It is a cricket broadcaster's dream match-up, India vs Pakistan in the first semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Both teams entered the semi-final in a contrasting but equally deserving manner.
Pakistan vs West Indies
I had predicted that Pakistan will win easily unless Chris Gayle does something extraordinary for the West Indies. As it turned out, Pakistan bowled first and when Gayle got out early, the match was almost over. West Indies could not handle the Pakistan spin attack at all and did not do anything great against the seam attack either. West Indies got one aspect of their selection right by including Chanderpaul and it was he who ensured that West Indies crossed at least a 100 runs. The West Indies batting collapse or rather disintegration was beyond belief and it was hard to relate this team to the teams of bygone eras. This match and particularly the West Indies batting was particularly symptomatic of the problems in their cricket.
Sammy in the post-match interview after their loss to India (in the last group game) had said that they will need to bring their 'A' game against Pakistan, as it turned out, West Indies 'A' would probably have fared better than the senior team. After posting such a low total, West Indies had to hope for a miracle, however Pakistan did not let them off the hook and ensured that they won by a thumping 10 wicket margin. Afridi as a bowler seems to be going from strength to strength and the inclusion of Saeed Ajmal was also a good selection choice. As an outsider, it is hard to figure out the exact issues with West Indies cricket, however choosing a captain who would be hard pressed to retain his place in the West Indies side (I don't think he would make the cut in any other international side, including Bangladesh) is probably part of the problem.
India vs Australia
This was expected to be a close game and it was. Australia won the toss and expectedly chose to bat. Watson went cheaply, however it was clear from the beginning that Ponting was determined to not leave the World Cup without making his mark. He was not as fluent as he normally is, however he was busy as usual and very effective in his placement. Though he did not dominate the bowling he was not troubled either by any bowler. Ponting duly got to a well deserved century and when David Hussey down the order threw his bat around, it looked like Australia had done enough to post a challenging total and their bowling and fielding would see them through.
As I had said earlier, I thought that this would be a match-up of India's batting vs Australian bowling. The first innings had resulted in a stalemate of sorts as the total was not large enough to be out of reach of India, but enough runs on the board for Australia's bowlers to think they had a chance. India started well with Tendulkar and Sehwag batting calmly and as the case when this pair bats, the run-rate was quite healthy. Sehwag survived a caught behind when reviews whether he had nicked the ball were inconclusive, however he perished soon after. Gambhir joined Tendulkar and both settled down to play safe cricket, however Tendulkar got out soon after he completed his fifty against the run of play. There were no experiments in the batting line-up and Kohli duly joined Gambhir. Neither batsmen looked in any trouble and Australia soon turned to spin in the form of Krejza and Clarke, however neither bowler could make much of an impression. Runs were leaking from both ends and it looked as if India would win in a canter.
Playing percentage cricket seemed to bore Virat Kohli and he tried to hit David Hussey out of the ground but managed to only sky it towards Michael Clarke at mid-wicket to take an easy catch. If this dismissal was needless then the next wicket to go was bizarre by any stretch of the imagination. Yuvraj came at the fall of Kohli's wicket and all the time he had spent in the middle in previous matches seemed to be paying off. He was striking the ball well and the run-rate was well under control. It was now Gambhir's turn to get a rush of blood to his head. There were two consecutive occasions on which either of Gambhir or Yuvraj could have been run out, once comically the Australian fielder threw at the wrong end (in fact he made an effort to throw to the wrong end when it would have been much easier to throw to the other end). Gambhir was not content to be let off twice and he attempted yet another suicidal run, however this time the fielder did not oblige and he was run out by yards. It needed the calm of Dhoni to see India through at this stage.
Yuvraj by now was scoring comfortably and Dhoni started in his busy manner, however the re-introduction of Brett Lee into the attack induced Dhoni to cut a wide delivery straight to Clarke at point. With 70 odd more to get, and the last recognised pair of Yuvraj and Raina at the crease, the script seemed all to familiar to Indian supporters. Lee and Tait were digging it short to Raina and though Raina was clearly not fully at ease, he managed to pull a few deliveries and did not let the short bowling intimidate him. The runs to get kept decreasing rapidly and Raina hit the final nail when he lauched Brett Lee over long-on for six, probably the shot of the match. Australia's reign in the World Cup had ended and a semi-final between India and Pakistan had been setup.
Australia had probably too many easy matches earlier in their half and the only real match they faced against Sri Lanka was rained off. By the time they got to Pakistan in their last group match, they had not really been tested and an inspired performance by Pakistan meant that Australia would have come into the quarter-final with at least some loss of confidence. India as always has been supremely reliant on their batting and this match finally showed the reason why Dhoni is sticking to 7 batsmen. Australia fielded poorly and India had their best fielding display to date, which probably resulted in an unexpected swing of about 20-30 runs (runs saved by India and given away by Australia).
A special mention needs to be made about Yuvraj Singh. I have been saying in the past that Yuvraj needs to play with the authority of old and he finally seems to be justifying the faith of his captain and the long rope given to him by the selection committee. All I can say is I hope this run of his continues and today he was deservingly man of the match and the best Indian player on the field.
Semi-final prediction:
History is against Pakistan as they have never beaten India in a World Cup game and I expect it to happen this time around as well. Home advantage will see India through.
Pakistan vs West Indies
I had predicted that Pakistan will win easily unless Chris Gayle does something extraordinary for the West Indies. As it turned out, Pakistan bowled first and when Gayle got out early, the match was almost over. West Indies could not handle the Pakistan spin attack at all and did not do anything great against the seam attack either. West Indies got one aspect of their selection right by including Chanderpaul and it was he who ensured that West Indies crossed at least a 100 runs. The West Indies batting collapse or rather disintegration was beyond belief and it was hard to relate this team to the teams of bygone eras. This match and particularly the West Indies batting was particularly symptomatic of the problems in their cricket.
Sammy in the post-match interview after their loss to India (in the last group game) had said that they will need to bring their 'A' game against Pakistan, as it turned out, West Indies 'A' would probably have fared better than the senior team. After posting such a low total, West Indies had to hope for a miracle, however Pakistan did not let them off the hook and ensured that they won by a thumping 10 wicket margin. Afridi as a bowler seems to be going from strength to strength and the inclusion of Saeed Ajmal was also a good selection choice. As an outsider, it is hard to figure out the exact issues with West Indies cricket, however choosing a captain who would be hard pressed to retain his place in the West Indies side (I don't think he would make the cut in any other international side, including Bangladesh) is probably part of the problem.
India vs Australia
This was expected to be a close game and it was. Australia won the toss and expectedly chose to bat. Watson went cheaply, however it was clear from the beginning that Ponting was determined to not leave the World Cup without making his mark. He was not as fluent as he normally is, however he was busy as usual and very effective in his placement. Though he did not dominate the bowling he was not troubled either by any bowler. Ponting duly got to a well deserved century and when David Hussey down the order threw his bat around, it looked like Australia had done enough to post a challenging total and their bowling and fielding would see them through.
As I had said earlier, I thought that this would be a match-up of India's batting vs Australian bowling. The first innings had resulted in a stalemate of sorts as the total was not large enough to be out of reach of India, but enough runs on the board for Australia's bowlers to think they had a chance. India started well with Tendulkar and Sehwag batting calmly and as the case when this pair bats, the run-rate was quite healthy. Sehwag survived a caught behind when reviews whether he had nicked the ball were inconclusive, however he perished soon after. Gambhir joined Tendulkar and both settled down to play safe cricket, however Tendulkar got out soon after he completed his fifty against the run of play. There were no experiments in the batting line-up and Kohli duly joined Gambhir. Neither batsmen looked in any trouble and Australia soon turned to spin in the form of Krejza and Clarke, however neither bowler could make much of an impression. Runs were leaking from both ends and it looked as if India would win in a canter.
Playing percentage cricket seemed to bore Virat Kohli and he tried to hit David Hussey out of the ground but managed to only sky it towards Michael Clarke at mid-wicket to take an easy catch. If this dismissal was needless then the next wicket to go was bizarre by any stretch of the imagination. Yuvraj came at the fall of Kohli's wicket and all the time he had spent in the middle in previous matches seemed to be paying off. He was striking the ball well and the run-rate was well under control. It was now Gambhir's turn to get a rush of blood to his head. There were two consecutive occasions on which either of Gambhir or Yuvraj could have been run out, once comically the Australian fielder threw at the wrong end (in fact he made an effort to throw to the wrong end when it would have been much easier to throw to the other end). Gambhir was not content to be let off twice and he attempted yet another suicidal run, however this time the fielder did not oblige and he was run out by yards. It needed the calm of Dhoni to see India through at this stage.
Yuvraj by now was scoring comfortably and Dhoni started in his busy manner, however the re-introduction of Brett Lee into the attack induced Dhoni to cut a wide delivery straight to Clarke at point. With 70 odd more to get, and the last recognised pair of Yuvraj and Raina at the crease, the script seemed all to familiar to Indian supporters. Lee and Tait were digging it short to Raina and though Raina was clearly not fully at ease, he managed to pull a few deliveries and did not let the short bowling intimidate him. The runs to get kept decreasing rapidly and Raina hit the final nail when he lauched Brett Lee over long-on for six, probably the shot of the match. Australia's reign in the World Cup had ended and a semi-final between India and Pakistan had been setup.
Australia had probably too many easy matches earlier in their half and the only real match they faced against Sri Lanka was rained off. By the time they got to Pakistan in their last group match, they had not really been tested and an inspired performance by Pakistan meant that Australia would have come into the quarter-final with at least some loss of confidence. India as always has been supremely reliant on their batting and this match finally showed the reason why Dhoni is sticking to 7 batsmen. Australia fielded poorly and India had their best fielding display to date, which probably resulted in an unexpected swing of about 20-30 runs (runs saved by India and given away by Australia).
A special mention needs to be made about Yuvraj Singh. I have been saying in the past that Yuvraj needs to play with the authority of old and he finally seems to be justifying the faith of his captain and the long rope given to him by the selection committee. All I can say is I hope this run of his continues and today he was deservingly man of the match and the best Indian player on the field.
Semi-final prediction:
History is against Pakistan as they have never beaten India in a World Cup game and I expect it to happen this time around as well. Home advantage will see India through.
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