Sports News

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 21 August 12:30 pm

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

# We start with rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says his players will have to be charged up physically and mentally for the two Rugby Championship Tests against New Zealand. He named 37 players for the two sold-out Tests – at Ellis Park on the 31st of this month, and a week later in Cape Town. Steven Kitshoff, Jaden Hendrikse, and Canan Moodie are included in the squad. Erasmus says they realise the importance of giving everything in these matches to keep alive their hopes of winning the title for the first time since 2019.

# Cricket: The International Cricket Council has rated two pitches for the T20 World Cup unsatisfactory. They were the pitch for the first two matches in New York, and the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba. The Proteas were involved in the first match in New York, where they bowled Sri Lanka out for just 77, and again in the semifinal in Tarouba, where they restricted Afghanistan to 56. The pitch for the final in Bridgetown was rated very good. India beat South Africa by seven runs.

# Golf: South African Ryan van Velzen, seen as a rising star, will make his debut in the Nedbank Challenge at Sun City in North West in December. He is described as the face of a new generation of young South Africans trying to make their mark in the famous tournament. The 22-year old qualified when he won the overall Order of Merit on the Sunshine Tour last season. Van Velzen joins compatriots Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen in the tournament with overall prize money of 107-million-rand.

# Tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner has been cleared after testing positive twice for the banned substance clostebol. The Italian tested positive during Indian Wells in March, where he reached the semifinals, and a further test eight days later was also positive. Sinner was provisionally suspended, but successfully appealed and was allowed to keep playing. He will still lose his rankings points from Indian Wells and his prize money. The International Tennis Integrity Agency determined that clostebol entered Sinner’s system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist.

# And, soccer: Manchester City duo Phil Foden and Khadija Shaw have been voted England’s Professional Football Association’s men’s and women’s Player of the Year respectively. Foden scored 19 goals in 35 top-flight appearances as City won a historic fourth successive Premier League. At 23 he became the youngest player to have won six league titles. Shaw was the Women’s Super League top scorer last season with 21 goals in 18 games. Chelsea’s Cole Palmer was named Young Player of the Year, and Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton won the women’s prize.

Stay tuned for more news………….