India’s cricketers have defeated their spirited subcontinental neighbours Pakistan by 29 runs to reach the ICC Cricket World Cup final.
Under the lights in Mohali, India successfully defended a score of 260 runs for nine wickets from their 50 overs, thanks largely to Sachin Tendulkar’s well-paced anchor innings of 85, although he was let off four times by Pakistan in the field. The next best score was Indian opener Virender Sehwag’s 38, with others chipping in to keep the total competitive.
Pakistan’s left-armer Wahab Riaz took five wickets for 46 runs from his 10 overs.
In reply, Pakistan cruised to 44 before wicketkeeping opener Kamran Akmal fell to Yuvraj Singh’s spin. Mohammed Hafeez reached 43 before falling behind to Munaf Patel, starting a wobble as the run rate proved too high.
Steady wickets then fell even as middle-order batsman Misbah-ul-Haq tried desperately to keep his team in the semi-final as he held up one end and hit strategic boundaries. But nobody could stick with him and the task eventually became too much as he holed out to Kohli off of the bowling of Zaheer Khan to cue Indian celebrations.
India faces Sri Lanka in the final.
