#watling

Ye Olde Watling on... Watling Street

1959 Watling GT

India piled on the runs on day 2. Rahane scored his 4th consecutive half century before being dismissed by Taijul for 51. Virat Kohli then completed his 27th Test century in style. He and Jadeja had 53 run stand before Jadeja left one alone to be castled. Bangladesh then grabbed wickets in evening time when ball was swinging. India were reduced to 331-9 from 289-4. India eventually declared at 347-9. Virat Kohli’s 136 was classy as ever. India had a chance to wrap match inside 2 days considering the swing which pacers get in the evening. The way Bangladesh 2nd innings started, it looked likely. Ishant grabbed 3 wickets and Umesh one wicket to reduce Bangladesh to 13-4 insider 7 overs. Ishant is having a dream match. Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur then showed some fight. They had 50 odd stand before Mahmudullah retired due to hamstring injury. Mushfiqur and Mehidy took Bangladesh past 100. Indian pacers were getting tired. In last 1 hours play, Ishant and Umesh got India closer to victory. Ishant grabbed his 9th wicket for the match when he dismissed Mehidy. In last over of the day, Umesh dismissed Taijul to reduce Bangladesh to 152-6. India would look to finish match inside lunch on day 3.

Labuschagne’s 185 and fifty by Wade took Australia to a score of 580. This was maiden century for Labuschagne. He has grabbed his chance ever since he replaced Smith in Ashes for injury cover. Australia had lead of 340 runs. Baring Shan Masood and Babar Azam , none of the Pakistan players showed fight as Australian pacers reduced them to 110-5 by lunch time on day 4. Match resumed with NZ at 144-4 on day 3 against England. England had the momentum then to take control of the match. Root dismissed Nichols for 41. NZ 197-5. Root could have dismissed Watling too but Stokes dropped a sitter in slip. That hurt them as NZ keeper and Grandhomme hurt England with gutsy display of batting. It was a flat track. England pacers have traditionally struggled in such pitches. Archer kept bowling short and hardly troubled NZ batsmen. Root made him bowl at wrong line which ensured NZ slowly gained control. Watling and Grandhomme had 119 run stand before Stokes dismissed NZ allrounder for 65. England could still have gained the elad with some aggressive bowling. But what transpired shocked England. Watling and Santner kept on batting without any discomfort. They had unbeaten 226 run stand till 1 hour post lunch. NZ didn’t lose a wicket on day 4.  What a turnaround !!. Watling was unbeaten at 171 and Santner at 106. England have finally ran out of luck which they had in T20 and WC super over.

In Davis cup, Serbia lost to Russia. Djokovic won the singles and even had 3 match points in doubles but Russian pair came back to stun Serbia. They lost to Canada in SFand would face Spain in finals. Spain beat Great Britain 2-1. Nadal won the singles match and helped Spain win doubles in 2 set tiebreakers. He kept his nerves when Great Britain had 3 set points in opening set. His dream year continues.

After first day was washed out in 2nd Ashes test in Lords, 2nd day produced some thrilling tennis. Hazelwood produced a dream spell to dismiss Roy for duck and Root for just 14. England 26-2. Denly and Burns then played well to take England past 50. They had 50 run stand. Just after lunch, Hazelwood dismissed Denly for 30. England 92-3. England lost way post that. Lyon-Siddle-Cummins reduced Australia to 138-6 from 92-2. Bairstow and Woakes then gave England some comfort as they had 72 run stand to take England past 200. Cummins ripped apart the tail post that. England were dismissed for 258. Bairstow and Burns shined with half century for England. Cummins and Hazelwood were stars for Australia. Broad castled Warner early on with a beauty. Australia 11-1. They ended day 2 at 30-1. On day 3, Australia started off well as no wickets fell in first 45 minutes. Australia score went past 50. Archer trapped Bancroft for 13 to claim his first test wicket. Woakes dismissed Khawaja in next over. Australia 60-3. Few overs later, Broad trapped Head for 7. Australia 71-4. At 80-4, rain came and didn’t allow anymore play on day 3. With just 2 days left, this match seems to be heading towards a draw.

NZ were dismissed for 249 on day 2 morning. Lakmal grabbed 4 of 5 wickets to fall. Though Thirmanne was dismissed early, Lanka played well to take score past 50. Against the run of play, Ajaz Patel trapped Karunaratne for 39. Lanka 66-2. Kusal Mendis and Mathews took Lanka past 100. They had 77 run stand before Ajaz dismissed Kusal. That instigated a collapse as Lanka were reduced to 161-7 from 143-2. Dickwella and Lakmal played well to take Lanka past 200. They had 81 run stand. That helped Lanka to even get past NZ score . They were eventually dismissed for 267. Dickwella top scored for Lanka with 67. Kusal and Mathews made 50+ score too. Ajaz Patel starred for NZ with a 5-fer. NZ started poorly as de Silva and Embuldeniya reduced them to 25-3 including prized scalps of Taylor and Williamson. Latham and Nichols then played with some assurance to take NZ past 50. They had 56 run stand before Dhananjaya dismissed Latham for 45. De Silva dismissed Nichols soon after. NZ 98-5. Watling had played some great knocks when NZ were under pressure. He did the same. He got support from Santner and Southee. By end of day 3, NZ were placed at 195-7 with lead of 177. Watling was unbeaten at 63. Lanka would find it tough to chance. Embuldeniya starred with 4 wickets for them.

In Cincinnati Open, shock of the week came when Rublev outclassed Federer 6-3 6-2 to reach QF. Rublev was then defeated by Medvedev in QF in straight sets. Medvedev would clash with defending champion Djokovic who outclassed Pouille 7-6 6-1 in QF. Gasquet played brilliantly to beat in form Bautista 7-6 3-6 6-2 to reach SF where he would play Goffin. Goffin was give walkover after Nishioka withdrew due to injury.