The all-star Chargers batting line-up finally fired today. Put in to bat by Warne, they amassed 214, thanks largely to Andrew Symonds hitting the fastest hundred of the tournament so far. Beating that would require the second highest run chase in Twenty20 history. The Royals, let by Yusuf Pathan and the newly arrived Graeme Smith, set off after the target at a great rate. However, some fabulous bowling from Afridi (3-28 off his 4 overs) and a good over from RP Singh put the pressure back on. The Royals needed 17 of the last over, with bowler Pankaj Singh on strike. He managed 2 then 1, which left Warnie needing to hit 14 off 4 balls.
One four, two sixes, job done. There’s a reason we call him “God”.
And he’s a Victorian.
I see from the BBC that Allen Stanford thinks Twenty20 cricket can be the biggest sport in the world in 10 years time. Given the huge crowds we are seeing in India, that’s a very interesting concept. The real issues that I see are that outside India and Australia the grounds just aren’t big enough to bring in the money. Also, although some nations that are currently not big cricket players are starting to take it up with enthusiasm, it takes a long time to build up a core of top-quality players.
A shame I don’t have any of the right TV channels to watch any of these games. UK coverage seems pretty poor, on the whole, but I suspect that’s because none of our lot are allowed to play with the other kids.
Interesting to read about the cultural clashes between the imported cheerleaders and domestic morals.
I can’t believe that Sky let those games go. They are wonderful. Now I’m going to have to find out how to sign up for Setanta.
Perhaps the lack of success of the Mumbai team is divine judgment upon their politicians.