Sports
Nadal wins 21st Grand Slam title
Rafael Nadal took all-time ownership of the record for men’s Grand Slam singles titles as the Spaniard earned his record 21st major crown with an extraordinary 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 come-from-behind victory over Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open men’s singles final at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.
Nadal looked down and out after dropping the opening two sets, but steeled himself to snap a three-way tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on 20 major singles titles, winning the match in five hours and 24 minutes.
Thirteen years since he denied Federer on Rod Laver Arena, the 35-year-old became just the fourth man in the open era to capture every major twice following a remarkable 2-6 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 7-5 victory.
It was his first comeback from two sets down in a major final and first at any stage of a Grand Slam since the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2007.
“I know it’s a tough moment, Daniil. You’re an amazing champion. I’ve been in this position a couple of times trying to have the trophy with me,” Nadal said. “It has been one of the most emotional nights in my tennis career, and to share the court with you is just an honour.
“For me it’s just amazing. A month-and-a-half ago I didn’t know if I’d be back and today I’m back here with you holding this trophy.”
Nadal admitted serious conversations had been held within his team about whether he could ever compete at the highest level again following a chronic footy injury.
An unprecedented 21st major, his first since Roland-Garros in 2020, gave the Spaniard the outright lead over his great rivals Federer and Djokovic for the first time.
“What you did today I was amazed. During the match I tried to play tennis but after the match I asked him ‘Are you tired?’,” Medvedev said. “You raised your level after two sets for the 21st Grand Slam… you’re an amazing champion. Congrats. It was unbelievable.
“I’m going to try to be better next time.”
Three years ago, Medvedev played up to the role as the Flushing Meadows villain, but won over a new legion of fans when he surged back from a two-set deficit only to fall narrowly short to Nadal.
Medvedev was under no illusion he would have it easy winning over a crowd intent on seeing one of the greats stand triumphant for the first time since 2009 on the final Sunday at Melbourne Park.
He cared not for sentiment though and a 136km/h backhand winner down the line was a warning sign he was taking the early initiative.
Sweat-soaked in the heat of battle on a humid summer’s night, the Spaniard was desperate to stem the flow when he rushed the net only to push a forehand volley wide.
It handed the Russian a 5-2 lead and he landed the set in 42 minutes.
Where Nadal’s heavy, higher-kicking blows typically proved so effective at wearing down challengers, Medvedev represented the modern prototype, a 1.98m tormentor with seamless movement and exceptional baseline consistency.
He was a formidable prospect, particularly on hard courts, and the sixth seed was under the pump.
Despite landing little more than half his first deliveries and spending more than twice as long on serve, Nadal was hanging tough.
His first break point arrived via a punishing 40-shot rally, ended on a backhand drop-shot winner, and he brought the crowd to its feet two points later when he opened up a 3-1 lead.
A set point slid by in a 12-minute battle on serve and, having survived Felix Auger-Aliassime from match point down in in a four-hour-plus quarterfinal, Medvedev was emboldened.
Thirty minutes later, he held a two-set advantage.
It was a sizeable summit for Nadal from here.
Not since a round of 16 clash against Mikhail Youzhny at the All England Club 15 years ago had he recovered from two sets down in a major.
With the pair locked at 4-all in the fourth, a first sniff of a chance arose.
A bold attempt off a poor drop shot backfired badly on Medvedev when it caught the net cord.
It proved pivotal as Nadal capitalised and after three hours and 12 minutes, Rod Laver Arena erupted when the 35-year-old landed the third set.
Medvedev’s woes were only mounting.
As the match passed the four-hour mark, Nadal appeared physically fresher of the two and 14 minutes later, the contest was all square.
A forehand winner to break at two-all in the decider came as a telling blow to his opponent’s fading hopes.
Twice before Nadal had led a break in the deciding set of an Australian Open final only to lose with victory in sight – to Djokovic in 2012 and to Federer in 2017.
It was an ominous sign when he failed to serve out the match at the first time of asking.
But Medvedev was unable to carry the fleeting momentum any further.
After five hours and 28 minutes Nadal had completed one of his greatest triumphs against extraordinary odds.
That number, 21, had never seemed further but had a sounded pretty sweet as it rang around Rod Laver Arena.
“All the support I have received since I arrived here, you are just amazing,” Nadal said. “Without a doubt, probably one of the most emotional ones in my tennis career.
“Having the huge support I received in those three weeks will stay in my heart the rest of my life.”
England turned the page on their T20 World Cup exit at the hands of West Indies with an eight-wicket victory in the opening match of their home series in Canterbury, despite a brilliant unbeaten century by Hayley Mathews.
Of West Indies’ total of 146 for 7, their captain, Matthews, scored exactly 100 off 67 balls, leading an understrength batting line-up missing Deandra Dottin and Chinelle Henry after England had won the toss. Only two of her team-mates reached double figures, with Mandy Mangru’s 17 from No.8 the next-best score.
In their first meeting since West Indies handed England a group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup in Dubai, Sophia Dunkley’s 78 not out gave her new-look side victory at the first time of asking under new head coach Charlotte Edwards and new captain Nat Sciver-Brunt. She was beautifully supported by former captain Heather Knight, who finished unbeaten on 43.
Matthews posed a test for bowlers Em Arlott on debut, Issy Wong, attempting to cement her return to international cricket and Linsey Smith, acting as England’s sole left-arm spinner in the absence of Sophie Ecclestone. They claimed one wicket each, Smith the most economical with 1 for 18 off four overs. It was established seamer Lauren Bell who was the pick of the England bowlers with 2 for 29.
On the eve of the match, Edwards called for big runs and partnerships from her top five, and Dunkley and Knight responded with an unbroken third-wicket stand worth 91. Dunkley, opening in place of the dropped Maia Bouchier, joined Danni Wyatt-Hodge in reeling in the target in a opening stand of 50 in 5.2 overs. But Wyatt-Hodge perished when she was rapped on the pads by Zaida James and the ball ricocheted onto her stumps. That brought new captain Sciver-Brunt to the crease but she was caught behind off Afy Fletcher for a second-ball duck, and left looking rather bemused after a feathered edge on her slog-sweep was revealed on review.
Dunkley brought up her fifty off 34 balls with a cut through backward point off Fletcher. Put down on 62 by Aaliyah Alleyne, running in from long-on off Matthews’ bowling, Dunkley forged on. Knight took charge in striking three fours in four balls during the final over of James’s allocation and brought England to the brink of victory with another boundary off Cherry-Ann Fraser. Needing just one, Dunkley raised the win with a four as England won with 21 balls to spare.
Matthews smoked Smith over the fence at deep square leg in the third over but, with the first ball of the next and after a change of ends, Bell drew a leading edge from Qiana Joseph and – with England hearts firmly in mouths – Smith strode back from point, sat under it and held on. Bell made it two wickets from three balls when James slashed at one outside off and was caught behind for a duck.
All the while Matthews was cruising with immaculate shot placement, her three consecutive fours off Charlie Dean sublime as she swept and drove either side of a pull in front of square that bounced awkwardly on Smith as she moved to her right and parried it over the rope.
By the end of the powerplay, West Indies were 37 for 2. England looked notably sharper in the field than during the previous encounter between these sides – when five dropped catches cost them dearly in Dubai – but it was a lack of awareness by debutante Realeanna Grimmond that led to her run-out. After Matthews struck Issy Wong’s fourth delivery to mid-on and ran a single, Sciver-Brunt lobbed the ball to wicketkeeper Amy Jones over Grimmond, who had her back to the fielder in that moment and had no idea where the ball was as she turned for a second run, only for Jones to whip off the bails.
Matthews brought up her fifty off 38 balls and her side needed her more than ever when Sciver-Brunt took comfortable catches to remove Shabika Gajnabi and Alleyne off Wong and Arlott respectively. Wong fired the ball in to bowler Dean to run out Jannillea Glasgow to make it 87 for 6. Matthews survived on 73 when she sent a leading edge off Arlott towards point were Dean got her fingertips to it diving to her left.
Bell took a sharp catch leaping to her left at short fine leg to break a 47-run partnership for the seventh wicket – West Indies’ highest stand – removing Mangru for 17 in the penultimate over of the innings. Matthews went into the final over on 89 and she looked determined to reach her ton, punishing a Bell full toss through backward square for four. Another boundary clipped off the pads left her on 99 with one ball to go and she managed to reach the milestone with a desperate pull and scampered single, her delight palpable as she raised her bat.
Brief scores:
England Women 150 for 2 in 16.3 overs (Danni Wyat Hodge 17, Sophia Dunkley 81*, Heather Knight 43*; Zaida James 1-32, Afy Fletcher 1-27) beat West Indies Women 146 for 7in 20 overs (Hayley Matthews 100*, Shabika Gajnabi 11, Mandy Mangru 17; Lauren Bell 2-29, Linsey Smith 1-18, Emily Arlott 1-28, Issy Wong 1-35) by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
Alishan Sharafu’s composed half-century under pressure and Haider Ali’s splendid spell of 3 for 7 led UAE to a historic series win against Bangladesh in Sharjah. The hosts chased down 163 with seven wickets in hand to clinch the series 2-1, having already beaten the visitors by two wickets on Monday. It is UAE’s second T20I series win against a Full Member team, having beaten Ireland by the same margin in 2021.
Left-arm spinner Haider led the charge to reduce Bangladesh to 84 for 8, before they recovered to reach 162 for 9. Bangladesh, however, couldn’t quite use the momentum with the ball, as Sharafu, only 22, struck his eighth half-century in T20Is to anchor the chase. He struck five fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 47-ball 68 as the chase went down to the last over. He added 87 runs for the unbroken fourth-wicket stand with Asif Khan, who damaged Bangladesh with five sixes in his unbeaten 26-ball 41.
UAE didn’t quite get their chase off to the best of starts, though. After consecutive fifties in the first two games, captain Muhammad Waseem fell early in for 9 this time. Shoriful Islam got him to drive at a slightly wide one, edging to Tanzid Hassan at slip. Muhammad Zohaib then struck Hassan Mahmud for consecutive sixes in the fifth over, both times hitting through the line, one over long-on, and the other through extra cover.
Sharafu got his big-hitting going with a top-edged six off Tanzim Hasan in the seventh over, before Rishad Hossain cleaned up Zohaib for 29 with one that spun back into the left-hand batter. Rahul Chopra was the next to go just after the halfway mark, heaving at a slower bouncer from Tanzim to midwicket for 13.
Sharafu didn’t get bothered by UAE being three down and the equation reading 84 required off 56. He ramped Tanzim for a six over deep third two balls after Chopra’s wicket. He pinged the same bowler in his next over for a four through point, but then UAE were kept quiet for about 16 deliveries that left UAE to get 53 to win from 30.
Sharafu then hammered Rishad down the ground at the start of the 16th over, with Tanzid parrying the catch at long-off for a six. Asif, always on the prowl for big hits, also smacked Rishad for consecutive sixes in the same over to make it a 19-run over. It brought the required run rate down from 10.60 to 8.50 and 34 to get from the last four.
Sharafu finished the next over with a cracking four through the covers and Asif smashed Mahmud over midwicket next ball to bring it close to a run-a-ball equation. With 14 to win from 12, Asif clubbed two more sixes in the penultimate over off Tanzim on the off side before Sharafu aptly struck the winning runs next over, a blistering cover drive off Mahmud.
Waseem used four different bowlers to bowl the first four overs after winning the toss, and the fourth of those did the trick. Haider struck with his first ball, trapping the Bangladesh captain Litton Das lbw for 14. Litton missed his sweep after going across too far that exposed his middle and leg stumps, but he was disappointed on being given out.
Towhid Hridoy was also given out lbw two balls later, as he charged down and missed the ball, which struck the front pad. The raised finger caused pandemonium in the UAE side, with Haider jumping all over the place.
Haider finished with a double-wicket maiden, before removing Mahedi Hasan, who was trying to cut against a delivery that came back to hit the top of leg stump. Haider remained accurate in his next two overs too, giving him magical figures in just his third T20I.
Tanzid batted exactly the opposite to how his team-mates had been going about it. He started with a couple of big hits in the first over, he lofted Matiullah Khan for his second six in the third over, before hammering Dhruv Parashar for consecutive sixes in the fifth over after Bangladesh had lost three wickets. Tanzid sweetly timed two more fours off Akif Raja before the seamer bowled him with the around-the-wicket angle in the seventh over.
Both Parashar and Raja supported Haider, as did Matiullah after the halfway mark. Matiullah, who was expensive in the first two games, removed Shamim Hossain and Rishad in the space of four balls. Saghir Khan then had Tanzim caught at long-on, as Bangladesh were in risk of getting bowled out for less than 100.Jaker struck a couple of sixes to get Bangladesh past the 100-run mark, all the while needing the physio’s attention due to exhaustion. Mahmud struck Matiullah for his first six in the 18th over, before Jaker struck his third six, a blast down the ground in the penultimate over. Jaker, however, fell next ball, slicing Saghir to deep backward point for an easy catch. No. 11 Shoriful then deposited Saghir over the midwicket fence and Bangladesh had started to put up a respectable total.Waseem’s decision to bowl the last over backfired, as he went for 23 runs in five balls. He was taken off the attack for bowling too many high full-tosses. Sharafu had to complete the over, as his only delivery went for three runs.
Brief scores:
United Arab Emirates 166 for 3 in 19.1 overs (Muhammad Zohaib 29, Alishan Sharafu 68*, Rahul Chopra 13, Asif Khan 41*; Shoriful Islam 1-24, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-40, Rishad Hossain 1-42) beat Bangladesh 162 for 9 in 20 overs (Tanzid Hasan 40,Litton Das 14, Jaker Ali 41, Hasan Mahmud 26*, Shoriful Islam 16*; Akif Raja 1-27, Dhruv Parashar 1-24, Matiullah Khan 2-41, Haider Ali 3-07, Saghir Khan 2-36) by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
Mumbai Indians (MI) secured the last remaining IPL 2025 playoffs spot thanks to a late onslaught from Suryakumar Yadav and Naman Dhir followed by crafty three-fors from Mitchell Santner and Jasprit Bumrah. Delhi Capitals, led by Faf du Plessis with regular captain Axar Patel ruled out by flu, were knocked out of contention. Having won each of their first four matches of the season, they have won just two of their next nine.
Put in to bat on a spin-friendly Wankhede Stadium pitch with rain on the cards, MI were in some trouble at 132 for 5 but Suryakumar and Dhir smacked 48 runs off the last two overs to lift them to 180.
DC’s chase never got going with Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul falling cheaply. A comeback seemed to be on the cards, with Sameer Rizvi and Ashutosh Sharma putting on 38 as a drizzle began, but Santner ensured that it wasn’t to be.
MI’s innings started with Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton punishing full balls in the first two overs before Mustafizur Rahman’s angle away from Rohit’s bat found the edge when he tried to drive him.
Vipraj Nigam brought on in the fourth over, found turn but was pulled for two fours by Will Jacks when he dropped short. Jacks hit a four and a six in the next over, off Mustafizur, before Mukesh Kumar undid him by going pace-off in the sixth over, and Nigam completed the job with a good catch running back. MI finished the powerplay 54 for 2.
Suryakumar survived a top-edged sweep that landed safely behind short fine leg but Rickelton was less fortunate next ball as he toed his slog-sweep to deep backward square leg to hand Kuldeep Yadav his 100th IPL wicket.
Nigam mixed up his lengths and created two near-chances in the tenth over while Kuldeep bowled consistently and kept the batters quiet. DC gave away just 26 runs in the first four post-powerplay overs, leaving MI 80 for 3 at the halfway mark.
The return of pace helped MI release some pressure, with Tilak Varma lapping Dushmantha Chameera for six in the 11th over and Suryakumar stepping out to drive Mustafizur over mid-off for another maximum in the 14th. In between, though, Nigam and Kuldeep conceded just nine in two overs.
Suryakumar pulled Mukesh for four to start the 15th over, but Tilak fell four balls later, too early into a pull off a slower ball. When Hardik sliced a lofted drive to short third off Chameera in the 17th, MI were 123 for 5.
Suryakumar brought up a 36-ball fifty at the start of the 19th over, launching Mukesh over the covers for six. Then Dhir let loose, going 4, 6, 6, 4 to end a 27-run over, as Mukesh, suffering from cramps, missed three yorkers and then offered room when he went into the pitch.
The onslaught continued in the final over where Suryakumar dined on Chameera’s pace-on offerings. This time, he farmed the strike and whacked two sixes over deep midwicket and two fours through the off side to finish on a high. A highlight was a dab off a near-perfect yorker that rolled wide of the keeper for four. Suryakumar scored 28 off the last eight balls of his innings, while Dhir walked off unbeaten on 24 off eight.
Suryakumar’s unbeaten 73, meanwhile, was his 13th successive 25-plus score in T20s, a joint record alongside Temba Bavuma.
KL Rahul and du Plessis, DC’s most experienced batters, made their intent clear by putting away the first balls they faced to the boundary. But their attack was shortlived as du Plessis holed out to long-on off a slower ball from Deepak Chahar and Rahul – who charged early and made too much room – was caught behind off Trent Boult.
Will Jacks spun his first ball square and then got one to go straight, beating Abishek Porel to have him stumped, a close call that went in the bowler’s favour. Jacks then bowled a no-ball, which allowed the promoted Nigam to get off the mark with a six over cover.
Nigam hit three more fours in his next four balls, but with DC 49 for 3 at the end of the powerplay with all four of Bumrah’s overs remaining, MI were well ahead.
Santner capitalised on MI’s start and the conditions, ripping the ball away from Nigam’s bat before firing the next one in quicker to have him caught and bowled. Bumrah then got an offcutter to beat Tristan Stubbs’ inside edge to reduce DC to 65 for 5 in the tenth over.
DC seemed all but done when a drizzle began and eased things up a bit. Ashutosh whacked loopy deliveres from Karn Sharma for a four and a six in the 11th over, and Rizvi picked up another four in between when Jacks ran too in too far from long-off and overran the ball.
Santner then beat Ashutosh and almost had Rizvi caught and bowled but the batters survived, and DC kept chipping away, going past 100 in the 14th over. Their task was still steep, though: 78 off the last six overs.
With the drizzle in the background, Santner darted a full ball at Rizvi before slowing the pace down to 77kph to beat his sweep and hit middle stump. The game was effectively over three balls later when Santner had Ashutosh stumped. It was a juicy length ball angling in towards the stumps that spun away a mile and beat the inside-out drive.
Santner’s three-for came at the cost of just 11 runs in four overs, the joint-fewest conceded by a spinner in an IPL match at Wankhede. Bumrah and Karn then cleaned up the tail, helping MI qualify for the playoffs for the 11th time in 18 seasons.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 180 for 5 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 73*, Tilak Varma 27, Ryan Rickelton 25, Will Jacks 21, Naman Dhir 24*, Mukesh Kumar 2-48, Dushmantha Chameera 1-54, Mustafizur Rahman 1-30, Kuldeep Yadav 1-22) beat Delhi Capitals 121 in 18.2 overs (KL Rahul 11, Sameer Rizvi 39, Vipraj Nigam 20, Ashutosh Sharma 18; Trent Boult 1-29, Deepak Chahar 1-22, Will Jacks 1-16, Mitchell Santner 3-11, Jasprit Bumrah 3-12, Karn Sharma 1-31)by 59 runs
[Cricinfo]
Dunkley, Knight seal redemptive win as England outdo Matthews’ brilliant 100*
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