A crying shame

Did Australia win or did Pakistan lose? What about another gripping last-ball ending - the third time in the past three years - or how about China's spunky performance in their debut appearance. These were all thrilling ingredients on the final day of the Karp Group/PC Jeweller Hong Kong Cricket Sixes last Sunday which has given much hope to top official Dinesh Tandon that the tournament has plenty going for it, despite facing a small financial loss this year. 'We couldn't have asked for a better last day. It was as if the whole thing was choreographed,' Tandon, chairman of the Hong Kong Cricket Association, said. Some cynics might agree wholeheartedly - that there was a hidden hand of the pernicious bookmakers as Pakistan's Imran Nazir self-destructed in an infamous last over that will be the talking point for a long time. Already there have been murmurs on the internet. One fan, Seassider3610, asked on fansonline.net if anyone had seen the 'last over where the bowler managed to gift the match to the Aussies', adding: 'I would say the tournament has a worldwide audience as well - how long are they going to keep getting away with [this] sort of stuff?' He, or she, was alluding to the spot-fixing controversy that hit the Pakistan test team in England this summer, ending with captain Salman Butt and pace duo Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif copping bans. Tandon refuses to comment on the validity of such claims. All he says is the controversial end to the tournament raises the profile of the Hong Kong Sixes worldwide. A good thing for a tournament struggling to stay afloat. 'It couldn't have been a better final. I don't know if Pakistan threw the match, all I can say is everyone has forgotten how the first day was almost rained off. The tournament needed a final like this,' Tandon said. Millions of viewers on TenSports watched Pakistan lose from a seemingly invincible position. Australia needed 46 runs off the last over (of eight balls) bowled by leggie Nazir, a seasoned international with eight tests, 79 one-day internationals and 16 Twenty20 matches for Pakistan. Nazir sent down the following sequence of deliveries: six, four, six, six (a no-ball which went for four accounting for six runs as a no-ball is deemed two runs), three (a wide which is two runs and the batsmen running a single), three (a wide plus another single), six, two, six, wicket, four (a wide which slipped the grasp of wicket-keeper Ahmed Shehzad and crossed the boundary). He sent down 11 deliveries, three of which were not legitimate, and conceded 46 runs. That nightmare over left Nazir devastated and crying inconsolably in the Pakistan dressing room. The US$55,000 (HK$426,000) winners' purse was in the hands of David Warner and his jubilant Australian teammates. 'I think it was a genuine mistake on the part of the bowler,' said Shahzada Saleem, HKCA president. 'I met the team during the lunch interval and they were determined to win the tournament. But as organisers, we are delighted it went to the last ball again.' For the past three years - coincidentally during the contract with TenSports - the final has reached a nail-biting climax. In 2008, England pipped Australia in a match that ended in a tie, but by virtue of claiming a run-out with the final delivery, England won having lost fewer wickets. Last year, Hong Kong saw their hopes of winning a first title dashed when South African Farhaan Behardien smote a six with five runs needed off the last ball. And then came the amazing drama of last Sunday. John Cribbin, HKCA secretary, who has watched every Hong Kong Sixes since its inception in 1992, said this year's edition, especially its finish, was 'astonishing'. Hong Kong's Australian head coach, Charlie Burke, never one to mince his words, added: 'Unfortunately eyebrows might be raised. How can you bowl a no-ball and three wides, the last one giving away the winning runs? What was he thinking?' Yes, Nazir's dramatic over was the talking point at the Kowloon Cricket Club well after the final had ended. Passionate Pakistani fans from Peshawar to Rawalpindi would have cursed him. Rival Indian fans in Mumbai and Delhi must have been crying tears of joy. 'I wouldn't think there was a fix, maybe it was just bad luck,' said sympathetic Hong Kong resident and Indian Haresh Chainani. But this is just the reaction Tandon wants. 'The more people talking about the Hong Kong Sixes, the better. It raises the profile of the tournament and we need that badly,' he said. The presence of China for the first time also created a 'feel-good factor', according to Tandon. China's Asian Games squad won the hearts of the fans when they gamely went down by one run to a Hong Kong development squad in an exhibition game. Tandon said: 'Live television is essential for the Hong Kong Sixes. We need this to grow the tournament. Watching China appearing for the first time, and that incredible last over, will do good for the event.' Rain on the first day, which washed out three-quarters of the programme resulting in a revised four-over format until the final, resulted in a large number of tickets being unsold. It left the HKCA with a small loss. 'The final figures haven't been added up, but we might end up losing around HK$50,000,' Tandon said. 'But at the end of the day, it was another successful Sixes, thanks to that superb final.'