In today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - New Zealand has drawn 1-1 with Mexico in their opening game at the Fifa Under-20 women's World Cup in Costa Rica.

Mexico completed dominated the first 30 minutes of the match until New Zealand took a suprise lead when a Mexican defender deflected a Grace Wisnewski shot into her own goal.

Mexico then scored just before the break.

The second half was more even, although Mexico will feel they wasted a number of scoring chances.

Mexico had nine shots on goal compared to New Zealand's 2.

Earlier in the same group Colombia beat Germany 1-nil.

New Zealand's next game is against Germany on Sunday morning.

Kerr third in Diamond League meeting

Commonwealth Games high jump champion Hamish Kerr has finished third in the latest Diamond League athletics meeting in Monaco.

Kerr cleared 2.25 metres, the same height in won with in Birmingham

However the New Zealander failed in his three attempts at 2.28 metres.

He picks up $5,500 for third place.

Olympic and world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar won with a height of 2.30 metres.

World championship silver medalist Sanghyeok Woo of South Korea was second.

Kerr is now sixth in the Diamond League standings.

There is one more qualifying meeting remaining with the top six then moving onto the finals in Zurich in September.

Defending NBL champions beaten

The Auckland Tuatara and Otago Nuggets have won their preliminary play-off games to move into the men's National Basketball League semi-finals.

With Rob Loe scoring 24 points and grabbing ten rebounds the Tuatara beat defending champions, Wellington Saints 92-87 in Auckland.

After a poor start to the season, Saints entered the play-offs with seven wins from their last eight games.

Otago beat Hawke's Bay 91-80 in the other preliminary final.

The Tuatara now meet top seeds Taranaki in the first semi-final tonight.

Otago meet the Nelson Giants in the other semi-final tomorrow night.

World Cup to start earlier

The World Cup is set to start one day earlier than planned on Sunday, 20 November with hosts Qatar taking on Ecuador.

The Group A opener was due to be played on 21 November, as the third match of the competition.

The opening match of the tournament was to be Senegal against the Netherlands earlier on the 21st.

However, the administrative arm of world governing body Fifa has submitted a proposal to move the Qatar game.

It followed discussions with Qatar and their opponents Ecuador, after receiving a request from the South American confederation Conmebol.

It fits in with the tradition of either the hosts or the holders being involved in the opening match.

The final decision will be made by the bureau of the Fifa council, which comprises the six confederation presidents, plus Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

-Reuters

Auckland remain unbeaten

Auckland has beaten Manawatu 45-18 in their NPC rugby game in Palmerston North.

Auckland scored six tries to two and led 24-11 at half time.

It is a second straight win for Auckland and a second straight loss for Manawatu.

Neesham to play in South Africa

All rounder Jimmy Neesham is the only New Zealander named among 30 marquee players for Cricket South Africa's new T20 league.

The League is in January and February next year.

The timing isn't good for other New Zealanders to take part with the Black Caps scheduled to play in Pakistan and India in January before taking on England at home in February.

Neesham is slated to earn $300,000.

The top paid players in the league, Englishmen Liam Livingstone and Jos Buttler have salaries of $770,000.

Australian cricket captain to take time off.

Australia's World Cup-winning cricket captain Meg Lanning is taking an indefinite break from the game for personal reasons.

The 30-year-old's decision means that she will miss the upcoming edition of The Hundred, where she was due to represent the Trent Rockets.

Lanning captained Australia to the Commonwealth Games gold medal this week as they beat India in the final in Birmingham.

She also guided the team to back-to-back Twenty20 World Cups in 2018 and 2020 and the 50-overs World Cup this year.

"After a busy couple of years, I've made the decision take a step back to enable me to spend time focusing on myself," Lanning, Australia's most capped women's player, said in a statement.

CA said it would continue to back Lanning, with a decision on her participation in the upcoming Australian domestic summer to be made in due course.

Lanning also won the T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2014 and has been named the International Cricket Council's Women's Cricketer of the year in ODI (2015) and T20 (2014) cricket.

-Reuters

Boks lose hooker for second test

South Africa will start with hooker Joseph Dweba in this weekend's second Rugby Championship fixture against the All Blacks after Bongi Mbonambi withdrew from the side with a knee injury picked up in training.

The severity of the injury is not yet known but Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says that, rather than wait on the outcome of scans, they have decided to draft Dweba in for his third test cap.

Nienaber has resisted the temptation to include Malcolm Marx, who was man of the match in the 26-10 victory over the All Blacks in Mbombela last weekend, from the start and he remains among the replacements.

The All Blacks name their team tonight.

-Reuters

Fury wants to fight Chisora again

Heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury says he is coming back to boxing with a new trainer and wants to complete a trilogy against fellow-Briton Derek Chisora.

The WBC champion said in April, after beating compatriot Dillian Whyte at Wembley stadium, that he had promised his wife he would retire.

"I've decided to come back to boxing because I can be the first heavyweight champion in history to have two trilogies, one with Deontay Wilder and a second one with Derek Chisora," Fury said on Instagram.

"I always said I'd fight Derek Chisora at the end of my career and here we are breaking all records again and setting precedents."

Undefeated Fury drew his first fight with Wilder for the WBC title in 2018 but beat the American in rematches in 2020 and 2021. He beat Chisora in 2011 and 2014.

Chisora is now 38 and had looked to be in the twilight of his career until he beat Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev on a split decision in London last month for the vacant WBA International title, a belt well below a world title.

Fury, 33, will also be waiting on the outcome of a rematch between compatriot Anthony Joshua and Ukraine's WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO champion Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia next week.

The WBC champion said last month he would be willing to fight Joshua in England provided the bout was free to watch and attend.

-Reuters

Ireland bans transgender women

The Irish Rugby Football Union will ban transgender women from female contact rugby competitions for the upcoming season after carrying out a review of its transgender policy.

The IRFU said the decision was based on medical and scientific evidence and is in line with World Rugby guidance. From this season, only players recorded as female at birth will be allowed to play contact rugby in the women's category.

The change in policy will affect two registered players in the country. The IRFU said it has held discussions with them to provide options for remaining active in the sport, such as in tag or touch rugby, refereeing, coaching, and volunteering.

Transgender players whose sex recorded at birth is female can continue to compete in the male category if they provide written consent and a risk assessment is carried out, the IRFU added.

World Rugby last year banned transgender players from competing at the elite level of the women's game, citing safety concerns.

-Reuters