Monday, January 27, 2014

Black Caps vs India Third ODI, Eden Park

Wait, a tie?

How am I supposed to feel?

How are the Indian supporters supposed to feel?

None of us knew. Attending the third cricket One Day International at an almost sold out Eden Park was an experience. The sun was baking, the atmosphere generated by the 28,800 supporters was intense, and the cricket itself was the craziest, most amazing game I'd ever seen.

Brendon Mccullum and the Black Caps, not quite sure how to react to the thrilling tie.
Credit: stuff.co.nz

For those who don't know the machinations of cricket, having a tie occur after both sides have batted is exceedingly rare. In this case, it was even more strange given the massive scores both teams managed to achieve. But happen it did. The ground was packed with great Indian supporters, who just judging by the sound, outnumbered us Kiwis 3 to 1 on the day. Every Indian boundary or six was greeted with a deafening sea of cheers, waving Indian flags and chanting. Every New Zealand wicket was greeted by a round of muted applause and some scattered cheering. Oh well, now I know what a cricket game on the subcontinent would be like!

The game swung to India. Then it swung back to New Zealand. Then back to India. I looked at the tickets, and they made no mention of people with heart conditions needing to be careful, which seemed like a tremendous oversight. (I hope they had medical cover :) ) In the end, as I was leaving the ground, I supposed a tie was the fair result for a game when neither side could quite get on top enough to finish the other one off.

Relive all the action here with the highlights and massive amounts of respect to India and the Indian supporters for showing us how to be passionate about our team.


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