Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 9 July 12:30 pm

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

# We start with cricket: Captain Temba Bavuma, who led the Proteas to their maiden World Test Championship title, has been nominated for three Cricket South Africa awards. He has been nominated for Men’s Player of the Year alongside Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Ryan Rickelton, and Keshav Maharaj. Bavuma is also up for Test Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year. In the running for the Women’s Player of the Year award are Annerie Dercksen, Marizanne Kapp, Nonkululeko Mlaba, and Laura Wolvaardt. The awards are scheduled for July 31st at Emperors Palace in Gauteng.

# Rugby: Willie le Roux will become the eighth Springbok centurion when they play Italy in the second Test in Gqeberha on Saturday. The team will be captained by Salmaan Moerat while Siya Kolisi continues his recovery from injury. Three players – Jasper Wiese’s brother, Cobus, Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Ethan Hooker – could make their debuts from the bench, and Manie Libbok and Grant Williams are the new half-back pairing. Coach Rassie Erasmus says Le Roux is a fantastic playmaker and he’s thrilled to see him achieve this incredible feat.

Meanwhile, the Junior Springboks will play Scotland in the third round of the World Rugby Under 20 championships in Italy this afternoon. The Baby Boks humiliated the young Wallabies 73-17 in the first round, and followed that up with a 32-20 victory over the English. In today’s other matches, Wales will play Spain, England will face Australia, the young All Blacks will come up against Ireland, France take on Argentina and the hosts, Italy, will do battle with Georgia. The play-offs start on Monday.

# Soccer: Chelsea is through to the Club World Cup final after beating Fluminense 2-0 in New Jersey. Twenty-three-year-old Brazilian Joao Pedro, who joined The Blues from Brighton last week, found the back of the net in the 18th minute with a superb strike and again early in the second half to seal the victory. Chelsea will face either Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday’s final. Coach Enzo Maresca says making the final is special:

# And finally, tennis: Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz continued his quest for a third consecutive Wimbledon title with a straight sets victory over Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard will face Taylor Fritz in the semifinals after the American defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov in four sets. In the women’s draw, world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus battled past Germany’s Laura Siegemund in three sets in the quarterfinals. American Amanda Anisimova beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal in six-years.

Stay tuned for more news………….