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Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Friday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EDT:- TROON, Scotland -- Phil Mickelson follows his mighty 63 with a second-round 69 and is in front at the British Open, a stroke ahead of Henrik Stenson. Rory McIlroy is making his move; Jordan Spieth is struggling.- TROON, Scotland -- Clement Sordet is playing at the British Open, but his thoughts are with Nice. The waterfront attack happened about 500 yards from where the Frenchman lives.- LA CAVERNE DU PONT-DARC, France -- With security beefed up following the deadly Bastille Day attack, defending champion Chris Froome extends his overall lead at the Tour de France.- Olympic marketers are making their pitch against a challenging backdrop: the loosening of ad restrictions for non-sponsors and an Olympics facing an array of challenges.- Olympic previews on mens and womens basketball, tennis, boxing, weightlifting, judo, rowing, canoeing.- LOUDON, N.H. -- Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon could come out of retirement next weekend and drive if Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not cleared to race.- ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Super Bowl MVP Von Miller is mulling a six-year, $114.5 million offer from the Denver Broncos that now includes a record $70 million in guarantees.- PORTLAND, Ore. -- The U.S., led by John Isner and Jack Sock, meets Croatia on the opening day of a Davis Cup quarterfinal. Marin Cilic and Borna Coric play for Croatia. Matches start 3 p.m.- WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg (12-0) starts for the first-place Nationals, facing the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is the first NL starter in 104 years to win his first 12 decisions in a season. Game starts 7:05 p.m.- CHICAGO -- In a matchup between two of baseballs best teams, the Cubs play the Rangers. Texas has lost nine of 12 but still leads the AL Central by 5 1/2 games. Game starts 2:20 p.m.- DETROIT -- All-Star Game MVP Eric Hosmer and the World Series champion Kansas City Royals return to play, taking on a Detroit Tigers team that sends Justin Verlander to the mound. Game starts 7 p.m.- Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka says she is pregnant and plans to resume her tennis career after the baby is born.- MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty play Friday night, two WNBA teams that have been outspoken following two shootings by police.- WACO, Texas -- Jim Grobe, Baylors acting head coach, says issues such as domestic violence and sexual assault will be turned over to officials at a university that has been rocked by scandal.- HOOVER, Ala. -- Alabama, backed by a fierce defense, is again the favorite to win the SEC while LSU, Tennessee, Mississippi and the rest of the league try to figure out a way to stop the Tide. Cheap Air Max Online Sale . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. Cheap Air Max Authentic . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. http://www.wholesaleairmaxauthentic.us/ . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Air Max Wholesale Free Shipping . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Air Max Wholesale . Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. In speaking about Cheteshwar Pujaras strike rate, just after the Kanpur Test, Virat Kohli reminisced - sort of - of the days when Pujara used to score quick, dominating double-centuries against visiting spinners. That was at the tail-end of a time when India used to bury visiting teams under a mountain of runs and watch them crumble under the scoreboard pressure. India have won four of their last five Tests at home, but on pitches that werent typically Indian their batsmen have struggled. A plausible reason is that if it is extremely difficult for Hashim Amla to score on, it is going to be difficult for Pujara too, if not as difficult.A win is a win, though, and India have been happy with them. Even on surfaces that turned from the first hour, there have been periods when Indias batsmen have threatened to dominate, but with so many variables to account for they werent able to follow through. Only one man has scored a century since the start of the last season - Ajinkya Rahane, twice and often lower-order runs from Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin proved the difference.A day before the Kolkata Test, in conditions expected to help batsmen according to Kohli, the captain spoke about the need to put runs on the board.As a home side, we feel we are able to put big runs on the board, that obviously puts pressure on the opposition regardless of the wicket we are playing on, Kohli said. I felt that even in the last game we had a chance of getting 400-plus, but we didnt capitalise. So those are the things we want to correct. Once you have a big score on the board, the opposition feels they have to work that extra bit or bat a session-and-a-half more than they would like to. That gives you an advantage in the game.This assumes more importance especially if the Eden Gardens pitch plays as Kohli expects it to. This is the first Kolkata Test after the death of former Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya and former curator Prabir Mukherjee. This is also the first first-class match since the whole square was re-laid. Not many know what exactly to expect, but Kohli said: The wicket is what we see in Calcutta more often than not. Its generally a very good batting wicket more often than not. We are expecting the same.In Kanpur, India looked set to get 450. They batted on the first day, when conditions were best for run-scoring, and got off to an excellent start.dddddddddddd As it happens on such pitches, one ball turned a little too much, Pujara fell even though he reached it on the half-volley and the incoming batsmen found it tough. Kohli was one of them, top-edging a hook in the first innings and a slog sweep in the second. The thing with Kohli though, over the last year or so, has been the quickness with which he goes to work on his mistakes.In the lead-up to this Test, he has batted against a rubber ball, training himself to control an object that bounces more but not necessarily at a sharp pace. Rubber ball was because we play three formats and we sometimes do tend to bat in a flow, Kohli said. It is very important to work on skills that bring stability as well, which you already have but it is about repeating those things. It was all about wanting to control the ball that is bouncing and not coming at pace. That was the idea behind that.Cricket is a game where you prepare well but the result cannot be in your hand all the time. Especially batting, where you have only one chance. If you get caught off a no-ball it is different. Generally cricket is a game of chances, but preparation is in my hand. I look to that 100% every time I walk on to practise.Kohlis insistence on big runs and scoreboard pressure could also mean persisting with six batsmen and trusting the two spinners to do the job. If this is indeed a more traditional Indian pitch that starts to break up towards the end of the third day, India will need all the scoreboard pressure they can muster in order to help R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.Difficult pitches havent always been the reason for Indias top order failing to capitalise on starts. Two months ago in Antigua, India nearly exposed the tail and it was Ashwins century and partnership with Kohli that batted West Indies out of the game.Ashwin has had a bit of discomfort in the lead-up to the Kolkata Test with a corn on the middle finger of his right hand. He didnt bowl in the nets, but had a hit, which suggested he should be fine. Kohli said as much and he would love for himself and his batsmen to not burden Ashwin and Jadeja with run-scoring duties. ' ' '