friDAY, JUly 13, 2018
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Sherfane Rutherford ton blasts Windies B into the finals S
Sherfane Rutherford hit an unbeaten 134 off 66 balls
herfane Rutherford enjoyed a dream day on the field, claiming two wickets and them slamming the first hundred of the Global T20 Canada to help Windies B hunt down Vancouver Knights' 215 and storm into the final. Rutherford slammed 11 fours and 10 sixes and remained unbeaten on 134 off 66 deliveries as CWI B overhauled the target off the last ball of the game to leave the Knights shell-shocked. Rutherford's heroic effort with the bat was noteworthy given CWI B had slipped disastrously to 11 for 3 inside the third over of the chase. That's when Nicholas Pooran joined forces with Rutherford. The duo set about rebuilding the innings with the idea of a victory lingering on the horizon. Pooran was happy to play second fiddle while enjoying the proximity advantage to the Rutherford show. The duo added 130 for the fourth wicket as Gayle struggled with his fifth bowler - Fawad Ahmed and Saad Bin Zafar combined to give 63 runs. When Pooran fell, CWI B still needed 75 runs to get off 35 balls. Captain Anthony Bramble played
just 11 of those deliveries (six of which came in the last over) leaving the stage clear for a possessed Rutherford, whose belligerent hitting affected Chris Gayle's bowling choices. Eventually Knights had to bowl left-arm spinner Bin Zafar. With 13 to get in the last over, Bramble began with a couple of twos before hitting a full toss over long off for six. After playing a dot ball, he took a two to level the scores before hitting the last ball for six, sparking jubilant celebrations. Earlier in the day, CWI B's decision to bowl nearly blew up in their face as Chadwick Walton and Gayle hit fifties and shared a 73-run opening partnership. Walton made 54 off 24 while Gayle scored at a more leisurely pace in his innings of 50 off 44. There were further contributions down the order from Babar Hayat (25 off 15), Rassie van der Dussen (23 off 16) and Andre Russell (29* off 16) to power the Knights to 215. Unfortunately, that total was not quite enough on the day. Brief scores: Vancouver Knights 215/6 in 20 overs (Chadwick Walton 54, Chris Gayle 50; Sherfane Rutherford 2-25) lost to CWI B 221/4 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 134*, Nicholas Pooran 44; Tim Southee 2-39) by six wickets. (cricbuzz.com)
court than in previous rounds. She broke in the sixth game of t h e first s e t when Gorges w e n t wide and then took the set on the German's serve when her opponent sent a forehand wide. The second
literally didn't think I'd do this well in my fourth tournament back," said Williams. "I don't have anything to lose and I feel I can play so free. That's what I'm doing." Williams only returned to the Tour in March and is playing her fourth tournament since giving birth.
Williams books her spot in Wimbledon final S
erena Williams will face Germany's Angelique Kerber for an eighth Wimbledon singles title after both won their semi-finals in straight sets. The American former world number one overpowered Germany's Julia Gorges 6-2 6-4, while Kerber beat Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-3. Saturday's final will be a re-match of the 2016 showpiece, which Williams won. Williams will be seeking a 24th Grand Slam title and her first since giving birth last September.
Fairytale ending
Williams was in control from the outset against 13th seed Gorges, who was making her Grand Slam semi-final debut. It was the first time at these championships that the American had faced a player ranked in the top 50 and she stepped up with a powerful display that also showed better movement around the
set followed a similar pattern, with the only brief wobble coming in the ninth game when Williams was broken. But she struck back immediately and looked to the sky when an attempted lob from Gorges flew out to give her the victory. "It's crazy. I don't even know how to feel because I
Serena Williams
Kerber proud to be in another Grand Slam final
Two-time Grand Slam champion Kerber reached her second Wimbledon final with a commanding performance against an error-prone Ostapenko. The 11th seed saved a break point in game six before breaking the Latvian's serve in the next game. The 30-year-old then gained an early break in the second set on her way to the victory. "It is such a great feeling to be back in the final and to play on Centre Court is always a great experience," Kerber stated.
"I'm happy and proud to be in another Grand Slam final; I will just try to play like I did and just focus on my game. "Jelena is always fighting until the last point, hits the ball really hard, and I was trying to stay focused. It was quite tough, but I'm happy to be through." Ostapenko, who won the 2017 French Open title, was playing in her first Wimbledon semi-final. Despite making 18 first-set winners compared to only six from Kerber, the 21-year-old also made 19 unforced errors, with Kerber only making two. The former world number one then capitalised on more poor play from Ostapenko, breaking her serve at the first time of asking in the second set and again in the sixth game. Ostapenko saved a match point in the seventh and gained one break back, but it was not enough against the 2016 Australian Open and US Open champion. (BBC Sport)
Chandimal, Hathurusingha out of South Africa Tests S
ri Lanka Captain Dinesh Chandimal, Coach Chandika Hathurusingha and Manager Asanka Gurusinha have accepted they will not participate in the Test series against South Africa, after the ICC concluded its hearing on the trio, who had pleaded guilty to a level three spirit of cricket offence. The ICC tweeted 10 hours before the start of the first Test that the judicial commissioner would announce his decision in “due course”. In the interim, Chandimal, Hathurusingha and Gurusinha will serve a two-match suspension at least. The hearing, which began at roughly 18:00h Sri Lanka time on Wednesday, went for more than five hours. That the trio will sit out the Tests is no real surprise – they had pleaded guilty to an offence that carries a minimum punishment of four suspension points, which corresponds to two Tests. They will hope, however,
that judicial commissioner Michael Beloff hands out no more than four suspension points. He could slap them with as many as eight points, which would rule them out of four further ODIs as well. One suspension p o i n t to
corresponds a ban of one ODI.
In fact, Sri Lanka had hoped to talk the ICC down from even the minimum suspension of two Tests, citing several mitigating factors for their refusal to take the field on the third morning of the St Lucia Test last month. They had a r g u e d that the entire twohour delay that
Dinesh Chandimal
morning was not solely their fault, and that a miscommunication with the match officials had lengthened the delay. But with the three men having already pleaded guilty to the offence, a two-match suspension at least was always likely to be imposed. The spirit of cricket charge relates to Sri Lanka’s refusal to resume play on the third day in St Lucia. After initially having reacted with shock at a ball-tampering charge against Chandimal, which was laid only 10 minutes before play on that morning, Sri Lanka had refused to take the field in protest. They had then briefly walked on to the field, believing that no five-run penalty for tampering would be incurred, and that the ball that was used the previous day would not be changed. But upon realising that the umpires were in fact changing the ball, and
that the five-run penalty was indeed added on, they left the field again, delaying play for another 40 minutes. Chandimal has already served a one-match suspension for tampering, but this punishment for the spirit of cricket offence will extend his ban. He is allowed to be in Sri Lanka’s dressing room throughout this South Africa series, but is not allowed to take the field. Hathurusingha, meanwhile, cannot be in the players’ dressing room at any stage during the Tests, though he may attend the match via other means. He can also continue his coaching duties as normal in between the matches he is suspended for. Gurusinha will face the same penalty as Hathurusingha. The loss of Chandimal is a substantial blow to Sri Lanka. He averages 52.47 as Captain, and had also led Sri Lanka to creditable results in the UAE (against Pakistan), India and Bangladesh. Suranga Lakmal is likely to lead Sri Lanka in his stead. (ESPNcricinfo)