NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND — Rarely does the honking of a car horn in a British traffic jam express any emotion other than anger and frustration. But the cacophony that erupted from the vehicles snarling the roads around the Trent Bridge ground in Nottingham after Pakistan had qualified for the World Twenty20 final Thursday night was an expression of pure joy.
Flags were waved from car windows, there were choruses of the victory chant “Pakistan zindabad!” and an impromptu party broke out on the corner outside the venerable Trent Bridge Inn. It was a truly joyful moment for a people who have had it hard of late. Winning a cricket match won’t, of course, solve the grim security situation in Pakistan or ease the economic and social pressures on Pakistanis in Britain, but it will, for the moment, make them feel a lot better. It was also a celebration of a magnificent performance by Pakistan’s team.
Pakistan lost the first World Twenty20 final in 2007. It earned a shot at going one better by beating the previously flawless South Africa by seven runs.
It was hard to believe this was the same team that had lost its opening match to England 11 days earlier.
As Younis Khan, its captain, said in yet another beaming stream-of-consciousness post-match news conference, “We are always slow starters.”For more on this article, please click on the following link: Stuns South Africa to Reach Final: New York Times
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