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14th of July 2019 produced two unforgettable classics, where no one deserved to lose. England were the deserving winners of the Cricket World Cup, and so was Novak Djokovic of the Wimbledon trophy.
But neither New Zealand nor Roger Federer deserved to lose. But then again, that is sports. It can be wonderful and cruel at the same time. As a long time Roger Federer fan, I went through a roller coaster ride of emotions, but when the maestro failed to serve out when he had two championship points on his own racquet in the fifth set, I kind of braced myself for the inevitable.
The disappointment of being ‘so near yet so far’ is going to linger for a while, for any Federer fan. Wimbledon is his fortress, but it has been breached twice in two of the greatest matches by his great rivals, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, in 2008 and 2019, respectively.
A similar and possibly greater disappointment was in store for the New Zealand cricket team and its fans. Even many neutrals would have felt for the Kiwis, who technically tied the final match, both in the regular duration as well as in the super over, but lost out for scoring less number of boundaries!
England may have won the World Cup, but it is wrong to say that the Kiwis lost, though the cup would not be theirs. Those four runs from overthrows off Martin Guptill, where the ball ricocheted off Ben Stokes’ bat, proved how luck can play such a big role in sports, as indeed in life.
England cricket team and Novak Djokovic, and their millions of fans must be ecstatic, and deservedly so. But the millions of fans of New Zealand cricket team and Roger Federer need not lose heart. The two matches became such memorable ones, and instant classics, because of them too. It’s a pity somebody had to lose!
Also read - World cup all-time records
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