The Lions get the Kangaroos in an unbelievable chase

The word impossible, as Napoleon Bonaparte said, is found in the dictionary of fools. And South Africa more than proved this Sunday that if anybody considered them fools, the thinker was living in fool’s paradise.

Wow! What a match? Though I missed all the live action as I did not remember that this match was on. It was only my best friend Varun’s ecstatic phone call after the match got over, that informed me that I had missed the mother of all battles in one-day cricket. If only the call had come after the first inning got over!

What can be said about such a contest? Unbelievable… in my opinion, only that word is apt. The final frontier has been breached (I can’t even imagine that this would be repeated at least in our lifetime) and history has been truly written this Sunday… and in very bold letters.

And that too when the world and his mother believed that Australia were on the way to win the series; South Africa did not have it in them to win any final contests.

Chokers! South Africans? Yes, yes.

Lion-hearted winners! Australians? Yes, yes.

No sir, I tell you not. The True Lions are the ones who reside in Africa, and despite the greatest leap they had taken barely four hours ago, finally the Aussies were reduced to being just kangaroos who must be hopping around in pain.

When India were chasing around 160 runs in 20 overs in the last ODI in Pakistan, nearly everybody believed that it was a mammoth task, and an average of 8 could not be sustained for so long. India did it nonetheless. But who would have thought that South Africa would chase almost 9 runs for 50 overs straight? And that too against Australia! I’m sure that you didn’t. I’m even more certain that none of the gamblers did, and everybody would have put his money on the Aussies after they notched up 434. And the bookies must now be laughing all the way to the bank.

C’mon Aussie, c’mon. What happened? Left speechless? Let me tell you what to say – my favourite phrase of Indian commentators – cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties! Though the one certainty that shall always be there is about the uncertain nature of cricket itself. I eat my words of last week, and happily so.

The one big winner of this match was South Africa. But mark my words – Australia lost the match, but they can definitely not be labeled losers. Not after you create a world record, howsoever short-lived. And as far as I am concerned, the biggest winner of this contest was the game of cricket.

Varun, I am sure, will recall the tales of this match to his grandchildren very, very fondly. I can almost hear him speak non-stop & as excitedly as ever.

Reminds me of a song that I heard a decade ago… I love this Game! I really love this Game!