Quarter-final: India vs Australia
The memories of the 2003 World Cup were still fresh and the entire country knew that this was the match India had to win, not only to move a step closer to win the World Cup, but also to stop Australia’s World Cup winning streak. Much to the shock of Indian fans, Dhoni lost the toss and Ponting took no time in deciding to bat first keeping in mind India’s inability to win big matches while chasing.
It was revenge time for Zaheer Khan who had leaked 67 runs in 7 overs in 2003 World Cup final. But in these eight years, he had not only become more mature as a cricketer, but also confident. Haddin and Watson added 40 runs for the first wicket and like always, skipper Ponting who had an ordinary World Cup so far had saved his best for the big match. Punter scored 104 runs from 118 balls, not in his usual brutal way, but he for sure led from the front as the Kangaroos struggled to free their hands. Australia managed to score 260 runs with some late hitting by David Hussey (38 from 26) and it was the best chance for the Men in Blue to move to a step closer as the target was achievable.
Sehwag and Tendulkar carefully added 44 runs for the first wicket and even though Punter rotated his bowlers very often but to no avail as the express pace of Lee and Tait also could do no wonders for the Kangaroos. Tendulkar and Gambhir added 50 runs for the second wicket but with some twists and turns, half of the Indian team was back in pavilion for 187 runs as India still needed 74 runs with Yuvraj and Raina at the crease. Yuvraj’s dream run with the bat continued as he scored 57 runs and given the opportunity, Raina too slammed 34 runs from 28 balls ending Australia’s dominance in the World Cup. It was a big moment for Team India and now they were all set to clash against arch-rival Pakistan in a very crucial semi-final fixture.
Result: India won by 5 wickets
Man of the Match: Yuvraj Singh (57 runs and 2 wickets)