Black is the colour of Cool

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

London, July 15

There was joy and high spirits in the stands. Josh and friends, with England’s win in sight, had run down the stairs from the stands and into the bars and picked up a bottle of champagne from the wine shop at Lord’s and sprinted back up. The group had been steadily going through a supply of beer the whole day — England’s win deserved something much more special, and they celebrated it with champagne. At 7.29pm, when England won, the corks were popped among lusty shouts and cheers, and Josh and his friends celebrated.

There was sadness and low spirits in the stands, too. Shekhar Aryan was wiping the tears off the face of his disconsolate son Shayan, soon after England won at 7.29pm. Aryan, an India-origin IT professional from New Zealand, now lives in Leeds — he and Shayan were among the few Kiwi supporters in the stands, in black New Zealand jerseys. Father and son swung through extreme joy and despair as England and New Zealand fought for each run, each wicket in the nerve-wracking final. Shayan, 11 years old, just could not take the loss — tears flowed even as England supporters around them cheered and shouted and danced. “It’s OK, it’s just a match,” Aryan told his son. “Our team fought hard, it’s something to be proud of.”

Kool Kane

Kane Williamson, that coolest of men and cricketers, was stoic in defeat, possibly the greatest philosopher-leader in cricket. His unassuming bearing, his gentle humour, his reluctant smile — they were all just as they were the day before the match. The emotional churning in the final, the close loss that seemed horridly unfair, had not left a scar on him — at least his bearing suggested this.

It’s easy to imagine any other captain upset, if not angry, over the incident in the 100th over of the match, when England got four runs through overthrows after the ball had ricocheted off Ben Stokes’ bat to the boundary.

“Yeah, that was a bit of shame, eh,” Williamson said when asked about it. A bit of a shame, eh? Kane, the sentence you were looking for is this: “It was horrid, it was bloody injustice out there, we were hard done by this stupid rule! This rule must go!”

Well, no, Kane doesn’t do anger, not in public at least.

A journalist tried to get Williamson to express his inner feeling — some frustration, some anger — and asked whether a fours-sixers count was a fair way of deciding the World Cup final. “I suppose you never thought you would have to ask that question and I never thought I would have to answer it,” said the utterly calm captain. “Yeah, while the emotions are raw, it is pretty hard to swallow when two teams have worked really, really hard to get to this moment in time… And when sort of two attempts to separate them with a winner and a loser, it still doesn’t perhaps sort of shine with one side coming through. It is what it is, really. The rules are there at the start.”

“Well either side walking away with the title today probably feels fortunate having it go down to a tie after regular time and then I think another one, wasn’t it, after six more balls?” the captain added. “So, yeah, one of those things, hey!”

Two finals lost in two World Cups, not really beaten by England in the final yet going home without the trophy, England getting six overthrow runs off that Stokes ricochet incident when they really should have got only five, according to the rules… Yeah, just one of those things, hey!

But that’s the sort of man Williamson is — a leader-philosopher, and a supreme batsman, and the Player of the Tournament. Well done, Kane!

Oz bookie refunds punters over WC ‘absolute disgrace'

Melbourne: An Australian bookmaker is refunding punters who put their money on New Zealand to win the World Cup final, describing the method used to determine England as the winners an “absolute disgrace”. Sportsbet claimed it had refunded 11,458 people a total of $426,223, after they supported New Zealand to win the final head-to-head or to win the tournament outright. “Let's not beat around the bush — for a World Cup to be decided in that manner is an absolute disgrace and the punters shouldn't have to pay for the ineptness of the ICC,” an official was quoted as saying by news agency AAP. — Agencies

‘Both should have got trophy’

"To be honest I felt there was no loser in last night’s game. Because it was a tie, both teams should have been handed over the trophy. No such incident has ever happened in the World Cup final so I am sure ICC will think about it now. But it was a little unfair on the New Zealand team who did well. But ultimately it was a good game and I am sure after this ICC will look into the rules after yesterday’s match" Cheteshwar Pujara, India batsman

"Some rules in cricket definitely needs a serious look in" Rohit Sharma, India opener

"Don't understand how the game of such proportions, the #CWC19Final, is finally decided on who scored the most boundaries. A ridiculous rule @ICC. Should have been a tie" Gautam Gambhir, former India opener

"Nice work @ICC ... you are a joke!!!" Scott Styris, former Kiwi all-rounder 

"I feel really empty, and a bit cheated. Clearly, it's ridiculous... really absurd. It's about as random as tossing a coin" Dion Nash, former Kiwi all-rounder