Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - New Zealand UFC fighter Dan Hooker didn't last long in his latest fight.

Hooker, who was hoping to improve his standing in the lightweight division was beaten by Russian star Islam Makhachev in UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi.

Hooker was forced into submission just two minutes and 25 seconds into the bout.

The New Zealander is ranked sixth in the division with a 21-11 record.

It was a ninth straight victory for Makhachev.

Olympic silver medallist in yellow jersey

Palmerston North's Campbell Stewart's star power was on display on the opening day of the Tour of Southland.

The Olympic silver medallist and his Bolton Equities Black Spoke Pro Cycling team made a flawless start in challenging conditions

They won the team time trial prologue in the early afternoon before returning to Invercargill's Queens Park and setting Stewart up for the stage victory in the 42km street race on the same course.

"The boys executed well and got me into good positioning and I managed to get out in front and light it up for the finish," Stewart said.

The Tokyo omnium silver medallist edged under-23 riders George Jackson and Mitchel Fitzsimons for the stage win, taking a 6sec time bonus in the process, and leads three of his teammates by 6sec.

Strong winds and driving rain buffeted the peloton during the prologue and a frenetic criterium-style first stage, which was a new addition to this year's course.

The eight-stage tour finishes on Saturday.

England set for semi-finals

England stand on the brink of the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup after Jos Buttler's batting pyrotechnics secured their comprehensive eight-wicket victory against Australia in a Group I match.

Buttler smashed an incendiary 71 not out off 32 balls as England, having bowled out Australia for a below-par 125, triumphed in 11.4 overs in the one-sided Super 12 contest.

Eoin Morgan's team, bidding to become the first side to hold both the 50-overs and 20-overs World Cups at the same time, top the group after a hat-trick of victories, followed by Australia and South Africa with two wins each.

David Miller struck two consecutive sixes in the final over to help South Africa edge Sri Lanka by four wickets.

Needing 15 in the last over for their second Super 12 win, left-hander Miller deposited the second and third balls from paceman Lahiru Kumara over the legside boundary to help South Africa chase down a 143-run target with one ball to spare.

-Reuters

Chelsea open up gap

Chelsea remain top of the English Premiership with a win at Newcastle and they've gained some ground of their title rivals.

Even without a recognised striker on the pitch Chelsea proved far too strong for Newcastle United as Reece James struck twice to fire the Premier League leaders to a 3-0 win at St James' Park.

Chelsea lead the standings with 25 points, three ahead of Liverpool and five ahead of Manchester City.

Brighton & Hove Albion fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw at Liverpool, as Enock Mwepu and Leandro Trossard spoiled what would have been a perfect week for the Merseyside club.

Following a 5-0 drubbing of Manchester United on Sunday and Wednesday's 2-0 League Cup win at Preston North End, Liverpool looked set to march on after goals from Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane put them in control.

Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher scored a goal each to stun champions Manchester City with a 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester United are fifth after beating Tottenham 3-0.

Arsenal are up to sixth after beating Leicester City 2-0.

Chris Wood scored the opening goal as Burnley claimed their first win of the season, a 3-1 victory over Brentford.

Southampton beat Watford 1-0.

-Reuters

Hawke's Bay comeback to beat Manawatu

Hawke's Bay came back from a half time defecit to beat Manawatu 40-31 in their NPC trugby game in Palmerston North.

The Premiership leaders had trailled 24-12 at one stage.

Hawke's Bay scored six tries to four.

Hawke's Bay are well clear at the top of the Premiership standings and Manawatu are second in the Championship.

Scotland too strong for Tonga

Kyle Steyn scored four tries as Scotland ran riot against a feeble Tonga side to win 60-14 at Murrayfield in the opening test of the Autumn rugby internationals.

Scotland scored six tries in the first half to go 36-9 and added four more after the break in a comprehensive performance ahead of tougher tests against Australia and South Africa.

Rufus McLean scored the first two tries on his debut and there was also a try for another newcomer, loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman.

George Turner, Nick Haining and Oli Kebble added three more second-half scores with Blair Kinghorn kicking three conversions and his replacement Ross Thompson adding two more.

Tonga, whose were missing nine players and had only four training sessions after a chaotic build-up to their northern hemisphere tour, replied with a second-half try from prop David Lolohea and three penalties from Jaime Faiva.

Scotland, whose entire squad was drawn from the Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors teams, took advantage of a disjointed Tonga side, who were patently short of match fitness.

Tonga play England at Twickenham next weekend.

-Reuters

Berrettini out of Paris tournament

World men's tennis number six Matteo Berrettini has withdrawn from next week's ATP 1000 Paris Masters event due to stiffness in the neck.

Berrettini, who has already qualified for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin later this month, lost a tight three-setter to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of the Vienna Open on Friday.

"I have had some stiffness in my neck over the last few days so have decided to withdraw from Paris Bercy. I would like to make sure I am 100% ready to compete in Torino for the ATP Finals. Thanks for all the support and see you in Torino," the 25-year-old wrote on Instagram.

Berrettini earlier this year reached the final of Wimbledon and the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open, losing to world number one Novak Djokovic on both occasions.

-Reuters