Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - All Whites captain Winston Reid is moving to English Championship side Brentford on loan for the rest of the season.

The West Ham United centre-back could make his Brentford debut this week against Bristol City.

32 year old Reid hasn't played for West Ham since March 2018 and recently returned from a loan spell at Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer where he made 12 appearances during their run to the play-offs.

"With his quality, personality and experience, we know he will do a great job for us over the next few months," Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said.

Brentford are currently third in the Championship and on an unbeaten run of 18 league matches after their 7-2 home win against Wycombe at the weekend.

-BBC

Hearts remain in contention

The Auckland women's cricketers beat Otago by 27 runs to stay in the contention for the top qualifier spot in the domestic T20 Super Smash competition.

Anna Peterson hit 31 runs and then took three wickets as Auckland beat Otago by 27 runs.

Auckland are level on points with Canterbury and two behind leaders Wellington with one round to play.

The team that finishes first gets direct entry to the grand final.

Earlier, the Auckland men crushed Otago by 106 runs in their dead rubber, with both teams out of finals contention.

Otago were dismissed for 80 in thewir chase for 184 with just two players reaching double figures.

England cricketers set to train ahead of first Test

England's cricketers have been cleared to leave quarantine in India after the squad returned negative Covid-19 test results.

The full group will now be able to train together for the first time since arriving from Sri Lanka tomorrow.

Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns have already begun training, having arrived in India separately after missing the Sri Lanka series.

The first Test of the four-match series begins in Chennai on Friday.

Meanwhile the BCCI says they hope to have 50 percent capacity at the MA Chidambaram Stadium this week.

-BBC

Serena returns to tennis

Serena Williams showed no signs of rust as she began her tennis season with a comfortable 6-1 6-4 win over Daria Gavrilova in Melbourne to reach the Yarra Valley Classic round of 16.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion, who is warming up for the Australian Open, was at her dominant best after a slow start in which she saved four break points in the opening game of the contest at Margaret Court Arena.

Former world number one Williams has not played since withdrawing from last year's French Open second round in September with an Achilles injury, but made quick work of Gavrilova, striking 27 winners including 16 in the opening set.

"It feels good to be back here," the 39-year-old Williams, who is chasing a record-equalling 24th major, said in an on-court interview. "I felt I was definitely composed and in a zone and trying to do the things I've been working on."

Up next for Williams is Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, who she was due to face at Roland Garros before her injury.

The tournament is one of six arranged by Tennis Australia before the Australian Open, which begins next Monday.

-Reuters

Neymar wants Mbappe to stay at PSG

Paris St Germain forward Neymar said he wants to remain at the Ligue 1 champions and hopes Kylian Mbappe will also pledge his future to the club.

Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona in 2017 for a world record fee of $374 million euros ($269.26 million) but Spanish media have frequently linked the 28-year-old with a switch back to the Catalan side.

Mbappe has 18 months remaining on his contract in Paris and new manager Mauricio Pochettino has played down reports the French forward could be on the move to Real Madrid.

"I'm very happy today. Things have changed a lot, I can't exactly explain why - if it's just me, or something else has changed," Neymar, whose contract expires in June 2022, told French television channel TF1.

"I have adapted. I feel calmer and I'm very happy here. I want to stay at PSG and I hope Kylian will stay too. Of course, that's the wish of every PSG supporter... With Kylian, we have a relationship of brothers ... We really like to play together.

"We want PSG to be a great team and I want to continue doing what I've done every day in Paris -- play football and be happy. That's the most important thing."

PSG are third in Ligue 1, three points behind leaders Lille.

-Reuters

Bergkamp signs with Watford

The English Championship football club Watford have signed Mitchel Bergkamp, son of Arsenal great Dennis, on an initial six-month contract.

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder, who has been a free agent since leaving second-tier Dutch outfit Almere City last year, followed the footsteps of his father by moving to England earlier this year.

Mitchel's father Dennis won seven major trophies during his 11-year spell with Arsenal, including the "Invincibles" Premier League campaign of 2003-04.

Watford said they have an option to extend Mitchel's contract if he enjoys a successful spell with the club's Under-23 squad.

-Reuters

Italy investigates Zlatan-Romelu incident

Italy's football federation has opened an investigation into the verbal clash between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku during last week's Coppa Italia quarter-final.

The pair, former team mates at Manchester United, had to be restrained as the players left the pitch at the end of the first half, with Inter Milan's Lukaku seemingly incensed by something AC Milan's Ibrahimovic said.

The BBC reported that a pitchside microphone had picked up Ibrahimovic saying "go do your voodoo" to Lukaku, an apparent reference to 2018 comments from Everton owner Farhad Moshiri that the Belgian turned down an offer to stay in Merseyside on the advice of a "voodoo message".

Ibrahimovic defended himself on Twitter, but the FIGC will look into the incident further.

The referee cautioned the duo for the clash before giving Ibrahimovic another yellow card and a red after the restart for a foul on Aleksandar Kolarov. AC Milan went on to lose 2-1.

Both players were given one-match suspensions by the league judge on Friday.

-Reuters