They all said that South Africa would walkover the match. Indians? Pah! They were no match for the mighty, invincible South Africans, were they? Well, we shall see for ourselves. Anyways, I was prepared for anything. I was just overwhelmed by the thought that I had this wonderful opportunity to watch a match in a stadium. That was all I cared about then.

Before I know it the D-Day arrived! After tons of preparations and pre-planning and over-excitement I found myself in the stadium! I was there. And what a wonderful day it turned out to be.

From where I was seated I could hardly make out anything. I realised that Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian captain had won the toss as Ravi Shastri spoke to a little man in blue first and then to the tall man in green. That was the first sign of things going in India's favour.

The match began finally. India began dismally as usual, the first over being a maiden. Whenever Manjrekar batted, a maiden over would be successfully bowled. Whenever Tendulkar batted, runs accumulated on the board. Soon Tendulkar made his half-century and got out shortly thereafter. After that wickets began to fall at regular intervals. When Ajay Jadeja came to the crease India were in dire straits. Then with the "Jadeja magic" two sixes were scored in succession and the stadium erupted. At the close of India's innings India had scored 220 runs. South Africa had a very small target to chase and I prepared for defeat.

Then began the South African innings. Unlike India South Africa were 4/0 after the 1st over as against India's 0/0. Their superiority was obvious. But as the match progressed things began to happen. South African wickets too began falling at regular intervals. The middle order collapsed just like the Indians. The pressure of the huge and electric crowd seemed to show on them. They were in trouble. The South African batting order was on a verge of a total collapse when Symcox and Richardson shared a partnership of over 50 runs. Finally the frustrated Indians got Richardson's wicket due to a wonderful catch by Robin Singh. Soon Symcox was stumped off Kumble when his bat flew out of his hands and he could not make his ground. Rather an unfortunate way to get out! At this stage South Africa were 9 wickets down and 36 runs behind victory with a required run-rate of over 12. The stadium were up on their feet shouting "One wicket (Clap clap clap). Kumble-ee, Kumble-ee" Alan Donald, the South African speed demon but rather poor batsman came to the crease. This was the first time he had had to bat for South Africa in the whole year! That itself showed how rarely the South African batting order collapsed. But this time it had!

Now the crowd in the stadium were practically hysterical and were screaming, "Quack quack Donald' repeatedly. Kumble looked around him and smiled. He started his short run-up. He bowled his ball. Result? Alan Donald is clean bowled and India won the match by 35 runs. What a match!

The Titan Cup found its way into the hands of Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar. Man of the Match: Anil Kumble.