UFC Perth: Navajo Stirling to fight Rodolfo Bellato as first bouts confirmed for UFC's return Downunder
For rising Kiwi UFC star Navajo Stirling, the plan for the rest of 2025 is as simple as that.
The 27-year-old undefeated light heavyweight (7-0) will make his return to the octagon in September, taking on Brazilian Rodolfo Bellato (12-2-1)
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NZ Herald
3 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Formula 1: Liam Lawson outside top 10 in both Friday practice sessions for Hungarian Grand Prix
Alex Powell and Bonnie Jansen discuss how Liam Lawson has fared and what he needs to do to secure a seat next season. Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Liam Lawson will be hoping his times in Friday practice for Formula One's Hungarian Grand Prix aren't a sign of things to come, as the Kiwi sat outside the top 10 in both sessions. Fresh from eighth at last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix - his third points finish in his last six races - Lawson could only manage 14th in Free Practice One (FP1), and 15th in Free Practice Two (FP2), on the first day at the Hungaroring. However, considering teams and drivers tend to spend Friday doing more than just setting the fastest times, Lawson was able to log 58 laps across both sessions, and completed stints on all three tyre compounds. But while 14th and 15th placings aren't much to write home about, Lawson's displays saw him just 0.226s off the top 10 in FP1, and 0.292s outside in FP1. Lawson's best lap time of the day, 1m 16.812s, was 1.188s off that of McLaren's Lando Norris, who topped both FP1 and FP2, with his mark of 1m 15.624s. Norris' best time was 0.291s quicker than his teammate, championship leader Oscar Piastri.
NZ Herald
6 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Black Caps v Zimbabwe result: Matt Henry takes nine wickets as New Zealand claim victory inside three days
In his first bow as New Zealand test captain, Mitchell Santner topped New Zealand's bowling figures with 4/27, and continued to showcase his worth as a test spinner since returning to the side during the Black Caps' 3-0 series win over India last year. And while he didn't take the field after lunch, O'Rourke also impressed with figures of 3/28, made up of three of Zimbabwe's top four, by showing an un-Kiwi hostility with ball in hand. For all the success that short-pitched bowling brought on day two, O'Rourke going full yielded the first wicket of the morning, when he drew Nick Welch's edge through to Tom Blundell for four, after Zimbabwe had added just three runs to their overnight total at 34/3. Nightwatchman Vincent Masekesa made a nuisance of himself and ate up 40 balls for his two runs, before he too fell to O'Rourke, as a bouncer took the glove and carried to Rachin Ravindra diving forward at short leg. At 53/4, Zimbabwe's two senior batters - Sean Williams and captain Craig Ervine - came together, and at the very least reduced the deficit to less than 100 runs, as they saw off the opening spells of O'Rourke and Henry. Smith's absence left the Black Caps with a serious hole in the bowling attack, which had to be filled by the part-time seamers of Daryl Mitchell, and the less-than-effective spin of Michael Bracewell. A paddle-sweep for four by Ervine not only raised the fifty stand with Williams, but took Zimbabwe's score past 100, as New Zealand's lead slowly trickled away. But having held himself back all morning, Santner's introduction earned the breakthrough, as Williams was strangled down leg and caught by Blundell, one short of a half-century, ending the partnership on 57, and leaving Zimbabwe 110/5 before the collapse. With the loss of his partner, Ervine fell in the next over when he edged Henry behind to Blundell for 22, with the hosts still 48 runs in arrears, as lunch arrived at 114/6. After the break, though, any chances for the Black Caps to strike ultimately went against them. Wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga was given a life on one after the break, when he was put down by Bracewell off Henry, before an LBW shout against Sikanda Raza was turned down by the umpire. However, Zimbabwe could only keep Henry out for so long, and Raza's skyward pull shot was accepted by Ravindra at midwicket at 119/7, leaving the hosts out of recognised batters. At the other end, Santner produced a classic spinner's dismissal, as a ball from around the wicket straightened past the outside edge of Newman Nyamhuri (one), and crashed into off-stump, and left the Black Caps two wickets away from an innings victory. But having bowled 11 consecutive overs either side of lunch, Henry was given a rest, and Zimbabwe were able to take the test into a fourth innings. Batting at No 10, Blessing Muzarabani took the attack to the spinners, notably Bracewell, as back-to-back boundaries cut the lead to single figures, as Tsiga hammered four past long-on to condemn the Black Caps to batting again. Having dropped Muzarabani on seven, sub fielder Ajaz Patel atoned to take the ninth wicket with a catch at cover, as Zimbabwe frustrated the depleted Kiwi attack. After surviving for an innings-high 83 deliveries, Tsiga finally fell to give Santner his fourth, as Zimbabwe's innings was wrapped up for 165. Needing just single figures to take the first test, a pull shot from Conway wiped off half of the target in one go, before he dragged Nyamhuri (1/x) onto middle stump, before Henry Nicholls pulled through midwicket to complete the victory. New Zealand, though, will now use the two days extra rest to count the cost of their win, given the injury clouds over Smith and O'Rourke. The second and final test begins at the same venue on August 7. Zimbabwe 149 & 165 (Santner 4/27; Williams 49) New Zealand 307 & 8/1 (Nicholls 4*, Conway 4; Nyamhuri 1/8)
NZ Herald
12 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Black Caps v Zimbabwe: Live updates as New Zealand look to wrap up first test on day three
All the action from day three of the first test between the Black Caps and Zimbabwe, from Bulawayo Mitchell, bowlers put Black Caps in driver's seat for victory over Zimbabwe The Black Caps won't be entirely content with their batting performance on the second day of the first test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. But having overcome a collapse of 5/42 to make 307, take a 158-run advantage, and limit Zimbabwe to 31/2 in their second innings, New Zealand will enter day three as the happier of the two sides, still in front by 127. A 61-run partnership between Daryl Mitchell (80) and Nathan Smith (22) carried New Zealand's advantage into triple figures, having been united at 233/7. Mitchell was by far the best of the Kiwi batters on day two, with 54 of his 80 runs coming between the wickets, and having to play the anchor role as wickets fell around him. Smith, meanwhile, further showcased his value to New Zealand's lower order, with his innings coming after a bowling haul of 3/20 on day one. The only negative, though, came as the 27-year-old was forced from the field late in the day, after copping a barrage of short-pitched bowling that hit on the arm and the body more than once. Smith played no further part in the day with a suspected abdominal strain, and will be assessed overnight in regards to his involvement in the rest of the test. Faced with a deficit of more than they managed to score in the first innings, though, Zimbabwe lost both openers, and needing more than 100 runs to even make the Black Caps bat again, day three looms as a decisive one if the hosts are to avoid another heavy defeat in their home climes. Having bowled Zimbabwe out on day one, and responding with an unbeaten 92-run stand between openers Will Young (41) and Devon Conway (88), a procession looked in order for the Black Caps to take the first test. And yet, as New Zealand slipped from 158/1 to 200/6 shortly after lunch, the hosts exposed a lineup showing rust in its first outing since December last year, notably with more than half of the Black Caps batters falling to short-pitched deliveries. From the first ball of the day, where Young was caught at short leg off Blessing Muzarabani (3/73), the Black Caps' middle order couldn't build partnerships, with the only exception being a 66-run stand between Henry Nicholls and Conway. Playing his first test since December 2023, Nicholls looked fluent batting at No 3 in Kane Williamson's absence, until he needlessly cut Muzarabani to Brian Bennett at gully to end his stay for 34. That dismissal triggered a middle order wobble that put paid to any hopes of a Kiwi walkover. Zimbabwe continued to strike on the other side of lunch too; Rachin Ravindra came and went for just two when he edged Sikandar Raza to Craig Ervine at slip, before the big fish fell. At the start of the second session, Conway failed to turn his fifty into a first test hundred since January 2023, when he too was caught by Bennett at gully, this time off Tanaka Chivanga (2/51). Given Conway's struggle for form in test cricket over the past 18 months, though, walking with a 170-ball 88 is definitely a platform the left-hander can build on. Chivanga wasn't done either, and also had Tom Blundell (2) caught at deep square leg, before Muzarabani returned to end Michael Bracewell's (9) innings on his return to test cricket when his top-edged pull was snared by Tafadzwa Tsiga behind the stumps. And just as it looked as though Mitchell Santner had stemmed the flow of wickets, the captain returned a simple caught-and-bowled chance to Vincent Masekesa, and was sent on his way for 19 at 233/7. Amid the falling wickets Mitchell remained to take New Zealand's lead over 100, and guided the Black Caps to 254/7 at tea, before reaching his fifty to start the final session with a cut that evaded point. Mitchell found a valuable ally in Smith, who wore blows to the arm and the body with the new ball, as Zimbabwe's fast bowlers went short at the burgeoning all-rounder. Even as he and Mitchell raised their 50-partnership, though, Smith copping hit after hit from the seamers saw him needing treatment from the New Zealand physio in the final hour, before he was forced to retire hurt at 294/7. And while Zimbabwe's short-pitched ploy worked against Smith, Mitchell didn't allow the same results, as he sent Newman Nyamhuri high over deep backward square for the first six of the match. But with Smith unavailable, and Henry out for five when he was bowled by an arm ball from Sean Williams, Mitchell's innings came to an end on 80, when he too lost his stumps looking to force the pace with only No 11 Will O'Rourke for company. With such a significant advantage, Henry (1/11) and O'Rourke (1/18) got to work in making the new ball count, without Smith's support as the third seamer. Henry had New Zealand's first of the second innings - and his seventh for the match - when Ben Curran (11) hooked straight to O'Rourke at fine leg at 25/1. An over later, following an edge through the slips, Bennett's test ended when he feathered O'Rourke to Blundell behind the stumps at 29/2, as Zimbabwe sent Masekesa in as a night watchman. In the dying light, Santner turned to his spinners, as he and Bracewell closed out the day without further troubling the wickets column, despite a late LBW shout against Christian Welch that was turned down with the final ball.
