Firstpost Spodcast Episode 87: India's defeat to Australia, FC Pune City's victory and more

Let’s take a quick look at the sporting headlines making the rounds right here on Spodcast, your sports update on Firstpost. We steer straight to the southern hemisphere for some cricket news. Shikhar Dhawan scaled new peaks yesterday in the first T20 International in Brisbane, but his labours were in vain as India lost against Australia. A sloppy India failed to get an ideal start to the Australia tour, losing the rain-hit opening T20 International by four runs at the Gabba on Wednesday. India first faltered in the field, letting Australia score 158 for four after rain shortened the contest to 17 overs a side. Glenn Maxwell was the star batsman for Australia, hammering 46 runs off 24 balls. Then came the rains, and Duckworth and Lewis with them, setting a revised target of 174 runs in 17 overs for India. Opener Dhawan smashed a sublime 76 off 42 balls in the run chase before Dinesh Karthik came up with a pulsating 30 off 13 balls towards the end, but India still finished agonisingly short on 169 for seven. We also discuss more cricket-related news, but this time off the field: a follow up of a #MeToo claim. The three-member probe panel investigating allegations of sexual harassment against Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri dismissed all charges against him on Wednesday. The development comes as a massive relief for the beleaguered Johri, who went on leave purportedly to prepare his response to the accusations. Johri had deposed before the probe panel on 13 November, following the deposition of two of the alleged victims. The CoA-appointed panel comprised of Allahabad High Court judge (Retd) Rakesh Sharma, former Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) chairperson Barkha Singh and lawyer-activist Veena Gowda. In football news, we’ll talk about the ISL. FC Pune City defeated Jamshedpur FC 2-1 in a hard-fought match to register their first win of the ongoing Indian Super League football tournament on Wednesday. Diego Carlos scored as early as the fifth minute for Pune but the lead was cancelled out by Sumeet Passi in the 10th minute. An end-to-end contest produced a match-winner in the 86th minute when Matt Mills gave Pune the much-needed three points. The win pulls FC Pune City from the bottom of the league to eighth position with five points from eight matches. Jamshedpur, on the other hand, tasted defeat for the first time and are fourth with 11 points from eight matches. Goa, Bengaluru FC, and Mumbai City currently occupy the first three positions.