Australia Wins the Future Cup

Victory has many fathers but defeat is an orphan is what Mahendra Singh Dhoni would be thinking after the first series loss in his captaincy. Australia defeated India by 18 runs in the sixth match of the series winning the Future Cup by 4-1. With this victory Australia once again proved they were too good for India to handle. Australia with this win have exposed the bigger lacunae in Indian cricket clearly demonstrating ad hoc coach and temporary arrangements are not going to win India important matches.

A full house in Nagpur could not have thought for a better anticlimax, as India required another 36 runs of last 18 balls. Chasing 317 runs for victory India could not have thought for a better start as the two openers Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar gave a good start but middle order failed to keep up the tempo. Rahul Dravid's wicket proved the turning point of the match.

Australian team got the upper hand in the middle overs as two wickets fell in quick succession. Sourav Ganguly was the latest casualty as he departed at a score of 86 runs from 111 balls. With the required run rate rising constantly, the onus was on the set batsman, Sourav Ganguly, to up the pace of the innings but he mistimed a shot as he danced down the track to hit a six.

Australia Innings Balls 4s 6s
A GILCHRIST c Uthappa b Pathan 51 47 8 -
M CLARKE c Dhoni b Khan 0 1 - -
R PONTING c Dravid b Singh 49 44 7 -
B HODGE c Dravid b Kartik 20 28 4 -
A SYMONDS not out 107 - 88 9 4
B HADDIN c Tendulkar b Sreesanth 25 - 53 - 1
J HOPES c Dravid b Khan 39 - 30 5 -
B LEE run out (Uthappa) 17 - 9 1 1
M JOHNSON not out 1 - 1 - -
Sundries (3lb 4w 1nb) 8
Seven wickets for 317

India Innings Balls 4s 6s
S GANGULY c Hodge b Hogg 86 111 7 2
S TENDULKAR st Gilchrist b Hopes 72 72 9 1
I PATHAN c Clark b Hogg 29 29 3 2
R DRAVID c Hodge b Hogg 7 13 - -
Y SINGH lbw b Hogg 6 11 1 -
M DHONI c Ponting b Johnson 26 29 2 1
R UTHAPPA c Hopes b Johnson 44 28 5 2
H SINGH not out 6 5 1 -
Z KHAN not out 3 3 - -
Sundries (4b 8lb 7w 1nb) 20

Result: Australia won by 18 runs.
Man of the match: Andrew Symonds (Australia)
Series: Australia has unbeatable 4-1 lead
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Amiesh Saheba (India)

India will hold its first Formula One race in 2010

It is now officially confirmed, India will hold its first Formula One race in 2010. Formula One's architects visited New Delhi and saw several sites in the National Capital Region. They did an aerial survey and selected two sites - in Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Sohna in Haryana. Both areas are suburbs of New Delhi and it's been left to India to choose between the two shortlisted venues. Formula One handed India two contracts - one a race promotion contract and the second a circuit rights agreement. While F1 is not an Olympic event, the IOA is involved as part of its attempt to bring as many major sporting events as possible to New Delhi ahead of the city's staging of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. With the game being hosted in India, it's a benifit for Mallya.

Business tycoon Vijay Mallya, who has completed 88 million euro deal to acquire 50 per cent stakes in Spyker-Ferrari Formula One, plans to give his team an Indian flavour, although he is yet to confirm a name or driver line-up for 2008. Mallya will be busy in attending the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai this weekend.

The liquor baron, before completing the official documentation with the Spyker team, had admitted India had "robust basis" to acquire the deal with names like Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok but refused to comment on the likely composition of his 2008 team.