Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 24 June 12:30 pm

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

# We start with rugby: The Springboks will arrive in South Africa tomorrow after their flight from London to Johannesburg was cancelled. The team was scheduled to fly back to South Africa on last night to begin preparations for the series against Ireland. The flight was cancelled following several delays, which forced the team to remain in London for an extra night. The squad is now set to fly to SA late this afternoon. As a result of this, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus will announce his squad for the Ireland series tomorrow.

Meanwhile the Blitzboks booked their place in the 2024 Olympics in Paris after defeating Great Britain 14-5 in the final of the World Rugby Repechage tournament in Monaco on Sunday.  The South Africans complete the list of 12 nations worldwide competing for the sevens gold medal at the highly anticipated Games. The other participants are France as the host, and New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji, and Australia as the top four positions of the 2023 World Rugby Sevens Series. The others qualified because they were regional qualification tournament winners: Uruguay, Ireland, USA, Kenya, Samoa, and Japan.

# Cricket: South Africa won their Super Eight contest against the West Indies with three wickets.  The Proteas won the toss and decided to bowl first and the Windies got 135 for 8 in their 20 overs.  However, rain interrupted the game a few overs into the South African innings and play was stopped for just over an hour.  In line with the Duckworth Lewis Stern method the Proteas were then set the target of 124 in 17 overs.  The winning runs came off the bat of Marco Jansen with a six on the first ball of the last over for a total of 124 for seven. The Proteas are now through to the semifinals on Thursday.

Meanwhile, England beat the USA with brutal efficiency to also guarantee themselves a place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals. England were set a target of 116 after winning the toss and bowling first, dismissing their opponents for just 115. They did that in rapid time, winning by ten wickets. Captain Jos Buttler dominated with bat in hand, scoring an unbeaten 83 off 38 balls as England needed just nine overs and four balls to reach 117 without loss and secure victory. It was the first time England and the USA had met in any format of the game.

# And motorsport: Red Bull’s three-time world champion Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday from McLaren’s pole-sitter Lando Norris to extend his lead in the world championship. Lewis Hamilton completed the podium at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit for the Mercedes seven-time former champion’s first podium of the season. This was Verstappen’s 61st career win, seventh of the season, and fourth at the track where he first shot onto the F1 scene as a teenager in 2016. The Dutchman heads to Red Bull’s home race in Spielberg in a week’s time.

Stay tuned for more news………….