Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 2 October 12:30 pm

Good day, let’s look at the latest sports news and scores:

# We begin with cricket: The Wanderers in Johannesburg will host the 2027 one-day World Cup final, as it did in 2003, on November 21st. Newlands in Cape Town will host the opening match between India and defending champions Australia on October 7, and the first semifinal, with Centuring hosting the second. Twelve venues will be used for the tournament, which will be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia. In South Africa, games will also be played in Paarl, Bloemfontein, Durban, KuGompo City and Gqeberha. Other host cities and towns include Harare, Bulawayo and Windhoek.

South Africa has been placed in Group B alongside England, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and a qualifier in the group stage of the tournament. Defending champion Australia is in Group A with India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, co-host Zimbabwe and a qualifier. The Proteas will begin their campaign against New Zealand at Newlands in Cape Town on October 9. The top three teams of each group will move into the Super 7 phase, with the better fourth-place finisher across the two groups taking the seventh spot.

# Rugby: The Sharks are boosted by the return of Springboks for tomorrow’s United Rugby Championship clash against reigning champions Leinster in Durban. André Esterhizen will captain the side with Thomas du Toit and Edwill van der Merwe returning to the starting lineup. Ox Nché, Eben Etzebeth and Ethan Hooker are on the bench. The Lions are also boosted by the return of Springboks Morné van den Berg and Quan Horn for their match against Ospreys at Ellis Park tomorrow, while Ethan Adams replaces outside centre Henco van Wyk.

Meanwhile, Springbok captain Siya Kolisi will make a first appearance in five years for the Stormers when they take on Edinburgh in Scotland tonight. He will start at openside flank with Louw Nel moving to the blindside while Riley Norton is in the second row. The only other change to the forward pack sees Ntuthuko Mchunu start in the front row. Among the backs, Stefan Ungerer and Yaqeen Ahmed form the half-back pairing. Wandile Mlaba is the new face on the bench, covering loose forward.

# And tennis: The Women’s Tennis Association says for the first time all combined One-thousand tournaments will award women and men equal ‌prize money from 2027. This brings the Canadian Open, ‌Cincinnati Open and Italian Open into line with other combined One-thousand-level events. WTA chairperson Valerie Camillo says they are also reducing the number of tournaments top-ranked players are required to play from next year following criticism about the overloaded schedule:

Stay tuned for more news………….