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Reuters
5 minutes ago
- Reuters
From Grand Slam to grand struggle, Krejcikova lives to fight on
LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Barbora Krejcikova's Wimbledon defence is still alive — but only just. The Czech squeezed past American Caroline Dolehide 6-4 3-6 6-2 in a second-round tussle that was all grind and no grandeur. There was zero champion's polish on show as the Czech creaked her way into the third round, surviving a match as scrappy as a Henman Hill picnic after a seagull raid. "A huge relief," she said afterwards to polite applause from the crowd. "Really up and down points, turning one way and the other ... I am so grateful I can keep going." Court Two spectators, many blissfully unaware that they were watching the reigning champion, might be forgiven — Krejcikova herself barely looked the part. A season dogged by back and thigh niggles has left the 29-year-old short of sharpness, and her patchy 4-3 record for the season coming in was on full display in a match strewn with errors. Spraying foreheads wide of their mark and dumping backhands into the net, nothing suggested a twice Grand Slam champion was holding court. At times the contest resembled less a Grand Slam match and more a practice session between two very rusty players - Krejcikova produced 39 unforced errors, while Dolehide got fewer than half her first serves in all match. The pair exchanged errors and breaks of serve throughout -- Dolehide trying to power her way into the contest while Krejcikova sought to claw her way to victory on the back of slow, sliced forehands whispering back to a gentler age. Scarcely can a champion have produced such a lukewarm performance on the Grand Slam stage but it would be fair to say the Czech blows hot and cold on the tennis court. French Open champion in 2021, she has followed that title run with three first-round defeats and one second round showing at Roland Garros in the years since. Her form can read like a nursery rhyme. When she's good, she's very, very good — Grand Slam good. But when the gears don't quite catch, when timing slips or confidence wavers, she can unravel just as spectacularly. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 19th-century American poet and nursery rhyme writer, had it: when she is good, she is very, very good — but when she is bad, she is horrid. Still, the 17th seed did just enough to scrape through to gentle applause and a sterner test ahead: 10th seed Emma Navarro, who won't be quite so generous.
Times
8 minutes ago
- Times
Wayne ‘Ned' Larkins obituary: maverick batsman for England and Northamptonshire
In an age when opening batsmen were expected to wear down the new ball attack and refrain from attempting any expansive shots until the shine had been seen off, the opposition feared the maverick strokemaker. They fretted in particular that, in the phrase coined by Jonathan Agnew, the fast bowler turned BBC cricket correspondent, they would be 'nedded' by the gifted Wayne Larkins in county or Test cricket. 'Ned', as he was known, was an opener who would hit the first ball of a match not merely through the cover fielders but over their heads for six. 'He did this to me and smiled back,' Agnew said. Had Larkins played under the current England management, who favour quick scoring, he would have made more than his 13 Test appearances and been in demand from franchise leagues all over the world.
South Wales Guardian
16 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Shubman Gill's double century puts India in complete control of second Test
Gill scored an imperious 269 on day two at Edgbaston, besting Sunil Gavaskar's claim to the highest ever score by an Indian batter on English soil and Virat Kohli's mark for the biggest knock by an India captain, as his side posted 587. That was the most England have conceded since the start of the 'Bazball' era three years ago and, after 151 sapping overs in the field, they were ripe for the picking in the evening session. Gill doubles up as India put 587 on the board on Day Two at Edgbaston 🏏 Full highlights from the day's play 👇 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 3, 2025 With attack leader Jasprit Bumrah rested, his replacement Akash Deep stepped up to dismiss first Test centurions Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for ducks with consecutive deliveries. Zak Crawley followed when he edged Mohammed Siraj behind, leaving England's in-form top three back in the pavilion inside eight overs. It could have been even worse as Harry Brook made a reckless start but he and Joe Root survived until stumps to reach 77 for three. Brook had a final scare off the penultimate ball of a difficult day, threatening to drag Prasidh Krishna into his stumps and only surviving by intercepting the ball with his shoulder. The first two sessions were torrid for England, costing 254 runs in exchange for a pair of consolation wickets. For the most part, they watched Gill march relentlessly towards his eight-and-a-half-hour epic. He led stands of 203 with Ravindra Jadeja and 144 alongside Washington Sundar, grinding his opponents down in a studious stay containing 30 fours, three sixes and barely any false shots. From 200 to 269! Edgbaston stood & applauded a marathon knock from the #TeamIndia Captain #ENGvIND | @ShubmanGill — BCCI (@BCCI) July 3, 2025 With 114 runs already under his belt he saw off the new-ball burst from Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes then set about batting the hosts into trouble. Gill waited until Brydon Carse's arrival as first change to step up a gear, driving hard when he strayed too full and pulling methodically between two boundary riders when the Durham quick went short. Shoaib Bashir did his best to tie up an end but just two maidens in 45 overs suggest he was never able to fully apply the brakes. Josh Tongue was the last of the frontline bowlers to be used but the first to strike, hurrying Jadeja with an extra hint of zip and bounce to have him caught off the glove for 89 just before lunch. India shrugged off the loss, Gill strengthening his dominance as a further 145 runs rained down in the afternoon that weighed heavily on the English fielders. Amid a handful of warning signs, a five-over spell of inelegant medium pace from Brook spoke loudest. Gill stood above it all, reaching 200 in 311 balls then taking just 37 more to reach 250. Root looked stony faced despite bowling Sundar with an unexpectedly brisk turner, a reflection of the wider English mood, but there was a release of frustration when Gill rolled his wrists on Tongue and stroked the gentlest of catches to square-leg. The last two wickets were gifted to Bashir, a reward for his long shift at the coalface, but both Deep and Siraj had more important work to do. Twelve runs off the first over of the reply represented a false start, with Deep blowing the game open in the third. Duckett poked uncertainly outside off and was brilliantly held at third slip, where Gill's untouchable day continued. Deep made it a double when he snapped up Pope for a first-baller, snaring the edge with a fast, full delivery that briefly bobbled out of KL Rahul's hands before he brought it back under control. That's stumps on Day 2. We'll start tomorrow with Joe Root (18*) and Harry Brook (30*) unbeaten at the crease. — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 3, 2025 Having scored 325 between them in the first Test, both Duckett and Pope had failed to add to the tally. The sense of disarray continued when Crawley played waywardly at a Siraj ball he might have left alone and picked out Karun Nair in the cordon. Brook was beaten by his first two balls, survived a tight appeal for lbw on one and played some hair-raising strokes as he looked to assert himself on a precarious situation. He and Root put on 52 by the close, offering some hope that there were still big runs to be had on a flat pitch.
