Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - New Zealand para-cyclist Nicole Murray has finished fourth in the women's C5 3000m Individual Pursuit at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Murray rode-off against Marie Patouillet for the bronze medal at the Izu Velodrome, finishing five seconds behind the Frenchwoman.

Tokyo is Murray's first Paralympic Games and she will be back in action on Friday in the women's C4-5 500m Time Trial.

Murray was the best of the New Zealanders at the velodrome on the opening day of the Games.

Anna Taylor set a short-lived Paralympic record in the C4 3000m Individual Pursuit in qualifying in the opening heat in Japan.

The fast velodrome meant four riders beat Taylor's qualifying time and the Cambridge rider narrowly missed out on a medal ride-off.

Sarah Ellington also missed out on the medals in her classification in the 3000m Individual Pursuit.

Ellington qualified as the 11th fastest rider, with only the top four riders progressing.

Anton Cooper off to winning start at MTB world champs

New Zealand rider Anton Cooper has made a winning start to the mountain bike world championships in Italy.

Cooper has won the second qualifying heat in the men's cross-country short track and will start Friday morning's final from second place.

Fellow countrymen Ben Oliver and Sam Gaze will start from 21st and 22nd respectively.

Oliver finished 11th in the first qualifying heat, 49 seconds behind the winner, while Gaze, the Commonwealth Games champion, was 11th in the second, 22 seconds behind Cooper.

They will also compete in the Olympic distance cross-countrt event on Sunday morning New Zealand time.

A New Zealander has failed to finish inside the top 15 at the world championships over the past 15 years, with the best being Anton Cooper's 16th place in Cairns in 2017.

Cooper finished sixth at the Olympic Games in Japan.

Pakistan win second Test

Pakistan has beaten West Indies by 109 runs in the second Test in Kingston to tie the series one-all.

Shaheen Shah Afridi took 10 wickets in the match as the tourists bowled West Indies out for 219 in their second innings on the final day.

Shaheen claimed 4-43 to add to career best figures of 6-51 in the first innings.

The hosts were always up against it after resuming on their overnight tally of 49-1, 280 runs shy of the imposing target of 329, but with survival more than chasing victory in mind.

They beat Pakistan by one wicket in a thrilling first test, also at Sabina Park, last week.

- Reuters

Benfica claim Champions League berth at PSV's expense

All Whites midfielder Ryan Thomas has narrowly missed out on playing in European football's Champions League.

Thomas' club PSV Eindhoven have been beaten 2-1 on aggregate by Benfica in the final qualifying round.

Thomas came off the bench late in the second leg in Eindhoven, which finished in a 0-0 draw despite Benfica playing with 10 men for more than half of the match.

PSV will have to instead be content with a place in the second-tier Europa League.

Swiss side Young Boys and Swedish champions have joined Benfica in the Champions League.

Young Boys beat Hungarians Ferencvaros 6-4 on aggregate, while Malmo edged past Bulgaria's Ludogorets 3-2.

The Champions League group stage draw will take place on Friday morning NZT.

EPL won't release players for international duty

The Premier League says its clubs have "reluctantly but unanimously" decided not to release players for matches in red-list countries during September's international break.

Under current UK government rules, players would be forced to miss several games because of the 10-day isolation period required on return to the UK.

According to the League nearly 60 players from 19 clubs are due to travel to 26 red-list countries.

The decision, the Premier League said, "follows Fifa's current position not to extend its temporary release exception for players required to quarantine on their return from international duty".

A statement also detailed that a period of quarantine would mean players being "unavailable to prepare for and play in two Premier League match rounds, a Uefa club competition matchday and the third round of the EFL Cup".

- BBC

Roglic loses lead in Spain

Slovenian cyclist Primoz Roglic has lost the overall lead on the Vuelta a Espana after a fall on the 10th stage.

Australian Michael Storer won the stage while the leader's red jersey went to Odd Christian Eiking.

The hilly stage featured a category two climb of 612 metres above sea level and a downhill finish, putting victory beyond the reach of the sprinters and the general classification group and playing into the hands of breakaway specialists.

Norwegian Eiking came fifth, also 22 seconds down on Storer, to become the new overall leader with a 58-second lead over second-placed Guillaume Martin and two minutes 17 seconds over Roglic, who was relegated to third overall.

Eiking and Martin are not expected to challenge Roglic and the other general classification hopefuls for much longer, however, particularly when the race returns to the mountains.

Roglic took a risk with some aggressive descending and paid the price on a corner when his back wheel came out from under him and he fell to the ground.

- Reuters

Anderson dies suddenly

Australian darts player Kyle Anderson has died aged 33.

Anderson's biggest tournament win was the Auckland Darts Masters title in 2017.

He based himself in the UK after becoming a regular on the professional tour, but returned to Australia during the pandemic.

He caught Covid-19 himself last year and also suffered from diabetes, but no cause of death has been released.

Barry Hearn and Phil Taylor have led tributes to Kyle Anderson who has died aged 33.

Sixteen-time world champion Phil Taylor tweeted: "What terrible news to wake up to what a nice friendly man. RIP pal. Thoughts go to all your family."

Black Stick up for award

Black Caps player Sean Findlay has been recognised for his debut season in international hockey.

Findlay is one of the finalists for World Hockey's Rising Star of the Year Award.

The 19 year old Hawke's Bay midfielder made his debut this year and featured in the Black Sticks Olympic campaign.

There is another New Zealander up for an award with Belgium men's coach Shane McLeod a finalist for coach of the year after leading them to Olympic gold.