LISTEN: Full script of Episode 113 of Spodcast where we discuss India's victory over Australia, Manchester City's 3-1 win over Southampton and more

Welcome to Spodcast. It’s the last Spodcast of 2018. We begin with, what else, India’s huge win in the third Test in Melbourne. India’s bowlers put in another fantastic performance to dismiss Australia for 261 in the second innings to help India win by a big margin of 137 runs. With this win, India now have a 2-1 lead in the Test series, with one match remaining. Chasing a near impossible target of 399, Australia resumed batting on day five on 258/8. It seemed India’s old troubles with tail enders were back to haunt the team as Pat Cummins looked comfortable at 61 not out and a dogged Nathan Lyon gave him company. But Jasprit Bumrah, who was the best bowler during the match, claimed the wicket of Cummins while Ishant Sharma dismissed Nathan Lyon to ensure India won the match in emphatic fashion. Bumrah, who picked up nine wickets, was declared the Player of The Match for his splendid bowling. India require just a draw in the fourth Test in Sydney to win the series. While India are riding high thanks to the great form of the bowling unit, Australia find themselves in dire straits - both the batsmen and the bowlers have been outclassed by India. With spin expected to play a big part in Sydney, Australia have drafted leg-spinning all rounder Marnus Labuschagne to the 13-man squad. He could replace Mitch Marsh who failed to make an impact in Melbourne. Australian commentator, and ex-cricketer, Kerry O’Keeffe has written an open letter to Indian fans and cricket players apologizing for controversial remarks made during the Melbourne Test. O’Keeffe kicked off a storm when he said on air that Mayank Agarwal’s 304 in Ranji Trophy came against “Jalandhar Railway canteen staff” and that the bowlers were “chefs and waiters”. After being accused of racism, O’Keeffe wrote, “I have been devastated by the reaction to my on-air comments. I am coming to terms with how negatively those words have been interpreted. That interpretation is not who I am. It is not what I represent. My style as a commentator is to attempt to find a quirky view to lighten up some of the serious analysis…When I made a remark about Indian first-class batting averages within their domestic cricket competition being made against a ‘canteen’ bowling attack, I was being entirely tongue in cheek. I was certainly not disrespecting Indian cricket, where I toured as a schoolboy and for which I have the greatest admiration as a cricketing nation.” He also came in for some criticism for mocking the names of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja. He explained, “I pride myself on doing extensive research before a match and when I stumbled over the names of Pujara and Jadeja on Day Four, I took a swipe at myself for getting them wrong. There was no intention to ridicule those two wonderful players and I am horrified by any suggestion to the contrary. I had spent months researching and analysing these two players and when the moment arrived, I stuffed it up. The joke was on me.” At the post match presentation on Sunday, Jasprit Bumrah and Virat Kohli gave special credit to first class cricket. After shock defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester City, defending champions Manchester City showed improvement over the weekend, beating Southampton 3-1 on Sunday. David Silva gave Manchester the lead 10 minutes into the game but complacency allowed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to equalize in the 37th minute. However, a dramatic own goal by James Ward-Prowse gave City the lead. Raheem Sterling forced his way down the left and fired in a low cross that deflected off the foot of Ward-Prowse and went between a surprised McCarthy and his near post. Then, a header by Sergio Aguero just before half-time made it 3-1. In the second half, City managed to keep out any scoring opportunities created by Southampton. Sunday’s win sees City just seven points behind leaders Liverpool. Meanwhile, Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 1-0, thanks to a 51st minute goal by N’Golo Kante that helped the Blues open up a five-point gap to fifth-placed Arsenal. Prior to the game, Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri was criticised for moving Kante out of his familiar position in front of the back four. But Kante showed he is growing into his more advanced midfield role. He followed a perfectly timed run to meet David Luiz’s chipped pass with a clinical finish that gave Chelsea the lead. An update from PBL now. Bengaluru Raptors defeated Pune 7 Aces 4-3 in a thrilling tie on Sunday, while the Chennai Smashers handed a 6-1 thrashing to Ahmedabad Smash Masters. Ajay Jayaram got Pune off to a great start, winning the first game 15-10, but Kidambi Srikanth pulled one back to win the second game 15-12. There was no sign of Jayarams hamstring injury as the thrilling final game reached 14-14. Srikanth prevailed to win the game 15-14. Pune captain Carolina Marin brushed aside Vietnamese player Vu Thi Trang to win 15-8, 15-5. In the men’s doubles match, Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan gave Bengaluru a perfect start, defeating Pune’s Chirag Shetty and Vladimir Ivanov 15-12, 15-11. However, Pune won the mixed doubles. Ivanov and Line Kjaersfeldt easily defeated Commonwealth Games silver medallists Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith of Bengaluru 15-3, 15-9. It then came down to the men’s singles match. B Sai Praneeth defeated Lakshya Sen 15-9, 15-13 to win the contest for Bengaluru. In another match, Chennai Smashers defeated Ahmedabad Smash Masters. Former World No. 2 Sung Ji Hyun won the Chennai trump clash against Kirsty Gilmour to inflict the first defeat of the season on Ahmedabad. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Rajeev Ouseph also pulled off an upset, defeating Ahmedabad Trump Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 15-12, 7-15, 15-13. Chennai’s icon player Sung Ji Hyun won easily against Gilmour, defeating her 15-11, 15-9. Chong Wei Feng defeated Sourabh Verma 8–15, 15-14, 15-9 to hand Chennai another win. In mixed doubles, Chris and Gabrielle Adcock came back from an 11-13 deficit to defeat Sikki Reddy and Satwiksairaj 15-14, 15-13. To compound Ahmedabads misery, Sumeeth Reddy and Chris Adcock had an easy 15-11, 15-12 win over Ahmedabad’s Rankireddy and Lee Chun Hei Reginald, giving Chennai six points from the one-sided tie.