Mini World Cup photos

I captained the Indian cricket team ( yeah! It sounds much more impressive than it actually is) in the Mini World Cup organised here at Oxford. It was great fun and the team really got along. I shall put up the match reports later but here are some photos.
We played against tournament favourites Australia first. The match was a scintillating game, exciting till the last ball. We played out of our skin to push the Aussies to the wire. They won off the last ball, needing one run and by one wicket. I think we were just very unlucky.
There were some unforgettable moments. Niranjan's direct throw from cover with only one stump to see. Mindanao comatose outrageous innings : 1,1,1,4,4,4,4,4,4,6 retd. Aman's throw from deep cover, one bounce on the stumps to engineer a run out, my huge six ala Lagaan being caught beyond the ropes.

Our next match was against South Africa in what was the final group match and a do or die situation for both teams. We ran up a modest 113 and then in another thrilling finish the South Africans needed 10 of the last over, thanks to Raman's and Diganta's great last two overs. With 4 runs needed for a win of the last ball, the batsman struck the ball beautifully past the extra cover fielder. The ball was surely going for four, when Nikhil making an easy 40 meters from deep point picks the ball up and hurls it in an unforgettable arc towards the non-strikers end. It was a wonderful throw anyway, one bounce over the stumps but under the circumstances it was BRILLIANT!! The batsman only ran two! We won by 1 run and moved into the semis!

Pakistan -our old nemesis....and the less said about this match the better. We bowled ourselves out of the match allowing Pakistan to rack up 195 in 20 overs.
The only feature of the match was getting a particular person out for a duck. This person had declined playing for India in favour of Pakistan because he believed that he would have a better chance of winning with a better team. There was a lot of needle there and we were delighted to have got him for a duck. I caught him behind the wicket and it was truly an exhilarating moment. I screamed for joy and Niranjan the bowler did this jig right in the center of the pitch.