We WON !!!!

I tuned into the match just before the 50th over in the England inning. Dot. Catch sliding for 6. 6. 6. 6. 6. WHOA - why the hell was Yuvi bowling the last with Powar having one left? Damn - this is going to cost us was the clear signal then

Sachin and Saurav over the last few months have heard the phrase "Turning the clock back" over a million times. They would be forgiven for thinking to wonder if the clock had ever stopped. True - they went out of form for some time - Dada even out of the team (deservedly then). But then they stay true to the cliche - "Form temporary, Class permanent".

They started off firmly - running the singles with purpose and hitting the boundary till that over when Sachin climbed in to get 3 consecutive boundaries. And that was game on. Dada at the other end played as well as ever - hoicking Broad for a huge six after a verbal showdown. Did we mention game on ?

Sachin was Sachin. Drive - Cut - Pull - he did it all with flair and composure known only to Sachin. It was a charge reminiscent of the WC Pakistan match and unfortunately so was the end. But he had done his job - set up a brilliant run chase in vintage manner - most of the times an inning better than his 1998 form

So what has the man supposedly over the hill done this Summer in ODIs? 4,99,93,8,17,99,8,55,71,94

Not bad for an over the hill 34 yr old eh ?

Gambhir slow off the blocks but stayed on to contribute to the chase with some big shots. Yuvi and Dravid out in quick succession and it was back to the brink. Memories of 146-5 anyone?

This time Dhoni and Uthappa - Dhoni showing his intelligent cricket again - scrappy but effective - keeping India in the game. Uthappa swaying his bat - sometimes classy sometimes lucky but the runs kept coming. 12 off the last over and Uthappa had made himself a hero. If he were to do nothing more - he will be remembered for this one - just like Kanitkar is.

But it was superb watching the match. Sachin? Man of the match. This is one super over the hill tour.


Acknowledgments: Brat for saving me the trouble of hunting statsguru on this one