22 yards, 50 overs and the hopes of a nation....

(Picture copyright cricinfo.com)
No running today. I had an early morning meeting which shot all my plans of getting some mileage under my belt this week. Well, there is always tomorrow :0)

Last night I watched the 6th one day international cricket match between India and England. And what a match it was... edge of the seat excitement all the way till 2 deliveries before the end of the match. The outcome was most satisfying for any one in India with even a passing interest in the game - India won with two balls and two wickets to spare.

Going into this match, India was down one match in the 7 match series, having stayed in the race by winning its previous match. Regardless, it was do or die for the Indian cricket team. (which is obvious to any Indian fan). England totted up a huge score of 316 runs with a scintillating display of batting from Mascrenhas hitting sixes on each of the last five deliveries, the scoreboard jumping 30 runs in a matter of minutes. I groaned...was this going to be over every Indian cricket fan rued?

Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar came out, all guns firing and the first wicket partnership was worth 150 runs. Great start. Unfortunately, Sachin lost his wicket in the 90s again (he missed his century four times this tour). By the time I started watching the match, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had just come in and was beginning to stroke the ball, but no big sixes that were expected. Around 9 runs an over was the asking rate, and the English bowlers were successful in keeping the give rate under 5/6. Dhoni left at 294 and that guaranteed a nail biting finish, no matter which side you support.

I cannot describe what the last couple of overs felt like. James Anderson conceded around 15 runs in the penultimate over and that still left 10 runs in 6 balls. Robin Utthapa got two runs and then a wicket....by this time, my heart was pounding. Utthapa spooned the next delivery towards the fine leg boundary for a four... Three balls to go in the final over.... The Indian fans could smell victory... but as the truism goes...भाई यह इंडिया है, इसका कोई भरोसा नही,कुछ भी हो सकता है . Robin's next shot was classic cricket, driven through mid-off for another four... India wins..Exhilarating cricket or as we would say पैसा वसूल.

India has squared the series 3-3 and now onwards to Saturday at Lords, the mecca of cricket.... and on that match, lie the hopes of a nation. India won the test match series earlier and what better than to add the ODI series to that list. I would love to see Sourav take his shirt off at Lords...Again