14 November,2021 07:05 AM IST | Mumbai | Sunil Gavaskar
Aaron Finch and Kane Williamson
This is being written after another thrilling semi-final of the ICC Men's Twenty20 World Cup. To have two back-to-back nail-biting finishes is not unexpected especially in this format, but what was striking was the high standard of both the contests.
The results didn't pan out according to expectations and that's why this format is such an unpredictable one. The manner in which England and Pakistan had topped their respective groups made them the favourites to win and clash in the finals but once again, cricket especially Twenty20 cricket, showed that nothing is guaranteed in this format.
Australia will start as the favourites simply because of their awesome record in the knockout stages of the world events. They bring their triple A game in these matches and like we have seen umpteen times before, they know how to overcome tough situations and get through.
Having said that, the people's favourite team has been New Zealand especially over the last few years not just because of the way they carry themselves on and off the field, but also for their superb cricket skills. While the Aussies will do anything to win, the Kiwis would want to win by playing the game in the right spirit.
Nowhere was this better seen than in the just concluded semi-finals. In their game against England, leg-spinner Adil Rashid was unintentionally impeded by non-striker Darryl Mitchell who was backing up to take a run. The ball went to the deep fielder on the onside and the batsmen could have walked the single. Mitchell, however, refused to take it and turned his back on the batter at the other end.
It's not the first time a bowler has accidentally collided with the non-striker as he looks to stop the ball and batsmen have gone on and taken the run with a shrug of the shoulders being a sort of apology and the bowler understanding that he wasn't obstructed purposely gets back to his mark to bowl the next ball.
In T20 cricket every dot ball is priceless and at that stage of the match New Zealand could ill afford another scoreless ball. Yet, Mitchell kept the spirit of cricket in mind and won the hearts of every cricket lover by refusing to take the run.
With Mitchell himself playing some extraordinary shots in the 17th, 18th and 19th overs, they went on to win the game with one over left.
The next day in the semi-finals between Pakistan and Australia with Australia chasing a very good total put up by Pakistan, an incident happened that shows the vast difference in the mindset of the players of the Tasman neighbours.
Mohammed Hafeez, coming to bowl his first ball, found the ball stuck in his fingers as he tried to deliver it and it bounced twice as it went towards David Warner, the batsman.
The Australian left-hander moved towards the leg-side and smacked the lollipop of a delivery for a six. Since it had bounced twice, it was called a no-ball and Warner knew that even if he had not timed the shot well and been caught in the deep, he would not have been dismissed.
This freakish thing doesn't happen often, but has been seen in the past and most batsmen have just laughed but not tried to score off it.
If I recall correctly, in another similar occurrence many years back, another Aussie had hit a ball that bounced more than once but the umpire had disallowed the runs.
Here, the umpire not only signalled a six, but also a no-ball and a free hit. Considering how close both games were and how every run mattered, the difference in the approach can well be seen in both these incidents.
The Aussies' approach has always been to win at all costs while the Kiwis would not consider that as the way they want to play.
New Zealand will no doubt win the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award once again, but the cricketing world, apart from the Australians of course, would want to see Kane Williamson lift New Zealand's second ICC trophy this year.
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