India beat Pakistan tonight in cricket. I was here when India lost to Bangladesh last year, and it is amazing the amount of emotion this county has over cricket. When they lose, they are filled with anger about their team. But when they win, they are amazingly jubilant.
All of these games have social ovetones - beating England feels good because of the colonial thing, losing to Bangladesh is a blow to national pride (I mean, who loses anything to Bangladesh??) and beating Pakistan is a huge vindication that India was the winner in the painful split of those two nations.... Anyway....
For the Americans, some background.
In cricket, one team goes first and scores all they can, then the other team uses the second half to try to beat the score from the first half. Very simple.
Well, there were 6 "pitches" left at the end of the game. Pakistan had to get twelve points during those six pitches. On the third pitch of the six, a Pakistani player hit a six. That's the best you can hit. If they hit just one more of those, they won the game and the tournament.
Filled with tension.
With the next pitch, the Pak "batter" slammed the ball up in the air. And an Indian player caught it. Pakistan lost. India won.
We spent the next several hours watching fireworks all around the city from our patio. Very dramatic.
It'll be the buzz around the office tomorrow. It's actually a great game!
