It was perhaps the second biggest match of the World Cup - the bridesmaid in all sense: Australia v South Africa. This was the clash between the top two teams in the World - their first World Cup meeting ever since THAT semi-final at Edgbaston.
So why call it the Bridesmaid? Because of April 15th 2007. The Super Eight schedule read thus:
April 15, Super Eights - B2 v D1 - The Kensington Oval, Barbados
The fact that this match was scheduled at the same venue which would feature the finals, a little after two weeks to this encounter did not escape my attention. It was slated to be the Final before the Final - the biggest attraction of this World Cup:
India (B2) vs Pakistan (D1)
A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then, and now the schedule reads as:
April 15, Super Eights - Bangladesh v Ireland - The Kensington Oval, Barbados
I didn't see Pepsi's "World Cup kola" ad on the telly yesterday. So much for jingoism...
Returning to the bridesmaid, for those of us in the subcontinent who had come to terms with the exit of the self-proclaimed power houses of cricket, this was THE match. South Africa, crowned the current world number one - barely beatable in their own backyard, and barely unbeatable outside it, were up against Australia,from whom they'd wrested the world number one title. People had forgotten when was the last time they had won against a test-playing opposition.
Reaching home from office, I switched on the TV and saw to my surprise something that read 1 0 4 6 6 - oh! they were at it again. But wait a minute! This was no ordinry part time seamer. They were taking Shaun Pollock apart! Fifty overs and umpteen power outages later, I was still watching as the Aussies piled up a whopping 377 for 6 (in between switching channels to see the lone cameo being enacted by Steve Tikolo against the English).
Nathan Bracken ran in for the first ball of the fifth over, and Graeme Smith, like a man possessed, charged out and in a flash, despatched the ball to the long off boundary. It was perhaps the most audacious shot of the day. The old warhorse, Glenn McGrath, trudged in to replace the erratic Shaun Tait, and was greeted by three consecutive fours. The bull had been taken by the horns. Memories of March 12 2006 came flooding back - the last time these two teams met in a One Day International - THAT match at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. The legacy of that match seems to have left an indelible mark on Australia-South Africa clashes. Pitches might never again be prepared to entertain us with the brilliance of a Brett Lee or a Shaun Pollock. Perhaps never again, would we get to see a low-scoring thriller in the likes of Edgbaston. I pray for the bowlers...May their souls rest in peace.
When you are playing in the World Cup, miracles do not happen everyday. Yesterday, it took a miraculous throw from the deep by Shane Watson to stop South Africa in their tracks, and from the Aussie point of view, it might have been divine intervention that prevented Graeme Smith from continuing.
But for the blue billion, miracles and divine interventions may have come a day too early...
Perhaps, God is not Indian
So why call it the Bridesmaid? Because of April 15th 2007. The Super Eight schedule read thus:
April 15, Super Eights - B2 v D1 - The Kensington Oval, Barbados
The fact that this match was scheduled at the same venue which would feature the finals, a little after two weeks to this encounter did not escape my attention. It was slated to be the Final before the Final - the biggest attraction of this World Cup:
India (B2) vs Pakistan (D1)
A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then, and now the schedule reads as:
April 15, Super Eights - Bangladesh v Ireland - The Kensington Oval, Barbados
I didn't see Pepsi's "World Cup kola" ad on the telly yesterday. So much for jingoism...
Returning to the bridesmaid, for those of us in the subcontinent who had come to terms with the exit of the self-proclaimed power houses of cricket, this was THE match. South Africa, crowned the current world number one - barely beatable in their own backyard, and barely unbeatable outside it, were up against Australia,from whom they'd wrested the world number one title. People had forgotten when was the last time they had won against a test-playing opposition.
Reaching home from office, I switched on the TV and saw to my surprise something that read 1 0 4 6 6 - oh! they were at it again. But wait a minute! This was no ordinry part time seamer. They were taking Shaun Pollock apart! Fifty overs and umpteen power outages later, I was still watching as the Aussies piled up a whopping 377 for 6 (in between switching channels to see the lone cameo being enacted by Steve Tikolo against the English).
Nathan Bracken ran in for the first ball of the fifth over, and Graeme Smith, like a man possessed, charged out and in a flash, despatched the ball to the long off boundary. It was perhaps the most audacious shot of the day. The old warhorse, Glenn McGrath, trudged in to replace the erratic Shaun Tait, and was greeted by three consecutive fours. The bull had been taken by the horns. Memories of March 12 2006 came flooding back - the last time these two teams met in a One Day International - THAT match at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. The legacy of that match seems to have left an indelible mark on Australia-South Africa clashes. Pitches might never again be prepared to entertain us with the brilliance of a Brett Lee or a Shaun Pollock. Perhaps never again, would we get to see a low-scoring thriller in the likes of Edgbaston. I pray for the bowlers...May their souls rest in peace.
When you are playing in the World Cup, miracles do not happen everyday. Yesterday, it took a miraculous throw from the deep by Shane Watson to stop South Africa in their tracks, and from the Aussie point of view, it might have been divine intervention that prevented Graeme Smith from continuing.
But for the blue billion, miracles and divine interventions may have come a day too early...
Perhaps, God is not Indian
-The Klansman
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