The Dolphins brought the Eagles down to earth with a bump on Wednesday, when they beat them by 10 runs in their Standard Bank Cup match at Goodyear Park. The Dolphins won the toss and batted first, scoring 218 for seven in their 45 overs. Doug Watson made 74, Dale Benkenstein 34 and Lance Klusener 32 not out.

Silverstone racing-track owners are confident they will reach an agreement with formula-one rights holder Bernie Ecclestone for a British Grand Prix next July. The track owners, the British Racing Drivers’ Club, must put pen to paper on a deal before Friday, when the International Automobile Federation will release the final version of next year’s calendar.

Luis Figo scored twice as Real Madrid defeated a second-string side Roma 3-0 behind closed doors on Wednesday to clinch a place in the knockout phase of the Champions League. The match at the Olympic stadium was the second of Roma’s two-game ban on supporters following crowd trouble against Dynamo Kiev in September.

Chatsworth-based Manning Rangers had a real baptism of fire when they were comprehensively beaten 4-1 by Santos in a Castle Premiership game in front of a poor crowd at Kings Park Soccer Stadium on Wednesday night. The visitors from Cape Town scored their first goal through Thembile Kanono 37 minutes into the game.

The South African netball team on Wednesday lost the second Test against England in Manchester 64-48 and with that the series. England had won the first Test in Newcastle on Monday night 56-44. The third Test in Cape Town in 1997 had been South Africa’s last victory against England.

Pakistan was reeling at lunch on the first day of their four-day match against Western Australia in Perth on Thursday after local pace-bowlers Brett Dorey and Ben Edmondson ripped through the top order to have the tourists at 120 for five. Opener Salman Butt and Yousuf Youhana were the only batsmen to offer serious resistance.

Ernie Els says the decision to move the Dunhill Championship to a December date may lure more players of his calibre to the event. World number three Els is playing on the Sunshine Tour for the first time since the Dunhill Championship at Houghton in 2002, but suggests his presence at Leopard Creek might be a sign of things to come.

Tuncay Sanli scored three second-half goals on Wednesday to give Fenerbahce a 3-0 victory over Manchester United and knock the English team off the top spot in Group D of the Champions League. United, which still advances behind Lyon, had been guaranteed a spot in the next round of the tournament and didn’t bring many of its big names to Istanbul.