Match Tied!!!

What is with New Zealand and making the most of very limited talent.. Jamie How today played one of the best one day knocks ever - to the extent that cricinfo acknowledged that they were wrong in calling him the wrong man for the job!!!!

Chasing 340 (a score that neither the side batting first and certainly not the side batting second would have considered feasible a few years back), New Zealand were coasting to victory on How's blitzkreig, when they decided that the crowd was not sufficiently entertained with over 600 runs already scored, and decided to commit harakiri in a manner that would have made those Japanese pilots of yore proud. With Fulton, Styris and Oram throwing their wickets away in the fag end of the match in search of glory (where singles would have easily brought NZ to the door of victory), it was left to How and poor old Vettori to finish the job. They clame close but didnt quite manage the feat and the war of attrition ended in an honourable draw.

But for someone who loves watching, it was an exhibition of batting par excellence from both sides - with classical shots mixing beautifully with innovation and power. The 'bunch of trundlers' on both sides looked innocuous enough (please check out Anderson's figures for a laugh!!) and the fielding from two supposedly excellent fielding sides was reminicent of the India of old.

All said, a thriller to watch and read about - something that was no necessary to keep the excitement of 50 over cricket alive in the madness of 20:20!! Cheers to the incompetence on both sides then....