Todays Sporting News – 3 September 2025

• SA demolish a tired England Cricket Team: SA beat ENG by 7 wickets.
• Had someone asked you to predict the first seven teams to qualify for the quarter-finals at the Womens Rugby World Cup, at least five of the names would easily have rolled off your tongue. But you would have got long odds on the identity of the seventh nation. The team that currently sits proudly atop Pool D: South Africa.
• Jordie Barrett: ‘People say I need to play like Ma’a Nonu, but I can’t physically play like Ma’a Nonu’.
• Ilona Maher is justifying the hype with her performances at this Women’s Rugby World Cup. After topping the post-contact metres made chart in round one, the social media star made her presence felt where it hurts – at the breakdown, winning 3 turnovers vs Australia at the weekend.
• England-South Africa ODI – England were skittled for 131 at Headingley before Aiden Markram took apart the attack – in particular debutant Sonny Baker – in a crushing win.
• Tennis – Carlos Alcaraz moved effortlessly into the semi-finals of the US Open with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win against Jiri Lehecka.
• Boxing – Imane Khelif has appealed to the court of arbitration for sport over World Boxing’s decision to bar the 26-year-old from its events without a preliminary genetic sex test.
• Rassie Erasmus has downplayed Eden Park’s historical significance as the Springboks prepare to face the All Blacks at the storied venue.
• Keshav Maharaj took 4-22 as South Africa thrashed a woeful England side by seven wickets after dismissing the hosts for just 131 runs in the first ODI at Headingley. Aiden Markram scored 86 from 55 balls in the chase.
• Second seed Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the US Open semi-finals on Tuesday, demolishing Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-4 6-2 6-4 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
• Africa’s Road to the World Cup Resumes: Africa’s qualification tournament for the 2026 Fifa World Cup resumes with Matchday 7 fixtures, running from Wednesday 3 to Saturday 6 September, and is set to bring into sharper focus the continent’s likely representatives at next year’s global …
• Stellenbosch to begin preparations for MTN8 final: Stellenbosch players will return to training on Wednesday after a few days off to begin preparations for the MTN8 final against Orlando Pirates in Nelspruit next week. Coach Steve Barker will have all of his squad available, save for centre back Thabo …
• Alcaraz and Djokovic on US Open collision course: Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic can set up a heavyweight clash at the US Open on Tuesday, while Aryna Sabalenka aims to take another stride towards defending her title. Order of Play. Spanish second seed Alcaraz is the only man yet to concede a set …
• Hugo Broos not mincing his words ahead of Lesotho, Nigeria clashes: Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has issued a passionate call to arms ahead of two pivotal 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Nigeria. South Africa’s senior men’s national team will face Lesotho on 5 September in the Free State.
• WOMEN’S UPDATE, DAY 9: Osaka routs Gauff as Swiatek sinks Alexandrova: Naomi Osaka blew past Coco Gauff to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open on Monday in a lopsided battle of former champions. Order of Play. Japanese four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka dominated American third seed Gauff on her way to wrapping up a …
• Donald vows Europe will be ready for Ryder Cup bear pit: Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald vowed his squad would be ready to handle the pressure and intensity of the golf showdown against the United States later this month. Donald, who guided Europe to victory two years ago in Rome, made his six captain’s …
• Ederson leaves City for Fenerbahce as Donnarumma waits in wings: Long-serving Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson has completed a move to Fenerbahce in Turkey, the Premier League club said Tuesday, ahead of the anticipated arrival of Italian international Gianluigi Donnarumma.
• The enigma of Carlos Alcaraz: “It’s so tough to pull off that balance,” Sam Querrey, the former Wimbledon semifinalist-turned-analyst and podcaster, told this week. “Not many superstars can pull it off. When he walks around the player lounge, you can poke fun of him, and he’s just …
• Will the US Open be Naomi Osaka’s breakthrough tournament?: NEW YORK — Two years ago, Naomi Osaka sat in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium and watched Coco Gauff advance to the US Open final with a win over Karolina Muchova. For Osaka, it was a stark reminder of where she had been — and where she was in the …
• Understanding Liverpool’s record-signing Alexander Isak – ‘He was always looking for an opportunity’: But it is now Newcastle that are in the rearview mirror, and Liverpool, their Carabao Cup final opponents, who pay Isak’s wages. With the Anfield club paying £125m, a deal worth £130m.
• On this day in 2006, American tennis legend Andre Agassi played his last career match. The eight-time major winner and Olympic gold medallist lost in four sets to 112th ranked German Benjamin Becker in the third round of the U.S. Open.
• Rugby Australia has wiped $63 million debt off its balance sheet, largely thanks to the windfall from the British & Irish Lions tour. It’s a milestone that pushes the governing body closer to its goal of being debt-free by year’s end. Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said: “It proved the debt facility we’re carrying has worked, now we can lean into the next broadcast cycle to move to a financially sustainable model.”
• Australian cyclist Jay Vine claimed his second victory of the 2025 Vuelta a España on Stage 10 with a bold late attack on the Larra-Belagua climb.
• Algerian Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against a World Boxing ruling that bars her from competition unless she undergoes genetic sex testing.
• The Brisbane Broncos have dropped centre Gehamat Shibasaki for Thursday night’s clash against the Storm due to an internal disciplinary breach.
• Australia will send an 88-strong athletics squad to the World Championships in Tokyo later this month. It is the largest team the country has ever named.
• The first two semi-finals of the women’s and men’s singles draw at the U.S. Open are set. Meanwhile, Australia’s top-ranked tennis player, Alex de Minaur, will make a bid for his first ever grand slam semi-final when he plays Canada’s Félix Auger Aliassame in the quarter-finals early tomorrow morning (AEST).
• Zimbabwe’s star player Sikandar Raza has become the top-ranked all-rounder in the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings for the first time in his career after a fine show in the two-match series against Sri Lanka in Harare.
• Ticket sales for the EPCR Bilbao 2026 Finals Weekend at the San Mamés Stadium have launched with exceptional momentum, winning the highest interest from rugby fans in recent years. To date, 13,500 ticket packages for the Investec Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup Finals have been sold – around 30% of all available tickets – with demand running significantly ahead of the previous two seasons and a packed San Mamés Stadium expected on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 May 2026.
• The United Rugby Championship confirmed on Wednesday that the South African Rugby Union has become the league’s sixth shareholder, joining the Irish, Italian, Scottish, and Welsh rugby unions, along with CVC Capital Partners, as shareholders in Pro Rugby Championship DAC, the company that operates the league.
• Bishop Montgomery has forfeited the remainder of the 2025 football season and reported more rule violations amid statements by a booster about his past activities paying parents of transfer players, the school announced Tuesday night.
• Mitch Farris pitched five effective innings to win his major league debut and Jo Adell hit a two-run homer that helped the Angels defeat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Tuesday night.
• Cindy Parlow Cone has a soft spot in her heart for World Cups, having played in two and won one. Fewer than a couple of hundred people in history can make that claim. But next June, Cone, president of U.S. Soccer, will do something that has never been done before when she becomes the first female national federation head to preside over soccer’s biggest tournament.
• Man Utd learn final decision on Carabao Cup replay vs Grimsby after rule break.
• Wrexham finances come to light after pay-offs and Ryan Reynolds’ £30m splurge.
• Free agents still available to sign after deadline day.
• National League match abandoned in stoppage time after sickening collision between players.
• Late transfers proves Knighthead ambition but question mark hangs over Birmingham City.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY:

1908 — Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns KOs Australian Bill Lang in 6 rounds in Melbourne in a warmup fight for his famous title bout with Jack Johnson.

1921 — The U.S. defeats Japan in five straight matches to win the Davis Cup.

1932 — Ellsworth Vines wins the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships with a three-set victory over France’s Henri Cochet.

1944 — Frank Parker wins the men’s singles title with a four-set victory over Bill Talbert in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. Pauline Betz captures her third straight women’s title with 6-3, 8-6 victory over Margaret Osborne.

1945 — Frank Parker defends his U.S. Open title, defeating Bill Talbert 14-12, 6-1, 6-2 in the final of the first postwar U.S. Open.

1956 — Jockey John Longden surpasses Sir Gordon Richards’ then-record number of wins by riding Arrogate to victory in the Del Mar Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack to attain his 4,871st victory.

1974 — Future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson retires; leaves NBA with 26,710 points, 9,887 assists & 7,804 rebounds in 1,040 games.

1975 — Martina Navratilova, 18, defeats Margaret Court, who is 33 and competing in her 11th and final U.S. Open, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

1977 — Ken Rosewall, two months shy of his 43rd birthday, is beaten by 24-year-old Jose Higueras, 6-4, 6-4. The in a best-of-three-set third-round match marks Rosewall’s final U.S. Open singles match.

1989 — Chris Evert defeats 15-year-old Monica Seles, 6-0, 6-2, for her 101st and final U.S. Open singles win.

1994 — Miami beats Georgia Southern 56-0, breaking an NCAA record with its 58th consecutive home victory. The Hurricanes surpass Alabama’s record of 57 wins in a row at home set from 1962-82.

2001 — Jockey John Velazquez becomes the first jockey to ride six winners on a single card at Saratoga Racecourse. Velazquez guides Starine to a 5¼-length victory in the Diana Handicap, a 1 1-8 mile turf race, for his sixth win.

2006 — Sparks center Lisa Leslie wins the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player award, joining Sheryl Swoopes as the league’s only three-time winners.

2016 — Serena Williams’ dominating third-round victory at the U.S. Open is notable for a milestone: 307 Grand Slam wins. Williams’ 6-2, 6-1 win over 47th-ranked Johanna Larsson of Sweden improves her major-tournament mark to 307-42, putting her one win up on Martina Navratilova among women and tying Roger Federer among all players in the Open era.

2017 — UCLA’s Josh Rosen fakes the spike and throws a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Lasley with 43 seconds remaining and UCLA overcomes a 34-point deficit to stun Texas A&M 45-44. Rosen is 35 of 59 for 491 yards and throws four fourth-quarter touchdowns. UCLA scores on five straight possessions after trailing 44-10 with 4:08 to play in the third quarter.

2022 — 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion Serena Williams plays her final match at the US Open, losing 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in a third round match in New York.

TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY:

1917 — Philadelphia’s Grover Cleveland Alexander went the distance in both games of the Phillies’ 5-0 and 9-3 sweep of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1947 — Bill McCahan pitched a no-hitter to give the Philadelphia Athletics a 3-0 win over the Washington Senators. One batter reached base for Washington, a two-base throwing error by first baseman Ferris Fain in the second inning.

1947 — The New York Yankees had 18 hits, all singles, in an 11-2 victory over Boston at Fenway Park. Tommy Henrich and Joe DiMaggio each had four hits.

1957 — Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves pitched his 41st career shutout with an 8-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Spahn’s shutout set a major league record for left-handers.

1970 — Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs asked to be kept out of the lineup, ending his National League record of 1,117 consecutive games played. His record was broken in 1983 by Steve Garvey.

1976 — Milwaukee’s Mike Hegan hit for the cycle and drove in six runs to lead the Brewers to an 11-2 rout of Mark Fidrych and the Detroit Tigers.

1986 — Billy Hatcher’s homer in the top of the 18th inning gave the Houston Astros an 8-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The teams used a major league record 53 players in the game.

1990 — Bobby Thigpen set a major league record with his 47th save in a 4-2 Chicago White Sox victory over Kansas City. Thigpen broke the record set by Dave Righetti of the New York Yankees in 1986.

2000 — Kenny Lofton’s 1st-inning run ties a 1939 major league record set by the Yankees Red Rolfe for scoring in 18 consecutive games. The speedy Indians outfielder, besides hitting the game-winning homer in the 13th, also steals five bases tying Cleveland’s single-game record set by Alex Cole.

2001 — Bud Smith became the 16th rookie in modern history to throw a no-hitter and the second to do it to San Diego this season in St. Louis’ 4-0 win. Smith was making his 11th career start.

2007 — Pedro Martinez completed his comeback from major shoulder surgery and quickly went into the record books, becoming the 15th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in his career. The New York Mets right-hander needed only two strikeouts to reach the mark in a 10-4 win over Cincinnati.

2008 — Baseball’s first use of instant replay backed an on-field call of a home run for Alex Rodriguez during the ninth inning of the New York Yankees game against the Tampa Bay Rays. It took 2 minutes, 15 seconds to uphold the homer that gave the Yankees an 8-3 lead.

2011 — Milwaukee’s George Kottaras hit for the cycle to lead the Brewers to an 8-2 win over the Houston Astros.

2013 — Pinch-hitter Travis Snider homered in the ninth inning to lift Pittsburgh to a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers that clinched the Pirates’ first non-losing record in 21 seasons.

2017 — Jose Ramirez tied a major league record with five extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs that deflected off Detroit outfielders, and the Cleveland Indians routed the Tigers 11-1 for their 11th straight victory. Ramirez had three doubles in becoming the 13th player with five extra-base hits in a game.