Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - An unbeaten half century from fast bowler Matt Henry has pushed the Black Caps through to a respecitable 298 for eight after the first day of their second tour match against a County Selection in Chelmsford.

Captain Tom Latham decided to bat first, but the local bowlers soon made inroads with Latham making 11, Devon Conway 4 and Tom Blundell 8.

Will Young scored 46, Darryl Mitchell 58 and Colin de Grandhomme 39.

Number ten batter Henry is unbeaten on 65, while Cam Fletcher is on 22.... the pair have put on 79 for the ninth wicket.

Nottinghamshire spin bowler Liam Patterson-White has taken three wickets.

England bowler Ollie Robinson withdrew from the game just before the toss with a stiff back.

The first Test starts at Lord's on June 2nd.

Carrington quickest in Poland

Dame Lisa Carrington was quickest in qualifying for the K1 500 final at the second Canoe Sprint World Cup regatta in Poland.

Carrington won her heat and semi-final to make this weekend's final.

She won the corresponding race last weekend in the Czech Republic.

The 5-time Olympic champion also helped her K4 500 teammates Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughn into their final as the third fastest.

The two men's K4 500 crews failed to make their A final, while Ben McCallum and Max Brown also failed to make the men's K1 1000 final.

Carrington and Hoskin teamup in the K2 500 heats tonight after winning bronze at the first World Cup event.

Solid start for Fox

Auckland golfer Ryan Fox has returned to the World Tour in Europe and has made a solid start to the Dutch Open.

After his disappointing end to the US PGA Championship last weekend, Fox has opened with a two under par 70 in the Netherlands.

That has him tied for 29th.... five shots behind the leader Joost Luiten of the Netherlands.

Fox is playing two of the next three European events as he attempts to qualify for the next major, the US Open.

He's currently ranked fourth in Europen qualification with the top ten making the US Open field.

Ecclestone arrestd in Brazil

Former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone was arrested in Brazil for illegally carrying a gun while boarding a private plane to Switzerland.

The Brazilian police found an undocumented LW Seecamp .32 gun in Ecclestone's luggage during an X-ray screening, police said in a statement, adding that the 91-year-old was then arrested and taken to a facility at Viracopos airport in Campinas.

Ecclestone acknowledged owning the gun, but said he was unaware it was in his luggage at the time, police said. The Briton paid bail and was freed to travel to Switzerland.

He is married to Brazilian-born Fabiana Ecclestone, an FIA vice-president and member of the World Motor Sport Council.

Her mother Aparecida Schunck was kidnapped in Sao Paulo in 2016, with criminals demanding $35 million in ransom before she was freed nine days later in a police raid without any money being paid.

Ecclestone also suffered a head injury in 2010 after being mugged in central London, his attackers making off with jewellery including a watch.

-Reuters

EPL clubs continue to get richer

The Premier League now has 10 teams in a list of the 32 most valuable clubs in Europe, according to a report by analysts Football Benchmark.

There were eight Premier League clubs on last year's list, with Aston Villa and West Ham United making their debut in 2022 and joining Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Leicester City and Everton.

England's top flight leads the way with 10 clubs, followed by Italy's Serie A, which has seven teams among the 32.

The report, which used annual financial statements and squad values to calculate the valuation of clubs as of Jan. 1, said the Premier League's growth was largely down to broadcast revenues.

LaLiga champions Real Madrid were Europe's most valuable club for a fourth consecutive year with a valuation of $5.3 billion, followed by Manchester United ($4.7 billion) and Barcelona ($4.6 billion).

The report added that clubs were beginning to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

-Reuters

Iceman to race in NASCAR

Former Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen will return to racing when the Finnish driver makes his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen in August.

Raikkonen, the world champion with Ferrari in 2007, retired from F1 at the end of 2021 after 19 seasons, making his final appearance with Alfa Romeo at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The 42-year-old will drive a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the Team Trackhouse squad for the NASCAR Cup road course race at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 21.

Team Trackhouse, owned by ex-racer Justin Marks and popular rapper Pitbull, are targeting more drivers from outside NASCAR to take over one of their cars as part of an initiative called 'Project 91'.

Raikkonen has two NASCAR starts to his name - in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series, both in 2011 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

-Reuters

Belgian wins stage 18

Belgian Dries De Bondt of Alpecin-Fenix led a breakaway group to win stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia in a closely-fought sprint to the line, beating Edoardo Affini of Jumbo-Visma in a photo finish.

After three rigorous stages in the mountains, the 156km ride from Borgo Valsugana to Treviso was a flat one with a circuit at the end.

De Bondt was third with less than a kilometre to go but the Belgian timed his attack to perfection to win by less than half a wheel length for his first stage victory and Alpecin-Fenix's third at the Giro.

Other sprint favourites such as Mark Cavendish, Arnaud Demare and Alberto Dainese were left to rue the fact that they had not caught up with the breakaway group in time.

Earlier today, Joao Almeida of UAE Team Emirates was forced to withdraw from the Giro after testing positive for COVID-19. The Portuguese rider was fourth in the general classification after stage 17.

-Reuters