Striking start

I can't think of a better end to a day. When I came back from office at 9:00PM Federer was in deep trouble playing against Del Porto in French open semi final. He was 2-1 sets down at the end of 3 sets. Being a great fan of Federer I know that his best game comes only after 3 sets. He is a player who likes to play 5 sets and enjoys to win the game from a hopeless situation. I remember in his previous match he was 2 sets and 1-4(0-40) down in 3rd set and he won the game from there. Today also I was pretty confident about Federer's win just like the previous one. He rarely disappoints me(that rare includes 3 French open finals against Rafael Nadal) with his game... So as always he won the match with a comfortable 6-1 and 6-4 in the next 2 sets. That is Federer. I know him since so many years. I saw him playing in many big occasions and winning most of them. Today's match was just one more addition to his milestones. By the time I finished my dinner I was very happy with the result of Federer's match and thought that was the best end to a great day. But I don't know that there was a much better thing waiting for me.... To end my hectic week and show me the doors to an exclusive and entertaining weekend.

I hope you guessed it right... the match between Netherlands and England, opening match in T20 world cup. What a match it was... After 10 overs of England batting I thought this is going to be a run feast for England. Surprisingly Netherlands bowlers came back very well after that virtual strategy break(After watching IPL matches these days I always feel like there is going to be a strategy break after 10 overs... Hail Lalit Modi!!). They contained England to 162. To be frank in my opinion it was a very big target for minnows like Netherlands. But after watching Darron Reeker's batting I sensed some shocking result on day1 of the very prestigious tournament. Tom De Grooth took the responsibility after Reeker's dismissal. Netherlands never looked like a small team in the whole match(Fielding was little sloppy though). They always maintained a healthy run rate and surprisingly even the rain god and D/L method was not enough for England to secure a win. Netherlands was always ahead of required run rate. Sloppy is a very simple word to describe England's fielding today. May be I need to search for a powerful word to comment their field. Netherlands batsmen fumbled little bit in last 3 overs but they managed a win in the very last ball of the match. Thanks to Stuart Broad for missing 3 run outs in his last over. That may be record in cricket. Congrats Broad. T20 was always unfair with Broad as he was hit for 6 sixes in single over by Yuvraj Singh in previous world cup. Tough luck man. Netherlands captain Jeroen Smith said he is looking forward to the final game on 21st June, thankfully taking place on his birthday. They are confident of winning the cup. Good Luck.

This may be end of one more day for me but it's actually start of a big tournament. So it started off with a stunning match. Unfortunately home team was on the receiving end. Although they are hosting the tournament now they are in a bad situation and they should win the match against Pakistan. Otherwise it can become a 3 day tournament for the home team. Good Luck England.

Special Thanks to www.cricbuzz.com for helping me in figuring out the names of Netherlands players. Looking forward for an interesting and swashbuckling series.
Forgot to tell you "The cup is not going anywhere". It is with us and it will be with us. Good Luck India.

Urs,
Cricket Aficionado