South Africa

Host nation England delighted its fans by rolling into the ICC Champions trophy final with a seven-wicket victory over pre-tournament favorite South Africa. London's Oval was rocking for this match, as it was hard to find anyone rooting for South Africa in the pro-England crowd, and they had a lot to cheer for right from the start. The English bowlers made sure of that. After winning the toss, England put South Africa in, and it paid off. It was a humid day, and this benefited the English swing bowlers. They dominated the Proteas to the tune of 175 within 39 overs. This gave them an easily attainable target to surpass, and while they got off to a slow start reaching the mark, they managed to do so relatively easily in the end.They caught the target with 7 wickets and a comfortable amount of balls left.While it will be a popular conclusion to write off this outcome as simply another case of South Africa choking, that wouldn't be fair to England. They played excellent. And no one was more impressive than spinner James Tredwell. Tredwell, who has been filling in for the injured Graeme Swann, was masterful. He earned Man of the Match honors, and deservedly so. Sky Sports Cricket tweeted that news and passed along his impressive stat line: James Anderson was also supremely impressive, as he yielded just 14 runs off his 8 overs, picking up 2 wickets. This should help you get a feel for how dominant England was. Only four of the Proteas batsmen made it to double digits, and they likely would not have hit triple digits as a squad if David Miller and Rory Kleinveldt didn't go on an impressive 95-run ninth-wicket stand. Prior to that, England reduced South Africa to 80-8 in the 23rd over.England should be feeling great about this victory and confident heading into the championship match. England won't find out who their competition will be for that match until Thursday. That is when India and Sri Lanka battle in the other semifinal. The ICC Champions Trophy final will be Sunday, June 23 at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham.

The Socceroos victory over Iraq secures huge revenue streams as well as helping the game's credibilityIt was only a little over two weeks ago when qualification for the World Cup looked problematic for Australia. For Asia, the top two teams in each group automatically qualify. Australia sat equal third with Oman on six points, one point behind second-placed Jordan and seven points behind its greatest Asian rival, Japan. Although Australia and Iraq had a game in hand, such was the confidence level that Football Federation Australia CEO, David Gallop, went on the offensive by declaring that World Cup qualification was no longer a pre-requisite for the game's success.Gallop's point wasn't without merit – many students of the game in Australia have long argued that sustainability would depend on the success of the domestic league, not World Cup qualification. But one wonders whether Gallop's position was more about readying fans for potential non-qualification than it was about long-term structural changes in the game.And here's why. This is what qualification means for Australia.1) Ker-ching!That's the sound of the cash register as Gallop's finance department works on their 'best option' financial scenario for the next four years. The A-League may be the engine room of growth, but World Cup participation gives a turbo-boost. In 2010, Fifa gave more than $12m to each of the 32 countries who qualified for the South Africa World Cup. Team transport and accommodation costs are met separately by Fifa, and if a team progresses beyond the first round, they get more. FFA can expect a windfall from Fifa of at least $14 million for 2014; the world governing body is extraordinarily wealthy and tends to build-in increases each tournament. Many of FFA's commercial agreements – for example, the naming rights sponsor for the Socceroos, Qantas – have substantial bonuses attached to qualification and each time Australia make it, more sponsors circle around wanting to be part of the game.Of course, the players get their fair share also. A collective bargaining agreement signed in January 2011 will see the 23-man squad in Brazil receive a share in a minimum of $5m. In South Africa, the players received $200,000 each.2) The battle for hearts and mindsOver the years, professional football in Australia has struggled for financial sustainability because it has struggled in the battle for 'hearts and minds'. There are many reasons why but the one that underpins everything, including the frustration of supporters of the game, is that football is not part of the mainstream national sporting culture, a culture that sees sport as an intrinsic part of the Australian character. Sport has long played an important social and cultural role in Australia, but when it comes to football, it has historically related to communities which have just 'arrived'. Nowhere is this more apparent than in how football is portrayed by some sections of the Australian media.However, every time Australia make the World Cup, there is a tectonic shift in culture and attitude. People who wouldn't normally give 'soccer' a second thought realise there's a giant global party going on involving an Australian team and they want to be part of it. By the time the 2018 World Cup in Russia takes place, this cumulative impact, together with the shifting demographics of the Australian population, will mean that football will cement its cultural standing in Australia. That is not to say the 'local' code of Aussie Rules or the other imported English code of rugby league will be supplanted in their respective geographical markets, but football will be a clear second.3) Football credibilityCrucial to the code's credibility in Fifa and international eyes will be how Australia perform at the World Cup. If the Socceroos are not competitive, the impact of making it will be diluted at home and not add to Australia's standing and potential influence within the international football community.Last time ar

It's no strange thing for a designer's work to inspire a music video, but until Prabal Gurung said he took cues for ICB's Resort 2014 collection from Solange Knowles's video for her single "Losing You," we'd rarely heard of it happening the other way around. The video, which Knowles shot in the streets of Cape Town, South Africa, gave Gurung a starting point for the colors and patterns in this collection - one of which is based on the wallpaper of one of the buildings in the video. But while the clothes are vibrant, they're also fairly grounded. Gurung wanted the clothes to make sense for November, when Resort collections end up in stores, so while there are healthy shots of bright red, emerald green, and sapphire, there's also a lot of black. The shapes, while edgy, are wearable and fun - like a striped bomber jacket with generous sleeves and a green and blue dress with an asymmetrical skirt. Photo courtesy of ICB

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Hosts England cruised into the Champions Trophy final with a seven-wicket win on Wednesday after read more