Sports
Stokes blow compounds England slide towards defeat
Third Test, Hamilton (day three of five)
New Zealand 347 (Santner 76; Potts 4-90) & 453 (Williamson 156, Young 60, Mitchell 60)
England 143 (Henry 4-48, Santner 3-7, O’Rourke 3-33) & 18-2
England need 640 runs to win
Scorecard
England’s slide towards a massive defeat in the third Test against New Zealand was compounded by a concerning recurrence of Ben Stokes’ hamstring injury.
Stokes was in visible distress as he left the field clutching the same left hamstring he injured in August, subsequently missing four Tests.
The captain was bowling his third over of the third day, midway through the afternoon session. He pulled up in the follow-through of his second delivery, went straight to the dressing room and did not return for the remainder of the New Zealand second innings. The all-rounder will have a scan overnight.
Even before Stokes was injured, England were staring down the barrel as an inevitable Kane Williamson century built New Zealand’s monstrous lead.
After rain delayed play by two and a half hours, Williamson moved to 156. He added 107 with Rachin Ravindra, who made 44, and another 92 with Daryl Mitchell, who helped himself to 60.
When New Zealand were finally bowled out for 453, England’s target was a world-record and improbable 658.
England were left six overs to bat, in which time Ben Duckett played an awful hack to drag on off the retiring Tim Southee and Zak Crawley was lbw to his tormentor Matt Henry.
The tourists will resume on 18-2 when play gets under way at the earlier time of 10:30 (21:30 GMT Monday) on day four.
Dry weather is forecast for days four and five, giving New Zealand plenty of time to salvage a consolation victory from a series England have already won.
For England, the bigger worry is Stokes’ fitness.
Sports
Havertz online abuse has terrible consequences – Arteta
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the online abuse of striker Kai Havertz and his wife has “terrible consequences” and needs to be “eradicated from the game”.
Havertz was criticised for his performance in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Manchester United, after he missed a glorious chance to win the game in normal time and then had his penalty saved in the shootout as United won 5-3 on penalties following the 1-1 draw.
The German’s wife Sophia shared screenshots of the “shocking” abuse she received on social media amid the game, including threats to the couple’s unborn child.
Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with a specialist data firm to identify the culprits, but Arteta says more must be done as he spoke before Wednesday’s north London derby against Tottenham.
“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.
“It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action.
“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective?
“We are all responsible. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.
“We can accept it and say ‘that’s our job’, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football.
“What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”
Meta, who own Instagram, removed the content for violating its policies.
Sports
I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team – Klopp
Jurgen Klopp says he has made a “clear commitment” that he will not become manager at one of the Red Bull clubs after starting his role as the organisation’s head of global soccer.
The former Liverpool manager was named in the role last year before officially starting at the beginning of 2025.
He has not had a managerial role since leaving Anfield last summer following a highly-successful nine year spell.
Klopp’s new role sees him take more of an oversight role across a number of clubs including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.
But when asked at a media conference on Tuesday whether he might be tempted back into day-to-day management if a role at one of the clubs becomes available, Klopp said emphatically said “no”.
“I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team,” he said. “That is a clear commitment. As much as you can give a guarantee, I will not be a coach at all.
“I am probably the only person in this room who will be asked where are you in five years, I don’t have a clue.
“But I will not be a replacement of one of the Red Bull coaches.
Sports
Rising star Fonseca knocks out ninth seed Rublev
Joao Fonseca had a Grand Slam debut to remember as he knocked out ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open.
The 18-year-old Brazilian thrilled the crowd as he caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory against Rublev.
Fonseca was playing in his first main-draw match at a major, having come through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set in Melbourne last week.
The victory extends his winning streak to 14 matches – but who is tennis’ latest rising star?
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