Worcestershire 166 for 5 (Mitchell 61, Whiteley 41*, Clarke 3-22) beat Birmingham 164 (Wade 74, Hain 46, Henry 3-15) by five wicketsScorecard Worcestershire Rapids kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the NatWest T20 quarter-finals with a five wicket victory over local rivals Birmingham Bears after some explosive hitting from Ross Whiteley.The Rapids ended a run of five successive defeats in completed matches and completed a double over their neighbours to retain the Norman Gifford Trophy.Some explosive hitting by Ross Whiteley enabled the Rapids to reach their 165 target with four balls to spare. He showed the form which brought him 29 sixes in last seasons competition in smoting an unbeaten 42 off 20 balls with four sixes and three fours.Now the Rapids must now defeat Derbyshire Falcons in their final North Group match and hope other results go their way if they are to reach a fourth quarter-final in five years.In contrast, Birminghams colossal collapse when baqtting meant they have now lost three matches in a row in the competition to undermine their own hopes of a last eight spot.Dougie Brown, Birminghams director of cricket, said: It wasnt a case of the game drifting away. We were masters of our own demise again. We were last week as well. We lost eight wickets for 19 runs from a real position of authority.Worcestershire were immediately on the back foot as they lost three wickets inside the first four overs. Tom Kohler-Cadmore clipped Rikki Clarke into the hands of deep mid wicket, Joe Clarke played on to Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Joe Leach sliced Recordo Gordon to backward point.Brett DOliveira, who this week earned his first England Lions call-up, and skipper Daryl Mitchell tried to repair the damage as their half century stand came up in seven overs.The Rapids needed 95 off the final 10 overs and Mitchell targeted the first over from Aaron Thomason to increase the tempo, striking two sixes as the all-rounder conceded 19 overs.The return to the attack of Clarke ended a stand worth 76 in nine overs as DOliveira skied a comfortable catch to Josh Poysden at backward square leg.Mitchell reached his half-century off 29 balls with two sixes and four fours but Clarke also brought about his downfall on 61 as he drilled a catch to Sam Hain at mid off. But then Whiteley moved into overdrive with support from Ben Cox to turn ther game in ther Rapids favour.Birmingham appeared to be heading for a score in excess of 200 after reaching 120 for 1 in the 12th over. But a dramatic collapse saw nine wickets fall for just 35 runs and the Bears were bowled out for 164 in 19.3 overs. Australian wicket-keeper Matthew Wade led the initial onslaught for the visitors in his second T20 appearance for the Bears.He raced to a half century off just 23 balls with the aid of three successive sixes over long on off spinner DOliveira in an over costing 25 runs.Wade and Sam Hain plundered 103 in just nine overs for the second wicket. But the Rapids struck back once Wade, having made 74 off 32 deliveries, was caught by Rhodes at long-on off Ed Barnard.Rhodes then came into the attack and in his second over picked up three wickets as Laurie Evans, Hain (46) and Clarke all perished to the off spinner.Ateeq Javid was run out attempting a second run in the next over from Rhodes before Mitchell pulled off a fine one-handed catch at mid wicket to account for Jeetan Patel.Rhodes finished 4 for 13 from three overs in only his second T20 appearance before Henry polished off the innings with two wickets in his final over of his current spell at New Road.Henrik Borgstrom Panthers Jersey . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. Colton Sceviour Jersey . 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Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter.CHASKA, Minn. -- While play hasnt officially started yet at the Ryder Cup (that comes Friday), there have still been plenty of happenings on the Hazeltine course. Here are a few things you might have missed Thursday:Jedi putt tricks?There are ominous signs, and then theres what happened on the eighth hole Thursday afternoon.After Andy Sullivan of the European team tried unsuccessfully four times to make a 12-foot putt, Rory McIlroy attempted to show him the line -- and he twice missed, too. Thats when David Johnson, a fan in the gallery from North Dakota, offered to show em how to do it.Henrik Stenson pulled Johnson out of the crowd, and then Justin Rose laid a $100 bill on the ground next to his ball, just to increase the pressure. As the crowd grew silent, Johnson rammed his putt into the back of the hole and punctuated it with a celebration that looked like hed just won the Ryder Cup itself. And hey, maybe he destroyed the Europeans confidence just enough that it did the trick. If nothing else, it was definitely an ominous sign for Team Europe. -- Jason SobelRyder Cup 2016: Complete schedule, rosters and formatThe suits have spoken!Even guys wearing Union Jack suits, rooting for the European team, are not fans of Masters champion Danny Willetts brother, Pete, who made disparaging comments about American golf fans.Pete Willett referred to U.S. golf fans as cretins and dim Yanks, as well as a baying mob of imbeciles and a giggling group of reprobates.Hes an idiot, and you can quote me on that, said the man second from the right in this picture:Danny Willett responded to Petes comments, telling Golf Channel this week: Id just like to apologize, obviously, to everyone involved for whats been said. Its obviously not the thoughts of myself and of the team and of captain Darren [Clarke]. -- Michael CollinsNot those shirts again!Ran into three guys -- Joey Burton, Brad Glogowski and Shea Connolly -- at the Ryder Cup. Why did they decide to wear the ugliest shirts in the history of the Ryder Cup? Because they are the uniforms from the 1999 matches, when the Americans maade their largest comeback in Cup history.dddddddddddd A little karma from that epic rally at Brookline couldnt hurt, right?What might be more amazing is that someone had to seek those designs out, get them made, and actually pay cold, hard cash for them. Style is cyclical, but one can only hope this never comes back into fashion. -- Kevin MaguireThe numbers dont ... tell the whole storyJust how evenly matched are the United States and Europe in the Ryder Cup? In the 18 competitions held since 1979 -- the first year Team Europe was expanded to include all Western European nations beyond just Great Britain and Ireland -- 39 percent of the matches have gone to the 18th hole. Thats 196 times out of 501 matches.?So while Team Europe has obviously dominated the United States recently, winning eight of the past 10 Ryder Cups, it hasnt been quite the blowout the results might suggest. If the Americans had simply played better on one hole, particularly in matches that came to 18 with the teams all square, history might look a lot different.?Interestingly, statistics show the hole that is second-most likely to decide a match is the 16th (20.8 percent of matches end there), and that trend should continue this week at Hazeltine. The 16th at Hazeltine National this week is normally the seventh hole, and when the PGA Championship was played here in 2009, that was still true.?But the 572-yard dogleg par-5 is clearly one of the best risk-reward holes on the course (there is a pond left of the green), and partially for that reason, the course was rerouted so it could play as the 16th. Its also one of the best holes on the course for spectators, and there could be as many as 20,000 people lining both sides of the fairway as matches come to a close.?Now picture Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson going for the green in two with a match on the line. If youre looking for drama and excitement this week, Hole 16 is a great stage for both. -- Kevin Van Valkenburg ' ' '