Sydney Test- Cricket at its very best!

Over the last three hours, I was glued to my television as South African tail held on frustrating Australia's march to victory on Day 5 of the Third Test. And when Steyn got out, we thought it was all over, but there was one last twist- Graeme Smith, with a broken finger and a sore elbow, decided to come out to save the test. What guts, what character- absolutely unbelievable! The crowd gave him a standing ovation and deservedly so- he has shown tremendous character in the series and for a man who is only 27, he is an incredible test player and leader.

This day, and in fact, the entire series has truly exemplified what makes test cricket so riveting. The matches ebbed and flowed right from the first session in Perth; just when you thought one team had the upper hand, the other fought back. There are so many special moments from this series- South Africa chasing down 414 in Perth for victory, JP Duminy scoring 166 with the tail in Melbourne, Steyn taking 10 wickets and scoring a career best 76, Makhaya batting for more than an hour to frustrate the Aussies in Sydney, are all stellar achievements of a team determined to fight till the very end and hungry for glory. They have defeated Australia in Australia, and they deserve the honor.

What made this series great was three things.
One- Two equally matched teams that wanted to fight till the very end.
Two- The incredible spirit in which the series was played. No controversies, no allegation, just pure unadulterated cricket.
Three- The sporting wickets for the three games- at Perth, at Melbourne, at Sydney.

I do firmly believe that for any follower of the cricket, watching the game being played in Australia is an absolute must. The people are very knowledgeable about the game, they appreciate good cricket from both the home side as well as the opposing side, the wickets are sporting- helping both batsmen and bowlers that makes the game very exciting Down Under. I was fortunate to be there in the 2003- 2004, when India fought head to head against the Aussies, drawing the series and Laxman, Dravid and Tendulkar made the bowlers work really really hard, which was fun to watch. I made friends in both Melbourne and Sydney and every Aussie I met told me how grateful he was that the Indian team was making the Aussies work so har for any win- it was fun!

2009 could not have begun with a more exciting test match for a cricket fan, and despite the fact it was well past 2am in the US when the game ended, it was worth losing sleep over!!
What a game!