BASKET, NBA: Chicago Bulls dug deep for another impressive display of character as they stunned champions Miami Heat 93-86 in the opening game of their Eastern Conference semi-final series. On the night when LeBron James was presented with his MVP award, it was instead the more modest but seemingly tireless talent of Chicago’s Jimmy Butler which proved decisive. Butler played all 48 minutes for the third straight game and scored 21 points.

CRICKET: England will play a two-day match against a Chairman’s XI in Alice Springs between the first and second tests on their Ashes tour of Australia. The match, originally scheduled for Can-berra, will take place on Novem-ber 29-30 with the England team travelling to and from the Northern Territories by specially arranged direct flights. It will be the first match in the town for the full England side, although an England A fixture is among a handful of international fixtures previously played at Traeger Park.

RUGBY UNION: Scotland will take nine un-capped players in a squad shorn of key players when they travel to South Africa next month for a quadrangular tournament. “We are taking the opportunity to have a look at some players and want to assess what they’re like at this level,” said Scott Johnson, who will manage the team. Scotland will also be without Sean Maitland, Richie Gray and Stuart Hogg, who will be on duty with the British and Irish Lions.

GIRO D’ITALIA: Enrico Battaglin led an Italian 1-2-3 to win the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia yesterday as Britain’s Bradley Wiggins lost precious time in a testing finale. The Tour de France champion lost 17 seconds as the peloton split in the final kilometres that included a quick descent followed by a flat section, which riders tackled in heavy rain with a cobbled section in the home straight. Wiggins dropped from second to sixth overall, 34 seconds adrift of Italian Luca Paolini who retained the pink jersey after finishing safe in the bunch.