South Africa 131 for 1 (de Kock 68, Amla 40*) beat Afghanistan 125 all out (Rashid 35, Tahir 4-29, Morris 3-13) by nine wickets

South Africa have finally won one. So far have the Proteas' stocks fallen in this tournament after three defeats and an unconvincing outing against West Indies, that an Afghan victory in this match was not unthinkable.

But this was a make-or-break encounter for both teams, and it was Afghanistan who blinked - and broke - first, collapsing in a heap after they were unnerved by repeated rain breaks in the afternoon. Having been 39 for 0, Afghanistan's disintegration began in earnest after the second - and longer - of two rain intervals as they lost four wickets in two overs to Imran Tahir's guile and Andile Phehlukwayo's wiles, slipping to 77 for 7.

But for Rashid Khan's boshing, they might have folded for under 100. He cracked a rapid 35 from No. 9 to save some of Afghanistan's blushes before they were bowled out for 125. All told, they had lost 10 for 86, with Tahir collecting 4 for 29 and Chris Morris 3 for 13. Phehlukwayo chimed in with two wickets of his own, and he also performed a crucial holding role, stringing together 36 dot balls as Afghanistan's hit or miss (and today, it was usually miss) tactics backfired.

As has been the case throughout their campaign so far, Afghanistan's batsmen just didn't score enough runs to give their busy, bustling bowling attack enough to work with. Had they managed to scrounge together even 250, there might have been a game on - Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla were kept to just 35 runs in the Powerplay, and endured some uncomfortable moments early on - but without a total to defend, any intensity remaining in the competition quickly dissipated.

Faced with a chase that even they couldn't muck up, South Africa rode on de Kock's 72-ball 68 to secure a nine-wicket victory - and a vital two points - with slightly more than 21 overs to spare. But while de Kock and Amla's 104-run opening stand settled the result, the match really turned on Tahir's remarkable spin with the ball.

More to follow...

June 13 - 16, 2019

Editor’s Note: Jesse Love, 14, is a rookie in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League. From June 13 through June 17, Love will be sharing his experiences with SPEED SPORT subscribers while competing during Illinois Speed Week. 

Love drives the No. 97k Toyota-powered midget for Keith Kunz Motorsports. Below is his third diary entry, recapping Friday night’s events at Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill.

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Friday night’s POWRi race at Jacksonville Speedway was a huge boost of confidence for me, as we scored a podium finish in just my third race with Keith Kunz Motorsports!

It was pretty bittersweet, though. We got the make-up feature in from the POWRi race that was rained out back in April, but Mother Nature came back and got us before we could run the actual Illinois Speed Week race at the end of the night.

Starting up front in the make-up race was a really good way to start the night, as we lined up fifth from the grid back in April, but on the initial start I knew I couldn’t sleep on the wheel because of guys like Cannon (McIntosh), (Jerry) Coons (Jr.), (Tanner) Thorson, (Zach) Daum and more all right behind me.

In the first couple of laps, I rolled the bottom and got up to third after Cannon bobbled on a restart in front of me at lap eight, but then a yellow came out for another car flipping in turn three and I knew that the field was gonna be close.

We hit lap traffic with a few laps to go, which was pretty fun to maneuver as well, and ultimately held off Cannon at the end to stay on the podium!

Even though I had been at Jacksonville before for a weekly show, the track was different than it had been before and because of the rain, it was pretty hooked up. However, running there before, I had to move through the field, which definitely helped me pass people.

We were setting up for the second feature well too, with locking into the feature through our heat race before showers knocked out the rest of the program before our B main. We were going to start 13th and I really think we would have had a shot to move forward.

However, the weather had other ideas. To be honest, I’m really getting bored with the rain refrain every single night; I really hope as we get deeper into the summer, we can actually get some more races in and keep building a rapport as a team. If we can, I think we’ll be really strong!

To finish third on Friday is really solid, but I’m not going to be satisfied until we are on top of the podium. We have equipment that’s capable of being there and I want to give Keith (Kunz) and Pete (Willoughby) a victory in return for their belief in me.

I’m super grateful to have the opportunity that I have right now and this was one of the best nights of racing I’ve ever had! I’m looking forward to the next one!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Saturday’s scheduled Illinois Speed Week round at Macon Speedway has been canceled due to heavy rainfall.

Read Love’s prior entries at the links below:

Entry No. 1: Jesse Love Raring To Go!

Entry No. 2: Solid Start For Love

BARCELONA, Spain – Just 11 days after undergoing arm pump surgery in Barcelona, rookie sensation Fabio Quartararo flew to his second-career MotoGP pole during qualifying for the Catalan Grand Prix on Saturday.

Quartararo lapped the 2.892-mile, 16-turn Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 1:39.484 to put his Petronas Yamaha SRT entry on the front of the grid for Sunday’s race.

The rookie edged five-time and defending premier class champion Marc Marquez by .015 seconds for the pole position, with a shot to become the youngest premier class winner in history should he hold on for the victory on race day.

Marquez finished Q2 in second on his Repsol Honda, with a time of 1:39.499 placing him in the middle of the front row alongside Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales, who completed the top three on the grid and was two tenths of a second adrift of the pole.

Marquez’s run at the pole was squelched at turn four on his final flying lap, after his rear tire slid wide and cost him precious tenths of a second on the stopwatch.

An all-Italian second row sees Quartararo’s teammate, Franco Morbidelli, starting alongside the second factory Yamaha of Valentino Rossi and the factory Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso.

The second Ducati of Danilo Petrucci, Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins, LCR Honda Castrol’s Cal Crutchlow and the sister Repsol Honda of Jorge Lorenzo completed the top 10 starters.

FULTON, N.Y. – Monitoring the forecast, the decision has been made to save race teams and fans travel time and money and cancel the scheduled racing program at Fulton Speedway for June 15.

June 22 is next on the docket and will be one of the most popular nights for fans and competitors on the schedule, when Burdick Ford of Central Square and McDonald’s Restaurants present Family Autograph Night.

After all the qualifying is complete, fans will be able to go down on the front straightaway to get up close to all the race cars and meet their favorite drivers for pictures, autographs and driver giveaways.

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Rain hit Eldora Speedway early on Saturday afternoon, forcing Eldora Speedway officials to cancel the track’s scheduled Ohio Sprint Speedweek event.

The increasing threat of severe storms and a once promising window to which the event was constrained completely diminished, compelling Eldora and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) officials to make the difficult decision.

The storm system, which spans west to Missouri, has the region under a National Weather Service Flash Flood Watch through Sunday.

With the Ohio Sprint Speedweek schedule encompassing nine straight nights of racing at eight different Ohio tracks and no available rain date, the event will not be rescheduled.

All tickets will be refunded via method of purchase. Suite holders will be contacted individually.

Next up for Eldora is the 36th Kings Royal Weekend, July 18-20.

The summer’s most-fabled event is bigger than ever, with three days of World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action culminating in Saturday night’s 40-lap spectacle paying $175,000-to-win.

The post-Arsene Wenger rebuild is likely to continue at Arsenal following a season that saw them reach the Europa League final and narrowly finish fifth, albeit without hitting any particular heights in the Premier League. For most of the season, they were outside the top four, save for a brief run at the end.

One of the tricky things for Unai Emery to deal with is now that he inherited a club that had made very serious financial commitments to a quartet of players all in or close to their 30s: Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. At the same time, as this thread from the football finance blogger Swiss Ramble shows, the club is likely to make a heavy loss when it files its 2018-19 accounts, while a big chunk of the revenue from previous years has been down to player trading, rather than commercial growth, in part due to missing out on the Champions League. (They'll be absent again next season, too.)

Ogden: Breaking down the 2019-20 fixture list
- When does the new Premier League season start?
- Who has qualified for Europe from the Premier League?
- When does the transfer window close?

Gabriele Marcotti and Mark Ogden went through the squad, assessing what the club might want to do over the summer.

GOALKEEPERS

Petr Cech (37 years old, contract expires in 2019)

VERDICT: He's retiring so nothing to do here.

Bernd Leno (27, 2023)

VERDICT: Keep, he's now the No. 1.

Emiliano Martinez (26, 2022)

OGDEN: "He showed he can be a starter for half a season on a poor Championship club like Reading, but he hasn't shown he can play for Arsenal. Give him another year on loan somewhere and then try to sell."

MARCOTTI: "I'd give him the chance to be Leno's backup in preseason and if Emery still isn't convinced, you'll then find someone to take him on loan or look to sell. At this stage of his career, he can't be a No. 3."

VERDICT: Mixed.

Matt Macey (24, 2020)

OGDEN: "He was on loan in League One, at Plymouth Argyle, who got relegated. I don't think he has a future here."

MARCOTTI: "He has had one year as a starter, best to get what you can and move on."

VERDICT: Sell.

David Ospina (30, 2020)

OGDEN: "You need an experienced No. 2 on the bench. He did well on loan at Napoli, too. If he wants to come back, challenge Leno and maybe play for a new contract, you keep him. Otherwise you try to sell."

MARCOTTI: "I agree. Napoli hope to hang on to him and, right now, they're arguing over price; given his contractual situation, it won't be more than a few million. If he doesn't go, he's a very good backup to Leno. Only thing is, I doubt he'd want to extend his contract."

VERDICT: Mixed.

DEFENDERS

Shkodran Mustafi (27 years old, contract expires in 2021)

OGDEN: "You don't extend him because he's not good but you need bodies, even if somebody else comes in. So I'd keep him."

MARCOTTI: "I think he's been poor, but given he's 27 and you're not going to give him a new deal, you should try to shift him. Somebody will give you £10 million or so for him, surely? He's a World Cup winner, after all ..."

VERDICT: Mixed.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos (31, 2021)

VERDICT: Keep.

Calum Chambers (24, 2022)

OGDEN: "He's not good enough for a top-six club so sell him. You need to raise money."

MARCOTTI: "He's obviously not the player some thought he would be, but he's young, English and versatile. There's a market for that; I think you can get up to £20m."

VERDICT: Sell.

Rob Holding (23, 2023)

OGDEN: "Until his cruciate injury, he was doing quite well. He's not top notch, but he's the best of their young center-halves. He was even talked about as an England center-back, which I know isn't saying much, but still ..."

MARCOTTI: "He's been really unlucky with injuries but was seen as a guy with potential. He's locked into a long-term deal and you won't get money for a guy who hasn't played since 2018, so Arsenal might as well try to nurse back him to health."

VERDICT: Keep.

Laurent Koscielny (33, 2020)

OGDEN: "Sell if you can, but you probably can't. He's very overrated, always has a mistake in him. He's regarded as one of Arsenal's best defenders, but that's just because the rest have been so poor."

MARCOTTI: "I think some experience and leadership is useful on this team but I agree. With his injuries and performances, there's no reason to extend him."

VERDICT: Keep for now but don't extend his contract.

Konstantinos Mavropanos (21, 2023)

OGDEN: "He's done OK when he's played and he's had really bad luck with injury."

MARCOTTI: "You need to get him games, but it's not going to be here. You have Sokratis, you have Koscielny, whatever new central defender they sign and Holding to come back. Best to loan him."

VERDICT: Mixed.

Krystian Bielik (21, 2021)

OGDEN: "OK, so he had a good season on loan, but that was in League One. I'd get rid. Sell if you can get £4-5m for him; if not, loan him again."

MARCOTTI: "Charlton won promotion and he was good. He's only 21 and a season in the Championship will give us a better idea of what he can do. Loan him again and possibly extend his deal to retain his value if he looks good. Then you decide whether to sell or keep him."

VERDICT: Mixed.

Sead Kolasinac (25, 2022)

VERDICT: Keep.

Nacho Monreal (33, 2019)

OGDEN: "He's been poor, time to let him go. I'm displaying the ruthlessness that's been missing at Arsenal for many years!"

MARCOTTI: "If he'll take a one-year deal, maybe you keep him. Only reason I say this is that funds are going to be limited and there are other priorities beyond a reserve left-back. Another season of Monreal might be a cheaper option."

VERDICT: Mixed.

Hector Bellerin (24, 2023)

OGDEN: "He's one player they could actually get decent money for, and they have a natural alternative in Ainsley Maitland-Niles ... but of course the Spaniard is coming off an injury so you don't want to sell him just yet. In fact, he's someone they ought to build around."

MARCOTTI: "Keep him. You're not going to sell an injured player. And Maitland-Niles is versatile anyway."

VERDICT: Keep.

Carl Jenkinson (27, 2020)

OGDEN: "He's the Phil Jones of Arsenal, the great survivor. He's an honest performer, too; you keep him because he's another body and he's not 33."

MARCOTTI: "You sell him if you can, but I doubt anyone will give you money for him. You don't really need him because you have enough right-backs. (In fact, they had four last season.) Send him on loan if he wants to go, if not, you're stuck with him."

VERDICT: Sell if you can.

Stephan Lichtsteiner (35, 2019)

VERDICT: Contract is expiring so let him go.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles (21, 2023)

VERDICT: Keep.

MIDFIELDERS

Lucas Torreira (23 years old, contract expires in 2023)

VERDICT: Keep.

Granit Xhaka (26, 2023)

VERDICT: Keep.

Mohamed Elneny (26, 2022)

VERDICT: Keep.

Aaron Ramsey (28, 2019)

VERDICT: Already leaving, having agreed to join Juventus on a free transfer.

Matteo Guendouzi (20, 2022)

VERDICT: Keep and extend but only if he continues to improve.

Mesut Ozil (30, 2021)

OGDEN: "Get rid of him. I'd even take £10m just to get his wages out of the club. He's such a drain, he's all flair and no effort and is obviously not a player Emery rates."

MARCOTTI: "You're on the hook for another two seasons of massive wages, so I don't think anybody is going to buy him, and he seems content in London. I agree, though: A change of scenery would be best, even on loan, but unless Emery freezes him out or he takes a pay cut, it's not going to happen."

VERDICT: Sell if you can.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan (30, 2021)

OGDEN: "He doesn't do enough and games seem to just pass him by. He's not going to make a difference and he's on big wages. If you can't get rid of Ozil, get rid of him. Maybe you can get up to £20m."

MARCOTTI: "I'd sell him for the right price but I doubt, given his wages, that Arsenal will get that. So best to try and make it work with him. Emery seems to like him, and you have enough other issues to address."

VERDICT: Mixed.

Alex Iwobi (23, 2022)

OGDEN: "I find him frustrating as he hasn't really developed since coming on the scene. I guess he stays by default; you can't sell everybody."

MARCOTTI: "The problem is that you want to rebuild but you have very few sellable assets. He's one of them and I'm not as down on him as Mark, but unless you get big money you keep him around."

VERDICT: Keep, unless you get a big offer (north of £30m).

Reiss Nelson (19, 2022)

OGDEN: "He has a bright future. Keep him and give him a chance to show what he can do in preseason."

MARCOTTI: "He started out great at Hoffenheim and then fell away a little bit, but I agree, he can definitely contribute off the bench next season."

VERDICT: Keep.

FORWARDS

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (29 years old, contract expires in 2022)

VERDICT: Keep.

Alexandre Lacazette (28, 2022)

VERDICT: Keep.

Eddie Nketiah (20, 2021)

VERDICT: Keep and look to extend.

Danny Welbeck (28, 2019)

OGDEN: "I would have given him another season rather than releasing him as they did. He had a bad injury, but he's an experienced player and a good guy in the dressing room."

MARCOTTI: "I thought the way it ended was harsh, but you don't want him to stand in the way of other players who need minutes."

VERDICT: Mixed.

Takuma Asano (24, 2020)

VERDICT: Sell, if not loan.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Top of Arsenal's shopping list has to be an elite central defender, ideally one who is equally comfortable in a back four or back three. You'll need an alternative at left-back to Kolasinac, too, because he struggles in a back four (unless you take the cheap option of giving Monreal another season). If Ospina goes and Emery decides he doesn't trust Martinez as a backup, they will need a viable reserve keeper, too.

Central midfield is fine, as are the strikers, but you could use another option in attacking midfield given Ramsey's departure and the uncertainty surrounding Mkhitaryan and Ozil. In a perfect world, you'd shift one or both but that's nearly impossible given their wages.

Arsenal's financial situation isn't great, though the great exodus of two years ago and new deals with Emirates and Adidas should get them another £60m. So you can imagine a net spend of £60-80m this summer. Ordinarily you'd boost this with sales, but as we wrote earlier, there are very few guys who can fetch any serious money.

The alternative is rolling the dice and sacrificing a Torreira or an Aubameyang if you can get a massive fee and then using that to secure three quality players. But that's a risky proposition and probably not advisable.

Shoaib Malik will be in Pakistan's XI in their game against India at Old Trafford on Sunday. Malik's participation in the game has been the subject of some speculation after a series of poor returns in the World Cup, but in a rare public show of faith, both Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mickey Arthur have confirmed that he will play.

Malik has played in two of Pakistan's games in this campaign, making 8 and 0 against England and Australia. Those numbers are part of a longer run of low returns since the start of 2018 - averaging 26 across 29 games, with just three fifties and a strike rate under 80. And those, in turn, are part of an even longer history of poor scores in England: in 28 ODIs since 2001, he averages 13.57, the lowest by any visiting batsman with a minimum of 20 innings in the country.

He had a poor game in the field against Australia, though his seven overs across the two games have come in handy. But since then, Sarfaraz has backed him in a column written for the PCB website and, on Saturday, Arthur all but confirmed he would play.

ALSO READ: The meaning of India-Pakistan, for India and for Pakistan

"I can tell you a guy that's played over 200 ODIs, tomorrow presents a real opportunity for him," Arthur said. "As far as I'm concerned, Shoaib Malik didn't play the West Indies game because of balance. He batted in the last three overs against England and failed against Australia.

"So to say he's failed, there's not much of a barometer just yet. That will be determined over the next couple of games. What I do know is Shoaib Malik brings a hell of a lot to our dressing room. He is an incredible team man. He has incredible skills, and I'm hoping that, on the biggest stage tomorrow, those skills come to the fore."

There was a time in Malik's career, across the middle of the poor returns, when his record against India stood out. But it has been nearly a decade since his Champions Trophy hundred against them at Centurion and, in limited opportunities since, he averages just 33 against them, with a solitary fifty.

That's worth noting because Pakistan still seem to believe that his performances against India hold relevance for Sunday. That and his experience.

"Let's not forget - I mentioned it in one of the previous questions - that is still a fairly young cricket team," Arthur said. "Shoaib Malik's experience, Mohammad Hafeez's experience tomorrow will go a long way out in the middle to help these young boys through it."

Malik, 37, has already said that he will be retiring from ODI cricket after this World Cup.

Australia 334 for 7 (Finch 153, Smith 73, Maxwell 46) beat Sri Lanka 247 (Karunaratne 97, Kusal Perera 52, Starc 4-55) by 87 runs

As it happened

Australia's best stuff, personified by Aaron Finch, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc, looked world-beating against Sri Lanka at The Oval. Yet there were still signs that Finch's team have plenty of kinks to iron out, not least problems in an unbalanced batting order but also the continued reliance of the bowling attack on Starc and Pat Cummins, currently first and second on the tournament wickets table.

There were times, when Finch, Smith and Maxwell were in full flight, and when Starc helped cut Sri Lanka down from 186 for 2 to their final tally of 247, when the Australians appeared irresistible; indeed, this win took them to the top of the competition table. But these moments were interspersed with issues that seem hard to fathom from a team contending for a World Cup, such as how Shaun Marsh ends up trying to start a top-order innings in the final five overs, and why Australia persist in ignoring Nathan Lyon as their best fourth-bowling option.

At some point in this tournament these issues will rear, as they did against India, also at The Oval, but Sri Lanka were neither confident nor accomplished enough to take advantage of the opportunities afforded them by Australian blind spots. They pulled Finch back from a rapid start but then allowed him to reset with Smith. They were able to sprint to 115 for 0 and then 186 for 2 before losing momentum and creating a scenario in which Starc bowled with scoreboard pressure behind him.

WATCH - Highlights of Finch's punchy 153 on Hotstar

Even so, Finch's performance in particular was worthy of praise, being crisp and punishing in equal measure, and the contributions of Smith, Maxwell and Starc were very much in line with what the team expects of them. On current form, Australian look set fair to also defeat Bangladesh, meaning their final trio of games against England, New Zealand and South Africa will be met with a minimal degree of anxiety.

An overcast morning and a pitch tinged green swayed both sides to ignore their specialist spin bowlers and also Dimuth Karunaratne to send the Australians in - Finch would have done likewise. Immediately it was apparent that the surface was easier paced than expected with very little sideways movement, allowing Finch to get into stride with a series of beautifully crisp drives off both front and back foot - aided too by some substandard ground fielding.

David Warner, despite his Taunton century, was less fluent, rather mimicking his struggles at The Oval against India. The part-time spin of Dhananjaya de Silva put a clamp on the scoring and then found a way through Warner when he sought a way off strike by leaning back to try and cut off the stumps.

Usman Khawaja, returning to No. 3 after a couple of demotions, did not fare any better, having to swerve out of the way of a Nuwan Pradeep bouncer before trying to slog-sweep Dhananjaya and picking out deep midwicket. Sixty-nine for no loss after 13 overs devolved to 110 for 2 at the halfway point, but Finch and Smith needed only a brief few overs of settling down before going on the attack.

They were in many ways a perfect duo, Smith busy and inventive, Finch brutal and simple in approach. Between them they left the Sri Lankans with next to no margin for error, putting together a stand worth 173 from a mere 118 balls. Finch's hundred was his second in World Cups, and by the time he fell to an Isuru Udana slower ball, he had tallied the third-highest individual score by an Australian at the World Cup - putting Adam Gilchrist's 149 in the 2007 final in the shade.

Smith looked similarly intent on a hundred, only to be tunnelled under by a Lasith Malinga yorker that left the former captain looking to the heavens in frustration. But his innings had been a sparkling one, full of the energy and resolution that suggested he was fresh in both body and mind. Smith has not played a truly big innings in this tournament yet, but he looks ready to unleash one at a moment of import.

Maxwell's arrival brought a typical flurry, including 22 off Pradeep's final over to leave him nursing figures of 0 for 88 from 10 overs. At 302 for four with five overs remaining, a score in the region of 360 looked plausible, but Sri Lanka were to push back with the help of Australia's still-unbalanced batting. Shaun Marsh looked as suited to the middle order as Maxwell does the top order in cobbling three from nine balls, the resultant slowdown reaping a pair of run-outs as Malinga, Udana and Thisara Perera all finished well. Maxwell nudged a boundary from the final ball, but 32 from the last five overs might have been match-losing on another day.

As it was, Sri Lanka threatened for more than half the chase, starting out with a starburst of shots from Kusal Perera and Karunaratne that brought the many Sri Lankan supporters in the crowd to vocal life. Australia's liberal diet of short balls was feasted upon, and the curious decision to call up Jason Behrendorff and then not give him the new ball contributed to his first three overs costing 32.

When Kane Richardson made a speculative caught-behind appeal and Finch called for a review, the lack of any evidence on replay meant that when Maxwell pinned Karunaratne in front of the stumps from around the wicket, but far enough down the pitch for Richard Illingworth to say not out, there was no referral to discover that ball-tracker would have brought three reds and the first Sri Lankan wicket.

Finch, though, was able to bring Starc back, and a full, straight delivery knocked back Kusal Perera's middle stump. Karunaratne persisted, however, with help from Lahiru Thirimanne and Kusal Mendis, and at 186 for 2 in the 33rd over the game was well and truly alive. However, Karunaratne was slowed by the tidy bowling of Maxwell, playing the stopping role earlier performed by Dhananjaya, and in trying to cut his way from 97 to 101 found Maxwell lurking to take the catch in the gully.

Four wickets in four overs were soon to follow, three of them to the intimidating Starc - including two in as many balls removing Thisara and Kusal Mendis - the reward for pressure impose area but also the precision of the left-armer now well established in World Cup matches.

It was unsurprising in a few ways that things devolved so dramatically, for this is a Sri Lankan team short on confidence and experience, while the Australians are growing ever more confident of their ability to defend a target, not least when Starc and Cummins are lurking. Starc's haul took him to 13 wickets for the tournament - he is two clear of the next best, Cummins. In their fortunes, lie Australia's.