Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 5 November 12:30 pm

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

We start with cricket news: 

# South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt has been named captain of the Women’s one-day World Cup Team of the Tournament. The 12-member team consists of six players who featured in the final between India and the Proteas. India, which won the tournament for the first time, has three players in the team: Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma. South Africa also has three players, Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk. Three Australian players, two English and Pakistan’s Sidra Nawaz complete the squad.

Meanwhile, Pakistan defeated South Africa’s men by two wickets in the first ODI in Faisalabad. Quinton de Kock top-scored with 63 off 71 balls, while debutant Lhuan-dré Pretorius scored 57 as the Proteas were bowled out for 263 in their final over. Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed claimed three wickets each. In reply, Salman Agha scored 62 runs as the hosts reached the target with two balls to spare. The second ODI will be played at the same venue tomorrow.

And now rugby:

# The Springboks don’t believe France will be out for revenge when they meet in Paris on Saturday. This will be their first meeting after South Africa edged out the hosts in the quarterfinal of 2023’s World Cup. That led to huge criticism of referee Ben O’Keefe and death threats to some Boks. Assistant coach Felix Jones says they will just focus on their own game. He admits they regard the French as a huge threat and realise they will have to get their team selection correct.

Meanwhile, Irish lock Tadhg Beirne’s controversial red card in the Test against New Zealand in Chicago last weekend has been rescinded. The 33-year-old was shown a yellow card when he and Beauden Barrett collided. However, it was upgraded to red by foul play review official Dan Jones. An independent disciplinary committee accepted Beirne’s submissions that, whilst an act of foul play had occurred, it did not meet the red card threshold. He will be available to play against Japan in Dublin on Saturday.

# And finally: LIV Golf is moving away from its 54-hole format and expanding to 72-hole events starting next year. Moving to four days of competition with events beginning on Thursday puts the Saudi Arabia-backed league more in line with the setup of PGA Tour events. Seventy-two holes could make LIV’s re-application for its events to be allowed to award world ranking points more viable. LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil says this expansion strengthens the league and challenges its elite field of players.

Stay tuned for more news………….