Latest sports news and fixtures: Saturday 11 January 2020

The latest sports news and fixtures for South African sports lovers.

The Absa Premiership dominates the second Saturday of the year as the ATP Cup reaches a conclusion.

Latest sports news and fixtures

Absa Premiership

Baroka FC vs Polokwane City 15:30

The Polokwane derby at Peter Mokaba Stadium between Baroka and Polokwane City on Saturday could go some way towards deciding who keeps their top-flight status come May.

Highlands Park vs Stellenbosch FC 15:30

Highlands Park and Stellenbosch look to bounce back from midweek disappointments when they square off in Tembisa on Saturday.

The Lions of the North were unable to spoil Kaizer Chiefs’ 50th birthday party at FNB Stadium, losing 3-0 to Ernst Middendorp’s men.

Stellies, meanwhile, suffered a second consecutive defeat when they went down 2-1 to Bloemfontein Celtic at Cape Town Stadium. Goals from Mzwanele Mahashe and Ndumiso Mabena gave Phunya Sele Sele the win after Ryan Moon opened the scoring.

Chippa United vs Maritzburg United 20:15

The success of Chippa United and Maritzburg United has perhaps come as a surprise to many this season. The two teams will square off in Mdantsane in this Saturday evening’s only Premiership fixture.

The Chilli Boys suffered a setback when they went down 2-0 to Polokwane City, but bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Black Leopards in midweek thanks to a Silas Maziya winner.

“We are happy we managed to get three points away from home. We had two difficult matches. It wasn’t easy against Polokwane City and it wasn’t easy here,” Mapeza said following Wednesday’s win.

“Tomorrow, we go to East London straight to play against Maritzburg straight — another difficult match.”

Latest sports news

The South African selectors have added fast bowler Dane Paterson to an unchanged team for the third Test against England, starting in Port Elizabeth next Thursday.

Cricket South Africa announced an unchanged larger squad – but only Paterson of those who did not play in the XI beaten by 189 runs in the second Test in Cape Town will travel to Port Elizabeth.

The non-playing members of the squad – Temba Bavuma, Beuran Hendricks, Keegan Petersen, Andile Phehlukwayo and Rudi Second – will play for their franchises in a round of four-day matches starting on Monday.

Latest sports news: Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates victory in his match against Kevin Anderson of South Africa during day two of the 2020 ATP Cup Group Stage at Pat Rafter Arena on January 04, 2020 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Behind yet another boisterous pro-Serbia crowd on Saturday afternoon in Sydney, Novak Djokovic clinched the team’s fifth consecutive victory at the ATP Cup and booked its place in the inaugural title match.

The top Serbian dismissed World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, ending a two-match losing streak against the 23-year-old Russian, who had beaten Djokovic two of three times in 2019 (Monte-Carlo, Cincinnati).

Serena Williams delivered a masterclass in her semi-final at the WTA Auckland Classic on Saturday, needing only 43 minutes to down rising star Amanda Anisimova and set up a showdown against Jessica Pegula.

The unsung and unseeded Pegula stunned Caroline Wozniacki in a three-set semi-final 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Top-seed Williams, at her imperious best, rapidly eliminated third-seed Anisimova 6-1, 6-1.