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Some of the most heartbreaking/painful defeats in cricket

msb314

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1) Pakistan vs India Mohali 2011 (says it all really..)

2) Pakistan vs bangladesh 1999 WC (ultimately didn't matter as we reached the final but losing to bangla really hurt at the time)

3) Pakistan vs Australia, Gros Islet 2010 t20 WC semifinal(strictly it was t20 game but the manner of the defeat still hurts to this day - not to mention australia is our bogey team)

4) Pakistan vs India 2012 Asia Cup (how we failed to defend 329 with a bowling attack of Gul, Riaz, Ajmal, Afridi and Hafeez is beyond me - the ruthlessness of Kohli's knock destroyed our attack that day)

5) Pakistan vs Ireland 2007 WC (pretty self explanatory)

6) Pakistan vs India 2007 t20 final (if only Misbah played another shot...)

7) Pakistan vs India 2007 t20 group stage (how did we not score 1 run off the last 2 balls??!!)

8) Pakistan vs SAF 2006 Champions Trophy (I had high hopes for us during that tournament when Inzy, YK, MoYo, Malik, Afridi, Akmal and Butt were at the peak of their powers but getting bowled out for 80 made my cry...)

9) Pakistan vs SAF 2013 Bilateral Series (18 runs needed, 8 overs left + 6 wickets in hand yet we still blew it)

10) Pakistan vs India Samsung Cup 1st ODI, 2004 (Chasing 350 was always gonna be tough but the fact that we got SO close made it even more painful - at the time, it was the highest total batting 2nd when we were bowled out for 344)
 
Nice collection

I would put #scg test vs australia where Kamaal keeping let us down despite being on winning node for most of match.
 
-99 WC final, to bat so poorly and pretty much gift Australia the title.
-That match against Australia a couple of months ago when we couldn't get 2 runs off the last over.
 
Nothing comes close to Mohali. That was the only loss where i was really disappointing.

2007 loss was okayish because T20's were not that big at that time.
 
-99 WC final, to bat so poorly and pretty much gift Australia the title.
-That match against Australia a couple of months ago when we couldn't get 2 runs off the last over.

The match against australia was essentially our tailenders batting in the last over. It would have been been pleasant to the get those 2 runs but I am not surprised. We had already lost the series anway...
 
1) Pakistan vs India Mohali 2011 (says it all really..)

2) Pakistan vs bangladesh 1999 WC (ultimately didn't matter as we reached the final but losing to bangla really hurt at the time)

3) Pakistan vs Australia, Gros Islet 2010 t20 WC semifinal(strictly it was t20 game but the manner of the defeat still hurts to this day - not to mention australia is our bogey team)

4) Pakistan vs India 2012 Asia Cup (how we failed to defend 329 with a bowling attack of Gul, Riaz, Ajmal, Afridi and Hafeez is beyond me - the ruthlessness of Kohli's knock destroyed our attack that day)

5) Pakistan vs Ireland 2007 WC (pretty self explanatory)

6) Pakistan vs India 2007 t20 final (if only Misbah played another shot...)

7) Pakistan vs India 2007 t20 group stage (how did we not score 1 run off the last 2 balls??!!)

8) Pakistan vs SAF 2006 Champions Trophy (I had high hopes for us during that tournament when Inzy, YK, MoYo, Malik, Afridi, Akmal and Butt were at the peak of their powers but getting bowled out for 80 made my cry...)

9) Pakistan vs SAF 2013 Bilateral Series (18 runs needed, 8 overs left + 6 wickets in hand yet we still blew it)

10) Pakistan vs India Samsung Cup 1st ODI, 2004 (Chasing 350 was always gonna be tough but the fact that we got SO close made it even more painful - at the time, it was the highest total batting 2nd when we were bowled out for 344)

96 WC?

Last 3 overs of Indian innings and a SAesque choke in the middle overs
 
The 07 and 11 loss.

We were so close to being crowned the inaugural champions and that defeat against Ind in the semi's was unbearable.
 
Mohali was really terrible, it finished around 1 PM Toronto time and I had to go to work then (as I had taken a half day), but I remember walking to work and contemplating life and thinking about what we, as Pakistanis, need to change about ourselves so as to not feel this feeling again.

But I think most heart breaking was the WT20 2010 Semi-final. That was just insane. At least in Mohali after Hafeez played that idiotic shot you knew there would be trouble and the decline was steady, but in 2010 it was such a sad shock.

Also to add to your list the very recent 3rd ODI against AUS in 2014 in which we couldn't muster up 2 runs in the last over to win the match with 2 wickets remaining
 
Mohali match, half of pakistanis cried , was a very sad moment for all pakis , hope we can take revenge in 2015 ...but revenge can only be taken in a knock out match
 
It's a story of lot of ifs and buts, but at the end of the day life is not all about winnign,and real happiness of winning can never be felt without pain of defeat. So we should just move on and don't need feel sorry and repent whole of our lives always thinking what if, but still not a bad thread, i think we as human beings remember such losses even more than the wins.
 
1) Pakistan vs India Mohali 2011 (says it all really..)

2) Pakistan vs bangladesh 1999 WC (ultimately didn't matter as we reached the final but losing to bangla really hurt at the time)

3) Pakistan vs Australia, Gros Islet 2010 t20 WC semifinal(strictly it was t20 game but the manner of the defeat still hurts to this day - not to mention australia is our bogey team)

4) Pakistan vs India 2012 Asia Cup (how we failed to defend 329 with a bowling attack of Gul, Riaz, Ajmal, Afridi and Hafeez is beyond me - the ruthlessness of Kohli's knock destroyed our attack that day)

5) Pakistan vs Ireland 2007 WC (pretty self explanatory)

6) Pakistan vs India 2007 t20 final (if only Misbah played another shot...)

7) Pakistan vs India 2007 t20 group stage (how did we not score 1 run off the last 2 balls??!!)

8) Pakistan vs SAF 2006 Champions Trophy (I had high hopes for us during that tournament when Inzy, YK, MoYo, Malik, Afridi, Akmal and Butt were at the peak of their powers but getting bowled out for 80 made my cry...)

9) Pakistan vs SAF 2013 Bilateral Series (18 runs needed, 8 overs left + 6 wickets in hand yet we still blew it)

10) Pakistan vs India Samsung Cup 1st ODI, 2004 (Chasing 350 was always gonna be tough but the fact that we got SO close made it even more painful - at the time, it was the highest total batting 2nd when we were bowled out for 344)

Request you to take this post off. Its lot of bad memories and heart aches in one post....
 
Mohali was really terrible, it finished around 1 PM Toronto time and I had to go to work then (as I had taken a half day), but I remember walking to work and contemplating life and thinking about what we, as Pakistanis, need to change about ourselves so as to not feel this feeling again.

What's with the over the top reactions in this thread about that game?

Personally speaking and as an Indian I always knew we were going to win that one. I had invested so much mental anticipation for the previous match - the QF against Australia that we ended up winning, so no matter how much I tried, I couldn't step up to feel that excited about the Pakistan match as them winning was out of the question. This was confirmed when the professor at University updated the score in the middle of an exam we were writing and said that Sehwag had pounded Gul for 21 runs off an over - business as usual on the batting side of things. Things did go a little pear shaped later on in the innings, but we were in control throughout.
 
1- 1999 World Cup final vs Australia
2- 2007 World cup Defeat vs Ireland
3- 2011 Semifinal vs India
4- 1996 Quarterfinal vs India
5- T20 World cup final 2007
 
1- 1999 World Cup final vs Australia
2- 2007 World cup Defeat vs Ireland
3- 2011 Semifinal vs India
4- 1996 Quarterfinal vs India
5- T20 World cup final 2007
 
96 Banglore loss is the most painful sporting memory for me. We subdued an inform Tendulkar who limped to 31 of 59 before getting dismissed. Indian middle order were steady and score of 250 was on the cards on a batting track. Jadeja slammed quickfire 45 to take India to imposing 287.
Saeed-Sohail came out all guns blazing and raced to 84/0 after 10 overs. Sohail continued after Saeed was dismissed and at 113/1 in 14.5 we were cruising to victory. Sohail lost his cool and threw it away BUT with Inzi Ijaz Javed and Malik we should have coasted but for our so called legends freezing under pressure.
 
You forgot the 1999 50 overs WC final loss!! For me this was and is still the most painful!
 
Mohali semi final.
2007 t20 final.
World Cup 2007 vs Ireland.
1999 World Cup final.

One defeat really upset me at the time was the 2004 series opening game when India toured Pakistan after a long time and chasing 350 Pakistan lost by 5 runs but should've won it if it wasn't due to moin Khans struggle at the end. Inzamam scored a brilliant hundred and Yousuf scored a quick 70 odd.
 
But nothing can beat the Mohali semi final. Misbah gave us a slow and tuk tuk style pain which started when he came to bat till the end when it as lost.
 
A match against SA which we somehow lost. Lost 5 wickets when we required 30 runs or something. It was the series decider, too!

2007 bowl-out and final. 2011 Mohali duh.
 
Mohali was the most painful match I ever watched and it was my first ever Pakistan vs India match that I watched. This followed up even further with another loss against India in Asia cup 2012 and 2012 T20 WC.
 
Mohali match, half of pakistanis cried , was a very sad moment for all pakis , hope we can take revenge in 2015 ...but revenge can only be taken in a knock out match

Wasn't that the match whereafter Veena Malik cried her eyes out on a TV show ? Those were fun times.Hope to see more of those moments in the coming months..:16:
 
Dunno about you guys but the bilateral vs SA in October 2013(#9 in the OP list) was very very painful. That had to be the most pathetic choke I'd ever seen.
 
You forgot the 1999 50 overs WC final loss!! For me this was and is still the most painful!

TBH, not really. We were dominates throughout that game and once we had slipped to 21/2, I knew we would not win that time. Australia were just better throughout.

I felt that we overachieved that tournament and getting to the final anyway exceeded my expectations.
 
Mohali was really terrible, it finished around 1 PM Toronto time and I had to go to work then (as I had taken a half day), but I remember walking to work and contemplating life and thinking about what we, as Pakistanis, need to change about ourselves so as to not feel this feeling again.

But I think most heart breaking was the WT20 2010 Semi-final. That was just insane. At least in Mohali after Hafeez played that idiotic shot you knew there would be trouble and the decline was steady, but in 2010 it was such a sad shock.

Also to add to your list the very recent 3rd ODI against AUS in 2014 in which we couldn't muster up 2 runs in the last over to win the match with 2 wickets remaining

For me, the the 2010 wt20 seminal was even more painful than the loss at Mohali.

If only, I could go back in time and ask some other than ajmal to have bowled that last over.

In fact, it is the only time we have lost after setting a target >150 in a t20 game. I was just stunned after the final over whereas in Mohali, hafeez's dumb shot triggered our inevitable steady collapse ... :(
 
Losing to Ireland in World Cup. Heartbreaking!


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I would say 1,3,4,5 and 6 were more heartbreaking, especially since they were all in important games in tournaments...

Yeah, but number 10 set the tone for changing the fortunes of the Indian teams performance against Pakistan. Before that game, it was felt that Pakistan just could never lose to India: there was an aura of invincibility (outside of the world cups) vs India. The team that toured Pakistan featured new young players who were not scarred by a decade of Pak domination prior. They had returned from a successful tour of Australia and their confidence was sky high.
 
1999 WC final by far!


1999 WC against SAF
1996 QF
2007 WC against IRE
2011 WC SF
 
Yeah, but number 10 set the tone for changing the fortunes of the Indian teams performance against Pakistan. Before that game, it was felt that Pakistan just could never lose to India: there was an aura of invincibility (outside of the world cups) vs India. The team that toured Pakistan featured new young players who were not scarred by a decade of Pak domination prior. They had returned from a successful tour of Australia and their confidence was sky high.

We beat India India in the 2004 Platinum Jubilee match, 2004 CT, 4-2 in 2005 ODI series, Kitply Cup, 2008 Asia Cup, 2009 CT, 2-1 in 2012/13 ODI Series and in 2014 Asia Cup all AFTER the match mentioned above.

Atlhough we never really had an "aura of invincibility" over any team (since we lost the 98 Sahara Cup final to and the 2000 Group stage match of the Coca Cola Trophy in Sharjah to India), i would say that it has been pretty even against India outside of WC games for the past decade...
 
We beat India India in the 2004 Platinum Jubilee match, 2004 CT, 4-2 in 2005 ODI series, Kitply Cup, 2008 Asia Cup, 2009 CT, 2-1 in 2012/13 ODI Series and in 2014 Asia Cup all AFTER the match mentioned above.

Atlhough we never really had an "aura of invincibility" over any team (since we lost the 98 Sahara Cup final to and the 2000 Group stage match of the Coca Cola Trophy in Sharjah to India), i would say that it has been pretty even against India outside of WC games for the past decade...
The past decade is a reflection of our falling standards.
The era we dominated vs India was prior to 2004 in head to head in odi's. Check the the numbers: last ten years is more evenly split the decade before that was Pakistan having a favorable advantage
 
The past decade is a reflection of our falling standards.
The era we dominated vs India was prior to 2004 in head to head in odi's. Check the the numbers: last ten years is more evenly split the decade before that was Pakistan having a favorable advantage

We may have had a slight dominance over India before but I don't think we were ever invincible over them atleast as far as I have been watching cricket. India also beat pakistan quite a few times in the 90's as well.

Despite the rise of the Indian ODI cricket team in the last decade, Pakistan have been pretty competitive against them head to head. WC is a different story however ... :(
 
Some of the most heartbreaking/painful defeats in LOI for Pakistan

1) pakistan vs india mohali 2011 (says it all really..)

2) pakistan vs bangladesh 1999 wc (ultimately didn't matter as we reached the final but losing to bangla really hurt at the time)

3) pakistan vs australia, gros islet 2010 t20 wc semifinal(strictly it was t20 game but the manner of the defeat still hurts to this day - not to mention australia is our bogey team)

4) pakistan vs india 2012 asia cup (how we failed to defend 329 with a bowling attack of gul, riaz, ajmal, afridi and hafeez is beyond me - the ruthlessness of kohli's knock destroyed our attack that day)

5) pakistan vs ireland 2007 wc (pretty self explanatory)

6) pakistan vs india 2007 t20 final (if only misbah played another shot...)

7) pakistan vs india 2007 t20 group stage (how did we not score 1 run off the last 2 balls??!!)

8) pakistan vs saf 2006 champions trophy (i had high hopes for us during that tournament when inzy, yk, moyo, malik, afridi, akmal and butt were at the peak of their powers but getting bowled out for 80 made my cry...)

9) pakistan vs saf 2013 bilateral series (18 runs needed, 8 overs left + 6 wickets in hand yet we still blew it)

10) pakistan vs india samsung cup 1st odi, 2004 (chasing 350 was always gonna be tough but the fact that we got so close made it even more painful - at the time, it was the highest total batting 2nd when we were bowled out for 344)


please add defeat to bangladesh and/or any associate member in the 2015 world cup
 
1999 WC final by far!

This one is second. The fact that we never had a chance in this puts Mohali higher where we were the favourites for a big part of the game.
 
Mohali 2011 was the only time I actually cried due to the result, and couldn't eat wnything for a day.

Although I was gutted after the World T20 2010 semifinal loss and did badtameezi with my Parents as well.
 
Things did go a little pear shaped later on in the innings, but we were in control throughout.

Not really. Look at the cricinfo commentary. As late as the 35th over, they were saying Pakistan was on top, and it was theirs to lose.

Anyway, go away will you? Weren't you just saying today that the WC is a warm-up for the tuk-tuk stuff? Why are you here on a LOI thread?
 
Anyway, go away will you? Weren't you just saying today that the WC is a warm-up for the tuk-tuk stuff? Why are you here on a LOI thread?

You've clearly got your mind tangled and have me confused with someone else, possibly with some England fan.
 
You've clearly got your mind tangled and have me confused with someone else, possibly with some England fan.

You said WC is only a way to find No. 6 batsmen to accelerate in 2nd innings, followed with a batman smiley.
 
Those who grew in 90s will agree that 96 WC QF defeat was very painful even more than Mohali. I remember that how I used to think it might be a bad dream or something. Mohali one was a expected one for me atleast. India were a better team than Pakistan in 2011 World Cup where in 1996 Pakistan was a very strong team compared to India.

We were defending World Cup Champs. India used to lose to Pakistan in 90s albeit (almost all matches played in Sharjah). But as a young kid, I won't consider that and consider India as a weak team. and Pakistan lost to match due to my all-time favourite bowler. This makes it even disappointing and painful.

After that defeat, I learnt that loss is also part of the game and one needs to live with it. It's just a game after all.

(But yes if there was one match whose result I would want to change then it would be this Bangalore QF).
 
Ireland in 2007, 1999 WC final defeat and the 1996 QF defeat.

96 Banglore loss is the most painful sporting memory for me. We subdued an inform Tendulkar who limped to 31 of 59 before getting dismissed. Indian middle order were steady and score of 250 was on the cards on a batting track. Jadeja slammed quickfire 45 to take India to imposing 287.
Saeed-Sohail came out all guns blazing and raced to 84/0 after 10 overs. Sohail continued after Saeed was dismissed and at 113/1 in 14.5 we were cruising to victory. Sohail lost his cool and threw it away BUT with Inzi Ijaz Javed and Malik we should have coasted but for our so called legends freezing under pressure.
Agreed, I talked about this in another thread. We should have at least got to the final in 96 with the talent at our disposal and being in subcontinental conditions.

We shouldn't have conceded 287 in the first place. Ajay Jadeja went berserk at the end and Waqar went for 40 off his last 2 overs. When Waqar had an off-day, he would get absolutely walloped and went into Wahab Riaz spray gun mode. Wasim Akram's late pulling out was a big blow and after the match his Lahore house got stoned apparently.

Even after that - we were well on track in our run-chase but the Aamer Sohail-Venkatesh Prasad for me was the defining moment of our World Cup and the defining moment in Sohail's career. Things going ever so well, we were miles ahead of the RRR and were on 113 after 15 overs which even by today's standards is a fantastic start. Some glorious shots and Bangalore was dead silent.

The idiot then lets arrogance get the better of him, he opens his mouth, and tries to slash Prasad again - and got bowled. It was like a metaphor for Sohail's career.

The brilliant middle-order consisting Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saleem Malik and Javed Miandad - doesn't get better than that - they all choked.
 
This I stll dont understand what :moyo was thinking when placing all fielders at boundary
After talking to the manager for that tour in detail a couple of years back, I found out that Yousuf wasn't the one directing the field settings, it was Kamran Akmal....
 
Those who grew in 90s will agree that 96 WC QF defeat was very painful even more than Mohali. I remember that how I used to think it might be a bad dream or something. Mohali one was a expected one for me atleast. India were a better team than Pakistan in 2011 World Cup where in 1996 Pakistan was a very strong team compared to India.

We were defending World Cup Champs. India used to lose to Pakistan in 90s albeit (almost all matches played in Sharjah). But as a young kid, I won't consider that and consider India as a weak team. and Pakistan lost to match due to my all-time favourite bowler. This makes it even disappointing and painful.

After that defeat, I learnt that loss is also part of the game and one needs to live with it. It's just a game after all.

(But yes if there was one match whose result I would want to change then it would be this Bangalore QF).

Bro you said everything in that post what I feel.

The Bangalore ODI defeat was much more painful than this Mohali one. Mohali I got over the next day.

I would say vast majority of ODI defeats I get over the next day.

But Tests stick in the mind and they do hurt - Sydney 2010 being the worst ever, couldn't even sleep properly how we lost that one.
 
You said WC is only a way to find No. 6 batsmen to accelerate in 2nd innings, followed with a batman smiley.

Yeah, and I was taking a jibe at the England cricket team in the process. The thread if I recall was something to do with their potential performance in the World Cup.
 
As an Indian fan

2003 WC final
2007 WC loss to Sril Lanka
Also the 96 semi loss

Beating the Lankans in 2011 final after 2007 loss felt really great
 
Nothing NOTHING can be compared to Mohali. Couldn't eat or sleep that day. And then school was horrible the next day.
 
Mohali was painful because it would not only settled the long due score in a brutal way but would have also left the arch rivals licking their wounds for years as this sorta of game and venue is hardly ever going to come back. This was truly once in a life time chance!

And then the way we lost was even more terrible. We simply gave it away by so many dropped catches and the tuk tuk of Misbah was icing on the cake.

This is my personal opinion and I could be wrong but I think there is a 0.01% chance that Mohali was fixed after Manmohan Singh requested Musharraf to let Pakistan lose on purpose to preserve the Indian honor or else Manmohan's govt will be brought down.

Almost looks like as if Pakistan purposely lost the game. I could be wrong.
 
The 96 quarter final was one of the fishiest matches I have ever seen..... unbelievable stuff..
 
Mohali must have been the worst. It was terrible to watch even for an Indian and I mean it. The way Pakistan progressed from a strong 2/100 off 23 overs to 6/150 off 37, with Misbah reaching 10 off 30 balls was painful to watch even from an Indian perspective. Misbah played out 12 dot balls consecutively ( and 3 off 25 odd balls during that dot ball streak) at one point against a bowling that cannot be called world class by any stretch of imagination, and I could not even understand what Misbah was trying to do. I was expecting Misbah to counterattack at some point, but it came only after the match was essentially lost. Never saw any batsman bat like that in a world cup knockout match.
 
Heartbreaking moments in cricket history

For me the top three would be :

1)India vs Sri Lanka, World Cup Semi Final, 1996

2) South Africa’s 1999 World Cup semifinal ouster.

3) South Africa vs Sri Lanka 2003 world cup.

What is yours?
 
Tendulkar 98 for me. Just saw it posted by ICC on facebook, so it reignited all the bad memories. That was the most important match where we needed Inzi to NOT run himself out :facepalm:

Also SAF vs NZ 2015 WC. Steyn, ABD, Morkel in tears because they knew this was their best chance of a trophy, by 2019 they will be too old.

Aus v Pak 2010 test series since there was too much shady stuff going on and we could've made that series close if it wasn't.

Eng v Pak series 2010, obviously.
 
Hobart test match 2003
Sydney test match 2010
A test match against west indies in 2000 where we couldn't get the last wicket (some bad umpiring)
 
Hobart test match 2003
Sydney test match 2010
A test match against west indies in 2000 where we couldn't get the last wicket (some bad umpiring)

That reminds me of India vs west Indies in 96 ( or 98 perhaps) where Franklin rose decimated India's famed batting line up and we couldn't even chase 100 odd runs to win the test match.
 
Tendulkar 98 for me. Just saw it posted by ICC on facebook, so it reignited all the bad memories. That was the most important match where we needed Inzi to NOT run himself out :facepalm:

Also SAF vs NZ 2015 WC. Steyn, ABD, Morkel in tears because they knew this was their best chance of a trophy, by 2019 they will be too old.

Aus v Pak 2010 test series since there was too much shady stuff going on and we could've made that series close if it wasn't.

Eng v Pak series 2010, obviously.

I am surprised you didn't pick India vs Pakistan final in inaugural T20 world cup.
 
England v Sri Lanka test at Headingley back in 2014? 2nd test in a 2 march series that was at 0-0. England battling out for the draw with Moeen Ali hitting a very defiant 100 with Jimmy Anderson at the other ball who had blocked out 60 odd balls for no run only to fall on the penultimate ball of the 5th day.
 
Theres already a thread on this I think. For me its Syndney 2010, 2007 T20 final, 2011 world cup final and 2010 T20 semi final.
 
Losing by 1 run vs Australia in the 3rd ODI 2014.

I know that's really recent and only a bilateral dead rubber but it was the early days when I started watching and I was watching so passionately and I thought we could win an ODI against Australia... Stupid people couldn't make a single run in 6 balls:facepalm:
 
Bob Woolmer's death after Ireland beats Pakistan in Worldcup 2007
 
Tendulkar 98 for me. Just saw it posted by ICC on facebook, so it reignited all the bad memories. That was the most important match where we needed Inzi to NOT run himself out :facepalm:

Also SAF vs NZ 2015 WC. Steyn, ABD, Morkel in tears because they knew this was their best chance of a trophy, by 2019 they will be too old.

Aus v Pak 2010 test series since there was too much shady stuff going on and we could've made that series close if it wasn't.

Eng v Pak series 2010, obviously.

Tendu has gotten out 20 something times in ODIS alone lol.
 
Oh and how can we forget just a month ago BD v Ind..

I felt really bad for BD, really wanted them to win.
 
For me its still 1987 WC semi-final vs England. One of our best batsman of the time (Vengsarkar) could play, dropped Gooch early who scored century, lastly Kapil played poor shot just when match was getting in our control again.
 
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