We had dinner tonight at Desi Wok, a wonderful Asian restaurant on Hudson, just north of 41st Street, specializing in dishes of the Indian Subcontinent. This time we were there with the whole family. We watched World Cup Cricket on the big screen TV while enjoying chicken tikka masala and a shrimp, garlic, and ginger dish. My older son had sweet and sour chicken, which featured a much subtler and tastier sauce than the usual fluorescent red stuff you see at Chinese takeaways. The six-year-old had a chicken nuggets kids meal and proclaimed it very tasty. She shared some with little brother, who also enjoyed the naan bread.

We were fascinated by the cricket match. I tried to remember what I could of the rules, and I think I got them mostly right. A young cricket fan sitting near us gently and politely corrected some of my mistakes. (My knowledge of cricket has its roots in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, in which cricket equipment plays a key role.)

He told us that the restaurant is showing all the World Cup matches. The manager heard him talking about the likely India vs. Pakistan match and said with a smile that she might have to divide the room down the middle. (To get a sense of the rivalry, imagine OU-Texas, if OU and Texas had nuclear weapons aimed at each other across the Red River.)

The match was in St. Kitts South Africa vs. the Netherlands, a 40-overs Group A match. (Here's the box score.)

The current round involves four groups of four teams. The top two in each group advance to the second round, a near-round-robin, except that a team won't play the other "Super 8" team from its own group. The top four in the standings at the end of the second round advance to a single-elimination bracket -- two semifinal matches and a final on April 28.

You can read about our first visit to Desi Wok here.