Australia 260/6 (50 ov)
India 261/5 (47.4 ov)
India won by 5 wickets (with 14 balls remaining)
http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/engine/current/match/433601.html
Australia v India, World Cup 2011, 2nd quarter-final, Ahmedabad
Yuvraj sets up Pakistan showdown
The Bulletin by Sriram Veera
March 24, 2011
India 261 for 5 (Yuvraj 57*, Tendulkar 53, Gambhir 50) beat Australia 260 (Ponting 104, Haddin 53, Ashwin 2-52, Yuvraj 2-44) by 5 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
An awe-inspiring Ricky Ponting dazzled and Sachin Tendulkar hit a delightful fifty but it was Yuvraj Singh who stole the show to lead India to an exciting semi-final encounter against Pakistan. On a dry pitch, aiding turn, India couldn't remove a wonderfully solid Ponting, but found a way around him to hold Australia to a competitive 260. Tendulkar set the base and the middle order threatened to choke, but Yuvraj played a blinder to charge India to a famous win.
Sometimes, they say, one four can change things around. That cliché came alive today, in the final ball of the 39th over, with India needing 72 from 67 deliveries, when Yuvraj spanked Shaun Tait for a stunning four over backward point. It oozed of skill, impishness and dare under fire. Until then, in the preceding few overs, India choked and spluttered badly to almost hand the game to Australia. That Yuvraj hit over point sensationally turned the game on its head.
The next over proved to be the game-breaker as Brett Lee was looted for 14 runs: Suresh Raina played the most assured pull of his life to crash the first delivery to the boundary and Yuvraj carved the final delivery over point, but it was a shot in between that really reflected the enthralling contest. It was a screaming yorker from Lee, from around the stumps, and Yuvraj crouched, opened the bat-face and stabbed it through to the third man boundary. Lee looked stunned, and you felt that was the moment when India affected the jail break.
Until Yuvraj took ownership of the chase, the pressure-cooker situation had got to India and they were beginning to choke. In five mad overs between the 32nd and 37th, just after Virat Kohli had swiped a full toss from David Hussey straight to midwicket in the 29th over, it was absolute pandemonium as India looked hell bent on self-destruction. Gautam Gambhir tried to run himself out three times and was successful on the final attempt. In the 33rd over, he ran for a non-existent run after Yuvraj had played the ball towards midwicket but Ponting missed the sticks. In the next over, he got into a yes-and-no situation with Yuvraj and would have been run out had Brad Haddin, who dashed to the short mid-on region, thrown it at the non-striker's end. Gambhir was run out next ball, again running mindlessly after Yuvraj stabbed David Hussey wide of the first slip.
India required 93 runs from 101 balls at that stage, but they slipped further into the abyss as MS Dhoni got out after looking edgy. He nearly got involved in a run out, had a big swing and a miss against Lee and perished next delivery, cutting to point to leave India needing 74 from 75 balls. It was then that Yuvraj decided to play the World Cup innings of his life.
The batting Powerplay was the final hurdle, but Raina, who gave admirable support to Yuvraj after Dhoni's exit, walloped the first ball from Lee over long-on and Australia's fight evaporated with that shot.
Before Yuvraj, India's chase revolved almost entirely around Sachin Tendulkar. It was a slow pitch, but Tendulkar played some shots that defied the nature of the track. Tait v Tendulkar in particular lived up to the billing. Tendulkar punched the first delivery he faced, and the first from Tait, through cover point and, upper cut the next legal delivery to the third man boundary. Tait sledged, Tendulkar stared, and the chase was soaked with intensity from then on. Tait was soon out off the attack but returned to silence the crowd. He gave away six runs in his first over on return, which included two wides and also saw Tendulkar getting to his fifty. He struck with the first delivery of his next over, the 19th of the innings, with a delivery released from a slightly round-armish action that held its line outside off stump. Tendulkar tried to steer it to point but edged it to Brad Haddin.
Spare a thought for the Australian captain, probably playing his last World Cup match and to Australia, who were last eliminated before the finals of a World Cup way back in 1992. Whenever Zaheer Khan threatened to push India in front, Ponting shoved Australia ahead. The knock was a microcosm of Ponting the man. It had skill, grit, bloody-mindedness, and dare; it wasPonting. It will probably be the only knock from him that won't be remembered for many scintillating shots and it will be cherished for how responsibly he curbed his natural strokeplay.
There was tremendous poise in how he dealt with the slow nature of the pitch and a great amount of skill in the way he handled spin. Ponting showed sheer grit in the way he held the Australian innings together, and admirable character to do it when he wasn't in great form, on such a big stage. When he was fresh, he had to face Harbhajan, his nemesis, bowling from around the stumps.
Ponting countered him by shuffling to his right and working the ball with the turn. When he was tired, he had to face the reverse-swing from Zaheer. In the middle, he picked Ashwin's carom ball, and mixed caution and aggression against Yuvraj Singh.
Australia's slide and India's resurgence in the middle overs began with an awful shot from Clarke, who top-edged a slog-sweep against Yuvraj to long-on in the 31st over. Zaheer dismissed Michael Hussey with thatknuckled slower one to leave Australia wobbling at 140 for 4 in the 34th over. Ponting and David Hussey took the batting Powerplay in the 44th over and added 44 vital runs without losing a wicket. Ponting must have thought he had done all he could to ensure Australia remained in the competition but he was outdone by Yuvraj.
Sriram Veera is a staff writer at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Sriram Veera© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
- India RR 5.47
- Batting PP 22/0 (2.4) RR 8.25
- Last 5 ovs 36/0 RR 7.20
- Australia RR 5.20
| Current time: 23:09 local, 17:39 GMT | ODI career | ||||||||||||||||||
| Batsmen | Runs | B | 4s | 6s | SR | This bowler | Last 5 ovs | Mat | Runs | HS | Ave | |||||||||
| *Yuvraj Singh(lhb) | 57 | 65 | 8 | 0 | 87.69 | 12 (12b) | 14 (18b) | 272 | 8030 | 139 | 37.69 | |||||||||
| Suresh Raina(lhb) | 34 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 121.42 | 12 (7b) | 20 (12b) | 113 | 2677 | 116* | 35.22 | |||||||||
| Bowlers | O | M | R | W | Econ | 0s | 4s | 6s | This spell | Mat | Wkts | BBI | Econ | |||||||
| *Brett Lee(rf) | 8.4 | 1 | 45 | 1 | 5.19 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 1.4-0-11-0 | 199 | 348 | 5/22 | 4.72 | |||||||
| Mitchell Johnson(lf) | 8.0 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 5.12 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 1-0-10-0 | 96 | 145 | 5/26 | 4.89 | |||||||
Recent overs 1 1 1 2 1 1 | 6 1 . . . . | 4 1 1lb 1 1wd 1 2 | . . . 4 Current partnership 74 runs, 10.1 overs, RR: 7.27 (Yuvraj Singh 32, Raina 34) Last Bat MS Dhoni c Clarke b Lee 7 (8b 1x4 0x6) SR: 87.50 Fall of wicket: 187/5 (37.3 ov); Partnership: 19 runs, 4.1 overs, RR: 4.56 (Dhoni 7, Yuvraj Singh 11) Umpire reviews remaining India 2 (0 successful, 0 unsuccessful); Australia 1 (0 successful, 1 unsuccessful) |
| On behalf of Abhishek and the rest of the gang, this is Nitin Sundar signing off. Join us tomorrow for another Mirpur magnifico - South Africa v New Zealand. Ta! Sriram Veera's bulletin on the game is here. Stay glued to the site, there will be a lot of analysis from Sambit Bal, Sharda Ugra, Brydon Coverdale, Nagraj Gollapudi and everyone else coming in. After hurtling through the group stages unconvincingly, India have put up their best performance of the World Cup against the defending champions. This was by no means a flawless show, the mid-innings freeze and the mad running will have to be addressed. The pressure will be more in the semis, where Afridi's boys will be waiting. But, for the first time in the World Cup, India looked like a side that's deserving of the title. For the sixth time on the trot, there will be at least one Asian team in the World Cup final. Will Sri Lanka make it as well? Manjunaath: "Well, Facebook & Twitter better brace themselves with powerful servers on whats to come on the 30th!!" Not to forget, ourselves! Kalyan: "Though India won, this match will be remembered for Ponting's magnificent innings." Presentations Yuvraj has made a good habit of winning the Man of the Match. Fourth time in the World Cup: "I don't know about hitting any purple patch, but the pressure today, playing Australia, it was something else. When Dhoni got out, I knew we still had Raina to come, and thought if we added 40 odd runs it would be good. I told Gautam (after the run-out) I am not Virender Sehwag, I can't run like that ... Well, may be it was my fault. I have gone through a tough year, but coming into the World Cup, getting that 50 against England, it was good. 260 was a good score, Ponting batted outstandingly but we chased well." Dhoni: "70-odd runs needed with the last batting pair, it basically meant if we played 50 overs with Yuvraj and Raina, we would make it. There was pressure, and it was about handling it. Yusuf at No. 7 was going for the runs, but Raina is technically better and we were keen on batting 50 overs. That's why we went with Raina, but we know Yusuf can be dangerous. I'd have been satisfied keeping them to 250, we had our best fielding unit today. I think we saved around 15 runs that we hence did not need to chase. India v Pakistan semi-finals - it doesn't get better. The pressure will be big, but in reality it makes no difference to us." Ahmedabad does itself a disservice by booing Ponting: "We needed more wickets in the middle of the innings. With 15 overs to go, it was touch and go, but Yuvraj and Raina played really well. It's disappointing to bow out, we are a better team than we have played." August: "When was the last time India won 5 games in a World Cup and none has Tendulkar as 'Man of the Match', even after scoring two centuries and one '50' :)" Is the answer August? ;-) Sanjib: "Ponting the tragic hero, scored a Century in his very last innings of the World Cup Cricket. GREATEST EXIT, hats off for you." Indeed. Reminds me of Saeed Anwar's sparkling exit in 2003. Hemant: "Yuvi reminded me Mohindar Amarnath in 1983 World cup." NV: "This is a last and final call for all passengers travelling non stop to Australia on Air Quantas!" Sai: "Buh-Bye! Restroom here i come!!" Sumesh: "Congrats to ourselves! I was not looking away from the screen since Dhoni got out and it worked! :-)" Kedar: "This innings ranks at the very top for Yuvraj... a gem of an innings under immense pressure, what a transformation!" Priyadarshini: "The last time Australia hadn't played the world cup final was 1992. Things changes and I am loving it." But above all, contemplate all that Yuvraj has been through in the last year. He lost his form. He lost his fans. He lost his fitness with an injury. Controversy followed him like a faithful pet. He lost his Test spot. He almost lost his limited-overs spots. He hung in there. And he's taking India past every hurdle in this World Cup. With bat, with ball, and on the field. Yuvraj, take a bow. A day for champions. Ponting may have played his last World Cup game. But don't forget what he accomplished today. He overcame poor form, in tough conditions and played a top-class innings. Don't forget Lee, charging in like his life depended on it, spilling blood in an attempt to save four, but running in at 155+ kph and making India sweat all the way. And I don't need to remind you not to forget Sachin, who played among the most fluent innings Lee-Johnson-Tait would have ever seen. | |||||||||||||||
| 47.4 | Lee to Yuvraj Singh, FOUR, a poetic moment for the Indian fans. Australia's reign has ended. The crowd has lost it. Yuvraj is on the turf, mid-pitch, arms aloft, looking up at the sky and then waving his bat away in a frenzy of emotions. And just as well. We will have new World Champions, for the first time since 1999. Length ball on off stump, Yuvraj wanted to do it at one go, he backed away marginally and caned it through the covers. Everything is a blur. Australia are out. India will play Pakistan in Mohali. | ||||||||||||||
| 47.3 | Lee to Yuvraj Singh, no run, another yorker, marginally off-line, ends up on the toes and Yuvraj could have flicked through backward square leg but couldn't get it away. | ||||||||||||||
| 47.2 | Lee to Yuvraj Singh, no run, another yorker on middle and leg, Yuvraj can't get anything under it as he drives straight to mid off | ||||||||||||||
| 47.1 | Lee to Yuvraj Singh, no run, Lee is still not giving up. Yorker at 139 kph on off stump, Yuvraj looks to deflect it to third man but finds point | ||||||||||||||
India are a shot away. | |||||||||||||||
End of over 47 (11 runs) India 257/5 (4 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 5.46, RRR: 1.33)
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| 46.6 | Johnson to Raina, 2 runs, another Raina dink through the leg side. Mitch drops a short ball on the pads and Raina will keep tucking them there all day if he has to. There are no fielders there. Easy couple to India. The parties have started in the stands, says Ravi Shastri. | ||||||||||||||
| 46.5 | Johnson to Yuvraj Singh, 1 run, slow and back of a length outside off, Yuvraj looks to guide backward of point and he gets an inside edge onto the pads for a single into the off side. | ||||||||||||||
| 46.5 | Johnson to Yuvraj Singh, 1 wide, the crowd is delirious. Mitch slants another wide down the leg side. Ponting looks gutted. India are taking this away. | ||||||||||||||
| 46.4 | Johnson to Raina, 1 run, Raina backs away a touch, but Mitch follows him and Raina steers a short ball to deep backward point for a single | ||||||||||||||
| 46.3 | Johnson to Yuvraj Singh, 1 leg bye, slanting into the pads, Yuvraj gets some pad on it as he looks to flick. Leg bye. India get closer. | ||||||||||||||
| 46.2 | Johnson to Raina, 1 run, short and fast outside off, Raina has things under control now. He opens the face of the bat and runs it down to third man for a single | ||||||||||||||
| Md Akhtar: "I am not moving from my place, old Indian trick. Fingers crossed. :-)" | |||||||||||||||
| 46.1 | Johnson to Raina, FOUR, India are running home in a hurry. Johnson sends a bouncer down, but misses the line by a fraction. That's exactly what Raina is playing for when he hops inside the line to a bouncer. This one ends up to the right of his body and he glances it along, using Mitch's pace, and it screams away to fine leg. | ||||||||||||||
End of over 46 (7 runs) India 246/5 (15 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 5.34, RRR: 3.75)
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| 45.6 | Lee to Yuvraj Singh, no run, back of a length to end the over, Yuvraj is completely focused - no pressure on him despite playing four successive dot balls. He works it to the leg side of the pitch and stays put in the crease. | ||||||||||||||
| 45.5 | Lee to Yuvraj Singh, no run, Lee has not given up. He sends down a skidding yorker, and Yuvraj plays forward to it and ends up meeting it on the full. Just as well, the outside edge takes it away from the stumps and then it thuds into the turf on the way to Haddin. | ||||||||||||||
| 45.4 | Lee to Yuvraj Singh, no run, another short ball, at 143 kph and targetted at the body. Yuvraj stays put on the crease and defends down the track | ||||||||||||||
| 45.3 | Lee to Yuvraj Singh, no run, bouncer at 146.9 kph, he does his best to hustle Yuvraj into the corner, but Yuvraj leaps back in the crease and defends towards point. He had that under complete control. | ||||||||||||||
| 45.2 | Lee to Raina, 1 run, back of a length and coming into the pads, Raina dabs through square leg for a single | ||||||||||||||
| 45.1 | Lee to Raina, SIX, Raina has smeared him over long on. Lee lands one on the length, in Raina's business area. Mid on is inside the circle. Raina needs no more incentive to go over the top, he gets the front foot into line and mows it a long way. Huge moment. | ||||||||||||||
| India's biggest nemesis comes on. The Batting Powerplay. They can't delay it anymore. Lee, the champion, has the ball. 22 off 30. Slip in place. Round the wicket. | |||||||||||||||
End of over 45 (7 runs) India 239/5 (22 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 5.31, RRR: 4.40)
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| 44.6 | Watson to Raina, 1 run, Raina gets one more, stays on the back foot but whips in front of square easily for a single. | ||||||||||||||
| 44.5 | Watson to Yuvraj Singh, 1 run, he's doing it easily at the moment. This is top-notch one-day batting on display. Length ball angling across him, Yuvraj opens the face of the bat as he dabs to third man for one more | ||||||||||||||
| 44.4 | Watson to Yuvraj Singh, 2 runs, Fifty to Yuvraj. Each run has come under immense pressure. Fourth fifty of the World Cup. Length ball on the pads, Yuvraj is inside the line and hops onto the back foot as he nudges to deep backward square leg for a couple. | ||||||||||||||
| 44.3 | Watson to Raina, 1 run, another bouncer at Raina, he somehow manages to redirect it to midwicket for a single | ||||||||||||||
| 44.2 | Watson to Yuvraj Singh, 1 run, Yuvraj runs in like a fiend. Defends a length ball to David Hussey and mid off, runs like a man possessed and dives like Ian Thorpe, full on and into the crease. Would have made his ground if it had hit. It didn't | ||||||||||||||
| 44.1 | Watson to Raina, 1 run, length ball from Watson on the leg stump, Raina looks to muscle it over deep square leg, but doesn't time it so well. Just as well, on the bounce to the man in the deep. | ||||||||||||||
| Lee is back! With a bandage in place. | |||||||||||||||
End of over 44 (3 runs) India 232/5 (29 runs required from 36 balls, RR: 5.27, RRR: 4.83)
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| 43.6 | Krejza to Yuvraj Singh, no run, short but no turn, hurries along as Yuvraj looks to cut. Bottom edged onto the turf. | ||||||||||||||
| Commentator Nitin Sundar | Scorer Sanjay Murari | |||||||||||||||
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