Haddin compounded anger in New Zealand by saying they had got what they deserved. (Source: Reuters)Australia cricket coach Darren Lehmann has defended wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and the team’s vocal aggression during their World Cup final win over New Zealand.
Haddin and his team mates have come under fire for their send-offs of New Zealand’s batsmen at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, though no action was taken by the match referee and ‘Black Caps’ skipper Brendon McCullum played it down in his post-match media conference.
Haddin compounded anger in New Zealand by saying they had got what they deserved after being “too nice” during their pool phase clash in Auckland , which Australia lost.
“He’s copped a bit (of criticism), hasn’t he?” Lehmann told Adelaide radio station 5AA.
“We like to play our game, no one got reported out of the game, so we must have played it fair.
“It was a little bit disappointing, but people are entitled to their opinions and you’re going to have good and bad times.
“You accept that and you move on.
“We’re happy with the way we played, obviously. We knew we wanted to be really aggressive against them. And look, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Australia’s seven-wicket win sealed their fifth World Cup and fourth from the last five tournaments.
Williams won despite an unreliable serve, a poor second set and 51 unforced errors. (Source: Reuters)Serena Williams abused her racket, scolded herself and even made angry faces at the sun.
In the end, as usual, she took out her frustration on the ball.
The seven-time Key Biscayne champion overcame her annoyance and shaky play Wednesday for her 700th career victory, beating Sabine Lisicki 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the Miami Open.
Williams won despite an unreliable serve, a poor second set and 51 unforced errors. She looked flatfooted and listless at times, and seemed especially vexed when playing on the side looking into the sun.
“It’s always tough on that side,” she said. “You just don’t see. You just have to adjust.”
She did, earning her 16th consecutive victory on Key Biscayne, where she’s the two-time defending champion.
“I know today wasn’t my best day,” she said. “I just told myself, I’m not serving the way I normally serve and hitting the way I normally would hit, so at this point all I can do is just fight and try to give 200 percent instead of 100 percent.”
The No. 1-seeded Williams’ opponent Thursday night will be No. 3 Simona Halep, who beat unseeded American Sloane Stephens 6-1, 7-5. No. 9 Andrea Petkovic plays No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro in the other semifinal.
Two-time champion Andy Murray advanced to the men’s semifinals by rallying past unseeded Dominic Thiem 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Murray’s opponent Friday will be No. 8 Tomas Berdych, who beat unseeded Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-4.
Williams improved her career record to 700-120, making her the eighth woman in the Open Era to reach the milestone. She was presented with a cake on the court, similar to the honor Murray received following his 500th victory Tuesday.
“I think my destiny was to play tennis,” Williams said. “I saw a picture where I was in a stroller on the tennis court.”
The No. 1-seeded Williams withdrew before the Indian Wells semifinal earlier this month with a right knee injury. She had been scheduled to play Halep, who went on to win the title and leads the women’s tour with 24 victories this year.
“I was really disappointed to not be able to play and just not even be close to 100 percent,” Williams said. “So I look forward to it this time. I’m just happy to be in the semis and still be alive somehow.”
“It will be a very nice match,” Halep said. “I have to try everything. She is No. 1 in the world. She’s the best player. I have nothing to lose.”
For much of Williams’ quarterfinal, she trailed Lisicki in fist pumps and points, and let frustration quickly show.
After losing three consecutive games to fall behind 4-3 in the first set, the Floridian pounded the court with her racket and drew jeers in the stadium she considers her home court.
Williams won the first set only because Lisicki wobbled in the tiebreaker, hitting three shots into the net before double-faulting on the final point.
Williams played even worse in the second set, losing six games in a row, but then began to grunt louder and hit harder, with positive results. She earned the only break of the final set in the second game and held from there, serving out the match at love.
“Come on!” she shouted when it ended, as if already gearing up for the semifinal.
Tournament officials then rolled out the cake, with pink, green and purple frosting. What’s her favorite kind?
“Vanilla,” she said.
It wasn’t really Williams’ day, but she won anyway.
Prannoy defeated Ireland’s Scott Evans 22-20 21-18. (Source: Express File Photo)One of the fastest improving men’s singles shuttlers from India — HS Prannoy, will fancy his chances against twice Olympic champion Lin Dan, a week after he accounted for World No. 2 Jan O Jorgensen in New Delhi.
Having hit a career-high of World No. 17 this week, Prannoy who meets the left-handed Chinese legend in Round 2 of the Malaysian Super Series, has the opportunity to emulate K Srikanth who came into the limelight after scalping Super Dan in China last year.
Dan, who’s not quite been his imposing former self after the knee injury from six months ago, has looked vulnerable recently, going down to Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto last week at Siri Fort. The two have never met prior to this clash, but it would rank as one of the most important matches of Prannoy’s career to test both his technical ability and fitness against one of the world’s finest players.
This last fortnight has been a top phase for India’s men’s singles shuttlers, with three Indians finding themselves in the Top 20. Prannoy’s is the latest addition to the pack and he boasts of wins in the last one year over Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Wing Ki Wong and Darren Liew, apart from the entire top crop of Indians.
He’s played the other Chinese Chen Long and Du Pengyu earlier, but is yet to register a win over them. He will start as an underdog in Thursday’s clash, but will back himself to put out a good show.
Kashyap shines
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap also advanced to the second round of the men’s singles. World No.13 Kashyap got the better of South Korean Lee Dong Keun 21-15, 11-21, 21-14 in an hour and 11 minutes contest, after Prannoy defeated Ireland’s Scott Evans 22-20, 21-18 in 40 minutes. Kashyap faces current World No 1 Chen Long.
Star Indian women’s doubles combo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa prevailed over Indonesians Devi Tika Permatasari and Keshya Nurvita Hanadia 21-14, 18-21, 21-16 in a hard-fought 48 minutes battle. However, Indian men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy went down 11-21, 17-21 to the Indonesian duo of Andrei Adistia and Hendra Aprida Gunawan in half an hour.
Saina, Srikanth advance
Earlier, newly-crowned India Open champions, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth continued their rampaging international run, notching up contrasting victories to enter the second round of the $ 500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier.
Set to be crowned the World No.1 on Thursday, Saina hardly broke a sweat as she dumped Maria Febe Kusumastuti of Indonesia 21-13, 21-16 in women’s singles after World No. 4 Srikanth edged out England’s Rajiv Ouseph 10-21, 21-15, 22-24 in men’s singles. The Olympic bronze-medallist, Saina will next take on a Chinese qualifier Yao Xue even as Srikanth set up a clash with World No.16 Tian Houwei of China tomorrow. Interestingly, Saina and Srikanth had clinched the China Open Super Series last year, before winning the India Super Series last Sunday.
Saina produced a dominating show in the first game not giving any chance to the Indonesian after opening a huge 12-4 lead early on. At 19-13, she grabbed two straight points to seal the first game. In the second, Maria managed a 4-2 lead but that evaporated soon as Saina took control, leading 10-6. The Indonesian clawed back at 10-10 till 15-15, before the girl from Hyderabad zoomed ahead once again. Srikanth had beaten Rajiv at the World Championship last year and he kept his record intact today as he grabbed control of the match early on before breaking off at 7-7 in the first game. He blasted 10 straight points to create a huge gulf which Rajiv could never breach as the Indian led 1-0.
Srikanth had the opportunity of sealing the match in the second game itself but he squandered a 6-0 early lead as Rajiv rode on a six-point burst at 13-12 to roar back into the contest. The decider was a rollercoaster ride as Srikanth once again brought his never-say-die attitude to the fore, fighting back from 3-7 and 11-8 down to eventually edge out the England shuttler.
Srikanth has been on a roll since winning the China Open Super Series Premier last November. He reached the semifinals of the Hong Kong Open, World Super Series Finals, made it to the finals of Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold before winning the Swiss Open and India Super Series last month.
Saina too had been in red hot form, winning the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in January, reaching the All England final, before clinching the India Open in Delhi.
Lin Dan: Dip in form or permanent slide?
* While Lin Dan is still among the most formidable opponents in the international circuit, recent results suggest he isn’t as unbeatable as he once was.
* Over the last few months a number of players including K Srikanth, Tommy Sugiarto and teammate Chen Long have opened their accounts against him. The 32-year-old’s comprehensive 21-13, 21-12 loss to Chen Long in the All England is seen as a passing of the torch to the younger Chinese opponent.
* In October last year, Lin suffered an injury to his right knee at the Denmark Open. That has seen him moderate his relentlessly aggressive style. At the India open, Lin deployed the same style that he has in recent months – a style dominated by flicks and pushes, with only sparing use of his feared jump smash.
* Sugiarto too said Lin wasn’t the same player as before and wasn’t focusing as hard between points. “He is making far too many mistakes and he is not concentrating well enough. He is playing very well for a couple of points and slipping away immediately after,” he had said.
