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North West completed a hard-earned 70-run win over Gauteng despite a fine 138 from Warren Dugmore. Early in the day it seemed as though North West would have much easier task wrapping up the match as Gauteng slipped to 86 for 5 before lunch. Dumisa Makalima took the long-handled approach and sped to 51 off 39 balls then the lower order gave Dugmore more conventional support. However, the North West attack stuck to their task and shared the wickets around. Vusumuzi Mazibuko finished off the innings and his three wickets included Dugmore for a career-best effort which was, ultimately, futile.Western Province won by 56 runs against Border but that only tells half the story. The win came with the final ball of the match when Siraaj Conrad trapped last-man Rowan Richards lbw to complete a 10-wicket haul. The result was harsh on Bevan Bennett who struck 150, carrying Border to the brink of a draw. But he fell to Conrad with nine overs remaining and Western Province snuck home at the last possible moment. Warren Wyngaard earlier reached his second century of the match to set up the declaration although the real drama was still to follow.Zimbabwe Under-23 failed offer much resistance before slumping to a 10-wicket defeat against Boland as their miserable season in the South African domestic competition continued. Wallace Albertyn took two of the remaining wickets to finish with 4 for 33 while Tinashe Hove was unable to bat. It took five balls for Boland to score the run they need courtesy of four byes.

The semi-finals of the Intercontinental Cup have been put back 24 hours following the death of His Highness Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates.Both matches were due to start in Sharjah on November 16, but that would be the last day of the official state mourning and so the ICC agreed to the postponement. As a result, the final will now begin on November 21.UAE meet Canada and Scotland face Kenya in the semi-finals.

Gavin Varejes, an associate of Shane Warne, has admitted to paying R100,000 to silence Helen Cohen Alon, a 45-year-old South African woman who recently accused Warne of sending her raunchy text messages.Varejes made the admission in a sworn affidavit to the police, who are investigating the case. Upon the admission, Julius Smith, the police officer in charge of the case, has asked Interpol to obtain a statement from Warne.According to quotes by Smith in the South African media, Varejes admitted to contacting Cohen Alon during the 2003 World Cup, when she was trying to sell her story to the press. Varejes arranged for the payment only after he checked that the number on her mobile phone was indeed Warne’s number.

Chasing a moderate total of 220, Tripura flagged in the chase,crumbling to 170 in the face of some fine Assam bowling in their Ranjione-day match at Cuttack on Tuesday.Winning the toss, Assam batted first and put up 219 in their innings.No batsman got to 50, and the top scorer was number eight batsmanSukhvinder Singh, who made 49 off 52 balls. Skipper Syed Zuffri made40 off 60 balls coming in at number three, the only other significantknock in the innings.Tripura lost its first two wickets for eight runs, but a 105-runthird-wicket partnership between Sourav Dasgupta (50 off 76) and AbdulSattar (60 off 76) put Tripura back on track. Wickets fell in a hurryafter the dismissal of Sattar, and only C Sachdev (30 off 43) couldget to double figures. Tripura were bowled out for 170 in 49.1 overs,with Arnald Konwar taking 4-42 for Assam.

Debutant left-arm spinner Bert Chikomba’s 5 for 36 set up Mashonaland Eagles‘ five-wicket win over Mountaineers in the second round of the Pro50 Championship in Harare. Chikomba’s five-for skittled Mountaineers out for 167 before a 71 from opener Cephas Zhuwao and an unbeaten 35 from Gary Chirimuuta took the side to a win with more than 16 overs to spare.Mountaineers got off to a slow start after opting to bat, and struggled to lift their overall scoring rate as the innings progressed. Innocent Kaia scored 52 but the rest of the batsmen were all dismissed for less than 25 as Chikomba ran through the middle order in his second spell. The spinner took four wickets in three successive overs between the 38th and 41st – including the wickets of Shingi Masakadza and Kudzai Sauramba off successive deliveries.Zhuwao and Kudzai Maunze shared an 111-run opening stand to give Eagles a strong start but the side soon slipped to 141 for 4 following wickets from Roy Kaia and Tatenda Mupunga. Chirimuuta, who had scored an unbeaten fifty in the last game, saw the Eagles through to their second win.Fifties from Mbekezeli Mabuza and Taffy Mupariwa guided Matabeleland Tuskers to a six-wicket win against Mid West Rhinos, their first of this tournament. The pair also shared a 99-run partnership for the fourth wicket, helping the side overcome a shaky start that had them struggling at 19 for 2 in the eighth over.The early breakthroughs for Rhinos came from fast bowler Carl Mumba but Mabuza anchored the side – first with a 72-run partnership for the second wicket with Nkosana Mpofu and then his stand with Mupariwa. Mabuza was finally dismissed for 87 off 121 deliveries but by that time the score had moved to 190 for 4. Mupariwa, who finished unbeaten on 67 off 64 deliveries, struck a flurry of boundaries to guide the side home.Mabuza made an equally important contribution with the ball and, along with left-arm spinner Keith Dabengwa, finished with a three-wicket haul. Their strikes ensured that Rhinos were limited to 230 for 7 despite fifties from their openers Tarisai Musakanda (82 off 118 deliveries) and Tendai Maruma (55 off 92 balls). The batsmen were involved in a 135-run opening stand but a mid-innings slide saw Rhinos squander the advantage as they dropped from 167 for 1 to 199 for 6.

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Derek Johnstone reckons Rangers won’t be fazed by the short turnaround from the end of last season to pre-season training for 2019/20, as reported by The Evening Times.

What’s he said?

It’s been less than a month since Rangers last played in the Scottish Premiership and the club are due back for training as early as this coming Monday, meaning the concept of an off-season has been more of an extended holiday.

With some players also taking part in recent international matches, the chance to rest up has been exceedingly short and it could be factor when considering upcoming European qualifiers.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Derek Johnstone reckons it won’t be an issue though, telling The Evening Times:

“People might think they are tired after only having two or three weeks off, but most of the players have had a decent break.

A few of the players, like Steven Davis and Borna Barisic, have had international commitments and Scott Arfield and Nikola Katic still have games to play with Canada and the Croatian Under-21s respectively.

Both of them will need to rest once those fixtures are played and that will have an impact on their participation in the early Europa League qualifiers.

You do need a rest at some stage. You can’t just finish one season and then go straight into the next one. If you have had three or four weeks off, that is enough time for you to relax, recover and then get ready to get back into it again.

Rangers will return to pre-season training next week and Steven Gerrard will expect his players to be raring to go for what could be a really exciting season for us.”

Rangers’ summer challenge

Rangers enter the UEFA Europa League qualifying process at the first round, with the matches due to take place as early as July 9th or 10th. That leaves the squad less than a month to prepare for that initial action, with the opponents to be determined during this coming Monday’s draw.

So soon after last season it’s a massive challenge, even if Johnstone is trying to downplay it. This yearly cycle of football until late May then July qualifiers is gruelling, especially with international matches in between.

Nonetheless, the Rangers squad must rise to the expectations of the pundit and manager Steven Gerrard, who will be expecting his side to comfortably progress through the first couple of qualifying rounds, with the ambition being reaching the group stages for a second successive season.

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The money generated is huge for the club and subsequently from the squad, so there can be no tired legs when the action kicks off next month.

Marcus Trescothick has promised his “unconditional support” to his replacements having stepped down as captain of Somerset.Trescothick, now aged 40, was appointed captain in 2010 but, despite leading the side through some of the most enjoyable, competitive years in their history, the trophies remained elusive.Chris Rogers, recently signed as Somerset’s overseas player, will captain the side in the Championship, while Jim Allenby, Australian-born but England-qualified, will captain the side in the limited-overs formats. Trescothick, whose decision was described as “mutually agreed with the club”, will continue to play.Trescothick’s spell as captain will be remembered for its near misses; 2010 was especially painful as Somerset, who have never won the County Championship, finished runner-up in all three trophies. Despite finishing level on points with Nottinghamshire in the Championship, Somerset missed out by virtue of fewer victories. They also missed a final-ball run-out that would have won them the T20 final.They were runners-up in the T20 and 40-over competitions again in 2011 and in the Championship in 2012.But at a club where success has – rightly or wrongly – often been defined a little more in terms of enjoyment than silverware, Trescothick’s period in charge may be remembered as a golden age. And it is true that sell-out crowds – even Championship cricket still attracts decent audience numbers in Taunton – exciting cricket and the emergence of some fine homegrown players may be interpreted as more important than trophies.Not by everyone, though. The decision to appoint two Australian-born cricketers – and it is noticeable that James Hildreth, who might be seen as an archetypal Somerset cricketer, has been overlooked – speaks of a desire to inject a ruthlessness into the side that it has rarely displayed.The management wants regular international cricket at a ground whose charm was once exemplified by its dog track and scrumpy. The replacement of the old pavilion, charming but beyond its time, with a fine, new stand might be a metaphor for the club’s current state. Progress often brings casualties.”I have loved being captain of Somerset,” Trescothick said. “It has been a tremendous privilege and honour to lead this great club over many years.”But now is the right time for change. I will be giving Chris and Jim my unconditional support, as well as focusing on scoring as many runs as I can in the season ahead. I would like to thank all of the players, coaches and members for their support during my tenure.”Matt Maynard, the club’s director of cricket, said: “Marcus has made an unbelievable contribution to the club as its captain over many years. I know I will be joined by all of our members in thanking him for his unfailing commitment and dedication to leading the side.”Marcus will now have an opportunity to focus all of his energies on his batting and we hope that stepping down from the captaincy will extend his playing career in the seasons to come.”

Scorecard andball-by-ball details
How theywere out

Paul Harris got his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests as South Africa took a first-innings lead of 159 © Getty Images

Pakistan seized back some of the momentum in this Test on a riveting third day’s play, first saving the follow-on and reducing the innings lead with some spirited batting from Shoaib Malik, the captain, and the tail, and then picking up three quick wickets in the last session. However, South Africa retained in the dominant position, ending the day with an overall lead of 235 and Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince at the crease.Malik, who formed an 84-run partnership with Salman Butt, batting lower down the order due to a stomach ailment, combined solid defence with controlled aggression. He stuck to a bat-and-pad tactic against Paul Harris, who failed to get much turn and bounce in the morning, and hit the lacklustre Makhaya Ntini for six fours.He brought up his half-century with a straight-driven four off Harris and reached 1000 Test runs with a huge six over long-on after jumping down the pitch. But Graeme Smith’s decision to refuse the new ball and stick with Harris and Andre Nel paid off when Malik was stumped by Boucher off Harris when he looked set to take Pakistan to a decent total.That dismissal led to some tension in the Pakistan camp as 13 runs were still required to avoid the follow-on with two wickets remaining. It was left to Kaneria’s cameo of 26 to take Pakistan close to the 300-mark. He edged a few past the slips, slashed some over point and even flicked a wayward Dale Steyn over square leg to reduce the deficit as he added 53 runs with Nos. 10 and 11.Harris, easily South Africa’s bowler of the day, added three wickets to his overnight tally to end with his first Test five-for. None of the fast bowlers apart from Nel, who bowled with much pace and venom, caused the batsmen any problems on a deteriorating pitch.

Mark Boucher broke Ian Healy’s record of most Test dismissals © AFP

Starting the day off with the ball, Harris stuck to an immaculate line as the batsmen were largely restricted to singles. His dismissal of Butt, leg-before playing across to a turning delivery, and Umar Gul, stumped by Boucher to break Ian Healy’s record of most Test dismissals, were obvious proof of his commitment and a pitch providing immense assistance to spinners.Although Pakistan were able to pick up three wickets in the final session of the day, albeit after a confident 41-run opening partnership between Smith and Herschelle Gibbs, the pitch is becoming more and more difficult to bat on. Pakistan’s fast bowlers proved ineffective, much like their South African counterparts, though irregular bounce troubled the batsmen. That’s why a target in excess of 300 in the fourth innings might just prove beyond the home team’s reach.