I want to write about #CWC19Final.
But New Zealand could score not many more than their semi-final attempt.
The Fielding was good. Bowling better. Kane was pleasant. A bit of banter with the umpires and Stokes as well (I have to apologise to Kane forever for that boundary! said Stokes)
Apologies. I really did not want to write about cricket. But it crept in without my knowledge. 😃
Such was the beauty of the game. So many fabulous ironies and delicious what-ifs which could have changed life throughout the tournament.
What-If...
...Trent Boult had touched the rope while completing that Brathwaite catch just like he did yesterday for Stokes?...Guptill had thrown that ball at MSD's bat instead of pinging the stumps a la yesterday?
...Kohli had the 'Umpire's Call' in his favour than Boult's - just like Jason Roy did?
...Dharmasena could have discerned the act of throwing more accurately?
...Stokes did not have the bad Karma from the WCT20 final where he conceded 4-sixes to Brathwaite (yup, remember the name! Thanks Bishop)
And please do not blame the rules. After Ben Johnson was stripped off his 1988 Olympics 100m Gold for having consumed stanozolol, the great decathlete Daley Thompson commented: 'Don't bull shit around. Ultimately, you are the one who shows your bum for the injection. (Therefore, you better know what goes in!)'
Similarly, the rule has been there for more than 8 years if I am not mistaken. So far, no one even bothered to raise a whimper about it. Now, all and sundry wants to comment. May be it is not right. But to call @ICC names is classic keyboard-warriorism!
England made their own luck. Stokes is a beauty - What a great REDEMPTION!
Archer, Plunkett and Wood were amazing; not to mention the JasJon pair & don't forget those 17 sixers by Morgan ;)
And as everyone including that great astrologer from India said, Kane Williamson is the man to be emulated. May be New Zealand should be anointed the Happiest Nation in the World! Move over, Tibet! Imagine Kane and MSD in a team!! #CoolMax
An unforgettable end to a fabulous tournament. As usual, everyone had their own opinions on how the tournament had to be run (reserve days! head-to-heads and not net-run-rate! favouritism!...) Easier said that done, in my opinion. I might sound establishmentarian (I wanted to use that word for so long now!) - but it takes so much planning and foresight to execute such tournaments & you simply can't please everyone. The simple fact that ICC managed to get the Mathur family semi-final tickets makes them ok in my books!
I enjoyed the tournament as much as life allowed me to. 🙏
Guess Section
The unexpected results of the final match threw the guess section into a bit of a disarray.
Yet, just like ICC, I had to stick to the rules and as a result, quite a few got to share the moolah including the $25 bonus.
The final status is shown below.
A fabulous run by Arunsankar who was languishing in red for a number of matches. Then Lady Luck smiled on him - only for him to top the table. It ain't over until...
Quiz Section
The eleventh question was a good stumper.
The five sequences of letters and numbers are indeed addresses as several of you guessed.
They are:
NN12 8TN - Silverstone - F1 British GP location
SW19 5AE - Wimbledon - Where Joker won over Fedex yesterday (another cliffhanger!)
NW8 8QN - Of course the Mecca of Cricket - The Lord's!
Manikandan (5) got it right after a few taps here and there; ArunJayaraman (4), K Sivamani (3.5), Siva* (3) gave partial answers and rounded up the Quiz portion of GQ2019. Well done, folks.
With that the final Quiz status is:
Congratulations to the top 4 (with a tie for the third place!)
I was expecting a tough fight between AngelAsh & Manikandan - but it was not to be. Impressive work by ArunJayaraman, Hardy Jadeja and K Sivamani too.
More details on the book prizes later.
It was one heaven of a ride! Thanks for the support & as I always say...
Keep Smiling & Have Fun!!
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