Sport

Today's sport news: What you need to know

17:51 pm on 9 November 2020

Latest - Leicester City have gone top of the English Premier League with a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in which striker Jamie Vardy scored one penalty and had another saved.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Leicester climbed to the top of the table with 18 points from eight games, one ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and two clear of champions Liverpool who play Manchester City later today.

Harry Kane's late header earned Spurs a 1-0 victory at struggling West Bromwich Albion.

Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne missed a potential match-winning penalty as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Liverpool.

Liverpool are third on 17 points after eight games with 11th-placed City on 12 points, having played a game fewer.

Aston Villa moved up to 6th after beating Arsenal 3-nil.

-Reuters

Phoenix players get national call-up

Three Wellington Phoenix players will participate in Australia's U-23 men's national football team training camp in Sydney over the next nine days.

Cameron Devlin Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Cameron Devlin has been called up to the Australian national side for the first time on the back of a stellar 2019/20 A-League season for the Phoenix where he led the competition in tackles made and was named the A-League Player of the Month for December 2019.

Reno Piscopo returns as one of 11 players from the squad that helped Australia qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in January this year, when Australia secured third place at the AFC U-23 Championship in Thailand. This will be Piscopo's 13th appearance for Australia across the U-20 and U-23 national teams.

Recent Phoenix signing Josh Laws is also named in the 26-player squad. Laws has made six combined appearances for the Australian U-17 and U-23 sides, most recently starting for Australia - alongside Piscopo - against Thailand, during the group stage of the UFC U-23 Championship in January.

While in camp the Australia U-23 selection will play two friendly fixtures against A-League clubs Sydney FC and Macarthur FC.

Sunrisers beaten

Kane Williamson's Sunrisers Hyderabad have missed out on a place in the Indian Premier League cricket final.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Hyderabad were beaten by Delhi Capitals by 17 runs

Williamson scored 67 off 45 balls in Hyderabad's unsuccessful chase for 190 runs.

Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis took three wickets.

Delhi will meet the defending champions Mumbai Indians in Wednesday morning's final in Dubai in a contest between the two sides who finished as the top two in the league stages of this year's popular Twenty20 league.

Trent Boult plays for Mumbai.

It is the first time Delhi has made the final.

Mighty ton for Devine

White Ferns captain Sophie Devine scored a century to lead her Perth Scorchers side to a 36 run win over the Sydney Sixers in the women's Big Bash in Sydney.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Devine scored 103 off 68 balls hitting five fours and seven sixes as she and Beth Mooney put on 151 for the opening wicket.

Perth scored 183 for 4, while Sydney finished on 147 for 5.

"I hit a couple of shots today and 'Moons' (Mooney) came down and was like, 'What was that?' and I said, 'I actually don't know'," Devine said.

"I think that's a good sign for me that you're not thinking about things and it just comes naturally."

Fellow New Zealander Rachel Priest hit an unbeaten 83 as her Perth Hurricanes were beaten by the Sydney Thunder.

The Melbourne Stars top the standings, while Devine's Perth are fifth.

-WBBL

Roglic defends Vuelta title

Slovenian Primoz Roglic was crowned king of the Vuelta a Espana for the second successive year as the Jumbo Visma rider safely reached Madrid after a largely processional stage 18.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

It was a sweet moment for the 31-year-old former ski jumper whose hopes of winning this year's Tour de France were snatched away in dramatic circumstances on the penultimate day.

For a while, on the final brutal climb to Alto de la Covatilla on Saturday, it had looked as though Roglic might let another Grand Tour slip through his fingers as Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, who battled Roglic hard over the Spanish mountains, dropped him in a devastating late attack.

But Roglic dug deep and although his 45-second lead was slashed in half, he entered the final day's flat 139km roll-in to Madrid with a 24-second lead and the red jersey secured barring an unprecedented mishap.

The final day of the 75th edition of the Vuelta was left for the sprinters to strut their stuff along Madrid's eerily quiet Paseo del Prado -- a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic which has largely locked down the city.

Pascal Ackermann beat Sam Bennett in a photo-finish to crown a hectic few months of Grand Tours, but it was Roglic who has dominated the race from day one.

New Zealand's George Bennett, Roglic's team-mate finished 12th overall, while Dion Smith was 74th.

-Reuters

Medvedev wins in Paris

Russian Daniil Medvedev claimed his third Masters tennis title when he beat German Alexander Zverev 5-7 6-4 6-1 in the Paris final.

The third seed, who also defeated Zverev in the Shanghai final last year, returned strongly to take his first title of the year.

Medvedev, 24, had more energy in the deciding set and made the most of his opportunities against an inconsistent Zverev, who had won five of their six previous meetings.

A double fault gave the Russian his eighth career ATP title after two hours and seven minutes.

-Reuters

Blundell involved in rare dismissal

The Wellington cricketer Tom Blundell has become just the second batsman in New Zealand first-class history to be given out for obstructing the field.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The hosts were chasing another 94 runs for victory with three wickets remaining on the final day of their Plunket Shield match against Otago.

But just seven balls into the resumption, Blundell, who scored a century on day four, fell to the rare dismissal, before Wellington were quickly bowled out to hand Otago an 84-run victory.

Blundell played a defensive shot and the ball bounced up heading towards the wickets. He initially kicked the ball as it headed towards his stumps, which is legal, before instinctively parrying it with his hand, which is illegal.

Blundell quickly realised his mistake and was soon given out.

The sole previous instance of an obstructing the field dismissal in the scorecard of a New Zealand or Plunket Shield first-class match was in December 1953 when Canterbury tailender Johnny Hayes was dismissed at Christchurch's Lancaster Park against Central Districts; and today's instance was the first since the handled ball rules were tweaked in 2017.

Otago climb from fifth to third equal on the points table, while Wellington remain winless.

Canterbury top the standings from Auckland.

Walker made patron

Legendary middle-distance runner Sir John Walker has been named as Patron of Athletics New Zealand.

Walker was welcomed into the honorary role at the 133rd Athletics NZ Annual General Meeting.

He is the second successive Olympic 1500m gold medallist and mile world record holder to assume the position, which has been vacant since the passing of Sir Peter Snell last December.

"It's a great honour to be named Patron of Athletics NZ and to follow in the esteemed footsteps of a legend like Sir Peter Snell, who was a huge inspiration to me," Walker says.

"I am excited by the strategic direction of Athletics NZ as the organisation looks to ensure all New Zealanders have the chance to take part in athletics in a safe and enjoyable environment."

Now 68, Walker was the first person to run a mile in under 3 minutes and 50 seconds and won 1500m gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. He also won three medals at the Commonwealth Games, as well as breaking numerous national and international records.

Kyrgios talks about depression

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has opened up on his battle with depression and says returning to live with his parents in Canberra this year has been good for his mind and soul.

Kyrgios, who started seeing a psychologist in 2018, has been criticised for not caring enough about his tennis career.

Kyrgios, 25, recalled a time in Shanghai when he "didn't want to see the light of day".

Kyrgios has received several fines for his on-court meltdowns and was handed a suspended 16-week ban by the ATP for "aggravated behaviour" last year.

The world number 45 opted to remain in Canberra when his rivals returned to the tour after the COVID-19 shutdown to play in the U.S. and French Opens.

Kyrgios is hoping to return to action in time for the Australian Open in January.

-Reuters