Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 14 May 12:30 pm

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

# We start off with mixed martial arts: South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis will defend his undisputed world middleweight title against Russia’s Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 at the United Centre in Chicago on the 17th of August. Du Plessis defending his title against the American Sean Strickland in February. Du Plessis has won 20 of his 23 fights by knockout, while Chimaev holds an undefeated record of 16-0.

# Cricket: Kagiso Rabada spearheads the Proteas’ pace attack of six bowlers for the final of the World Test Championship against Australia, starting at Lord’s in London on the 11th of next month. The other quicks are Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder and Corbin Bosch, who are joined by spinners Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy. Coach Shukri Conrad says they’ve worked hard over the past 18 months to build a competitive red-ball unit, and reaching the final reflects that progress.

More cricket news: England selected five Indian Premier League players in their one-day squad to face the West Indies, including former captain Jos Buttler, but did not rule out allowing them to skip the series. A fixture clash looms after the IPL was suspended last week as a result of deadly military exchanges between India and Pakistan. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to stage the 17 outstanding matches following a ceasefire agreement, with the tournament due to end on 3 June.

# The International Rugby Players’ Association says they weren’t consulted before World Rugby revamped the World Sevens Series. The governing body announced the news just before the season-ending tournament in Los Angeles in the US, which South Africa won. It entails the series only consisting of eight elite teams playing in six tournaments before four teams from a newly-formed Division Two can join them in three World Championship Series events. Players feel this will only benefit the richer nations and fail to grow developing nations.

# And finally, golf: Masters champion Rory McIlroy will play alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Xander Schauffele for the first two rounds of the US PGA Championship, starting in Florida tomorrow. McIlroy is aiming to become the first player to win the first two majors of the year since Jordan Spieth won the Masters and US Open in 2015. Spieth has been drawn alongside Patrick Reed and Ryder Cup star Ludvig Åberg. South Africa’s top-ranked player, Thriston Lawrence, has been grouped with American Nick Dunlap and England’s Harry Hall.

Stay tuned for more news………….