India women face New Zealand for a semi-final berth

The ICC Women’s World Cup started phenomenally for the Indian side with four consecutive and thumping victories against host England, West Indies, arch-rivals Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Their campaign, however, derailed against the heavy-weights: South Africa and Australia. With four wins and two losses out of six matches, the Mithali Raj-led side sit on the fourth place but their opponents, New Zealand sit on the fifth position with three wins in six matches. However, the Kiwis enjoy a better net run rate and they will comfortably displace India with a victory on Saturday. The India side will look for its top-order to give a start which they have failed to in the past few matches. Smriti Mandhana, who became a household name after two blistering knocks against England (90 off 72) and West Indies (106 off 108), has failed to live up to expectations and the Indian side will be desperate for the aggressive opener to regain form. The bowling unit will also look to pitch in an improved performance than in the last two outings against South Africa and Australia.

Federer vs Cilic & Williams vs Muguraza in Wimbledon final

Roger Federer finds himself one win away from a historic eighth Wimbledon title after the veteran defeated Tomas Berdych in semi-finals in straight sets. The 35-year-old won the game 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 and set up the summit clash with Croatia’s Marin Cilic. The seventh seed- Cilic defeated Sam Querry of USA 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-5 to enter the final.

In women’s singles final, 37-year-old Venus William will be up against Garbine Muguruza on Saturday. While Williams will aim to become the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam, replacing her sister Serena Williams who holds the record of winning the Australian Open (January, 2017) at the age of 35, Muguruza will eye her first ever Wimbledon triumph after she was denied by her opponent’s sister in 2015.

A flip-flop day for South Africa

South Africa, after facing a humiliating defeat in the first test in the four match test series against England, found themselves in a state of bother yet again on Friday before being uplifted by some fine performances from the middle and the lower-middle order. After opting to bat first, South Africa lost their first wicket at 18, second at 66 and they were six down for 235 at one stage. The game looked like slipping away from the Africans before the pair of consistent Hashim Amla (78) and dependable Quinton de Kock (68) restored it partly in their team’s favour. England dismissed Skipper Faf du Plessis and Temba Bavuma cheaply after the duo of Amla and de Kock departed and the game, once more, tilted in the hosts’ favour. The lower middle-order, comprising Vernon Philander and Chris Morris, however, put up a stellar performance to deny England from running away with the match. For England, Stuart Broad picked up three wickets while Ben Stokes claimed two. At the end of the day’s play, South Africa were six down for 309 with Philander batting on 54 off 76 and Morris on 23 of 68.

Zimbabwe in a commanding position in Tests

After defeating Sri Lanka 3-2 in the five match ODI series, Zimbabwe find themselves in a commanding position in the only Test of the tour as well. Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Zimbabwe rode on Craig Ervine’s not out 151 to finish day one on 344-8. Ervine wasn’t supported by his teammates as none of the other Zimbabwe players could score even a half-century in the test. Sikandar Raza and Malcolm Waller scored 36 each and that (36) is the highest score by a Zimbabwe batsman after Ervine in the match. For Sri Lanka, Rengana Herath claimed four wickets while all-rounder Asela Gunaratne dismissed two batsmen.