Rafael Nadal Breaks the Wimbledon Jinx!

Phew! I can't take it any more... The tournament left me searching for my breath. Never ever would've one seen SUCH a competitive Championships. It was marriage of all emotions in a pool of exceptional tennis.

There were severe serves, thumping forehands, astounding backhand passes, glorious volleys, loud screams, hunger for the title, comeback of Safin, downfall of top seeded ladies, unseeded semifinalists, the irritation of rain followed by the joy of impeccable tennis.

The home fans got a lot to cheer about, when Scot Andy Murray reached new heights at the Wimbledon when he came back from two set down to beat Richard Gasquet. The whole arena, Court 1, or Centre court, I'm not sure, erupted beyond the chair umpire's control. All his "Thank you, silent please" would go unheard. As my friend puts it to me, the Henman Hill has now transformed into Murray Mountain or, rather, Mount Murray. But the ice on the mountain melted soon when he was defeated by the eventual champion. Rafael Nadal.

French Open saw Dinara Safina help people locate her on the tennis map. Wimbledon saw her unseeded, 70+ ranked (then) big (I mean BIG) brother... Maraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat Safinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. The big guy is back and defeated three seeded players in a row only to find him face the finalist, the defending Champion, Roger Federer. But, in his matches, he surely made a point that he ain't done for good, yet. O' boy! He was a treat to watch! What a game he had when he stunned centre court, defeating third seed Serb Djokovic...in straight sets!!! Seeing was believing!!!

Federer was on song, but, tad less authoritative than what he was last season. He started off against his pal, Hrbaty, who is retiring, and later faced Safin, and beat him without sweating much to set a clash, once again with the Spanish brigade, Rafa! Federer's serves were picture perfect, as usual, and his volleys, forehand and backhand saw an improvement over his French Open Finals' performance. He would shrug off tough situations with a streak of aces, I call it "His Bag of Aces". He hadn't dropped a set until the Final.

The Spaniard, Rafa, on the other hand was at his brutal best, the form of his life. he was finding angles that one wouldn't even have tried out in a video-game!!! His typical forehand slash and that powerful backhand... Wow! Stars have say he returns the serve with great force, which is his plus. SO, it was quite easy for him to knock out the names and fame, including the raring Murray, and unseeded semifinalist Schuttler to get himself one step closer to his dream.

The Finals... Oh boy!!! On one hand, history was waiting to be etched into the record books (Borg was out there too) and on the other hand, Rafa was wanting to etch a few moments of glory into his career book, and become a more complete player, rather that being called a "Clay Court Specialist"

Rafa was charged up for it, got the first set in his kitty. Federer, in the second set, broke Nadal early, only to be broken twice soon to make it 2 sets to one in favour of Rafa. So, Rafa may have it soon, but with no breaks yet in the 3rd set, it was heading for a tie breaker, but heavens opened up. When they returned, Federer stepped up his game and got the third set. Exactly the same happened in 4th set and now, it was going to the last set. It was played with such intensity that, to break was to win. It was becoming dark in the Centre Court or Wimbledon in SW London, but, the two out there in the middle were not calling it quits! The cameras were disallowed to click during play as flashes fell on the court like lightning strikes. But then, the moment was nearing when Rafa broke Federer. He was serving for the championships. Having missed two chances already to get both his hands on the trophy, this was his best chance.

HE DID IT, he got it, he got what he wanted, he got Glory! He had finally displaced Federer's name from the Trophy's face. He was emotional, and very happy, climbing to his near and dear in the Reserved enclosure. Federer admitted that Rafa deserved it. Rafa was so exhausted after that, he opted out of the the Stuttgart Mercedes Cup (he's the defending champion there), just to chill and drool in those wonderful moments.

In the ladies' section, the top seeded players were knocked one after the other. Tanasugarn and Zheng were carrying the Asian hopes, having defeated even the likes of Ivanovic, but were eventually defeated by the Williams sisters. The sisters went on to meet each other at the finals, for the 3rd time in the Wimbledon. And, the defending champion, and the elder of the two, Venus had the last laugh, defeating her sis in straight sets in a gruelling clash. The Williams' family cash box was not closed yet, as the two came together to defeat Stosur and Raymond to collect the doubles title too! It was fitting to call it The Williams' Wimbledon.

The tall second seeded pair of Zimonjic and Nester got better of Bjorkman and his mate to lift the Gentlemen's Doubles in emphatic fashion. They had beautiful chemistry and had excellent strategies to overcome their opponents. They had a tough time in the semifinals to get rid of Paes and Dlouhy, but, when they had emerged victorious in the 5 setter, they were confident of the title.

So, all in all... What a breathtaking tournament it was! El Classico! Phew! Every match seemed to be like a Final! There was no giving up, it was fight till the end.

Wimbledon at its best!

Photo : http://www.rafalnadal.com/

Lankan Lions still the Asian Champions.

The best fielding side added yet another Asia Cup title to their glorious history of Cricket. They mesmerized the Indians, or should I say, Mendis mesmerized the Indians down and out. Just when one thought that Sunny’s cameo may not have been enough to see the Lankans through, just when one thought Sehwag was going to do it yet again for India, the Sri Lankan Captain just smiled and unleashed his weapon – Ajantha Mendis. Ol’ warhorse, Vaas’ record of 8 wicket haul was almost going to be shattered. Murali and Kulasekara stepped in to complement Mendis from the other end. Jayawardene won hands down, with wily bowling changes, Mendis coming in whenever Sri Lanka pressed the panic button. With just six overs sent down by him, he had captured six wickets all by himself. Fittingly, with 6 scalps in the match and 17 in the tournament (even after missing a match), he was both Man of the Match and of the Tournament. I would add to this that it was for the first time in the tournament when there was a close encounter, between the bat and the ball.

The round robin semifinal stage was very tricky when it came to the rules. At one stage, when Pakistan were defeated by Sri Lanka, it was thought that they were out of the tournament, then it came forth that if India loses to Sri Lanka in their super-4 league match and if Pakistan wins their final match, Pakistan may reach the finals displacing India. But, India defeated a weak Sri Lankan (given their form) side, as Jayawardene thought it wise (Oh boy, he’s a genius!) to rest Vaas and his “Mystery Bowler” for the finals. I had to get up and clap for his decision. And Pakistan got rid of Bangladesh, playing for nothing but pride. Indians played well on these batting paradises, so well, that the middle order barely faced the music. The lack of the middle order preparation came fore when they were defeated by both Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They couldn’t handle the pressure of scoring at a rapid pace with not more than 5 wickets in hand.

But, all than aside, the top order looked in ominous form. The Delhi-Duo, Sehwag and gambhir provided the starts in every game. Gambhir looks just one short of invincible. Sehwag is now back to his brutal best. He was playing fearlessly in all games. Like, what can worry him with Gambhir at the other end??? Then, Raina comes in and carries on the momentum. Yuvraj got the starts but couldn’t convert into big scores, but can’t blame him, the ball is soft by the time he comes in and its tough to send the ball to the ropes. And, he would arrive late in the innings, giving him very less time to build his innings. So, I will not say he was bad at all, but a little more temperament can do him a world of good. Captain Dhoni was great on both sides of the wicket. The bowlers had mixed luck. Young Chawla was expensive and awkward. The Debutant Ojha impressed all, with good angles and arm balls. Ishant was finally back into the action when he had to do things by himself that try to get something out of the pitch. The swing bowlers, Pathan and Praveen thus went for runs. Rudra maintained good line and length.

Other bowlers who managed something out of nothing (pitches) were Rauf, the Pakistan medium paces and Kulasekara of Srilanka.

I feel the PCB has to rethink over the kind of pitches they are making. They were the flattest in the world. Someone needs to tell the curators that a game should have a great and close contest, not only between the teams, but also between the bat and the ball. It was pathetic to watch a tournament with an average first innings score of around 300. And what more, some of them being chased successfully, with plenty of overs remaining. This is killing the pacers. There is no purchase at all for the bowlers. I don’t think any bowler will bowl the “surprise” bouncers any more, when you play on these ruthless wickets. Any short ball will just hang in front of the batsmen while he can decide where to dispatch it. All tracks at the national stadium were equally disappointing.

Nevertheless, this tournament had the best two teams playing in the finals, and the best team won it. I can still recall Ian Chappel make a guess that India will find it difficult to chase any total put on by Sri Lanka with twenty overs of high quality spin to be send down together by Murali and Mendis. The Indian tour of Sri Lanka is to start soon with the first match of the test series starting on 23rd July. This series will once again put to test the mental toughness of both the teams.

So, can India spring a revenge? Will Sri Lanka hold the upper hand?
Only time will tell.

Spain!!! The Champions of Europe!

What a tournament, I say, what a tournament!?!?! Spain finally back on the map, big time! A good final for the Spaniards, in spite of their star striker sitting out due to injury, as Torres put their team ahead, in just half an hour since the start. They held on to the lead and then realized their dreams, FINALLY! Aragones must be one happy guy. Scrutinized first for not including ace Spaniard star Raul, he is now applauded for his work with the team that has now risen to glory. The Germans did try a lot to equalize, but their efforts went in vain. Casillas and his band of defenders did well to prevent the likes of Pudolski, Shweinsteiger, Klose and Ballack from finding the back of the net.

Prior to this fitting finale, both teams had to face the challenge of meeting the news making teams – the Turks, very famous for their late comebacks and the Russians, who were under their inspirational “magical” coach Guus Hiddinks.

Turkey had been a revelation in this tournament. They defeated the co-hosts, Switzerland, then the Croatia and also the Portuguese, all in thrilling last phase winners. Oh boy! They sure do have some nerves to hold things till the very end. Semih Senturk was their wrecker in chief in situations more than one. The Russians who had entered the knockout stage in a calm and composed fashion, having negated the previous champions, Greece, a spot into the last eight. But, as they say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. The Russians were surely very tough on the night they had to face the Dutch. And shockingly, the Dutch were silenced when Russia added two goals to their solitary goal in regular play time. After this, the Russian team started getting a series of calls from the famous football clubs from all over Europe. A move to these clubs may mean that they may play for glory, but they will surely be paid less than what they get paid at their Russian Clubs, which are backed by rich (I mean very very Rich) industries.

The German and Spanish teams had a comfortable way to the knock outs, though Germany was once defeated y the Croats, but their pool-mates, Austria and Poland were finding it difficult to qualify to stage 2. Germany then defeated the Turks in what was a superb encounter. Turks were not fourth time lucky here, unfortunately. Spain had an easy time in overpowering Russia, who were given encouragement in wild (I mean wild) proportions from the big ones back home. They were to be awarded for every goal they score in the semifinal, but they disappointed. All in all, they provided superb entertainment.

The end of Euro saw a list of retirements, sackings, transfers, rumours, blames and fames, and Iker Casillas lifting another title, this time, for his nation.

What a wonderful tournament it was. Now, we have to wait until the leagues kick off in Europe for more drama. Then, there is the great Olympics, for which the clubs are trying to hold their players from representing the nation so that it may help them to qualify for the UEFA Champions League / UEFA Cup. As of now, the qualifiers for the FIFA world Cup are going on.

Awaiting more football……….

New Zealand back on the Cricket Map

The Kiwis ended the sultry summer on a high with a streak of victories to end the NATWEST Series of 5 ODIs, winning it 3-1. Should’ve been 4-1, had it not been for Collingwood’s wiliness and umpires’ delay in calling it a day in the 2nd ODI, just one over short of the Duckworth –Lewis requirement in an already shortened match.

The first one dayer was won by England in thumping fashion, defeating NZ by a huge margin of runs, having scored excess of 300 batting first. More was talked about the “switch hit” of Kevin Pietersen’s switch hit, an overblown story.

The second one dayer (Edgebaston, Birmingham) made people to wait till eternity to see the players on the field and then, the rain was in again, but not for long, and play resumed. The “not-so-high” target of 160 in 23 overs, given that T20 is more popular now, was given a good chase by McCullum, assisted by How, Taylor and later by Styris. But the umpires stopped the play as rain started lashing, just one more over to be bowled to get a result by Duckworth-Lewis. And the Kiwis were needing just 7 runs off that over (if no wicket falls). Yes, they were unhappy.

Now, the 3rd ODI, Bristol, and this was an excellent game. Oh boy! I loved it so much! With less than 50 on the board, the half the Kiwi side was already back in the pavilion, and as the 40th over approached, the side was 7-down for not more than 120. Grant Elliot was cautious till now and was holding fort on one end and he needed a partner to build a decet score. Kyle Mills was the answer. The under-rated lower order all-rounder had a point or two to make with the bat this time. Elliot’s half century and Mills’ 47 put up modest 182 on a seaming and swinging Bristol. England, with confidence of the series lead and the test victory behind their back, came in to face the NZ pace battery. Mills toyed with the ball too, and got rid of opener Wright and the “he was the one who did….” KP. Gillespy was merciless at the other end. Bell and Bopara started to play cautiously, something that would surely take them home, but one string of madness broke the English top order. Southee, the wrecker-in-chief. Oh boy o’ boy! The boy was breathing fire. Four wickets between him and Elliot when England put on just 2 runs, now 64-6, captain Paul in with Swann. Target still in sight, both began a slow approach, but within the limits. Pendulum was swinging England’s way when Styris got rid of Swann, and half an hour later, Collingwood was consumed by Southee. It was near run a ball contest, where a boundary could’ve seen happier faces in English dressing room, but, the Kiwis wasted no time, and won the match by 23 runs, more than 20 balls to spare.
How often do you get such a beautiful pitch? Take a bow, curator!

The 4th ODI, The Oval, London. Phew! Hot match! A good score of 245 was put on by the English batsmen, easily defendable by the English bowlers in the cir home conditions. The big hitters McCullum and Taylor out early, England seemed favourites. But, How and Styris steadied the Kiwi ship, and later, the comeback man, Oram played his part. With all these three out, the Kiwi hopes rested on their saviours last time ‘round, Elliot and Mills. And, they did put on a good show, until the drama happened. Sidebottom was to bowl to Elliot. Elliot tried to tuck the ball to the off side, but, didn’t see where the ball was (apparently edged it onto himself and the ball fell near him, in front of the crease). He responded to a confident call for a run from Mills and set off for the on-striker’s end, but collided into Sidebottom, whom Elliot hadn’t spotted. Both fell down, the ball between them. Elliot, in half a mind to run back to the crease, got up and limped but, Ian Bell threw the ball to KP who removed the bails before Elliot could even know what happened. The Umpires wanted Collingwood to think over twice on deciding to appeal or not. Elliot was nursing his bruise, but Captain ‘Wood appealed and sent him off, very un-sportive!!! But Mills carried on the bandwagon, though wickets kept falling at the other end. It was 12 needed from 2 overs, Mills facing Collingwood, and he sent one packing six over mid-wicket which got lost in the crowd. Mills sure had eyes full of revenge. It was 3 needed from the last over, Luke Wright to be England’s hero or zero. First ball, Mills managed a single. This was what England could’ve best hoped for, having a go at Gillespie would be easier than bowling to Mills. Four dot ball followed, Gillespie didn’t connect most of them. Now, the crowd was on its feet, quiet, biting nails, spilling beer, covering eyes, praying, and Collingwood seemed to be taking the time of his life to set the field…(hey, if you take that long to pull your fine leg in, send him to mid wicket and ultimately send him back to fine leg again, then you deserve that four match ban!!! – ie, 5th ODI vs Kiwi, at T20, and 2 against Protease). So, the last ball, Gillespie managed a touch to point, and they ran, Gillespie, well short of crease,….wasn’t run out!!! Hey, the bowler wasn’t covering up!!! So, bonus, Mills came back for overthrows. Kiwi win by one wicket, on the last ball. IPL final? Naaah… This match was a better thriller! And yeah, the rivalry between the teams was just getting bigger. Skipper Vettori didn’t even shake hands with Collingwood.

Fifth ODI, Mecca of Cricket, The Lord’s, London.
It was all down to this match for Kiwis to stamp authority over England. After a slow start, the Kiwis put on 266-5, thanks to stalwarts Styris who had a well paced, unbeaten 87 and Oram who made a quick 52. Elliot helped again towards the end. Now, it was up to Bell and Cook (in for the banned Collingwood) to give their side a good start. They did start off well, with a good run rate too. But, Gillespie took care of Bell’s long stay and Southee, with his very first over got rid of Cook. Captain for the day, KP, wanted to stay there, and help the team build its innings again. But, he left, trying to increasing the rate. Bopara fell to Vettori soon. With no Collingwood out there, Owais Shah had to do things all by himself. Bot Ambrose and Luke fell for cheap scores. Then on, it was easy for Kiwis to get rid of the batsmen. Southee came back to end the stylish knock of 69 by Owais, which sadly went in vain.
The Kiwis won the Natwest Series 3-1, yes, frustrated that it wasn’t 4-1, but a comprehensive series win, looking back at the dismal form in tests. Youngster, Tim Southee was adjudged the Man-of-the-Series.

The series had it all. Superb pitches, rain, pain, controversies, swing, spin, and, errrr…duh…switch hit! Now, England has got to regroup itself in time to face the South African team. Lets see how things go.

Asia Cup – Phase 1

Well, the 1st round of the Asia Cup Cricket tournament just ended. It was sort of a formality, so that some member nations of the ICC from Asia too get some international exposure. There weren’t any result based surprises in this tournament thus far, unlike in the UEFA Euro ’08. The first day had two games with very low fan-fare in both the National Stadium (Karachi) – hosting the game between Hong Kong & Pakistan and Gadaffi Stadium (Lahore) – hosting the game between Bangladesh and the UAE. Here’s an overlook:-
Day1
Pakistan, batting first, looked good to put on a good score, but faltered in the middle overs, courtesy, some good bowling by the spinners. But, Fawad Alam and Sohail Tanvir then proved thst Pakistan has found themselves two good all rounders, and helped the hosts reach 289, by no means low, but, lower than what was expected of the team. The bowlers did not have any problem in knocking out the opposition.
Bangladesh had it easy against their opponents, the UAE, and started off their campaign in style. Ashraful prevailed again and notched up a century to bring up Bangladesh’s second 300+ score. The UAE showed good talent with the bat, given their exposure. Khurram Khan brought up a stylish, well paced 78, but it was not enough to get the game into their kitty

Day 2
India faced off against Hong-Kong, and the Delhi openers made the Hong Kong bowling look bleak. It was only for Sehwag or Gambhir to donate their wicket. After the openers were sent back, which took a long time to happen (time seems to be passing slower than life when the Delhi duo are firing at all cylinders), the spinners managed to keep the run-rate under (relative) check. Rohit found the going tough and succumbed. Raina came in and started unleashing his stroke play, Dhoni joined in. both scored centuries and brought up a daunting task for Hong Kong to chase down a target of 375 (an Asia Cup record)! After a steady start (save the opener’s failure to Rudra’s ball…) Hong Kong were looking at playing the full quota of 50 overs. But, Piyush Chawla created the Hong Kong line-up’s downfall. In the end, India won emphatically, by 256 runs, another Asia Cup record.
Srilanka had a simlar day in trouncing Bangladesh. Jayasurya blunted the bowlers but fell short of another big score. Srilanka managed less than what they would’ve expected, but managed to win the game in a grand manner.

Day 3
India met, the hosts, Pakistan, in a great clash. Pakistan, electing to bat first, started slowly, reminding us of the match in Mirpur, few days ago. Here, Butt and Malik played cautiously till the 10th over, and then, broke the shackles. Butt fell for a cautious 38, but Younis kept the party going. Malik reached his 6th century in a very well paced innings comprising of handsome drives and good shots beyond the ropes. But, he was to leave the pitch soon, unconquered though, as he fell to an attack of cramps. Yousuf joined his favourite partner, but the “Yo-Yo” team work was not long lived and Younis fell to Yusuf Pathan on a day when Indian bowlers were finding it tough (again) to contain the Pakistani to order batsmen. But, by then, the tone was set, and all the batsmen coming in made sure, the total was another big one in the tournament. But what followed was a rampage by the Indian typhoons, Raina first and then, Sehwag, who blistered the attack, which already lost the services of Umer Gul early into the innings, and captain Shoaib Malik still nursing his cramps. Every bowler was made to earn for errr….a dot ball. Sehwag built his innings to bring up a century, long waited one. Raina’s heroics set the tone, but he missed out to cap the day of his brilliance in fielding with a century with his bat. The man-of-the-match, did of course end India’s worry of a top order batsmen, as Rohit was shaky during his tenures at the pitch.(Meanwhile, Srilanka won their match against the UAE thanks to Mendis, who got a 5 wicket haul, his first, to cut short the UAE’s batting, which had the highlight of their captain’s beautiful knock, all clubs should look to tag him). Back to Karachi, Yuvraj and Dhoni finished the cake that Raina and Sehwag couldn’t finish. Pakistan were very unlucky to miss both Umer Gul for his bowling and Malik’s captaincy as well as his bowling. We all hope, they get back to business soon. The tournament will have more serious encounters now on…

Pakistan and Bangladesh will have to win all their matches to move to the finals, while India and the Emarald Island can afford to lose a match (but, who wants to, when you’re on a run???).