Climax of Twenty20 could kill anybody!

You could almost feel the hush as the Indian and Pakistani bowlers lined up for the tie-breaker bowl-out at Sahara Kingsmead Stadium. Then, as the Indians kept hitting the single unprotected stump and the Pakistanis kept missing, you could hear just that same roar that goes up during a penalty shootout in a football or hockey match.
It could have been anywhere in India or Pakistan, instead of South Africa. The capacity 20,000 crowd of mainly local and expatriate Indians and Pakistanis stayed glued to their seats as the match between the arch rivals unfolded, with flags of both countries flying alongside each other in the stands with lots of friendly rivalry amongst the fans.
India seemed to have a slighter edge in the stands, where fans tried to be as different as possible. Vying with the dancing girls who have become an institution at the championships, there was one fan complete with the wide helmet in which Yamraj, the god of death, is traditionally pictured. It proved prophetic.
On the opposite side of the field, two fans unfurled a banner with an inscription straight from the latest Shah Rukh Khan starrer that has put hockey firmly in the spotlight again. 'Chak De India', read the banner, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men certainly did go for it, especially Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa, who all hit the stumps while none of the first three Pakistanis - Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi - hit the target as tumultuous cheers from the crowd accompanied each ball.
Unlike other games, where the crowds start moving out as the last overs approach to avoid the rush to get out and drive home, no one dared move in this game.
'We could not even get to the toilet or go buy a cool drink for fear of missing a great shot,' said Aslam Malik, a Pakistani who has been in South Africa for the past decade now. Working for a local IT company, Malik came to the game with co-workers Ashraf Mohammed and Taran Ramraj, both from India and Hanif Goolam, a South African of Indian origin. The four had driven the 700 km from Pretoria for the game and their camaraderie reflected the spirit in which fans have been attending the games so far.
In fact, said South African fan Arjun Patel, 'one can now see exactly how many brothers have come here from the motherland.
'We daily hear stories about the huge number of legal and illegal immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who are in South Africa, and it took a game like this to see them together in such strength at one venue. Although there were many South Africans in the crowd too, I think the festive atmosphere that our brothers from those countries created was what made the match more fun.'
'I always come to Kingsmead whenever India or Pakistan play there, and although I don't quite understand how the points were made here, my husband (Bashan), who is a keen football fan, found the 'penalty' shootout style to be very exciting,' said Shireen Moodley.
It was only the second tied match in the short history of Twenty20 cricket. New Zealand had beaten West Indies 3-0 on the earlier occasion.
Courtesy:earthtimes.org