The story was rather written in advance for the Cricket World Cup Final: the finest batsman in the world, Sachin Tendulkar, pitted against the finest bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan. It didn't quite happen like that: the one-day format is different, and Murali had only ten overs to spin his magic, while Tendulkar didn't have time for his lomg, controlled game. There was plenty of excitement, though, and plenty of nail biting.
What really stood out for me was the spirit in which the game was played. In the post match press conference the Sri Lankan captain, Kumar Sangakkara didn't blame the umpires or the organisers (this is not football), he just stood up like a gentleman and congratulated the Indian team, saying they had played better than his side.
A word should be said also about the semi-final between India and Pakistan. These two countries have been virtually at war for 60 years but the supporters did not fight, they enjoyed what was an excellent game, played in the best spirit.
Cricket has done a lot for peace on the Indian sub-continent: lovely people, lovely manners, lovely game.
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