two—time champion gary anderson is through to the quarter—finals of the pdc world championships at alexandraight work of south africa's devon peterson — beating him 4—0. it's the ninth time that anderson has reached the last eight. he'll play the winner of tonight's match between dirk van duijvenbode and glen durrant. stephen "the bullet" bunting is also into the quarter—finals afterjust edging out ryan searle in a thrilling match. bunting led by two sets early on — searle staged a comeback but double top from the bullet sealed victory. he will take on poland's krzysztof ratajski for a place in the semi—finals on new year's day. new zealand wrapped up a dramatic win in the first test against pakistan to boost their hopes of reaching next year's world test championship final. new zealand had been favourites to win the game as the final day started with the tourists on 71—3 — but a century from fawad alam, 11 years after his last his last century, gave the tourists hope of a draw. he was eventually removed on 102, setting up a thrilling end with the hosts needing four wickets from the final 22

two—time champion gary anderson is through to the third round of the world darts championship.ars razma 3—1 at alexandra palace. it's so often one of the most spectacular moments of any 0lympic or paralympic games — the opening ceremony. just think about that extraordinary show put on by danny boyle at london 2012. but next summers's tokyo games is going to be a far more low key affair after the current plans were scrapped today, and the number of creative directors working on the opening ceremony cut from seven to one. 0rganisers say it's because an extravagent show wouldn't feel right given the pandemic. i've been speaking to our sports correspondent alex capstick. today was all about the opening and closing ceremonies, and they have announced that there will be one creative director now. there were seven people in charge of the ceremonies. but they got rid of them and now it is just a ceremonies. but they got rid of them and now it isjust a man —— one man. he put together an event injuly, but it was postponed, which is a very sombre, restrained affair. the new version of the

the bid for three is still on as two—time champion gary anderson make it through to the quarter—finals debut, we speak the man in charge of the sport around the world who believes its appearance will prove a big hit. you're very welcome along to sportsday this evening. as cases of coronavirus rise around the country,

we've had a few upsets at the world darts championship but two time champion gary anderson is throughline. and england's cricketers will be allowed to fly to sri lanka for next month's test series, despite the country's ban on commercial flights from the uk. they will take a chartered flight onjanuary 2nd and be tested for covid—19 before theirjourney and also on arrival. they'll then spend ten days in a bio—secure training bubble before the first of two matches starts in galle on the 14th. england were in sri lanka in march when the series was abandoned because of the start of the pandemic. and that's all the sport for now. thanks for watching. good night. hello. there is a change in weather type in store as we head through the festive period, but it's certainly been another wet day on wednesday. things thankfully turning drier and also colder as we move through christmas eve and christmas day itself. here's the area of low pressure that brought a lot of rain to england and wales on wednesday. there's still plenty of flood warnings in force. river levels very high in places, so local

we've had a few upsets at the world darts championship but two—time champion gary anderson is throught alexandra palace. england's ricky evans is also through — after beating michael mansell by the same scoreline. england's cricketers will be allowed to fly to sri lanka for next month's test series, despite the country's ban on flights from britain. the entire party will be tested for covid—19 before and after their flight on a chartered plane, due to arrive in sri lanka on the 3rd of january. they'll then spend 10 days in a bio—secure bubble before the first of two matches starts in galle on the 14th. that's all the sport for now. as we have been hearing, further areas of england are to be placed under the tougher set of coronavirus restrictions from boxing day. one of the area moving tiers is southwold in suffolk are our reporter kevin birch is there. kevin, bad news for the folk where you are. were they expecting it? yes, i think they actually were, clive, to be fair. you can see behind me you don't need me to tell you, it has been incredibly quiet, the rain has been torrential. pe

we've had a few upsets at the world darts championship, but two—time champion gary anderson is throughdra palace. england's ricky evans is also through after beating michael mansell by the same scoreline. england's cricketers will be allowed to fly to sri lanka for next month's test series, despite the country's ban on commercial flights from the uk. they will take a chartered flight onjanuary 2nd and be tested for covid—19 before theirjourney and also on arrival. they'll then spend ten days in a bio—secure training bubble before the first of two matches starts in galle on the 14th. england were in sri lanka in march when the series was abandoned because of the start of the pandemic we'll have more for you in sportsday at half past six. with a bump of sports. dojoin. look forward to it. the brexit negotiators, the uk's david frost and stephanie riso from the eu commission, are understood there is increasing speculation that a deal could be agreed as early as tonight, but there is still ‘haggling' this afternoon. it's understood the broad shape of an agreement is there but it has not ye

gary anderson will get his full christmas dinner.nd running for the darts! thank you, jane. let's look at the situation in downing street. he is a live picture of number 10. who knows what is happening behind that front door? the lights are on upstairs. borisjohnson, we door? the lights are on upstairs. boris johnson, we understand, door? the lights are on upstairs. borisjohnson, we understand, had four conversations last night with the president of the eu commission as they tried to nail the final details of a post brexit micro trade deal between the uk and the eu. all the indications are that that is going to be announced kind of imminently, we think, even as soon as seven o'clock. it is a bit unsure. it could still fall flat. but all sides seem increasingly confident that a deal is about to be done or has been done. we mentioned this earlier but it is worth bringing to you again. laura kuenssberg, our political editor, has been tweeting about this. she has been tweeting about this. she has said there will be another phone call bet

two time champion gary anderson is through the fourth round of the world darts championship, after beatingcame from dutchman dirk van duijvenbode. he hit a maximum checkout of 170 on his way to thrashing england's adam hunt 4—0. great debate rumbling in the football world at the moment. and finally, the footballing world has been congratulating lionel messi recently, for breaking brazilian legend pele's record of 6113 goals for one club. well, everyone except pele's former club santos. they've published a detailed account explaining why, in their view, messi has not broken the record at all. they say pele's goals in friendlies count towards his total and, as a result, the record stands at 1,091 goals — meaning messi still has another 4118 to go. let the debate continue. meaning lionel messi is some way short. more than 400 goals short. that is a long way to go. a huge amount. are they protecting his reputation, massively, of course. count up how many messi has scored in friendlies, surely? is brazilian rivalry going on there? possibly. brazilian legend, argentinian legend. messi will have