Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Black Caps captain Kane Williamson remains on baby watch and at this stage remains on track to play for the Black Caps in the T20 series against Pakistan.

Williamson missed the second Test win over the West Indies to be with his wife in Tauranga.

Coach Gary Stead says the pair are still awaiting the arrival of their first child and the plan is that he will turnout for the second and third T20's on Sunday and Tuesday.

Meanwhile all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme will not be available for the two Tests against Pakistan after Christmas because of a stress injury in his right foot.

Stead hopes he'll be back playing in the Super Smash T20 competition in mid-January.

Ko falls out of top ten

New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko has finished tied for 13th at the US Open in Texas.

In the weather delayed final round, Ko fired a disappointing five over par 76.

She finished eight shots behind winner A Lim Kim of South Korea.

Just three players broke par in the final round.

In the other Majors played this year Ko finished sixth at the ANA Inspiration, 14th at the British Open and 18th at the PGA Championship.

She has four top ten finishes at LPGA events this year.

Cleveland drop nickname for baseball team

Major League Baseball's Cleveland team will drop the "Indians" name, after persistent criticism that it was offensive to Native Americans, but will continue to use it during the 2021 season.

The Cleveland team said in a statement it would begin the process of "determining a new, non-Native American based name for the franchise" 105 years after its institution, citing a desire to unify its community.

The announcement comes amid a nationwide reckoning over racial inequality in the United States that prompted the National Football League's Washington franchise to drop the "Redskins" team name in July after 87 years.

Cleveland did not specify a timeline for rolling out a new name, which they described as a "multi-phase process," but the earliest that the "Indians" name would be dropped is the 2022 season.

In the US, teams including the National Hockey League's (NHL) Chicago Blackhawks and MLB's Atlanta Braves have previously stated no intention to alter their names.

-Reuters

Robinson crashes out

The Queenstown skier Alice Robinson has failed to finish the second World Cup Giant Slalom round in France.

Robinson fell at the penultimate gate of the first run at Courchevel.

The race was won by American Mikaela Shiffrin, her first victory since January and her first since the death of her father

It was Shiffrin's 67th victory - tying for third on the all-time list.

It was an unfortunate result for Robinson as her coach Chris Knight was given the historic opportunity of setting the course for the first run.

The 19 year old also had a DNF in the first race in France over the weekend.

Barca to meet PSG in last 16

Barcelona will face Paris St Germain and former striker Neymar while title holders Bayern Munich are up against Italy's Lazio in the last 16 of the Champions League after UEFA made the draw.

The clash of Lionel Messi and Barca with last year's runners-up PSG is a repeat of their remarkable meeting at the same stage in 2017 when Barca overcame a 4-0 first leg loss to beat the French club 6-1 in Spain.

Bayern will start as favourites in their tie but will be wary of Simone Inzaghi's Lazio team who have reached this stage for the first time in 20 years.

Premier League champions Liverpool will play last year's semi-finalists RB Leipzig creating a match-up between Germany's most highly rated young coach Julian Nagelsmann of Leipzig with Liverpool's Juergen Klopp, the country's number one coach.

Real Madrid face Serie A club Atalanta while Atletico Madrid will face Chelsea and Manchester City will take on Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are in the last 16 for the first time in the Champions League era.

Italian champions Juventus will face Porto, a game where Cristiano Ronaldo will return to his homeland Portugal.

-Reuters

Ravindra impresses for NZ A

The young Wellington cricketer Rachin Ravindra completed an impressive match against West Indies A in Nelson.

The 21 year old all-rounder scored a century in the first innings and then took a career-best six wickets for 89 runs in the West Indies second innings.

Touted for the past two years as a star on the rise, off-spinning allrounder Ravindra helped New Zealand A to a 101-run victory.

Ravindra's all-round double act was the first in New Zealand first-class cricket since October 2016 when his Wellington Firebirds teammate - then playing for Canterbury - Logan van Beek scored an unbeaten 111* and took 6-57 against the Otago Volts in the Plunket Shield at Hagley Oval.

Former Reds boss dies

Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has died at the age of 73.

The Frenchman managed the Reds from 1998-2004 and led them to five major trophies, including the FA Cup, League Cup and Uefa Cup treble in 2000-01.

Prior to Liverpool, Houllier managed Lens, Paris St-Germain and the French national team, and after leaving the Reds won two Ligue 1 titles at Lyon.

His last managerial job was at Aston Villa, but he left in 2011 after nine months, following heart problems.

Houllier made his managerial name with Lens and PSG in the 1980s before taking over the French national side in 1992.

However, after Les Bleus failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals - with Houllier blaming a mistake from winger David Ginola for their exit - he resigned from the role.

In 1998, he moved to England and took charge of Liverpool as joint manager alongside Roy Evans.

-BBC

Fever fined for salary cap breaches

The Australian Super League netball team, the West Coast Fever, have been fined $300,000 and will have points deducted for breaching salary cap rules the last two years.

The league's investigation into the various breaches found that the Fever's undisclosed contracts involved payments above the approved Super Netball League Total Player Payment cap.

The West Coast Fever made payments of $127,954 above the Total Player Payment cap in 2018 (19.7% above cap) and payments of $168,659 above the cap in 2019 (25.3% above cap).

The investigation also found no evidence that any West Coast Fever players were aware of the breaches and no current coaches were involved in signing players or organising payments through undisclosed contracts.

Half of the fine is suspended fine, while the Fever will lose 12 Premiership points next year.

-Netball Australia

Former Bok winger banned for four years

South Africa rugby wing Aphiwe Dyantyi has been handed a four-year ban for doping after failing to prove that he took multiple performance-enhancing drugs in error.

Dyantyi, 26, tested positive for metandienone, methyltestosterone and LGD-4033 while in camp with the Springboks last July and pleaded guilty to a doping charge, though he insisted he unknowingly ingested the substances while drinking from a friend's water bottle at the gym.

"The three-person panel accepted the guilty plea of the athlete to the doping charge. They found that the athlete had failed to satisfy the burden of proof to establish that his positive dope test was not intentional," the South African institute for Drug-Free Sport said in a statement.

The wing made his international debut against England two years ago and played 13 tests for the Boks, scoring six tries, leading to him being named World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2018.

His ban comes a month after former Bok hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle lost an appeal against an eight-year ban for doping.

-Reuters

Federer in doubt for Melbourne

Roger Federer said his recovery from two surgeries on his left knee earlier this year has taken longer than expected and he is unsure whether he will be ready for the Australian Open.

Federer, who turns 40 in August next year, has not played a competitive match since losing to Novak Djokovic in this season's semi-finals at Melbourne Park.

The winner of 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a record he shares with Rafa Nadal, said in October he was practising pain-free and expected to return to the circuit at the first Grand Slam of the year.

"I would have hoped that I would be 100% in October. But I am still not today. It will be tight for the Australian Open," local media quoted Federer as saying.

The Australian Open is scheduled for Jan. 18-31 but there have been reports it could be pushed back to a Feb. 8-21 window due to COVID-19 protocols.

Even with a three-week delay it might not be enough for Federer, who has won the Australian Open six times.

-Reuters