Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - A solo break just before the halfway point of the third stage has given Christchurch rider Campbell Pithie victory in stage three of the Tour of Southland.

Fellow Cantabrian and two time winner Michael Vink retains the tour leader's yellow jersey, finishing in the peleton on the 148km stage from Riverton to Te Anau.

Pithie set off on his solo break just before the midpoint of the 142km ride from Riverton to Te Anau holding off the chasing pack comfortably into the lakefront finish.

Pithie started the stage almost seven minutes behind tour leader Michael Vink and went on to win the stage by just over a minute from Campbell Stewart and Sam Ritchie.

Two time winner Vink had a relaxed finish protected by his team mates in the main bunch and retaining the yellow jersey heading into tomorrow's 108km stage from Mossburn to Queenstown, which finishes with a 6km climb up the Remarkables.

Vink, has a 34 second overall lead over second place Logan Currie with Campbell Stewart third.

England on track for T20 World Cup semi-finals

Twenty20 World Cup favourites England effectively sealed a place in the semi-finals after Jos Buttler's century fashioned a 26-run victory against Sri Lanka in their Group I match on Monday.

Put in to bat, England's batting looked under pressure for the first time in the tournament but Buttler's unbeaten 101 off 67 balls fired them to a strong 163-4.

Sri Lanka were 137 all out in 19 overs, threatening to pull off an upset at one stage, but Eoin Morgan's team went on to notch up their fourth victory in as many matches to consolidate their position as group leaders.

Former champions England are bidding to become the first team to hold the 20-overs and 50-overs World Cups at the same time.

England have won four from four to have eight points.

South Africa and Australia have four points from three games.

-Reuters

Alpine skiers selected for Winter Paralympics

The two-time Paralympic gold medallist Adam Hall will attend his fifth successive Winter Games in Beijing.

Hall and fellow alpine skiers Corey Peters and Aaron Ewen have all been confirmed in the New Zealand team for next year's event in the Chinese capital.

A two-time Paralympic medallist, Peters will be competing at his third Games, while Ewen is attending his first after being forced out the 2018 Games in PyeonChang by injury.

Hall, who gold in the slalom standing and bronze in the Super G standing at PyeonChang, was looking forward to competing on one of the steepest racetracks in the world in Beijing.

"There's been a lot of talk about the course in Beijing. The course will really challenge athletes and their abilities.

"That's to my advantage - I love to pit myself against difficult tracks; it's more fun than a plain sailing track that everyone is equally capable of completing."

Sit-skier Ewen suffered a fractured hip while training in the lead up to the 2018 Paralympics but made a successful comeback in 2019.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time," he said.

"I can't wait to get to Beijing and know I've finally made it to the Winter Paralympics."

The New Zealand Winter Paralympic Team was set depart the country later this month for the northern hemisphere competitions in Canada and Europe.

Spurs sack Santo

Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Nuno Espirito Santo, after a 3-0 home loss to Manchester United at the weekend left the London side eighth in the table.

Spurs had topped the Premier League standings in August after winning their opening three games but lost for the fifth time in the league to now sit 10 points behind leaders Chelsea.

Nuno's coaching staff have also been relieved of their duties. The club have not yet announced a replacement.

Nuno was appointed as Jose Mourinho's permanent replacement on a two-year deal in the close season after impressing during his four campaigns at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Spurs are in advanced negotiations with former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte about becoming their new manager.

Conte, 52, left Inter Milan in May just weeks after winning Serie A.

The Italian won the Premier League and FA Cup at Chelsea but was sacked in July 2018 after a disappointing second year in charge.

-Reuters/BBC

Batters excel in Plunket Shield

Veteran Otago batsman Hamish Rutherford scored his 16th first class century and fellow opener Mitch Renwick his second to help their side to 223 without loss heading into the third day of their Plunket Shield game at University Oval.

That is in reply to Central's first innings of 394.

Rutherford is on 118 and Renwick 100.

Meanwhile in the capital, Canterbury's Cam Fletcher scored his sixth first-class century to help his side through to 379 for nine.

In reply Wellington are 135 for seven.

Canterbury paceman Fraser Sheat is sitting on figures of 3-18.

Vink leads down south

Two-time champion Michael Vink will take a 12 second lead into today's third stage of the Tour of Southland.

The Cantabrian won yesterday's 172km stage from Invercargill to Lumsden which featured two gravel sections for the first time.

Vink's mountainbiking background was a bonus during the gravel beats, the second of which was a 5km grind up the Glenure hill, but it was his time trial ability which came to the fore as he attacked from the front group into a block head win over the final 15km into Lumsden.

Vink, who finally broke through to win Southland crowns in 2018 and 2019 was comfortable with the responsibility of wearing the yellow jersey for today's 148km stage three from Riverton to Te Anau.

He has a 12sec lead over Logan Currie, with Keegan Hornblow at 22sec and Campbell Stewart at 29sec.

"Any time you can take the yellow is a good thing, especially in this race. It's so windy and tough that I like to be on the front and have the boys on the front anyway," he said.

Jones rejects criticism

England coach Eddie Jones said he has always tried to be a "reasonable person" amid criticism of his coaching methods and the high turnover rate of backroom staff.

A report in The Times said a former England player described Jones as "brutal, rude, aggressive" while a former employee said the Australian's behaviour was "belittling".

Several backroom staff have quit the coaching team in recent years including John Mitchell, who had extended his contract until the 2023 World Cup earlier this year but left in July to join Premiership side Wasps after a fallout with Jones.

"These things happen, everyone has an opinion on how you operate. I can't say it's right or wrong, I try to be a reasonable person," Jones told BT Sport.

"I've coached for a fair period of time and there have probably been times when I haven't been as nice as I'd like to be. But I endeavour to be fair all the time and I'm excited where this team is going to go.

"Has there been a high turnover of staff? There's been certain areas where we've looked to refresh the staff. This is my sixth year in the job and you would expect that. We have got a very good staff and we appreciate their hard work."

England, who finished fifth at the Six Nations this year, are preparing for November internationals against Tonga at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday followed by Australia and South Africa.

-Reuters

F1 sprint races popular

Every Formula One grand prix promoter wants to hold a sprint race but only six are likely next season after the experiment of three this year, F1's motorsport head Ross Brawn said.

Next year's F1 calendar is due to feature a record 23 rounds.

Britain's Silverstone, Italy's Monza and Brazil's Interlagos were the circuits chosen to try the format this year and Brawn, speaking to reporters by video conference, did not say which would get the nod in 2022.

Further talks with teams and stakeholders will be held after this month's Brazilian Grand Prix, the final stage of the evaluation process.

"We've in principle agreed with the teams that we will look toward six (sprint) events for next year," said Brawn. "Our view is that we should take some progressive steps for next year but not radical steps.

"That's partly because we have the new car coming along and everyone needs to settle down with the new car ... we need to see the impact of the new car."

Formula One is undergoing major changes next year with larger tyres and a rules overhaul aimed at making overtaking easier and racing closer and more entertaining.

The sprint format features qualifying brought forward to the Friday, after one practice session, for a Saturday 100km race that then decides the starting grid for Sunday's main event.

-Reuters

Female handball players can wear shorts

The International Handball Federation has changed its rules regarding women's uniforms to allow beach handball players to wear shorts instead of bikini bottoms following complaints that the previous regulations were sexist.

Norway's beach handball team were fined $3,000 by the European Handball Federation in July for being "improperly dressed" after the women wore shorts instead of bikini bottoms at the European championship.

Norway's sports minister Abid Raja said the situation was "completely ridiculous" and that attitudes needed to change, while U.S. singer Pink said she was proud of the team and also offered to pay the fines.

Ministers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden asked the IHF in September to review its uniform rules "in accordance with gender equality".

Male athletes are allowed to wear shorts that are "not too baggy" but must remain 10 centimetres above the kneecap.

-Reuters