Latest - The Black Caps start their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on 26 October and play India three days later at the Dubai International Stadium, as the International Cricket Council unveiled the schedule for the tournament moved to the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Kane Williamson Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Apart from former champions India and Pakistan, New Zealand also have to contend with Afghanistan and two qualifiers from Round 1 in Group 2 of the Super 12 stage.
Abu Dhabi will be the venue of the first semi-final on 10 November while the other semi-final (11 November) and the final (14 November) will be played in Dubai.
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson is confident New Zealand has a team suited to the competition environment.
"I think we've got a pretty well-balanced side with a good mix of exciting new talent and some experience," Williamson said.
"We saw in last year's IPL in the UAE that surfaces can change over the course of a tournament and seam bowling as well as spin can work in the conditions."
Watene-Zelezniak back for game 150
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will make his 150th NRL appearance on Sunday against Brisbane.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Watene-Zelezniak is one of three frontline players back in the Warriors side for the round 23 game.
He comes straight back into the side, after a one-game suspension, on the right wing, replacing rookie Edward Kosi.
The only other changes head coach Nathan Brown has made to the game day 17 from last week see Bayley Sironen back at loose forward with Jazz Tevaga moved to the interchange and Jamayne Taunoa-Brown coming into the starting line-up for debutant prop Jackson
Frei.
Again included on the extended bench is veteran halfback Chad Townsend who was rated a 50-50 chance to return last week before being omitted 24 fours before kick-off.
The Warriors go into the encounter with the chance to secure their fourth straight victory, edging them closer to equalling the five-game winning sequence at the start of the 2018 campaign.
India win second Test
England produced one of their worst home performances in recent memory to lose the second Test against India by 151 runs at Lord's.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
From a position where they started the final day as marginal favourites, England's bowling was flayed by the India tail before their batting capitulated to 120 all out.
Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah - two genuine tailenders - shared a ninth-wicket stand of 89 in front of some raucous Indian support.
Shami had reached 56 not out and Bumrah an unbeaten 34 when India declared on 298-8, setting England an unlikely 272 to win or 60 overs to survive.
They instantly found themselves 2-1 after openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley fell for ducks, and hope faded when Jonny Bairstow then, crucially, captain Joe Root were dismissed in the space of four balls either side of tea.
Jos Buttler, who faced 96 balls for 25, chewed up 16 overs with Moeen Ali and 12 with Ollie Robinson despite Sam Curran registering a king pair.
However, Robinson and Buttler fell in the space of four deliveries, before Mohammed Siraj bowled last man James Anderson to end with 4-32 and put a rampant India 1-0 with three Tests to play.
-BBC
Ko continues to rise
Lydia Ko has risen three spots to now be number six in the world rankings.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Ko's recent run of form included a tie for second at the Scottish Open yesterday.
The 24 year old hasn't been this high in the rankings since 2017 and dipped to as low as 55 in the world before her revival in the last couple of years.
She has had eight top ten finishes this year with one victory.
American Nelly Korda remains number one.
Ko lines up in the last major of the year, the British Open at Carnoustie, this week.
Estonian takes lead on Vuelta
Estonia's Rein Taaramae clinched a surprise victory in stage three of the Vuelta a Espana and took possession of the red jersey as the race entered the mountains for the first time with a 202km ride from Santo Domingo de Silos to Espinosa de los Monteros.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 34-year-old veteran broke away from the eight-man leading pack and hit the front with 2km to go in a gruelling summit finish, winning the second Vuelta stage of his career -- a decade on from his first -- in five hours 16 minutes 57 seconds.
American Joe Dombrowski finished 21 seconds behind in second with France's Kenny Elissonde third at 36 seconds.
Defending champion Primoz Roglic, who won the individual time trial on Saturday, finished a minute and 48 seconds back.
Taaramae's win gave him a 25-second advantage over Elissonde in the general classification, with overnight leader Roglic 30 seconds down in third.
-Reuters
Lloyd announces retirement
Two-times Women's World Cup winner Carli Lloyd, one of the greatest women's football players to ever grace the game, has announced her retirement.
Photo: Photosport
The 39-year-old Lloyd, who was twice named the FIFA Women's Player of the Year, became the second-most capped player in world soccer history (312) during a career that also includes two Olympic gold medals.
U.S. Soccer will soon announce four friendly matches for the women's national team - two in September and two in October - which will serve as Lloyd's final games in a U.S. shirt.
Lloyd will also play the remainder of the National Women's Soccer League 2021 season with NJ/NY Gotham FC before calling time on her professional club career, which has spanned 12 years and six teams.
Known for her consistent production throughout her career, Lloyd, who served as U.S. women's national team captain in the latter part of her career, scored 128 international goals and is tied for fifth on the all-time list.
-Reuters
Record for baseball card
A baseball card from 1909 has sold for $9.4 million, shattering the record for the highest-selling sports card of all time.
The previous record of $7.1 million belonged to a 1952 Mickey Mantle card and the 2003-04 autographed rookie jersey card of LeBron James.
Honus Wagner played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Wagner was an early pioneer of endorsements, lending his name to Louisville Slugger as the first professional athlete to receive endorsement money. He also hawked gum, soda, gunpowder, razors and lent his image to cigar bands.
-Reuters
Barca can climb out of the red
FC Barcelona can reverse their poor financial situation within a year and a half, president Joan Laporta has told a news conference, after saying the club ended last year $757 million in the red.
Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"I reckon that in a couple of years the club will be healthy," he told reporters, adding that the team have many potential sponsorship deals open to them.
With their finances in dire straits after years of wage inflation and expensive transfers, the club could not afford to renew its contract with star striker Lionel Messi, leading to his shock departure to Paris St Germain last week.
Still, Laporta said he was optimistic for the future, stressing that the club had many options open to it, including some 17 investors interested in Barca Studios, which groups together the club's audiovisual businesses and serves as a hub for events.
The club's debts total $2.3 billion, half of which is owed to banks, Laporta said.
-Reuters
No Afghanistanis at Paralympics
Zakia Khudadadi would have been the first woman to represent Afghanistan at a Paralympic Games when they start in Tokyo next week, but her dream has been shattered amid the country's turmoil.
The Afghanistan Paralympic Committee's London-based Chef de Mission Arian Sadiqi said the country's two athletes would not be able to attend the Games.
"Unfortunately due to the current upheaval going on in Afghanistan the team could not leave Kabul in time," he said.
U.S. forces have taken over air traffic control at Kabul airport, where five died on Monday in chaotic scenes with reports of firing in the air and a stampede.
Taliban insurgents have overrun major cities and now control most of Afghanistan.
Khudadadi and track athlete Hossain Rasouli were due to arrive in Tokyo today.
-Reuters
Vinales signs with Aprilia
Spanish MotoGP rider Maverick Vinales will race for Aprilia next season after falling out with Yamaha.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 26-year-old was suspended by the Yamaha factory team last week and withdrawn from Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix for allegedly trying to destroy his bike's engine at the previous race.
The nine-times MotoGP race winner had fallen out with the Japanese manufacturer before that and was due to leave at the end of the season after terminating his contract a year early.
He apologised on Sunday for actions he said were due to frustration.
Vinales, who started out in 125cc with Aprilia, won the Moto3 championship in 2013 with KTM.
The Spaniard has signed a one-year deal with an option to renew and will partner compatriot Aleix Espargaro at Aprilia, who are racing as a full factory team from 2022, in place of Italian Lorenzo Savadori.
-Reuters
