MOSCOW -- Khabib Nurmagomedov said Friday that Conor McGregor would need to win 10 straight fights to earn a rematch for his UFC title.

McGregor hasn't fought since Nurmagomedov beat him by submission for the UFC lightweight title in October last year.

The Irish fighter last month outlined his plan for two fights leading up to a rematch with the Russian.

That's not enough for Nurmagomedov.

"As for a rematch, to fight for a belt in the UFC, I remember I had something like nine or 10 fights. If he wins 10 fights in a row, then that's completely possible,'' Nurmagomedov said.

Nurmagomedov adds he's in negotiations to fight Tony Ferguson next, but wants it in New York rather than the UFC's preferred venue of Las Vegas.

That's because he disagrees with the Nevada State Athletic Commission's decision to fine and suspend him for a postfight brawl after his bout with McGregor.

"They offered me to fight in Vegas in March, but I told them that if Vegas officially apologizes for wrongly fining me for that incident on October 6, 2018, then I'll fight there,'' he said.

"If not, then they can assign me to another date. As far as I know, they're planning in April to hold [a fight card] somewhere in New York, so I'm saying I'm ready for April, or March if Las Vegas apologizes.''

PITTSBURGH -- For the second week in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers ground attack will be without James Conner. After taking steps back in his recovery from a shoulder injury, Conner is listed as out for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Because he didn't practice Thursday or Friday after a limited showing Wednesday, his absence against the Rams was anticipated.

Perhaps even more troubling is the new addition to the injury report.

Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is listed as questionable for Sunday's game with a foot injury. The injury first appeared on Friday's practice report, and he was a limited participant in the final practice of the week.

Though Smith-Schuster's numbers have been down this season, the double-teams he has drawn have freed up other receivers.

"He's attracting a lot of flies," quarterback Mason Rudolph said after a victory over the Indianapolis Colts. "When he's not catching the ball, he understands the type of attention he attracts. He really does a good job for me, being a selfless player in this situation. He knows he's taking two with him, and somewhere else we're going to have the opportunity to throw the ball."

Smith-Schuster anticipated matching up against corner Jalen Ramsey on Sunday.

"He's arguably one of the best corners in the league. I have the opportunity to go against him; it's going to be great, it's a blessing," Smith-Schuster said Wednesday. "Their secondary is one of the best secondaries we play throughout the season."

In past matchups with the Steelers, Ramsey was assigned to Antonio Brown. Smith-Schuster would provide a different type of matchup for the two-time Pro Bowler.

"No disrespect to him, he's not Antonio Brown," Ramsey said Friday. "I matched up with Antonio there for two years and that was a good battle and I held my own in those battles, and yeah, now I'm going up against a different person, different body type, different receiver a little bit, he can make plays.

"He plays very physical, he plays strong, aggressive through the catch, so I have to be on my s--- early. I look forward to it."

The Steelers have four wide receivers other than Smith-Schuster on the active roster: Ryan Switzer, James Washington, Diontae Johnson and Johnny Holton.

Meanwhile, the running back group will also be thin without Conner, who injured the AC joint in his right shoulder in the final minutes of the win over the Miami Dolphins, and Benny Snell Jr., who had knee surgery two weeks ago.

Running back Trey Edmunds missed part of the week with injured ribs, but he practiced fully Friday. With Conner and Snell out, the run game will heavily rely on Jaylen Samuels and Edmunds for the second week in a row.

"It is what it is," coach Mike Tomlin told Steelers.com on Friday. "We'll have a running back on the field and expect those guys to deliver for us. We've been challenged in that way this year and it seems like at every turn, guys have had an opportunity to stand and deliver. Benny Snell had a big half or so a couple weeks back in L.A. Edmunds had an opportunity to be a major contributor last week. We don't fear it. We fully understand the position that we're in, but we fully expect whoever is to do it, to do a credible job."

British wheelchair racer wins medal despite surgery this summer, while India’s Sandeep Chaudhary gets javelin gold with world record throw

Sammi Kinghorn added a bronze medal to Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s medal tally at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai on Friday.

On day two of the championships, the defending world T53 100m and 200m champion clocked 16.64 to finish third in the shorter event as China’s Fang Gao broke the championship record with 16.26 to get gold ahead of her team-mate Zhou Hongzhuan (16.58).

“I’m so happy with the bronze,” said Kinghorn, who had taken time out over the summer for surgery.

“Obviously, it’s tough when you come in as the defending champion but after the year I have had, I am so pleased to make it on to the podium.

“My family will agree. This year has been really tough, so I was honestly thinking I’d be top five but to win a bronze is great. I’ll be ready to fight for a higher medal in Tokyo.”

On the race, she added: “I got a much better start than last night (in the heat) but I kind of slipped a few times. I sort of panicked. But that’s fine – if I came off the track saying everything was perfect, I’d be pretty worried. Even coming away with a world bronze, I know I can do even better.

“It gives me so much confidence for next year because I know I can go a lot faster than that. There’s going to be a tough training block ahead, but I’m now focused to be on that podium.”

World records were broken in the men’s F64 javelin throw as India’s Sandeep Chaudhary threw 66.18m to improve his own world record in the F44 category, while his team-mate Sumit Sumit threw 62.88m to improve the F64 world record and secure silver.

“I’m really satisfied with my performance as it was my personal best and it is also a new world record,” said Chaudhary.

“Sumit trains with me and he is also doing a really good job. It’s great news for India – world record and two medals tonight. I’m really happy for him and we are delighted to make our country proud.”

There was a 12th world title for Canada’s Brent Lakatos as he won the T53 100m in 14.59.

“I’m just really relived,” said the Paralympic champion, who is married to GB’s 2017 world T44 long jump winner Stef Reid, who is missing the Dubai event through injury.

“I was quite nervous – even though I have the world record and I was probably the favourite going in, I was quite nervous as it has been a tough season. To be able to get that out of the way and do well in it, I’m really relieved and happy.”

Asked about his schedule for the week, he replied: “Everything! The 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m.”

.@AthleticsCanada’s @BrentLak speaks with @stuartweir after winning his 12th world title at the @ParaAthletics Championships in Dubai #Dubai2019 pic.twitter.com/L4Nb1gbvlg

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) November 8, 2019

Leo-Pekka Tähti of Finland retained his T54 100m title with time of 13.97, while his team-mate Amanda Kotaja also got gold after a win in the women’s event in 16.00, breaking the championship record.

There were also double golds for Brazil and China as Júlio César Agripino won the men’s T11 1500m (4:07.02) and Thiago Paulino claimed the men’s F57 shot put title (14.68m) for Brazil, while Peng Zhou jumped 6.23m to gain another gold for China to go with Gao’s T53 100m win.

Colombia’s Dixon Hooker won the men’s T38 400m in 51.10, while Italy’s world record-holder Assunta Legnante won the women’s F12 shot put (15.83m), Oksana Zubkovska of Ukaraine won the women’s T12 long jump with 5.73m and Tunisia’s Maroua Ibrahmi got gold in the women’s F32 club throw (24.45m).

Britain’s Lydia Church, making her senior international debut, finished seventh in the F12 shot put with a best throw of 11.25m, while Richard Chiassaro secured his spot in the men’s T54 800m final after placing second in his heat behind multiple world champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland to progress automatically.

USA’s Daniel Romanchuk was another heat winner but Nathan Maguire narrowly missed out on a place to join them in the final.

Their British team-mates Isaac Towers (53.54) and Ben Rowlings (53.71) both qualified for the men’s T34 400m final, which saw Tunisia’s Walid Ktila break the championship record in the first round with 49.31.

Full results can be found here, while further Dubai 2019 news and coverage can be found here.

Tamimi overcome home court jitters to make second round of World Champs
By ALEX WAN – Squash Mad Asian Bureau Editor

History was made today at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Centre when two Qataris made it into the second round of the 2019 Men’s World Championships held here in Doha, Qatar. Top player Abdulla Al Tamimi finally buried his demons of the centre court here when he overturned the seedings to topple Frenchman Gregoire Marche.

Abdulla, looking visibly leaner compared to a year ago, gave the home crowd in the gallery much to cheer for today as her masterfully took out the world number 14 in four games. Having been struggling to play well on his home court for years, this certainly lifts a lot of pressure off the shoulders of the world number 47.

“I’m really happy to have finally won a big match here. It’s great to do it here on the biggest stage – the World Championships. I could see the happiness in my dad and friends’ eyes just now and I am just happy I am able to play well today to make everyone proud.

My goal from here on is obviously to just do well again in the next round. I’m going to try and play well like I did again today”, said a beaming Abdullah.

The win sets him up against another Frenchman tomorrow after Matthieu Castagnet won against Canada’s Shawn Delierre.

There was further cause for celebration for the host as local wild card Syed Azlan Amjad also made it to the next round after Iker Pajares was forced to concede the match for opponent inflicted injury. In a fit of frustration, the Spaniard had hit the ball directly into Syed Azlan, who was not able to continue after that.

The top four seeds all won today, led by in-form third seed Karim Abdel Gawad, who showed no signs of his famous slow starts in disposing France’s Auguste Dussourd who qualified by merit of winning the Aspin Cup in Canada, in straight games.

Top seed Mohamed Elshorbagy and fourth seed Paul Coll also both won in straight games. Mohamed saw off up and coming French player Victor Crouin while Paul won comfortably against local wild card Hamad Al-Amri.

“I actually think Victor is a very good player. I watched him play the World Junior final previously and he was the one who impressed me the most there. If you look in his eyes, you’ll see how hungry he is. He wants it very much, he wants to be there you know. I also watched his match in Egypt last week. When I knew I was going to play him, I needed to watch him more because I’ve never played him.

“I’m very happy to see him play the way he play. He reminds me a lot of (Thierry) Lincou. The way he moves and the way he strikes the ball. It’s good because Lincou was such a classy player and it’s good for France to have someone like that”, Mohamed said of his young opponent.

However, it wasn’t as breezy for second seed Tarek Momen, who had a tough opponent in Germany’s Raphael Kandra. The German number two, who was ranked 13th in March this year was toe-to-toe with Tarek in the first two games, split between the pair in similar 12-10 score lines. But Tarek upped the tempo in the third and fourth to win more comfortably and book his place in the second round.

“I am relieved! It’s really tough to play someone like Raphael’s calibre in the round of 64 at the World Champs! But I tried to look at it from a positive perspective because getting past these (difficult) matches tend to put me in a good shape. They will definitely sharpen me for the next match and hopefully I will play better every day”, Tarek said of his tough first encounter today.

One of the four PSA invitees, Ryosei Kobayashi, made history today by becoming the first Japanese man to play in the main draw of the World Championships. The younger brother of now retired Misaki Kobayashi, showed true grit in his match against Scotland’s Alan Clyne and had the Scot on the ropes for most of the match.

Ryosei had his chances to take the first game but it was the more experienced Alan who played the big points better to sneak it in 12-10 before winning comfortably 11-5 in the second. Just as everyone thought the Japanese was done, he bounced back to take the third 11-7, before bowing out in a close fourth game.

“It’s obviously a completely kind of atmosphere and hospitality (compared to the ones I’m used to) playing in these kind of tournaments. It’s a great experience for me and even though it was only one match, I enjoyed every minute of it.

“It’s a better than average performance and I think I am happy with myself. It was very close in two of the games and I think if I had a little bit more luck, the result could’ve been different. A little bit disappointed with how those two ended, but overall happy with how I played”, said Ryosei Kobayashi.

There were mixed fortunes for the English camp, with James Willstrop and Adrian Waller winning all-English battles against George Parker and Chris Simpson. Declan James also won but not before being coming back from two-down against Indian Vikram Malhotra.

Daryl Selby as he was ousted by After games were split 2-a piece, there was a dramatic end to the fifth game. Daryl had leaned onto Youssef to ask for a let which led to the Egyptian losing his footing and needing a 15-minute injury break at 9-9. When the match resumed and with Youssef still visibly limping, Daryl failed to retrieve a drop shot and then hit a boast into the tin.

The other English casualties are Ben Coleman, Nathan Lake, Richie Fallows and Tom Richards. Apart from Ben who took a game off Simon Roesner, all others went out in straight games.

There was no joy for the Malaysian camp as both Ng Eain Yow and Ivan Yuen were both shown the exit by their more illustrious opponents. Despite putting up good performances today, the Malaysians were forced to submit to the superiority of their opponents. Fares Dessouky was stretched to four games by Eain Yow while Diego Elias won in three close games against Ivan.

“I’ve never played Ivan before so I really didn’t know what to expect. It was a little hard but I felt good in court and am happy with the way I played.

“I think I always play well here and I’ve been working very hard to prepare for this. So, I hope I will win a couple more of these tough matches and do well here again”, said Diego, who took out top seed Mohamed Elshorbagy at the Qatar Classic here last year.

After a long opening day which saw all 32 matches being played over four courts, tomorrow sees only the top half of the round of 32 being played on the all glass court.

First round.

[5] Simon Rosner (Ger) 3-1 Ben Coleman (Eng) 12-10, 4-11, 11-2, 11-2 (55m)

James Willstrop (Eng) 3-0 George Parker (Eng) 11-4, 11-5, 12-10 (44m)

Cesar Salazar (Mex) 3-0 Nathan Lake (Eng) 14-12, 11-6, 11-6 (38m)

Edmon Lopez (Esp) 3-0 [Q] Kristian Frost (Den) 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (42m)

[6] Diego Elias (Per) 3-0 Ivan Yuen (Mas) 11-8, 11-9, 14-12 (45m)

Declan James (Eng) 3-2 Vikram Malhotra (Ind) 8-11, 1-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (51m)

[13] Fares Dessouky (Egy) v Eain Yow Ng (Mas) 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5 (58m)

C3 Greg Lobban (Sco) 3-1 Max Lee (Hkg) 11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8 (56m)

[3] Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) 3-0 [Q] Auguste Dussourd (Fra) 11-4, 11-8, 13-11 (28m)

[11] Joel Makin (Wal) 3-0 Richie Fallows (Eng) 11-9, 11-2, 15-13 (49m)

Mohamed ElSherbini (Egy) 3-0 Karim Ali Fathi (Egy) 11-4, 3-0 rtd (12m)

Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 3-2 [16] Daryl Selby (Eng) 11-5, 10-12, 11-5, 11-13, 11-9 (107m)

[4] Paul Coll (Nzl) 3-0 [wc] Hamad Al-Amri (Qat) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (20m)

Mazen Hesham (Egy) 3-0 Tom Richards (Eng) 17-15, 11-8, 11-8 (42m)

Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) 3-0 [Q] Shawn Delierre (Can) 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 (29m)

Borja Golan (Esp) 3-0 Remit Tandon (Ind) 11-9, 11-6, 11-3 (31m)

[1] Mohamed Shortage (Egy) 3-0 Victor Crouin (Fra) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (33m)

[12] Omar Mossad (Egy) 3-1 Baptiste Maloti (Fra)    8-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 (54m)

[14] Zahed Salem (Egy) 3-1 Tsz Fung Yip (Hkg) 11-7, 3-11, 11-3, 11-6 (33m)

Mostafa Asal (Egy) 3-0 Campbell Grayson (Nzl) 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 (42m)

Abdulla Al Tamimi (Qat) 3-1 [15] Gregoire Marche (Fra) 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9 (50m)

Alan Clyne (Sco) 3-1 [Q] Ryosei Kobayashi (Jpn) 12-10, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9 (52m)

[7] Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy) 3-0 Tayyab Aslam (Pak) 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 (25m)

Leo Au (Hkg) 3-0 Todd Harrity (Usa)  16-14, 11-7, 11-3 (36m)

[2] Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-1 Raphael Kandra (Ger) 12-10, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4 (52m)

Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0 [Q] Aqeel Rehman (Aut) 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (33m)

[9] Marwan Shortage (Egy) 3-0 Arturo Salazar (Mex) 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 (22m)

[wc] Syed Azlan Amjad (Qat) 3-2 Iker Pajares (Esp) 8-11, 12-10, 4-11, 2-0 rtd (60m)

[8] Miguel Rodriguez (Col) 3-1 Youssef Soliman (Egy) 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8 (73m)

[10] Saurav Ghosal (Ind) 3-0 Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) 11-7, 11-7, 18-16 (56m)

Lucas Serme (Fra) 3-1 [Q] Benjamin Aubert (Fra) 10-12, 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 (64m)

Adrian Waller (Eng) 3-0 Chris Simpson (Eng) 15-13, 11-7, 11-1 (44m)

Pictures courtesy of    Qatar Squash

STOCKHOLM -- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says the league plans to return to Europe for games in the next two years.

Citing huge demand, Bettman said on Friday that the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators will open the regular season next year with a game in Prague. The Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets will play a couple of games in the Finnish capital of Helsinki.

Bettman did not specify dates for the games.

He added that he is "pretty certain" the NHL will return to Sweden in two years, but he gave no details about the teams involved and venue.

Bettman was talking to reporters before the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning play the first of their two games in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.

In October, the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 to open their season in Prague.

Tiger Woods pulled his own name out of the hat.

Woods surprised no one when he named himself to the U.S. Presidents Cup team, making him the first playing captain in the biennial matches since Hale Irwin in 1994. He then rounded out his 12-man roster by adding Gary Woodland, Tony Finau and Patrick Reed.

Woodland and Finau will both make their Presidents Cup debuts, raising the number of rookies on Woods' team to five.

This will be Woodland's first opportunity to represent the U.S. in a team competition, months after his breakthrough victory at the U.S. Open. His recent results included top-5 finishes in both Korea and Japan.

Finau was added as a pick for last year's Ryder Cup, and he enjoyed a second straight consistent season. While he struggled during the PGA Tour's Asian Swing, Finau racked up four top-10 finishes in his five previous worldwide starts before that.

Reed will be making his third straight Presidents Cup appearance, although this time around he won't have Jordan Spieth to play with. Woods' selections mean that Spieth will miss his first U.S. team since 2012. Rickie Fowler was also left off the team. Phil Mickelson's absence means that he will not be on a U.S. team for the first time since the 1993 Ryder Cup and the first time in the 25-year history of the Presidents Cup.

Woods saved his fourth and final pick for himself, meaning he'll play in a Presidents Cup for the first time since 2013 and the third time at Royal Melbourne following matches in 1998 and 2011. He captured his 15th major title earlier this year at the Masters and tied the PGA Tour's wins record with his 82nd career title last month at the Zozo Championship.

"The players, they wanted me to play in the event," Woods said. "It's going to be difficult, but I also have three amazing assistants in Fred (Couples), Stricks (Steve Stricker) and Zach (Johnson). So that helps a lot."

Woods' selections bolster the statistical advantage the Americans will have next month, with all four picks ranked higher in the world than the highest-ranked International player, No. 17 Adam Scott.

"On paper we certainly have the advantage in the world ranking. Our players have earned that by playing well around the world and playing well in big events," Woods said. "But when we start out on Thursday, it's 0-0. We've got to go out and earn points to win the cup."

The players who previously qualified automatically for the U.S. team included Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay.

Aon isn’t cutting the $1 million check to Carlota Ciganda just yet as winner of its Risk-Reward Challenge, but it wouldn’t hurt to get her bank account’s routing number ready.

The Toto Japan Classic is the last tournament in the season-long competition to see who sports the best scoring average on the LPGA’s week-to-week designated risk-reward holes. Ciganda leads the Aon Risk-Reward Challenge, but she has taken this week off to rest up for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in two weeks.

Ariya Jutanugarn and I.K. Kim are the only players who have a chance to pass Ciganda in Japan this weekend, but they need terrific finishes to take the big prize.

The risk-reward hole is No. 17 at Seta Golf Course in Shiga, Japan. It’s a 476-yard par 5.

Jutanugarn needs to eagle it in each of the final two rounds (or play the holes in 4 under, cumulatively) to pass Ciganda.

Kim needs to play the holes in 5 under, cumulatively (a double eagle and an eagle would do it).

On the PGA Tour this year, Brooks Koepka took home the Aon Risk-Reward Challenge prize.

A man who tried to rob Arsenal players Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac at knifepoint in a failed North London carjacking last July was sentenced to 10 years in jail on Friday.

The BBC reported that Ashley Smith, 30, was sentenced at Harrow Crown Court after admitting trying to steal watches worth £200,000 ($255,440) from the Premier League players.

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An accomplice, 26-year-old Jordan Northover, had also admitted involvement in the attack and was awaiting sentencing.

Judge Ian Bourne described Smith as a "career criminal" who was well known to police.

Former Germany midfielder Ozil was driving his black Mercedes in North London when the car was boxed in by motorbike riders wearing helmets on July 25.

Video images showed Bosnian defender Kolasinac confronting the attackers.

Both players were then left out of Arsenal's team for the season-opening game.

Cape Town Blitz 213 for 3 (Malan 99*, de Kock 35, Moeen 25) beat Jozi Stars 198 for 5 (Hendricks 80, Bavuma 38, Steyn 3-25) by 15 runs

The season premiere of MSL 2019 was an evening to remember, as defending champions Jozi Stars nearly went the distance in their chase in front of a home crowd, before falling just 15 runs short to Cape Town Blitz.

In their chase of 214, opener Reeza Hendricks impressed with a 53-ball 80 for Stars, their new captain Temba Bavuma struck a crisp 15-ball 38 and Rassie van der Dussen hit 31 in 21 balls, but Blitz's Dale Steyn struck twice in his final spell to take the fizz out of Stars' chase.

In the first innings, the fans at The Wanderers were given a show by Blitz opener Janneman Malan, who struck an unbeaten 99. Fate was in his own hand to reach triple figures, but he failed to get a run off the final ball of the innings. Brisk contributions from the rest of their batting order lifted Blitz to 213 for 3.

De Kock, Malan punish wayward bowlers

Stars had asked Blitz to bat at the toss, and that decision seemed to backfire right away when Malan took 12 off the first over of the season. He flicked offspinner Simon Harmer to fine leg off the game's first ball for four and that set the tone.

Malan then creamed 11 off Kagiso Rabada's over from the other end, and then followed it up by clubbing a flurry of boundaries off Dane Paterson. From 32 for 0 after three overs, Blitz finished on 69 for 0 at the end of the Powerplay as Quinton de Kock began to find his footing too.

Ample support for Malan

De Kock was the first to fall, out for 35 in the seventh over, trying to clear Harmer over deep midwicket. But Blitz didn't did the tempo drop. Moeen Ali walked in at first drop and tonked three fours and a six to add 25 in 15 deliveries, and when he was out caught in the deep to Dan Christian's slower ball, Liam Livingstone emulated his countrymate with 10-ball innings of 21 that included three sixes.

Livingstone went hard, in particular, to medium-pacer Nono Pongolo, hitting two of his slower balls for two sixes off consecutive deliveries. His dismissal in the 14th over brought in allrounder George Linde, and he added a further 24 in 13 balls, unbeaten at the end of 20 overs.

From the other end, Malan kept punishing anything wide that the pacers offered. His proficiency in off-side play was evident as he cut and drove Rabada, Paterson and Duanne Olivier through the innings. He anchored the innings after de Kock's dismissal while the batsmen at the other end went for riskier shots.

Malan entered the nineties in the 18th over by pulling Rabada for a six, but was starved of the strike at the back end. Needing a single off the final ball of the innings, he failed to connect with Christian's slower ball, finishing on 99 as Stars were set a target of 214.

Bavuma, Hendricks return the favour

Stars opener Chris Gayle engaged in some cat-and-mouse play with Steyn, Anrich Nortje and Vernon Philander in the first three overs of the chase but outfoxed the pacers by using his feet to play square to short balls. His 13-ball stay of 17 allowed Hendricks to settle in from the other end, but Gayle was dismissed by Steyn's slower ball in the fourth over.

Bavuma then counterattacked with some nifty footwork, finding boundaries off the pacers to keep the run-rate hovering around ten. He lasted only 15 balls, but his innings at a strike-rate of 253 kept Stars in the chase at the turn of the final ten overs, where they needed a further 99 runs.

Steyn shows his class

Van der Dussen was innovative against the spinners. Off Mohammad Nawaz and Moeen he found the boundaries often and his back-to-back fours off Linde in the 14th over brought up Stars' 150.

That forced Blitz captain de Kock to turn to pace again, and after a tidy over from Magala, Steyn returned to strike almost immediately. Van der Dussen tried to flick a full ball to the leg side but a leading-edge sent the ball the other direction instead. Magala ran in from point and dove to break the 53-run stand.

Hendricks continued the barrage with three fours in the next over to keep Stars in the hunt, but he fell in a similar fashion as van der Dussen in the 18th over, looking for a big shot off Steyn only to hit the ball in the air.

Off the next 13 balls, Stars added only 12 more, handing de Kock's Blitz a win on the opening night of the second MSL season.