Howzat?!!!!!

To say today was a Good Day would be an understatement, to say that Friday's match was enjoyable... well, where do I start?!

Ok - for all non-cricket enthusiasts you may wish to skip this post - you probably just won't get it, unless perhaps you support Scotland at anything and you know what it's like to be the underdog to the louder, brashier, bigger neighbour who thinks they have a god given right to win everything and tend to overlook it if you do well or consider it a fluke.

So not only were the Black Caps the first team to beat the Aussies in an ODI by 10 wickets they did it in style and ended on a fantastic 6 by Lou Vincent (altho' I'm not sure that a poor or mediocre 6 is actually possible...) but they then went on to top the record setting score Australia set them to win the Chappell-Hadlee trophy for the first time ever - woo hoo!!!!!

The atmosphere at Westpac was something else on Friday, my third match there and this was just in a different league - this was the auld enemy and they were given a pasting. I doubt if Shane Bond, Stephen Flemming or Lou Vincent will need to pay for a pint in Welly for the rest of their lives. What it must have been like in Auckland after Eden Park tonight I can't quite imagine - akin to when England won the Ashes?!

There's something more to it than knocking the Aussies off the top spot, or even winning the trophy. It's the ol' David and Goliath thing - the underdog coming home with the big win, and especially today when it's not as if the Aussies played badly as they did on Friday. Everyone seems to like to see the big boys beaten at their own game, brought down a peg or two and made to eat humble pie. It reinforces belief that anything is possible, that dreams can come true, that against the odds, history and the nay-sayers it is possible to win.