We have your dose of the latest sports news, fixtures and results from all over the globe and here in South Africa.
Latest sports news headlines
AmaZulu’s recent frustrating run of results has forced coach Benni McCarthy to look for new players as the team struggles to get back to winning ways.
Al Ahly head coach Pitso Mosimane has opened up regarding the immense pressure that comes with coaching the North African giants.
Kaizer Chiefs youngster Lebohang Lesako has been dealt a cruel blow following confirmation he has been sidelined for the next month with a knee injury.
Orlando Pirates have confirmed that yet another star player will be sidelined with a quad injury to add to their ongoing injury woes. There are no less than five key injuries in the Buccaneers camp with Gabadinho Mhango returning to the injuries list following this week’s goalless draw against Golden Arrows.
Kenya has been fined 2.2 million shillings ($20,000) and two senior football officials suspended for breaching Covid rules in an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Comoros, a statement said Saturday.
Megan Rapinoe scored twice on her return to international duty as the United States cruised to a 6-0 friendly victory over Colombia on Friday.
Rugby
The Sharks have announced a new global partnership with internationally acclaimed agency, Roc Nation.
ALSO READ: HOW JAKE WHITE HAS TURNED LOFTUS VERSFELD INTO A FORTRESS
Cricket
Several familiar voices will be heard in the commentary box during the upcoming Pakistan v South Africa Test and T20I series. Pakistan commentators Bazid Khan, Ramiz Raja and Wasim Akram will be joined by former Proteas batsman Daryll Cullinan, renowned cricket commentator Mike Haysman and former New Zealand fast bowler Simon Doull.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella helped Sri Lanka fight back after early wickets including overnight partner Angelo Mathews on day two of the second Test on Saturday. Sri Lanka reached 313 for six at lunch after starting the day on 229-4 in Galle. Dickwella, on 78, and Dilruwan Perera, on 21, were at the crease.
India and England’s first two Tests in Chennai next month will be played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the local state cricket board.
Motorsport
The FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports have revealed an updated calendar for the 2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship.
Former world champion Jenson Button has joined Williams in the role of senior advisor as the flagging Formula One team look to revive their fortunes on the track.
Olympics
Former South African 800m record holder Marius van Heerden has died after contracting Covid-19.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has affirmed his nation’s commitment to hosting the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.
Advocate Tebogo Motlanthe has been appointed South African Football Association (SAFA) CEO on a five-year contract.
Tennis
Former world No 1 Andy Murray has decided against competing in the Australian Open after failing to find a “workable quarantine” following his recovery from the coronavirus.
Sailing
Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Team UK overcame a pre-race gear failure to beat Luna Rossa on the final cross in a thriller on Auckland harbour on Saturday to qualify unbeaten for the final of the America’s Cup challenger series.
Basketball
Collin Sexton carried the Cleveland Cavaliers to their second straight win over Brooklyn on Friday, scoring 25 points and dishing out nine assists in a 125-113 win just two nights after posting a career high of 42 points against the same Nets. Elsewhere, Joel Embiid scored 38 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Celtics 122-110.
Latest sports fixtures
Currie Cup
Winning at all cost will be the only objective when the four Currie Cup semi-finalists take the field on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld and Newlands to stake a claim for a place in the final. The Bulls will host their southern neighbours, the Lions, in Pretoria in the first Currie Cup semi-final at 14:00, before the action switches to Cape Town for the match-up between Western Province and the Sharks at 16:30.
Bulls vs Lions – 14:00
Sharks vs Western Province – 16:30
French Top 14 (19:15 unless stated): Racing 92 v Bordeaux Begles (16:15), Clermont v Castres, Agen v Toulouse, Montpellier v Lyon.
Pro 14: Zebre v Edinburgh (15:00), Munster v Leinster (21:35)
Football
Premier Soccer League DStv Premiership: Mamelodi Sundowns vs Moroka Swallows (15:00), Black Leopards vs Chippa United (15:30), Stellenbosch FC vs Kaizer Chiefs (17:00), Baroka FC vs Amazulu (17:00), Maritzburg United vs Orlando Pirates (17:00).
English FA Cup fourth round (17:00 unless stated): Southampton v Arsenal (14:15), Barnsley v Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion v Blackpool, Millwall v Bristol City, Sheffield United v Plymouth Argyle, Swansea City v Nottingham Forest, West Ham United v Doncaster Rovers, Cheltenham Town v Manchester City (19:30)
English Premier League: Aston Villa v Newcastle United (22:00)
German Bundesliga (16:30 unless stated): Mainz v Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen v Wolfsburg, Arminia Bielefeld v Eintracht Frankfurt, Augsburg v Union Berlin, Freiburg v Stuttgart, Hertha Berlin v Werder Bremen (19:30).
Italian Serie A (19:00 unless stated): Roma v Spezia (16:00), AC Milan v Atalanta, Udinese v Inter Milan, Fiorentina v Crotone (21:45) .
Spanish La Liga: Huesca v Villarreal (15:00), Sevilla v Cadiz (17:15), Real Sociedad v Real Betis (19:30), Alaves v Real Madrid (22:00).
French Ligue 1: Lens v Nice (18:00), Monaco v Marseille (22:00).
Scottish Premiership (17:00): Aberdeen v Motherwell, Rangers v Ross County.
Scottish Premiership (1500): Aberdeen v Motherwell, Rangers v Ross County.
English Championship: Queens Park Rangers v Derby County (17:00)
African Nations Championship in Cameroon: Zambia v Guinea (18:00), Namibia v Tanzania (21:00)
Cricket
Second Women’s one-day international between South Africa and Pakistan at Durban (10:00).
Golf
The second round or the European Tour’s season-opening Abu Dhabi Championship resumes with Tyrrell Hatton five shots clear with five holes to play.
Third round of the PGA Tour event in California at La Quinta.
Defending champion Gaby Lopez looks to press her claims in the third round of the LPGA Tour’s season-opener at the Tournament of Champions in Florida.
Motorsport
Elfyn Evans of Toyota leads going into the third day of the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally.
Basketball
NBA (7 games): Miami Heat at Brooklyn Nets (02:30 Sunday), Philadelphia 76ers at Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Pelicans at Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers at Chicago Bulls (all 03:00 Sunday), Golden State Warriors at Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets at Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns (all 04:00 Sunday).
Latest sports results
NBA Results and standings
Results and standings on Friday:
Phoenix 126, Denver 130 (OT)
San Antonio 117, Dallas 122
Cleveland 125, Brooklyn 113
Philadelphia 122, Boston 110
Toronto 101, Miami 81
LA Clippers 120, Oklahoma City 106
Sacramento 103, New York 94
Minnesota 98, Atlanta 116
Charlotte 110, Chicago 123
Detroit 102, Houston 103
Indiana 120, Orlando 118 (OT)
Standings (w l pct gb)
Eastern Conference
Philadelphia 11 5 0.688 —
Milwaukee 9 6 0.600 1 1/2
Indiana 9 6 0.600 1 1/2
Boston 8 6 0.571 2
Cleveland 8 7 0.533 2 1/2
Atlanta 8 7 0.533 2 1/2
Brooklyn 9 8 0.529 2 1/2
New York 8 9 0.471 3 1/2
Chicago 7 8 0.467 3 1/2
Orlando 7 9 0.438 4
Miami 6 8 0.429 4
Toronto 6 9 0.400 4 1/2
Charlotte 6 9 0.400 4 1/2
Washington 3 8 0.273 5 1/2
Detroit 3 12 0.200 7 1/2
Western Conference
LA Clippers 12 4 0.750 —
LA Lakers 12 4 0.750 0
Utah 11 4 0.733 0 1/2
Phoenix 8 6 0.571 3
Portland 8 6 0.571 3
Memphis 7 6 0.538 3 1/2
Dallas 8 7 0.533 3 1/2
Denver 8 7 0.533 3 1/2
Golden State 8 7 0.533 3 1/2
San Antonio 8 8 0.500 4
Oklahoma City 6 8 0.429 5
Sacramento 6 10 0.375 6
Houston 5 9 0.357 6
New Orleans 5 9 0.357 6
Minnesota 3 11 0.214 8
Football
African Nations Championship Group C results at Stade Reunification in Douala Friday:
Morocco (holders) 0 Rwanda 0
Togo 2 (Mbowa 48-og, Nane 57) Uganda 1 (Kyeyune 51)
Standings (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points)
Morocco 2 1 1 0 1 0 4
Togo 2 1 0 1 2 2 3
Rwanda 2 0 2 0 0 0 2
Uganda 2 0 1 1 1 2 1
English FA Cup result on Friday:
Fourth round
Chorley 0 Wolves 1 (Vitinha 12)
Golf
Leading scores after Friday’s second round of the US PGA American Express tournament at La Quinta, California (par-72, USA unless noted):
133 – Im Sung-jae (KOR) 68-65
134 – Nick Taylor (CAN) 68-66, Tony Finau 68-66, Abraham Ancer (MEX) 69-65, Kim Si-woo (KOR) 66-68, Brandon Hagy 64-70
135 – Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 69-66, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 69-66, Doug Ghim 67-68
136 – John Huh 68-68, Brendan Steele 68-68, Max Homa 66-70, Andrew Putnam 67-69, Charley Hoffman 70-66, Roger Sloan (CAN) 69-67, Brian Harman 68-68, Adam Schenk 68-68
137 – Rory Sabbatini (SVK) 68-69, Ryan Armour 70-67, James Hahn 68-69, Luke List 69-68, Sam Ryder 67-70, Josh Teater 68-69, Paul Casey (ENG) 72-65, Richy Werenski 69-68
Scores after Friday’s second round of the LPGA Tournament of Champions at Four Season Golf & Sports Club in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (par 71, USA unless noted):
129 – Danielle Kang 64-65
131 – Nelly Korda 65-66
133 – Chun In-gee (KOR) 68-65, Gaby Lopez (MEX) 65-68
134 – Jessica Korda 65-69
135 – Cheyenne Knight 69-66
136 – Lexi Thompson 67-69, Brooke Henderson (CAN) 67-69, Angela Stanford 67-69
137 – Sophia Popov (GER) 68-69, Stacy Lewis 66-71
139 – Austin Ernst 69-70, Celine Boutier (FRA) 69-70
140 – Annie Park 69-71, Mel Reid (ENG) 70-70, Georgia Hall (ENG) 70-70, Park Hee-young (KOR) 71-69, Jasmine Suwannapura (THA) 72-68
141 – Brittany Lincicome 66-75
142 – Ally Ewing 70-72, Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) 70-72, Hur Mi-jung (KOR) 71-71, Madelene Sagstrom (SWE) 73-69
143 – Bronte Law (ENG) 73-70
144 – Cydney Clanton 75-69
Leading clubhouse scores after the second round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday (GBR & IRL unless stated, par 72).
Play was suspended early due to bad light with round to be completed early Saturday.
137 – Jason Scrivener (AUS) 67 70, Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 68 69
138 – Tommy Fleetwood 71 67, David Lipsky (USA) 72 66, Kristoffer Broberg (SWE) 69 69, Marc Warren 72 66
139 – Joost Luiten (NED) 69 70, Callum Shinkwin 70 69, Matthew Southgate 74 65
140 – Sebastian Soederberg (SWE) 69 71, Thomas Pieters (BEL) 69 71
141 – Aaron Rai 69 72, George Coetzee (RSA) 70 71, Benjamin Hebert (FRA) 68 73, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) 69 72, Adria Arnaus (ESP) 74 67, Masahiro Kawamura (JPN) 71 70, Scott Jamieson 71 70
142 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA) 71 71, Justin Rose 70 72, Justin Harding (RSA) 73 69, Kurt Kitayama (USA) 68 74, Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN) 68 74, Alexander Bjoerk (SWE) 70 72, Grant Forrest 72 70, Victor Dubuisson (FRA) 73 69 143 Marcus Armitage 73 70, Danny Willett 71 72, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 72 71, Antoine Rozner (FRA) 71 72, Rasmus Hoejgaard (DEN) 71 72, Richard Sterne (RSA) 71 72, Robert Rock 72 71, Calum Hill 72 71
