Wimbledon: Sania & Pavic roll into semi-finals
BIRMINGHAM: Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, who have made chasing tricky targets in Test matches fashionable, put famed Indian pace attack to sword with imposing hundreds as England recorded their highest ever chase of 378 runs with minimum fuss to level the fivematch series 2-2.
It is fourth straight successful chase for England, having accomplished tricky fourth innings targets of 278, 299, 296 against New Zealand in the previous series.
For India, the ignominy was of not being able to defend their highest fourth innings target.
When England were rattled on the fourth afternoon by stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah, the two star batters didn't waver from their game plan. The entire Indian attack, except Bumrah, looked pedestrian. All England needed was just under 20 overs to knock off the remaining 119 runs on fifth morning.
What was more embarrassing was England knocking off the runs in 76.4 overs, which isn't even a full day's play and at a run-rate of nearly five runs per over (4.93).
Root (142 not out), who has been in even more sublime form since relinquishing captaincy, scored his 28th century and was involved in an unbroken
WIMBLEDON: Sania Mirza is making her farewell year on the tennis tour a memorable one. On Monday night, the Indian superstar turned the clock back with a solid performance in the company of Mate Pavic to enter the mixed doubles semi-finals at The Championships.
The 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win against Gabriela Dabrowski and John Peers was smooth as silk. Showing great chemistry on court, Sania and Pavic played tennis of a high order.
Mixed doubles is all about gelling well. It is not necessary that both the players need to have huge strokes. More important, the pair needs to make the right 'çalls' and show chemistry.
Call it communication or chatting on court, Sania and Pavic have shown the hunger to do well this time. The record 269-run stand with Bairstow (114 not out), whose ton count reached a dozen after the completion of this game.
Bairstow, who is in the form of his life, topped up his first innings of 106 with an even more graceful century as Brendon McCullum's philosophy of deflating teams on flat decks is currently working wonders.
A cursory look at a statistical nuggets reveals the impact Bairstow and Root have made in England's last four victories. before this was dubious, as Sania had never crossed the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
After a walkover on Sunday, to be on court a day later was pleasing to watch. Sania has been spending a lot of time on keeping herself fit. To say that she has grown old would be improper. She realises her body needs more fine-tuning, which is spending time on her fitness and using the physios and professional sports masseurs to keep her going.
There are many players, who, in their farewell tour, have tended to take it easy. No, not Sania. She is dead serious about putting her heart and soul into
Root has scored 11, 115 not out, 176, 3, 5, 86 not out, 5 and 142 not out in his last eight innings. Bairstow has scored 1, 16, 8, 136, 162, 71 not out, 106 and 114 not out in the same set of games. Both have played significant role in three chases in the last four games.
India lost the plot on fourth day
This is India's third straight Test match defeat in a 'SENA' country (SA, England, NZ, Australia) after back-to-back defeats her training and on court. After all, having being the World No.1 in doubles, she does not want to sign off from the tennis tour on a low.
Speaking to Millenium Post, Sania spoke of how she has been on the tour for long. To be away from home, to be away from her son Izhaan and continue tennis is not easy. The mom in Sania craves for her to be with Izhaan. However, it is not possible for her to take the young boy around to all the tennis venues. Dad Imran Mirza provides her the right company, which he has been doing for decades now. Before this, Sania's mother Nasima Mirza would be with Sania at plenty of tournaments.
Being a mom and a tennis player is not easy. When Sania announced her retirement at the Australian Open and said this would be her last year, she left fans weeping. against South Africa but this will hurt more as they had a sizeable first innings lead of 132 runs.
The defeat would also significantly dent India's chances of finishing in top-two in the World Test Championship (WTC) table.
Bumrah in his first tryst as captain was very impressive despite the disappointing outcome but what would hurt India badly is the tactics employed by the team that had so many senior players.
However, each match she plays, each time she is on court, Sania is there to remind her fans she will keep fighting till the last day. Wimbledon is special. "I mean, I cannot keep going on. I have achieved plenty as a tennis player and I suppose retirement means I will get more time to spend with the family," said Sania.' Her campaign at Wimbldon is on. But after this, she will take a few weeks break and then give it her best shot at the US Open. For all working ladies and moms out there in India, Sania is a role model in many ways. From being the teen star in singles to making a shift to doubles and then returning to tennis after maternity leave, Sania has shown a great work ethic.
Perhaps, that is why she is still so popular at Wimbledon, having achieved so much in her career and striving hard even in the closing months of her career.
A team that has set a target of 378 couldn't have possibly started with a spread out field, logic of which would need some explaining from head coach Rahul Dravid.
Since he has taken over, India have lost three out of four overseas Tests and for a man, who relies heavily on method and process, that's not a great piece of stat.
Bowling with a deep extra cover, deep mid-wicket, deep fine leg only gave a negative impression about the strategy deployed on the fourth evening.
The singles and doubles were easy pickings as none of the bowlers was able to settle down. It was imperative to keep one batter at one end under a tight leash. As pressure released, the boundaries flowed from the blades of both the batters. It wasn't a typical 'Bazball' approach which is going for leather but bleeding the opposition with thousand cuts, both practically and metaphorically.
The gaping holes in the field were a testimony to a hollow strategy.
Ravindra Jadeja (18.4-3-620), a classical left-arm spinner, bowled over the wicket throughout, negating any chance of trapping the batters in front of the wicket. Not for once did he come round the wicket to pin the batters.
The 6-4, 3-6,
7-5 win against Gabriela and John was smooth as silk