Murray ends England's 77-year wait

July 8, 2013

Murray_ends_EnglandLondon, Jul 8: Andy Murray wiped out 77 years of pain and hurt as he became the first British man since 1936 to win the men's title at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory over world number one Novak Djokovic on Sunday.

Just why Britain had to wait almost eight decades to witness such scenes of unbridled patriotic joy at the spiritual home of lawn tennis was summed up by an astonishing final game when Murray won and lost three match points, leaving 15,000 fans gasping in disbelief.

The pulses were racing even faster as Djokovic displayed his own survival instincts to save three championship points before a wondrous volley winner gave Murray another championship point. This time Djokovic could not deny him and when the Serb dragged a backhand into the net after yet another lengthy exchange, Britons leapt up and Murray tossed his racket to the famous turf.

"That was one of the toughest moments, today was unbelievably tough match," Murray said after fulfilling a lifelong dream of holding aloft the gilded Challenge Cup. "I don't know how I came through the final three points, I'm so glad to do it. I understand how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon and I hope everyone enjoyed it." Murray took three hours and nine minutes to finally lay Fred Perry's ghost at 5.24 local time on Sunday.

The opening salvo of the Centre Court clash lasted 20 strokes as Murray went up 0-40 on the Serb's serve but Djokovic produced staunch defence to stave off his opponent's attacks. The duo did trade breaks in the third and fourth games, with each Murray winner being greeted by a chorus of 15,000 roars.

Second seed Murray got another chance to break to love in the seventh game and this time he pounced as the 2011 champion surrendered his serve by slapping a backhand into the net. A set that initially looked like lasting forever ended exactly on the hour mark as Djokovic whipped a service return wide to give Murray, runner-up to Roger Federer last year, the one-set cushion.

Even when Djokovic slipped and skidded flat on to his stomach while trying to chase down a Murray winner, the six-time Grand Slam champion appeared unfazed as he quickly got back on to his feet to extend his lead to 4-1. But Murray, who trains in the intense Miami heat even on Christmas Day, showed off his iron-man conditioning as he stormed back to level at 4-4.

Murray had the fans roaring when he wrapped up the 69-minute second set with a 125mph thunderbolt ace.

Murray proved that he was seeing the ball like a football as broke in the opening game of the third set, successfully challenging Hawkeye to show that Djokovic's backhand on breakpoint had in fact dropped long. After going ahead 2-0, Murray's mind seemed to go on a walkabout as Djokovic won four games on the trot.

But just when thoughts of last September's US Open final started flashing though the mind of everyone packed on to Centre Court, when Djokovic rallied to win the third and fourth sets, Murray made sure that there would be no repeat.

Hsieh-Peng crowned

Hsieh Su-wei became the first Taiwanese player to win a Grand Slam title when she and Peng Shuai beat Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 in the women’s doubles final late on Saturday.

Andy Murray facts

-Born: Glasgow, Scotland, May 15, 1987.

- A survivor of the 1996 Dunblane School massacre.

-A talented all-round sportsman, he turned down a promising career as a soccer player to focus on tennis, leaving his homeland at age 15 to train in Barcelona.

- He became the first British player since Greg Rusedski in 1997 to make a Grand Slam final when he played the 2008 US?Open final, losing to Roger Federer.

- Made the Australian Open final in 2010, losing to Federer.

- In 2011, he reached the Australian Open final for the second straight year, but lost to Novak Djokovic.

-In 2012, he hired former world number one Ivan Lendl as his coach.

-In 2012, He became the first British man to reach the final at Wimbledon since Bunny Austin in 1938. He lost to Federer.

- A few weeks later, he avenged his loss to Federer when he won the gold medal at the London Olympics.

- In winning the US Open, he became the first British man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Fred Perry won the US Open in 1936.

- He beat Djokovic in an epic five-set US Open final in 2012 to win his first Grand Slam title.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 2: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Iqbal said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli.

"I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not doing even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness," he added.

During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction.

But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training.

Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.

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News Network
April 7,2020

Bengaluru, April 7: India batsman Robin Uthappa has said that he reckons he still has a World Cup left in him, despite being out of the team for than four years.

Uthappa had last played a match for the Men in Blue in 2015 on the tour of Zimbabwe.

"Right now I want to be competitive. I still have that fire burning in me, I really want to compete and do well. I honestly believe I have a World Cup left in me, so I'm pursuing that, especially the shortest format. 

The blessings of lady luck or god or whatever you call it, plays a massive factor," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Uthappa as saying.

"Especially in India, it becomes so much more evident. I don't think it is as evident when you're playing cricket outside of India. But in the subcontinent and India especially, with the amount of talent that we do have in our country, all of those aspects become evident," he added.

The 34-year-old Uthappa has played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India and he was also a part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2007.

Uthappa has scored 934 runs in ODIs at an average of 25.94, while in T20Is his numbers are 249 runs at an average of 24.90.

"You can never write yourself off. You would be unfair to yourself if you write yourself off.

Especially if you believe you have the ability and you know that there is an outside chance. So I still believe in that outside chance," Uthappa said.

"I still believe that things can go my way and I probably can be a part of a World Cup-winning team and play an integral role in that as well.

Those dreams are still alive and I think I'll keep playing cricket till that is alive," he added.

Uthappa had enjoyed great success with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. He went on to become their leading run-scorer in the 2014 edition.

However, he was released by the side after a below-par 2019 season, and last November he was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for the 2020 edition.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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