Today's sports news: what you need to know

Lastest - All-rounder Daryl Mitchell will make his test debut in New Zealand's second match against England on his home ground at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Friday.

Mitchell, the son of former All Blacks coach John Mitchell, was brought into the squad after Colin de Grandhomme was ruled out of the match due to injury.

Pace bowler Trent Boult was also ruled out after straining a muscle above his ribs, although it still remains to be seen whether Matt Henry or uncapped fast bowler Lockie Ferguson will replace him.

New Zealand hold a 1-0 lead in the two-match series after winning the first test on the final day in Mt. Maunganui on Monday by an innings and 65 runs.

-Reuters

Liverpool and Chelsea still on tenterhooks

Liverpool and Chelsea will both need at least a drawn in their last group games to make sure of progressing to the last 16 of football's European Champions League.

Champions Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli at Anfield.

Liverpool top their group with 10 points with Napoli a point behind and Salzburg on seven.

Juergen Klopp's side are away to Salzburg in their final game needing a point to guarantee qualification.

Chelsea drew 2-2 at Spanish club Valencia leaving both teams second in the group on 8 points, 2 behind Ajax.

Chelsea will need to beat Lille in the final round to progress.

Barcelona and Leipzig confirmed their places in the last 16 today.

TVNZ to cover Olympics

There will be 12 hours of free-to-air television coverage each day during next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Sky confirmed TVNZ as its free-to-air partner for the two week event in July and August 2020.

Sky will stream and broadcast all of the action across 12 channels and its streaming platforms.

TVNZ 1 will have 12 hours of free-to-air coverage throughout each afternoon and evening, with a break for 1 News at 6pm and Seven Sharp.

Prime was Sky's free-to-air broadcaster during the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Tall Blacks path to Olympics confirmed

The Tall Blacks have been drawn alongside hosts Serbia and Dominican Republic in one of the final Olympic basketball qualifying tournaments in June.

The New Zealanders are in Group A, with Puerto Rico, Italy and Senegal making up Group B of the tournament to be played in Belgrade.

Just the winner of the tournament qualifies for Tokyo with 6th ranked Serbia the favourite to progress.

New Zealand are headed to the Olympic qualifying tournament after finishing below Australia at this year's World Cup, which gave the Boomers Oceania's automatic Olympic spot.

The teams that have already qualified for the Olympics are:Japan, Nigeria, Argentina, USA, Iran, France, Spain and Australia.

Ferns to play Algarve Cup

The Football Ferns' preparation for next year's Tokyo Olympics will include playing in the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March.

The tournament features seven other nations and there are some footballing giants among them with Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Sweden all set to feature.

Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni will not find out which of those teams his side will come up against directly until the official draw is conducted in January but is expecting a tough challenge regardless.

That's exactly what he wants with Tokyo 2020 now looming large on the horizon.

"When you look at the teams involved in the Algarve Cup, it's going to be a strong competition," he says.

"Every game at the Olympics is going to be exceptionally tough and the Algarve Cup will be the same. This is another step in our preparation for the Olympics and the important thing for us is to continue to figure out ways in which we can get results going forward. We need to find ways to do better in certain moments of games which are ending up being pivotal in the outcomes."

New Zealand competed in the 2016 Algarve Cup finishing with three loses and a draw.

Kiwi sailors win gold at home

New Zealand sailors Alex Maloney and Molly Meech aren't reading too much into their victory at the Oceania 49er, 49er FX and Nacra 17 Championships in Auckland.

The Olympic 49er FX silver medalists improved from third on the final day to show they're in good form ahead of next week's World Championships.

"It's nice to win the training event but we really see it as training and getting used to racing again and the race courses," Meech said.

"The big one is next week so we'll be refocusing on that.

"We can see we are going alright in the fleet and some of our routines, like starting, are coming along nicely. It's a bit of a confidence booster going into worlds."

Olympic 49er champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke finished third and Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie fifth.

Gemma Jones and Josh Porebski finished 11th in the Nacra 17.

World rally champ joins Toyota

Six-times rally world champion Sebastien Ogier will race for Toyota next season in an all-new driver lineup after the departure of 2019 title winner Ott Tanak.

The 35-year-old Frenchman, who competed with Citroen this season, will join Welsh driver Elfyn Evans and 19-year-old Finnish rookie Kalle Rovanpera at the team based in Cologne, Germany.

Ogier won six titles in succession before Estonian Tanak, who has moved to new champions Hyundai, secured this year's title.

The one-year deal could be his last, having spoken previously of retirement after 2020.

- Reuters

Three-time Paralympian retires

Three-time Paralympian Kate Horan has announced her retirement from the sport of Para cycling and to focus on her family and seek new challenges.

Horan made her Paralympic Games debut at the Athens 2004 Paralympics as a sprinter on the athletics track and she won a silver medal in the 200 metres four years later in Beijing.

Injury ruled her out of the London 2012 Olympics before switching to para cycling.

She won four world championship medals and competed at the Rio Paralympics.

"I always thought I would be dragged away kicking and screaming from Para sport as it means so much to me," Horan said.

"However racing recently in Cambridge I realised as I came off the track that I was done.

"I always thought it would be my body that would stop me; but it is all about the mental edge and drive that is needed to compete at the highest level. I no longer have this so now is the time to retire."

Australian bowlers crash Kiwi milestone celebrations

The Australian women bowls team has retained the trans-Tasman trophy after pipping New Zealand in the third Test on the Gold Coast.

The Australians crashed Val Smith's 600th game celebrations with another shot differential victory after the two sides finished level on matches won.

Australia won the series 2-1, while the Australian men sweep their series 3-0.

"At the end of the day Australia were just too good," Blackjacks head coach Peter Belliss said.

"Look Australia is the leading nation in the world and we've given them a little hurry up, especially the women.

"The women's series was tight all the way through. We could have easily won the series on Tuesday and just failed.

"There's nothing between the two sides there so we can go with some confidence with whoever we select for the world championships that our ladies have got a real chance."

Russia to cooperate with WADA

Russia will fully cooperate with the World Anti-Doping Agency and international sports authorities after a WADA committee recommended imposing a four-year Olympic ban on the country, the Kremlin has said.

The WADA committee recommended this week that Russia be banned from the Olympics and world championships in a wide range of sports for four years after Moscow was found to have provided the agency with doctored laboratory data.

The committee's recommendations will be put to WADA's executive committee in Paris on 9 December.

"The Russian authorities have been, are, and will be highly open to cooperation with the international sports community as well as with WADA," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Russian sports officials spoke out against the committee's recommendations, saying they were overly harsh and would hurt sport there.

-Reuters

Career best for Windies spinner

West Indies off spinner Rahkeem Cornwall picked up a career best seven for 75 to help dismiss Afghanistan for 187 on the first day of the one and only Test in Lucknow.

In reply the West Indies were 68 for two at strumps.

Javed Ahmadi to scored for Afghanistan with 39 while Amir Hamza made 34.

Campbell Campbell is not out 30 for the Windies.

Honda extend F1 contract

Honda will continue to power the Red Bull and Toro Rosso Formula One teams in 2021, a season that marks the start of a new era for the sport.

Toro Rosso have used Honda power units since the 2018 season, with Red Bull joining the junior team from the start of 2019 on a two-year deal that would have expired at the end of next year.

Dutch 22-year-old Max Verstappen has won three races for Red Bull this year while Toro Rosso's French youngster Pierre Gasly finished second in Brazil this month.

Formula One's regulations are due to undergo a major overhaul in 2021 with new-look cars that should be easier to overtake.

Honda's decision to continue with the two Red Bull-owned teams is positive for the sport whose owners Liberty Media are still in talks with major manufacturers about future involvement.

Mercedes, whose factory team have won the last six drivers' and constructors' championships, have already committed to supplying McLaren and Williams in 2021.

-Reuters

Changes for Australian cricket selection panel

Former limited overs specialist George Bailey will join Australia's selectors panel after the conclusion of the domestic Big Bash Twenty20 tournament.

Bailey, 37, replaces former captain Greg Chappell who retired from his Cricket Australia roles as selector and national talent manager at the end of September.

Bailey will draw the curtain on his playing career with Tasmania state and Big Bash side Hobart Hurricanes in early February to take on the role of selector full-time, CA said in a statement.

He will initially serve as a "National Teams advisor" for Cricket Australia and work closely with head coach Justin Langer and selector Trevor Hohns before joining the selectors panel in a full-time capacity upon his retirement, CA said.

Bailey is expected to focus on selections for the Australia T20 team, with Australia to host the T20 World Cup in less than a year.

-Reuters

Manchester City owners sell stake

Manchester City's Abu Dhabi-controlled owner has agreed to sell a $778 million stake to U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake, making it the world's most valuable football group with a $7.5 billion price tag.

Tech-focused Silver Lake will buy just over 10 percent of City Football Group (CFG), which owns reigning English Premier League champions Manchester City and teams in the United States, Australia and China, the companies said.

The investment crowns a rags to riches story for Manchester City, which spent much of the 1990s in the doldrums but broke into the big league of world football with the help of Middle Eastern cash.

Europe's top football clubs have drawn in big money from some of the world's richest investors over the last decade, as the game attracts more fans in lucrative markets such as Asia, the United States and the Middle East.

Manchester City's big domestic rival Manchester United are majority owned by the American Glazer family and are valued at $4.4 billion.

-Reuters

Fijian World Cup winger signs with Bristol

Fiji winger Semi Radradra has agreed join English Premiership rugby club Bristol Bears from next season on a three-year contract.

The 27-year-old, who switched codes from rugby league to union to join Toulon in the French Top 14 in 2017, currently plays for Bordeaux and scored two tries for Fiji at the recent World Cup in Japan.

"There is no doubt that Semi is one of the best players in the world, he's truly a world class performer and we are so excited about what he can do for the team," Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam said in a statement.

"Every top club across both codes on the planet wanted him, so for Bristol to be able to bring in a player of his quality underlines the fantastic work that the club is doing.

"As a person and a player, he is perfect for our culture which places an emphasis on community and high performance."

Radradra began his professional career with Parramatta Eels in Australia's National Rugby League.

Bristol currently top the Premiership standings with 14 points after winning three and losing one of their four matches so far.

-Reuters