Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 9 December 12:30 pm

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

# We start with cricket: Proteas captain Aiden Markram believes that the T20 series against India is the perfect opportunity for players to prove themselves, especially with the T20 World Cup next year. David Miller has been included in the 16-man squad, while fast bowler Anrich Nortjé also returns after more than a year. The five-match series gets underway in Cuttack this afternoon. With the Indian Premier League auction set for December 16 in Abu Dhabi, Markram admits that players may look to impress:

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya could be considered for today’s T20 against South Africa. Gill was injured in the first Test and missed the second, as well as the three one-day matches. Pandya last played for India in the Asia Cup in September, when he suffered an injury. The Proteas won the Test series 2-nil, while the hosts won the ODI’s 2-1. The second T20 will be played in New Chandigarh on Thursday, followed by matches in Dharamsala, Lucknow and Ahmedabad.

# Hockey: The South African men’s team held India to a 2-all draw at Hartleyvale in Cape Town to keep the Test series alive, after losing the first Test 5-2. Harmanpreet Singh scored the opener for the visitors, while Dayaan Cassiem equalised for the hosts in the third quarter. Hans Neethling made it 2-1 for South Africa, but India managed to go level through Singh’s penalty corner in the final quarter. With this draw, South Africa ends a run of defeats to the Asian champions that stretched back 13 years.

# Soccer: Liverpool’s manager, Arne Slot, has denied that the situation with forward Mohamed Salah has undermined his authority. In a bombshell interview on Saturday, the Egyptian claimed he was thrown under the bus by the club, and his relationship with Slot had broken down. The manager has benched Salah for Liverpool’s past three games, and he has not been included in the squad for today’s Champions League game against Inter Milan. Slot says he was surprised by Salah’s comments:

# And rugby: A gold medal from the 1995 World Cup is going on auction today. It belongs to former Springbok loose forward Adriaan Richter, who received it after South Africa’s 15-12 victory over the All Blacks in the final at Ellis Park. He didn’t play in the match, but was part of the champions’ team, including captaining South Africa in their group victory over Romania, and scoring two tries against Canada. The Old Johannesburg Warehouse Auctioneers have listed the medal with a starting bid of 30-thousand-rand.

Stay tuned for more news………….