Mount Everest Cricket

Named after the first two Everest heroes, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherp, two cricket teams on Tuesday have successfully played the world's highest match on the side of Mount Everest.

The Nokia Maps Everest Test was the brain child of Briton Richard Kirtley, who visited Gorakh Shep, a plateau 5,165m above sea level, some years ago. The 50 odd players, aged between 22 and 36, spent a gruelling nine days trekking to the site of the Twenty20 match at the Gorak Shep plateau. English skipper Andrew Strauss was the honorary captain of Team Tenzing and vice captain Alastair Cook led the Team Hillary. Team Hillary beat team Tenzing by 36 runs with six balls remaining.

The match was intended to raise $365,000 for two charities: the Himalayan Trust set up by Sir Edmund Hillary to support the Sherpas and a U.K. charity.

The location of the wicket was at more than twice the altitude at which professional footballers are allowed to play. At that height the body absorbs only two-thirds of the oxygen it does at sea level, meaning the resting heartbeat is about a third faster. So, definitely it was not a easy match for the players, which included bankers, lawyers and former cops.