19 Jan 2020

Today's sports news: what you need to know

10:02 am on 19 January 2020

Latest - The New Zealand driver Mitch Evans has finished third in the third round of Formula E in the Chilean capital Santiago.

Jaguar Formula E driver, New Zealander Mitch Evans.

Mitch Evans Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Evans started on pole position at the Parque O'Higgins and led the first half of the race for Jaguar before being overtaken.

BMW Andretti driver Max Guenther took his first Formula E victory, and became the youngest winner at 22 years old, with a last lap overtake.

The German passed DS Techeetah's Antonio Felix Da Costa after the Portuguese, who had forced his way through with two laps to go, had to slow due to high battery temperatures on a hot afternoon.

After three rounds of the season, Mercedes' Belgian driver Stoffel Vandoorne took the overall lead from BMWi Andretti's Alexander Sims, who crashed out.

Evans is now eighth overall after his best result of the season.

Fellow New Zealander Brendon Hartley failed to finish the race.

-Reuters

Another top finish for Robinson

The Queenstown teenager Alice Robinson has finished fifth at the Giant Slalom World Cup in Italy.

Queenstown skier Alice Robinson.

Alice Robinson Photo: PHOTOSPORT

It is her fourth top-10 finish at a World Cup this season.

Alice skied in to sixth place on her first run, 0.59s behind leader Federica Brignone of Italy, who leads the World Cup rankings in the Giant Slalom discipline. Brignone went on to victory with Slovakian Petra Vhlova in second.

Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg, third after run one, dropped back four places on her second run, leaving the final podium place for the USA's Mikaela Shiffrin who had been trailing in fourth place after run one, and leaving Alice Robinson in fifth place.

Robinson is fifth in the overall Giant Slalom standings.

Speed skater seventh

Christchurch speed skater Ethan De Rose has finished seventh at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games.

Competing in the 1000m event at the Lausanne Skating Arena, De Rose started strong, flying across the ice to win his heat.

"I was feeling pretty good right from when I woke up and then I warmed up a bit, got involved and it all went to plan," said De Rose.

The 17-year-old continued his strong vein of form to advance all the way to the B-final, finishing with an overall placing of seventh in a 32 strong field.

"I wasn't expecting to do that well in all honesty, I would've been happy with top 16 so I'm absolutely stoked with how today went.

"I did some really good passes which I was really happy with and the atmosphere was sick."

De Rose will compete in the 500m event next week.

Proteas fight back

Quinton de Kock led a fight-back after rain halted England's destruction of South Africa's top order on the third day of the third test at St George's Park, but the tourists remain in command after Dom Bess's maiden test five-wicket haul.

Quinton de Kock of South Africa.

Quinton de Kock Photo: PHOTOSPORT

De Kock, who was dropped three times, scored an unbeaten 63 to see South Africa to 208-6 at stumps after rain reduced the day's play to 64 overs. Vernon Philander was not out on 27.

The home side are still 291 runs behind after off spinner Bess claimed the first five South African wickets to fall.

He bagged two on Friday to leave SA teetering at 60-2 overnight, in replay to England's mammoth 499 for nine declared, and picked up where he left off on Saturday with three more.

South Africa still face the risk a follow-on, with England chasing 14 wickets to win the test and go 2-1 ahead in the series before the last test in Johannesburg next week.

-Reuters

Tuatara lose again

The Auckland Tuatara have lost a third straight game to the Canberra Cavalry and their lead in their Australian Baseball League division has been cut to one and a half games.

For the second night running the Tuatara scored an early run but struggled to contain the red-hot Cavalry hitting line-up as the homeside won 7-5.

The Cavalry piled on six runs through the first four innings and jumped out to a comfortable lead.

Reliever Junya Michihara did a good job to keep the Tuatara in the hunt firing 6.1 innings striking out seven and giving up three runs.

Outfielder Kim Won-seok hit a massive three-run home run - his seventh long ball of the season - to make the game interesting in the top of the sixth.

Tuatara manager Stephen Mintz was left frustrated with Canberra getting some big two-out hits on the night.

"They scored their last five runs on two-out hits and some of those were with two strikes against them.

"With what we've seen over the last three days - they are the best team we have run into all season."

The two sides meet in the series finale tonight.

Watford miss penalty

Watford stretched their unbeaten run in the English Premier League to six matches but missed out on a fourth successive victory when Troy Deeney's second-half penalty was saved in a 0-0 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

Skipper Deeney stepped up to take the spot kick in the 69th minute after Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen clearly handled Gerard Deulofeu's shot, but his effort was saved by Spurs keeper Paulo Gazzaniga.

Tottenham nearly snatched a last-gasp victory when Erik Lamela's scuffed shot was only just cleared off the line by Watford's new signing Ignacio Pussetto, but they had to settle for their first goalless draw in 94 Premier League games.

Jose Mourinho's Tottenham are winless in four league games as their challenge for a top four finish stalls. But Spurs will welcome their first away clean sheet in the league since New Year's Day 2019.

-Reuters

Barty wins at home

Australia's Ashleigh Barty has captured her first WTA tennis title on home soil with an emphatic straight-sets victory in the Adelaide International final.

The world No.1 has downed world No.24 Ukranian Dayana Yastremska 6-2 7-5 in the final.

Barty had lost her two previous WTA finals in Australia - at the Sydney International last year and 2018 - but produced a powerhouse performance to claim the inaugural Adelaide tournament, and eighth WTA title in her career.

Russia's third seed Andrey Rublev beat South African qualifier Lloyd Harris in the men's final.