Latest - Alyssa Healy hit her fourth one-day century in a monumental opening stand as Australia cruised into the Women's World Cup final with a crushing 157-run victory over West Indies at the Basin Reserve.
Alyssa Healy Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Australia will now face either holders England or South Africa, who meet in today's second semi-final, in Christchurch on Sunday looking to claim the trophy for the seventh time in 12 editions of the World Cup.
In a 45-over game Australia raced to an imposing 305 for three on the back of the 216-run opening partnership between Healy and Rachael Haynes.
Healy hammered 129 off 107 balls, while Haynes made 85 off 100.
West Indies were not helped by their poor fielding, while a hamstring injury sustained while chasing a ball to the boundary restricted off spinner Anisa Mohammed to only two overs.
Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews both scored 34s in the chase and captain Stafanie Taylor contributed 48 but West Indies were always behind the run rate required if they were to overhaul the Australian tally.
Healy continued her fine performance with a direct hit to run out Chedean Nation and, with Mohammed and Chinelle Henry unable to bat because of injury and illness, West Indies were dismissed for 148 in 37 overs.
-Reuters
Auckland remain unbeaten
Auckland remain on track for the Plunket Shield after beating Wellington by 10 wickets at Eden Park.
Unbeaten Auckland secured the win inside three days and are well clear at the top of the standings with just one match remaining.
Wellington are bottom of the standings.
Meanwhile in Whangarei, Central Districts are 131/2 after two day, still trailling Northern by 365 runs.
In Rangiora, Canterbury are 153/2, trailling Otago by 104 runs.
Teenager sentenced to jail for text
A British teenager has been sentenced to six weeks in prison after racially abusing England's Marcus Rashford on Twitter after last year's European Championship final.
Marcus Rashford Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Justin Lee Price, 19, from Worcester, previously admitted to sending a grossly offensive message by public communication network.
Price initially tried to avoid detection by changing his Twitter username after the post was reported.
The teenager denied the offence in the first police interview following his arrest but admitted to posting the tweet when questioned for a second time.
Rashford and his England team mates Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were targeted with online abuse after missing their penalties in the shootout against Italy in July.
-Reuters
World Cup tickets go on sale
Fans have bought 804,186 tickets for matches at the World Cup in Qatar later this year in the first phase of sales.
Qatar will host the 2022 Football World Cup. Photo: Photosport
FIFA said interest in tickets mainly came from Qatar, the United States, England, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, India, Brazil, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia.
Tickets for the opening game on Nov. 21 -- which will feature hosts Qatar -- as well as the final on Dec. 18 were the most popular choices.
The majority of the 32 slots available for teams have been secured with a handful of World Cup qualifiers left to be completed.
The final draw for the World Cup where teams will be split into groups will be held this weekend.
-Reuters
China resumes coverage of NBA
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV aired a National Basketball Association game for the first time in 18 months yesterday, raising hopes that relations between the league and China were on the mend after a 2019 rift.
The game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz was aired live on China Central Television's sports channel.
The last time the broadcaster aired an NBA game was in October 2020.
The NBA, one of the most popular U.S. cultural exports in China, makes hundreds of millions of dollars every year from its presence in the Chinese market but the decades-long partnership with CCTV was rocked in October 2019.
Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey that month tweeted in support of the protests in Hong Kong, a Chinese-ruled city that was embroiled in a political crisis due to months of anti-government protests stemming from a controversial extradition bill.
While the tweet was quickly deleted, it drew strong criticism in China while CCTV immediately stopped showing NBA games.
-Reuters
Bradl replaces Marquez
Honda test rider Stefan Bradl will ride in place of Marc Marquez at the Argentine Grand Prix this weekend as the six-times MotoGP champion continues to recover from double vision.
Marquez did not race at the Indonesian Grand Prix after a highside crash in the warm-up session ahead of the season's second race.
The 29-year-old also suffered from double vision at the end of 2021 after a concussion he suffered in a training crash.
Marquez won three of the six races held in Argentina between 2014-2019. The last two editions were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
-Reuters
Hooper back for Waratahs
Wallabies captain Michael Hooper will play his first Super Rugby match in more than 18 months this weekend after being named in the New South Wales Waratahs team for Friday's clash against Fijian Drua on the Gold Coast.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The loose forward, who had a spell in Japan during a contracted break from Super Rugby last year, will start on the bench in his first outing for the Waratahs since the 38-32 win over the Melbourne Rebels on Aug. 29, 2020.
Without Hooper, the Waratahs endured a winless season last year but Darren Coleman's arrival as coach has revived Australia's best-resourced provincial team.
The Waratahs will be targeting a fourth win in seven matches on Friday when they take on one of the competition's two new teams at Robina Stadium.
A World Rugby Player of the Year nominee last year on the back of his performances for the Wallabies, Hooper captained the Waratahs to their only Super Rugby title in 2014.
-Reuters