Arch rivals India and Pakistan proved once again to the cricketing world that no match can be better in terms of sheer entertainment and "value for money" than the one on Friday.
A nail biting finish (understatement that...as i had almost chewed off my fingers).
India managed to garner a mediocre score of 141 struggling every bit, except for Robin Uthappa who is slowly coming into his element now.
Shoaib's men put a valiant fight in the first half of their innings but lost a few crucial wickets with some reckless batting. The Indian bowlers bowled with a lot of gusto and determination to keep the pakistani batsmen on their toes. An out of form Younis & an edgy Afridi, could not sustain the initial rhythm set by Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal, nothwithstanding a quick 20 by their captain. But a struggling Misbah improvised over time and came out with crackers in the last two overs. And before we could sigh, Pakistan cruised to a tie @141, with India. Can it get any better than 1 ball in 1 run, well, it can... 'Bowl out' can you believe it.... Well, the last ball, saw Misbah running haplessly towards the danger end, and an agile Sreesanth stumping him (with a fabulous throw from Robin) comfortably.
The Indian crowd went berserk and so did the Indian team.
A new concept of Bowl Out in the Twenty20 tournaments was to be showcased after a breath-taking display of 40 overs.
Pakistan had world class bowlers known for their speed, determination, perfection et al. And the Indian bowlers simply paled in comparison. Interestingly Dhoni handpicked the 5 bowlers most of who were not his regular strike bowlers (except for Pathan & Sreesanth) and decided to go for the kill starting with an experienced Sehwag followed by Bhaji & Uthappa. We got it right 3 in a row and all the practice seemed to show.
Pakistan on the other hand, chose Arafat, Umar Gul and an experienced Afridi, and failed at every attempt. India won the match by 3-0 (a la Penalty shootout).
Its not difficult to guess why the Pakistan bowlers failed to knock the bails, if one had witnessed this bowl out.
All the Pakistani bowlers (except Afridi) ran a shorter run-up (which they were not used to), messing up their rhythm and the line & length. And if we were to believe Malik, he claims that Pakistan did not know the concept of 'Bowl Out' till it had to participate in one. Difficult to digest, that. Even regular net-practice includes bowling straight at the stumps, so what is our man talking about.
Nevertheless, these little quirks aside, the camaraderie between the two teams & captains was palpable & heart warming. The teams looked very relaxed before the bowl-out & it seemed more like a friendly match. The umpires and the coaches of the respective teams, seemed more nervous about the Bowl-out, and reminded me of the NASA crew before a typical space-shuttle launch.
All in all, it was a day to remember ... A day when India fought against its arch-rivals, its own insecurities, differences (among the players) & criticism & came good with a smile.
History... India still continued retaining its record of never losing to Pakistan in a World Cup..
No comments:
Post a Comment