The famous French comic series of Asterix features a bunch of pathetic sea pirates. They have encountered the indomitable Gaul people so many times and every such time the Gauls end up beating them and smash-wrecking their ship into pieces. After experience suggested nothing but the same result, the pirates would not wait till the Gauls reach them. They'd demolish their own ship into pieces themselves avoiding Gauls doing the same.
I remembered my all time favourite childhood and extended comic series when I watched the first many overs of Sri Lankan innings against West Indies. My recollection was duly proven when I checked the score this morning.
In the name of Chris Gayle, Sri Lanka demolished its own ship. Chris Gayle on his so called second home of Bangalore was so much a concern that Sri Lankan thought of a par score was beyond what numbers can represent. So they kept on whacking at every ball they faced in first few overs as any missing six may be costly with Gayle's single double triple or quadruple century can take the game. When it was missed they thought of running four runs before the keeper collected the ball. And once the ship started sinking they slowed the process and waited till West Indian spinners dragged them into depth of the blueness.
47/5 in the ninth over as I abandoned.
It wasn't a loosing score as yet. New Zealand proved that anything can be defended if you have a thinking mind and brave adaptability. But thinking mind is all what we lack. On top of that the silly mistakes we made and growing disorganization was like a cancer. Missed catches, lost opportunity, messed blowing line up, blessed with umpiring mistakes in the primitive Indian wilderness with no DRS.
For one Gayle we failed all together. He didn't even come out to bat, subjected to injury. And he wasn't needed as Sri Lanka lost the game for themselves.
Sri Lanka could have won the game with few more combinations tried in different ways, but I do not want to be a pundit who advices on batting and bowling changes retrospectively. I am glad that someone decided to introduce spin at first up. This may tally with hundreds of facebook posts by fans on the same. Yet those cries were heard halfway as everyone asked for a "spinning spinner" - someone with rather more turn. It was later proven that Jeffery Vandersay was actually the right man, neither of the slow left armers.
Anyways, we are still alive in the tournament and surely we have right talents at hand. But whether we have the good thoughts and correct tactics in the heads is a question which will soon be answered.
Turning from agony to glory, the other nation who lost on the same day chasing a mighty 200+ total against South Africa was majestic Afghanistan, who lost it like kings. Still in their nappies, Afghans have their own right to get out to any score, but nobody would expect them to be in the game for 15 odd overs in a chase of 210.
Not just their sudden awakening, Afghanistan is an amazing and unique outpost of cricket all together. Cricket, being a relatively senseless game, has been spread with centuries of nursing by the only empire who was crazy enough to embrace it. Other than the little bit of cricket that remained in the seed beds of western Europe, all the international cricket has been among so called British colonies. Bar one.
Britons had only a nightmare of an experience in Afghanistan, and definitely the Afghan onslaught of advancing Britons wasn't enough time to teach them any cricket. Afghan cricket got established widely thanks to the Pakistani cricket evangelists who converted the constant flows of refugees across Khyber pass so that later on they will take the message to the vast populations up in the hills. It is perhaps the first international cricket team established through Asian evangelism.
All in all they play beautiful cricket. England who did not give them cricket culture, will meet them soon, and may compensate with their fragile bowling. England has the knack of loosing competitions in the hands of minnows even after great chases against major teams. Afghans may not enter semis even with that, but anything is a great achievement for a cricket establishment that started around when Sri Lanka won the world cup.
Long live the Pakistani cricket evangelists.
