Today's sports news: What you need to know

England's Jos Buttler continued his incredible form at this year's Indian Premier League with 116 from 65 balls - his third century of the season.

He becomes only the second player to make three tons in an IPL season after Virat Kohli, who hit four in 2016.

It is also the 31-year-old's second hundred in succession and included nine fours and nine sixes in Rajasthan Royals' 222-2 against Delhi Capitals.

Delhi lost regular wickets in their chase, coming up 15 runs short.

Buttler has scored 491 runs in seven innings in the 2022 IPL at an average of 81.83.

With seven more group stage matches to play - plus potential fixtures in the play-off stages - Buttler could break India batter Kohli's 2016 haul of 973 runs - the record for a single IPL campaign.

His ton follows 103 against Kolkata Knight Riders in his last match and 100 against Mumbai Indians earlier in the campaign. He has hit four centuries in his past eight IPL innings, including the 2021 campaign.

- BBC

Sprint race pole for Verstappen

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen put Red Bull on pole position in a wet and crash-interrupted Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying to secure top slot for the first sprint of the season.

Ferrari's championship leader Charles Leclerc, thwarted by a late stoppage, will line up alongside the Dutchman on the front row for the 100km race to decide who starts first in the main grand prix at Imola.

The winner of the sprint will take eight points instead of the three available at each of last season's three such weekends.

Leclerc has a 34 point lead over Mercedes' George Russell in the championship after winning two of the three rounds to date and taking all three bonus points available for fastest laps.

Each of the three qualifying phases had to be halted after incidents, with the red flags brought out five times in total and the pole contenders ultimately splashing around on intermediate tyres and with plumes of spray.

The final one, triggered by McLaren's Lando Norris becoming stuck in the gravel runoff, brought an end to the proceedings with 38 seconds remaining and the Briton qualifying a strong third.

Kevin Magnussen was fourth for Haas, ahead of Alpine's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo with Red Bull's Sergio Perez seventh and Valtteri Bottas eighth for Alfa Romeo. Sebastian Vettel starts ninth for Aston Martin.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton had scraped into that phase by the skin of his teeth, the seven-times world champion only 15th and just 0.004 of a second quicker than AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda on a drying track.

- Reuters

Fury drops weight for Whyte defence

WBC and Ring Magazine champion Tyson Fury weighed in 5kg lighter than his previous fight for his heavyweight title defence against Dillian Whyte at Wembley.

The two Britons will fight in front of 94,000 fans on Sunday (NZ time) - a post-war British record - with Fury making a second defence of the title he won against Deontay Wilder in February 2020.

Fury's drop in weight from the final bout in the Wilder trilogy in October gives a slight indication as to how he may approach the fight.

Against Wilder, Fury went toe-to-toe with the big-punching American.

Weighing in lighter suggests Fury may revert back to fighting at range and using his quick feet and movement to outbox Whyte.

Whyte, dressed in all black, took to the stage first and was dealt a chorus of boos by the Fury-friendly crowd at BoxPark in Wembley.

- BBC

Pigeon steals show at snooker

A pigeon caused a bizarre delay midway through Mark Selby's second-round World Championship match against Yan Bingtao, delighting and amusing the players, officials and the crowd at the Crucible in Sheffield.

After five frames with Yan leading 3-2, the bird flew towards him before landing on the top cushion and strolling along the match table towards the middle pocket.

The pigeon was ushered out of the arena through the players' entrance and surprised Selby by almost flying into the reigning champion, who was returning to the theatre at the time. "It's gone to the dressing room," Selby chimed in.

The bird then made its way backstage, where it was caught by a member of staff.

"Those pigeons will do anything for a free ticket. This is unbelievable," former world champion Ken Doherty said while commentating.

Selby, a four-time winner in Sheffield, shook off his poor form this season to fight back and level the opening session with Yan at 4-4 with a decisive break of 83 before the contest resumes on Saturday.

- Reuters

Crowd record broken again

A record 91,648 fans turned up for a women's match as Barcelona beat VfL Wolfsburg 5-1 in the first leg of their Women's Champions League semifinal at Camp Nou.

The clash broke the previous women's attendance record set just three weeks ago when 91,553 spectators flocked to Camp Nou for Barcelona's showdown with Real Madrid on March 30.

Barcelona, who reached the Champions League semi-finals with an 8-3 aggregate win over Real, were off to a perfect start as midfielder Aitana Bonmati put them ahead in the third minute.

The hosts doubled their lead seven minutes later when Caroline Hansen netted against her former club with a fine finish into the top left corner, while Jennifer Hermoso and Alexia Putellas added one goal each to make it 4-0 before break.

Wolfsburg midfielder Jill Roord marked her 25th birthday by scoring for the visitors in the 70th minute, with the goal being confirmed following a VAR review.

But champions Barcelona, in full control since the opening minutes, extended their lead when Putellas converted a penalty in the 84th minute, leaving two-times champions Wolfsburg facing an uphill task in the return leg.

- Reuters

Fina ban Russian Olympic champion

Swimming's world governing body FINA says it has suspended Russian Olympic gold medallist Evgeny Rylov for nine months after he attended a rally in support of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.

Rylov, who won gold in 100 and 200 metres backstroke events at last year's Tokyo Olympics, was among several athletes who attended a massive rally at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium last month hosted by President Vladimir Putin.

Rylov and other athletes wore the letter "Z" on their outfit, an identifying symbol used by supporters of what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

FINA said the suspension came "following Mr. Rylov's attendance and conduct at an event held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow".

Rylov, who also lost his sponsorship deal with swimwear maker Speedo over his presence at the rally, told Sport Express newspaper his lawyers were reviewing the case but it was still unclear whether they would appeal his suspension.

The move drew an angry reaction from the Kremlin, who said FINA's decision showed the "politicization of sport."

FINA has already cancelled all its events that were set to take place in Russia and has barred Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from taking part in its competitions until the end of the year.

- Reuters

Rangnick backs new Man Utd manager

Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick backed new manager Erik ten Hag to succeed in the job, saying there was enough evidence from the Dutchman's previous roles he can improve the inconsistent Premier League side.

United have confirmed Ten Hag as their new manager to succeed Rangnick from the end of this season, with the 52-year-old Ajax Amsterdam coach signing a three-year deal until June 2025 with an option for a one-year extension.

Ten Hag is the fifth permanent boss to be appointed by United since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, following David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and will arrive following a trophy-laden spell with Ajax.

"We don't know each other in person but from what I've seen of him with Bayern Munich (reserve team) and Ajax now, I like his football," Rangnick said.

"I'm pretty positive with a full pre-season and having the chance to build and mould his own staff with a new team, we'll see a different team and improvement on the pitch.

United are sixth in the league with 54 points from 33 games, three points and a spot behind Arsenal who have a game in hand.

Rangnick, who was appointed in November until the end of the season with an agreement for a further two years as consultant, said he was focused on helping United in their last five games.

- Reuters