Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 5 August 12:30 pm

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

# We begin with cricket: Dolphins batter Marques Ackerman will again be captain of South Africa A when they face the visiting New Zealand A team. The two countries will play three one-day matches at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, Gauteng, from the 30th of this month, followed by two four-day games, in Potchefstroom and Benoni, respectively. Ackerman led South Africa on a recent tour of the West Indies where they won both the one-day and four-day series. Proteas’ fast bowlers Gerald Coetzee and Kwena Maphaka were included in both squads.

# Rugby: One of the Junior Springboks’ stars in the recent Under-20 world championship, loose forward Batho Hlekani, will play for the Lions from next season. He will move to Johannesburg from Durban at the end of the year, when his contract with the Sharks expires. The 20-year-old joined the senior Springboks’ training camp in Johannesburg before the start of the Rugby Championship, together with Junior Bok teammates Cheswill Jooste and Haashim Pead.

More rugby news: British and Irish Lions hooker Dan Sheehan has been handed a four-match suspension for a dangerous clear-out on Australian fly-half Tom Lynagh during Saturday’s third Test in Sydney. The Irishman charged into a ruck, making contact with Lynagh’s head. World Rugby’s independent review committee deemed Sheehan’s actions to be reckless. The sanction will be reduced to three games if he completes a coaching intervention course. Sheehan will be unavailable for Leinster’s pre-season match against Cardiff and the United Rugby Championship fixtures against the Stormers and the Sharks.

# Tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner will return to action in the Cincinnati Open for the first time since winning Wimbledon last month. He will be the top-seed  in the tournament which starts later this week. The Italian withdrew from the Canadian Open after beating world number two, Carlos Alcaraz, in London. The Spaniard will join him in the US, as well as local player Taylor Fritz and Germany’s Alexander Zverev. The tournament in Cincinnati has undergone a major transformation, expanding to a two-week event comprising of 96 players.

Meanwhile, three-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia has withdrawn from the tournament, citing a non-medical reason. The 24-time Grand Slam singles champion has not played since his semifinal loss to Sinner at Wimbledon last month. Djokovic is next scheduled to play at the US Open, which he has won three times, the latest of which was in 2023 when he defeated Daniil Medvedev. So far this year, the 38-year-old has suffered semifinal defeats in all three majors.

Stay tuned for more news………….