We have it in us to beat Tai Tzu Ying, says Saina Nehwal

Agencies
January 31, 2018

New Delhi, Jan 31: World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying might have proved to be a nemesis for Saina Nehwal but the Indian shuttler believes the Taiwanese is not unbeatable and exuded confidence of defeating her in due time.

Tai Tzu, who clinched five titles last year, has defeated Saina nine times in last 10 meetings with only three of them going into a decider, albeit for a lost cause. Last Sunday, Saina suffered her seventh straight loss to the Taiwanese at the Indonesia Masters final.

"You see the number of tournaments she has been won last year, so it is not only the Indians who are losing to her. She is the best player right now. She is tricky, she is very focused and consistently reaching the finals. We have to look up to her," Saina told reporters.

"I think the top 15 players are doing well. There are some players who you are not comfortable against, but it is not that we cant beat her (Tai Tzu).

"Tai Tzu almost lost to Michelle Li in the first round at Indonesia, so we will have to figure out a way to beat her. I think it is a matter of time, we have it in us to do well against her," she added.

Sindhu too has found the going tough against Tai Tzu, who has defeated the Indian eight times in 11 meetings. The 23-year-old Taiwanese girl has beaten Sindhu in the last four encounters.

"She is definitely doing well and when you are mentioning about the losses, you also have to mention that I had beaten her in the PBL," Sindhu laughed, referring to her victory at the Premier Badminton League early this month.

"Well, of course, it was a different scoring system. She is doing well, she is consistent. But it's not like we can't beat her. I always feel it depends on how one plays on that day. We might have ups and downs and we need to be focussed to beat her," she added.

Saina, who recovered from an ankle injury, too entered her first Major final since the knee injury-induced ouster from the Rio Olympics said she is looking to stay fit and not losing her sleep over results in tournaments.

"The only thing I am looking to do is stay fit and train hard, and yes, it has been an excellent week at Indonesia for me - thanks to Gopi sir. We didn't have much time after the PBL (Premier Badminton League), so basically it was 5-6 good sessions of preparation before the Indonesia Open and I came out with a good result," she said.

Asked how she will handle the workload during the hectic season ahead, Saina snapped: "I am not looking forward to any tournament, just want to stay fit."

Later, when she was termed as a title-contender for the India Open, Saina's sarcastic response was: "Last few months, I was not a title contender, so I don't know from where it is coming. It's okay. I am performing well, so hope to do well."

Sindhu, however, was her usual self. "Each round would be tough, so we should prepare one at a time. I know I won last time and Saina also won in 2015, so we will have to give my best."

The India Open Super 500 tournament lost a lot of sheen with the last-moment withdrawal of World No. 1's Viktor Axelsen and Tai Tzu in a draw that doesn't have the top Japanese or Chinese players.

BAI general secretary Anup Narang said:"We had some withdraws; Viktor Axelsen and Tai Tzu Ying pulled out at the last moment. But we have Carolina Marin, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and K Srikanth, so we have a very good list of players playing.

"But yes, the number of entries has gone down, probably because players are getting to terms with a tough schedule and they have to decide how they want to go about it," he added.

Besides Saina and Sindhu, Olympic champion Carolina Marin and World No. 4 Thai Ratchanok Intanon are the other top players.

The two-time former world championship Marin will be in her third week after playing at the Malaysia Masters and the Indonesia Masters.

Asked why did she plan to participate in three tournaments on the trot, Marin said: "It is a tough year for every player since the calendar has changed and my strategy, may be, is to play three on a roll because perhaps I am not comfortable with other tournaments later in the year. Also, I will get good time to prepare for All England."

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News Network
January 6,2020

Sydney, Jan 6: Nathan Lyon captured five for 50 and 10 match wickets as Australia crushed New Zealand by 279 runs on Monday, capping a golden domestic summer as they swept the three-Test series.

The off-spinner led the powerful Australian bowling attack to dismiss the Kiwis for 136 and seal another heavy win over the Black Caps after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne.

Australia have been unbeatable this season, winning all five Tests at home -- two against Pakistan and three against New Zealand -- after retaining the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.

"It's been a great summer for the Australian Test side," Lyon said.

"It's pretty special to be part of it, we have been impressive, pretty clinical, the batters have done well and given us bowlers plenty of time."

Australia declared their second innings at 217 for two with David Warner scoring an unbeaten century, leaving the Black Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth innings on a wearing Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

But the Kiwis buckled under the pressure of Australia's superior bowling attack with Mitchell Starc taking three for 25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon.

"They were clinical in all areas and after the first match they put us under pressure session after session," said skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the Test with a virus.

New Zealand were reeling early at 27-4 and never recovered after Starc and Lyon took two wickets each in the middle session to put the skids under the tourists.

Starc removed both openers, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell, in the first five overs. Blundell fell to a stunning catch by a diving Lyon at point for two and stand-in skipper Latham lost a review for leg before wicket.

Jeet Raval was out in a review to the faintest of edges on 'Snicko' in Lyon's first over for 12.

First-innings top-scorer Glenn Phillips went for a duck after technology detected a faint outside edge to wicketkeeper Paine off Lyon.

Taylor's Kiwi record

Ross Taylor became the leading all-time Kiwi batsman, going past Stephen Fleming (7,172) before he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 22 to take his Test aggregate to 7,174.

Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme smacked Lyon for six to bring up his fifty but went next ball hoicking to Joe Burns at deep mid-wicket for 52.

Todd Astle was out to a superb diving catch by James Pattinson in the outfield for 17.

Starc yorked William Somerville's middle stump for seven and BJ Watling was the last to fall, caught at backward square leg by Pat Cummins for 19.

Earlier, Warner completed his 24th Test century and remained unbeaten when skipper Paine declared upon the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.

"You know you're capable of doing so," Warner said, when asked about how he had bounced back from his disastrous Ashes campaign in England last year.

"I was in the nets hitting the ball well and had the skipper backing me. To be able to play with freedom helped me. It's all paying off."

Labuschagne, who was dropped on four in a regulation caught-and-bowled chance by leg-spinner Astle, was caught at long on off Matt Henry for 59 -- his seventh score over 50 in eight innings this domestic summer.

Labuschagne finished the home five-Test season with a stunning aggregate of 896 runs, made up of his 215 in the first innings, three other centuries and three half-centuries in eight innings.

There was drama late in the Australian innings when Warner was given an official warning by umpire Aleem Dar for running down the middle of the pitch in scampering a single.

It resulted in five penalty runs being added to New Zealand's first innings total meaning their target was revised down from 421 to 416.

The Test was played against the backdrop of one of Australia's most devastating bushfire seasons with at least 24 people losing their lives in blazes raging across the country, including on the outskirts of Sydney.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Auckland, Jan 24: K L Rahul and Shreyas Iyer smashed quick-fire half-centuries, while skipper Virat Kohli made 45 as India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in the first T20 International to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series here on Friday.

Chasing a challenging 204-run target, Rahul smashed 56 off 27 balls and together with Kohli shared 99 runs for the second wicket to lay the foundation for the chase.

Later, Iyer (58 not out off 29 balls) and Manish Pandey (14 not out) remained unbeaten as India chased down the target with an over to spare.

Earlier, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor smashed scintillating half-centuries to power New Zealand to a challenging 203 for five.

Opener Munro blasted six fours and two sixes in his 42-ball 59, while skipper Williamson treated the Indian bowlers with equal disdain, hitting them out of the park four times in his 26-ball 51.

Taylor then clobbered an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls. His innings was laced with three sixes and as many fours.

Opener Martin Guptill also chipped in with a 19-ball 30.

Earlier, India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah (1/), Shardul Thakur (1/44), Yuzvendra Chahal (1/32), Shivam Dube (1/24) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/18) snapped one wicket each.

Brief Score:

New Zealand: 203 for 5 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 59, Kane Williamson 51, Ross Taylor 54; Jasprit Bumrah 1/31).

India: 204 for 4 in 19 overs (Shreyas Iyer 58 not out, K L Rahul 56, Virat Kohli 45; Ish Sodhi 2/36).

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Ross Taylor and Tom Latham played knocks of 109 and 69, respectively, as New Zealand defeated India by four wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the Seddon Park on Wednesday.

Chasing 348, New Zealand got off to a steady start as openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls put on 85 runs for the first wicket, however, India finally got the breakthrough in the 16th over as Shardul Thakur dismissed Guptill (32).

Tom Blundell and Nicholls then put on 24 runs for the second wicket, but their vigil came to an end in the 20th over as Kuldeep Yadav had Blundell (9) stumped at the hands of wicket-keeper KL Rahul, reducing Kiwis to 109/2.

Nicholls then retrieved the innings for the hosts as he found support in Ross Taylor. The duo mixed caution with aggression to stitch together a partnership of 62 runs. But with their back against the wall, skipper Kohli lifted the side up as he ran out Nicholls (78) in the 29th over, reducing New Zealand to 171/3.

Skipper Tom Latham, came out to bat next, and he increased the tempo of the Kiwi innings. He took a special liking to Kuldeep and kept on sweeping him to pick easy boundaries on the legside.

Taylor and Latham put on a stand of 138 runs to take Kiwis closer to victory. But with 39 runs away from the target, Kuldeep dismissed Latham (69) to revive India's hopes of making a comeback.

Mohammed Shami removed Jimmy Neesham (9) in the 46th over while Colin de Grandhomme (1) was sent packing via a run-out to send cat among the pigeons in the Kiwi camp. In the end, Mitchell Santner and Taylor took the hosts over the line by four wickets and with 11 balls to spare.

Earlier, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul's knocks of 103 and 88, respectively, helped India post 347/4 in the allotted twenty overs.

After being put in to bat, India got off to a quickfire start as openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal put on 50 runs. Colin de Grandhomme finally provided the breakthrough to the Kiwis as he sent Shaw (20) back to the pavilion in the eighth over.

Agarwal (32) was also dismissed soon after by Tim Southee and the Men in Blue were reduced to 54/2 in the ninth over.

Skipper Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer then retrieved the innings for the visitors as the duo put on 102 runs for the third wicket. Kohli brought up his 58th half-century in the 28th over.

Ish Sodhi got the crucial breakthrough of Kohli (51) in the 29th over as he clean bowled him to reduce India to 156/3. However, Iyer continued to march on and brought up his maiden ODI century in the 43rd over.

KL Rahul, who came in to bat at number five provided the much-needed impetus to the innings. He along with Iyer put on a stand of 136 runs for the fourth wicket.

Iyer (103) was finally sent back to the pavilion by Southee in the 46th over, reducing India to 292/4.

In the final overs, Rahul and Kedar Jadhav hammered the Kiwi players to take India's score past the 340-run mark. Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 348/6 (Ross Taylor 109*, Henry Nicholls 78, Kuldeep Yadav 2-84) defeat India 347/4 (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88*, Tim Southee 2-85) by four wickets.

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