World Cup Cocktail
Indian fans are selling off their tickets to the Cricket World Cup final after being knocked out of the tournament. Kiwis who have booked flights to Melbourne on a whim to support the Black Caps at the final were in with a chance to snap up some last minute tickets.
Indian fans have taken to Facebook to sell their tickets and have also shown their support for the New Zealand team.
Hundreds of people posting to the Facebook event page for the Cricket World Cup final were offering their tickets for sale. One fan posted: "Indian fans don't sell your tickets lol turn up and #BACKTHEBLACKCAPS!".
Not all cricket fans were happy with the response by Indian supporters.
Australian fan Samuel Dissinas posted on the page saying the Indian fans shouldn't be flogging their tickets. "Suck it up and stop being sore losers."
Cash from big catch going to wife
Sunjay Ganda sounds like one of those all round nice guys.
Not only is he relaxed about sharing $1 million with six others in Tui's Catch a Million promotion it's had running during the Cricket World Cup, but he plans to give it to his wife, Krystel, so she can extend her maternity time at home after giving birth to their second child, Mila, five months ago.
Mr Ganda, a development manager with Canterbury Hockey, believed every mother or parent should have the opportunity to spend longer with their child at home when it was first born.
As for having to share the prize pool with six others, Mr Ganda didn't seem fazed and believed it all happened for a reason.
"The thing that I have tried to take in ... to take a catch and have it all happen there's so many things that have to align that literally someone's looking down on you if you take a catch." He initially thought three or four would end up in the final pool, but didn't mind sharing and said each of the "catchers" had their own story about how they made the catch.
The lucky seven are Sunjay Ganda, Travis Committie, Jamie Gough, Sajjad Ahmad, Stu Chapman, Arjun Bhadwaj, John Raynor
* Currently each has pocketed $107,142 from the $750,000 semifinal pool.
* Pool gets upped to $1 million if NZ win, lifting winnings to $142,857.
* Means each catcher gets a $35,715 bonus.
Dharmasena set to make history
Sri Lanka's Kumar Dharmasena was on Friday selected to officiate the final of the cricket ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 on Sunday, thereby becoming the first person to feature in the quadrennial tournament final as both an umpire and player. English umpire Richard Kettleborough, rated as the world's best umpire for the past two years, was unsurprisingly chosen to be in the centre at (MCG), reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Dharmasena, who won the (ICC) umpires' award in 2011, was a surprise – not because of the Sri Lankan's general standard of officiating but because of his role that saw England's James Taylor stranded two runs short of a maiden century for England. The elevation of Dharmasena, 43, comes 19 years after he played in Sri Lanka's 1996 triumph against Australia. South African Marais Erasmus has been appointed video umpire, with Englishman Ian Gould to serve as fourth umpire. The ICC's most senior match referee, Sri Lankan Ranjan Madugalle, will fill that role on Sunday.
Kiwi fans excited for the 'greatest game'
A group of men who have been cricket enthusiasts since their schooldays in Hamilton are reuniting to attend the final in Melbourne.
Greg Stewart and his mates from high school cricket days are meeting in Melbourne to watch the game.
Mr Stewart, 34, said most of the group now live and work in Australia, but a couple were making the trip across the Tasman for the game.
"We took a bit of a gamble, we bought our tickets before the tournament hoping New Zealand would make it because we thought they had a pretty good chance," he said.
The group of mates had been to several big cricket games, including test matches at Lord's in England, but said this would be one of the greatest they'd ever seen.
He said he was pleased that New Zealand was facing Australia in the final and it would be "more satisfying" than facing India.
Simon Botherway and three friends bought tickets to the final last year the minute they went on sale, and got "a huge bonus" when the Black Caps qualified for the final. -Compiled
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