At the time of posting this @ 9.15 pm Indian time,
rain has halted the match for a brief while.
It is great Tennis exhibition – after
Novak Djokovic won a tight
first-set 7-6, Roger Federer came back
to win the second set tie-break 12-10. Who will win the Wimbledon
final? In the second Set, Djoko was
almost running and had set points – there was a great rally of 27 and Federer’s
serve volleys are at display – a game of high quality tennis. Locked 1 set each, Djokovich leads 4-2 in the
3rd set.
Yesterday, the final was different – Serena
Williams breezed past her opponent Spaniard Mugurza in straight sets 6-4, 6-4
as the first timer was let crying into her towel at the side of the court. Speaking after her win, Williams, who last
won Wimbledon in 2012, said it felt 'so good' to have the trophy back in her
hands. So rise of Serena again, and how
long this innings lasts, remains to be seen – Serene is looking good enough for
long stint at the top.
Ashes series started differently. England went one up as the score card reads :
England 430 (Root 134, Moeen 77, Starc 5-114) and 289 (Bell 60, Root 60, Lyon
4-75) beatAustralia 308 (Rogers 95, Anderson 3-43) and 242 (Johnson 77, Warner
52, Broad 3-39, Moeen 3-59) by 169 runs.
Australia's coach Darren Lehmann has described England's big victory in
the first Test as a "minor hiccup", and has effectively challenged
the Lord's ground staff to produce a quicker pitch for the second match from
Thursday. While Lehmann was happy to acknowledge England played the better
cricket across the first four days of the series, he denied that his side had
been surprised by the enterprise with which the hosts played, attacking at
every reasonable opportunity and using relentless pressure and inventive fields
to goad the touring batsmen into error.
For the die-hard Cricket fan, on a slow Harare
surface, India wrapped up the ODI series with a steady performance. The newest opening pair Ajinkya Rahane and
Murali Vijay gave a partnership of 112 – a target of 272 may have
produced a tighter contest against a stronger batting side, even on a pitch as
sluggish as this one, but it was more than sufficient to beat this Zimbabwe
side by a handy margin. In the 2nd over
Dhawal Kulkarni went for 3 fours but that flourish was never sustained.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Hamilton
Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura in a
first spell that read 6-3-19-2. He came back and took the last two wickets to
finish with his second four-wicket haul in ODIs. The wicket of Masakadza was
his 50th.
The most surprising result came from
elsewhere. Bangladesh strangled South
Africa with seam and spin on a slow surface to bowl them out for 162 in the
second ODI in Mirpur. It was South Africa's lowest total against Bangladesh and
their lowest batting first in an ODI since November 2009, when they were bowled
out for 119 by England. A good unbeaten
88 by Soumya Sarkar and his partnership with Mahmudullah took them through, for
what is a grand victory against stronger opponents.
I read this on Wimbledon official web – could not
see though – the toss being performed by a 11 year old – pupil of a primary
school, supported by the Wimbledon Foundation, the charity of the All England
Lawn Tennis Club. It is stated that the
boy Michael and his parents will enjoy a tour of the Clubhouse and sit down for
lunch in the Competitors’ Restaurant before the match. Like Kaci Finch, 10, who
on Saturday performed the coin toss at the Ladies’ Singles Final, Michael was
assisted in his on-court duties by Andrew Jarrett, Championships’ Referee.
In the all important umpire's chair on Sunday will
be 37-year-old Ali Nili, an ATP Full Time Gold Badge Umpire who was born in
Tehran, Iran, and became a naturalized US Citizen in 2011. It is Ali’s first
Grand Slam singles final.
Who won the Wimbledon will be known by the time,
you read this tomorrow morning
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
12th July 2015 @ 21.15 hrs
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