The Week to July 13

CRICKET

England has taken a 1-0 lead in the 2015 Investec Ashes series after thrashing Australia by 169 runs in the First Test in Cardiff last week. The visitors were outplayed in every facet of the game, and the match was over with more than a day to spare.

England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat, but that was the only positive for them on the first morning, as Australia’s bowlers picked up three key wickets with just 43 runs on the board. It could have been 4/43, but for a straightforward drop by Brad Haddin of Joe Root before he had scored. That may have been the turning point of the match, as Root went on to make 134, his innings the backbone of England’s first innings total of 430. Mitchell Starc fought through ankle soreness to pick up a commendable 5/114, and Josh Hazlewood snared 3/83.

Mitchell Starc picked up 5/114 to help dismiss England for 430

Australia’s reply began positively, and though each of the top six batsmen made a start, including five reaching 30, only Chris Rogers was able to pass 40, but he was not able to post the big score that Australia needed to reel in England’s total. By the second hour of the third day, Australia faced a deficit of 122, having been bowled out for 308. Rogers top-scored with 95, his seventh consecutive half-century in Test cricket, and Michael Clarke was next best with just 38.

Chris Rogers notched up his seventh consecutive Test half-century, top-scoring with 95 in Australia’s first innings

Australia picked up early wickets in England’s second innings, but a pair of 60s to Ian Bell and Joe Root effectively put the match out of Australia’s reach. Some late hitting from Ben Stokes and Mark Wood saw England reach 289, setting Australia an Ashes record 412 for victory, with two days of play remaining.

Again, Australia’s innings began well, reaching 1/97 before David Warner fell for 52 on the stroke of lunch. His dismissal sparked a collapse of 4/9 in the space of six overs. Mitchell Johnson smashed a quickfire 77 to show up his top-order teammates, but all it did was delay the inevitable, as Australia was bowled out for 242 just over an hour into the final session on the fourth day. Joe Root was named man-of-the-match for his all-round performance of 134 and 60, 2/28, and a catch to end both of Australia’s innings.

David Warner’s dismissal for 52 on the stroke of lunch on day four signalled the end of Australia’s challenge

Looking ahead to the Second Test at Lord’s, Mitchell Starc’s sore ankle may mean he misses out, in which case either Peter Siddle or Pat Cummins would come into the side. Shane Watson’s form has also come under scrutiny, in particular his tendency to fall LBW for middling scores, and there are many people calling for Mitchell Marsh to take his place in the middle order.

 

Upcoming fixtures:

2nd Test: Thursday, July 16 at Lord’s, London

3rd Test: Wednesday, July 29 at Edgbaston, Birmingham

4th Test: Thursday, August 6 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

5th Test: Thursday, August 20 at The Oval, London

ENGLAND leads the series 1-0.

 

RUGBY LEAGUE

Round results (home team listed first): Raiders defeated Knights 36-22; Panthers lost to Roosters 4-24; Bulldogs lost to Broncos 8-16; Warriors defeated Storm 28-8; Titans lost to Sea Eagles 6-38.

Current standings – Round 18:

Upcoming fixtures – NRL Round 19 of 26:

Eels vs Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium, Sydney (Fri, Jul 17 at 7:35pm)

Storm vs Panthers at AAMI Park, Melbourne (Fri, Jul 17 at 7:35pm)

Raiders vs Sharks at GIO Stadium, Canberra (Sat, Jul 18 at 3:00pm)

Knights vs Titans at Hunter Stadium, Newcastle (Sat, Jul 18 at 5:30pm)

Dragons vs Rabbitohs at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney (Sat, Jul 18 at 7:30pm)

Roosters vs Warriors at Allianz Stadium, Sydney (Sun, Jul 19 at 2:00pm)

Broncos vs Tigers at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane (Sun, Jul 19 at 4:00pm)

Sea Eagles vs Cowboys at Brookvale Oval, Brookvale (Mon, Jul 20 at 7:00pm)

*All times AEST

**If you are tipping and have no idea who to go for, you could pick the home team, or the team that’s higher on the ladder. I’ll put up the tally each week of where you would be placed for each option. (The underlined team is the higher-ranked team as at the end of the previous round.)

HOME: 66/128 after Round 18 (63/122 after Round 17)

HIGHER-RANKED: 69/128 after Round 18 (66/122 after Round 17)

 

TENNIS

The 2015 Wimbledon champions have been crowned, following two weeks of scintillating tennis at the All England Club in London. The top seeds in both the men’s and women’s draws won their respective finals – Novak Djokovic defeating second seed Roger Federer in four sets, and Serena Williams overcoming 20th seed Garbine Muguruza in two sets.

In the men’s final, Federer raced out of the blocks in the hope of reversing the result of last year’s final, where he lost to Djokovic in five sets. Djokovic fought back, though, and took the first set in a tie-breaker, before Federer levelled at one set apiece, winning the second set in a tie-breaker. From then on, Djokovic was in control, and he claimed victory in a touch under three hours – 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 6-3. In claiming his third Wimbledon and ninth career major, Djokovic prevented Federer from becoming the first man to win Wimbledon for the eighth time.

Novak Djokovic celebrates his 2015 Wimbledon victory

 

Williams was expected to take out the women’s final with relative ease, but it was Muguruza who had the early ascendancy, shooting to a 4-2 lead in her first Grand Slam final. Williams claimed the next four games to take the first set, then after both players held their opening service games in the second set, Williams again reeled off four straight games to take a 5-1 lead. To the crowd’s delight, Muguruza fought back to 5-4, but Williams held her nerve to wrap up her sixth Wimbledon title 6-4, 6-4. Williams now holds all four majors, and has a chance to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam at the US Open next month.

Serena Williams celebrates her 2015 Wimbledon victory

 

RUGBY UNION

Upcoming fixtures – The Rugby Championship:

New Zealand vs Argentina at AMI Stadium, Christchurch (Fri, Jul 17 at 5:35pm)

Australia vs South Africa at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane (Sat, Jul 18 at 8:05pm)

South Africa vs New Zealand at Ellis Park, Johannesburg (Sun, Jul 26 at 1:05am)

Argentina vs Australia at Estadio Malvinas, Mendoza (Sun, Jul 26 at 8:40am)

Australia vs New Zealand at ANZ Stadium, Sydney (Sat, Aug 8 at 8:05pm)

South Africa vs Argentina at Kings Park, Durban (Sun, Aug 9 at 1:05am)

 

Not for competition points:

New Zealand vs Australia at Eden Park, Auckland (Sat, Aug 15 at 5:35pm)

Argentina vs South Africa at Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires (Sun, Aug 16 at 5:40am)

*All times AEST

 

The Week to July 6

RUGBY UNION

The Otago Highlanders have been crowned 2015 Super Rugby champions after upsetting the Wellington Hurricanes in front of more than 36,000 fans in Wellington over the weekend.

The Hurricanes had lost just two matches all season, and having come out on top 56-20 in their previous meeting just four weeks earlier, the home side was the clear favourite for the title. However, following strong wins against the Chiefs and the Waratahs in the finals series, it was the Highlanders who kicked out to a 6-0 lead, helped by two missed penalty goal attempts by the Hurricanes. It wasn’t until the 36th minute that the home side finally got on the scoreboard, through a Ma’a Nonu try, but the Highlanders hit straight back with a try of their own to Elliot Dixon just thirty seconds before the halftime siren sounded, taking a 13-5 lead into the sheds.

Home-town hero Ma’a Nonu crossed for the first try of the final

The Hurricanes closed the gap to 13-8 soon after the resumption, but again the Highlanders replied almost immediately, crossing for another try, Dixon this time setting up Waisake Naholo, to take an 18-8 lead. Two penalty goals to the Hurricanes saw the margin sit at just 18-14 heading into the final ten minutes, but a 78th-minute drop goal to Marty Banks pushed the margin back out to seven, and the Highlanders defence held strong for a well-deserved 21-14 victory.

The tournament win is the first Super Rugby title for the Highlanders in their history, and comes in their second final, after having lost the 1999 decider to the Crusaders.

The Otago Highlanders – 2015 Super Rugby Champions

 

Final (home team listed first): Hurricanes lost to Highlanders 14-21.

 

RUGBY LEAGUE

Round results (home team listed first): Panthers defeated Rabbitohs 20-6; Dragons lost to Cowboys 12-18; Sea Eagles defeated Sharks 28-16; Tigers lost to Eels 16-28.

Current standings – Round 17:

Upcoming fixtures:

State of Origin III:

QLD vs NSW at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane (Wed, Jul 8 at 8:00pm)

Series tied 1-1.

 

NRL Round 18 of 26:

Raiders vs Knights at GIO Stadium, Canberra (Fri, Jul 10 at 7:45pm)

Panthers vs Roosters at Pepper Stadium, Penrith (Sat, Jul 11 at 5:30pm)

Bulldogs vs Broncos at ANZ Stadium, Sydney (Sat, Jul 11 at 7:30pm)

Warriors vs Storm at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland (Sun, Jul 12 at 2:00pm)

Sharks vs Dragons at Remondis Stadium, Woolooware (Sun, Jul 12 at 4:00pm)

Titans vs Sea Eagles at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast (Mon, Jul 13 at 7:00pm)

Bye: Cowboys, Eels, Rabbitohs, Tigers

*All times AEST

**If you are tipping and have no idea who to go for, you could pick the home team, or the team that’s higher on the ladder. I’ll put up the tally each week of where you would be placed for each option. (The underlined team is the higher-ranked team as at the end of the previous round.)

HOME: 63/121 with 1 match remaining in Round 17 (61/118 after Round 16)

HIGHER-RANKED: 65/121 with 1 match remaining in Round 17 (64/118 after Round 16)

 

TENNIS

Three rounds of the Wimbledon Championships have now been completed, and as expected, there were a few upsets, but both the top seeds in the men’s and women’s draws have moved safely through to the fourth round. In the men’s draw, the top four seeds – Novak Djokovic (2014 champion), Roger Federer (2014 runner-up), Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka – all remain in contention, but in the women’s draw, only four of the top twelve seeds – Serena Williams (1), Maria Sharapova (4), Caroline Wozniacki (5) and Lucie Safarova (6) – are still in the tournament.

On the men’s side, tenth seed Rafael Nadal has been the biggest name to fall, knocked out in the second round by qualifier Dustin Brown, while fifth seed Kei Nishikori unfortunately had to withdraw before his second round match due to a calf injury. In the women’s draw, third seed and 2014 semi-finalist Simona Halep was knocked out in the first round by Jana Cepelova; twelfth seed and 2014 runner-up Eugenie Bouchard also failed to make it to the second round, being eliminated by qualifier Duan Yingying, while Petra Kvitova capitulated in the second half of her third round clash with Jelena Jankovic, shattering her dreams of defending her crown.

Of the sixteen-strong Australian contingent, only one player remains – 26th seed Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios defeated seventh seed and 2014 semi-finalist Milos Raonic in the third round, and faces another tough assignment in 21st seed Richard Gasquet for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Here’s how the rest of the Australians fared:

MEN

Lleyton Hewitt lost to Jarkko Nieminen (1R – 5 sets); Bernard Tomic (27) lost to Novak Djokovic (1) (3R – 3 sets); Thanasi Kokkinakis lost to Leonardo Mayer (24) (1R – 3 sets); Matthew Ebden lost to John Isner (17) (2R – 3 sets); John Millman lost to Marcos Baghdatis (2R – 5 sets); Marinko Matosevic lost to Liam Broady (1R – 5 sets); John-Patrick Smith lost to Kenny De Schepper (1R – 5 sets); Luke Saville lost to Richard Gasquet (21) (1R – 3 sets); Sam Groth lost to Roger Federer (2) (3R – 4 sets); James Duckworth lost to Sam Groth (2R – 3 sets).

WOMEN

Daria Gavrilova lost to Irini-Camelia Begu (29) (1R – 2 sets); Sam Stosur (22) lost to Coco Vandeweghe (3R – 2 sets); Jarmila Gajdosova lost to Sabine Lisicki (18) (1R – 2 sets); Ajla Tomljanovic lost to Agnieszka Radwanska (13) (2R – 2 sets); Casey Dellacqua lost to Agnieszka Radwanska (13) (3R – 2 sets).

 

CRICKET

On the eve of the 2015 Ashes series, Ryan Harris has been forced to announce his retirement from international cricket, due to a crack in his tibia in his right leg. The loss of Harris leaves a huge hole in Australia’s pace attack, and puts a severe dent in their hopes of winning their first Ashes series in England since 2001, but an able replacement in the squad in Pat Cummins has been named, and Harris will stay with the side to help mentor the younger players.

Harris played 27 Tests for Australia, picking up 113 wickets at an average of 23.52, and a strike rate of 50.2, which is amongst the best in the history of Test cricket. He also played 21 One-Day Internationals, picking up 44 wickets at a superb average of 18.90, and a strike rate of 23.4.

 

Upcoming fixtures:

1st Test: Wednesday, July 8 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

2nd Test: Thursday, July 16 at Lord’s, London

3rd Test: Wednesday, July 29 at Edgbaston, Birmingham

4th Test: Thursday, August 6 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

5th Test: Thursday, August 20 at The Oval, London

 

2 DAYS TIL THE ASHES…