Cricket World Cup 2015: India beat Pak for a six at World Cup
As tension made way for exhilaration, as the scorching afternoon made way for a pleasant evening, and as twilight made way for floodlights, Pakistan made way for India. Again! Make that six times out of six.
In a city that was more Amritsar than Adelaide — replete with turbans, bhangra and chicken tikka masala — Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Co. condemned their neighbours to a demoralising 76-run defeat on Sunday. During the course of a fine all-round performance, the defending champions stitched another bead onto Pakistan's litany of woes which now reads Sydney 1992, Bangalore 1996, Manchester 1999, Centurion 2003, Chandigarh 2011 and Adelaide 2015. That's two hemispheres, four continents, five countries, six cities and a whopping 23 years.Well over an hour after wrapping up the high-voltage clash, which saw Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and the entire bowling unit hitting the right notes, India were greeted by a group of jersey-clad fans at the West End of the stadium. Such was the madness at 11:30 pm.Need we say, then, how it was at 11:30 am? Oh, yes!Adelaide had never seen anything like this. A cop, armed with a cool revolver yet smiling away gently, said he had never ever seen so many people in his city, let alone the venue. Not during an ODI featuring Australia, not at a big bash league game involving the Adelaide Strikers, not at an AFL contest featuring the Adelaide Crows. Never!The city's public transport system went into an overdrive mode on Sunday, with buses ferrying people from far-off suburbs. Well, dna happened to be on one such bus. It was full of Indians. "We are not letting a 'Paki' into this," said Gautam, loud enough for the driver to laugh out loud. A few stops later, Nitin and Payal were welcomed in some style. Clad in a tri-coloured dhoti, a white tee and a sporting a long tri-coloured shawl as well as a cowboy hat, he was no match for his better half who looked gorgeous in a similar sari with matching bangles and necklace. Another chap got a picture of Anushka Sharma printed on the back of his blue jersey, with Virat Kohli's No. 18 also occupying pride of place.
(Nitin and Payal)
The mood at the stadium was electric all along. The Indian fans clearly outnumbered the Pakistanis. There was no way their team would let them down. Not on Sunday, not in Adelaide, not against Pakistan and certainly not at the World Cup. Dhoni and his boys served them just right. The World Cup is upon us and India's title defence is well and truly under way.