A game of grand vicissitudes !

Fortunes fluctuated in both matches. Truly it is said that Cricket is a game of vicissitudes, of glorious uncertainties.

SA were in the driver's seat when Eng were 2/3. SA furthur consolidated their position by bowling out England for 171 !

With formidable SA chasing 171, everyone thought the match was over. It was Advantage SA.

But then Broad and Anderson had different ideas. Swann spun the ball sharply and intellectually won the battle over the batsmen !

The notorious tag of 'chokers' still haunt mighty SA. We dont know why they choke. May be the pressure of the situation gets on their nerves.

From 63/0 and then 124/3, SA fell heavily to 165 all out. Three wickets fell for no run, as Villiers was clean bowled and others followed suit. It was then Advantage England.

Dale Steyn, with his experience, threatened to take the game away from England. It was Advantage SA once more.

160/8 and needing 12 runs with two wickets in hand, it was again Advantage SA. But then Steyn was trapped by Broad for lbw and again the pendulum swung in favour of England.

At 165/9, SA still wanted seven runs to win with one wicket in hand. Any team other than the chokers would have pulled it through. ( Last time SA lost to India by one run in an ODI). Then Broad removed M Morkel, ending the South African challenge. Not Advantage, but Win England.

This match at Chennai, along with the ENG IND tie at Bangalore, will go down as two of the greatest matches ever in WCs.

Truly it is said that Cricket is a game of grand vicissitudes !

In the IND IRE match, fortunes also fluctuated. There was a recovery century partnership between Porterfield and Niall O Brien, after they were 9/2. But then Yuvraj took five wickets and they were all out for 207. Advantage India.

But India lost four wickets for 100 and it was Advantage IRE. But then they came against the steely determination of Yuvraj and Dhoni, who steered IND home with a 67 run partnership. When Dhoni departed at 167/5, again it was Advantage Ireland.

If one or two wickets had fallen at that stage, India would have been in trouble. All eyes were riveted on the mighty hitter, Pathan. Irrespective of the pressure of the situation, Pathan lofted the spinner, Dockerel for a mighty four and then smote the next two balls for sixes. The immense pressure lurking around the stadium was gone. Advantage India !

When Pathan swung for four, it was WIN India.

IRE captain said that 40 more runs could have made a lot of difference. But that was not to be, as determined Indians pulled a stunning triumph.