SA topped Pool C with convincing victories over Wales and Uruguay on the opening day of the US Sevens series in Las Vegas yesterday. They faced France in their final first-round match early this morning. Playmaker Cecil Afrika scored a hat trick as the Blitzbokke ran out 29-12 winners against Wales. Earlier, Uruguay had put up little resistance as SA coasted to a 35-0 victory.

England in for more spin

PAKISTAN will once more depend on spin to maintain their dominance over England when the teams meet in a four-match one-day series starting tomorrow. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal finished with 24 wickets, left-armer Abdul Rehman 19 and allrounder Mohammad Hafeez five as Pakistan white-washed England 3-0 in the test series. Pakistan's spin repertoire will further be boosted for the ODI's by allrounders Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik.

Ferrari's Fernando fastest

FERRARI finished Formula 1's first preseason test on a high note as Fernando Alonso was fastest in Friday's session. The Italians rebounded from a subdued start with the second-fastest time this week among 2012 designs. Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso was second on Friday ahead of defending world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton was fourth for McLaren in front of Lotus' Romain Grosjean, whose quickest lap on Thursday has so far set the pace for the 2012 cars. The fastest time of the week was set by Nico Rosberg in the 2011 Mercedes, whose new car will run at the next test in Barcelona for four days from February 21.

South Sudan join Caf

SOUTH Sudan was admitted as a member of the Confederation of African Football on Friday, becoming the world's newest footballing nation. South Sudan, which gained independence in April 2011, is Caf's 54th member.

African football scores

AFRICAN football has for the first time declared its finances to be in a healthy state as it announced a record surplus of $5.8-million, equity of $55.9-million and a $47.9-million cash balance at its congress on Friday.

Lee takes Dubai lead

WORLD No3 Lee Westwood fired a five-under par 67 to charge into the lead after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic. The Englishman, 40, moved to 15-under, one shot ahead of Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, Germany's Marcel Siem and Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Northern Ireland's world No2 Rory McIlroy, who shared the lead on Friday with Thomas Bjorn, only managed a par-72 and remains 13-under. Bjorn dropped three shots in the last four holes and fell back to 12-under.