NEW YORK -- Cricket fans came out in the wee hours of the morning Saturday, crowding into bars that normally would be closing but made an exception for the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka.
About eight hours later, or about the length of two Red Sox-Yankees games, most of the spectators went home happy after India overtook Sri Lanka to win its first world title since the 1980s.
"This is really big," New York University student Karthik Ventakesh screamed over the din at the Red Lion in Greenwich Village, two doors from the spot where Bob Dylan once played for folkies in the 1960s. "Cricket is by far India's most popular sport."
At the tiny JujoMukti Tea Lounge in the East Village, fans packed in to watch the match on a screen set up near the front door. Some sat cross-legged on the floor. At the Village Pourhouse on 46th Street in the theater district, every table was reserved ahead of time and every seat at the bar was taken.
"We had about 15, 20 people at 4:30 a.m.," manager Casey Pratt said as he surveyed the room of more than 150 customers by 8:30 a.m. "I think most of them were still waking up at that point so it wasn't too rowdy yet."
Sri Lanka fan Heshan Fernando, a graduate student, took a train from Queens well before sun up to get to the bar along with friend Munich Agrawal, an India supporter.
"My country has been affected by the tsunami, by civil war," Fernando said. "This is huge for us."
To the uninitiated, cricket can seem a stodgy affair that lasts for days, with each player batting for hours at a time. But U.S. sports fans would recognize some elements familiar to baseball and even football.
The biggest cheers were reserved for when a batter smacked the ball over a low barrier surrounding the field and into the bleachers – the baseball equivalent of a home run, but worth six runs in cricket.
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