#okuhara

India had to win first session to make a firm statement in the match. Australia had new ball in 10 overs. Paine started off with Lyon which was a surprise. But he shocked all by dismissing Rahane in 4th ball of the day. India 173-4. Australia gained momentum again after 91 stand between Rahane-Kohli. Rahane had not scored centuries for 1.5 years. He missed another chance. Vihari started timing the ball well from the start. He started like Rahane with an aggressive mode. Kohli was taking time to get his eye in again. His wicket could well decide the fate of the match from here. India last 4 was as poor as it gets. Ishant Sharma at 7 is 2 spots too high.  Vihari looked assured and played with composure. Virat in the meanwhile took India beyond 200. He even scored his 25th test century in the process. He has now 6 test centuries in Australia in 4 different places ( 3 in Adelaide, 1 each in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney). Sachin also scored 6 centuries in 4 different places ( 3 in Sydney, 1 each in Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide).  Virat Kohli also became first Asian batsmen to score test centuries in SA, England and Australia in the same year. I don’t recall any Asian country travelling to all these countries in same era. Sachin didn’t. Kohli and Vihari had 50 stand. Just when it looked like they would take India close to Australia’s score of 326, Hazelwood bowled a beauty to edge Vihari. India 223-5. It would be a testing time for India. Kohli needed company at the other end. India could still get all out for under 250 as tail looked long. Pant had to play smartly rather than carelessly like he did in first test.   They had 28 run stand before Cummins dismissed Kohli for 123. He was caught in slips. It didn’t look convincing but since umpire gave soft signal as out, it stayed. Kohli was disappointed. India 251-6. That opened up the tail. Shami was dismissed for golden duck. His horror run with bat continued. India 252-7.  Australia had the morning which they wanted. It was their match to lose from here onwards. It looked like they would get 50 plus lead unless Pant had other ideas.  Pant hit out with Umesh’s help post lunch. But India were dismissed for 283. Lyon grabs his 7th 5 fer against India. 43 lead looks too big on this pitch. It was Australia’s match to lose from here on. India had to grab all chances and had to dismiss Australia for under 200 to have a chance. Agarkar did it 15 years back. Pujara dropped Harris early on when Harris was just 1.  It was not India’s day so far baring Kohli’s century. Australia made full use of this period. They were one good session away from getting firm grip on the game.  Finch gave Australia a flying start.  Just before tea he got hit in index finger. Australia 33-0 at tea. Post eta, Finch didn’t return as he had to be taken to hospital. Khawaja and Harris hot a few lusty blows to the boundary before Bumrah castled Harris. Australia 59-1. Shami dismissed Shaun Marsh 3 overs later. Australia 64-2. Khawaja was looking good. Handscomb was playing from way back in the crease and Ishant trapped plumb in front. Australia 84-3. If Finch does not return, it looked like 4 down. India had a small door of hope. They needed 2 quick wickets to get to tail. Umesh was bowling poorly and that hurt India. Head and Khawaja took Australia past 100. Just when it looked like they would take Australia to close of play, Shami dismissed Head.  Australia 120-4. Paine and Khawaja took Australia to close at 132-4. With lead of 175, it is Australia’s match to lose. But stranger things have happened in cricket.

Lanka were dismissed for 282. NZ though looked in their zone as they ended day at 311-2. Latham was unbeaten at 121. He had 162 run stand with Williamson who was dismissed for 91. Taylor was unbeaten at 50. In Ranji, Vinay and co dismissed Gujarat for 216. Axar Patel reduced Karnataka to 171-5. But Padikal and SHreyas Gopal took Karnataka to safety. Shreyas made a brilliant 93. Padikkal made a fighting 74. Karnataka ended day at 348-7. They are firmly in control of the match.  They were dismissed for 389 in on day 3. Vinay too made a fifty.  Gujarat ended day 3 at 187-3.

In World tour finals, PV Sindhu faced her nemesis Okuhara. PV Sindhu raced away with the opening set grabbing 11-6 lead. Okuhara makes a great comeback to make it 12-15 and 16-16. Okuhara then put 2 smashes wide. Sindhu takes 19-17 lead. She eventually won the set 21-19. 2nd set went neck to neck. Both were leve; at 7-7 and Sindhu lead 11-9 at the break. Okuhara again made comeback to make it 17-16. Sindhu was looking a bit tired. Okuhara was making Sindhu work hard on her points. Okuhara though was making mistakes unlike her own self. That helped Sindhu win the match 21-19 21-17. She thereby became first Indian to win BWF World tour finals. “Loss in finals” monkey is off her back. She should be pumped up for 2019.  Beating Yamaguchi, Tai tzu Ying and Okuhara in single week is a sensational achievement.

In hockey world cup, Dutch lead but Australia levelled with just 26 seconds to go. But Dutch won 4-3 in sudden death. 2 time defending champions have been knocked out. Dutch would face first time finalist Belgium in finals who thrashed England 6-0 in other SF.

Sindhu strikes gold at World Tour Finals; relief rolls down as tears

The Hush Post|01:25 pm| 1-min-read Tears of joy rolled down her eyes as India’s P V Sindhu finally laid her hands on a gold medal. She won the gold at the World Tour Finals defeating 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara on Sunday. She let out her anxiety as tears of relief and joy flowed down her cheeks and she sunk to her knees. With the straight-game victory, Sindhu became the first Indian to…