Ind vs Pak : India beat Pakistan to enter World Cup final after eight years
India, runners up in 2003, booked a place in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka after beating Pakistan by 29 runs in the semi-final at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Wednesday.
Virender Sehwag (38) hit nine fours and Sachin Tendulkar, reprieved by referral and dropped four times, went on to make 85 from 115 balls as India compiled 260-9 despite Pakistani left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz’s career-best 5-46.
For Pakistan, Mohammad Hafeez struck 43 and Misbah-ul-Haq made a defiant 56 but the team was all out for 231 in the final over.
Opting to bat first, India started off well with Sehwag striking five fours in an over from the wayward Umar Gul and had amassed 38 by the end of the fifth over. But Sehwag was lbw trying to turn one from Riaz to leg and as India reached 50.
Tendulkar soon displayed some exquisite timing before he was given out lbw on 23 to the spin of Saeed Ajmal.
Umpire Ian Gould’s decision looked perfectly correct as Tendulkar was hit playing across the line but under review the ball tracking system indicated it was turning down the leg-side sufficiently to miss the stumps.
There was an appeal for a stumping next ball which was also rejected after a replay. Then followed a string of drop catches for Tendulkar on 27, 45 and 81.
Riaz soon brought Pakistan firmly back in the contest with wickets in successive balls to restrict India to 141-4 by removing Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh.
Tendulkar saw a thick edge brush the gloves of Kamran to the exasperation of the Afridi, who went wicketless for the first time in the tournament.
Then on 81 the younger Akmal brother Umar dropped off Mohammed Hafeez but it was a tough chance.
But 15 short of the landmark Tendulkar drove to extra-cover where Afridi made no mistake, and the run-rate soon dropped below five for the first time since the end of the second over.