Sports digest

REIGNING World and European cross country champions, Kenya's Emily Chebet and Portugal's Jessica Augusto will be competing in a star-studded women's international field at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country in the New Year. The pair will be competing against Kenya's current world 5,000 metres and 10,000m gold medallists Vivian Cheruiyot and Linet Masai over six kilometres in Holyrood Park on 8 January 2011.

Chebet scored a shock world cross country victory in March, when she let her legs do the talking in Bydgoszcz and destroyed her more fancied opponents, which included Masai and Ethiopia's top two athletes, Meselech Melkamu and Tirunesh Dibaba. Now the 24 year-old Kenyan will be aiming to add to her laurels in the BBC televised event, the fourth venue of this winter's IAAF Cross Country Permit Series. Augusto, after her runaway success at the European Championships, will be carrying European hopes of a victory.

Basketball

GLASGOW Rocks could be set to have a Celtic rivalry after it was confirmed that a Belfast-based franchise is being lined up to join the British Basketball League. The new team, which could enter as early as 2012, are likely to be based at the city's 7,000-seater Odyssey Arena, and they would join the Rocks as the two non-English clubs in the league. "At the moment, we're trying to see if there is investment around to support it," said bid organiser Deidre Brennan. BBL chairman Paul Blake confirmed that the idea is receiving serious consideration. "We have spoken to them," he said. "We want to expand.

London's obviously top of our list to capitalise on the Olympics and then there's the likes of Birmingham and Manchester. But Belfast would be another good opportunity."

NBA: Golden State Warriors 109 Portland Trail Blazers 102, LA Lakers 80 Miami Heat 96, New York Knicks 103 Chicago Bulls 95, Oklahoma City 114 Denver Nuggets 106, Orlando Magic 86 Boston Celtics 78.

Boxing

KOKI Kameda of Japan defeated Alexander Munoz of Venezuela by unanimous decision yesterday to claim the vacant WBA bantamweight title. Kameda, who knocked Munoz to the canvas in the final round of the bout, improved to 24-1 with 15 knockouts. Munoz dropped to 35-4 with 27 KOs.

Daiki Kameda, Koki's younger brother, retained his WBA flyweight belt with a split decision over Silvio Olteanu of Romania. Two judges favored Daiki by scores of 116-112 and 115-113, with the other judge scoring it 118-110 for Olteanu. Kameda improved to 19-2 with 11 KOs.

Oltenanu fell to 11-3.

Cricket

SOUTH Africa's Dale Steyn produced another magnificent exhibition of fast outswing bowling yesterday to scythe through the Indian batting on the opening day of the second Test at Kingsmead. The world's top-ranked bowler followed his seven wickets in South Africa's innings victory in the first Test with four for 36. At the close of a rain-interrupted day, India were 183 for six from 56 overs.

SECOND TEST MATCH (Durban) India 183-6 (D W Steyn 4-36) v South Africa.

PACE bowler Tim Southee ripped through Pakistan's batting order before opener Martin Guptill smashed a quick-fire half century to help New Zealand to a five-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Twenty20 international yesterday. Southee took five wickets, including just the third hat-trick in international Twenty20 matches, while Guptill scored 54 in 29 balls as a new-look New Zealand side produced a morale-boosting win. Guptill's 54 included four sixes, one of which almost went out of the ground, before he was run out when attempting a quick single but was sent back by stand in captain Ross Taylor, who finished on 39 not out and saw the home side to victory.

FIRST TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL (Auckland) Pakistan 143-9 Innings Complete (T G Southee 5-18) v New Zealand 146-5 (M J Guptill 54). New Zealand beat Pakistan by 5 wickets.

golf

DAVID Fay has announced his retirement as executive director of the United States Golf Association. Fay, who turned 60 in October, has served the organisation since 1978 and took on the top job 11 years later.

Gridiron

THE NFL has moved last night's Vikings at Eagles game to tomorrow because of an expected blizzard that could dump up to 20 inches snow on Philadelphia. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter declared a snow emergency as of 2pm yesterday. The Vikings have already had two home games affected by the weather this season. Their game against the Giants on 12 December was postponed a day after Minneapolis got 15 inches of snow. It was then moved to Detroit when the Metrodome roof collapsed. Their game against Chicago the following week was played at the University of Minnesota's outdoor stadium because of the damaged roof.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: Arizona Cardinals 27 Dallas Cowboys 26.

Judo

JACK Hudson, epee from Aberdeen City, plus Calum de St Croix from Linlithgow and Anglo Scot Jack Watson from Norfolk, both at foil, are in the Great Britain teams for the Cadet Under-17 Internationals in Pisa, Italy in early January and Gothenburg, Sweden in Febuary. Hudson is also in the epee quartet 24-strong team and Hudson a reserve for the European Cadet Championships in Klagenfurt, Austria at the end of

February.

Netball

SCOTTISH CUP First-round sections: St Andrews 31 Scotstoun 62; Harmony Row 58 Glasgow South Saltires II 22; Glasgow South Saltires 57 Claremont 24.

Olympic games

TWO million people have signed up for tickets for the London 2012 Olympics, chief executive Paul Deighton said at the weekend. Organisers are steeling themselves for the "mind-boggling" task of masterminding the ticket sales, as well as planning and managing seats for the 8.8 million tickets, which are vital to raising 2 billion from the private sector to stage the Games. The London 2012 organisation needs to get 25 per cent of its revenue from ticket sales. The 6.6 million tickets for the public go on sale in March and, according to Deighton: "The sheer scale of this is mind-blowing. Just the operational stuff is mind-blowing." The real pressure will come when the application system goes live in what London 2012 chairman Lord Coe has described as the "daddy of all ticketing strategies".

Table tennis

RYAN Jenkins, the Drumchapel TTC coach and Welsh Commonwealth Games medallist, is on course to take Scottish No 1 Gavin Rumgay's overall ETTA Grand Prix title after beating England No 3 Matt Ware in the final of the ETTA Cardiff Grand Prix. Jenkins beat Chris Doran in the semi-finals after the English No 2 put out Jenkins' Glasgow club-mate Craig Hardie in the last eight.

Tennis

TEA CUP SCOTTISH JUNIOR 18 AND UNDER INTER COUNTY TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS (at Scotsoun LC, Glasgow, 28-29 December): East: Men: S MacNiel (Aberdour), S Duncan (Barnton Park), E McIntosh (Blackhall), A Melrose (Waverley). Women: E Murray, E Good (both DL Newhaven), N Binnie (Mortonhall), H Watson (St Serfs). North: Men: J O'Mara (DL Dundee), S Lister (Loughborough University), R Graham (Kinnoull), J Paterson (Bridge of Allan), Women: J Green (Arbroath), L Munro (Nairn), J Blackwood (Dunblane), S Graham (Kinnoull). South: Men: K Black, A Stevenson, A McClure, R Wesson (all Prestwick). Women: S O'Neill, C Gaskell (both Prestwick), C & L McCulloch (both Earlston). West: Men: M Monaghan, M Paterson (both Western), M Stout (Giffnock), C Mackie (Strathgryffe).