Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Holder's double hat-trick earns Windies T20 series win over England

Jason Holder shattered England's hopes of Twenty20 success with four wickets in the final four balls to lead the West Indies to a 17-run victory in Barbados and clinch a 3-2 series win over the tourists.

Holder bowled Saqib Mahmood to become only the fourth player to claim four wickets in four balls in T20 history having already secured the scalps of Chris Jordan, Sam Billings and Adil Rashid in consecutive balls.

"Classic finish," Holder said, according to cricinfo. "Not the best of starts but we werejust trying to stay in the game.

"People are seeing what I can do and giving me the responsibility. Every time I step on the field it's about what I can deliver for the team."

The West Indies had set England a target of 180 to win after hitting 179 for four, with captain Kieron Pollard top scoring for the hosts with 41 runs from 25 balls.

After losing Jason Roy with eight runs on the board, England steadied themselves as James Vince scored 55 before he was caught by Fabian Allen off Akeal Hosein's bowling.

Billings took up England's attempt to chase down the West Indies' total but, with Jordan caught by Hayden Walsh off Holder, the collapse began.

Billings fell next ball to the same combination while Rashid and Mahmood were soon on their way back to the pavilion as the West Indies clinched the series decider in emphatic style.

Wellington Phoenix women play Perth Glory tonight after Covid havoc

Wellington Phoenix women play Perth Glory tonight at Wanderers Football Park, Sydney, after the game was re-scheduled due to broadcast and venue availability.

With Covid-19 affecting the A-Leagues, the Phoenix's next two A-League women's games were re-scheduled within five days of each other.

With a challenging and fast turnaround between fixtures, the Phoenix play Melbourne Victory in Wollongong on Friday night.

Women's head coach Gemma Lewis is frustrated with the changes as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect sport.

"I've voiced my frustrations around it," Lewis said.

Meanwhile, the Wellington Phoneix men turn their attention back to the A-League after bowing out of the FFA Cup. The Phoenix play Macarthur Bulls at Campbelltown Stadium on Sunday night.

Mason Greenwood will not return to training until further notice

British police have arrested a man on suspicion of rape and assault, hours after Manchester United suspended footballer Mason Greenwood following online accusations that the 20-year-old had assaulted a woman.

Greater Manchester Police said in a statement that a man was arrested after social media images and videos were posted by a woman reporting incidents of physical violence.

"An investigation was launched and following enquiries we can confirm a man in his 20s has since been arrested on suspicion of rape and assault," the police said.

The man, who was not named but was described as in his 20s, was being held in custody for questioning, the police added.

The allegations against Greenwood, including video, photographs and a voice note, were posted on Instagram and later deleted.

"Mason Greenwood will not return to training or play matches until further notice," United said in a statement to Reuters.

The club earlier said that they "do not condone violence of any kind".

Greenwood has six goals and two assists in 24 matches in all competitions for United this season. He began his career at United's academy and has played once for the England national team.

-Reuters

Tasmania jump over Breakers

The Tasmania JackJumpers took full advantage of a New Zealand Breakers team playing their first game in a fortnight to deliver their most complete ever NBL performance in last night's 83-59 victory.

The Breakers were building some momentum winning two of their previous three matches before an enforced break. They made their return for a first game back in two weeks, but it would be fair to say they were slow out of the blocks.

The JackJumpers led by 26 points at one stage.

Yanni Wetzell delivered another strong showing for New Zealand continue his standout season with 15 points and four rebounds. Hugo Besson top-scored with 19 points including 5/10 from three-point range to go with eight rebounds as well.

Breakers coach Dan Shamir knows there might be reasons for his team's performance, but he didn't want to rest back on those.

"It's definitely a factor and we've seen more than one team struggling in their first game back, it's an unusual situation for everybody," Shamir said.

The Breakers remain bottom of the table with two wins from nine games.

Milers celebrate Snell anniversary

Julian Oakley and Laura Nagel have grabbed the national senior mile titles at the Cooks Classic on the 60th anniversary week of Sir Peter Snell's world mile record at Cooks Gardens.

The pair secured their second national titles in eight days after both triumphed in Hastings last weekend over 3000m with Oakley clocking a sub-four-minute mile time of 3:58.88 and Nagel smashing her eight-year PB and setting a championship record performance of 4:35.23.

While the milers claimed the spoils by grabbing the two national senior titles on offer at Cooks Gardens, Tokyo Olympians highjumper Hamish Kerr, shot-putter Tom Walsh and hammer-thrower Lauren Bruce all impressed in their respective events.

Bruce enjoyed a successful meet winning the women's hammer and women's shot while competing simultaneously in both events. The Oceania record-holder in the hammer bettered her stadium record in her speciality, tossing the implement out to a best of 72.05m.

Women's Ashes test drawn

England fell agonisingly short of a record target in test cricket after Australia staged a remarkable fightback to draw the one-off women's Ashes test at Canberra's Manuka Oval and take a 6-4 lead in the multi-format series.

Set 257 to win in 48 overs, the visitors had looked on their way to a famous victory on the back of a 52-run stand between Natalie Sciver (58) and Sophia Dunkley (45) before late strikes from Australia meant they finished on 245-9.

The chase would have needed them to beat the previous best of 198 set by Australia more than a decade ago.

On a final day that had its share of twists, England lost six wickets for 27 runs after Annabel Sutherland (3-69) and Alana King (2-39) turned the match in Australia's favour with half an hour to go.

The two sides next play a three-match one-day international series, which starts in Canberra on Thursday. England need to win all three games to regain the Ashes.

-Reuters

Winter Olympic media can sleep on the job

Journalists reporting on the Winter Olympics are being offered the chance to sleep on the job thanks to high tech cabins at the Beijing media centre.

The 20 Sleep Rest Cabins, developed by China's Keeson Technology Corp, allow reporters to pop in for a power nap of up to an hour with a simple scan of their mobile phone.

The spacious cabins contain the same bed Olympians are sleeping on in the Athletes' Village with the user able to adjust their position and with a remote control or mobile phone.

The beds, which also have a massage setting, are already attracting attention further afield.

American luger Summer Britcher this week took to social media to show off her bed, comparing it favourably with the cardboard beds used at last year's Tokyo Summer Games.

The cabins are available in the media centre which is located within the "closed loop" bubble that separates Olympic Games participants from the public, in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The Games open on Friday.

-Reuters