India historical win over Australia

Written by navyd March 21, 2011 180 1Add

ICC Cricket World Cup Quarter final(s)/knockout Schedule and Team vs Team Estimations or Clashes. Which team face which team in upcoming Quarter final Matches

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed the match officials that will take charge of the quarter-finals of the Cricket World Cup.

India set the World Cup alight when they sent four-time champions Australia crashing out amid emotional scenes in Ahmedabad to set up a mouth-watering semi-final against Pakistan.

The hopes and prayers of a billion Indians were answered when the co-hosts overcame what looked like a fatal mid-innings wobble to emphatically chase down Australia’s 260 for six with 14 balls to spare.

One of the great modern one-day contests began with Ricky Ponting (below), with so much uncertainty surrounding his future, defiantly and classily hitting a century that lifted the holders to a competitive total in the second of the quarter-finals.

Then, after Sachin Tendulkar had passed a staggering 18,000 one-day international runs, the extreme pressure seemed to be telling on India, as Gautam Gambhir ran himself out in comical fashion.

Three times in five deliveries Gambhir had given Australia the chance to run him out when he seemed to completely lose the plot and finally, on the third occasion, they accepted his invitation

It was left to Yuvraj Singh, who had scored a century against West Indies in India’s final group match, to haul his side over the finishing line in partnership with Suresh Raina, who was preferred to Yusuf Pathan for this all-important match.

Yuvraj, who has endured a difficult year, took apart Brett Lee and Shaun Tait as Australia’s lack of a quality spinner counted against them, just as it did in the Ashes. And Raina, supposedly vulnerable to pace, played the perfect supporting role to Yuvraj in an unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership of 74 off 61 balls, striking perhaps the shot of the day when he hit Lee back over his head for a mighty six.

There must be sympathy for Ponting, who has been ranting and raving his way towards the end of his international career during an undistinguished tournament for him.

‘We thought we had a chance at the halfway stage,’ said Ponting. ‘We probably just didn’t bowl as well as we needed to. We needed to get into their tail and we were unable to do that.

‘It’s disappointing that we are bowing out now — we are probably a better team than we showed, to tell the truth. We played a reasonable game, but not good enough.’

If this is the end for a great player in Ponting, at least he bowed out with another brilliant innings. It was not enough, though, when up against what seemed like the whole of India.

India historical win over Australia

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