MOHALI: Pakistan’s young left-arm fast bowler Wahab Riaz recorded the best day in his brief cricket career in the semi-final clash of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 against India at Mohali on Wednesday when he stunned India with five wickets, who failed to take full advantage of Sehwag and Sachin’s heroics.
Star of the Show: Wahab Riaz. Courtesy: Getty Images
Virender Sehwag gave India a flying start and Sachin Tendulkar kept the momentum after losing his opening partner and it all looked one way traffic at the halfway stage of the innings with India comfortably placed at 141 runs for two wickets from 25 overs.
Indian fans stunned. Courtesy: AP PHOTO
Umar Gul had went for too many while Abdul Razzaq never looked impressive with the ball, leaving skipper Shahid Afridi to turn to young Wahab, who got rid of Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh on successive deliveries leaving India rocked at 141 for four.
Indian and Pakistani Premiers. Courtesy: Getty Images
Wahab hadn’t finished it as yet as he continued to bowl at probing areas and got rid of Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as India looked down the battle.
That’s where Suresh Raina took things under his control and battled it out till the final over as India managed to reach 260 runs for the loss of nine wickets from 50 overs.
Pakistan team celebrate Sachin's dismissal. Courtesy: Getty Images
Star of the show was of course Wahab Riaz who recorded his first ODI career five-wicket haul as he captured five wickets for just46 runs from his 1o overs. Umar Gul was totally out of sorts today as he went for 69 runs from eight overs. Saeed Ajmal grabbed two wickets for 44 runs. Skipper Afridi remained wicketless but two catches of Sachin Tendulkar were dropped off his bowling.
Pakistan Cricket Fans. Courtesy: AP PHOTO
As 253 runs is the average first innings total in the day and night matches at Punjab Cricket Stadium at Mohali and India have scored 260 runs. Now it’s up to Pakistan top order batsmen to get these runs which is not a stiff target by any means.
