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Wallace first Black driver to lead lap at Daytona

Published in Breaking News
Sunday, 14 February 2021 22:42

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Bubba Wallace ran into trouble early and late in his first Daytona 500 driving for Michael Jordan.

He still came out of NASCAR's marquee race on Sunday with another milestone, becoming the first Black driver to lead a lap in the Daytona 500.

Wallace dipped to the low line late in the second stage to grab the lead on Lap 129 in the No. 23 Toyota. He lost the lead back to two-time defending champion Denny Hamlin -- who co-owns 23XI Racing with Jordan -- and ran third at the end of the stage.

Wallace got caught up in a fiery, chaotic last lap and finished 17th in a race won by Michael McDowell.

"Bum end. I bailed out down the back saw the wreck happening and got run over from behind. Should've bailed sooner,'' Wallace tweeted. "Fast car, can't have loose wheels. Onto the right turns.''

Wallace was forced to pit with 22 laps left in the race because he felt a vibration because of the loose wheel in the Toyota. He fell a lap down and pushed Hamlin to give his boss and Toyota teammate a nudge toward his run at a record third straight Daytona 500 championship.

Hamlin finished fifth.

"We worked together quite a few times,'' Hamlin said. "I actually thought he was going to win the second stage.''

Wallace finished second in the 2018 Daytona 500 for the highest finish in the race by a Black driver.

Wallace had a solid first two-thirds of the rain-delayed race at Daytona International Speedway after a tumultuous start in Jordan's debut race.

"He was running up front and battling for stage wins. That's what we want to see,'' Hamlin said.

Jordan's No. 23 Toyota failed inspection twice before the race, prompting NASCAR to kick the team's car chief out off the grounds. The car passed on the third attempt, but had to start from the back of the field. Jordan watched the beginning of the race from a luxury suite.

The six-time NBA champion had his first conversation with the 23XI crew chief when he called Mike Wheeler to find out why the team failed inspection.

Jordan entered NASCAR as the first Black principal owner of a full-time Cup Series team in nearly 50 years. He's tight with Hamlin and has rooted on the Joe Gibbs Racing driver from the pits in the past.

This venture is no lark for Jordan. Jordan was a kid when his late father packed up the car and took the family to NASCAR races at Southern tracks like Daytona, Darlington Raceway and defunct Rockingham Speedway.

Jordan once said he sets his clock to watch NASCAR every week.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Jordan and Wallace never met until this week. Jordan hit town in the days before the race and played some golf -- naturally -- and had a made-for-TV team meeting with Wallace and Hamlin.

"I feel like he's going to learn how to win. He's got the talent,'' Jordan told Fox Sports. "We would not have invested in him and picked him if he didn't have the talent to win. By the end of the year, I think he's going to have an opportunity and probably will win at least a couple of races. If it's more, I'd be elated.''

Wallace was winless in his first 112 career Cup starts, all driving the No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports. Wallace is the only Black full-time driver at NASCAR's top level and raised his profile last summer when he successfully called for the series to ban the display of Confederate flags at racetracks. His activism caught the attention of corporate America, which raised enough funding through five companies to sponsor the entire Cup season.

The 27-year-old Wallace flashed speed in the No. 23 Toyota -- yes, Jordan's old Bulls number -- at Speedweeks and topped the only practice session this week. He qualified sixth before he fell to the back of the pack because of issues that emerged out of pit stop practice.

Australian Open: Daniil Medvedev reaches quarter-finals

Published in Tennis
Sunday, 14 February 2021 21:39

Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev cruised into the Australian Open quarter-finals with a straight-set victory over American Mackenzie McDonald.

The Russian saw off the world number 192 in one hour and 29 minutes, winning 6-4 6-2 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena.

"I want more all the time, but step by step, so this is amazing," said Medvedev, who has now won 18 consecutive matches.

He will face compatriot Andrey Rublev in the last eight at Melbourne Park.

Seventh seed Rublev was leading 6-2 7-6 (7-3) when Norwegian opponent Casper Ruud retired with an injury.

It means there are three Russian men in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time in the Open era, with qualifier Aslan Karatsev also reaching the last eight.

No Russian male has won a Grand Slam since Marat Safin in Melbourne in 2005.

American Jessica Pegula produced a shock win to knock out fifth seed Elina Svitolina and reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

The world number 61 won 6-3 3-6 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena to reach the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time.

The 26-year-old will face fellow American Jennifer Brady, who beat Croatia's Donna Vekic 6-1 7-5.

"I feel good, everything feels pretty solid, so I'm just going take that to the next match," said Pegula.

"I'm just happy that I'm competing well, hitting well, moving well."

Pegula had already seen off two-time winner and 12th seed Victoria Azarenka in the opening round and reaches the last 16 without dropping a set.

She earned the vital break in the first set when Svitolina double faulted and the Ukrainian went a break down in the second before fighting back to level the match.

The pair traded breaks in the decider but Pegula was able to immediately wrestle back the advantage and serve out to progress.

Top seed Ashleigh Barty takes on American Shelby Rogers at 08:00 GMT. There will be live text updates of that match, with commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra starting at 07:00.

Hamlin Rules Opening Stage Of 63rd Daytona 500

Published in Racing
Sunday, 14 February 2021 19:15

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Defending Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin dominated the second half of the opening stage Sunday night as the 63rd edition of The Great American Race resumed at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Hamlin took the lead on lap 32 from Cole Custer and controlled the lead pack for the remainder of the 65-lap segment, pacing 34 laps en route to the first NASCAR Cup Series stage win of the year.

He took the green-checkered flag in front by .094 seconds.

“Our FedEx Camry is sitting pretty good. I’ve liked it all week,” said Hamlin. “We played some strategy with the fuel there to get some track position and then were able to hold it well out front.

“I like this a lot better than sitting back and waiting, but we’ll wait and see how the rest of it plays out.”

Hamlin earned 10 championship points for the stage victory as he seeks his fourth Daytona 500 win.

Non-chartered driver Ryan Preece shuffled Kyle Busch out on the final lap of the stage, with help from fellow Chevrolet driver Austin Dillon, crossing the line second for nine valuable points.

Dillon and Kyle Larson, also driving a Chevrolet, crossed the line third and fourth, respectively. Rookie Austin Cindric filled out the top five, ahead of Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and Joey Logano.

Ross Chastain and Cole Custer completed the point-scoring positions inside the top 10.

Twenty-two cars were on the lead lap at the first stage break of the 500-mile event.

Following a caution for a 16-car pileup on lap 14, a lightning delay that turned into a rain delay stalled the proceedings for five hours, 40 minutes and 28 seconds before racing officially got back underway.

The field paced under yellow until a lap-30 restart, and following that resumption, only one more caution slowed the first stage – on lap 38 after Quin Houff cut a tire in turn one and collected Chase Briscoe’s Ford in the aftermath.

It’s A Daytona 500 Stage Sweep For Denny Hamlin

Published in Racing
Sunday, 14 February 2021 20:35

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin completed a sweep of the first two stages in the 63rd Daytona 500 Sunday night by topping stage two in a photo finish over Kevin Harvick.

Hamlin, who is seeking his fourth Daytona 500 win and third straight, edged the 2007 Daytona 500 winner by .042 seconds at the 2.5-mile Daytona Int’l Speedway on lap 130 to earn 10 more points.

It’s Hamlin’s third straight stage win in The Great American Race, going back to the 2020 edition.

While Hamlin won the stage, he was nearly overhauled by Bubba Wallace, who drives for the 23XI Racing team that Hamlin co-owns alongside NBA legend Michael Jordan.

Wallace made a move for the lead and ducked out of line from behind Hamlin, taking the top spot on lap 129, but ended up third behind Hamlin and Harvick at the green-checkered flag.

Harvick was disappointed not to come away with the stage win, but tipped he has a plan for the finish.

“The push needs to be a little bit harder and a little bit sooner,” said Harvick. “We want to keep ourselves up toward the front.”

Behind the top three, the Chevrolets of Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon were fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by two Fords in Joey Logano and Michael McDowell.

Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski filled out the point-scoring positions in the top 10.

Only one caution slowed the pace in the second stage, coming immediately after a round of green-flag pit stops, when Christopher Bell spun off turn two with a flat left-rear tire.

Bell, who led 32 laps in stage two, collected Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Larson in the process.

Of note, Hamlin jumped to fifth in career Daytona 500 laps led at the end of the second stage, bypassing both three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon and 1988 winner Bobby Allison on that list.

It’s Michael McDowell In A Daytona 500 Upset

Published in Racing
Sunday, 14 February 2021 21:41

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Michael McDowell worked his way past a fiery crash in turn three coming to the checkered flag to earn one of the biggest upsets in Daytona 500 history early Monday morning.

Kicking off his 14th season in the NASCAR Cup Series, McDowell was running third on the final lap after pushing Brad Keselowski to the runner-up position as the white flag waved over the field in the famed event’s 63rd edition.

He and Keselowski lagged back to get a run coming down the backstretch, which they took into turn three as Keselowski looked low on Logano to challenge for his first Daytona 500 victory.

Keselowski tagged Logano into a spin in the turn-three banking, with many cars from the lead pack piling in as McDowell escaped down low before Keselowski’s Ford was impacted by another car and a fireball erupted around the accident scene.

Meanwhile, Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon took McDowell three-wide in turn four coming back to the tri-oval, trying to steal the win for themselves before the caution lights illuminated to freeze the field.

After several tense minutes while NASCAR reviewed the scoring at the moment of caution, McDowell was declared the winner – marking his first Cup Series win in 358th start at NASCAR’s top level.

It was McDowell’s 10th Daytona 500 start and also marked the first Daytona 500 triumph for Front Row Motorsports and team owner Bob Jenkins.

“I can’t believe it. Just gotta thank God. So many years praying, hoping for an opportunity like this. So thankful and what a way to get a first (Cup Series) victory,” said a breathless McDowell.

“We won the Daytona 500! Are you kidding me?! Unbelievable!”

Elliott was scored as the runner-up, followed by Dillon, Kevin Harvick and defending Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, who led six times for a race-high 98 laps in his pursuit of a third-straight win in the event.

Elliott, the defending Cup Series champion knew he had a chance going into the final corner, but ran out of time when the yellow was called.

“I think it was close,” Elliott said. “I kind of got next to him, then I saw the lights came on and I knew it was over. Glad we could at least finish this one and have something to build off of.

“The top was just so fast. It didn’t seem to matter who went low; you just couldn’t do anything there.”

Ryan Preece earned a career-best sixth in his third Daytona 500 start, with Ross Chastain, Jamie McMurray, Corey LaJoie and Kyle Larson filling out the top 10.

This story will be updated.

What would Jordan Spieth have said that Friday night after missing the cut at Torrey Pines if someone would’ve told him that he’d follow with two straight weeks as the 54-hole leader?

“I would have said you're crazy, to be honest,” Spieth said. “I was not in a great head space.”

So, even after tying for third Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to fall short of ending his lengthy losing streak for the second straight week, Spieth was feeling even more encouraged than he did a week ago in Phoenix. He didn’t feel great over the ball for much of the weekend, especially on his final nine, yet he still managed to make five birdies on the day, including on each of his final two holes.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t find his groove early in the round and dug himself too big a hole to climb out of with two bogeys in his first five holes. He also made a sloppy bogey at No. 14, one of the toughest par-5s on Tour, for the second straight day.

“I'm legitimately going around with maybe my B-game, and I know that stepping on the first tee,” Spieth said. “And being in the lead by two, you can look at it both ways. It's pretty awesome that I feel that I'm still significantly far off of where I want to be and am able to be leading the tournament through 54. But at the same time, it's very difficult to go out knowing that you don't have your best stuff and to go out there with my own expectation that I'm going to win today.

“So, that's kind of the battle going into the day and I just hope that I continue to progress like this to where I can stand on that first tee as confident as I historically have been and where everything's at to where I can go out and play boring golf and just hit a bunch of greens and make it a really easy 18 holes to win a golf tournament.”

Spieth now heads down to Los Angeles for next week’s Genesis Invitational at Riviera, arguably Spieth’s favorite course in the world but also a venue that will attract a much tougher field than the ones he’s faced the past two weeks.

Live Report - India vs England, 2nd Test, Chennai, 3rd day

Published in Cricket
Sunday, 14 February 2021 22:01

Welcome to day three of our live report of the second India-England Test from Chennai. Join us for updates, analysis and colour. You can find our traditional ball-by-ball commentary here

*Most recent entry will appear at the top, please refresh your page for the latest updates. All times are local

11.20am: Chennai of the tiger

Virat Kohli has played with steely intent in India's second innings - no chance of him getting bowled playing an expansive drive this time around. He took 20 balls to get off the mark (and off a pair) but has looked virtually impregnable since, which is quite something on this surface. With R Ashwin playing his shots at the other end, India have pushed their lead on towards 350. Stuart Broad has just surfaced with the ball for the first time since day one, bowling with Foakes standing up to the stumps, only to see Ben Stokes put down a sharp, reaction chance at slip off Ashwin.

11am: This one's a keeper

2:32
'I want the batsmen to know that if they leave the crease, they're gone'

Since we've been treated to a display of slick glovework behind the stumps from an English wicketkeeper, here's one of the all-time great stumpers, Sarah Taylor, speaking to ESPNcricinfo a couple of years ago.

10.45am: Moeen strikes

Axar Patel is next to go, with India's lead a tick above 300, and Moeen Ali has now picked up six wickets on his return to Test cricket after 18 months out of the side. He spoke before play today about how he thought he had bowled "better as the days wore on" and his enjoyment at bowling Virat Kohli for a duck in the first innings: "Pretty happy with that wicket." He also said that England would need to keep fighting, despite facing defeat in this game, with two Tests still to play.

"It's been tough. You never want to make excuses. But I haven't played any games. Training has been difficult as I ripped my finger a few weeks ago, so I couldn't really bowl too much in the build up to the game. When you play games you get better. Bowling in the nets is completely different to bowling in games and being under pressure. I felt like it's got better as the game has gone on.

"We just need to fight. It's going to be tough for us to win or even draw the game. It doesn't mean we're going to give up. We need to take the game as long as we can. Put in a performance we can take into the next game. We need to show some fight with the ball and the bat. The toss is massive here. The different between the sides was Rohit's innings. It was fantastic and he took the game away from us."

10.20am: Moving on, moving on

England have their fourth wicket of the morning, Ajinkya Rahane caught at short leg by the diving Ollie Pope. That's the seventh time Moeen has dismissed Rahane in Tests, second only to Nathan Lyon. India, though, are sitting on a 280-plus lead and might already be thinking about how quickly they can finish England off...

10.15am: Foakes hero

Birthday boy Ben Foakes is doing his best to blow out India's candles on the third morning in Chennai. He now has two stumpings to go with a run-out, and the last of the three was the best of the lot - unsighted after Rishabh Pant charged down at Leach, only for the ball to go explode off the surface and beat his wild swing, Foakes collected down the leg side and applied the rubber stamp with the efficiency of a post office clerk. He missed one yesterday, but now has three stumpings in the match - the first time an England wicketkeeper has done so in men's Tests since Alan Knott in 1968. The man Foakes replaced in the side for this match, Jos Buttler, has one stumping in 30 Tests as keeper (completed last month in Galle).

9.45am: And heeeerrrre's Rishabh

This time the third umpire sides with Foakes, as Rohit Sharma is stumped after dragging his back foot just over the line (pulling down Rohit's home Test average to a mere 80.52). Excellent hands from Foakes, who turns 28 today and has earned himself an extra slice of cake - the delivery from Jack Leach came through at almost shoulder height, but the keeper took it and smoothly whipped off the bails in one movement. India's response to two early wickets has been to send in Rishabh Pant above Ajinkya Rahane, to take the attack back to England.

9.35am: Heeeerrrre's Virat (on a pair)

It's been hard enough for most batsmen on this pitch, but Cheteshwar Pujara has lost his wicket in most unfortunate fashion to start the day, run out in the first over by short leg after dropping his bat trying to regain his ground. Although, as Sunny Gavaskar has just said on commentary (with tongue firmly in cheek), "you have to blame the pitch" after Pujara's bat jammed into the crease line but not over it, with Ben Foakes collecting Ollie Pope's throw to break the stumps before the lunging batsman could get his foot back. Time for India's captain to have another crack.

9.30am: #PoliteEnquries

4:58
#PoliteEnquiries: Is this a four-Test series or four-toss series?

What better way to start the day than a fresh, hot injection of George and Raunak into your eyeballs?

9.20am: Signed, sealed... delivered?

Hello again, folks. Day three is often moving day of a Test - but you sense this one has already unloaded the van and is getting comfy in its new surroundings. Pretty much everything India have touched has turned to gold this time around in Chennai, and they will be backing themselves to wrap up a series-levelling win at some point later today or tomorrow. England, barring Headingley-plus-plus miracles, know this game is probably beyond them... but there's still a series to fight for, battles to be won and lost.

Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick

Roger Twose appointed New Zealand Cricket director

Published in Cricket
Sunday, 14 February 2021 21:32

Former batsman Roger Twose has been appointed as director of New Zealand Cricket to replace Greg Barclay, who was required to step aside after being named ICC chairman.

Steve Tew, who earlier served as CEO of New Zealand Rugby, has been appointed to the position of board observer, while former New Zealand player and current NZC chairman Martin Snedden has replaced Barclay on the board of the women's ODI World Cup 2022.

Twose played 16 Tests and 87 ODIs between 1995 and 2001 and played a big role in New Zealand's ICC Knockouts title win in 2000. He has in the past served as chair of the NZC's players' association and has also been part of the board's high-performance advisory group for the last ten months. Barclay, who succeeded Shashank Manohar as ICC chairman, was the NZC director since 2012 till he had to give up the post.

Tew was on the NZ Rugby board from 2008 to 2019, a period during which the All Blacks and the Black Ferns maintained the No. 1 world rankings - for ten years - and won multiple World Cups.

Snedden, who played 25 Tests and 93 ODIs between 1980 and 1990, was elected chairman in December after the position became vacant following Barclay's exit. He has played prominent roles at NZC in the past too - as chief executive and a board member of the organisation from 1990 to 1992, 1999 to 2001, and again 2013 onwards. He most recently worked to elevate the status of women's cricket as head of NZC's One Cricket Project.

"We're absolutely thrilled that we are able to welcome someone of Martin's calibre and experience to the CWC22 Board as we continue planning to deliver an incredible event in early 2022," board member Liz Dawson said. "With a lifetime involved in cricket as a player and administrator - not to mention having led New Zealand's delivery of the 2011 Rugby World Cup - Martin will obviously be a hugely valuable contributor."

Pegula, daughter of Bills owners, into Aussie QFs

Published in Breaking News
Sunday, 14 February 2021 22:01

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Jessica Pegula's first victory over a top-10 opponent earned the 26-year-old American her first trip to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

The 61st-ranked Pegula, whose parents own Buffalo's NFL and NHL franchises, held on to beat No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in Rod Laver Arena on Monday (Sunday night ET).

She will face No. 22 Jennifer Brady in an all-American quarterfinal.

Pegula is on quite a breakthrough run. She has won four matches at Melbourne Park over the past week -- including victories over two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur -- after entering the hard-court tournament with a total of three wins at majors for her career.

Also significant for Pegula, who works with Venus Williams' former coach, David Witt: She came into the day with an 0-6 record against top-10 women.

With the sky blue and the temperature in the low 70s Fahrenheit (low 20s Celsius), and zero fans in the stands for the third day in a row because of a local COVID-19 lockdown, Pegula dictated groundstroke exchanges from right along the baseline.

In the early going, she pushed around two-time Grand Slam semifinalist Svitolina, who eliminated American teenager Coco Gauff in the second round, and went up by a set and a break at 1-0 in the second.

Up until then, Pegula had not been broken.

But that's where Svitolina, with everything slipping away, made a stand. She suddenly broke Pegula twice in a row, part of a four-game run that put Svitolina ahead 4-1 in the second on the way to forcing a third set.

As if flipping a switch, or remembering what worked so well earlier, Pegula returned to her more aggressive brand of hit-to-the-corners play and led 4-1. She did get broken to 4-3 but broke right back, then served out the most important victory of her career by grabbing the last four points after falling behind love-30.

Brady made it to the round of eight at Melbourne Park for the first time by defeating No. 28 Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-1, 7-5 with the help of nine aces.

Brady went through two weeks of hard quarantine when she got to Australia last month because someone on her flight tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival. She was not allowed to leave her hotel room at all during that time.

Brady is from Pennsylvania and played college tennis at UCLA. She was a semifinalist at last year's U.S. Open.

Vekic's right knee was heavily taped by a trainer early in the second set, but she kept things close from there until 5-all. That's when a double-fault handed over a break at love to Brady, who then served out the victory.

The last two women's fourth-round matches are No. 1 Ash Barty vs. unseeded American Shelby Rogers, and No. 18 Elise Mertens vs. Karolina Muchova.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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