Latest - The Black Sticks women conceded a 58th minute goal to record their third consecutive draw in their four-match hockey series against Australia in Palmerston North today.
Black Sticks Ella Gunson and Australia's Rosie Malone do battle. Photo: Photosport
After drawing the first two matches 1-1 and 2-2, the New Zealanders trailed early on after Maddy Fitzpatrick fired into the top right corner for Australia midway through the first quarter.
Julia King equalised in the second spell, capitalising on a superb defence-splitting pass from Stacey Michelsen, then Ella Gunson made it 2-1 to New Zealand as the third quarter drew to a close.
But with just a couple of minutes remaining, Rose Malone levelled the scores after pouncing on a weak defensive clearance.
In the later match, the Black Sticks men fell to their third successive defeat against their Australian counterparts. The Kookaburras jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with two first-quarter goals.
A Russell Kane drag-flick fom a penalty corner in the second spell gave the Black Sticks brief hope, but Blake Govers converted a penalty stroke soon after to restore the Australian lead.
Two yellow cards reduced the Kookaburras to nine men, and the New Zealanders grabbed another goal from a penalty corner through Oliver MacIntyre to trail 2-3 at halftime.
But another Australian goal from a penalty corner early in the third quarter put the game beyond reach.
The Black Sticks men and women play their fourth and final games against Australia on Tuesday.
Brentford back in EPL
London club Brentford sealed their place amongst the top flight for the first time in 74 years thanks to a dominant 2-0 win over Swansea City in the Championship playoff final.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Ivan Toney's early penalty and a goal on the counter-attack by Emiliano Marcondes put Brentford in command with only 20 minutes on the clock and they were rarely threatened.
Victory for Brentford ended a run of nine playoff failures, including in last season's final, and will earn them something in the region of more than $241 million in Premier League income.
The high stakes of what is regarded as the richest game in world club football appeared to stifle Swansea, who finished fourth in the regular season to Brentford's third.
Swansea were relegated in 2018 after seven seasons in the Premier League.
All Whites defender Winston Reid is on loan at Brentford from West Ham United and came off the bench with 10 minutes to play in the win.
- Reuters
Sharks, Giants and Nuggets win in NBL
The Southland Sharks moved to a 5-3 record for the NBL season with a 114-72 win against the Taranaki Airs on Saturday night.
Hunter Hale Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Leading from start to finish, the Sharks dropped a league-wide season high 20 three-pointers in the win, including five triples from Brayden Inger in the first half.
The Nelson Giants got past the Hawke's Bay Hawks with a nail-biting 112-109 victory on the back of Hunter Hale's 41 points.
With a 6-point lead entering the third quarter, the Giants couldn't put the Hawks to bed.
However, the Giants were cool from the free throw line after the Hawks put them in the bonus with five minutes to go, and some big shots from Hale, Nic Trathen, and Donte Ingram down the stretch kept the Hawks just far enough away to seal a win.
The Otago Nuggets completed a two-for-two trip to Auckland as they took down the Huskies 73-71 on Saturday to go with Thursday's win over the Franklin Bulls.
They led for the majority of the game but got into a tit-for-tat, punch and counterpunch with the Huskies in the final quarter.
Star Huskies import Chris Johnson had a three-point shot on the siren to win it and it looked good before bouncing in and out much to the relief of the Nuggets.
The Huskies fell to 4-4 on the season with the loss, 24 hours after going down to the league-leading Wellington Saints.
Antetokounmpo records triple-double in NBA playoffs win
Giannis Antetokounmpo posted just the third triple-double in Milwaukee Bucks playoff history, helping his team complete a four-game sweep of their Eastern Conference first-round series with a 120-103 win over the host Miami Heat in the NBA.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Photo: AFP
Antetokounmpo finished with 20 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds. The two previous Bucks with playoff triple-doubles were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1970 (he was known as Lew Alcindor at the time) and Paul Pressey in 1986.
Milwaukee advances to the second round of the playoffs after eliminating Miami for the first time in three playoff matchups.
Miami, which reached the NBA Finals last year, was swept for the first time since 2007 against the Chicago Bulls.
The Bucks also got 25 points from Brook Lopez on 11-for-15 shooting. Reserve Bryn Forbes highlighted his 22-point performance with seven 3-pointers, while Khris Middleton collected 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Miami's Jimmy Butler also had a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Kendrick Nunn added 18 points.
-Field Level Media
Italian cyclist wins first Giro d'Italia stage
Italian Damiano Caruso earned a first Grand Tour victory in the 20th and penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia, a 163-kilometre ride from Valle Spluga to Alpe Motta, as Egan Bernal closed in on the overall title.
The final climb up Alpe Motta saw Frenchman Roman Bardet and Caruso lose their domestique riders and pull clear with five kilometres to go, with home favourite Caruso digging deep to comfortably take the stage victory.
Pink jersey holder Bernal, with his determined INEOS Grenadiers team mates around him, stayed at the head of the peloton for much of the race, keeping the gap between him and the race leaders a manageable one going into the final stages.
British rider Simon Yates, who started the day third in the general classification, two minutes 49 seconds behind Bernal after winning stage 19 on Friday, kept pace with the Colombian as other riders dropped out during the final mountain stage.
Daniel Martinez kept up team mate Bernal's pace before the Colombian came home in second, meaning he will take a lead of one minute 59 seconds into the final time-trial stage in Milan, where only a disaster will deny him a first Giro title.
- Reuters
Fabio Quartararo takes MotoGP pole again
World championship leader Fabio Quartararo of Yamaha claimed his fourth consecutive pole of the MotoGP season at the Italian Grand Prix after he set a lap record at the Mugello Circuit.
A front row lockout from the top three championship contenders saw Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia, a point behind Quartararo, seal second on the grid while Pramac Racing's Johann Zarco lines up alongside him in third.
"I think this was the best lap I ever did in my life," Quartararo said in a pit lane interview. "On this track you really feel the adrenaline. I was on the limit everywhere.
"I wanted to make the fastest lap today and it looked like it worked... Today was a good day. I enjoyed that lap."
Quartararo dedicated his lap to 19-year-old Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier, who was taken to hospital in Florence after a horrific crash which red flagged the qualifying session.
- Reuters
