It's A Tie!

It was billed as the game to watch for in the WC - the first real encounter between two strong teams, after more than a week of relatively one-sided matches. And what a match it turned out to be! India powered themselves to 338, on the back of a brilliant 100 by Sachin, and useful contributions from everyone in the top order. India seemed on course for 350, but the last 3-4 overs saw India lose all their wickets in a large collapse, adding much lesser runs. And the last ball was even more critical... trying to max the scoring, they went for a double, got run out, and then the umpire signalled one run short! In the quest for the second run, Zaheer had run the first one short. But 338 seemed more than enough...

Or so we all thought!

But England had other plans for the evening. Powered by a chanceless 150 score from captain Strauss, and another 50 by Ian Bell, England cruised through the overs, dashing all hopes of even the most optimistic Indian fan. An LBW decision went against India, even when the Indians referred the decision to the 3rd Umpire, and when replays and Hawkeye clearly showed the ball hitting the middle of the stumps, he was still given not out since he was forward of the crease! At one stage England needed 58 from 45 balls, 5 PP overs and 8 wickets in hand. That is when the Indian spirit kicked in... Zaheer came with a gem of an over, scalping both the danger men, a few more wickets followed in subsequent overs, and the tide had turned. At 29 runs needed in 12, Indians were celebrating, and I was preparing to take Samara out for a victory lap.

It was then that the match turned another corner. Piyush Chawla was hit for 2 sixes, but came back with a wicket in the last ball. 14 to win in the last 6, and their bowler Shahzad at the crease. And the first ball went for a six! It finally boiled down to 2 in 1. The ball was hit hard, and fielded by Pathan at mid wicket. England had taken 1, and the match was tied.

Remember the last run Zaheer missed?

Fantastic match, a bittersweet ending, and while India's batting and comeback was heartwarming, the bowling is worrying... and needs to quickly come together if India want to win this cup.