Super Sports Sunday Jan 28th 2024 -- Cricket , Tennis and others

 

To a sports lover , this  entire  day could have been spent just following some intense but exciting sports action in the field of Cricket and Tennis.

First , West Indies Cricket team did the unthinkable in the second test being played in Australia—In the first test  , West Indies were outplayed  and that was expected . But there was some light .. An unknown Shamar Joseph emerged . He bowled well , picked up a test wicket of the first ball he bowled and ended with five wickets in the first innings he bowled.. Nothing to be excited  but Shamar let everyone know he existed.

 The second test turned on its head for the Aussies. And everyone knows the Pink Ball does its bit in the way the entire match goes. It  was a low scoring match ( I am sure we all remember the 36 India made ) and  the Aussies had  just 215 to chase down to win the series 2-0 . However Shamar Joseph with a sensational spell of fast bowling  ( Consistently upwards of 140 Km speed ) broke the back of the Aussies. Still with Steven Smith at the crease , the bet was on Aussie to pull it off. However  , Shamar denied them with his seven wicket haul , helping the West Indies tie the series 1-1 .. A remarkable turnaround for the West Indies and is this the tide turning in their favour after a very long stretch of poor performances ?

 

The second one was the India England Test match – India took a lead of 190 runs in the first innings and with the ball spinning and turning , England was expected to collapse to a innings defeat .  However the  Baz ball approach totally turned the match around in England s favour . England attacked the Indian spinners at all times , never gave them a chance to settle down. England batted around Olle Pope’s exceptional 196 . Pope swept , reverse swept , did the switch hit and threw the spinners off balance. The Indian spinner simply did not know where to bowl. England set up a  231 target for India to chase and everyone knows how India bats when the pressure is ON.  Hartley the debutant  England spinner who took a seven fer , just bowled to a length and allowed the pitch to do the rest. Indian batters who just prodded , tried to defend were a bunny to him. Traditional method did not work and England won by  28 runs.. This win is an amazing story of how to adopt to change and modernize your game . England did that wonderfully.  India got caught out on a true home pitch and have a lot to climb if they have to get back to winning ways. Ben Stokes was an outstanding leader in this England side which has so much belief in its tactics and just goes about executing it …

 

The last match that held so much intensity  was the AO ( Tennis ) final between Medvedev and Sinner a first time Grand Slam Finalist. Medvedev swept Sinner off in the first two sets and for most part of the third set till Sinner found his range and won the 3rd set. Then in the next two it was unbelievable hitting by both the players – the match went in to  the four hour mark and both players held their energy levels with great athleticism covering the court and trading shots and may be Medvedev was fading a little . Sinner served with pace till the end and his first serves helped him stay out of trouble. Finally Sinner prevailed in a tense five setter  and there was new deserving Grand slam champion . Sinner beat defending champion  Djokovic in the semis, while Medvedev spent maximum time on court in previous matches  as he got to the finals.

Sinner looks very  calm, assured and has the overall game –  He is just 22 years old and has a great future ahead of him. You see lot of calmness in him all the time.

Looks like the era of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer is getting to end .. It may be the turn of Carlos Alcaraz , Jannik Sinner , Danil Medvedev to dominate ( and may be Sasha Zverev , if he gets rid of his non tennis concerns )  Big thing these players  need to build in to their game and tennis are Consistency and the hunger to win for long periods of time… Till then , we cannot write of Djokovic and Rafa

Toggling  between Channels and looking at WhatsApp chats and chatting was the way this Sunday went !

 

BTW—The Indian U 19 team won their World cup match easily against a Indian US 19 side 😊 ( Check the team out and you know why it is an Indian US team ) and that too happened on this Sunday!

Comments

Siva said…
True Sri, it was an awesome day for sports. Nicely summarized 👍
12:43 AM
Prasanna said…
Indeed action packed day with twists 1) Watched highlight are the West Indians are back in action on pace , great spell and I saw Lara in tears at the Gabba Commentary box 2) England - India disappointing given spin , we should have pulled it off . 3) Boopana at that age sensational and energetic !!
2:40 PM
Sri said…
Yes Prasanna -- I missed the Lara in tears scence-- I heard him on the commentary and his voice was all shaken up -- Shows how much the victory meant for him -- And Rohan Boopana -- He played so well in tandem with Mathew Ebden -- He proved age is just a number
9:45 PM
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