Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 18 April 12:30 pm

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

# We start off with cricket: Proteas Women’s captain Laura Wolvaardt says there are lots of positives to take out of the ODI series against Sri Lanka. The highest-ever ODI score by a South African woman was not enough, as Sri Lanka beat the Proteas by six wickets in the third and final game in Potchefstroom. Wolvaardt smashed an unbeaten 184 to lead her side to 301 for five. In reply, an unbeaten 195 from captain Chamari Athapaththu led Sri Lanka to victory. Wolvaardt says it’s disappointing to draw the series:

Meanwhile, England fast bowler Jofra Archer has admitted he will struggle to cope with any more injury setbacks. He has been plagued by a litany of fitness problems since bursting onto the international scene in 2019. Archer last played competitively in May last year when he sustained a repeat stress fracture in his right elbow. He says he hopes to return in time for the T20 World Cup in the US and his native Caribbean in June.

# Rugby: Former Welsh captain Ken Owens announced his retirement because of a persistent back injury. The veteran hooker played 91 Tests for Wales, five games for the British and Irish Lions and 274 matches for Scarlets. He was side-lined during last season’s Challenge Cup semifinal against Glasgow Warriors. The 37-year-old Owens underwent an operation in July and later had to withdraw from Wales’ World Cup squad. He says this isn’t the dream ending to his career, but it had been much more than he could’ve dreamt of.

# Tennis: Twenty-two-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal says he is encouraged by how he played in the Barcelona Open. The 12-time champion lost 7-5, 6-1 to world number eleven Alex de Minaur of Australia in round two. This was the Spaniard’s first tournament after a three-month absence due to injury. Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Austrian Sebastian Ofner 6-4, 7-5 in the round of 32. Nadal says he is happy that he can still be competitive:

# And finally: Springbok captain Siya Kolisi was named on Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people for 2024. This follows after he led South Africa to back-to-back World Cup victories in France last year. Kolisi’s name appears among the “innovators”, with the magazine describing them as people it believe most changed the stories that defined the past year. The Citizen reports other people appearing on the list are artists Kylie Minogue and Michael J Fox, and sports stars Max Verstappen and Jenni Hermoso.

Stay tuned for more news………….