#792 Jamieson cant do anything wrong as his 5-fer and brutal 49 helped NZ gain upper hand in 2nd test; Boult , Vihari and Shami shine as well; Indian women cant do anything wrong in T20 world cup as they win all 5 matches; Klassen’s century help SA shock Australia in opening ODI; Bengal have upper hand in SF against Karnataka; Djokovic and Nadal prove that they are still the players to beat as they win titles in style; Liverpool’s 44 unbeaten streak in EPL ended with a shocking defeat against Watford and more...:-)
India lost the toss yet again in 2nd test in Christchurch. Umesh was brought in for injured Ishant. Ashwin was dropped and Jadeja was picked. Boult trapped Mayank early. India 30-1. Shaw then counter attacked. He and Pujara took India past 50. Shaw went past 50. Jamieson dismissed him immediately after that. India 80-2. Southee trapped Virat for 3 just after lunch. India 85-3. Rahane and Pujara took India past 100. Against the run of play, Southee dismissed Rahane. India 113-4. Vihari was dropped early by Watling. He and Pujara had vital 81 run stand. Both went past 50s. 1 ball before tea, Wagner dismissed Vihari for 55. Wagner’s tactics was one dimensional. Bowl short on ribs or come round the wicket and bowl short on off stump line. That wicket triggered a collapse. Jamieson grabbed his 5-fer as India were reduced to 216-9 from 192-4. Bumrah and Shami had 26 run stand. India were dismissed for 242. Blundell and Latham had a brilliant start . They took NZ to 63-0 by end of day 1. India had a dream start to 2nd day. Umesh trapped Blundell early on. NZ 66-1. Bumrah dismissed Williamson just for 2. NZ 69-2. Taylor and Latham took NZ past 1000. Jadeja dismissed Taylor for 15. Umesh grabbed a good catch. NZ 109-3. Shami then dismissed Latham for 52. NZ 130-4. He dismissed Nicholls soon after. NZ 133-5. NZ reached lunch at 142-5, exactly 100 run behind. Bumrah had a dream over where he dismissed Watling and Southee in space of 3 balls. NZ 153-7. India had chance to dismiss NZ for under 190. But NZ tail wagged again. Grandhomme and Jamieson had 24 run stand first, then Jamieson -Wagner had 51 run stand. That hurt India. Instead of 50 plus stand, India just had 7 run lead. Jamieson was last to be dismissed for 49. His dream start to International career is taking new heights. He just cant do anything wrong. NZ took that momentum to bowler. Boult trapped Mayank in 2nd over. India 8-1. Southee dismissed Shaw with a short ball. India 26-2. Virat and Pujara took India past 50. Grandhomme trapped Virat for 14. India 51-3. Wagner-Jamieson had barrage of short balls bowled at Pujara and Rahane. Rahane was dropped at 2 as well. They rattled Indian star batsmen with precise short bowling. Wagner finally had Rahane bowled. Rahane ws expecting a short ball but it was a not that straight. He hit the ball back to stumps. India 72-3. Boult dismissed Pujara and nightwatchman with cracking incoming reverse swinging balls in last 10 minutes of play. India 89-6. India ended day at 90-6 (97-6 including lead). That Jamieson could be the difference between 2 sides. He has been the difference between 2 sides. He can bat like a champion, bowl like a star and even field well. India have a habit of making debutants superstars. After Sam Curran, it is Jamieson’s turn now. India need min of 170 to make a match of it. They need Jadeja-Pant-Vihari to play out of their skin to take India to that position. Match could well get over before lunch tomorrow if Indian batsmen falter early.
In women’s T20 world cup, Rp Yadav’s 4-23 helped India restrict Lanka to 113 in their final league match. Shefali was dropped twice early on. She made the most of it. Her 34 ball 47 helped India win by 7 wickets with 33 balls to spare.
In first ODi, Klassen’s classy 123 and Miller’s 64 helped SA set Australia a target of 292. These 2 had 149 run stand. Australia were cruising at 133-2 in 27th over. Once Maharaj dismissed Labushagne for 41, match turned on its head. Australia were dismissed for 217. Steve Smith top scored for Australia with 76. Australia’s middle order looks weak with Carey and M Marsh out of form.
In Ranji SF, Karnataka pacers rattled Bengal. They reduced them to 67-6 . AP Majumdar then played knock of this season’s IPL. His 149 helped Bengal reach a target of 312. By 3rd over, Karnataka were reduced to 5-2. Samarth and Nair were dismissed. Rahul and Siddarth had 30 run stand before Akash Deep dismissed the later. Rahul and Manish took Karnataka to 45-3 by lunch. Sheldon Jackson’s 103 helped Saurashtra reach 289-7 by lunch on 2nd day. He has been very consistent in last 2 seasons.
In Dubai open, Djokovic saved 3 match points against Monfils in Sf before beating him 2-6 7-6 6-1. He faced Tsitsipas in finals. He beat him with ease 6-3 6-4. He has been unbeaten in 2020 ATP season. In Mexican open, Nadal outclassed Dimitrov and Fritz in SF and finals to win his first title of 2020. He never lost a set in whole tournament which is a great achievement.
In EPL, Norwich City beat Leicester city 1-0. Chelsea were held to 2-2 draw by Bournemouth. Match of the week was Liverpool against Watford. Liverpool’s poor week continued. After losing first leg of 2nd champions league match, they were shocked by Watford 3-0. Ismaila Sarr scored 2 goals. Liverpool’s 44 match unbeaten EPL streak was ended. Arsenal had record of 49 matches. They last lost EPL match in January 2019.