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Tale of two cities

REUTERS, New Delhi/Islamabad
Cricket-crazy fans throughout India and Pakistan were glued to their television sets on Saturday as the two countries played in what has been billed as the "Clash of the Centurion".
The two hostile neighbours, who nearly went to war last year over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, were in action in a World Cup group game with deep political undertones at Centurion Park in South Africa.
"An India-Pakistan match is war. It's the best way for the two countries to fight without people getting killed," said businessman Rahul Rathi in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta.
In Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, marketing executive Asad-ul-Haque, 31, said he would not miss a second of the match. "Work is going to take a backseat no way I'd miss this match."
Cricket is like a religion in both countries, which have gone to war three times since independence in 1947, twice over Kashmir, but it reaches fever pitch when they play each other.
The last time the countries played was in June 2000 in the Asia Cup in Dhaka when Pakistan triumphed. The Indian government has banned all bilateral cricket with Pakistan since then because of tensions over Kashmir.
Streets and markets on both sides of the border were deserted as young and old watched the action and some fans painted their faces in the colours of their national flags.
In New Delhi, cinemas abandoned movies and screened the match instead. Earlier in the day, people on both sides of the border prayed at temples, mosques and churches for their countries to win.
In Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir, where a deadly revolt against New Delhi's rule has raged since 1989, fans with divided loyalties clustered outside television shops showing the match.
"Me, my sister and my mother are big supporters of Pakistan but my dad supports India," said 23-year-old Tahira Kounser in Srinagar, summer capital of
Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan are the runaway leaders in battles between the two sides with a 52-29 head-to-head record but they have never beaten India in three previous World Cup encounters and India entered Saturday's game as favourites on current form.
Still, Pakistani fans were hoping their team would overpower India. "I'm really sure (fast bowler) Shoaib Akhtar will deliver," said Raheela, an Islamabad college student, who had gathered with friends to watch the match.
But the intense passions have a darker side and authorities on both sides of the border said they had stepped up security in case the mood of fans turns ugly.
"Who cares about the World Cup. India had better win this match!" said New Delhi cricket fan Saket Rai.
Just two weeks ago, irate fans in India were berating their country's cricketers after their poor World Cup start.
Captain Saurav Ganguly was given a mock funeral in Calcutta while black paint was hurled at middle-order batsman Mohammad Kaif's house in the northern Indian city of Allahabad.
"In case Pakistan lose, we could see a 1996 World Cup-like situation when losing to India in Bangalore sparked a wave of agitation against Wasim Akram who was the skipper then," Abdul Mohi Shah, a sports commentator, said in Islamabad.