Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 7 February 12:30 pm

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

# We begin with cricket: Two-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape are through to their third consecutive SA20 final, after beating Paarl Royals by eight wickets in Centurion. Royals posted 175 for four in their 20 overs. In reply, Tony de Zorzi and Jordan Hermann shared a second-wicket stand of 111, to help Sunrisers reach the target with four balls to spare. The defending champions will face MI Cape Town in tomorrow’s final at the Wanderers. Sunrisers’ captain, Aiden Markram, was delighted with his team’s win:

More cricket news: Australian selectors have a huge task at hand picking the squad for the Champions Trophy. Captain Pat Cummins, fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood and allrounder Mitchell Marsh will all miss the tournament through injuries, and another allrounder, Marcus Stoinis, has just announced his retirement from the one-day international game. This means four replacements, with the tournament starting in Pakistan on 19 February. But the selectors say the four’s absence presents a great opportunity to perform for the defending champions on the international stage.

# Golf: Italian Filippo Celli fired an opening round six-under-par 66 to lead the Cape Town Open by a stroke at the Royal Cape Golf Club. South Africa’s Malcolm Mitchell and Spain’s Borja Virto are his nearest challengers. Meanwhile, South Africa’s Daniel van Tonder, the winner of the last two Sunshine Tour tournaments and looking for a hat-trick this week, is just three shots off the lead. Celli says he is happy at how he handled the gusty conditions:

# Rugby: Wales’ coach, Warren Gatland, insists former Test fly-half Dan Biggar is wrong to label tomorrow’s Six Nations match against Italy as their biggest game in 20 years. Wales has lost their last 13 Tests, the worst run in their history. The match against Italy would appear to offer them their best chance of ending the rot. Biggar was speaking in his role as a television pundit after Wales’ 43-0 thrashing by France in Paris last Friday.

Meanwhile, Matthieu Jalibert replaces suspended flyhalf Romain Ntamack in France’s team for tomorrow’s Six Nations clash with England at Twickenham. Ntamack was given a red card in his first match for Les Bleus after a 17-month injury-forced absence. He was sent off after a dangerous tackle on Welsh centre Ben Thomas during last weekend’s match in Paris, and was banned for three weeks or three matches. Jalibert returns for the first time since leaving the national setup in November for personal reasons.

Stay tuned for more news………….