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India-Australia
ODI series
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Asian Tour’s Order of Merit
Randhawa slips to 5th
Sentosa, November 2 Ace Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa dropped a rung to fifth but Gaganjeet Bhullar held on to the sixth spot in the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit list issued today. Randhawa has earnings of $318,350, while Bhullar has $308,916. The two are the only Indians in the top-10 bracket.
The man & his machine
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India-Australia ODI series
Mohali, November 2 In the day\night contest played under floodlights and in the stadium that was virtually jampacked, the Indian bowlers did well to restrict the rivals to relatively modest total of 250 in the allotted 50 overs. Keeping in view the recent batting form and the fact that there was nothing diabolical for batsmen in the wicket, an Indian victory, third on the trot, looked very much imminent.
But the hosts batsmen let an opportunity go abegging. They made a hash of the chase as the whole side failed the last the full quota of overs. Wickets kept on tumbling at regular intervals as the side was bundled out for 226 in 46.4 overs, enabling the visitors to draw parity (2-2) in the series.
Left-arm seamer Doug Bollinger emerged the standout bowler consuming three key batsmen, while Shane Watson also also settled into nice rhythm towards the close of the innings, claiming three scalps. Chasing this modest total, India were off to a flyer. As is his wont, Virender Sehwag played some cracking strokes as runs flowed for the Indians. He was harsh on Mitchell Johnson playing some scintillating strokes in the off-side cordon. The unstoppable Sehwag clobbered the hapless bowler, in his third over, to point and cover boundaries before cutting him fiercely over the slip area to third man fence.
He perished soon thereafter becoming first victim of Bollinger, who stuck to a virtual impeccable line and length right from his first over. Sehwag departed after scoring 19-ball 30 studded with seven blistering fours. Playing second fiddle to Sehwag till now, Sachin Tendulkar started to take the initiative in the company of Virat Kohli. Needing 47 runs to complete an unprecedented 17,000 ODI runs, the batting maestro looked like gettting into his groove and played some spanking strokes. Inching closer to the milestone which was there for taking, Tendulkar was dismissed by off-spinner Hauritz when he seven runs shy of the landmark. After pitching on the off stump, the ball hit Tendulkar towards the leg and umpire had no hesitation in raising the dreaded finger. Yuvraj just failed to get going, falling to brilliant fielding from Ponting, while Dhoni was caught behind off Bollinger as the hosts were in a spot of bother. Some lusty hitting towards the fag end of the innings by Harbhajan provided fresh impetus to the chase, but the bravado proved shortlived as the hosts fell short by 24 runs. WAtson showed fine reflexes in sending Harbahjan back, caught off his own bowling, when the batsman was playing some bold strokes, to hasten the Indian batting collapse. Put into bat by Dhoni, the visitors, though steady but assured, continued to consolidate the innings despite the early fall of Shuan Marsh. The Indian bowling, at best, looked steady and restrictive, but never threatening. Shane Watson and skipper Ricky Ponting continued to make a steady progress. Watson, when close to a fifty, fell to Harbhajan. Undeterred, Ponting continued to amass runs at a fast clip. He greeted Ishant Sharma with a lusty six over deep midwicket and then a thumping four in his first over. When the Australian captain had just completed his half century and was threatening to explode, he was back undone by an agile Jadeja, who brisk and accurate through found Ponting just fractionally short of the his crease. He made 59-ball 52, his third fifty on this venue. After the fall of Ponting, Cameroon White took charge and completed a well-compiled 62, while in-form Mike Hussey also played a-run-a-ball knock of 40 runs as Australians were able to post a modest target on board. Nehra was the best of the lot claiming three wickets, while Ishant, who had shown signs of improvement in the previous two games, was completely off-colour, giving away 42 runs in five overs. For his impressive 49 and three-wicket haul, Watson was adjudged the Man of the Match. Scoreboard India
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Barcelona, November 2 The Indian started his Barcelona sojourn in style. He was second fastest overall in the second practice session on Friday trailing only Philipp Eng by a whisker. In the qualifying on Saturday, Armaan’s first two sectors were really quick and it was only a small mistake on the last corner that cost him 3/10th of a second which put him in ninth. Robert Wickens qualified on pole with a time of 1 min 38.1 seconds while Armaan qualified at P9 with a time of 1 minute 38.5 seconds. The final race yesterday almost ended as it started as overtaking on the Catalunya Circuit was virtually impossible. Andy Soucek, at his home circuit, got the jump on Robert Wickens at the start and finished first. Italian Nicola De Marco was second while Wickens third. Armaan stayed close on the heels of Phillipp Eng, who finished at ninth. The Indian finished overall 17th with seven points from the 16 races in eight venues. Speaking about the race, Armaan said, “Barcelona was a good weekend and it is very satisfying that I was able to be in the top five throughout the weekend’s practice. A small mistake in the last corner cost me pole or at least P2 in qualifying.” “Within just 3/10th of a second there were as many as nine cars which shows how close this level of racing has been, not just in Barcelona but throughout the entire season,” he added. Analysing the FIA Formula 2 Series this year, Armaan said, “We all knew the F2 would be competitive and the amount of wheel to wheel racing it has produced has justified its billing as the Official Feeder Series to Formula 1. There have been some mechanical issues with the cars during the season, but the Championship is constantly improving and I am certain 2010 will be bigger and better.” “Personally, it has been an intensely challenging year and I am pleased with my first full season in Europe. I now look forward to securing a proper budget to do the right amount of winter testing which will then prepare me to attack the Formula 2 championship title next year, which is where my sights are set.” — PTI
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Asian Tour’s Order of Merit
Sentosa, November 2 At the top, the race for the Order of Merit crown is now down to Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and Liang Wen-chong of China. Liang emerged as the only remaining contender after finishing second in the Barclays Singapore Open yesterday, where his earnings of $555,550 bumped up his season’s haul to $740,544. Thongchai, on the other hand, took his tally to $937,658 after finishing tied 14th which was worth $67,785. Scott Hend of Australia was the biggest mover in the list as he leaped 44 places up to fourth position on the Order of Merit. His tied third finish in Singapore earned him $281,500 which gave him a total of $354,391 this season. This week, the WGC-HSBC Champions, headlined by world number one Tiger Woods, will be played in Shanghai before the Asian Tour heads to Hong Kong next week for the $2.5 million UBS Hong Kong Open which is co-sanctioned by the European Tour. — PTI
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The man & his machine
Chandigarh, November 2 But yet for some, there is a little more, a little more than what meets the eye. Meet Kalka-boy Ashish Moudghil, who has made the biker’s category of the most arduous off road rally, the Raid de Himalaya, his own. “It all started as a joke, with my brother teasing me over my habit of riding fast. He challenged me to take up an actual race, and prove that I was good. And then SJOBA happened. After that, well its been as they say, a long journey. But SJOBA will always be special as it was my first podium,” says Ashish. “But the Raid is very different. It is like a new challenge everyday. Everytime you get ready to ride, or take a turn, or try to go faster, the Raid will throw something at you, which you couldn’t have foreseen. It is this dynamism that makes the Raid a great experience,” adds Ashish, who completed his hat-trick of wins at the Raid, with this year’s win. He also dedicates this year’s win to his late father, and roommate Mandeep Singh, who passed away in a bike mishap. “This year was a completely different experience as I was riding on a different bike. For the past two years I have been using a Hero Honda Karizma, and well this year, thanks to the co-operation of Red Roaster Racing, I got a Yamaha WR-250, and the difference was just a little too much. I really wish to thank Red Roaster Racing, for I had been trying to get a bike for the past three years, but only because of them, it turned into a reality,” says Ashish. Now based in Bangalore, with his current employers, Areva, Ashish also makes it a point to thank his boss Ravi Kumar, for his unhinging support. “I remember, when I asked him for leave, he said ‘You don’t need to ask for leave, you can demand it.’ It was a lot of encouragement as I am still on probation with them .” Looking ahead Ashish says he wishes to approach the Sports Ministry for aid, to take part in foreign events. But he is also aware that the sports minister doesn’t consider Motorsports to be sports at all. “That is just one man’s opinion. It cannot be the basis of a national policy. For I believe that one man competing against another, is what sport is all about. I just hope they can see it, and I can ride better, harder, faster and quicker.”
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Mohali, November 2
Chandigarh, November 2
Button hints at Brawn stay