For hours and hours every single cricket fan waited, and waited and then waited some more time to actually see some action.
Finally, nearly six hours after the match was originally scheduled to start, the partisan Indian crowd at Edgbaston - yes at Edgbaston slam bang in the middle of England -- got to witness a thriller, with India sensationally coming up trumps to break England hearts and clinch the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.
The match was turned into a T20 game after rain disrupted play for several hours, but in the end India will not care as MS Dhoni and his side added another major ICC Trophy into their ever-growing cabinet.
For England, the wait for their first ever major 50-over title continues, and they will be left wondering how this one slipped from their grasp when for so long a win looked like a foregone conclusion.
The match might have been held in Birmingham and the weather might have been typically English, but the crowd was as Indian as the one in Wankhede in the World Cup final in 2011.
After losing the toss, which happened on time at 2.30 PM IST, India were asked to bat first by Alastair Cook, and on a pitch which had plenty of help for the England fast bowlers, the supposed away side struggled to 129 for seven in their 20 overs.
In reply, England were in cruise control with Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara, who had a great match with the bat and ball, taking their side to victory, before Ishant, having a torrid time with the ball, dismissed both batsmen in consecutive deliveries to turn the match on its head, as England finished on 124 for eight to fall five runs short.
It was strange really, during England's innings. When India were batting, the English fast bowlers were the most dangerous, nipping the ball around and getting quite a bit of bounce.
However, India's pace bowlers failed to pose too many problems, with the Indian spinners - R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja -- turning the ball square and putting the cat amongst the pigeons for England.
Umesh Yadav, though, did pick up the first wicket of the innings, that of Alastair Cook. The England skipper found an outside edge off a nice delivery from Yadav, with Ashwin taking a good catch at first slip.
Jonathan Trott came out and looked in the mood, smashing a couple of boundaries, before some brilliant work from Dhoni led to his demise.
Ashwin spun a delivery down the leg side, with Trott (20 in 17 balls) overbalancing and Dhoni, quick as a flash, whipping off the bails.
Joe Root top edged off Ashwin (two for 15) soon after, before Ian Bell was controversially given out stumped off Jadeja (two for 24). Replays were not convincing Dhoni had taken off the bails before Bell's foot was grounded, but third umpire Bruce Oxenford gave it out, much to the surprise of the batsman.
England were in trouble at 46 for four from 8.4 overs, which then produced the defining partnership between Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara.
The duo allied for a brilliant 64 from 8.5 overs, whittling down the target with great effect, to seemingly take the game away from India, as Dhoni struggled to get good overs from his fast bowlers.
Then came the extraordinary 18th over from Ishant Sharma. Morgan smashed the Indian bowler for a six in the second ball to bring down the equation to 22 from 16 balls. The maximum was followed by a couple of wides from the rattled Ishant, with England in cruise control.
But this game of cricket is a beauty, because it is so unpredictable. A pickup shot from Morgan (33, 30b, 3x4, 1x6) off the next delivery only found Ashwin at midwicket, before Bopara (30, 25b, 2x6) picked out the same fielder at square leg off the very next ball.
England were in full-on panic mode now and India sensing a sensational victory went in for the kill.
Jadeja was asked to bowl the penultimate over and the left-armer did not disappoint, sending Jos Buttler packing after smashing his middle stump.
Tim Bresnan ran himself out a ball after Stuart Broad just about survived a run out attempt as England went from 110 for four to 113 for eight.
The final over came in the blink of any eye with England needing 15 runs.
A dot ball and a boundary later, it was 11 from four balls. However, with only Broad and James Tredwell at the crease, Ashwin kept his nerve really well to pull off another major ICC tournament win.
The first innings showed England's bowling prowess in spades, with India struggling for any kind of momentum.
All the batsmen, usually so adept at playing the T20 format, looked anxious, and of course they were not helped by the stop-start nature of the match, failing to build any kind of solid base for the final assault.
Much was expected from the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan again, and while one played a decent little innings, the other was not his usual elements, with the actual elements, coupled with the English bowlers, getting the better of him.
Rohit has looked good, if not spectacular when compared to Dhawan, every time he has opened the innings in this tournament, but against a stellar English fast bowling attack, who were helped by a little bit of nip on the surface, the Mumbaikar looked all at sea.
His wicket was inevitable really and it came as no surprise when Stuart Broad castled him in the fourth over - Rohit going for an expansive drive, only to miss the ball completely and see the ball hit the top of off stump.
Virat Kohli came and along with Dhawan looked to build some momentum, only for the rain to come down and force the umpires to halt play.
The first delay, with India on 28 for one from 5.4 overs, lasted only a few minutes, but it is still enough to disrupt your flow.
Dhawan didn't seem to mind, though, smashing a wonderful six over third man off Broad right after the restart, before a few balls later, another delay - this time a lot longer - led to the Indian batsmen having to cool their heels.
India were on 38 for one in 6.2 overs when play began after the second delay, and from there England took control of proceedings, picking up key Indian wickets to stop the batting juggernaut which has dominated right throughout this tournament.
Ravi Bopara, England's fifth bowler, of all people, was the man to do the biggest damage, picking up three wickets in his four overs.
Dhawan (31, 24b, 2x4, 1x6) was the first to fall prey to the little dollies being doled out by the right-armer - failing to time a slower delivery and finding James Tredwell at short cover.
Tredwell then sent Dinesh Karthik (6), surprisingly sent ahead of Suresh Raina, packing after the right-hander top-edged an attempted sweep.
Raina, however, did not make much of an impact either, holing out to Alastair Cook at mid-on off Bopara, before the part-timer picked up the crucial wicket of MS Dhoni, who uppercut a shot straight to Tredwell at third man.
The onus was on Kohli and Jadeja to build a partnership, with India struggling on 66 for five from 13 overs, and the duo did well, allying for 47 runs in 5.3 overs.
Kohli and Jadeja (33, 25b, 2x4, 2x6) played some wonderful strokes on the difficult pitch, ensuring India would at least go beyond 120, which they did despite losing Kohli (43, 34b, 4x4, 1x6) in the penultimate over.
