INDIA VS PAKISTAN HIGHLIGHTS 2011 WORLDCUP SEMIFINAL

Mohali: India kept their unbeaten World Cup record against Pakistan intact as they beat the arch rivals by 29 runs in the second semifinal here on Wednesday.

Earlier, Pakistan openers Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez looked in no trouble whatsoever as MS Dhoni chose to open the bowling with Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra to defend a competitive 260.

The Pakistani duo reached 44 runs in the ninth over and looked in no trouble whatsover. But just when the two openers relaxed, Zaheer skittled out the dangerous Kamran (19), who was caught at point by Yuvraj Singh.

Hafeez and Shafiq then buckled down in an attempt to play out a spell of tight overs by Indian bowlers, where Munaf, after bowling a maiden over, came back in the next over to remove a set Hafeez (43 off 59 balls) who played a loose shot off a wide delivery. The ball took an edge and went straight into Dhoni's gloves.

Youngster Shafiq and veteral Younis Khan then too the score past 100 and looked to stead Pakistan innings after Hafeez's wicket.

But Dhoni kept ringing changes and brought India's man of the World Cup Yuvraj Singh to bowl his left-armers.

Yuvraj began well to keep Pakistanis under control and then struck two decision blows. First, he castled Shafiq (30) and then in his next over lured Younis (13) into a drive that was nicely caught by a leaping Suresh Raina in the covers.

That brought Umar Akmal on the crease and the youngster's hit-all approach made the pitch look totally different.

He took on India's top wicket-taker Yuvraj and hit him for a couple of sixes during an innings that started taking a match-winning shape.

Dhoni got his boys together on the second drinks break and his midas touch once again did the trick, twice

First it was Harbhajan, who struck first ball after the break by ending Umar's threatening stay at the crease after he had made 29 off just 24 balls.

Munaf's perseverence with line and length too paid him as he removed the dangerous Abdul Razaaq (3) for his second wicket of the innings.

All this while, Misbah-ul-Haq was playing the most perplexing innings, eating up deliveries by blocking and blocking.

Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi then walked in with the hopes of Pakistan resting on his and Misbah's shoulders.

The seasoned duo took the score from 150/6 to 184/4 and for the first time in the World Cup, Afridi looked to be getting his act together.

The Pakistan captain reached 19 off 17 balls but then they say, old habits die hard. The 'Boom Boom' man hit a Harbhajan delivery straight up and the skier was taken comfortably by Sehwag. Afridi, the seventh Pakistani wicket, gone for 184.

Wahab Riaz (8) was in next and he was also the one to go next: dismissed for eight by Ashish Nehra as Sachin took the catch.

In the afternoon, Virender Sehwag got India off to a rampant start after MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first.

Sehwag hit Umar Gul for five boundaries in the pacer's second over and also brought up his 1000 runs against Pakistan. Meanwhile, India raced to 50 in the fifth over of the innings.

But Afridi's decision to bring on left-armer Riaz into the attack brought immediate result as the quickie took out a dangerous Sehwag after the Indian opener had made a brisk 38 runs of 25 balls.

Sehwag immediately called for a review of Simon Taufel's decision, but it remained unsuccessful.

On the other end, Sachin Tendulkar looked pretty assured and took India to 73/1 in 10 overs, after which two deliveries stopped India's heart.

Tendulkar looked out for all money on an lbw appeal by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal but the master, after consulting Gautam Gambhir, took a review which turned out to be successful.

But off the very next ball, Kamran Akmal's smart glovework seemed to have caught Sachin out of his ground but once again the TV umpire gave it not out as Sachin seemed to have got his toe back just in the knick of time.

Thereafter, Sachin and Gambhir buckled down to bring up their 50-run partnership that helped India cross the 100-run mark.

Mohammad Hafeez was pressed into service by Afridi in the bowling powerplay where the Pakistani spinners pulled back Indian scoring giving away just 26 runs in overs 11-15.

After putting a lid on scoring, Hafeez drew Gambhir out of his crease to get him stumped and give Pakistan their second wicket. Gambhir made 27.

Gambhir's wicket was shortly followed by another life for Tendulkar, when Younis Khan dropped an easy chance at short cover off Afridi.

After that, Tendulkar's charmed life reached a 95th ODI fifty as Pakistan looked destined for a punishment from the master.

Riaz then came back for his second spell and immediately got reverse swing to put Indian batsmen on guard.

That actually accounted for Kohli (9) who was caught at backward point after being hurried by Riaz. In-form Yuvraj Singh came in next with all eyes on him to give Tendulkar company. But Riaz had a heartbreak planned for Indian fans as he castled Yuvraj (0) off the very next ball to jolt the Indian innings.

A scratchy Dhoni then accompanied Tendulkar as the two decided to buckle down to score in ones and twos.

Sachin, however, continued to live a charmped life with edges flying off his bat until one, at 85, flew straight to Shahid Afridi at short cover who didn't commit the same mistake his team had throughout the afternoon. Saeed Ajmal had finally got his man.

India now needed a partnership from its last recognised pair of MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina but it didn't happen as Wahab Riaz had other ideas in his final spell of the innings.

The left-armer returned in the last 10 overs and struck right away to take his fourth and the Indian innings' sixth wicket in the form of Dhoni, who scored an untidy 25 off 42 balls.

Thereafter, it was about how Raina can hold the tail together for a final flourish.

Raina and Harbhajan Singh chose to take the batting powerplay from overs 45 to 49 and began well taking 22 runs off the first two overs but the wily Ajmal drew his counterpart Harbhajan out of his crease to get him stumped after scoring 12.

At seven down, it was now about playing out the 50 overs, which India finally were able to do with a not-out innings of 36 off 39 balls from Raina.

But it wasn't before Riaz completed his five-wicket haul with the wicket of Zaheer Khan (9).

In the afternoon, the most awaited match of the 2011 World Cup got underway here in the northern Indian city of Mohali with a loud cheer receving the two captains for the toss that MS Dhoni won and decided to bat.

India Vs Australia Quater Final Live

New Delhi: That Australia's unbeaten run came to a halt in this World Cup is only evidence that the chinks in their once watertight armour are showing signs of falling apart and India will look for those openings to gun down the defending champions in the quarterfinal at Ahmedabad on Thursday.


There is no denying the fact that Australia have failed to recover from the succedent retirements in the last decade. The exodus of stalwarts like Glenn McGrath, Steve Waugh, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist has turned the invincibles into vulnerable.



Cut to 2011 and we find Australia getting seriously tested – with their 34-match, 12-year unbeaten streak in World Cups ended and wheels coming off whenever put under pressure.


There are quite a few weak links that render Australia defenceless in this World Cup, but the four that have set the alarm bells ringing in the Australian camp must be giving Ricky Ponting sleepless nights.


Innocuous spinners: With a World Cup in the subcontinent, where pitches have no grass for the fast bowlers to graze on, spinners rule the roost. But in the form of Jason Krejza and Steve Smith, Australia have arrived with possibly their weakest spin attack ever. Both have featured in all the six league encounters and while Krejza has a poor tally of five wickets, Smith has claimed just a solitary victim.


Ricky Ponting's poor run: The two-time World-Cup-winning skipper has looked a shade of his usual consistent self that earned him mentions in the same breath as Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. He came into the mega event looking to shrug off his bad patch but with 102 runs in six matches at a trivial average of 20.40, he has failed to get the monkey off his back.


Inconsistent support for Brett Lee: Australia's fast-bowling machinery is relying more or less solely on the veteran Brett Lee's (12 wickets in six matches) firepower and the others – Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson – have failed to support Lee when the chips have been down; for instance, in the game against Pakistan, where Lee bowled his heart out with a spell of 4/28 but had no support from the other end while defending a paltry 176. Further testimony to that could be found in the fact that minnows Kenya were able to play out their 50 overs against the defending champions.


Brittle middle order: Ricky Ponting's bad patch has uncovered a fragile middle order. Cameron White (58 runs from six matches), David Hussey (14 runs from three matches) and of late, Michael Hussey (66 runs in 3 matches) have failed to support the openers. And with Ponting too coming a cropper, the Aussie batting looks susceptible to better bowlers in the knockout phase.

Pakistan vs westIndies Live QuaterFinal

Karachi: Enigmatic fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is unlikely to play any further role for Pakistan in the ongoing World Cup.


Shoaib, 35, announced on Thursday that he will retire after the tournament.



The bowler seems to have lost favour with the team management, including skipper Shahid Afridi, after conceding 28 runs in a single over in a league match against New Zealand and, according to sources, is unlikely to feature in Wednesday's quarterfinal against the West Indies.


"Shoaib basically has lost favour of the captain, coach and some of the other players after the game against New Zealand," a well-informed source told PTI.


"Some of the players are not happy with the way he reacted after the New Zealand innings in Pallekele and behaved with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal," the source added.


The Jang reported from Sri Lanka that Shoaib apparently had argued with Kamran soon after he dropped two catches, one in his over, and then pushed him.


The source confirmed that after the New Zealand innings, Shoaib had a heated argument with Kamran over the dropped catches, leading to a tense atmosphere in the dressing room.


Pakistan lost the match to New Zealand but the source said that the team management later spoke to the PCB chief, informing him of the incident. The PCB chief reportedly told the team management that if the fast bowler was not behaving, he should not be played again.


"Subsequently, Shoaib was fined USD 2000 and also told by the management in clear terms that it is better if he decided to retire from international cricket," the source said.


According to the source, Shoaib now hardly has any friends left in the team.


"Practically, Shoaib's career is over and the management has decided to at least give him the honour of retiring gracefully by remaining with the team and not going public with his feelings," the source said.


Shoaib has had a controversial and colourful career since his debut in 1997. He has been fined and banned several times during a 14-year-long career.


However, after making a comeback to the team last year, he appeared to have reformed himself but the source said he remained at loggerheads with the management on disciplinary issues in recent months.


"As it is, there is an emphasis now on inducting and reposing more faith in the younger players and to quietly sideline some senior players, including Shoaib and Mohammad Yousuf," the source said.


He said both coach Waqar Younis and Afridi were in favour of inducting new faces, the reason why they had been showing confidence in players like Asad Shafiq and Wahab Riaz.


The source also stated that a recent statement by Shoaib, that if he had played under a captain like Imran Khan it would have helped his career as Imran knew how to use fast bowlers, has also not gone down well with the management.


Manager, Intikhab Alam, however, has maintained that their was no major fight between Shoaib and Kamran and that was not the reason behind Shoaib announcing his retirement.


"I think Shoaib had decided before the World Cup it was time for him to retire and he consulted his family members, who are in Sri Lanka, before announcing his retirement. It didn't come out of the blue. There are no issues within the team," Intikhab told a Pakistani newspaper.