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KwaZulu-Natal’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of theStandard Bank Cup are hanging by the slenderest of threads afteryesterday’s 17-run defeat against Border.The Dolphins will almost certainly have to win both theirremaining matches – no easy task – against Gauteng at home onFriday, and Eastern Province away on Sunday, if they are to sneakinto the semis.The home form of the Dolphins in this competition has beendisappointing, to say the least, with Dale Benkenstein’s menlosing their last two matches against Easterns and Border whenthey should have won both encounters. If the bowling let theDolphins down against Easterns, it was their much-vaunted battingthat failed them at Kingsmead yesterday. Having restricted Borderto a very gettable 221-7 on the flattest of tracks, the hometeam’s top order got themselves into all sorts of bother as theyquickly plunged to 50-4 in their reply. Admittedly, the Borderbowlers bowled well, particularly up front, with the excellentVasbert Drakes and Makhaya Ntini keeping a tight line and length.However too many batsmen got themselves out with Doug Watson,holing out to deep midwicket, and skipper Dale Benkenstein,rashly trying to drive his second ball over the top, particularlyguilty of giving it away. It was left to young Jon Kent to savethe Dolphins’s blushes with an excellent 71 in 86 balls (sixfours). He received useful help from Errol Stewart, EldineBaptiste and Ross Veenstra as the home team just about managed tomaintain the required run rate. Unfortunately, they lost wicketsfar too regularly in the process. Nevertheless, the fact thatthey got as close as they did, emphasised how comfortably victorycould have been achieved with a more sensible, measured approachearlier on.In that sense, the Border opening pair of Man of the Match PietBotha (55) and Justin Kreusch (59) showed how it should have beendone. The two, who were rarely troubled, put on 125 for the firstwicket, giving the visitors the perfect platform for a reasonabletotal . As it turned out, Border lost the plot a little afterthat start with only a half-century partnership between StevenPope and Tyrone Henderson enabling them to get past the 200-mark.One dispiriting note was struck by the decision of Jonty Rhodesto not make himself available for yesterday’s match. In the lightof his wife Kate giving birth to their first child last week, itwas understandable that he decided not to tour India, or, forthat matter, not to play in the Dolphins’s away matches againstNortherns and North West last week. But surely playing in a oneday match in Durban yesterday would not have upset his domesticarrangements? The Dolphins surely needed his experience andexpertise, and morale in the dressing-room could not have beenboosted by his absence.With Benkenstein – on national duty in India – unavailable forFriday’s must-win match against Gauteng and Sunday’s equallyvital away clash against Eastern Province, Rhodes needs to raisehis hand for his province this week.

Aston Villa were rather busy during the previous January and summer transfer windows in terms of bringing new players to the club after Jack Grealish made his record-breaking £100m move to the reigning Premier League champions and current leaders Manchester City back in August.

Looking ahead to the next summer window, it seems as though one of Villa’s recent recruits could be set to call time on his time at the club.

What’s the news?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist and transfer insider Dean Jones had this to say about the summer transfer window and the future of Villa winger Leon Bailey.

He said: “Bailey I’m not so sure about. I think that he really could be moved on in the summer in the right circumstances.”

Fans would be gutted

Since arriving at the Midlands club back in the previous summer transfer window from German club Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth a reported fee of £25m, the winger has made just 12 appearances for the Villans in the Premier League, starting four of them with just one goal and two assists to his name.

In fairness to the £85k-per-week Bailey, injuries have hampered the Jamaican’s time with Steven Gerrard’s side and have kept him out of action for periods of the campaign which have led to his lack of starts in the league, the latest of which being a thigh issue that sidelined him from early-December to February.

Even though the 24-year-old has struggled in getting some consistent run of form under his belt so far this season, it would be a shame to see the club cut their losses on the attacker after just one year as a Villa player.

Given his fairly young age and the attacking option that he can provide for Gerrard as well as the hefty £25m fee the Villans shelled out for him, it’s safe to assume that a lot of supporters would also not want to see him leave prematurely if they don’t feel he’s had a substantial chance of being successful at the club.

After all, this is a player labelled as someone that “can do anything” by former Leverkusen coach Heiko Herrlich, and judging by his potential, it would be a howler to lose him after getting very minimal returns for their expenditure.

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Bailey will undoubtedly be hoping that he can force himself back into the team, which he hasn’t been able to do since he recovered from his latest injury, and keep his fitness up for the remainder of the campaign to show Gerrard what he can do and why he deserves to have a future at Villa Park.

In other news: Gregg Evans drops behind-the-scenes AVFC claim that’ll leave Villa Park buzzing – opinion

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Marlon Samuels scored a determined 94 to help West Indies claim the first day honours © Getty Images

Two completely contrasting half-centuries from Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels led a remarkable West Indies performance on the opening day in Port Elizabeth. Gayle blitzed 66 from 49 deliveries, while Samuels faced four times the number of balls to get to 94; together, they guided West Indies to an impressive 281 for 4.Graeme Smith, leading South Africa for the 50th time in Tests, chose to field after winning the toss, and he could hardly be blamed for the decision – the West Indian batting had been in shambles on the tour thus far, and the wet weather leading to the game suggested the pitch would have plenty for the fast bowlers. In short, the conditions were ideal to unleash Dale Steyn and Co on the out-of-form West Indian top order.The one factor in West Indies’ favour was the return of Gayle, who, after much uncertainty, was declared fit after recovering from a hamstring injury. He made an immediate, and stunning, impact on the game.Both Gayle and his opening partner Daren Ganga relied on slices of luck to get through the first five overs – there were inside edges which flew past the stumps, and other deliveries which beat the bat, but once the first 30 minutes had been negotiated, Gayle suddenly went into overdrive.Makhaya Ntini, easily the most listless bowler on view, felt the heat the most, twice conceding three fours in an over as Gayle crashed drives through the covers and stood tall to bludgeon the ball down the ground. Ganga, who was batting with Gayle for the 50th time in Tests, played his role well too, batting within his limitations and rotating the strike. A South African attack which started off expecting quick wickets were suddenly thrown into disarray, and so completely pushed onto the back foot that Smith was forced to post a long-off within the first 90 minutes of the match.The pace attack were also hampered by the pitch, which offered none of the assistance it was expected to. The swing was minimal, the bounce was generally around knee high, and there was little to bother the batsmen. Steyn, South Africa’s main weapon this season, struggled with his radar and rhythm, regularly straying outside off and leg. None of that cost his team as much as his tendency to overstep, though: he had Samuels, then on 14, edge a drive to slip, only for umpire Aleem Dar to signal no-ball. Steyn finally nailed his man, but by then Samuels had done plenty of damage.Coming to the crease after South Africa had removed both openers in the space of three balls – Ganga slashing to Mark Boucher off Nel and Gayle edging Paul Harris’ second ball of the match – Samuels was patience personified. He has often been accused of throwing it away with poor shot selection, but here he batted with a determination and purpose that suggested he understood the value of the No. 4 position, a slot he got ahead of Shivnarine Chanderpaul.Displaying sound technique, he defended delivery after delivery, as if answering Clive Lloyd’s call for “stickability”. With Runako Morton showing plenty of staying power as well, the rhythm of the game changed from a boundary an over to a plethora of dot balls and maiden overs. The second session produced only 60, but more importantly from West Indies’ point of view, Morton was the only casualty. His replacement was the even more solid and limpet-like Chanderpaul.The tea break – and a short rain delay immediately thereafter – did little to disturb the batsmen. Chanderpaul was content to leave everything that wasn’t directed at the stumps – forcing the bowlers to bowl at him – while Samuels continued with his monk-like concentration. His 50 took all of 142 deliveries, before he finally opened up with a flurry of breathtaking strokes. Nel, trying all his usual histrionics to unsettle the batsman, was silenced with three splendid shots in one over: a drive that went rocketing past mid-off, a lofted shot in the same direction, and a pull to the midwicket fence. Next over, Harris, who bowled impressively on the first-day track, met with the same fate, as Samuels used his feet and broke the shackles that he had imposed on himself.West Indies were on course to see off the day without further alarm, when Samuels threw away the chance to get his second Test century, slashing at a wide one to be brilliantly held by Jacques Kallis. The second new ball had done the trick for South Africa, but there was no doubt about which team took the first day honours.

Scorecard

Ranadeb Bose tore through the Karnataka batting line-up on the opening day at Eden Gardens © Getty Images

Conventional wisdom dictated that Karnataka, having won the toss, would opt to field first on a seaming Eden Gardens wicket. Instead they chose to face the in-form Bengal seamers and paid heavily on a day that saw Ranadeb Bose (6 for 38) and Sourav Sarkar (4 for 24) wreak havoc with the new ball as Karnataka, which has relied largely on its batting strength this season, crashed to 89 all out in 38.5 overs.At stumps, Bengal were 121 for 4, holding a slender 32-run lead with Arindam Das and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (7) at the crease.Today’s effort saw Bose leapfrog to the top of the wicket-takers’ list in the tournament, with 44 this season, and Bengal’s steady reply gives them one foot inside the Ranji final.Yet it wasn’t easy; if Yere Goud & co succumbed to the nagging line and length and the pronounced lateral movement that is so characteristic of the Eden wicket, Bengal were staring down the barrel at 16 for 3. It took an adventurous, counter-attacking 63 from Rohan Gavaskar and a dogged unbeaten 45 from opener Das – and a fourth-wicket stand of 83 – to offset the efforts of Vinay Kumar (2 for 36) and debutant Srinivasa Dhananjaya (2 for 27).The day belonged to the Bengal pacers; this isn’t the first time this season that the Bose-Sarkar duo has run through stalwart batting sides. Yet, today’s carnage topped it all as Karnataka were in complete disarray on 18 for 6 at one point of time.Ignored for the World Cup probables, Bose couldn’t have chosen a better platform to prove a point to the selectors. His exploits began with the fifth ball of the opening over, the pitched-up incoming delivery squaring up Barrington Rowland (0), who nicked the ball to the keeper. It was, the bowler later said, the pick of his wickets.Over the next hour, the duo kept attacking relentlessly – Bose foxing the batsmen with sharp away-going balls, Sarkar making them sweat with darting inswingers. Had Thilak Naidu not freed the shackles with some lofted strokes square of the wicket en route to a 33-run cameo, Deep Dasgupta’s team would have dismissed Karnataka for far below 89.Speaking after the day’s play, Dasgupta was full of praise for his bowlers. “Honestly, I feel we exceeded expectations. It shows how good we’ve been this season.”For his part, Bose could barely conceal his delight and surprise at being asked to bowl first on such a juicy wicket – and also at the routcome. “We were confident of doing well with the new ball, but we never imagined that we will dismiss them for 89,” he said.He explained that he relied on the lateral movement to do all the damage. “I just stuck to line and length, and left it to the movement to do the rest. It worked because, firstly, we were relentless and piling up the pressure on the batsmen by not giving away easy runs. And Sourav also kept the pressure on from the other end.”

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, has been fined 10 percent of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during his country’s third one-dayer against India.Asif pleaded guilty to excessive appealing after he failed to direct his appeal to the umpire. The hearing was conducted by ICC match referee Chris Broad in Multan on Wednesday.”Asif is new to the international arena and is trying very hard to change the way he appeals but he must learn to respect the umpire and turn to ask if the batsman is out for all dismissals,” Broad said.All Level One breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 percent of a player’s match fee. The charge was brought by 3rd Umpire Zamir Haider and on-field umpires Simon Taufel and Asad Rauf.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has suggested that its forthcoming tour of India could be in doubt unless the Indian board sorted out issues of scheduling within the next two days. Two ad-hoc committee meetings of the Pakistan board have been cancelled: Abbas Zaidi, a PCB director, explained that “both meetings have been cancelled as the next two days are critical for us and should decide if we tour India or not.”Zaidi told , a Mumbai-based newspaper, “I think Thursday is going to be a crucial day for both boards. It should decide the outcome of this long-awaited tour.” In the meantime the Indian board is likely to announce the venues and dates for the Pakistan tour on Thursday, after a working-committee meeting. Pakistan have refused to play in Ahmedabad on security grounds.The presence of Natwar Singh, the Indian foreign minister, in Islamabad, was expected to help resolve various issues. Shaharyar Khan, the president of the Pakistan board, was likely to meet the Indian foreign minister and raise various concerns he had. The report quotes a Pakistan board source as saying, “basically the Pakistan board has to go by the advice of its foreign ministry, which so far has not given clearance to play in Ahmedabad. But that situation could change in the next 24 hours, with the Indian foreign minister in Islamabad and some important meetings scheduled.”

The Pub Charity Youth Cricket draw on Saturday is:Please note:This is the final round of the competition before the Christmas break.The Christmas Club Competition will begin on Saturday, December 13.Youth Cricket will restart on Saturday, February 7 next year.**All matches are 1-day matches**U18 (1-day):STAC v St Bedes Black St Bedes 3,Midd G v CBHS Straven 2,PK v Sydenham Parklands Dom 1,Pap HS Bye.Colts (1-day match):Section 1:CC v Syd CC 1,STAC v CBHS STAC 1,St Bedes v SBHS SBHS 4.Section 2:St Thom Yellow (Win by default),Pap HS v St Thom Red St Thom 2.U-16A (1-day):CBHS v CC CC 2,SBHS v STAC STAC 2,Syd v St Bedes St Bedes 5a.U-16B (1-day):Ricc HS v NB Ricc HS 2,LPW v Hornby CC Hornby HS,Upr v CBHS Ricc Dom 1,OC Bye.U-15A (1-day):Burn HS v SBHS Burn HS 2,STAC White v STAC Blue STAC 3,CC v Sydenham Cash HS 1,CBHS Bye.U-15B (1-day):CBHS v PK Parklands Dom 2,CC v St Bedes CC 3,Pap HS v Burn HS Pap HS 1,Upr v STAC STAC 4a,CBHS Black Bye.U-14A (1-day):Linc/Elles v STAC Tai Tapu Domain,SBHS v CC CC 5,Burn HS v St Bedes Burn HS 3,Syd v CBHS Blue Straven 3,CBHS Black Bye.U-14B (1-day):CC v STAC STAC 5,LPW v SBHS Hansen Park,Ricc HS v CBHS Blue Ricc HS 3,Pap HS v CBHS Black Straven 6,Rang HS v Syd Rang HS 1,St Bedes v Nb South Brighton Domain.U-14C (1-day):CC v SBHS CC 6,BWU v CBHS Black Straven 7,St Thom Bye.

Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar pulled out of next month’sBangladesh tour after being diagnosed with a stress fracturein his left hand.The left-hander has been ruled out from competitive cricketfor three months which practically ends his hopes of facingthe West Indies who are due here on Jan 26 for three Testsand as many one-day internationals.Pakistan leave for Bangladesh on Jan 2 for two Tests andthree one-day internationals.The fracture was revealed in a bone scan Tuesday. The 33-year-old batsman had suffered the injury during October’sSharjah Cup. On the basis of MRI tests and advice of a Dubaispecialist, Saeed rested for six weeks before resuming hiscricket this month. However, the injury aggravated whichforced him to undergo bone scan.The PCB has not named his replacement though a place hasbecome vacant which deserves to go to Shahid Afridi whopicked up five wickets in his debut Test and followed upwith a match winning century against India at Chennai in1999.Shahid, however, has been named as three replacements forthe one-day series which follow the two Tests at Dhaka andChittagong.Saeed, a reborn Muslim, has recently struggled to maintaintop class fitness. Earlier this year, he returned from NewZealand after the one-dayers while he also missed the entiretour to the West Indies last year.Prior to that, he missed most of his cricket due toundiagnosed stomach disease.

Delhi Daredevils have removed Gary Kirsten as their head coach. Kirsten was appointed in September 2013 on a three-year contract, but the former South Africa batsman has been dropped after serving as Daredevils’ coach for just two seasons. Under Kirsten’s watch, Daredevils won only seven out of 28 matches, with 20 defeats across the two seasons. In both seasons, Daredevils occupied the bottom rungs: they finished last in 2014 and second from last in 2015.According to Hemant Dua, the Daredevils chief executive, the GMR Group, the owners of the franchise, were not impressed by the team’s lack of progress in the last two seasons. “We have grown, but the [GMR Group] board took a decision that it was not working and then we decided to let him go,” Dua told ESPNcricinfo. “It was a mutual decision. At the end of the day everything is performance related. The pressure is always there.”Dua pointed out that though Daredevils were involved in “close matches” in the 2015 IPL, it was not helping the franchise. Dua said that the franchise had not yet decided on a replacement.

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United side head into Saturday’s Premier League clash with Brentford in a rather remarkable run of form, with the Magpies remaining undefeated in their last six outings – three of which have come as wins.

These impressive results have seen the 44-year-old’s outfit climb out of the relegation zone, two points above Burnley in 18th place, and just two points behind today’s opponents in 14th.

As such, a win over Brentford would come as a major boost to Newcastle’s hopes of survival this season, meaning that Howe simply must get his team selection spot on against Thomas Franks’ side at the Brentford Community Stadium.

So, will the Englishman make any changes to the team that started the 1-1 draw with West Ham United last time out? Here’s how we think Newcastle could line up against the Bees, as well as the latest team and injury news…

With Howe recently revealing that he will make a late call on whether or not Allan Saint-Maximin will play a part against Brentford, as well as suggesting that both Ryan Fraser and Javier Manquillo could feature after recovering from their respective injuries, we predict the 44-year-old will make three change to the side that lined up at the London Stadium last week.

The first of these changes comes in the Magpies’ back four, with the aforementioned Manquillo returning to the XI at right-back, while the £58k-per-week Emil Krafth – who BBC Sport’s Neil Johnston dubbed “careless” after his performance against the Hammers – drops out of the side.

In the middle of the park, the born-again Joelinton and Jonjo Shelvey retain their spots as part of Howe’s three-man midfield, while the £34m-rated Bruno Guimaraes – whose former teammate, Houssem Aouar, claimed “constantly offers solutions” – is handed his first start in the Premier League.

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In attack, the “unpredictable” – in the words of Gary Neville – £38k-per-week Saint-Maximin returns to the XI on the left, while Chris Wood and Fraser start up top and on the right respectively.

In other news: Howe must ruthlessly axe “out of his depth” NUFC dud, he’s “struggled” this season