Shocking Pink

When a team is five wickets down with only 111 runs on the board,chasing a total of 328,then it is usually safe to assume that it’s game over. Especially when the team chasing is Ireland. In fact,bookies in England were so convinced of the outcome that they were offering odds of 150-1 for an Irish victory. And then stepped in the pink-haired Kevin O’Brien. With a record-breaking century off 50 balls,he ensured the biggest upset of the World Cup so far. “I’m still in shock,” grinned the beefy Dubliner. “I used to play cricket in the back garden back at home with Niall,my younger brother. But if I ever hit shots like that,I would be declared ‘out’,not to mention getting a rollicking.” O’Brien has also dyed his hair pink in support of the Irish Cancer Society. But with his girlfriend begging him to chop it off,he is having second thoughts. “I might keep it for a while,maybe a week more,” says the cricketer,who turns 27 today.