Stretched to the maximum?

The T20 Cricket World Cup has ended with a victory for the English. This is their first success in any international cricket competition. While watching the final of this T20 game on Sunday, a number of questions kept bothering me. Only a couple of days earlier, the Australians won a match against Pakistan which Pakistanis looked set to win until about the very last over. The faces of the Australian players were hung long as they all looked dejected, heart-broken, crest-fallen. I saw an Australian player standing against a pole almost in tears. On Sunday, though, Australians seemed remarkably cheerful and happy despite having put up a dismal show. As the English innings progressed and they became sure of their own defeat, the Ozzies, shall I say, began to glow in defeat. Strange as it might sound, as the defeat drew nearer, the happier they seemed. Even after losing the match and the World Cup, the Australian captain was gay as a lark. None of his players showed any sign of depression or sadness. Was this a matched fixed? Both teams knew result of the game from the very beginning? Can some expert comment on this observation of mine? -NUR BUX SOLANGI, Karachi, May 17.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt