I was at the final at Lords yesterday and also reported for cricinfo from the game. Here’s the full version of that article without any edits (the cricinfo team took out some inappropriate comments :-) and also made me adhere to the word limit). Plus the headline makes me look like a Pakistan fan in the cricinfo article.
Why i went for this game?
The Englishmen in their coats & ties in the Members stands and the South East Asians with flags and war paint all over - of course I wanted to watch tradition battle modernism at the Mecca of cricket. I had grudgingly accepted that Pakistan would win as the law of averages had to catch up with the Lankans after 6 straight wins.
Key performer at the finals – the unsung hero
Yet another outstanding big game innings (54 in 40 balls and a tight spell) meant that Afridi was rightly the man of the match. However the unsung impact was Razzaq’s whose 3 key early wickets of Jaysuriya, Jaywardene and Mubarak left Lanka reeling at 4-32 and sealed the game.
One thing I’d have changed about the match
Of course I’d have had India in the finals :-) More seriously I believe that Sangakarra made a tactical error in not giving Malinga the 18th over with 26 run still needed. A wicket or a tight over then would have changed the game. Instead he bowled Udana who gave away 19 runs and the game was all but over.
Face-off that never was
Afridi won the battle with Murali when he smashed a 6 and a 4 off the first two balls to pillage 14 runs of the 14th over and change the trajectory of the game.
Who’s the batsman here ? Shot of the day
A striking straight drive from Angelo Matthews off Saeed Ajmal that rocketed to the boundary. It was as crisp a straight drive as Tendulkar has ever hit but more important coming from a number 8 under pressure. It inspired confidence that Sri Lanka could make a game of it (and they scored 29 runs in the two overs after that to reach a competitive total)
The Crowds – why i saw green.
The sea of green meant that we might well have been at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore and not a packed Lords crowd. Constant chanting of “Pakistan Zindabad’, “Jor se bolo Pakistan, Dil se Bolo Pakistan” with “Boom Boom Afridi” reverbrated across the ground. Rajdeep Sardesai (who congratulated the Pakistan supporters on his way out) and Mohammed Azharuddin and Sangeeta Bijlani (who tried to rush away after the game but no one recognized them anyway :-)) added some star power to my stands.
We don’t need no cheerleaders – the entertainment
The PA system was pumping up the volume – the Rolling Stones seemed to be a favorite. This was coupled with the ‘Heat is on’, the Yahooooooo sponsor anthem (have to plug yahoo as they gave me tickets) and “Dil Dil Pakistan” – an upbeat song by a group called Vital Signs. This even had the non Asians rocking but surprising that the PA system played an obviously pro Pakistan song. The fireworks were no comparison to the IPL extravaganza but thankfully the focus was on cricket and not long speeches by Lalit Modi equivalents.
War of words - Banners of the day
Very few catchy banners in the stadium (some folks wishing their Dad a happy father’s day). However many banners among the celebrating Pakistanis on the streets of St James Wood asking what a billion Indians are asking – “Where are you now India? Did you watch us win?”. There was also a huge protest just outside the Lords with 100’s of people demanding “ICC Ban Sri Lanka for Tamil genocide” adding a political aspect to the final.
Overall – the final verdict
The wild celebration on the streets with thousands of Pakistani’s chanting and creating a traffic jam reinforced the importance of this win for a country where the game has been devastated (the bombings and the refusal of International teams to visit). Hence this result was worth far more to Pakistan and perhaps an apt outcome. Pakistan did after all beat the top two teams in the tournament (SA and SL) to win the cup. And of course they are the only team to be in both of the two T20 world cups held so far.
In summary , a beautiful day, great atmosphere, raucous crowds & for the most part the match was worthy of a final. However if the Lankan’s had managed to get even 10-15 runs more (the player of the tournament Dilshan’s duck was a shame) it would have made it a real close game and a 10/10 irrespective of the outcome instead of a current rating of 8.

