Well, we rushed back from the wine and cheese to find that the CWC final match, between Australia and Sri Lanka, was delayed due to rain in Barbados. In cricket, this eventuality is planned for, so whenever the rain lets up and play can continue, the number of overs (sets of six balls bowled) is reduced using the Duckworth-Lewis Method. So instead of 50 overs per side, standard in one-day international cricket, the decision was to give each side 38 overs to bat when the rain stopped. Australia had already won the coin toss and opted to bat first. So they did, and boy did they bat with a vengeance. The Aussie wicketkeeper, Adam Gilchrist, hit 149 runs, and the team went 172 for no wicket, which is impressive. They finished their innings at 281/4, which is an amazing total considering they were shorted 12 overs. They showed no fear of the SL bowler Lasith Malinga, whose delivery is reminiscent of the Tasmanian Devil. Come to think of it, no wonder the Aussies showed no fear; I'm sure they've seen hundreds of Tasmanian devils!
Anyway, the Sri Lankans did put on a show in the run chase, although they did lose some early wickets. The rain came back, and according to Duckworth-Lewis, they had to reduce the number of overs to 36, and adjust the run total that SL had to achieve to win. This took some precious time. Play continued with the Sri Lankans falling behind in their scoring rate, and day turned to night. There were no lights at the Kensington Oval, so with 2 overs left, the Sri Lankans "took the light". The Aussies started celebrating as though they had won, although the rules state that they should have played the final two overs the next day. The Victory dais was being brought out and the umpires waved it off. Finally, the Sri Lankans agreed to play the last two overs in the dark, and get the thing over with.
Comically, the commentators whined about this whole turn of events quite a bit, and noted that this type of lunacy would turn off potential cricket-loving markets in say, China and the US. (LOL!, if soccer can't make it in the 'States, is there any hope for cricket? I hope so but I'm not holding my breath). Frankly, there's something about this kind of happenstance that makes cricket seem more alive to me, that it hasn't been polished to the point of dimming the luster. The rules were made to govern, but the actions of the players still unfold with novelty.
So the Aussies skated through, not losing a match, and taking their third consecutive Cricket World Cup. I must admit that I had a "1984" moment. I'd been cursing the amazing skill and fortune of the Oz team throughout, as they beat up on ZA twice, and basically just creamed everybody. But I woke up after the final and had a moments feeling of love and admiration for the Ozzie squad. I loved Big Brother! But it passed.
We'll see how they do next time with half their team retiring now!
Okay, really, this is the last cricket related posting. probably.
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