David EdwardsWeekend Wrap – All New For ‘07
January 14th 2007 12:26
The Weekend Wrap is back for 2007, and not a moment too soon. The one day series is finally under way, the A-League competition is running into its final stages, and the summer of tennis is on our shores again. The summer of sport has seriously heated up.
In the Commonwealth Bank Series one day competition Australia has taken a convincingly two game lead over opponents England and New Zealand, beating both of them on Friday night and Sunday respectively.
Australia started off their winning weekend by matching England’s 8/242 in convincing fashion, winning by eight wickets with 4.4 overs to spare. England took another shocking blow for their tour, losing key batsman Kevin Pietersen for the series to a rib injury.
The Aussies were able to continue their winning ways, beating New Zealand on Sunday by 105 runs with 11.3 overs to spare. The hosts were able to score 8/289 with half centuries from Gilchrist and Symonds helping them to the impressive total. Despite New Zealand grabbing a hat trick via Shane Bond, and Ross Taylor notching 84, they collapsed during the final stages of the match, and lost their last seven wickets for just 23 runs.
In domestic cricket, Victoria won their second consecutive KFC Twenty20 Big Bash against Tasmania. Victoria got 6/160 in their first innings, and whilst Tasmania looked to be on the verge of being the first team to win in the second innings this year, came unstuck in the last two overs to lose the match by just ten runs.
In tennis two tournaments leading up to the Australian Open gave us a glimpse of what to expect for the Grand Slam. James Blake was able to become the third person to win the Medibank International back to back, beating Carlos Moya 6-3, 5-7, 6-1. His second consecutive tournament win in Sydney gave Blake his sixth trophy in 12 months, a feat only matched by Roger Federer in 2006.
At the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, Andy Roddick was able to assert himself going into the Australian Open, causing an upset of tennis champion Roger Federer. Roddick was able to beat Federer 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, and gave him his only third win over the Grand Slam champion, who had not lost in his past 31 matches.
In the A-League Adelaide crawled up to 2nd place on the ladder, stealing Sydney’s spot after beating them 1-0 in Sydney. In other games, Newcastle kept their finals hopes alive by scoring two goals in the dying ‘t seconds of the game to draw with Perth away 3-3, Melbourne uncharacteristically let their defence drop in the final moments of their match to let Queensland take the win 2-1, and Central Coast were not able to beat the dark horse of the past month New Zealand, finishing the game in a nil all draw.
Over in England Manchester United stayed six points clear at the top of the EPL table, beating Aston Villa 3-1. Chelsea stayed in touch of Man. U, downing Wigan 4-0, whilst 3rd and 4th placed Liverpool and Arsenal both had victories, beating Watford 3-0 and Blackburn 2-0 respectively. Arsenal was able to win despite having just ten men on the field, and was able to break their north England curse with the win. In other games Charlton lost to Middlesborough 3-1, West Ham drew with Fulham 3-3, Bolton drew with Man City 0-0, and Sheffield drew with Portsmouth 1-1.
In the NBL , the West Sydney Razorbacks have broken their 20 game losing streak, narrowly winning against the Wollongong Hawks 106-102 on Saturday night, however went back to their losing ways one night later, losing dramatically to the Melbourne Tigers 115-82 . In other games, the Slingers beat the Taipans on Friday night 113-101, the Wildcats beat the 36ers 107-96, the Townsville Crocodiles beat the Slingers 140-100, the Taipans upset the Dragons at home 115-103, and the Brisbane Bullets notched their tenth consecutive victory, beating the Kings 108-95.
Finally in the NFL the Indianapolis Colts has gotten to within two games of their first Super Bowl since 1984, beating the Baltimore Ravens 15-6. The game itself turned it a field goal frenzy, with no touchdowns scored and seven field goals being the only scores for the match. The New Orleans Saints also advanced, coming back from losing 13-21 early in the third quarter to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-24. Running back Deuce McAllister was the star of the game for the Saints rushing a season high 143 yards, in which he carried the ball 21 times, ran in one touchdown and caught another touchdown pass. The Saints will meet either the Seattle Seahawks or the Chicago Bears in the NFC title game, whilst the Colts will have to defeat either San Diego or New England in the AFC championship.
That’s all for today, make sure you click on for all the current issues in sport, including if England are now capable of winning a single match this season after losing Pietersen.
Until next time, sports minds.
In the Commonwealth Bank Series one day competition Australia has taken a convincingly two game lead over opponents England and New Zealand, beating both of them on Friday night and Sunday respectively.
Australia started off their winning weekend by matching England’s 8/242 in convincing fashion, winning by eight wickets with 4.4 overs to spare. England took another shocking blow for their tour, losing key batsman Kevin Pietersen for the series to a rib injury.
The Aussies were able to continue their winning ways, beating New Zealand on Sunday by 105 runs with 11.3 overs to spare. The hosts were able to score 8/289 with half centuries from Gilchrist and Symonds helping them to the impressive total. Despite New Zealand grabbing a hat trick via Shane Bond, and Ross Taylor notching 84, they collapsed during the final stages of the match, and lost their last seven wickets for just 23 runs.
In domestic cricket, Victoria won their second consecutive KFC Twenty20 Big Bash against Tasmania. Victoria got 6/160 in their first innings, and whilst Tasmania looked to be on the verge of being the first team to win in the second innings this year, came unstuck in the last two overs to lose the match by just ten runs.
In tennis two tournaments leading up to the Australian Open gave us a glimpse of what to expect for the Grand Slam. James Blake was able to become the third person to win the Medibank International back to back, beating Carlos Moya 6-3, 5-7, 6-1. His second consecutive tournament win in Sydney gave Blake his sixth trophy in 12 months, a feat only matched by Roger Federer in 2006.
At the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, Andy Roddick was able to assert himself going into the Australian Open, causing an upset of tennis champion Roger Federer. Roddick was able to beat Federer 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, and gave him his only third win over the Grand Slam champion, who had not lost in his past 31 matches.
In the A-League Adelaide crawled up to 2nd place on the ladder, stealing Sydney’s spot after beating them 1-0 in Sydney. In other games, Newcastle kept their finals hopes alive by scoring two goals in the dying ‘t seconds of the game to draw with Perth away 3-3, Melbourne uncharacteristically let their defence drop in the final moments of their match to let Queensland take the win 2-1, and Central Coast were not able to beat the dark horse of the past month New Zealand, finishing the game in a nil all draw.
Over in England Manchester United stayed six points clear at the top of the EPL table, beating Aston Villa 3-1. Chelsea stayed in touch of Man. U, downing Wigan 4-0, whilst 3rd and 4th placed Liverpool and Arsenal both had victories, beating Watford 3-0 and Blackburn 2-0 respectively. Arsenal was able to win despite having just ten men on the field, and was able to break their north England curse with the win. In other games Charlton lost to Middlesborough 3-1, West Ham drew with Fulham 3-3, Bolton drew with Man City 0-0, and Sheffield drew with Portsmouth 1-1.
In the NBL , the West Sydney Razorbacks have broken their 20 game losing streak, narrowly winning against the Wollongong Hawks 106-102 on Saturday night, however went back to their losing ways one night later, losing dramatically to the Melbourne Tigers 115-82 . In other games, the Slingers beat the Taipans on Friday night 113-101, the Wildcats beat the 36ers 107-96, the Townsville Crocodiles beat the Slingers 140-100, the Taipans upset the Dragons at home 115-103, and the Brisbane Bullets notched their tenth consecutive victory, beating the Kings 108-95.
Finally in the NFL the Indianapolis Colts has gotten to within two games of their first Super Bowl since 1984, beating the Baltimore Ravens 15-6. The game itself turned it a field goal frenzy, with no touchdowns scored and seven field goals being the only scores for the match. The New Orleans Saints also advanced, coming back from losing 13-21 early in the third quarter to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-24. Running back Deuce McAllister was the star of the game for the Saints rushing a season high 143 yards, in which he carried the ball 21 times, ran in one touchdown and caught another touchdown pass. The Saints will meet either the Seattle Seahawks or the Chicago Bears in the NFC title game, whilst the Colts will have to defeat either San Diego or New England in the AFC championship.
That’s all for today, make sure you click on for all the current issues in sport, including if England are now capable of winning a single match this season after losing Pietersen.
Until next time, sports minds.
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