Jimmy Neesham's scintillating performance with bat and a gutsy cameo by Mitchell Santner overshadowed Kieron Pollard's heroics
Reader Rajeev Khanna sent us a picture of Glenn McGrath from Auckland.
Williams had little trouble against the 31-year-old German although the gusty breezes at Auckland Tennis Centre played havoc with her ball toss, especially when she was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set.
Sania Mirza suffered her fourth successive defeat, a straight set mauling, at the hands of Italian Francesca Schiavone and crashed out of the ASB Classic WTA tournament in Auckland on Wednesday. The Indian ace lost 0-6, 3-6 to her fourth seeded opponent in the second round of the US $220,000 hard court event, thus making a disappointing start to the season. She also lost in the doubles.
Titans produced a clinical all-round display to post a crushing 59-run victory over Auckland Aces in their Group A Champions League Twenty20 match in Durban.
A second-half strike by Chad Coombes helped amateurs Auckland City to a surprise 2-0 victory over hosts Al Ahli in the first match of the Club World Cup on Wednesday.
Leander Paes and his American partner Scott Lipsky advanced to the finals of ATP Heiniken Open in Auckland, New Zealand but it was curtains for Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles at the Sydney International after they lost in the doubles semi-finals on Friday.
Olympic champion Elena Dementieva eased to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over fellow Russian Elena Vesnina to capture the Auckland Classic title on Saturday. Dementieva, 27, wrapped up the victory in 88 minutes and completed the tournament without dropping a set.
Heading into the final, Gauff had lost the first set in three straight matches and the former U.S. Open champion seemed determined to buck that trend, serving to love in the opening game and breaking early for a 2-0 lead.
England kept the five-match series alive by beating New Zealand by six wickets in the third one-dayer in Auckland on Friday.
The former world number one beat Aravane Rezai of France 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Auckland Classic.
Russian second seed Anastasia Myskina made a disappointing start to her 2007 campaign on Monday, falling at the first hurdle in the Auckland Classic to Argentina's Gisela Dulko
Holidaying or home, she chooses well when standing in front of her wardrobe.
Joining her in the last four stage are France's Camille Pin, American Jill Craybas and Russia's Vera Zvonareva.
Auckland dished out a disciplined all-round performance to notch up a comfortable six-wicket victory over Sialkot Stallions in the qualifying match of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in Johannesburg.
Top seed Maria Sharapova's flirtation with the New Zealand public came to a premature end on Thursday with a surprising 6-2, 7-5 loss to unseeded Hungarian Greta Arn in the quarter-finals of the Auckland Classic.
World No 2 Serena Williams shook out any cobwebs from four months away from tennis with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over France's Pauline Parmentier in the first round of the Auckland Classic on Tuesday.
Italian top seed Flavia Pennetta advanced to the final of the Auckland Classic after thumping doubles partner Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-0 in under an hour on Friday
New Zealand Test player Henry Nicholls has been charged with violating New Zealand Cricket's code of conduct after being reported by umpires for ball-tampering in a domestic first-class match.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams advanced to the Auckland Classic quarter-finals and kept alive the hopes of an anticipated final between the pair in dramatically contrasting circumstances on Wednesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders produced a disciplined bowling display as they beat Auckland Aces by two runs in a thrilling low-scoring Champions League Twenty20 qualifiers match in Hyderabad.
Former World No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova cemented her Auckland Classic title credentials with an effortless 6-4, 6-3 victory over Italy's Sara Errani in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Leander Paes and his American doubles partner Scott Lipsky went down in the final of the Auckland Open on Saturday. They were beaten by top seeds Martin Damm of Czech Republic and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden 7-5, 6-4.
Serbia's Ana Ivanovic overcame a second set resistance to beat Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens on Friday and set up an Auckland Classic final against former World No 1 Venus Williams.
Top seed Juan Martin Del Potro sealed his fifth ATP tour title with a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 victory over American Sam Querrey in the final of the Auckland Open on Saturday.
Top seed David Ferrer completed a perfect warm-up for next week's Australian Open with a surprisingly easy 6-3, 6-2 victory over David Nalbandian to win the Auckland Open title on Saturday.
If there is any actor who emerges from this wreck with his talent unscathed, it is Vijay Raaz, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Kolkata Knight Riders' chances of making the semifinals of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament suffered a major blow as they slumped to their second successive defeat after losing to Auckland Aces by seven wickets in a Group A match in Cape Town on Monday.
Veteran all-rounder Azhar Mahmood grabbed five wickets and struck a half-century as Auckland Aces thrashed Hampshire by eight wickets to qualify for the main draw of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
Spirited to the core and unbeaten so far, qualifiers Auckland Aces would be up against a tough challenge when they take on South African side Titans in their second Group A match of the Champions League Twenty20 in Durban on Wednesday.
Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer began the defence of her Auckland Classic title with a enthralling, hard-fought 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 first-round victory over former world number one Dinara Safina on Tuesday.
Maria Sharapova underlined her pulling power on Monday with Auckland Classic organisers confirming they had sold out all of the day sessions for the entire tournament just minutes before she stepped on court for her first round match.
A round-up of tennis matches played on Tuesday.
Top seed Maria Sharapova delivered an enigmatic performance but still advanced to the quarter-finals of the Auckland Classic with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
Statistical highlight of day three of the opening Test match between India and New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday.
Jack Sock started a new tradition on Thursday, one that the 23-year-old hopes will become a regular occurrence as he carves out a successful tennis career.
The Indian ace and France's Fabrice Santoro beat Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the final.
Pakistan's tour of New Zealand started in the worst possible fashion, as they were humiliated by Auckland in the opening Twenty20 tour match on Thursday. Put into bat first, Pakistan were bundled out for 90 runs in 17.4 overs as Auckland's left-arm pacer Michael Bates ripped through the top order at Colin Maiden Park. Auckland overhauled the target off 13.2 overs winning the match by five wickets.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and former World No 1 Venus Williams ensured Auckland Classic organisers' dream final remained on track with the duo both recording comfortable victories in their first round matches on Tuesday.
Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson hit fifties as New Zealand thrashed Pakistan by 46 runs in the first T20 International.
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