Pucovski, Harris Break Waugh Twins' Sheffield Shield Record With World First Score

 Victoria’s Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski celebrate their fruitful Sheffield Shield partnership against South Australia. Photograph: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images
Victoria’s Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski celebrate their fruitful Sheffield Shield partnership against South Australia. Photograph: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images
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Pucovski, Harris Break Waugh Twins' Sheffield Shield Record With World First Score

 Victoria’s Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski celebrate their fruitful Sheffield Shield partnership against South Australia. Photograph: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images
Victoria’s Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski celebrate their fruitful Sheffield Shield partnership against South Australia. Photograph: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Will Pucovski and Marcus Harris have thrust themselves back into Test calculations after breaking Mark and Steve Waugh’s 30-year-old record for the biggest partnership in Sheffield Shield cricket.

Victoria’s opening pair On Sunday morning overtook the 464-run stand made by the Australian Test team twins for NSW against Western Australia back in 1990. The feat was achieved at Adelaide’s ACH Group Stadium against South Australia when Harris crashed a boundary off the bowling of Wes Agar.

Harris (239) was ultimately out caught behind by Harry Nielsen off the bowling of Agar (1-113) to leave their mark at 486, the highest Australian first-class partnership since the competition started in 1892. It is also the first time any first-class partnership in the world has scored exactly 486.

Pucovski has declared himself available for Test selection after the prodigious 22-year-old removed himself from the team last year for mental health reasons, before a concussion ruled him out for the season.

It is also a good sign for Harris, who was dropped after last year’s Ashes tour and told by national selectors to show a more ruthless side at Sheffield Shield level.

Pucovski spoke of his Test aspirations earlier this week. “I don’t have much control over whether they pick me or not, but I’m definitely very keen,” Pucovski said.

“It’s been a dream of mine since I can remember. From that perspective I’m definitely very keen to hopefully put my best foot forward. But it’s out of my control, so I’ll just be focusing on what I can control.”

South Australia had a chance to prevent the record on Sunday morning when Callum Ferguson dropped a simple chance from Harris at slip with the score at 0-436.

Victoria eventually declared only for SA’s horror show to continue, Scott Boland (2-18) removing Conor McInerney (2) and Brad Davis (4) to have the home side 2-10.

Test middle order batsman Travis Head (49 no) then hunkered down with Henry Hunt (17 no), the former likely needing another huge innings to salvage the match for SA.



Swiatek Crushes Anisimova 6-0 6-0 to Win Maiden Wimbledon Crown

Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with the trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova of the US to win the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with the trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova of the US to win the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
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Swiatek Crushes Anisimova 6-0 6-0 to Win Maiden Wimbledon Crown

Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with the trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova of the US to win the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with the trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova of the US to win the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Iga Swiatek took another stride towards tennis greatness by ruthlessly tearing apart American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 and lifting her first Wimbledon trophy on Saturday.

The big occasion turned into a nightmare for Anisimova who became the first woman to lose a Wimbledon final by that painful scoreline since 1911 and the first to do so at any major since Steffi Graf routed Natasha Zvereva at the 1988 French Open.

Already a US Open champion and a four-times French Open winner, Swiatek's demolition job at the All England Club meant that she became the youngest woman since a 20-year-old Serena Williams in 2002 to lift major titles on all three surfaces.

Her superb display on the sun-drenched lawns of London also ensured that she emerged as the first player since Monica Seles in 1992 to win her first six major finals.

"It's something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself," Swiatek told reporters after hoisting the gilded Venus Rosewater Dish.

"I'm really happy with the whole process, how it looked like from the first day we stepped on a grasscourt. Yeah, I feel like we did everything for it to go in that direction without expecting it, just working really hard.

"It means a lot, and it gives me a lot of experience. Yeah, I don't even know. I'm just happy."

Swiatek's triumph ended a barren 13-month run for the Polish 24-year-old, who served a short suspension late last year after an inadvertent doping violation linked to contaminated sleep medication melatonin.

"I want to thank my coach (Wim Fissette). With the ups and downs now, we showed everybody it's working," Swiatek added.

SCORCHING START

On another warm afternoon on Centre Court, Swiatek got off to a scorching start by breaking a nervous Anisimova three times en route to dishing out the first bagel, prompting some spectators to get behind the shell-shocked American.

A frustrated Anisimova shrieked and desperately looked to her team in the stands for any kind of guidance after conceding yet another break point early in the second set and it was not long before her machine-like opponent pulled away further, Reuters reported.

Anisimova continued to disappointingly crack under pressure, before Swiatek completed the brutal mauling in 57 minutes with a backhand winner on her second match point to become the first Wimbledon champion from Poland.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk celebrated with a picture of himself watching a post-match interview while holding a bowl of pasta and strawberries, Swiatek's cheat meal at Wimbledon, while President Andrzej Duda was effusive in his praise.

"Iga! Today, on the grasscourts of Wimbledon, you wrote history - not only for Polish sport, but also for Polish pride. On behalf of the Republic of Poland - thank you," Duda wrote.

Victory took Swiatek to 100 wins from 120 matches at the majors, making her the quickest to get to there since Williams in 2004, and denied Anisimova the chance to become the first American to win the title since her compatriot in 2016.

Swiatek jumped for joy on court before running towards her team in the stands to celebrate her triumph. The Friends fan was equally delighted to receive a congratulatory hug from American actress Courteney Cox, who was among the spectators.

All this while, Anisimova was left to wonder what could have been as she sat in her seat, before the tears began to flow during her on-court interview.

Few would have envisioned the American to hit the heights she did in the last fortnight after she fell outside the top 400 following her mental health break two years ago.

"I didn't have enough today," said Anisimova, who began the tournament with a 6-0 6-0 win over Yulia Putintseva but admitted to running out of gas in the final.

"I'm going to keep putting in the work, and I always believe in myself. I hope to be back again one day."

It was bitter disappointment for US fans hoping for an "American Slam" this year after Madison Keys won the Australian Open at the start of the year and Coco Gauff triumphed at the French Open last month.