Max Verstappen is on the brink of winning his third successive drivers’ title. Arsenal take on Man City at the Emirates, The Cricket World cup gets underway in India and more!
IT’S GOODBYE TO SCOTLAND AT RWC
So much energy was used this past week about how, mathematically, the Springboks could be eliminated from the Rugby World Cup on Saturday night without even playing. People just need to cool their jets, it’s not going to happen. Mathematically, a big Scottish win would see the Boks bow out, but this is a rugby match, not a maths equation.
Ireland and South Africa will qualify from the group and go through to the quarter-finals, where France and New Zealand lie in wait. There are again some mismatches in store in the seven RWC games this weekend. An acca of all seven favourites comes to 6/10. As we mentioned before, there has only been one upset based on the world rankings, the entire tournament – Japan beating Samoa.
Is Finn Russell the key to Scotland beating Ireland this weekend? Johnnie Beattie and Sam Larner think so ⬇️
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 5, 2023
🔗 Watch the full episode on RugbyPass TV: https://t.co/Mh5kRALG4O #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/Q5rkVzEGJF
INDIA TO IGNITE CRICKET WORLD CUP
Cricket’s 50-over World Cup opened in a big stadium that echoed because of the small crowd but South African-raised Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra produced a batting performance for the ages. The New Zealand pair both scored centuries as they put on an unbeaten stand of 273 to help the Kiwis hammer champions England by nine wickets.
This weekend the Proteas get their campaign going, against Sri Lanka on Saturday. It’s one of four games played over the weekend, and the big one, realistically speaking, is on Sunday when hosts India play Australia. The MA Chudambaram Stadium in Chennai has a capacity of 50 000, but you will find that while a few more than that will be shoe-horned into the ground, thousands of fans will be outside as well, cheering on the hosts.
Matches at the stadium in the 2011 World Cup produced relatively low scores, the highest being India 268 against West Indies and even England (171) versus South Africa (165) was a low-scoring affair.
Kicking off #CWC23 in style 😎🏆
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 6, 2023
Sachin Tendulkar took the honours of delivering the trophy to the Cricket World Cup opener. pic.twitter.com/l8YMmiWXys
CHARLES DICKENS CAN’T BE OPPOSED
OK, here we go again. With apologies to Johnny Nash, we can see clearly now that the rain has gone and Hollywoodbets Durbanville can stage its postponed Mathem Stakes meeting on Saturday. The feature races were carried over so a week later, it’s the return of the most talked-about colt in years, Charles Dickens. The four-year-old is the highest-rated horse in the country (MR 132) and has won eight of his 10 races, finishing second in his other two.
He’s 1/4 to start his Cape Summer campaign with another win. And he should win. Word from the stable is that he’s a better horse than he was last season; he has grown and matured even more and this season we’ll see the best of him. Which sets up a mouth-watering scenario for the big feature races that lie ahead.
PLENTY AT STAKE IN EPL SHOWDOWN
We didn’t quite see the VAR fiasco coming last week – and the match officials didn’t see it either! – but we did flag the Tottenham versus Liverpool gme as the highlight of last weekend’s English Premier League action. This next round is as simple to hone in on the blockbuster match. It’s at The Emirates where most people’s fancies for the top two in the title race, Arsenal and Manchester City, come together.
They come off the back of European action, and also a weekend where City did the unexpected and lost 2-1 at Wolves. Perhaps the only call we can make with confidence for Sunday’s match is that both teams will score.There’s too much creative and attacking firepower, surely, on both sides to see a clean sheet here. Should this match end in a draw, the Tottenham (vs Luton) or Liverpool (vs Brighton) could be top of the table by Sunday night!
The @Arsenal v @ManCity midfield battle 💪
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 5, 2023
Which team has stronger options? pic.twitter.com/BG55LaxpBg
MAX TO WIN WITH MINIMUM OF FUSS?
The Formula One teams have set up camp in Qatar this week with the main race starting at 7pm on Sunday. Normal service was resumed when Max Verstappen won the Japanese GP at Suzuka in the last round, which made it 13 out of 16 victories for the unstoppable world champion. Very few would bet against the Dutchman in his Red Bull from disappearing into the distance in Doha.
This is only the second F1 race held at the circuit, so it;s difficult to establish a trend, although it would look to suit Verstappen. It’s a night race, not not too much braking required and only one real overtaking opportunity – down the long home straight. Verstappen is 1/4 to win, with Lando Norris and Sergio Perez next at 14/1.
The Thrilling Showdown: Verstappen vs. Perez - Who Will Be the F1 Champion? pic.twitter.com/Hwb5FJTHqU
— 🥷🏻1️⃣ (@brawngpf1team) October 4, 2023
