That the pink ball retained its shine helped Kuldeep get the ball to skid on

MEXICO CITY -- While dealing with a green laser shining in Brock Osweilers eye and the high elevation unique to a game in Mexico City, the Houston Texans feel like a few questionable spots by the officials on a key fourth-quarter drive made the difference in their loss to Oakland.Derek Carr threw his second touchdown pass of the fourth quarter shortly after a disputed fourth-down stop and the Oakland Raiders went on to beat the Texans 27-20 on Monday night in the second regular season game played in Mexico.Very tough loss, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney said. We should have won the game. We are trying to win every game. You dont leave the game in the refs hands.The contest turned midway through the fourth quarter on a matter of inches for the Texans (6-4). On a third-and-2 from the Oakland 16, Lamar Miller ran wide and appeared to get the first down before being tackled by Malcolm Smith. But the officials spotted it short of the marker and coach Bill OBrien opted not to challenge.OBrien then went for it on fourth-and-inches instead of kicking the go-ahead field goal. Akeem Hunt ran up the middle and the Texans thought he got the first down, only to have it marked about an inch short . OBrien challenged this time but with no clear angle, the play was not overturned.I felt like we needed a touchdown there and obviously we did, OBrien said. And so we went for it. Thought we had it, looked like it was clear that we had it, so I challenged it and they said we didnt have it. They said the call on the field stands, so I dont know.Five plays later, Carr connected on a 35-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper that gave the Raiders (8-2) a 27-20 lead and sent them to their fourth straight win.The Texans were on the wrong side of another close call in the first quarter when DeAndre Hopkins took a short pass from Osweiler and ran into the end zone. But officials ruled he stepped out at the Oakland 36 after a gain of 24. The Texans were unable to challenge the play because it was blown dead and they settled for a field goal on that drive.I think weve really got to look at all those things, OBrien said. Weve got all these cameras and we cant get that right? I didnt think Hopkins was out of bounds, but the whistle had blown, so I couldnt challenge that play.While the disputed calls might have had a bigger impact, the green laser that kept shining in Osweilers eyes might have been the oddest part of a festive game at Azteca Stadium.I never want to say one things a difference maker, but certainly having a laser zoomed in your eyeball definitely affects how you play a game, Osweiler said.Fans here have used the laser to try to distract opponents during World Cup qualifiers, but it caught some of these football players off guard.Yeah, that was kind of weird, Raiders pass rusher Khalil Mack said. I saw that and I thought I was in the Twilight Zone.While the field was a bit slippery at times and the altitude did play a factor , the first game in Mexico City since 2005 was otherwise mostly a success.It was largely a pro-Raiders crowd of 76,743 with a sizable contingent of Texans fans and a smattering of jerseys from other teams mixed in. What was originally scheduled as an Oakland home game featured Raiders music during stoppages, frequent RAI-DERS! chants and Tommie Smith lighting the Al Davis torch in a memorable return to Mexico City nearly a half-century after his Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics.The Raider Nation showed up tonight, coach Jack Del Rio said. I want to send a shoutout to the fans that showed up. It was a great atmosphere to play in.On a less celebratory note, there were also some homophobic chants during kickoffs like the ones used at soccer games on some goal kicks. Mexicos soccer federation has been punished by FIFA in the past for the chant during World Cup qualifiers.Players on both teams were in favor of more games here in the future.It was great, Clowney said. All the NFL setup was great. Most of our fan base is Hispanic, so why not bring the game to them?---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Custom Dallas Cowboys Jerseys . Cuban testified Thursday that he was upset when the companys CEO told him news that would reduce the value of his shares, for which hed paid $7.5 million. But he said he did nothing improper when he sold those shares over the next two days. Michael Irvin Jersey . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. http://www.cowboysfootballgearshop.com/darren-woodson-jersey/ . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. Bill Bates Cowboys Jersey . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Trysten Hill Jersey . Self was acquired from the Buffalo Bandits in a trade for Alex Hill midway through last season, and made his debut in Rochester on March 16, 2013. India Green 151 & 217 for 7 (Uthappa 72, Raina 42*, Kuldeep 5-55) need 280 runs to beat India Red 161 & 486 (Abhinav 169, Chatterjee 114, Gurkeerat 82, Gopal 5-123) Scorecard After seam bowlers and batsmen aced the pink-ball test on the first two days, it was the spinners turn to join the party. Kuldeep Yadav not only turned up, but did a merry jig too, as he spliced through the heart of India Greens line-up to render an already tough chase of 497 all but impossible. His maiden first-class five-for reduced India Green to 217 for 7, still 280 runs adrift of the target, after India Red had galloped to 486 in the afternoon.India Green were in a reasonable position at 184 for 4 before Kuldeep struck twice in the space of five overs to dismiss Saurabh Tiwary and Sandeep Sharma, leaving captain Suresh Raina as the sole recognised batsman going into day four. Kuldeep did not have everything going his way as he had to combat the dew - he admitted to finding it very difficult to grip the wet ball - and two ball changes which, according to Robin Uthappa, helped the batsmen as the ball came on to the bat quicker.Kuldeep also played a useful hand with the bat, as his 49-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Anureet Singh supplemented Gurkeerat Singhs robust 82 off 96 balls. His performance also overshadowed fellow wristspinner Shreyas Gopals skillful show, which had earned the latter five wickets.While the eventual score might bear little trace of it, India Greens pursuit initially acquired a sturdy set of wheels as they soared to 52 for 0 in six overs. With Nathu Singh and Anureet unable to find swing or lateral movement, Uthappa and Jalaj Saxena made the right noises. While Uthappa scorched drives down the ground, Saxena got away with whips that saw his bat descending in a risky, angular arc.India Red wrested some control through Ishwar Pandey, who operated on a run-drying line, and bowled Saxena as he attempted to guide a straight ball. It wasnt until the 15th over that Kuldeep was introduced, but all seemed well at that stage for India Green with Uthappa sustaining the initiative. Kuldeep, however, deceived Uthappa with a ball that went with the angle and the batsman edged it to first slip. Two balls later, Rajat Paliwal was lbw after he pre-empted a googly only to get a chinamaan.ddddddddddddhile Uthappa handled Kuldeep relatively easily, what was less noticeable was Parthiv Patels struggles against the chinaman bowler - he managed only two runs of the 47 balls he faced from Kuldeep in both innings, and fell to the bowler on both occasions. In the 27th over, Parthiv hung back to a fast-ish googly that skidded on to catch him in front of the stumps; the previous ball, he had thrust out a diffident prod to another googly. Suresh Raina started off nervously against Kuldeep; at one point he was harried into swishing across the line with no feet movement. But, along with Tiwary, who had scored a fifty on the second day, Raina cobbled up a 54-run stand for the fifth wicket, only for Kuldeep to wreck the innings with his late blows.That the pink ball retained its shine helped Kuldeep get the ball to skid on, although the fact that there were two instances of the ball losing shape - in the 19th and 32nd overs - might be a worrisome aspect.In the afternoon, India Green might have reconciled to copping another round of brisk pummelling had rain not made its now-customary appearance. In a little over an hour, India Red had jogged along to 67 runs in 14.4 overs, although India Green had mitigated things somewhat by removing Abhinav Mukund and KB Arun Karthik.It was after the early, rain-enforced tea break, however, that India Green, aided by Shreyas Gopal, looked like they were in control for the first time in the innings. With Sandeep Sharma and Ashok Dinda doing little to curb Gurkeerat Singhs scoring-rate, Raina turned to Shreyas, who showed his variations while cutting through the India Red middle order.Gurkeerat had a jolly good run up to that point, camping in his crease, and either guiding or slashing the seamers behind square. Four overs into the second session, Shreyas sent down a delivery that would also define Kuldeeps performance later in the night: the ball veered in, dipped and turned away from Gurkeerat, who had lumbered forward and lost his balance as Parthiv quickly swiped the bails off. Not long after Shreyas had Akshay Wakhare lbw, but Anureet and Kuldeep frustrated India Green before the side was bowled for 486. ' ' '