Mumbai, November 25
Our land’s preeminent god, also known as Sachin Tendulkar, walked in to bat at 3.05 PM today. He walked in unaccompanied by hope, however. Hope had left the building a minute ago, to the deafening sound of mournful silence. Cheteshwar Pujara had walked off after being dismissed for six, off the fifth ball he faced in India’s second innings.

Precisely at that point, the game was lost, bar the shouting.

This is exactly the sentiment Sachin Tendulkar’s dismissals have inspired for the best part of two decades since the early 1990s. But now, quite decisively, his genius is ebbing. The light is going out of the master’s batting. He walks with indecision and dread. His his adversaries and admirers sense that.

Indecision and dread were the leitmotifs of his 19-ball innings of eight runs today. Against the sharply turning deliveries of Monty Panesar, the great man was rendered helpless. Twice in two innings Panesar has got the wicket he prizes most in the Indian team.

Tendulkar’s last 10 scores in Test cricket — 15, 8, 25, 13, 19, 17, 27, 13, 8, 8 — aggregate 153 runs, and the dismissals include three LBW and four bowled.

It’s a long time since the Indian fans have ceased expecting scores of significance in Test cricket from the master. Especially in diversity. When India began their second innings 86 runs behind England, hope rested with two men -- Virender Sehwag and Pujara. The rapacity of the first and the doggedness of the second, which bolstered India with three centuries in three previous innings of the series, were essential to India’s competitiveness or, before that, survival. The two had made 389 of the 601 Indian runs in Ahmedabad; and 165 of India’s 327 in the first innings here.

Gautam Gambhir has been shaky for some time while Sehwag, free of rules, traipses in and out of form. It was clear Alastair Cook would begin the attack with pace and spin, and it was equally clear that the spinner he would choose would be Monty Panesar: Cook wanted the ball to test the outside edge of the right-hander Sehwag’s bat first. He wanted Sehwag before the Delhi blaster could inflict damage. Graeme Swann vs Gautam Gambhir could wait.

Sehwag did fall to Panesar; Panesar had kept the on-side largely vacant to tempt Sehwag to strike against the turn. He nearly trapped Sehwag in the sixth over when the ball hit the leading edge off his turning bat and looped to safety on the off side. Two overs later, Panesar nailed Sehwag, in the manner foreseen by his captain, when the ball kissed the outside edge of his bat on its way to Swann at Gully.

Sehwag out of the way, Cook asked Swann to bowl from the other end. One giant had been cut down. The emerging giant, young Pujara, was immediately had by Swann off the fifth ball he bowled today; an inside edge off his bat flew to the left of short leg, from where Jonny Bairstow launched himself full length and came up with the ball in his hands. India two down — merely two wickets down! — and Tendulkar yet to play a single deliverly… Yet, Indian hearts had sunk to the feet. This match could not be saved.

Tendulkar fell. Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and R Ashwin, none of them a defensive genius, followed him back with alacrity.

Only some dogged batting by the Gambhir kept the match from ending today. Three-and-a-half years ago, Gambhir batted 643 minutes and 436 balls to save the Napier Test against New Zealand. To save this one, India needed such limpet-like stickiness from one of their batsmen. Gambhir has lost his way, and Pujara couldn’t do it here.

India had done rather well towards the England innings, ending it at 413. The last five wickets fell for 31 runs. The key was the magnificent Kevin Pietersen. The over-texting genius is probably the most beloved of each and every English cricket fan right now. He and the only slightly less significant Alastair Cook had added 206 runs for the third wicket before Cook fell for 122, making it 274/3, still 53 behind India. They needed Pietersen, the heart of the great English teams of the recent past, to keep ticking. He did that with Samit Patel and Matt Prior.

Pietersen was the sixth man to go, at 382, and it put the England innings on a very slippery slope. Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Panesar quickly followed him back.

England got a lead of 86, less than they hoped, but more than enough against a Dravid-liess, Laxman-less, hopeless India.

SCOREBOARD
India 1st Innings: 327
England 1st innings
Cook c Dhoni b Ashwin 122
Compton c Sehwag b Ojha 29
Trott lbw b Ojha 0
Pietersen c Dhoni b Ojha 186
Bairstow c Gambhir b Ojha 9
Patel c Kohli b Ojha 26
Prior run out 21
Broad c Pujara b Harbhajan 6
Swann not out 1
Anderson lbw b Harbhajan 2
Panesar c Yuvraj b Ashwin 4
Extras: 7
Total: (all out; 121.3 ovrs) 413
Fall of wickets: 1-66, 2-68, 3-274, 4-298, 5-357, 6-382, 7-406, 8-406, 9-408
Bowling: Ashwin 42.3-6-145-2, Ojha 40-6-143-5, Zaheer 15-4-37-0, Harbhajan 21-1-74-2, Yuvraj 3-0-8-0

India 2nd innings
Gambhir batting 53
Sehwag c Swann b Panesar 9
Pujara c Bairstow b Swann 6
Tendulkar lbw b Panesar 8
Kohli c sub (Root) b Swann 7
Yuvraj c Bairstow b Panesar 8
Dhoni c Trott b Panesar 6
Ashwin c Patel b Panesar 11
Harbhajan batting 1
Extras: 8
Total: (7 wkts in 33 ovrs) 117
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-37, 3-52, 4-65, 5-78, 6-92, 7-110
Bowling: Anderson 4-1-9-0, Panesar 16-2-61-5, Swann 13-4-39-2

Mumbai, November 25
India’s 10th defeat in Mumbai, which will arrive without fail sometime early on Monday, is likely to be one of their worst losses, by up to 10 wickets. They are effectively 31 for seven in their second innings, having struggled to wipe out England’s first innings lead of 86.

This after batting first on a pitch of their choice, in their own conditions, against a team that is supposed to be weak against spin.

What went wrong?

Let’s first look at what went right for England — that would be more instructive.

England’s two most important batsmen, Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen, have both clicked here. For England to excel in defence in Asia, Cook must succeed; for England to excel in offence in Asia, or anywhere else, Pietersen must succeed. When both succeed, England’s batting is in a very good place.

The two scored 308 out of England’s total of 413. That’s nearly 75 percent of the innings runs by these two.

Today, 352 runs were scored and 15 wickets fell in around 100 overs of play. India were at the very, very wrong end of these odd figures — tons of runs, tons of wickets on the same day.

Cook and Pietersen rained runs on India; then Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann took the wickets. England’s spinners have completely outbowled the Indian spinners. That’s something no one foresaw before this Test match. England’s spinners have taken 16 wickets for 305 off the 114.1 overs they’ve bowled in India’s two innings. The Indian spinners have taken nine for 370 in 106.3 overs in England’s one innings. Therein lies the root cause of the Indian plight.

England’s runs aren’t hurting us that badly, for the lead was not massive. It’s our wickets that their spinners have taken that give us grief. You don’t expect foreign spinners to rout Indian batsmen, masters of spin bowling. In fact, Panesar’s 10-wicket haul here is the first for England in India since 1934!

The excellence of Cook and Pietersen made the pitch look innocuous; India’s problems were compounded by the pedestrian performance of Pragyan Ojha, Ravichandran Ashwin and, most of all, Harbhajan Singh.

Former Indian opener Sanjay Manjrekar says that England’s spinners were more successful because they got their pace right. “The main difference was that the England spinners bowled quicker and fuller than the Indian spinners,” he says.

That’s an assessment Pietersen agrees with completely.

“The quicker you bowl, the quicker it spins, and the less time you have to adjust on this wicket,” Pietersen says. “The less chance you have to adjust… We saw that with Dhoni, we saw that with Tendulkar today… But if you bowl kind of a looping spin (which the Indians did), you have time to adjust.”

Experts have been debating why England’s spinners have outbowled India’s, and unanimity is settling on this view — that England’s spinners read the wicket better and bowled quicker.

Gautam Gambhir repeated this view later in the day.

India’s spinners, which included a man playing his 99th Test, Harbhajan Singh, didn’t quite read the pitch. Neither did the coach, Duncan Fletcher.

That should cause great worry to captain MS Dhoni. His wish for a first-day turner was granted in Mumbai. He’d dread to make another such wish now.

Mumbai, November 25
England's batting star Kevin Pietersen today said the difference between the first Test in Ahmedabad, where he flopped, and the second at the Wankhede Stadium here, which was witness to his monumental knock of 186, was his outlook towards defence.

"I wasn't playing well at all in Ahmedabad. I didn't trust my defence as much as I have trusted my defense coming into this Test match. As a batter, if you don't trust your defence as much, you try too many things. You try and force the issue. So I went and did a lot of hard work as I always do and luckily it paid off," said Pietersen who helped England amass 413 in reply to the hosts' 327.

"I like to keep things simple. I didn't trust my defence, I just didn't go into that fixture with the right defence. I don't think the preparation leading into the Test match, tested my defence enough," he said, adding, "It is just about doing things simple. Doing the basics right, trusting your defence, and I did that in this innings." Pietersen said his 22nd century that has brought him level with Walter Hammond, Colin Cowdrey, Geoff Boycott and skipper Alastair Cook, would be more cherished if the team wins tomorrow.

"It (Century) would mean a lot more if we win tomorrow. With Cookie, going to number 22 (first), which nobody has gone past. He said to me, when he got five to go, you are there as well. It was a special moment. Chef (Cook) was magnificent and it was good to be on top of the list with Chef," he said.

He described the Wankhede wicket, on which 15 wickets fell during the third day, as a difficult one. "It was a pretty difficult wicket. You knew at some stage, a ball will get your name on it. To get some runs was satisfying," he remarked. — PTI

Mumbai, November 25
Gautam Gambhir seemed crestfallen, but defiant, after the end of the day’s play today.

India have lost three Tests in Mumbai since the beginnings of the 2000 — to South Africa in 2000 by four wickets, to Australia by 10 wickets in 2001 and to England by 212 runs in 2006. There seems no way this match would end in another massive, massive loss for the hosts.

But Gambhir was clutching at a wisp of hope in the evening when he said there’s still a chance. “There are three batsmen still left, you have to be positive,” he said. “If Bhajji and I get a good partnership, then we can get a good score around 120 to 150. If we can be 110-7, then even they can.” “One thing is that we need to put runs on the board,” Gambhir went on. “If we can give them 120-150 runs to chase, it will be a good score. When I played my debut Test here, Australia was all out for 70-odd runs. So anything is possible. Even they will struggle to get to that score. We have three quality spinners.” “You can’t say that we will come for just a formality tomorrow,” Gambhir, unbeaten on 53 in India’s shambolic second innings, said. “Miracles can happen and things can change very quickly. We just need to put some more runs on the board.”That’s something easier said than done. Only someone not in touch with reality would realistically expect an escape from here.

Gambhir, though, can’t be a defeatist — all sportsperson have notions of positive thinking drummed into their minds every single day of their existence. Maybe that was the reason Gambhir was less pessimistic than the press about his own batting form of the recent months. He also had a more positive notion of form than understood by “you guys” (media).

“Form is something which is very individual,” he said. “For me, if you are batting well and happy about the way you are playing, then your form is good.” “Maybe that’s not how it is for you guys, because you guys and the rest of the people decide form on the basis of how many runs you put on the board,” he added. “If you ask me, if I’m hitting the ball well, that’s all that matters to me.”

That’s not a completely erroneous belief, though it belongs more to amateurs than professionals.India are facing a crushing defeat against England in the second Test but an optimistic Gautam Gambhir is hoping that a miracle would happen and turn around things for them tomorrow. Left-handed opener Gambhir, who is fighting hard from one end with an unbeaten 53, said it has happened in the past when India wriggled itself out of difficult situations.

He recalled the 2004 Test match against Australia at this very ground when India pulled the rug from under the feet of the visitors, who were shot out for 93 chasing 111. "Miracles have happened. Things have changed quickly. Any thing is possible if we can put runs on the board,” he said.

Adelaide, November 25
A fired-up Australia attack skittled South Africa's top order late on the fourth day to march to the brink of victory in the second test on Sunday.

Set a mammoth target of 430 for victory, the tourists' chase began disastrously, captain Graeme Smith out for a duck with the sixth ball of the innings and three more wickets tumbling quickly in the afternoon heat at Adelaide Oval. Wicketkeeper batsman AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis dug in for more than an hour and a half, but South Africa staggered to 77-4 at the close, 353 runs adrift of their target.

De Villiers was on 12 and Du Plessis on 19, with injured Jacques Kallis the last specialist batsman in the Proteas' dressing room. South Africa assistant coach Russell Domingo conceded a draw was the best they could hope for. "Definitely, yeah ... We know that 370 on the last day, four wickets down is probably out of the window," he told reporters.

"The target is far away, but they're still out there. There's every possibility that something special could happen, so there's an opportunity for someone to make a major play for his country."

South Africa's hopes may again rest on all-rounder Kallis, who battled a hamstring strain to score a half-century in the first innings and help the tourists avoid the follow-on.

With Smith and number three Hashim Amla out before tea, Jacques Rudolph and opener Alviro Petersen resumed at 40-2 but their partnership lasted only five more runs before spinner Nathan Lyon claimed his second wicket of the innings.

Lyon, who two years ago worked as a groundsman at Adelaide Oval, had Rudolph poke the ball to Ed Cowan, who lunged low and to his left to take a sharp catch at short leg. Out for three, Rudolph's dismissal was his fourth at the hands of the 25-year-old offspinner from four innings in the series.

Petersen's celebrations for his 32nd birthday were tempered an over later, when he was out for 24, dragging a delivery from fellow birthday boy Peter Siddle onto his stumps to leave his team reeling at 45-4. "Obviously I guess I can have a bit of a happier one than him tonight, so that's always nice," Siddle told reporters. Charged with steering South Africa to safety, De Villiers and Du Plessis slowed their scoring to a crawl, with all thought of victory banished.

The pair added only 10 runs in little more than an hour after the last session's drinks break, with every score drawing ironic cheers from crowd. Any wafer-thin South African hopes may lie with the Australians running out of steam on the final day, with paceman James Pattinson ruled out for the rest of the series with a rib injury and Australia's bowlers forced to shoulder a greater workload. South Africa could lose their top test ranking if they lose the series with the final in Perth on Saturday— Reuters

SCOREBOARD
Australia 1st innings 550
South Africa 1st innings 388
Australia 2nd innings (overnight 111-5)
Warner c du Plessis b Kleinveldt 41
Cowan b Kleinveldt 29
Quiney c de Villiers b Kleinveldt 0
Ponting b Steyn 16
Clarke lbw Steyn 38
Siddle c de Villiers b Morkel 1
Hussey c Steyn b Morkel 54
Wade c De Villiers b Morkel 18
Pattinson not out 29
Hilfenhaus not out 18
Extras: 23
Total: (8 wkts d, 70 ov) 267
Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-77, 3-91, 4-98, 5-103 6-173, 7-206, 8-220
Bowling: Steyn 17-5-50-2, Morkel 19-4-50-3, Kleinveldt 19-2-65-3, Tahir 14-1-80-0,Plessis 1-0-8-0

South Africa 2nd innings
Smith c Ponting b Hilfenhaus 0
Petersen b Siddle 24
Amla c Clarke b Lyon 17
Rudolph c Cowan b Lyon 3
Villiers not out 11
Plessis not out 18
Extras: 2
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 12-6-23-1, Siddle 11-5-23-1, Clarke 5-2-4-0, Lyon 15-7-15-2, Warner 3-0-10-0, Quiney 3-2-1-1, Ponting 1-1-0-0
Extras: 2
Total: (4 wkts, 50 ov) 77
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-36, 3-45, 4-45
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 12-6-23-1, Siddle 11-5-23-1, Clarke 5-2-4-0, Lyon 15-7-15-2, Warner 3-0-10-0, Quiney 3-2-1-1, Ponting 1-1-0-0

Colombo November 25
New Zealand captain Ross Taylor led from the front with an unbeaten 119 as New Zealand ended the first day of the second test against Sri Lanka on 223 for two wickets on Sunday.

It was Taylor's eighth test hundred and his third as captain while Kane Williamson was on 95 not out at the close which came 9.1 overs early due to rain.

The duo's patient partnership of an unbroken 214 was the highest stand for any wicket by New Zealand in nine matches in 2012.

The stand was the perfect response by New Zealand's batsmen after the debacle of the first test in Galle, when they crumbled for 118 in the second innings and lost by 10 wickets in less than three days.

"With all the pressure and the things that happened during the week (with the loss in Galle) and with all the distractions it's up there with the other hundreds I've scored," Taylor told Reuters.

"But test match cricket is played over five days and how good today was depends on how we get on in the morning."

Taylor chose to bat first but must have been wondering about the wisdom of that decision as his side slipped to 14 for two.

Martin Guptill opened his account with a straight-driven four off Nuwan Kulasekera's medium pace, only to edge the final ball of the first over to first slip where Angelo Mathews took a straightforward catch.

Brendon McCullum fell three overs later, adjudged leg-before wicket to Shaminda Eranga by umpire Marais Erasmus. McCullum was clearly frustrated by the decision and replays showed he got an inside edge on to the ball before it cannoned into his front pad. There was no reprieve, however, as the Decision Review System is not in operation during this series.

Taylor enjoyed some good fortune early on, slashing Eranga over Mathews at third slip and then inside edging the same bowler past leg-stump, but otherwise played a model innings. He has faced 241 balls and hit 10 fours and of the five test hundreds scored by New Zealand batsmen this year, Taylor's haul is now three.

Right-hander Williamson, who has another one of those five, faced 229 balls and hit eight fours in an exhibition of risk-free batting.

"Kane Williamson has struggled a bit in recent times and for him to come out and play like he did under a lot of pressure is credit to him," said Taylor. "He's worked very hard during the week and it's nice when you work hard and get some rewards. He's still got to go on tomorrow but I'm very pleased for him."

The man who tore New Zealand's batting apart in Galle with 11 wickets, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, finished the day wicket-less after bowling 21 overs for 45 runs. — Reuters

SCOREBOARD
New Zealand first innings
Guptill c Mathews b Kulasekara 4
McCullum lbw b Eranga 4
Williamson not out 95
Taylor not out 119
Extras: 1
Total: (2 wkts; 80.5 ov) 223
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-14
Bowling: Kulasekara 13.5-2-42-1, Eranga 14-0-70-1, Mathews 5-1-14-0, Herath 21-2-45-0, Randiv 23-3-47-0, Dilshan 4-0-5-0

Mohali, November 25
Comeback pacer Siddarth Kaul scalped four wickets,while Sandeep Singh bagged three wickets to reduce Saurashtra to 212/7 in the second innings to reach a dominant position in Ranji Trophy Group A match.

After taking, 115-run first innings lead Punjab reutrned with vengeance as their pace attack once again lived up to their reputation and ignited hopes of yet another outright win. Punjab’s brilliant run is being powered by their fast bowling attcak who have exploited home conditions to the hilt.

After falling like nine pins, Saurashtra gave a much better show in the second innings but managed to wrest only 97-run lead with just three wickets in hand. Sagar Jogiyani (72 not out) and Jaydev Unadkat were at the crease at the end of the day.

Saurashtra has been plagued by misfiring batsmen who all got start in the second innings but failed to shift gears. Their biggest hope Ravindra Jadeja again failedas he fell to Siddharth once again in the same fashion (lbw). Kaul had both the openers —Chirag Pathak (26) and Bhushan Chauhan (15) — caught behind and later got rid of dangerman Shitanshu Kotal (18) and Jadeja in quick succession. Saurashtra were reeling at 66/4 but Jogiyani fought on bravely. Jaydev Shah (38), Arpit Vasavada (29) helped the cause a bit. Sandeep Sharma bagged both wickets and then went on to get Maniar. Earlier, Punjab began the day at 125/5 and added 80 runs to get 115-run lead. Uday Kaul, who was overnight 4, remained unbeaten on 41.

SCOREBOARD
Saurashtra 90 & 212/7 (55 ov)
Punjab 205
Jiwanjot c Maniar b Unadkat 61
Goel c Jogiyani b Trivedi 26
Sidhana lbw b Trivedi 0
Mandeep c Jogiyani b Maniar 12
Uday not out 41
Amitoze lbw b Maniar 0
Bipul b Trivedi 19
Rahul lbw b Trivedi 19
Gony c BJadeja b Trivedi 18
S Kaul c Jadeja b Unadkat 2
Sandeep c Pathak b B Jadeja 5
Extras: 21
Total: (all out in 74.2 ov) 205
Fall of wickets: 1-70, 2-70, 3-104, 4-104, 5-105, 6-152, 7-152, 8-186, 9-189, 10-205
Bowling: Unadkat 23-7-46-2, Maniar 11-5-12-2, Trivedi 20-3-64-5,Jadeja 20.2-6-65-1

Saurashtra 2nd innings
Pathak c Uday b Siddharth 26
Chauhan c Uday b Siddharth 15
Kotak lbw b Siddharth 18
Jogiyani not out 72
Jadeja lbw b Siddharth 0
Shah c Mandeep b Sandeep 38
Vasavada c Uday b Sandeep 29
Maniar lbw b Sandeep 0
Unadkat not out 0
Extras: 14
Total: (7 wkts; 55 ovrs) 212
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-57, 3-66, 4-66, 5-123,6-200,7-200
Bowling: Gony 14-4-48-0, Sandeep 16-2-56-3,Siddharth 17-2-55-4, Amitoze 3-0-21-0, Rahul 5-0-22-0

Rohtak, November 25
Saurabh Wakaskar hit an unbeaten century as Baroda inched closer to Haryana's first innings total of 295 on the second day of Group B match. Abhimanyu Chauhan was the day's last wicket to fall as visitors closed play at 197/3 with Wakaskar undefeated on 100.

The left-hander in the company of Aditya Waghmode (77) put on an impressive 189-run stand for the first wicket before skipper Amit Mishra took 3 wickets to help Haryana claw their way back into the match. Waghmode became Mishra's first victim, caught in front of the wicket. B Bhatt followed suit next ball. However, Chauhan successfully negotiated the last ball to deny him a hat-trick.

Brief Scores: Haryana 1st innings: 295 all out in 123 overs (R Dalal 104, Dewan 48; U Patel 83/5, B Bhatt 63/3); Baroda 1st innings: 197/3 in 61.3 overs (S Wakaskar 100*, AWaghmode 77; Amit Mishra 45/3). — PTI

Ranchi, November 25
Opener Prashant Chopra struck a fluent century to help Himachal Pradesh close in on Jharkhand's first-innings total in their Group C Ranji Trophy match on Sunday.

At stumps on Day two, Himachal were comfortably placed at 201 for four in reply to Jharkhand's 236 at the HEC International Cricket Stadium Complex.

Chopra's 148-ball 101 contained 14 fours and he got good support from Aakash Chopra who scored 61. The hosts' innings was largely built on Saurabh Tiwary's knock of 102. Resuming on 65 in a team score of 176 for five, Tiwary hit 12 fours and a six while facing 311 balls. Rishi Dhawan picked up six for 63 for Himachal Pradesh.

Brief scores: Jharkhand: 236 all out in 109.4 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 102, Sunny Gupta 62; Rishi Dhawan 6/63); Himachal Pradesh: 201 for four in 67 overs (Prashant Chopra 101, A Chopra 61).

Delhi pile on misery

NEW DELHI: Mohit Sharma cashed in on dropped chances to notch up his maiden first-class hundred as Delhi piled on the misery for Tamil Nadu by declaring their first innings on 555 for four in their Ranji Trophy Group B match on Sunday.

Sharma put on display all the shots in his repertoire, reducing the visitors to mere spectators, before falling 25 runs short of a double century. His 175 was laced with 28 fours and a six. Another notable performer on day two was Vaibhav Rawal, who scored an unbeaten 203-ball 100 and, together with Mohit, stitched a partnership of 221 runs for the fourth wicket.

All the Delhi batsmen, barring Mithun Manhas, scored centuries — two coming on Saturday — on the placid Ferozeshah Kotla track and tightened the noose around Tamil Nadu. Earlier, resuming at their overnight score of 287 for one, Delhi lost opener Unmukt Chand (138) and Manhas early as Yo Mahesh and skipper L Balaji made the best use of the second new ball in the morning session. Chand could only manage to add four runs today. — PTI

Sao Paulo, November 25
Sebastian Vettel overcame a first-lap crash to clinch his third straight Formula One championship title on Sunday, finishing sixth in an incident-filled Brazilian Grand Prix won by Jenson Button.

Vettel did what he needed to hold off Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the only other driver contending for the title, and became the youngest three-time champion in Formula One at age 25. Alonso had a superb start on a hectic first lap at Interlagos and finished second, but that wasn't enough to erase Sebastian Vettel's lead in the standings.

New Delhi November 25
Randhir Singh pulled out of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) elections, scheduled to be held on December 5, which has paved the way for the election of Abhay Singh Chautala as the new president unopposed.

Randhir Singh, the incumbent secretary-general of the IOA and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and secretary-general of the Olympic Council of Asia, withdrew from the contest on the first day of the withdrawal of nominations, as he was deeply “pained” at the “slanderous campaign” unleashed against him by the rival camp. He said he was fully eligible to contest the elections as the IOC rules did not bar him, but he was pained at the “personal attacks” mounted against him, and hence the decision to quit the fray.

But Randhir, a six-time Olympic trap shooter and Asian Games gold medallist, who has been the IOA secretary-general uninterruptedly for the past 24 years, was clearly losing ground, and was on a slippery ground, if it came to a contest against Abhay Singh.

He was also shocked and pained that some of his close alleys, whom he thought would stand by him, deserted him to align with the rival camp, making his position untenable.

Abhay Singh welcomed Randhir’s decision to pull out of the election as he felt that the IOA should live up to the past tradition of electing the president, and then leaving the job for him to choose the rest of the office-bearers, for the smooth functioning of the apex Olympic body.

Another reasoning of Randhir for quitting the election fray was that since the election would be held in accordance with the Sports Code of the Government of India and the constitution of the IOA, following a ruling by the Delhi High Court, he would have had to tackle a tricky situation if elected.

He felt that since the IOC was opposed to the application of the Sports Code in the IOA elections, which it contended was against the Olympic Charter, there would be complications if the Sports Code was followed in the IOA elections.

The IOC has given an ultimatum to IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra to clarify on the Sports Code before November 30 or else, the IOC has threatened to disaffiliate the IOA.

Following the receipt of the letter on Thursday, Malhotra had sought the intervention of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to scrap the Sports Code, for the smooth election of the IOA office-bearers.

IOA senior-vice president Tarlochan Singh, speaking on behalf of the Abhay Singh group, which claimed to have got the support of three-fourth voting members of the IOA, appealed to all others in the Randhir Singh panel to follow suit, to pave way for a “consensus” election of the IOA president and other office-bearers.

In any case, K. Murugan, secretary-general of the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI), who has filed his nomination for the post of secretary-general from the Randhir panel, will find the going tough as he will come under the Sports Code, being over 70 years of age. (The Sports Code bars those who have remained in a post for two consecutive terms or are over 70 years of age from seeking election. The IOC rule also does not allow anyone over 70 to contest for a post in the Olympic body).

Meanwhile, former Union Sports Minister Dr M.S.Gill has joined issue with the IOC for threatening the IOA with de-recognition, which he asserted was beyond its authority.

Dubai, November 25
World number one Rory McIlroy picked up $2.33 million worth of desert treasure after repelling a record-breaking charge from Ryder Cup team mate Justin Rose to win the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday.

Rose almost spiked the guns of the Northern Irishman, who shared the overnight lead with Luke Donald, when he carved two shots off the previous Earth course record with a breathtaking 10-under final round of 62 containing eight birdies and an eagle.

The Englishman set his target early but U.S. PGA winner McIlroy finished with the flourish of a true champion, birdying the last five holes to clinch victory by two strokes with a closing 66 and a 23-under tally of 265.

"I just wanted to finish the season the way I think it deserved to be finished," McIlroy told reporters after winning for the fifth time in 2012.

"I didn't want the year to just tail off, I wanted to end it in real style. On the back nine I knew I needed to pull out something special and I somehow summoned up the energy from somewhere to finish with five birdies in the last five holes."

Donald (71) was tied third on 270 with South African Charl Schwartzel (68) in the final event of the European Tour season.

The 23-year-old McIlroy, who started the final round with a bogey five at the first, collected $1.33 million for landing the trophy and an additional $1 million from the tour's bonus prize pool.

"It means a lot to me to win here in this fashion," said the 2011 U.S. Open winner who was cheered on by girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, the former world number one tennis player. "I guess in a way Justin gave me the opportunity to win it in the way that I did. "Seeing a target there and shooting at it definitely makes you get more focused. This is a great tournament and this is a great way to end the European Tour season," added McIlroy.

"I'm over the moon. There are so many strong players on the tour and there will continue to be a lot of strong players coming through on this tour," added McIlroy who complained of feeling unwell in the middle of the event.

The billboards in the city called the tournament 'The Greatest Show On Earth' and McIlroy and Rose did their best to live up to the billing with a red-hot exhibition of low-scoring on another sun-kissed day in the Emirate.

Dutchman Joost Luiten (276) and Scotland's Stephen Gallacher (276) also recorded hole-in-ones while Spain's Sergio Garcia shot his second 64 of the week to finish tied for ninth on 274 in his first outing since the Ryder Cup in September. The highly-anticipated duel between McIlroy and Donald never materialised as the world number two failed to keep up the inspired form that had seen him go 102 holes in the tournament, this year and last, without a bogey.

The Englishman's remarkable scoring sequence ended when he dropped a stroke at the third and he was never able to mount a sustained final-round challenge. Rose said he had been feeling a sense of frustration with his putter but he put that right on Sunday, especially at the last where he left a brilliant 70-foot eagle attempt hanging tantalisingly on the lip.