STERLING, Conn. — Seven-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Mike Stefanik has died following a Sunday afternoon plane crash in Connecticut.

Stefanik was 61 years old. In total, he earned nine NASCAR championships during his legendary career.

NASCAR officials confirmed the news of Stefanik’s passing just after 8:15 p.m. ET.

According to Connecticut state police, an Aero Ultra-Light Aircraft Model No. 103 — a single-engine, single-seat plane — went down near the Connecticut-Rhode Island state line just after 2 p.m.

Stefanik had just taken off from nearby RICONN Airport, just across the state line into Rhode Island, when the accident occurred, according to WTNH News 8 in New Haven, Conn. He was preparing to return for a landing when he crashed into a wooded area adjacent to the airport.

Stefanik was initially transported to Backus Hospital for treatment, but was later life-flighted to a different hospital in Rhode Island, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Born in Wlbraham, Mass., on May 20, 1958, Stefanik became a short-track racing legend over the course of his lengthy career. He contested his first full-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season in 1987, driving to his first championship two years later on the strength of seven wins in 26 starts.

After a second title in 1991, perhaps Stefanik’s two most successful racing seasons ever came back to back in 1997 and 1998, when he won both the Modified Tour and NASCAR Busch North Series (now K&N Pro Series East) titles in the same year twice in a row.

Combined between those two years, Stefanik won 23 NASCAR modified races and six Busch North races, and Stefanik’s feat of four NASCAR championships in two years is a feat which remains unmatched to this day.

Following a less-than-stellar full-time campaign in the NASCAR Truck Series in 1999, Stefanik took most of the 2000 season off before returning to capture his fifth and sixth Modified Tour titles in 2001 and ’02.

Stefanik’s seventh and final NASCAR modified championship came in 2006 for veteran owner Eric Sanderson, but he continued to compete full-time on the Tour until his retirement following a part-time campaign in 2014.

The Massachusetts native’s 74 wins in 453 career NWMT starts is a modern-era record. His final victory came in 2013 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, driving Chris Our’s familiar red No. 22.

Following that victory, Stefanik’s emotion and pure passion for the sport was on full display, showing that even at 55 years old, he was just as determined to win as he had been in his early years.

“I’m playing it cool right now, but I’m freaking out inside,” said Stefanik after that Bristol victory. “This is a huge, huge win in my career. This is right at the top of the list, if not (at) the top.”

Stefanik’s national-series career never featured the same success that he had at the short track level, but he did have one top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 26 career Truck Series starts, which included Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 1999. He also had one top 10 finish in 26 Xfinity Series races.

Stefanik was even a star indoors, picking up a three-quarter midget victory in Providence, R.I., in 2009.

“Seeing those fans cheer for me over the final laps meant a lot,” Stefanik said that night. “They were my home state fans, and it means a lot to me keep this Dunkin’ Donuts trophy in Rhode Island.”

Stefanik’s long list of accolades earned him a place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame nomination pool starting in 2015, and he was one place away from being inducted into the 2020 class, falling just short of the five-man roster featuring Tony Stewart, Joe Gibbs, Buddy Baker, Bobby Labonte and Waddell Wilson.

Every win and every performance meant so much to Stefanik, and it is that immense passion he carried that will be missed across the racing community.

DODGE CITY, Kan. – The curtains came down on the inaugural season of the seventh-mile Little DCRP clay oval with a season-high count of 63 Micro Sprints and Karts on hand for Sunday afternoon’s finale.

Three drivers finished out championship seasons with feature wins on Sunday including Tanner Johnson in Winged A Class, Trey Zorn in Restricted A Class and Deek McRoberts Novice Junior Sprints.

Zorn’s win was his seventh in seven features, McRoberts made it six for seven and it was Johnson’s fourth win after topping the initial three features of the season.

Other Micro Sprint Car winners on Sunday included Shae Ricke in the Non-Wing A Class and Briggs Williams in in the Advanced Junior Sprint division. It was Williams’ third win of the year while Ricke snared his first win before nearly making it a two-win day after a rousing duel with Johnson in the Winged A Class main event.

Along with Jonson, Zorn and McRoberts, other Micro Sprint champions include Zak Moore in the Non-Wing A Class and Keenan Hernandez in Advanced Junior Sprints.

In Kart action Reise Ochs finished out the season with his third win in a row in the Junior Karts, Jaden Smith added his third win in Adult Karts and Trevor Smith picked up his second Open Outlaw Kart victory.

Little DCRP Kart champions include Caleb Crockett in Open Outlaw Karts, Gage Robertson in Adult Karts and Caleb Berthof in Junior Karts.

CLERMONT, Ind. – Jake Garcia thought he would have to settle for second in Sunday’s JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour event at Lucas Oil Raceway.

He thought wrong.

Brian Bergakker took the lead on lap 54 and led the rest of the 100-lap distance to seemingly score the victory. However he was later disqualified in post-race technical inspection for having too much left-side weight in his pro late model.

As a result, Garcia inherited his first series victory ahead of championship contender Mason Keller in second.

Sammy Smith, who led the first 53 laps, was credited with finishing third. Trey Craig and Steve Dorer completed the top-five.

Ryan Amonett won the companion Van Hoy Oil CRA Street Stocks feature while Terry Fisher Jr. won the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman main event.

The finish:

Jake Garcia, Mason Keller, Sammy Smith, Trey Craig, Steve Dorer, Mandy Chick, Wes Griffith Jr., Dan Leeck, James Krueger, Jaden Cretacci, Tyler MacKenzie, Howie Disavino III, Trevor McCoy, Jessica Dana, Jimmy Tucker, Brian Bergakker.

LANCASTER, N.Y. – Patrick Emerling won the 31st annual U.S. Open 125 Race of Champions Modified Series event on Sunday afternoon at Lancaster Speedway @ New York International Raceway Park.

It was the second U.S. Open win for Emerling after winning the event in 2016.

Andy Jankowiak and Timmy Catalano led the field of 24 modifieds to the opening green flag of the U.S. Open 125. Jankowiak led the opening lap before giving way to Catalano. Catalano controlled the pace through the first 20 laps of the event. The yellow flag was displayed for the first time on lap 20 when Chris Ridsdale spun.

Mike Leaty started fourth after setting fast time in qualifying and winning his heat race. He moved into second behind Catalano when the race restarted on lap 27, and then took the lead on the following restart 11 laps later.

Catalano did not let Leaty get away without a fight, however, as he chased Leaty for 15 laps before recapturing it on lap 53. His brother, Tommy Catalano, was running third until a mechanical issue took him out contention on lap 57. The caution flag was displayed again when Catalano stopped on the race track, which set off the first round of pit stops. Timmy Catalano, Emerling, Jankowiak, Scott Wylie and Owen Bednasz were among the ten cars that decided to pit.

Leaty was handed back the lead as Catalano made his pit visit. He was joined at the front of the field by Eric Beers, Matt Hirschman, George Skora III and TJ Potrzebowski when the race restarted just after the halfway point.

The misfortune for the Catalano family continued on lap 76 when Amy Catalano stopped on the track with an issue to bring out the yellow flag again. Leaty and Skora came to the pits during this caution period, which gave the lead to Beers and moved Hirschman to second.

Hirschman, the defending and five-time U.S. Open winner, didn’t waste time on the restart as he took off when the green flag came back out to take the lead from Beers. It looked like Hirschman could be on his way to a sixth win on lap 87 when Chuck Hossfeld and Timmy Catalano made contact in turn one to signal the final caution period of the race. Hirschman and Beers pitted at this time to try and set themselves up for about a 30-lap dash through the field.

Emerling inherited the lead when Hirschman and Beers made their stops, which were the final two cars in the field to pit. Jankowiak lined up second followed by Hossfeld, Kevin Miller and Timmy Catalano.

The race restarted with 31 laps to go, amd Emerling and Jankowiak took off from the field as they turn things into a two car battle for the win. Jankowiak appeared to have the stronger car early in the stretch run as he pressed Emerling especially on the outside through turns one and two. Emerling ran that outside line to block the advances of Jankowiak.

Emerling began to pull away in the final 15 laps as Jankowiak’s car started to fade. He pulled out to over a one second advantage as Emerling worked through lapped traffic. Emerling cruised to the checkered flag for his second win in the U.S. Open 125. His victory, combined with a second place run in Friday’s Tommy Druar/Tony Jankowiak Memorial 110, has allowed Emerling to close within two points of Jankowiak for the RoC Modified Series points lead.

Jankowiak finished second after a strong showing. Leaty came home third to give his L2 Autosport team two cars in the top three. Hirschman finished fourth after his strategy to pit late did not go as well as he had hoped. He got hung up in traffic, and wasn’t able to move through the field until very late. Chuck Hossfeld finished fifth in what could be his final U.S. Open start as he has announced he will retire from driving full-time at the end of this season.

In supporting action from the final day of the U.S. Open, Eldon King III won the Race of Champions Late Model Series feature. Rich Sharpe won the U.S. Open Street Stock feature for a fourth-straight year, and for the fifth time in the last six years.

The finish:

Patrick Emerling, Andy Jankowiak, Mike Leaty, Matt Hirschman, Chuck Hossfeld, George Skora III, Eric Beers, Timmy Catalano, Kevin Miller, Owen Bednasz, Scott Wylie, Tyler Rypkema, Daren Scherer, Amy Catalano, Dan Majchrzak, T.J. Potrzebowski, Chris Ridsdale, Austin Beers, Tommy Catalano, Daryl Lewis, Jr., Mark Tychoniewicz, Dave DiPietro, Jake Rought, Andy Lewis.

LAS VEGAS – Martin Truex Jr. ran down late-race leader Kevin Harvick, passed him and drove away to win Sunday night’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Truex, who was more than three seconds adrift of Harvick prior to the final round of green-flag pit stops with 40 laps to go, made up two seconds on pit road and then charged forward after that as Matt DiBenedetto tried to stay out and strategically catch a caution.

When that move backfired and DiBenedetto pitted on lap 247, the hot and heavy battle between Harvick and Truex took center stage at the front of the field, with Harvick trying to find a fast lane around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval and Truex going where Harvick wasn’t.

Off of turn two with 20 to go, Truex railed the outside lane of the race track and got a run that put his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry alongside Harvick down the backstretch.

By the time the pair got to turn three, Truex was out in front and sailing away to victory.

The Mayetta, N.J. native drove out to a 4.173-second margin at the checkered flag for his fifth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season, as well as the third time he’s won the playoff opener in the past four seasons.

“The magic was back today, that’s for sure,” said Truex, who won four times in the regular season but had been winless since Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June. “We took a gamble this weekend. Thanks to everybody back at the shop that makes this happen. We took a gamble and qualified 24th. For a while it wasn’t looking too smart with the 4 (Harvick) out front, but we got the right adjustments in the end. This was a great car all day long.

“That run before when the 4 was running away from us, we got too loose. I just had to baby it for too long,” Truex added. “The last five laps of the run, we started to equal out to him. I just said to Cole (Pearn, crew chief), ‘You got to tighten me up some more so I can hustle.’ At the end I was able to hustle all the way to the checkered and get to the end.”

With his victory, Truex is locked into the Round of 12 in the playoffs, meaning the pressure is off his shoulders over the next two races at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL.

“(Winning) takes the pressure off, for sure. The biggest thing is just more playoff points,” noted Truex. “The next two weeks, we can try to get even more of those. That’s huge. Any playoff points we get are going to help us get to Homestead.

“I felt like after Charlotte (in May), we’d run good here. This package has been so tricky to figure out, but Cole and the guys worked really hard this week to come here with something different. We took a bit of a gamble and it paid off big for us.”

Harvick came home second after leading three times for 47 laps, but had nothing for Truex when it mattered most with his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang.

“Man, we always want to win, but these guys did a great job to give us something to work with,” Harvick said. “We were way off when we got here this weekend and this team just kept working. We qualified well but weren’t where we wanted to be when we started the race. We got stage points, led there late and gave ourselves an opportunity.

“I knew the Gibbs cars would be tough,” Harvick added. “Martin was just so much better on the second half of the run. He made up that ground there and was able to stay close enough to us. My car started to get loose and push the front. It was in a four‑wheel drift.

“We were good at the end, just not quite good enough.”

Brad Keselowski crossed the line third, followed by Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney.

Alex Bowman, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman completed the top 10, as playoff-eligible drivers filled the front 10 positions at the finish.

Logano led the most laps on the night, putting his Ford out front for 105 of 267 laps, but sustained significant damage on lap 187 after contact with Daniel Suarez that set him back and bounced him from contention to win the race.

To view complete race results, advance to the next page.

Nicolas Lodeiro scored twice, the last in second-half stoppage time, as the Seattle Sounders defeated the visiting New York Red Bulls 4-2 on Sunday.

The Sounders (14-9-7, 49 points), who moved into second place in the Western Conference, broke a 2-2 tie on a New York own goal in the 83rd minute. Jordan Morris also scored for Seattle, which has won three of its past four matches.

Alejandro Romero Gamarra and Aaron Long scored for the Red Bulls (12-13-5, 41 points), who suffered their third consecutive defeat and remained in sixth place in the East, four points clear of the playoff line.

- Stream a replay of this game on ESPN+
- Fire reboot continues with Mansueto takeover
- Davis: Have Rooney and D.C. United given up?

The Sounders took a 2-0 lead on goals by Morris and Lodeiro in the opening 23 minutes.

But Long scored in the 27th and Gamarra tied it in the 67th, setting up the wild finish.

Seattle's go-ahead goal came as substitute Victor Rodriguez took a 15-yard shot from the left wing. The ball deflected off diving New York midfielder Sean Davis' knee and into the far upper corner of the net, leaving goalkeeper Luis Robles no chance.

Lodeiro capped the scoring in the fourth minute of extra time with a 17-yard shot into the lower left corner of the net. Cristian Roldan and Saad Abdul-Salaam got assists.

Morris gave the Sounders a lead in the second minute. A corner kick by Lodeiro was flicked on by Gustav Svensson and found Morris, who was standing about two yards in front of the goal. Morris turned his body slightly and ball deflected off his knee and into the net.

Morris made an athletic play to assist on Lodeiro's goal. Roldan's cross from the right wing went through goalmouth, but Morris saved the ball from going out of bounds with a diving header back to Lodeiro at the top of the 6-yard box, from where he stabbed the ball into the net with his left foot.

Long's goal came on a cross from Michael Murillo, who found Long just inside the penalty spot and he rose over a defender to put header into lower left corner of the net past a diving Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Bradley Wright-Phillips also got an assist.

Gamarra took a cross from Daniel Royer and blasted a left-footed shot from 15 yards over the head of Frei and just under the crossbar. Marc Rzatkowski was also credited with an assist.

Norwich may have offered the rest of the Premier League a blueprint for beating Man City, Liverpool are frontrunners once again and Arsenal show they simply aren't getting better under Unai Emery. It's Nick MIller's Weekend Review.

JUMP TO: Farke faith repaid | Liverpool frontrunners | Reds' super trio | Abraham on fire | Willock a find | Leicester's joy | Abraham stars | United result | Predictable Arsenal | Spurs avert crisis | Wolves woe

Did Norwich reveal City's kryptonite?

Manchester City have now lost two league games in 2019, against teams with very different approaches. Back in January, Newcastle beat them with staunch defending, as 11 clones of Rafa Benitez's stubborn personality frustrated City.

On Saturday, they were defeated 3-2 by a Norwich side with a much more proactive attitude, pressing and forcing City into mistakes. This was most obvious for Teemu Pukki's goal to make it 3-1, but a more instructive example came in injury time, Norwich hanging on to their lead when most teams might have dropped 10 players as deep as possible, they kept at it, kept pushing City farther up the pitch.

So does this tell us anything about the best way to get the better of City? Is this a "blueprint" for defeating them? Maybe. Most teams who try that are fairly emphatically destroyed, but then again most teams who try to defend are fairly emphatically destroyed too. It certainly feels like the more enjoyable approach -- trying to actively hurt City rather than waiting for them to punch themselves out -- even if it is a riskier one.

City lost games last season and still took the title, so let's not be too hasty in declaring their powers are waning. But a loss this early in the season does at least provide the rest with some encouragement, and tells us they're just fallible enough.

Farke faith repaid

Incidentally, it's worth pointing out that nine players on Norwich's team were those who won promotion last season: the two additions were Sam Byram, signed from West Ham for about £750,000 after an injury-ruined campaign on loan at Nottingham Forest, and loanee Ibrahim Amadou, a bit-part player at Sevilla.

Norwich are still among the most likely to go down this season, but any success they have is a triumph of coaching from Daniel Farke, who could easily have been sacked after an underwhelming first season in charge but in whom faith was retained, and now look at them.

How will Liverpool handle pressure?

Five games into the season, and Liverpool are perfect. Thanks to the result at Carrow Road on Saturday, they already have a five-point lead over Manchester City and are most certainly front-runners. So the interesting question will now be: How will they react to that new status?

Last season, they were in the title race until the very last day, but the only time they were really front-runners was in January after City's defeat to Newcastle, and it was the four draws in six games around that time which ultimately cost them the title. That scenario presents itself again, so it will be intriguing to see in the upcoming weeks what they do with the different sort of pressure that comes with being the chased, rather than being the chasers.

Sane, Firmino arguably better than Salah

It's an illustration of how good Liverpool's forward three are that one of them is Mo Salah, who has scored 75 goals in two seasons for them, and you could make credible arguments that the other two are better than him. Sadio Mane scored his third and fourth goals of the season (fifth and sixth if you count the Super Cup) against Newcastle, while Roberto Firmino produced an incredible assist and the rest of his play was of a similar standard. Think you know how to stop them? We're all ears.

Abraham is the striker of the week

Frank Lampard spoke with the pride of a nurturing father when discussing the performance of his young players in Chelsea's 5-2 battering of Wolves. The obvious takeaway from this hitherto successful (if enforced) experiment is that big teams should place more faith in their youth products, but something else to take away is that we shouldn't write players off so readily after a single poor season.

Tammy Abraham's previous experience has been in the Championship and a single moderate top-flight season with a struggling Swansea team, which made it easy to think he was one of those players who would be good in the second tier but was never quite good enough for the top.

Naturally, we shouldn't anoint him Chelsea's next great No. 9 yet, but it was interesting that his third goal against Wolves -- close control, a sudden burst of movement, then a precision finish -- was exactly the sort of strike he tried most games at Swansea. Then he couldn't quite manage it with any regularity, but in a better team with greater confidence, he very much is now.

United should get used to results like this

"We want to play better than that," Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said after Manchester United beat Leicester 1-0. But under the circumstances and considering their injury problems, they should be happy with a victory against an upwardly mobile team.

United fans should probably get used to games like this, though. Their best players are those that produce moments -- the odd great pass, or searing run, or brilliant finish -- not ones that can control or run a game. Thus, the victories they achieve this season will probably be thanks to those moments, rather than in matches in which they dominate.

Arsenal as predictable as ever

Sometimes teams surprise you, confounding expectations in either good ways or bad. Arsenal, in an ever-changing, confusing and sometimes scary world, are at least a constant, resolutely conforming to predictions.

In their 2-2 draw against Watford they were incisive in attack, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scoring a brace to take his Arsenal tally to 46 from 70 games, but calamitous in defence, donating two goals and throwing a victory down the toilet. Exactly as everyone thought they would be.

The more serious point here is that this predictability suggests Arsenal aren't moving forward, or improving under Unai Emery. Their squad was and is, to say the least, "imperfect," but sooner or later there has to be some sign of a plan, of things getting better for his appointment to be fit for purpose. The more performances like this one, the less likely it seems Arsenal are actually improving, and the less viable Emery's tenure is.

Crisis averted for Spurs

Maybe Mauricio Pochettino was right when he suggested that it was the distraction of the transfer window that was causing Tottenham's early season woes. That always felt like a diversion, an uncertainty that only really applied to a couple of their players masking wider problems.

- ESPN Champions League fantasy: Sign up now!
- Champions League group stage: All you need to know
- Europa League group stage: All you need to know

But it wasn't just the one-sided result against the previously excellent Crystal Palace that suggested things are back on track for Spurs. The performance was a complete showing in which Palace were swept aside with every component of the side doing their jobs more or less perfectly.

"When you are focused it shows in the first-half performance of the team," said Pochettino, looking like a new man. "I am so happy to recover that feeling. Now keep pushing. It is the first step."

Wolves not so much

Should we be concerned about Wolves? Of course being beaten soundly at home by Chelsea might not set immediate alarm bells ringing, and even if they are ringing the natural instinct is to think they're just struggling with the demands of the Europa League, which they could adjust to.

But they not only haven't won a game, they're the only Premier League team not to lead in any of their games so far. Those have been tough games, but last season Wolves' USP was beating the sides we thought they shouldn't beat.

Perhaps we should not have been so quick to assume they could repeat the successes of last term, when they were pretty lucky with injuries and essentially finished seventh with 16 or 17 players. Is doing that sort of thing twice realistic in modern football? In short, can we expect significant regression from them this season?

Goal of the weekend

The obvious choice would be Fikayo Tomori's sensational long-range strike for Chelsea, but arguably more impressive was Moussa Dnjepo's solo effort for Southampton against Sheffield United, for two main reasons. First, there were at least two points when he could have easily gone down while being fouled by Oliver Norwood. Second, after the mazy run and close control, he could have panicked but kept a cool head to slide the finish home.

Burgeoning storyline of the weekend

Once again, Ryan Bertrand was left out of the Southampton starting XI for their trip to Sheffield United despite apparently being fit. The left-back has been injured, so perhaps Ralph Hasenhuttl is just playing things cautiously, though there could also be something deeper at play. One to keep an eye on, perhaps.

Luckiest moment of the weekend

It might seem a bit odd to declare an Arsenal player lucky after the way they collapsed against Watford, but right at the end Sokratis Papastathopoulos completely lost Abdoulaye Doucoure, completing a defensive clown show from the Gunners and he was fortunate that the French midfielder's shot was ineffective. Otherwise he would have been responsible for Arsenal throwing away all the points, as opposed to just two.

Joe Root has admitted he is still learning how best to handle Jofra Archer and cautioned against expecting too much of England's newest fast-bowling talent, after a debut series in which Archer collected 22 wickets from four Tests while showcasing both searing pace and impressive control.

Archer helped set up victory at The Oval with a first-innings 6 for 62, as England came from behind to secure a rare drawn Ashes series. Although he finished wicketless in the second innings, his high-intensity duel with Australia centurion Matthew Wade, who was peppered with short balls during a spell in which Archer's pace topped 95mph, was an arresting spectacle that helped lift the crowd as England pursued a breakthrough on the fourth evening.

His rise to becoming an integral part of England's planning has been almost as rapid as his bowling. Having delivered the Super Over that led to England claiming their maiden World Cup at Lord's in mid-July, Archer went on to make a memorable Test debut on the same ground, landing a concussive blow on Australia's leading batsman, Steven Smith, before claiming six-wicket hauls in each of England's victories.

There have already been concerns about his workload, however. He bowled 44 overs in his first Test outing and sent down 156 across the series - behind only Pat Cummins, Stuart Broad (who both played a Test more) and Josh Hazlewood, among pace bowlers.

"He's come in and been fantastic," Root said. "Four Test matches, two six-fors. He has a way of having a huge impact on the game, you saw his spell here, it just changed the whole atmosphere of the ground, was incredible really. For someone right at the beginning of his career to have such a gift is entertaining, it's great to be able to captain that and I'm very much looking forward to the rest of his journey.

"When I faced him in the nets against the red ball, it was clear he was going to be something special. [But] we've got to be careful of expecting too much of him. He's a young guy at the start of his career, playing in three formats, and he's still learning. I'm still learning how to get the best out of him as captain.

"But one thing you can expect is he's going to entertain and make things happen. At times he's not going to bowl at 90mph, but he'll go at two-and-a-half an over and create chances. I think making sure we don't expect him to average 12 is something really important, while also knowing he's got that ability to turn a game."

ALSO READ: 'Jofra thought he could rip my head off' - Matthew Wade

Archer's stamina has been as notable as his speeds - his contest with Wade, which often saw Archer end his followthrough a few yards from the batsman, lasted for eight adrenalin-fuelled overs after tea - but Trevor Bayliss, England's outgoing head coach, suggested it would be wise to allow him to deliver "thunderbolts" more sparingly as his career develops.

"I think maybe in Test cricket, I know Joe had relied on him to go with some longer spells this series, but I think looking forward it might be a case that he comes in a little bit shorter spells," he said. "Four or five overs. Come on, bowl a few thunderbolts, and have a rest and then come back on a little bit later."

Winning the final Test saw Root avoid a second consecutive series defeat against Australia as captain, and allowed him to look forward with a greater degree of confidence than had seemed likely after last week's loss at Old Trafford, which extinguished English hopes of reclaiming the urn.

"It looks a hell of a lot better than 3-1, that's for sure," he said of scoreline. "I think it's probably a fair result over the whole series. People might disagree with that, but you look at Lord's and things could have been very different after that game. You can look at ifs and buts - if Jimmy [Anderson] was still playing things might have been slightly different.

"We didn't do enough to win it back but we've certainly put in a performance this week, which meant a huge amount. To level this series I think it was really important for us as a side, and we'll take a lot from it moving into the winter."

Root laughingly described Smith as "a pain", after his series tally of 774 runs proved the difference between the sides, and also took some satisfaction in his final dismissal (though it would be hard to call England's tactic of positioning a leg slip a success). "It was nice to see a plan come together finally, even though it was what we started with at Edgbaston right at the start of things. Finally one went to hand."

He added that a demanding summer, in which England had narrowly failed to win back the Ashes alongside lifting a first World Cup, should be viewed as "a huge success" for the English game and an opportunity to nurture interest in the years to come.

"That World Cup was incredible, for it to finish how it did and across the board there were some fantastic contests. To be backed up by such an evenly matched Ashes series, again we were blessed with brilliant support throughout but the cricket itself was gripping - quite hard to be involved in at times, especially when you were on the wrong end of it. But what a summer of cricket it's been, I think a huge success for English cricket and we've got a great opportunity now to spring the game forward in this country."

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 143 for 4 (Lewis 65, Fawad 1-11) beat St Lucia Zouks 138 for 9 (de Grandhomme 30, Jordan 4-33, Mir 2-13) by six wickets

For the second night in a row at Warner Park, the first innings batting lineup was shredded apart. Whereas St Kitts & Nevis Patriots were sliced and diced by the spinners of the Amazon Warriors on Saturday night, on this occasion it was the Patriots pace-unit that inflicted maximum damage on the St. Lucia Zouks in a six-wicket win on Sunday evening.

Debutant Akeem Jordan was one of four changes to the Patriots XI and galvanized the bowling unit with a four-wicket haul, including three in the Powerplay, to dismantle the heart of the Zouks batting, the visitors scraping their way to 138 for 9. Patriots navigated their way through a pair of rain stoppages in the chase before knocking off the target with 31 balls to spare following a blistering knock from Evin Lewis.

Akeem the Dream

The 24-year-old fast bowler had a fairy-tale debut. He struck with his third ball when Andre Fletcher cut straight to Fabian Allen at backward point. Jordan followed it up in his next over getting Rahkeem Cornwall to slash to third man. Bowlers rarely bowl three overs in a row at any stage of a T20 match but Carlos Brathwaite's persistence to stick with Jordan was rewarded when Kavem Hodge picked out Kjorn Ottley at deep midwicket with a pull in the fifth to make it 33 for 3.

The recalled Usama Mir then built off Jordan's early breakthroughs, striking with his very first ball in the sixth when Roland Cato's clumsy paddle flick ballooned off a top edge to Rayad Emrit at short fine leg. Emrit got into the act with the ball in the ninth, inducing a top-edged swat from Thisara Perera to Laurie Evans on the ring at point to make it 52 for 5 and from there the Zouks were behind the game.

Colin de Grandhomme did his best to get the Zouks innings back in gear. In the same over that Thisara fell, de Grandhomme struck 16 in three balls off Emrit. But he found the going much tougher against legspinner Usama Mir, eventually falling in a wicket-maiden 12th over skying a drive to Ottley on the cover sweeper rope.

Who's Tommy?

Devon Thomas then took center stage with a pair of sensational catches. The first came on the final ball of the 15th when Darren Sammy was unlucky to be given out off the thigh guard missing a pull down the leg side. But Thomas sold it well with an acrobatic effort supporting the appeal from Sheldon Cottrell.

There was no doubt about the edge off the bat of Kesrick Williams two balls later though. A full ball from Jordan produced the edge that flew to the keeper's right.

Caught wrong-footed, he leaped one-handed to his right to pull off a stunning catch for Jordan's fourth wicket. At 100 for 8, Hardus Viljoen and Obed McCoy did their best to stretch the innings to the full 20 overs.

You just dropped the 13th match of CPL 2019!

Coming back into the lineup after missing Saturday night's loss due to an injury sustained playing football in warm-ups, Lewis tore apart the Zouks attack with five fours and six sixes. But the Zouks had two chances in the first two overs to nip the Lewis knock in the bud, failing on both occasions.

The first opportunity came off his second ball when he had yet to score as the lefty drove hard at Obed McCoy. Cornwall stabbed at a chance high to his left but only managed to parry it to the third man rope. It would have been a regulation catch for a second slip but Sammy opted to stay conservative despite needing to press for wickets. A far easier offering came in the second over. Williams had struck off his second ball getting Thomas to slash to third man and three balls later set a trap for Lewis putting in place a deep square leg. Williams sent down a bouncer that produced a top edge on the attempted pull by Lewis. Kavem Hodge was in perfect position but spilled it badly.

After taking two off the drop to move to six, Lewis hooked the next ball for his first maximum and never looked back. He continued to remind Hodge of his error by belting him for two sixes - the first of which brought up a 26-ball fifty - and two fours off the left-arm spinner in the 11th. Hodge finally got him out off a full toss off the last ball of the over. But by that stage the Patriots needed 21 off nine overs and cantered over the line.