New Delhi, October 31
Yuvraj Singh and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni dealt the Australian bowling attack with a mixture of caution and aggression to power India to a six-wicket victory to go 2-1 up in the seven-match ODI series at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here tonight. This was the first day-night ODI played at the Kotla ground, and the Indians, riding on the 148-run stand hoisted by Yuvraj and Dhoni, off 173 balls, cruised to 230 for 4 in 48.2 overs to get past Australia’s 229 for 5 from 50 overs, after they opted to bat first.

It was the classy batting of Yuvraj, and the steadying influence of Dhoni, which took India past the danger zone, after they lost the wickets of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Gambhir for 53. Though Sehwag and Sachin made a promising start, Sehwag was startled to find a Johnson delivery sneak in to shatter his bails.

Then Tendulkar, who seemed to be shaping up for a big score, got into a needless scramble for a single, which caught him short of the crease against Johnson's direct throw. Gambhir, who was hit on his right ear by a Michael Hussey sweep, and did not field thereafter, just could not get his act together, and was bowled by Nathan Hauritz. Gambhir spent an agonising 34 minutes at the crease, and faced 15 balls to make just six runs.

But the loss of three key wickets did not prove that costly for the hosts, as Yuvraj, who was adjudged the man of the match, carried over from his brief cameo in the second ODI at Nagpur after returning from an injury lay-off. Yuvraj and Dhoni stuck to singles and twos, but the complexion of the game changed when Yuvraj blasted Henriques for a towering six and four off successive balls in the 34th over. He then carted his second six off Adam Voges’ first over to ensure that India went ahead in the run chase with enough overs in the kitty. When Yuvraj was dismissed lbw by Henriques, he had made 78 from 96 balls with eight fours and two sixes to ensure that Dhoni did not have to sweat much to anchor the team home.

Dhoni remained unbeaten on 71 from 95 balls while Raina scored 9 from 13 balls.

Earlier, Australia, with a steady and responsible batting display, scored 229 for 5 in their allotted 50 overs. Opting to bat after winning the toss, Australian captain Ricky Ponting opened with Shane Watson, and the duo put on 72 runs for the opening wicket.

Though Dhoni made judicious bowling changes, exhausting most of his bowling options at the end, Ponting and Watson grafted runs at a slow but steady pace to keep the scoreboard ticking.

When Watson exited in the 17th over, stepping out to drive Yuvraj Singh’s left-arm spin in his first over, Australia were in a somewhat confident position. Watson, who flicked Praveen Kumar to the point boundary off the last ball of the opening over, was severe on Ishant Sharma, and his 41, off 58 balls, contained five fours.

With the Indian bowlers, particularly the spinners, keeping the ball straight and low, shot-making was difficult, yet Ponting and Mike Hussey ensured that the visitors got to a decent total.

Scoreboard
Australia
Watson st Dhoni b Yuvraj 41 (59)
Ponting lbw b Jadeja 59 (92)
Hussey not out 81 (82)
White c Dhoni b Raina 0 (7)
Voges c Kumar b Harbhajan 17 (31)
Henriques b Jadeja 12 (17)
Johnson not out 9 (12)
Extras (b 4, lb 3, w 3) 10
Total (5 wickets; 50 overs) 229
Fall of wickets: 1-72, 2-128, 3-129, 4-172, 5-200.
Bowling: Parveen 5-1-16-0, Nehra 9-0-51-0, Ishant 5-0-24-0, Jadeja 9-1-41-2, Harbhajan 10-0-37-1, Yuvraj 8-0-30-1, Raina 4-0-23-1.

India:
Sehwag b Johnson 11 (25)
Tendulkar run out 32 (47)
Gambhir b Hauritz 6 (15)
Yuvraj lbw b Henriques 78 (96)
Dhoni not out 71 (95)
Raina not out 9 (13)
Extras (b 4, lb 4, w 14, nb 1) 23
Total (4 wickets; 48.2 overs) 230
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-51, 3-53, 4-201.
Bowling: Johnson 9.2-2-43-1, Siddle 10-0-0-41-0, Bollinger 10-0-26-0, Henriques 8-0-51-1, Hauritz 10-0-48-1, Voges 1-0-13-0.

Ludhiana, October 31
Hosts JCT and Mahindra United shared a point each following their goalless draw in the ONGC I- League match played at Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

Though, the match ended in a draw and earned the home side a point, it also exposed their vulnerability in front of goal and the league’s top scorer, JCT’s Baljit Sahni was also seen infected with problem.

As expected, Mahindra United again lived up to their status ofd being slow starters and set out on a defensive note. The star striker of the ‘Jeep- men’ Muritala Ali was in full colour and made forays in the rival territory. But all his efforts to score were foiled by JCT custodian Parasanata Dora who was playing his first match of the I- league in the absence of Karanjit Singh, who was out due to injury.

The move in the eighth minute by Ali and Svetozar Mijin aka Stevo was ably saved by Dora.

Initially the JCT men seemed out of sorts but slowly gathered momentum and made some vital moves. They showed lot of commitment, especially Penn Ikechukwu Orji, who despite sustaining a fierce injury on his head due to which he was profusely bleeding, remained in the game for whole 90 minutes.

Mahindra United launched an attack in the 42nd minute of the first half. Mohd. Rafi with his brilliant footwork pierced three defenders from the right and shot a power-packed kick but fortunately for the JCT it hit the crossbar.

In the second half Baljit Sahni decided to lead from the front and in the 68th minute came the golden opportunity. Baljit, after receiving the ball from Balwant ran towards the rival goal and beat two defenders to be one-on-one with the Mahindra keeper Subhasish Roy Chaudhury. Chaudhury committed a blunder and went ahead to stop Baljit, but the fleet footed striker even beat him. It was Baljit and the vacant goal post but he could not convert it into a goal. For a minute Baljit kept looking at the vacant corner in disbelief.

The problem with finishing reoccurred few minutes later when Jagpreet Singh and Pawan messed an opportunity to score a goal. Jagpreet, who was standing in front of the Mahindra goal, kicked the ball at the defence rather then converting it into a goal.

The weather could not give respite to the Mahindra United coach David Bootit, who was seen sweating profusely and screaming at his players. Just two minutes before injury time, Mahindra again swung into action and earned a free kick from 25 – yards. The kick could have cost JCT the match had Dora not made a brilliant effort towards his right to stop the ball.

It was also a due farewell for Sukhwinder Singh, who has been coach and General Secretary of JCT for nearly 20 decades. Sukhi, as he is fondly called, has joined as a coach of Under- 23 Indian football team for ensuing SAFF Cup to be held at Bangladesh from November.

Amritsar, October 31
The authorities of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) may brag about emerging as India’s ‘best university in sports’ by lifting the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Trophy (MAKA) trophy a record number of times, but they apparently, stand no where when it comes to the ground realities concerning sportspersons.

The living conditions of over 200 sportspersons from different parts of the country who have turned up in the university, which is hosting the All-India Inter University Aquatic tournament, is enough to realise this bitter truth. The Tribune team visited the ongoing sports meet only to find that swimmers from various universities were packed like ‘sardines’ on almost naked floor with one ‘dari’ in dingy rooms, and no mattresses.

They were provided with filthy and stinky toilets and bathrooms with no proper arrangement of water too. Over 15 players were made to sleep on the floor in each room. If the officials are to be believed, all arrangements have been made according to the All-India University (AIU) norms, applicable all over.

Ironically, it is not that the university does not have any provisions. Certainly, there are neat and clean rooms with proper conveniences, proper beds, clean mattresses but “exclusively” for the officials or managers who accompanied these teams.

On the other hand, against 200 aquatic sportspersons, there were eight toilets and six bathing rooms. No points for guessing the conditions of these toilets. “I asked for warm water to bathe but I would remember it for quite sometime the rebuke I received in lieu of asking for it”, narrated one of the player.

But if they wanted mattresses, discrimination was, apparently, there too. They would have to shell out extra money, probably as ‘rent or security’ if they wanted mattresses. “Even that was not for us. Only the Punjab players were provided with this offer”, claimed some players of other states.

“Even jail authorities provide mattress and blankets to inmates, but here, our condition is much worse than them”, rued players while concealing their identity.

Sources also revealed that some players from Kolkata suffered from ill health, apparently, due to mosquito bites. Dejected by their arrangement, they, reportedly, preferred to make their stay arrangement outside the university premises.

BRIEFLY

8,500 to run Delhi Half Marathon
NEW DELHI: Olympian Deriba Merga of Ethiopia would look to exploit his familiarity of the track to defend his title when over 8,500 people, including 266 foreign athletes, brave a chilly Sunday morning to run at Airtel Delhi Half Marathon here. The event which has grown in terms of participation as well as popularity in the last five years, is offering $210,000 as the prize money, with the men and women winners bagging $25,000 each. — PTI

Delhi Marathon 2009 ambassador Allan Border enjoys pasta at the Pasta Ceremony during the event in New Delhi on Saturday. — PTI

Venus, Jankovic reach semis
DOHA: The Williams sisters could be headed for a final matchup at the Sony Ericsson Championships after Venus advanced to the knockout rounds along with Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki. Venus advanced on a countback of sets thanks to Svetlana Kuznetsova’s 6-3, 6-2 win over Elena Dementieva. Venus joined unbeaten sister Serena Williams in the semifinals from the Maroon Group. — PTI

Women boxers off to winning start
HANOI: Indian women boxers made a resounding at the third Indoor Asian Games with L Sarita Devi (54kg) and N Usha (57kg) advancing to the medal rounds of the event with thumping wins in their respective quarterfinal bouts here on Saturday. on Sunday, four-time world champion M C Mary Kom will face Ting Lo Yueh of Taipei in the 46 kg category. — PTI

Bhullar make Singapore cut
SENTOSA: Gaganjeet Bhullar and Jyoti Randhawa made the cut after turning in contrasting cards but four other Indians fell by the wayside after the second round of the weather-hit Singapore Open golf tournament here on Saturday. Bhullar, who had completed his round on Saturday, was one-over in the third round after 10 holes. — PTI

Ranji Trophy: Punjab play Mumbai
CHANDIGARH: Ankur Kakkar led Punjab will play their first Elite Group A match against Mumbai here from November 3 and the second match against Hyderabad at the PCA Stadium, Mohali from November 10. Team: Ravi Inder Singh, S Sohal, U Kaul, T Kohli, P Dharmani, Chandan Madan, Rahul Sharma, Harmeet Bansal, Loveabhilash, Gaurav Gambhir, Varun Khanna, Vishwas Bhalla, Manpreet Gony and Barat Loomba. — PTI

Irfan to miss Ranji tie
VADODARA: After missing Irani Trophy and Twenty20 tournaments earlier this year, medium pacer Irfan Pathan has opted out of the first Ranji Tie against Delhi beginning here November 3 due to a knee injury. He has been replaced by Shatrunjay Gaekwad, who had been dropped from the initial team announced by the selection committee a couple of days ago. — PTI