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Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle bludgeoned Kenya’s bowling attack on Monday, hoping it will be a sample for long-waiting West Indies fans of what to expect at the World Cup. The World Cup programme kicked off with four warm-up matches, bringing cricket’s marquee limited-overs tournament to the Caribbean for the first time.
The Asian Tour is set to massively expand with corporate interest higher than ever as golf becomes ”cool” thanks to Tiger Woods, executive chairperson Kyi Hla Han says. Kyi, who has been running the tour since chief executive Louis Martin left to work with Ernie Els five months ago, predicted it was on the verge of exploding.
Darren Clarke has tipped giant South African Anton Haig as a future Major winner while fellow Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood and David Howell see him as a top 10 player. All three have been watching Haig’s progress and were not surprised when the 20-year-old finally broke through with victory at the Johnnie Walker Classic last week.
Lille will be hoping it is a case of third time lucky in Manchester on Wednesday when they attempt to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit in their acrimonious Champions League tie with Manchester United. The French club have failed in two attempts to persuade Uefa to annul the first match on the grounds that the quickly taken free-kick by Ryan Giggs should not have been allowed to stand.
The 50th British soldier to die in Afghanistan was a South African who grew up in the Western Cape. Ross Clark (25) was also a former head boy of Somerset West Private School. Lance Bombardier Clark was with the 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.
Two strong earthquakes hit Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and sending emergency operations into full swing to deal with dozens of injured. The tremors were felt as far away as Malaysia and Singapore, where several buildings were evacuated.
The JSE was looking a bit greener in noon trade on Tuesday after a pick-up in both Asian markets and metals prices helped it recover from Monday’s scorching. Dealers, however, were sceptical about the sustainability of the move, describing it as "a dead-cat bounce".
South African stocks gained as much as 1,9% on Tuesday after Japan’s Nikkei rebounded from five days of heavy selling and the gold price bounced off a six-week low. The Johannesburg top-40 index of blue-chip stocks gained 1,65% to 22 787,30 points by 7.27am GMT.
Swiss-based miner Xstrata beat forecasts with a 119% rise in 2006 adjusted net profit, boosted by strong copper and nickel prices, and said on Tuesday the industry outlook remained positive. The London-listed firm, 36% owned by commodities giant Glencore, said it made a net profit of ,89-billion.
Nasa astronaut Lisa Nowak’s bizarre 1 450km road trip to confront a romantic rival may have been sparked when she uncovered steamy e-mails sent to her boyfriend by the other woman. Nowak had collected more than a dozen e-mails sent to her one-time boyfriend, space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein, including one he received during his shuttle mission.