Venus braves the weather to beat Brazilian, Vesnina stunned
MIAMI: Venus Williams overcame windy weather and an unfamiliar opponent in Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the third round of the Miami Open on Friday.
After rain delays pushed her match well into the night, three-time champion Williams moved past her 20-year-old challenger 6-4 6-3.
The biggest upset of the day came when Elena Vesnina, fresh off her victory at Indian Wells, suffered a stunning 3-6 6-4 7-5 loss to world number 594 Ajla Tomljanovic.
Williams told the Miami Herald she struggled with the windy conditions.
“It wasn’t easy out there, the wind felt like a gale force,” she said. “I never saw her before. I didn’t know what to expect. I’m very impressed with her game and determination, and that will take her very far.”
Top seed Angelique Kerber also prevailed in her evening match, beating Duan Yingying Duan 7-6(3) 6-2. Croatian wild card Tomljanovic led 13th seed Vesnina 5-3 in the third Australia first innings: D Warner c Rahane b K Yadav ---------------------- 56 M Renshaw b U Yadav------------------------------------ 1 S Smith c Rahane b R Ashwin---------------------111 S Marsh c Saha b U Yadav------------------------------- 4 P Handscomb b K Yadav -------------------------------- 8 G Maxwell b K Yadav -------------------------------------- 8 M Wade b Jadeja ----------------------------------------- 57 P Cummins c&b K Yadav ------------------------------ 21 S O’Keefe (run out)----------------------------------------- 8 N Lyon c Pujara b B Kumar --------------------------- 13 J Hazlewood (not out)------------------------------------ 2 Extras (B-1, LB-10) -------------------------------------- 11 Total (all out, 88.3 overs) --------------------------300 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-144, 3-153, 4-168, 5-178, 6-208, 7-245, 8-269, 9-298. Bowling: B Kumar 12.3-2-41-1, U Yadav 15-169-2, R Ashwin 23-5-54-1, R Jadeja 15-1-57-1, K Yadav 23-3-68-4. set on Thursday when a thunderstorm halted play and returned on Friday to finish the job, sealing the victory on her third match point to move into the third round.
Vesnina, five days removed from the biggest victory of her career at the BNP Paribas Open, committed a dozen double faults in the two hour, 12 minute match. French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, whose opening match on Thursday was also interrupted, fared better than Vesnina.
The sixth-seeded Spaniard trailed 46th-ranked American Christina McHale 6-0 3-2 when play was suspended on Thursday but staved off a match point in the tiebreak before emerging with an 0-6 7-6(6) 6-4 victory.
Romanian third seed Simona Halep was pushed to three sets by Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka before advancing 6-4 2-6 6-3, while seeds Timea Babos and Roberta Vinci were eliminated. DHARAMSALA, India: Wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav said it was a dream come true to grab four wickets on debut and spin India right back into the game after Steve Smith hit his third ton of the series on Saturday.
Kuldeep was informed on the morning of the series-deciding match that he would be handed his Test cap with skipper Virat Kohli having failed to recover from his shoulder injury.
But the 22-year-old showed few signs of nervousness, bewitching the Aussie batsmen with his guile and unorthodox action to return with figures of 4-68.
“I am very happy. It’s a dream come true for me. In a Test match I could not have asked for more than this,” Kuldeep said after the first day’s play.
“The wicket was good to bat on, the ball was not turning match. I tried to bowl just wicket to wicket.
“Obviously I have worked a lot on my variations. The wrong’un, the flipper and the normal chinaman.”
The visitors squandered a promising start to be bowled out for 300 just minutes before the close of play after winning the toss and electing to bat first.
The Aussies owed their total to Smith who smashed 14 fours in his fine 111-run knock to become the first Australian skipper to hit three centuries in a Test series in India.
The 27-year-old also became only the second visiting captain to achieve the feat after England’s Alastair Cook.
The Aussie looked firmly in control, having cruised to 131-1 at lunch but Kuldeep’s scintillating spell meant the tourists lost their remaining wickets in the last two sessions.
At stumps, India had played out one over without scoring any runs.
With the series tied 1-1 going into the finale, the hosts must win the match to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
SMITH THE STAR “Credit to the Indians for bowling well, we had to grind ourselves to get to 300,” said wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade, who made 57.
“It was good to get some runs but it’s 1-1 in the series and we need to play really well tomorrow (Sunday).”
India’s ploy to keep Kuldeep (4-68) under wraps and use him for the final Test paid rich dividends.
The chinaman bowler picked his first international wicket when he had David Warner (56) caught by stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane in the slips.
The bowler broke down as he hugged his teammates to celebrate the occasion.
Kuldeep struck again soon to send back Peter Handscomb (eight) with a ball that turned in sharply and hit the stumps.
Glenn Maxwell also lost his wicket to the wrist-spinner, misreading a googly only to see the ball clipping the off bail.
Smith had put on 134 runs for the second wicket with Warner after Australia lost opener Matt Renshaw in the second over of the day.
The unassuming captain underlined his reputation as the world number one Test batsman, reaching his 20th century in the process and seventh hundred in his last eight Tests against India.
The skipper raised his bat and helmet to acknowledge the standing ovation from a grateful Australian dressing room.
Smith’s efforts meant he remained on top of the batting chart in the series with a whopping 482 runs from seven innings.
He finally lost his wicket to spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, with Rahane taking another catch in the slip region.
Smith’s run in the series has been in contrast to Kohli who managed only 46 runs from three Tests.
Before this game, Kohli played 54 Tests on the trot without missing a match since November 2011.
Ashwin took his tally to 79 in the 2016-17 season, the most by any bowler in one season, surpassing South African Dale Steyn’s 78 scalps.