Top 4 this weekend - Love for the Proteas & VAR fails

The weekend saw some scintillating action – from the Momentum Proteas’ narrow loss in the ICC T20 Women’s Cricket World Cup opener to the outright dominant performance of Ireland in their Six Nations bout against France. Here are some of the standout moments from the weekend.

1. Fans rock up for the Momentum Proteas

About 20,000 fans packed the stands at Newlands on Friday night to celebrate the start of the ICC T20 Women’s Cricket World Cup. Cape Town stood right behind the Momentum Proteas in the opening encounter against Sri Lanka. The vibe was on and expectations of a SA win were high.

Thank you Cape Town for setting a new record attendance for a women’s cricket match in South Africa 🙏#T20WorldCup #SAvSL #MyHero #AlwaysRising pic.twitter.com/KXowu2hOhQ
— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) February 11, 2023

The back end of the match had all the drama you would want in a cricket match. It turned into a thrilling chase. Unfortunately for the Momentum Proteas, and the near-capacity Newlands crowd, the match didn’t swing our way. Ultimately, we had to settle for a loss by an agonizing three runs.

🚨 RESULT | SRI LANKA WIN BY 3 RUNS
The opening match of the #T20WorldCup went down to the wire as we come agonisingly short of the target#SAvSL #MyHero #AlwaysRising pic.twitter.com/sBPUUD7zrS
— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) February 10, 2023

2. Ireland makes a massive statement against the French – Scotland wins a second consecutive match

Ireland always makes it on the favourites list to win a Rugby World Cup. However, they’ve made a habit of peaking too soon. This time, one could say that they are peaking at just the right time.

They’ve carried their incredible form over from 2022 to 2023. Last year was a big year for Andy Farrell’s men. Not only did they get their first win over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil, but they became the first Northern Hemisphere nation to win a series in Aotearoa.

Ireland is leading the pack after the first two rounds of the Six Nations. In the first round, they took Wales down with some ease. In this past weekend’s second round, they saw off the defending Six Nations champions and hosts of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, France in a 32-19 win.

Watch the Irish dominate France:

3. Sunrisers Eastern Cape are the inaugural SA20 champions – Marco Jansen ends the comp. in style.

The inaugural SA20 league reached its conclusion this past weekend, and it was the Sunrisers Eastern Cape who were crowned champions.

It’s a comeback story of note, as they were discounted from the start. That is despite having the promising young talent of Tristan Stubbs, the passionate Roelof van der Merwe, and the experienced captain, Aiden Markram in their ranks.

They manage to turn their slow start around, and peak at the perfect time, as they put in dominant performances in the semifinal and final.

Van der Merwe was the pick of the bowlers in the final, taking 4 for 31 in his spell. Among the batters, Adam Rossington did the most damage, notching up 57 from 30 deliveries.

Their pursuit toward 136 was a cakewalk, with Marco Jansen thumping the ball for a six to end the tournament in style.

Watch highlights from the final here:

4. The Premier League title race getting tight & VAR Drama

For the second consecutive match, Arsenal dropped points. This saw the comfortable lead they had over Manchester City cut down to just three points. However, the Gunners still have a game in hand.

Arsenal has been leading the league for some time now, but the turn into the second half of the season is where it can all unravel.

What can also assist in the unravelling is poor officiating. And when obvious mistakes are admittedly made in the VAR war room, heads should be rolling. And it seems like some firings might be on the cards.

This past weekend saw a clear offside call missed in Brentfords equaliser against Arsenal. It’s a shocking fact, as the officials in the VAR control room are employed to specifically avoid situations like this.

Watch Mikel Arteta’s reaction after the match:

The PGMOL have apologised, but apologies won’t hand Arsenal two more log points – will it?