork to the spinners and Lanning, who reached fifty off 47 balls, collected 12 boundaries to have a century for the taking.

Having removed Lanning, Sri Lanka then enjoyed a good period in the match as wicketkeeper Anushka Sanjeewani took an excellent catch to remove Haynes when she advanced down the pitch. Perry, who had precious little time in the middle during the T20Is, passed 3000 ODI runs before being run out when her bat bounced in the air before crossing the crease, and Gardner was caught at square leg after confirmation from the third umpire that Shahikala Siriwardene had just got fingers under the ball.

Siriwardene, who took over the captaincy from Chamari Atapattu for the ODIs, was the most economical of the bowlers with 1 for 44 from her 10 overs. Australia could not quite produce a power-packed finish to the innings as Sri Lanka kept chipping away with Mooney stumped for 66.

Plenty of Sri Lanka's top order got themselves starts but none could go beyond Siriwardene's 30. Harshitha Madavi showed promise with 22 off 25 balls before being caught behind off Vlaeminck, whose pace kept the batters on their toes. Atapattu, with so much resting on her shoulders, picked out backward point with a reverse sweep to leave Sri Lanka 3 for 46 in the 12th over.

Australia's spinners were allowed to bowl with very little pressure on them. Gardner, Jess Jonassen and Georgia Wareham took 5 for 62 from 25 overs. At 5 for 110 in 34th over Sri Lanka would have hoped to bat out the innings, but the last five wickets fell for 14 runs including the bizarre run out of Oshadi Ranasinghe who was left stranded mid-pitch after seemingly not realising the ball remained in play when Megan Schutt misfielded near the boundary.

After bringing in Brendon McCullum as the head coach, Kolkata Knight Riders have added David Hussey and Kyle Mills as the chief mentor and as bowling coach respectively for the 2020 IPL season.

The announcement was made on Saturday, as part of an overall revamp of the Knight Riders backroom. Franchise CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement, "It's great to welcome David Hussey and Kyle Mills to the Knight Riders Family. They bring a wealth of experience as professionals, and are terrific individuals. We are confident that their contribution as part of the think tank of KKR, and to the KKR Academy, will be invaluable."

Hussey is a former Knight Riders player, having represented the franchise in 23 games between 2008 and 2010 during the course of a glittering T20 career in which he played 267 matches, scoring 6097 runs and picking up 68 wickets.

Apart from turning out for Australia 39 times, 42-year-old Hussey plied his trade in leagues in his own country for the Melbourne Stars, in the West Indies, New Zealand and Australia, apart from playing in the IPL with Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab. Earlier this year, in May, Hussey was appointed coach of the Stars for the next edition of the Big Bash League, replacing the outgoing Stephen Fleming.

Former New Zealand paceman Mills, meanwhile, remains at No. 2 behind Daniel Vettori in the list of his country's highest wicket-takers in ODI cricket - 240 from 170 games - despite retiring from international cricket in 2015.

The 40-year-old paceman also played 98 T20s - 42 of them internationally - for 105 wickets, and took up a role as bowling coach with the New Zealand men's team for a brief period in 2018.

Mills replaced Omkar Salvi, the team's bowling coach till last season.

Back in mid-July this year, following a fifth-place finish in IPL 2019, Knight Riders parted ways with head coach Jacques Kallis and assistant coach Simon Katich, and appointed McCullum as the chief coach, for the Kolkata franchise as well as the owners' team in the Caribbean Premier League, Trinbago knight Riders.

Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta strongly denounced a tweet from general manager Daryl Morey on Friday night after the GM posted an image supporting protesters in Hong Kong.

Listen....@dmorey does NOT speak for the @HoustonRockets. Our presence in Tokyo is all about the promotion of the @NBA internationally and we are NOT a political organization. @espn https://t.co/yNyQFtwTTi

— Tilman Fertitta (@TilmanJFertitta) October 5, 2019

Morey later deleted his tweet, an image that read, "Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong."

Fertitta told ESPN's Tim MacMahon that he felt compelled to publicly clarify that the Rockets do not take political positions due to the reaction to Morey's tweet, but Fertitta stressed that he has no issues with Morey.

"I have the best general manager in the league," Fertitta said. "Everything is fine with Daryl and me. We got a huge backlash, and I wanted to make clear that [the organization] has no [political] position. We're here to play basketball and not to offend anybody."

Hong Kong has seen four months of protests and increasing violence between demonstrators and police, originally sparked by a proposal that would have allowed extradition from the semiautonomous territory to mainland China. The issue snowballed into a sustained outburst of anti-government and anti-China fury from protesters, and it plunged Hong Kong, which has special freedoms unique among Chinese cities, into its deepest crisis since the territory reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Morey's tweet came as the Rockets headed to Saitama, Japan, where they will face the Toronto Raptors in a preseason game next week.

The Rockets also are among the most popular NBA teams in China, dating to the early 2000s, when Basketball Hall of Famer Yao Ming, a native of Shanghai, starred for Houston.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES -- The Washington Nationals bullpen spent the regular season defying belief. During the MLB postseason, they're defying convention.

In Tuesday's wild-card win over the Brewers, Stephen Strasburg pitched three dominant innings in relief of ace Max Scherzer to pick up the win. On Friday, in Washington's 4-2 victory over the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLDS, Scherzer returned the favor by throwing a lights-out eighth inning to preserve the lead that Strasburg helped build with a strong six-inning start.

For the Nationals, whose bullpen futility in playoffs past has been their undoing and is surpassed only by their historic bullpen futility during the 2019 regular season, this is not an insignificant development.

This isn't the first time Washington has gone all desperate times/desperate measures in the postseason. In fact, the last time the Nats were in the playoffs, in 2017, Scherzer came out of the bullpen. But that didn't happen until Game 5 of the NLDS against the Cubs, and it backfired miserably, with Mad Max having a nightmare fifth inning that turned a 4-3 lead into a 7-5 deficit and ultimately resulted in a heartbreaking series loss, Washington's fourth in four postseason appearances. This time around, the Nationals and Davey Martinez -- making his managerial playoff debut -- are committing early and often. And it's working wonders.

"Before the series started, before we even got to the playoffs, our game plan was to try to utilize these guys the best way possible without disrupting their starts," said Martinez following Game 2. "And we talked to all of them and they have all been on board. So it's just part of it. When you get to these games, I've said this before, you're playing to win one game. Every day's crucial. We had a chance to win today. And I told Max, if the game's close then we'll use you. And we did that."

The Nationals are hardly the first team to go that route. Five times in MLB history, there have been nine or more pitchers that started and worked in relief during the same postseason. Two of those times were in 2017 and 2018. But it's rare that a team has employed the strategy so aggressively and so early on: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Washington is just the fourth team ever to have two hurlers pull double-duty within the first three games of the playoffs. Two of the other three clubs (1908 Cubs, 1999 Braves) made it to the World Series.

As tragically flawed as the Nats' bullpen is, it doesn't seem possible that they could advance that far. Then again, coming back from a two-run deficit against Brewers relief robot Josh Hader didn't seem possible. Nor did beating Clayton Kershaw and the mighty Dodgers in their home park. But both of these things happened. And they happened because Martinez and the Nationals are all about the here and now. Pitch first, ask questions later.

"We viewed it as a must-win game," said reliever Sean Doolittle, who worked the seventh and served as the bridge between Strasburg and Scherzer.

"It was all hands on deck," added closer Daniel Hudson, who took over in the ninth for Scherzer and wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam to secure the win. "Everybody's up for whatever. Stephen going out in the wild card game and throwing three shutdown innings. Max coming out there and doing what he did tonight. We'll see what the plan is the rest of the way. I know we have all the confidence in all the guys down there that they're going to get the job done. But to have those extra guys come down there and be a reinforcement for us is awesome."

It was also necessary.

"It's just what the team needs," said Scherzer, who struck out the side in the eighth and was so amped up coming out of the pen that his fastball hit 99 miles an hour, a few ticks above his norm. "When your number gets called, you gotta go out there and produce and you gotta bring everything you got. [Strasburg] did it out of the pen the other night, and then he threw a great start tonight. When your number gets called, go out there and compete with everything you got."

Even Strasburg, a Tommy John survivor who has had more than his share of injuries during his 10-year career and was famously shut down before the 2012 playoffs to protect his arm, is all in.

"I'm very routine-oriented and I would say my younger self would be a little bit alarmed by it," said the veteran righty, who allowed a run on three hits and struck out 10 over six innings, despite having just two days rest since his wild card relief outing. "But now it's kind of, at this point in my career, it's, you're exactly right, it's just another challenge."

Speaking of challenges, now Martinez must figure out who opposes Cy Young candidate Hyun-Jin Ryu in Game 3 on Sunday. Originally, it was supposed to be Scherzer, who started Tuesday's wild-card game and would have been working on regular rest. But after channeling his inner-MadBum on Friday, Sunday's assignment is now up in the air. Martinez might tap Anibal Sanchez, a reliable No. 4 starter who has yet to pitch this postseason. Or he might stick with Scherzer, depending on how the three-time Cy Young winner rebounds from his set-up duty in Game 2. Not that Mad Max cares one bit about when he gets the ball.

"It's their call," said Scherzer. "It's not my call. I can only tell 'em how I feel. Whenever they want me to pitch, I'll pitch. They want me out of the pen, I'll pitch out of the pen. I really don't care. Whatever it takes to help this ball club win."

World Cup hosts Japan have recalled talismanic leader Michael Leitch as they look to maintain their winning start in Pool A against Samoa.

Leitch returns to the back row after starting on the bench in their surprise win over Ireland, although Pieter Labuschagne retains the captaincy.

Atsushi Sakate starts at hooker and Wimpie van der Walt comes in at lock as coach Jamie Joseph makes three changes.

Shota Horie drops to the bench despite being man of the match against Ireland.

The Brave Blossoms, who top Pool A, are targeting a first World Cup quarter-final after falling in the group stage four years ago, despite winning three matches.

Victory over Samoa at the City of Toyota Stadium would put them in a strong position to reach the last eight before facing Scotland in their final Pool A game.

Meanwhile, Samoa have made six changes to the side that failed to score a point in their defeat by Scotland.

Loose-head prop Jordan Lay, second-row Piula Faasalele and fly-half Ulupano Seuteni all make their first starts at the tournament, as does hooker Seilala Lam, who is the brother of captain and number eight Jack.

Teams

Japan: Nakayama; Matsushima, Lafaele, Nakamura, Lemeki; Tamura, Nagare; Inagaki, Sakate, Ji-won, Van der Walt, Moore, Leitch, Labuschagne, Himeno

Replacements: Horie, Nakajima, Ai Valu, Helu, Tui, Tanaka, Matsuda, Fukuoka

Samoa: Nanai-Williams; Tuala, Leiua, Taefu, Fidow; Seuteni, Polataivao; Lay, S Lam, Alaalatoa, Faasalel, Le'aupepe, Vui, Ioane, J Lam

Replacements: Niuia, Alo-Emile, Lay, Toleafoa, Tyrell, Cowley, Pisi, Fonotia

WHEATLAND, Mo. – The stage is set for Saturday night’s finale to the sixth annual Big Buck 50 presented by Whitetail Trophy Hunt at Lucas Oil Speedway.

David Hendrix and Peyton Taylor will start on the front row of the 50-lap main event, which will pay $10,000 to the winner plus a free entry, valued at $3,000, into this fall’s prestigious Whitetail Trophy Hunt in central Missouri.

Hendrix and Taylor won their qualifying heat races and then finished 1-2 in the “dash” involving the eight heat-race winners on Friday night. Hendrix started on the pole and wound up .358 seconds ahead of Taylor, of Batesville, Arkansas, who started fifth.

Earlier in the evening, Hendrix received the $500 Fast Time Bonus courtesy of Tony Jackson Racecars.

Kris Lloyd of Peach Orchard, Arkansas, wound up third and Derek Brown of Stoutland was fourth.

The second dash, involving second-place finishers in the heats, saw Richie Tosh of Salado, Arkansas, advance from a fourth-starting spot to win by 3.37 seconds over Dale Richardson. Those two will start ninth and 10th in the Big Buck 50 feature.

Tony Anglin, winner of the last Big Buck 50 in 2017, will start 12th in the feature after his fourth-place finish in Dash 2.

Big Buck 50 Feature lineup (top 16 locked in)

Row 1 – David Hendrix, Peyton Taylor

Row 2 – Kris Lloyd, Derek Brown

Row 3 – Tim Brown, Kevin Salter

Row 4 – Mark Simon, Chuck Knight

Row 5 – Richie Tosh, Dale Richardson

Row 6 – Dylan Davlin, Tony Anglin

Row 7 – Johnny Coats, Ted Welschmeyer

Row 8 – Heath Philpot, Marc Carter

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – After relinquishing the lead midway through the race, Logan Seavey charged back past teammate Rico Abreu and went on to win Friday night’s POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature at Jacksonville Speedway.

The victory is Seavey’s 11th of the season in POWRi competition, tying him with Christopher Bell for the series single-season record, set back in 2014.

The evening started off with Toyota drivers Jesse Colwell and Tyler Thomas occupying the front row as the green flag flew. The two ran side-by-side on the first lap before Thomas rushed the top to take the lead.

Thomas’ lead was short-lived, though, as he went over the cushion on lap two and made contact with the wall to bring out a caution. Thomas was able to restart at the tail.

Colwell once again led the field on the restart with Seavey beside him. Colwell continued to run the bottom, but Seavey went high to lead lap two, with Colwell in second, Cannon McIntosh in third, Tucker Klaasmeyer in fourth and Abreu rounding out the top five.

As Seavey paced the race, McIntosh took over second on lap four, while Abreu moved up to fourth and quickly set his sights on Colwell and third place.

By lap six, Abreu moved into the top three in his pursuit for a third-straight POWRi win, after sweeping a pair of races at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in August.

With a caution slowing the field on lap eight, Abreu used the restart to catch McIntosh for second, eventually rolling the bottom to overtake him on lap nine. Abreu then began to close in on Seavey for the top spot.

By lap 13, Abreu had caught Seavey and used a slider in turn three of the quarter-mile track to move past for the race lead. At the midway point, it was Abreu, followed by Seavey, McIntosh, Colwell, Tanner Thorson and Zach Daum.

As Abreu continued to pace the race, Thorson moved past Colwell for third on lap 17, setting up a battle for fourth between the two championship leaders, Colwell and Daum.

Daum finally moved past Colwell to take over the fifth spot on lap 23.

As the laps began to wind down, Seavey started to close in on Abreu in the final five laps, as the cars began to battle lapped traffic. Finally, on lap 28, Seavey made his move down the back straight, powering past Abreu into turn three.

Seavey held Abreu off back to the scoring stand and took a lead at that point that he would not relinquish.

Abreu made one last run on the final lap, but it wasn’t enough as Seavey claimed his fifth Jacksonville POWRi victory, tying the all-time mark held by the late Bryan Clauson.

Abreu finished second, followed by Thorson in third, McIntosh in fourth and Daum completing the top five. Toyota power occupied four of the top-five finishing positions.

Points leader Colwell placed seventh.

On the strength of his fifth-place finish, Daum gained 20 points in the POWRi championship race and now trails Colwell by 150 with six races remaining.

The finish:

Logan Seavey, Rico Abreu, Tanner Thorson, Cannon McIntosh, Zach Daum, Jake Neuman, Jesse Colwell, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Tanner Carrick, Ace McCarthy, Tyler Thomas, Jesse Love, Daniel Adler, Daison Pursley, Holley Hollan, Andrew Layser, Korey Weyant, David Camfield Jr., Luke Howard, Austin Brown, Devin Camfield, Andy Bishop, Mitchell Davis.