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Sam Konstas and Matthew Gilkes blasted half-centuries, before legspinner Shadab Khan ensured Brisbane Heat would not reprise another heroic chase, as Sydney Thunder clinched their first BBL win of the season.Chasing 194 appeared far less daunting for Heat compared to their astonishing BBL record chase of 258 runs against Scorchers just three nights prior. But Shadab spun a web around them in helpful Manuka Oval conditions to finish with 4-24 from 4 overs, as Heat fell well short of the target.After being sent in to bat, Thunder’s strong total of 193 for 4 was built around a 127-run partnership from openers Konstas and Gilkes. Konstas’ 45-ball 63 was marked by crisp drives through the off-side, while Gilkes went aerially and top-scored with 76 off 48.Entering with the grim tournament figures of 1 for 92 from 6.4 overs – having been removed from the attack due to dangerous bowling in his BBL debut – Shaheen Shah Afridi unleashed several trademark sizzling full deliveries in an improved performance. He finished with 1-35 from 4 overs.Shaheen Shah Afridi had his best night of the tournament so far•Getty Images

All eyes were on Heat’s chase, but they looked slightly weary after the surreal events of Friday night. Opener Jack Wildermuth, who emerged as a Heat hero after blasting 110 not out, struggled to back up and swung rustily, as seamer Nathan McAndrew bowled a maiden in the second over.Two deliveries after Colin Munro holed out tamely, Wildermuth’s stumps were rattled on 14, having missed a wrong’un from Shadab in a lovely piece of legspin.But Matt Renshaw was in imperious form as the momentum from his brutal century against Scorchers carried over. He had no trouble against Shadab, blasting a trio of boundaries in the seventh over before slog sweeping offspinner Chris Green into the crowd.Renshaw cruised to 43 before Shadab had the last laugh, when a wrong-un spun past an attempted reverse sweep and crashed the middle stump as Heat’s chase fizzled out.Related

• Shaheen Shah Afridi removed from attack for dangerous bowling on BBL debut

• Pakistan imports to play entire BBL, says Cricket Australia CEO

• Inside the makings of Wildermuth's BBL miracle: 'Just wanted to get off the mark'

It was an important victory for Thunder after consecutive defeats, with both teams now sporting a record of one win and two losses in this edition.Shaheen troubled Konstas immediately with an lbw shout that was turned down. Shaheen’s initial two-over burst cost just 11 runs, but he lamented gifting a short and wide delivery to Konstas, who promptly dispatched a boundary through point.Taking over the captaincy in place of injured Nathan McSweeney, Xavier Bartlett paid the price for missing his lengths, with a ruthless Konstas smacking him through the off-side.Konstas and Gilkes batted cleverly, ensuring there were few dot balls, by finding the gaps and running hard between the wickets. Thunder made an impressive 37-0 in the powerplay as Bartlett deployed left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann. Kuhnemann should be in the selection mix for the Boxing Day Ashes Test, with Nathan Lyon to miss the Test after suffering a hamstring injury.Shadab Khan took a four-for to stifle Heat’s chase•Getty Images

Kuhnemann bowled accurately, but Gilkes and Konstas smartly nudged him around to keep the scoreboard ticking over. The blossoming partnership started to frustrate Heat and they slumped further, when Gilkes – on 46 – was dropped by Wildermuth at long off on the last ball before the drinks break.The batters decided to put the foot down, with Konstas unfurling the reverse sweep to good effect – having botched an earlier attempt – before holing out to Wildermuth in the 14th over.Much like the previous two games, Shaheen struggled in the power surge, although he was initially unlucky when Gilkes inside edged past his stumps and to the boundary.Sam Billings swung a flustered Shaheen over the square leg boundary during an 18-run over, as Thunder eyed a total of 200. But their momentum stalled when Billings and David Warner – who came in at No.4, not opening for the second straight game – fell in consecutive overs.Shaheen’s mood lifted in the penultimate over, when he had Gilkes trapped lbw with a searing yorker overturned on review.

Kent have reappointed their England batsman Rob Key as captain for next season.Key, who took over the captaincy from David Fulton in 2006, led his county to Twenty20 Trophy glory last summer – and is predicting imminent new signings in pursuit of further success in 2008.”I am delighted to be given the chance to captain the club again in 2008,” he said. “We made good progress in 2007, and I believe we have the players to do even better next season.”We will be announcing exciting new additions to the squad shortly with a view to building further on the success achieved last year.”

Heavy security during a net session in Colombo © AFP

The Sri Lankan board (SLC) has filed a claim in court for almost US$ 12 million against an insurance company following the cancellation of the one-day tri-series between Sri Lanka, South Africa and India in August.On August 14, less than two hours prior to the start of the first match of the tournament, there was a bomb blast in Colombo which killed four Army personnel and four civilians. Shortly afterwards, the South Africans decided to return home, citing security issues as the reason for their decision.SLC had an insurance policy with Ceylinco Insurance Company Limited which covered it for “loss of revenue that may result from the cancellation and abandonment of the limited-over tournament due to riot and strike, civil commotion and terrorism”. The amount of the claim equates to the income lost from the sale of TV rights to Taj Television Limited.However, although the South Africans withdrew, India and Sri Lanka did try to continue with a one-day tournament but two matches were washed out and the whole event was shelved soon after.The matter has now reached the Western Province Court as the insurance company has declined the claim. “We have filed action as the company refused to pay the claim giving various excuses,” a Sri Lanka Cricket official said.

West Indies will send their Under-19 side to Pakistan in February to play a five-match limited-over series ahead of the World Cup in Sri Lanka.”We will take the opportunity to play some matches in Pakistan as part of our preparations for the Youth World Cup (YWC),” said Zorol Barthley, the West Indies Cricket Board’s chief cricket operations manager. “It will be a great opportunity for the young players to get acclimatised to conditions in Asia.”Last YWC, we had a visit to Sri Lanka, and that worked really well. We hope to do the same again.”A 20-man squad will be announced for a training camp in Trinidad in December.

John Davison might be able to devote more time to Canadian cricket after he was dropped by South Australia in a move which could signal the beginning of the end of his time with the state.Although Davison is currently South Australia’s one-day vice-captain, Paul Nobes, SA’s chairman of selectors, said that Davison had “no future” with the state.”Davo’s form hasn’t been up to the standard we would like,” Nobes admitted. “He’s been dropped from the first-class arena and now the one-day arena. As a 34-year-old, the way we’re heading, his chances are very, very limited.”Davo is pretty much resigned to the fact,” Nobes added. “It’s just one of those things … the time has come.”

South Africa 251 for 3 (Smith 72) beat City Nazim XI 250 for 4 (Farhat 64) by eight wickets (12 men per team)
Scorecard
South Africa dusted off the cobwebs and applied themselves to some much-needed batting practice under the lights at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. After losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, South Africa saw off a strong City Nazim XI by eight wickets, in a match that was arranged as a 12-a-side affair to ensure maximum time in the middle ahead of Friday’s first ODI.Graeme Smith continued his happy habit of leading from the front. His 72 underpinned South Africa’s pursuit of a handy total of 250 for 4, and he was ably supported by all his batsmen. Jacques Kallis was the second-highest scorer with 55, while Herschelle Gibbs, Neil McKenzie and Mark Boucher each chipped in with timely 30s.The basis of City Nazim’s total came from an eyecatching innings by Imran Farhat, whose impressive 64 contained seven fours and three sixes, and only came to an end when he skied Andrew Hall to Herschelle Gibbs at point. Gibbs also accounted for the captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who was turned down for a quick single and run out by a smart pick-up-and-throw to Mark Boucher behind the stumps.About 2,000 police, outnumbering a handful of spectators, were deployed in and outside the ground as part of tough security measures in place for the South Africans.

Pakistan Juniors scored a remarkable 37- run victory overPCB XI Monday at the Rawalpindi Stadium in a low-scoringmatch. The juniors, preparing for this month’s World Cup inNew Zealand , found the going tough and could only manage apaltry 134 after being put in. But they made up for the lowtotal with an impressive bowling and fielding display andbundled out PCB XI for 97, Arsalan Mir claiming four for 24.In the juniors’ innings, except for wicketkeeper AminurRehman who topscored with 39 and Junaid Zia’s 25 down theorder, no other batsman could do much. Paceman Waqas Ahmeddid most of the damage taking four for 46 while Jaffar Nazircaptured three.PCB XI batting crumbled in the face of fine bowling andtight fielding by the under-19s and the entire side wasdismissed in juts over 28 overs.Besides Arsalan’s four wickets, Umer Gul snapped up twowhile Junaid and Najaf Shah had one each.The junior side had earlier beaten the PCB XI in the firstmatch by four wickets.

Everton Matambanadzo returned to bowling form in Zimbabwe A’s second match of the Emerging Nations tournament, against Kenya, when he took four good wickets in a match left drawn after rain in mid-afternoon. He talks to John Ward about the match.JW: Everton, can you describe the conditions during the match, please?EM: When we arrived this morning the pitch looked quite hard, a good batting track, and there was a bit of moisture and some grass there so we decided to bowl. Bryan Strang and I were hoping to use the new ball quite well and we did; we got two early wickets. We had them in trouble quickly at 12 for two, and then they batted quite well; they just grafted their runs. Tikolo stroked it quite nicely, timed the ball very well, played some good shots off Craig Evans, and then we got him out and wickets fell from then on.JW: Which other batsmen impressed you?EM: I thought Maurice Odumbe and the left-hander Hitesh Modi played well and put on quite a good partnership there just when they needed it. Unfortunately for them they got out at a crucial stage for them, but that’s just one of those things; you’ve got to play shots and can’t just sit on the handle all day.JW: Can you describe how you took your wickets?EM: The first one was bowled, Francis Otieno, with an off-cutter that he misread and it knocked him over. I was bowling away-swingers to the other guy, and I’m sure he was told it was going to be away-swingers and he was looking to leave it, but it jagged back. My second wicket was Odumbe. He chased a wide one and was caught at third man.Then I yorked the left-hander, Modi, a reverse-swinger from around the wicket, and then Thomas Odoyo. I did him with a slower ball. He had missed a couple of them earlier on, so I started off bowling him yorkers and slower balls, and he was caught at deep square leg.JW: You looked to be bowling pretty well, better than I’ve seen you for some time.EM: I had a nice rhythm; I decided I was just going to let it go and bowl as quick as I can, and whatever happens, happens.JW: Who else bowled well?EM: Bryan Strang bowling very well; he swung it, he seamed it,he bowled line and length, especially up front. At the end hepicked up three wickets, and with the tail-enders it’s goodbowling; he just bowled straight and if they missed he hit. Ofthe spinners Gavin Rennie surprisingly bowled quite well, andthey didn’t play him very well. He came from over the wicket,bowled on off stump and they just couldn’t get him away. He gottwo wickets for almost nothing. Raymond Price did okay; he did agood job for us, but in my opinion bowled too many arm balls,which denied him wickets. I think if he had bowled more spinnershe would have taken wickets too.JW: There was pretty good support in the field.EM: Yes, the fielding was pretty good. As is usual in thesematches we had our ups and downs, some bad patches, especiallybetween the fifteenth and twentieth overs. The guys got a bittired after quite a long session for us. But after then wepicked up and we kept up the pressure to the end.JW: What are your comments about the Zimbabwean innings, as faras it went?EM: We seemed to start very well. Mark Vermeulen was strokingit with good timing, played a lot of shots, gave some chances butat the same time gave us a great start. We got to 50 in eightovers, between him and Doug Marillier, which put us in a goodposition to kick on and chase a total like 220. When we have agood opening stand like that, it simplifies the chase.JW: It’s a pity the rain should come with the match so wellbalanced.EM: Yes, yes. Under the new rules we have to play 25 overs toconstitute a match, so hopefully we’ll get back on and get thosefive overs bowled. I know we only need four runs to do it[without losing a wicket].JW: A much better performance than yesterday, I thought.EM: I didn’t watch all of yesterday’s game, but certainly therewas a lot more purpose about the batting. I watched bits andpieces, but the way the innings started, at least. You couldsee, we had a game plan when we went out there to try and achievethis total, rather than walking out there and just batting.

Rangers have been handed an injury lift ahead of their return to action at Ibrox on Thursday night…

What’s the latest?

Gers boss Gio van Bronckhorst has revealed that Steven Davis is the only confirmed absentee for their UEFA Europa League clash.

He has admitted that there are question marks over others but has not completely ruled them out, with this coming after blows to Amad Diallo and Aaron Ramsey in recent weeks.

The club’s official Twitter account quoted him as saying: “Davis is not available as he has an injury. We have a couple doubts for tomorrow but we will be fine.”

Buzzing

Ibrox supporters will be buzzing with this news as it is a big boost for multiple reasons.

Firstly, they will be delighted to learn that there have been no major issues following on from the 1-0 win over Aberdeen at the weekend.

It was a scrappy game as the away side committed 16 fouls and received three yellow cards, which may have left some supporters anxious as to whether or not any of the players came out of the match with knocks that would see them miss out against Red Star Belgrade.

Instead, every player appears to have come out of it relatively unscathed and van Bronckhorst will have a full squad to pick from aside from Davis and long-term absentee Ianis Hagi. This will give him plenty of options to name in his starting XI, whilst also allowing him to utilise his bench if needed on the night.

Supporters will also be buzzing to know that Ramsey will be available for selection and has not suffered another setback. He has only played ten minutes in the Europa League for the Gers so far and fans will surely be eager to see him add to that on Thursday night.

The Wales international produced six goals and three assists in his last 13 appearances in the competition with Arsenal and this suggests that he has the quality to make a big impact at this level.

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He has shown throughout his career, with 142 direct goal contributions for the Gunners and Juventus combined, that he can score and create goals and fans will be keen to see that for the Scottish giants between now and the end of the campaign.

They will also be pleased with this news as it suggests that Amad Diallo has overcome his knock. He has struggled since joining on loan from Manchester United but he is a young player and it may take him a little bit longer to bed in. The sooner he gets back out on the pitch the sooner he can turn things around and prove his ability.

AND in other news, GvB could save Rangers millions in “clinical” 26-goal teen with “pure enthusiasm”…

So after another week of twists and turns in the Championship, the last remaining automatic promotion place comes down to the final weekend after all. Yet let’s get one thing clear, West Ham cannot beat us to second place, we can only lose it.

After being in the top two positions for the entirety of this season, the thought of finishing third after the final round of matches is a horrible one, and I do not share other fans opinions, who say that finishing in the play-off places will be ok, because we would have taken that at the start of the season.

But let’s not dwell on that too much, I have every confidence that the job will be completed on Saturday, and in style, and at approximately half past two we will once again be a Premier League club.

Although sides that have nothing to play for can be dangerous, I think we will have too much for them, and with two wins against them already this season (both at the Ricoh) we should have nothing to worry about.

There have been some classic home games against Coventry over the years, and in the eighties the two clubs were involved in two 10 goal thrillers. In 1982 the match ended in a 5-5 draw, yet two years later Saints would run out 8-2 winners, something like that would be fantastic on Saturday, just not the 5-5 draw, I do not think my heart could take it.

Obviously, being realistic we are extremely unlikely to score 8 goals on Saturday, but so long as we are more than 1 goal ahead going in to the final minute I will be happy. The amount of late goals we have been conceding lately is a worry, and it will not do Saints fans pulse rates any favours knowing that West Ham are winning handsomely at home to Hull, and that a late Coventry equaliser would swat us down to third place.

On Saturday morning I will take comfort from knowing that when it usually comes to a big final day game where we need to get a result, we usually do (2005 excepted). But going into the final game of the season, knowing that a win will see us promoted is a new experience for a lot of fans who still have fresh memories of all those final day relegation scraps at The Dell.

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To me, this forthcoming match does seem to feel almost like a playoff final in itself, and whatever happens, one way or another, the Saints players know that they will be making headlines on Saturday.

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