Super Sunday

Ever had one of those days when all your carefully laid plans conspire to cancel each other out at the last minute, and you're left with 10 odd hours of pretty much nothing to do?
Well, today was one of those days for me.
But never fear when the idiot-box is here! A quick peek at the TV sports column in the paper, a container of ammo for the day comprising mainly of popcorn and murukku, and Iam all set! It's time for me, myself and the remote-control!

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Just in time to watch Bhupathi and Hingis embrace at the end of their mixed doubles finals.
Aaw! They make for such a happy pair! And why shoudn't the Swiss Miss be happy? It's been just the kind of comeback Grand Slam tournament people dream of. Can she actually sustain this intensity long enough? Only time will tell.

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Football Extra?....that too, live?? Where's the VB series? Oh, I remember! This one's at Perth...couple of hours time difference. Tut, tut,...Australia,...what a wild, and wide, country!

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Pakistan 0/3, and Irfan is only the second bowler ever to get a hat-trick in the first over of a Test!
Iam actually happy my plans got cancelled now. Things seem all the more surreal, after the recent memories of bowlers being used as whipping-boys at Lahore and Faisalabad. Younis Khan and Co. seem to be living in the past though, what with their extravagent swishes and leaden feet at the crease.

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Jayawardene and Arnold seem to be steadying the ship for Sri Lanka against the Aussies.
The Lankans have been surprisingly competitive in this VB series, something I didnt expect after their recent fiascoes against the Indians and the Kiwis. But with their batting Marauder from Matara out of the way early today, things might be tough.Hmm...Arnold seems to be patenting his unique late cuts though.

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"Baghdatis needs to stay with Federer for as long as he can," are Amritraj's words of wisdom. But the Cypriot seems to be doing better than that. A rash of unforced errors from Federer and the trademark passing shots from Baghdatis' racket, serve to put the freshman in front and he's up 7-5 with a break in the second set.
Marcos Baghdatis is undoubtedly the story of the fortnight. He reminds me of the Andre Agassi of the early 90's, with an essentially counter-punching style, flamboyant personality and crowd-winning antics. Coming from an exotic country helps, so does having an exotic-looking girlfriend. Great market-value, no doubt, but presently,he seems well on his way to take that final step to convert an incredible fantasy into reality.

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Akmal and Razzaq are at it again, stroking their way out of trouble, leaving a few bemused Indians in their wake.
I cant help but marvel at the diminutive Paki keeper. He's got to be one of the best batsmen around at the moment, and also one of the best wicket-keepers. And to achieve all this without the slightest hype being built around him, has got to be his greatest achievement till date.

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Australia 140/0 chasing 232.
Aah! Now that's more like the script I was expecting. Back to regular service for the Aussies, with their biggest take-away from this match being Gilchrist's welcome century.

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A victory in four sets for Federer, bringing up his seventh Grand Slam title.
Back to regular service for Fedex too. In the end, the dream-run was too good to last for Baghdatis. The match ends with the two most wierd speeches I've heard being made by players at a presentation ceremony. Baghdatis, in his inimitable style, gets the crowd laughing at him, while the Swiss King lets his tears do the talking. What were they thinking of?

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The Paki bowlers return the favour to the Indians, and end the day holding the upper hand, having taken 4 top-order indian wickets. Quite an unlikely situation, after being 0/3 and then 39/6. A lot of mini-battles happen during the Indian reply and for the first time in this series, Test cricket feels exciting. The longer version truly is a bowler's game!

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And as Dada mentally prepares himself for his greatest challenge tomorrow in Karachi, Jayasuriya tends to his injured shoulder in Perth and Fedex settles into a contented sleep in Melbourne, I sit in front of the computer and get down to some determined blogging.

If only there was a Super Monday!