Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 24th October 12:30 pm

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

# We start with rugby: Bulls and Springbok hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels has received a nine-match ban which stems from an incident during a United Rugby Championship clash against Connacht last weekend. Connacht flanker Josh Murphy hit Wessels twice in a ruck, and later accused the Bulls player of grabbing him in the crotch area. A disciplinary committee found the 24-year-old guilty of foul play. The Bulls have the right to appeal. Wessels will miss the Boks’ European tour next month, where they will face Japan, France, Italy, Ireland and Wales.

Meanwhile, the first part of the United Rugby Championship season will conclude this weekend. From a South African perspective, the Bulls play Glasgow Warriors in Scotland tonight, while the Lions host Ulster in Johannesburg tomorrow. The Sharks welcome Scarlets to Durban and log leaders, the Stormers, face Benetton in Italy. The Bulls are currently sixth on the log, the Lions 11th and the Sharks 14th. The competition takes a break after this weekend for next month’s international window, and will resume in the last weekend of November.

# Cricket: Experienced batter David Miller will miss the T20 series against Pakistan, while fast bowler Gerald Coetzee won’t play in the T20s or the one-day series. Miller, who was named captain for the T20s while Aiden Markram is rested, sustained a leg injury and Donovan Ferreira will lead the team. Coetzee was ruled out due to a pectoral muscle injury. Tony de Zorzi will make his T20 debut after impressing in the Test series, while Matthew Breetzke will captain the ODI team.

More cricket news: India defeated New Zealand by 53 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in Navi Mumbai, to secure the final semifinal spot in the Women’s World Cup. Pratika Rawal top-scored with 122 runs, her maiden World Cup century, while Smriti Mandhana scored 109 runs as the co-hostesses posted 340 for three in a rain-affected match. In reply, New Zealand finished on 271 for eight, chasing a revised target of 325 in 44 overs to bow out of the semifinal race with one match remaining.

# And finally, roadrunning: Kenya’s women’s marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years after admitting to anti-doping rule violations. The 31-year-old was provisionally suspended in July by the Athletics Integrity Unit after a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent, was detected in a urine sample collected in March. The AIU says it is now investigating suspicious material recovered from her phone to determine if any other violations have occurred.

Stay tuned for more news………….