Did the Super Over epic ever happen?

It's as if it never happened. As if Kagiso Rabada, defending 12 in the final over, never bowled two no-balls and two wides, was hit for six by Noor Ahmed, yet scrambled to run out Fazalhaq Farooqi and tie the scores with no balls left.

As if Tristan Stubbs never muscled a low full toss over long-off for six to tie the first Super Over.

As if Keshav Maharaj, after being hit for three consecutive sixes by Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the second Super Over, never dared to bowl a yorker—a spinner attempting that!—and had him caught at point to finally end an outrageous spectacle.

As if Gurbaz, in defeat, did not sink to one knee, head bowed, heart in despair.

You would be forgiven for thinking none of this happened at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday. Because by the time it did, Australia were well into their 67-run win over Ireland in Colombo, followed by West Indies' 30-run victory over England in Mumbai.

South Africa were declared winners over Afghanistan after two Super Overs? Really? Who knew?

It's obscene that such drama is forced to be forgotten so quickly. In a better world, it would marinate in its own magnificence. But tournaments are only as good as their next game, even the T20 World Cup.

Why promote the future in the throes of the present? It whispers, "This isn't much, but wait for something better."

Cricket is an emphatically-for-profit enterprise, existing significantly only on-screen. This is about money, not players or fans—though without them, there is no money.

When Australia and West Indies famously tied the first Test in Brisbane in December 1960, no one would have been told to change the channel mid-game. Sixteen days passed before they resumed at the MCG. After three more Tests, Australians lined the streets to bid the West Indians farewell.

Frank Worrell's team left a legacy. Here we are, 65 years later, still talking about that series. Rohan Kanhai and Garfield Sobers scored centuries. Alan Davidson took wickets with guile. They played as if engrossed in a game, not surviving a professional grind.

This isn't nostalgia. In 1960, cricket ignored South Africa's racism. Afghanistan was a monarchy cozying up to the Soviet Union. India-Pakistan Tests were often drawn amid political tensions. Is the world better now? A trick question.

South Africa and Afghanistan played in Ahmedabad on Wednesday like Australia and West Indies did long ago. Who will remember? Likely nobody. Within 24 hours, two more matches finished, another started, and two more loom on Thursday.

Maybe the Wednesday wonder couldn't leap from screen to memory. Maybe you had to be there. Happily, some of us were.