Like many fanatics, I sat in front of the mad-box biting nails on Sunday. It was one of those feelings which very closely resemble 'bad exams-awaiting results'...I was completely ready for dejection. But what England came out with was totally non-English! Since when did England not get intimidated of facing the mighty Australians in a final? From accurate bowling to dot-perfect batting, England had all things working for them last night. Putting every event down on paper actually amazes me for its improbability.
Warner-Watson clad Australian opening attack looked really dreadful till they reached finals, but neither of them seemed to have any answer to the English attack.
Hussey brothers had managed a perfect family record running up to the finals. England couldn't stop them from performing but still won the better part of the war against them. Captain Clarke and Haddin had so far managed only mediocre performances and decided against raising the bar even in the final match.
Nannes, Tait and Johnson had managed one really important aspect for Clarke - keep grabbing regular wickets to deplete the opposition’s attack potential towards the end. They could not do it both against Pakistan and England. Since when have Aussies started getting pressurised?
Lumb and Kieswetter had supported England with responsible opening stands throughout the tournament. And Kieswetter raised it to deliver his best performance in the finals!
Pietersen had a dream WC till then and an even better final. Err... wonder if his barely-a-week-old son threatened him not to play cricket again if England didn't win this cup.
Almost all the English bowlers looked patchy with their statistics this WC and almost all of them decided to step up for the day. What did Collingwood exactly say during his dressing room pep-talk? Or it looks like he gave it a miss this one time.
England is a side which grows with confidence over elongated performances. Ashes victories against Aussies have shown similar patterns. But this time around, they butchered Aussies right from the word go! They wouldn’t want to meet Australia soon so that they can savour the fun for some more time.
Cheers to England for their first WC victory. Some weight for inventing the game, finally.