Wednesday, August 31, 2011
EPL: Arsenal make multiple last ditch transfers
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger bolstered his squad with four final day signings as the transfer window shut on Wednesday amongst a flurry of deals. Along with the earlier signing of Park Chu-Young, Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta, Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun, Fenerbahce defender Andre Santos, and giant Werder Bremen centre-back Per Mertesacker are all on their way to the Emirates Stadium. While the signings might lack the pizazz of some of their rivals, they should soothe the fans in the short term. However, the pressure will remain on Wenger to quickly get the best out of his new look team before the league season advances too far.
Cricket: Australia struggle through first day to 273
Australia were finally dismissed late in the day for 273, after losing wickets at frequent intervals. Most batsmen made a start and many a promising partnership was formed, but the Sri Lankan bowlers kept chipping away on a pitch that never made it easy for the batsmen. Consequently, only two Australians made it to 30, and only one to 50. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was the old hands leading the way. Mike Hussey was last out, trying to eke a century out of the tail, only to fall for 95 as he tried to force the pace with the last man in. Ricky Ponting, freed of the burden of captaincy, looked set for a big score before playing a rash shot off the spinner Herath. Hughes and Khawaja made 12 and 21, while Watson, Clarke and Haddin all went for twenties. There were some soft dismissals, but the bowlers did enough to deserve rewards, and the pitch was accommodating to spinners and swing bowlers alike, with Herath and Lakmal both finishing with three wickets.
Scorecard here.
Scorecard here.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Cricket: Australia names two debutants in Test team
Australia named their starting XI for the first Test the day before play starts, including debutants Nathan Lyon and Trent Copeland, and making Michael Beer twelfth man. Recent form was clearly seen as the overriding factor, enabling Usman Khawaja to pip Shaun Marsh for the number 6 spot after his century in the warm-up game. Inexperience peppers the Australian side, with Khawaja having only played one test, Harris five and Hughes 10. There will be plenty of pressure on Mitchell Johnson to lead the bowling attack with one of his more consistent performances, and Michael Clarke may have to bowl more than he has done in the last three years.
Australian XI for 1st Test in Galle - Shane Watson, Phil Hughes, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Usman Khawaja, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Trent Copeland, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon. (12th man - Michael Beer)
Australian XI for 1st Test in Galle - Shane Watson, Phil Hughes, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Usman Khawaja, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Trent Copeland, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon. (12th man - Michael Beer)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Rearview Mirror
EPL - There was a strong sense of deja vu about this weeks proceedings, with Manchester United again topping their cross town rivals, Arsenal and Tottenham both suffering bad losses, and Arsenal having yet another player red-carded. After comfortable 3-1 home wins on Saturday for Chelsea and Liverpool, it was up to the Manchester sides to respond if they wanted to return to the top of the table, and respond they did. City were up first in London, and with debutant Samir Nasri having an immediate impact they put Tottenham to the sword. Edin Dzeko did most of the scoring, notching a hat-trick in 55 minutes, before adding a fourth with the last kick of the game. Sergio Agüero had earlier made it 4-0 before Defoe pulled one back for Spurs. Harry Redknapp may well have wished the game ended then as Tottenham were reduced to 10 men when Van der Vaart went off injured and Dzeko's lovely curler finished things at 5-1.
If United felt any pressure from City's increasingly impressive and threatening results, they didn't show it. After taking the lead after 22 minutes through Danny Welbeck (off injured 15 minutes later), a penalty to Arsenal gave the Gunners the chance to equalise before 30 minutes were up. Instead, Van Persie's penalty was saved by De Gea, and united went up the other end to make it 2-0 through Ashley Young. Rooney added a third before Theo Walcott pulled one back on the stroke of half-time to give Wenger's men some hope. However, the second half saw Arsenal's defence repeatedly ripped to shreds, and by the time Van Persie atoned for his earlier miss, United were up to six. The last 15 minutes provided more agony for Wenger, as Carl Jenkinson became the third Gunner to be sent off in as many league games, Rooney completed his hat-trick and Young scored a sublime second to end proceedings at 8-2. The last time Arsenal conceded eight goals was 1896. Wenger was defiant afterwards in the press conference, ruling out quitting. However, the main pressure will be on the manager to bolster his squad in the next three days before the transfer window closes.
AFL - the penultimate AFL round saw the make-up of the final eight largely decided, although the last week will still see a couple of teams with much at stake. Collingwood clinched the minor premiership with another belting - this time winning at Fremantle by 80 points to end the Dockers' final hopes, although it took a surprise Sydney win at Geelong to make the premiership official. However, with Collingwood's massive percentage (181.75), Geelong couldn't realistically have caught the Magpies anyway. The Swans rallied in support of their co-captain Jarrod McVeigh who was absent following the death of his newborn daughter earlier in the week. Geelong's 13-point loss was their first at home in 30 matches, dating back to round 21 in 2007 when Port Power won there. Port will have something to play for next week as a stunning comeback from Essendon denied them the victory that would have lifted them out of the wooden spoon position. Port led by 34 points early in the last quarter before the Bombers kicked the next seven goals and held on for a seven point win.
West Coast made sure of fourth spot, with a hard fought win in Bisbane, although there reward will be a match-up with the Magpies in the first week of the finals. Hawthorn will finish third after a comfortable win over the Bulldogs. St Kilda joined the Swans and Essendon in clinching a finals spot after easily accounting for North Melbourne. Carlton and Essendon will meet in one elimination final, while St Kilda and Sydney will meet in the other. St Kilda are in pole position to host that, although that would be reversed if the Saints lose to Carlton and the Swans win at home to Brisbane.
Rugby - Australia won the Tri Nations tournament with a 25-20 victory at home over New Zealand. The Australians dominated the first half to take a 20-3 lead at the break, before a predictable All Black fightback saw the game levelled at 20-20 after an hour. However, the Wallabies rebounded to score the match winning try a few minutes later through Kurtley Beale and held on to give them a big confidence boost heading into the World Cup.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Cricket: ICC Test Team of the year
The ICC announced the following players in the Test team of the year - a team to take on ET (and mates) when he comes back for his long overdue sequel. The selectors cut some corners in using Sangakkara as captain and wicketkeeper, neither of which he undertakes for his country's test side. It is an interesting point that no test captain made the side - and although it is less surprising that no Australian made the side for the first time, it's a reflection on Australia's fall that the two representatives from 2010 have been dropped from the Australian team - Simon Katich and Doug Bollinger (12th man).
Alastair Cook
Hashim Amla
Jonathon Trott
Sachin Tendulkar
AB de Villiers
Jacques Kallis
Kumar Sangakkara (c/wk)
Stuart Broad
Graeme Swann
Dale Steyn
James Anderson
Zaheer Khan (12th man)
The ICC Awards will be held on the 12th of September and individual award winners will be named at that time.
Alastair Cook
Hashim Amla
Jonathon Trott
Sachin Tendulkar
AB de Villiers
Jacques Kallis
Kumar Sangakkara (c/wk)
Stuart Broad
Graeme Swann
Dale Steyn
James Anderson
Zaheer Khan (12th man)
The ICC Awards will be held on the 12th of September and individual award winners will be named at that time.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
UEL: Champions League Group Stage Draw
| With the Champions League qualifiers completed, the draw for the group stages has now been made. Manchester City have drawn a tough group, while Manchester United look to have a considerably easier passage. The glamour pairing is Barcelona and AC Milan in Group H, although both will be heavily favoured to go through in that group. |
|---|
| GROUP A | |
|---|---|
| Bayern Munich | |
| Villarreal | |
| Manchester City | |
| Napoli |
| GROUP H |
|---|
| Barcelona |
| AC Milan |
| BATE |
| Viktoria Plzen |
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Cricket: England-India Review
It's hard to believe, looking back over the wreckage of the series, but India were the number one ranked side going in, and there was anticipation for a tightly fought, thrilling series. It didn't take long for India to start coming apart, and it just got worse and worse through out the series. However, it had started well on the first day, with Zaheer Khan removing both openers, and then having Trott missed - but once he limped out of the series in his next over, things started to go wrong. Praveen Kumar bowled well to finish with five, but Pietersen's 202 led England to a big score, and India's response was well short. Even then, Sharma sparked an England collapse that could have seen India in with a shot in a fourth innings chase, but Prior and Broad took that out of contention with a run-a-ball 162 run partnership, and England's seamers ensured India were never in the hunt.
Still, a 196 run loss first up could be put down to acclimatisation, and so it looked when they bowled England out for 221 on the first day in Nottingham, and then reached 4/267 on the second day, led by Dravid's second century of the series. But then along came Stuart Broad and his hat-trick, figures of 6/46 and a small lead for India. The openers went cheaply, and India still looked good for levelling the series, but that was to be the end of the competition. Bell and the middle order pulverised India on the way to 544, and the seamers ripped through the visitors for a 319 run win. And then it got really ugly.
As Australia found out in the last Ashes series, the current England batting card can make some very large scores. The 474 and 544 in the first two tests were just warm-ups - the Third test brought 7/710 and a massive innings win, and the Fourth Test might have seen that surpassed before rain led Strauss to declare at 6/591. Still, that was enough for another innings win. In contrast, India's much vaunted batting line-up had a high score of 300. Of India's batsmen, Only Dravid could hold his head up, and then some, with three fine centuries and 461 runs. Tendulkar was next highest with 273 and without a century, while only Dhoni also reached 200 in the series. Laxman, Raina, Gambhir and the late arriving Sehwag all had a woeful time. Not surprisingly, the Indian bowling figures were unattractive, although Praveen Kumar flew the flag, finishing with 15 wickets under 30. The spinners had a torrid time, with Mishra and Harbhajan combining for 5/607 in the series.
England's dominance was so total, that it was somewhat of a surprise to note some weak spots. Bell and Pietersen had dominating series, with both totalling over 500, but they didn't always have it easy, with neither opener having an outstanding series. Cook may have finished with 348 from six knocks, but 294 came in one innings, while Strauss had only the one half-century. Morgan and Trott also posted somewhat sub-par numbers, but the lower order again excelled as Prior, Bresnan and Broad all averaged over 60 with a combined century and six fifties. On the bowling side, the seamers had a field day, led by Broad's 25 wickets at less than 14, able backed by Tremlett and Anderson. Graeme Swann had a tougher time, as the Indians showed they can still play spin quite happily away from home, although Swann picked up nine in the last match to finish with 13 at a shade over 40. Not surprisingly, the part-timers weren't needed for a single wicket in the series.
Where to from here? England will take their newly minted top ranking to the UAE to take on Pakistan, and then to Sri Lanka. Given their demolition job here, it would seem that only complacency would threaten them on either tour, although they may be wary about the pitches they may face in Sri Lanka. Presumably, Swann might be more important to the outcome there than he was in the series just gone. For India, they have dropped to third in the rankings, and face some serious questions about the make-up of the squad, although the questions might be better directed at those running Indian cricket. Their preparation was far from ideal, with just a two-day warm up before the First test. The solution can not be just a wholesale shift to youth - veterans Dravid and Tendulkar are still undoubtedly worthy of a place, whereas the IPL-swayed youngsters seem to lack the technique to counter the swinging ball. A leadership change isn't mooted given Dhoni's results elsewhere, so where is the answer? Probably in short-term memories. A reversal of fortune next time out against more modest opposition, and much will be forgiven. Especially when that opposition is Australia.
Still, a 196 run loss first up could be put down to acclimatisation, and so it looked when they bowled England out for 221 on the first day in Nottingham, and then reached 4/267 on the second day, led by Dravid's second century of the series. But then along came Stuart Broad and his hat-trick, figures of 6/46 and a small lead for India. The openers went cheaply, and India still looked good for levelling the series, but that was to be the end of the competition. Bell and the middle order pulverised India on the way to 544, and the seamers ripped through the visitors for a 319 run win. And then it got really ugly.
As Australia found out in the last Ashes series, the current England batting card can make some very large scores. The 474 and 544 in the first two tests were just warm-ups - the Third test brought 7/710 and a massive innings win, and the Fourth Test might have seen that surpassed before rain led Strauss to declare at 6/591. Still, that was enough for another innings win. In contrast, India's much vaunted batting line-up had a high score of 300. Of India's batsmen, Only Dravid could hold his head up, and then some, with three fine centuries and 461 runs. Tendulkar was next highest with 273 and without a century, while only Dhoni also reached 200 in the series. Laxman, Raina, Gambhir and the late arriving Sehwag all had a woeful time. Not surprisingly, the Indian bowling figures were unattractive, although Praveen Kumar flew the flag, finishing with 15 wickets under 30. The spinners had a torrid time, with Mishra and Harbhajan combining for 5/607 in the series.
England's dominance was so total, that it was somewhat of a surprise to note some weak spots. Bell and Pietersen had dominating series, with both totalling over 500, but they didn't always have it easy, with neither opener having an outstanding series. Cook may have finished with 348 from six knocks, but 294 came in one innings, while Strauss had only the one half-century. Morgan and Trott also posted somewhat sub-par numbers, but the lower order again excelled as Prior, Bresnan and Broad all averaged over 60 with a combined century and six fifties. On the bowling side, the seamers had a field day, led by Broad's 25 wickets at less than 14, able backed by Tremlett and Anderson. Graeme Swann had a tougher time, as the Indians showed they can still play spin quite happily away from home, although Swann picked up nine in the last match to finish with 13 at a shade over 40. Not surprisingly, the part-timers weren't needed for a single wicket in the series.
Where to from here? England will take their newly minted top ranking to the UAE to take on Pakistan, and then to Sri Lanka. Given their demolition job here, it would seem that only complacency would threaten them on either tour, although they may be wary about the pitches they may face in Sri Lanka. Presumably, Swann might be more important to the outcome there than he was in the series just gone. For India, they have dropped to third in the rankings, and face some serious questions about the make-up of the squad, although the questions might be better directed at those running Indian cricket. Their preparation was far from ideal, with just a two-day warm up before the First test. The solution can not be just a wholesale shift to youth - veterans Dravid and Tendulkar are still undoubtedly worthy of a place, whereas the IPL-swayed youngsters seem to lack the technique to counter the swinging ball. A leadership change isn't mooted given Dhoni's results elsewhere, so where is the answer? Probably in short-term memories. A reversal of fortune next time out against more modest opposition, and much will be forgiven. Especially when that opposition is Australia.
EPL: Nasri Leaves Arsenal for Man City
A tough start to the season just got tougher for Arsene Wenger as the Arsenal manager has lost the battle to keep Samir Nasri. Manchester City have signed the player, with rumours of the fee being around £22-24m, further weakening the Gunner's side which also recently lost club captain Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona. Wenger is now under extreme pressure to bolster his squad before the end of month transfer deadline. With injuries and suspensions also causing headaches for Wenger, the coming week's matches away to Udinese and Manchester United could hardly come at a worse time.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Rearview Mirror
If you slept through the weekend, here's what you missed:
EPL - Manchester United picked up the gauntlet thrown down by their crosstown rivals with a 3-0 defeat of Tottenham in the Monday night game. United took over an hour to get on the board, but didn't look back once Danny Welbeck opened the scoring, moving into second place behind Manchester City after City's 3-2 win at Bolton. Arsenal are the team under early pressure, after Liverpool had their first away win at Arsenal since 2000. The introduction of Luis Suarez following the sending off of Arsenal's Emmanuel Frimpong gave Liverpool the cutting edge they had been lacking, and they finished 2-0 winners to leave Arsenal with only one point from two games, and a trip to Old Trafford next weekend - with the minor matter of a Champion's League qualifier at Udinese to negotiate during the week. With a lack of depth already cause for concern, Arsene Wenger did not need a second red card in as many league games. Chelsea recovered from conceding an early goal to win 2-1 at home to West Brom, while Wolves joined the two Manchester teams with a perfect record after beating Fulham 2-0.
EPL - Manchester United picked up the gauntlet thrown down by their crosstown rivals with a 3-0 defeat of Tottenham in the Monday night game. United took over an hour to get on the board, but didn't look back once Danny Welbeck opened the scoring, moving into second place behind Manchester City after City's 3-2 win at Bolton. Arsenal are the team under early pressure, after Liverpool had their first away win at Arsenal since 2000. The introduction of Luis Suarez following the sending off of Arsenal's Emmanuel Frimpong gave Liverpool the cutting edge they had been lacking, and they finished 2-0 winners to leave Arsenal with only one point from two games, and a trip to Old Trafford next weekend - with the minor matter of a Champion's League qualifier at Udinese to negotiate during the week. With a lack of depth already cause for concern, Arsene Wenger did not need a second red card in as many league games. Chelsea recovered from conceding an early goal to win 2-1 at home to West Brom, while Wolves joined the two Manchester teams with a perfect record after beating Fulham 2-0.
AFL - Collingwood took advantage of Geelong's bye to move one game clear at the top of the table with a predictable victory over the Brisbane lions, although the Lions showed further evidence of a turnaround in their fortunes as they only went down by 18 points. Hawthorn kept Chris Judd and Carlton subdued to grind out a hard fought 12 point win, all but ensuring that Hawthorn and West Coast will finish with the double chance while Carlton will again be faced with a sudden death final in week one of the finals. West Coast moved ahead of Carlton with a 57 point win over Essendon. North Melbourne kept their faint final hopes alive with a 98-point hammering of Fremantle, all but killing the Dockers hopes of making the eight, as the Sydney Swans 15 point upset of St Kilda meant that the Saints, Swans and Bombers will likely join the Blues in the elimination finals. (Click here for the latest ladder.)
Cricket - England completed their series win over India with an innings win in the fourth and final Test, completing a 4-0 drubbing of the former number one ranked team who now drop to third. England showed there are a number of reasons for their rise to the number one spot, with another dominant batting performance, anchored by Bell and Pietersen, followed by two Indian innings in which the English frontline quartet all played their part. Graeme Swann finally took a bag of wickets, finishing with six in the second innings, nine for the match and thirteen for the series. Dravid carried his bat in the first innings, and Tendulkar made 91 in the second, but India's top order again failed to bat with the tenacity necessary in the circumstances. Raina underlined their woes, facing 42 balls in the match, for the end result of a pair.
Over in Sri Lanka, Australia wrapped up the one day series with an emphatic win in game four, before Sri Lanka closed the final margin to 3-2 in the final game after a Malinga hat-trick truncated Australia's innings, and left Sri Lanka with a total they always looked likely to run down, even if they only did so with four wickets and three overs to spare.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Cricket: Sri Lanka Step Up in Game 3 as Australia Fold
Sri Lanka moved up second place in the one day rankings when they trounced the top ranked Australians in game 3 of the five match series. Rebounding strongly after being crushed in the first two matches, the Sri Lankans posted an imposing total with Tharanga (111), Dilshan (55) and Sangakkara (49) providing the foundations for a much larger score. However, from 1/220 after 38 overs, Sri Lanka were held to 286 after Doug Bollinger took three quick wickets to pressure the middle and late order. Australia were never really in the hunt after losing Haddin, Watson and then Ponting in the early overs, although for a while Clarke and Mike Hussey combined nicely. However, Australia's batting depth was tested once Clarke fell, and they slid from 3/123 to be all out for 208, with Malinga finishing with the superb figures of 5/28.
Once again, Australia's recent Test weaknesses came to the fore in the one-day game, missing a belligerent innings from Watson, and unable to be papered over by wickets from the quicks. Australia's opening partnership continues to pose problems, with Brad Haddin struggling to 5 off 20 balls, leaving him with 24 runs from three innings. While Brett Lee, Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson combined for 7/134 off 29 overs, and Watson picked up two last-over wickets, the spinners Xavier Doherty, David Hussey and Steve Smith took 0/90 off 12 overs. Smith was only trusted with two overs, meaning he has bowled just five overs so far in the three matches. There must be strong consideration being given to bringing Shaun Marsh in to open, allowing Haddin to slide down to seventh in the batting order, in place of Smith. Although this would reduce Clarke's bowling options, it doesn't seem like there's much faith in Smith's bowling anyway. As Cameron White learnt, if you don't get bowled, you'd better be batting well. And Smith's scores just haven't been good enough, with the all-rounder/6th batsman debate still well and truly alive.
It seemed like Australia was cruising to a series win after the first two matches, but Sri Lanka will take a lot of confidence from this match heading into the last two games in Colombo on Saturday and Monday, and the series is wide open again. And Sri Lanka will be well aware that winning the last two games will be a big dent in Australia's confidence heading into the Test series at the end of the month.
Once again, Australia's recent Test weaknesses came to the fore in the one-day game, missing a belligerent innings from Watson, and unable to be papered over by wickets from the quicks. Australia's opening partnership continues to pose problems, with Brad Haddin struggling to 5 off 20 balls, leaving him with 24 runs from three innings. While Brett Lee, Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson combined for 7/134 off 29 overs, and Watson picked up two last-over wickets, the spinners Xavier Doherty, David Hussey and Steve Smith took 0/90 off 12 overs. Smith was only trusted with two overs, meaning he has bowled just five overs so far in the three matches. There must be strong consideration being given to bringing Shaun Marsh in to open, allowing Haddin to slide down to seventh in the batting order, in place of Smith. Although this would reduce Clarke's bowling options, it doesn't seem like there's much faith in Smith's bowling anyway. As Cameron White learnt, if you don't get bowled, you'd better be batting well. And Smith's scores just haven't been good enough, with the all-rounder/6th batsman debate still well and truly alive.
It seemed like Australia was cruising to a series win after the first two matches, but Sri Lanka will take a lot of confidence from this match heading into the last two games in Colombo on Saturday and Monday, and the series is wide open again. And Sri Lanka will be well aware that winning the last two games will be a big dent in Australia's confidence heading into the Test series at the end of the month.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Rearview Mirror
Rearview Mirror
If you slept through the weekend, here's what you missed:
EPL - the English Premier league opened up, with Manchester United jumping out to an early advantage over their expected rivals for the title. A predictable late goal gave United a 2-1 win at West Brom, while Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all drew (Manchester City play Monday). Adding to Arsenal's woes, they had Gervinho sent off, while Fabregas is supposedly on his way back to Barcelona for somewhat less than Arsenal were asking.
EPL - the English Premier league opened up, with Manchester United jumping out to an early advantage over their expected rivals for the title. A predictable late goal gave United a 2-1 win at West Brom, while Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all drew (Manchester City play Monday). Adding to Arsenal's woes, they had Gervinho sent off, while Fabregas is supposedly on his way back to Barcelona for somewhat less than Arsenal were asking.
Golf - A rollercoaster conclusion to the US PGA saw Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley fight out a thriller which looked all over when Bradley triple-bogeyed the 15th hole. At that stage, Dufner had a five shot lead over Bradley, but that disappeared as Dufner bogeyed 15 through 17, while Bradley bounced back to birdie 16 and 17 - the last with a monster putt that he nearly replicated for a birdie on 18. Bradley went into the clubhouse at 8 under, tied with Dufner who was hitting off back on the tee. Dufner managed to land his second shot in the middle of the green, leaving a similar putt to Keegan's, and safely got down in two to send the contest to a three-hole playoff.
Momentum was all with the red-shirted rookie Bradley, not to mention the four shot advantage he had just experienced over the playoff holes, 16 through 18. However, it was Dufner who had the first advantage when he nearly holed his second shot on 16, missing by a ball's width. It drifted only a few feet past, but Bradley hit a phenomenal shot inside that, and made his putt after Dufner missed, taking a one shot advantage. Onto the 17th, where, as he had done in regulation, Dufner three-putted to give Bradley a two shot lead heading to 18.
After they finished in near identical spots on the 18th green, Dufner made his putt to pressure Bradley, but the rookie in his first ever major was able to safely get down in two to clinch a fantastic victory. Once again, the majors have thrown up another first time major winner as Tiger Woods' fall from preeminence has left a vacancy that no one else can get close to filling.
Momentum was all with the red-shirted rookie Bradley, not to mention the four shot advantage he had just experienced over the playoff holes, 16 through 18. However, it was Dufner who had the first advantage when he nearly holed his second shot on 16, missing by a ball's width. It drifted only a few feet past, but Bradley hit a phenomenal shot inside that, and made his putt after Dufner missed, taking a one shot advantage. Onto the 17th, where, as he had done in regulation, Dufner three-putted to give Bradley a two shot lead heading to 18.
After they finished in near identical spots on the 18th green, Dufner made his putt to pressure Bradley, but the rookie in his first ever major was able to safely get down in two to clinch a fantastic victory. Once again, the majors have thrown up another first time major winner as Tiger Woods' fall from preeminence has left a vacancy that no one else can get close to filling.
AFL - after some blow out victories in recent weeks, league leaders Collingwood and Geelong were run closer this week, but both pulled out close victories over resurgent St Kilda and Adelaide respectively. Elsewhere, Hawthorm, Carlton and West Coast all registered impressive victories, headlined by the Hawks 165 point drubbing of a demoralised Port Power. Essendon registered a crucial win over the Bulldogs, while the Swans and Fremantle's losses keeps their fans fingernails in danger, and North Melbourne's fans hoping to steal 8th spot. The ladder looks like this with three rounds remaining.
Cricket - England moved to the number one spot in the Test cricket rankings with a crushing win over India in the third test, taking a 3-0 lead in the four test series. With the exception of MS Dhoni, the Indian batsmen again provided little resistance to England's seamers. Bowled out for 224 and 244, Dhoni's 77 and 74 not out were India's only half-centuries in the game, while England's 7/710 contained a century and three fifties in addition to the minor matter of Cook's 294 as England swept home by a massive innings and 242 runs.
Over in Sri Lanka, Australia have bounced back from the 2-0 loss in the Twenty20 series to take the first two matches in the five-match ODI series. With the batting line-up bolstered by the experienced Clarke and Ponting, Australia have looked a more formidable side in registering two convincing victories.
Rugby - as the World Cup nears, England lost 19-9 to Wales in Cardiff, and Australia had a rare win in South Africa, taking the Tri Nations clash 14-9.
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