Ramdin rallies Windies vets to lead "youngsters" as Test series bowls off

CENTURION, South Africa (CMC) — A young West Indies side is embarking on a herculean task of upsetting the world’s best team, South Africa, as the first Test begins here at SuperSport Park in Centurion this morning.

First ball is 10:30 am daily (4:30 am Eastern Caribbean time/3:30 am Jamaica time).

Denesh Ramdin’s outfit, languishing at number eight in the Test rankings, is taking on the number one-ranked South Africans in a David and Goliath clash, the first in a three-Test series.

The West Indies, whose last win against South Africa was in the opening Test in 2007/08 series, are playing the homeside at a venue where they have won 14 of 19 Tests.

“This will be a very challenging series for us,” conceded Ramdin.

“South Africa have been doing something very good to be at the top of the rankings. It is important that we play consistent cricket throughout.”

The lowly-ranked Caribbean side, above Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, in the ICC Test rankings, is without opening batsman Chris Gayle, whose back injury returned when playing Twenty20 cricket in South Africa last month, and Darren Bravo, who opted out of the tour for personal reasons.

Veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels, who was top run-scorer on the last tour of South Africa and who hit a double-century in the warm-up game, are expected to be key to the Windies scoring.

“Our batting has not been up to scratch in the past couple years,” admitted Ramdin.

“So it’s important that myself, Marlon Samuels, Chanderpaul and the senior guys put up our hands and the younger guys go along,” said the Windies skipper.

South Africa are wary of a West Indian bowling line-up that includes left-arm fast bowler Sheldon Cotterell, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder, who are coached by former pacer Curtly Ambrose.

Rookie pacer Cottrell is being tipped to be a surprise element for West Indies after recent spells in the WICB Professional Cricket League and an explosive five-wicket burst in last week’s three-day tour match.

“No one bowler can win a game for you, it takes a team. As long as we play together as a team, we will do well here,” said Ambrose.

The surface at Centurion is known to offer bounce and carry despite a significant amount of green grass being stripped from the pitch on Monday.

Atmospheric conditions will also favour fast bowlers and rain is forecast for every day of the match, except Saturday.

Still, both teams are considering including a spinner in their line-up.

“It’s the biggest decision management will have to make,” said AB de Villiers.

“Centurion normally doesn’t turn that much which makes you feel that you’ve maybe go with that extra seamer, but with the team we are playing against, it might not be a bad idea to play a spinner.”

The West Indies clash against South Africa is their first international match since their tour of India was abandoned in October because of a pay dispute.

Despite their high-ranking status, the South Africans have not written off their Caribbean opponents and are concerned about players whom they are unfamiliar with.

“Ramdin has rallied them quite nicely after their recent troubles so they could be quite difficult to beat,” fast bowler Dale Steyn said.

“The wounded buffalo is always the most dangerous. That could be the type of side we are playing against. They could come out firing and playing the most determined cricket they have in a long time or they could come out as individuals and quickly fold.”

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Ramdin rallies Windies vets to lead "youngsters" as Test series bowls off

Azarenka rallies to 3-set US Open win vs Ivanovic

NEW YORK, USA (AP) — Number two Victoria Azarenka rallied from a set down for the second straight match, beating Ana Ivanovic to return to the US Open quarter-finals.

The 2012 runner-up at Flushing Meadows needed 2 hours and 10 minutes to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 yesterday.“I’m a fighter at heart,” she said. “I never, never give up. Whatever the score is, I’m going to try to do my best, because there is always an opportunity. There is always a way. You just have to make up your mind and try to find that way.”Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champ, was whipping forehand winners in the first set. But then her serve deserted her, as it has before, and the 13th-seeded Serb was broken in nine of her last 11 service games.“This was the big difference, because I felt like I could break her, but it was very frustrating that I was losing my serve constantly,” said Ivanovic, who had eight double-faults.Indeed, Azarenka wasn’t much better, with nine double-faults of her own.Unable to serve out the match at 5-3 in the third set, Azarenka finally clinched the victory on her fourth match point. On Wednesday, she’ll face unseeded Daniela Hantuchova, who played her fourth-round match Monday.The meeting between Azarenka and Ivanovic was the only one of four women’s matches that day to be postponed to yesterday because of rain. Asked if anything could have been done differently to keep everybody on the same schedule, Azarenka wouldn’t bite. She just smiled and said, “Mother Nature could have done something.”A few hours after Azarenka made the quarter-finals, the first woman reached the semis. Fifth-seeded Li Na beat number 24th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in 2 hours, 20 minutes.Li, the 2011 French Open winner, was up a break three times in the second set, then led 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but couldn’t close the victory. From 2-2 in the third, she won four straight games to reach her first US Open semi-final.Another Grand Slam champion couldn’t win a match that went the distance. Lleyton Hewitt, making a rousing run at age 32, was two points from victory, but fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5 to Mikhail Youzhny in the fourth round.Hewitt won the 2001 US Open title, but is currently 66th after a series of foot and hip injuries. The 21st-seeded Youzhny is a two-time semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows.The 31-year-old Russian will face number one Novak Djokovic, who breezed past Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 in just 79 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Defending US Open champ Andy Murray was scheduled to play last night, against unseeded Denis Istomin.Azarenka, the two-time Australian Open champion, insisted she’s not concerned by two straight slow starts. She also lost the first set in the third round to 26th-seeded Alize Cornet, before rallying for a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2 win.She’s got into it with the chair umpire in two straight matches as well. Yesterday, it was over Ivanovic being awarded a winner, instead of the two replaying the point, after a delayed out call was overturned in the first set.Azarenka looked sluggish after a late-morning start and didn’t make her first winner until the sixth game. But Ivanovic has often wilted under pressure since her lone Grand Slam title more than five years ago; she hasn’t been back to a major semi-final since.Azarenka started winning points on drops shots — she said she’s always had that in her repertoire, but just hadn’t needed them much before.There were five-straight breaks to open the second set. After Ivanovic double-faulted on break point for the second straight service game, Azarenka finally held to lead 4-2.The start of the third set was much of the same. Azarenka held in the first game, then there were four-straight breaks.Azarenka preferred to joke about the two players’ serving struggles: “I think we’re just great returners.”Azarenka had two match points while serving at 5-3, but wasted both with backhand errors.The way Ivanovic was serving, though, Azarenka was still in prime position to close the match, and sure enough, she broke Ivanovic again in the next game to advance.It took 2 hours, 10 minutes, but the 2012 US Open runner-up wasn’t going to fret about her uneven play.“If I have to fight and dig deep to find a way not playing at your best against a player who was playing that good,” Azarenka said, “I think it’s pretty remarkable to walk off the court with a win.”Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, returns a shot to Ana Ivanovic, of Serbia, during the quarter-finals of the 2013 US Open tennis tournament yesterday in New York. (PHOTO: AP)

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Azarenka rallies to 3-set US Open win vs Ivanovic