Fittingly, Yuvraj hit a perfect cover drive in the 48th over to a bruised Brett Lee ball as the vociferous crowd of 43,000 erupted in jubilation to celebrate the Indian victory with the tricolour in their hands. There were useful contributions from Sachin Tendulkar (53) and Gautam Gambhir (50) but it was Yuvraj who stole the show with his temperament in the company of Suresh Raina despite a few hiccups in India’s runchase.
Bleed for Ponting. Out of form and under fire to quit before the match, the Aussie skipper played possibly his greatest World Cup innings, singlehandedly, bloody-mindedly dragging Australia to the brink of possible victory with a century.
But the boys in blue had other plans. Yuvraj first grabbed a couple of wickets in the Australian innings and then followed it with an unbeaten 57 to Turn to claim his fourth man-of-the match award in the tournament.
The attacking left-hander has become a valuable cog in India’s success wheel and his evolution as a match-winner was once again decisively demonstrated in the crucial quarter-final clash against the three-time defending champions. Yuvraj saw Gambhir and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni perish in quick succession but he remained unmoved and made sure he punished the Australian bowlers every time he got an opportunity on a two-paced Motera wicket.
Ponting relied too much on his pacers and with just one frontline spinner in Jason Krejza, his options were limited. In Suresh Raina, Yuvraj found an able ally. The two were involved in an unbroken 74-run stand for the sixth wicket, to see India through. Ponting finally ended his run drought with his 30th century, his first in over a year. But his brilliant knock was not enough against an inspired Indian team.
Chasing 261 for a win, Tendulkar looked in great touch. He looked good for his 100th international ton even as Virender Sehwag (15) was dismissed by Shane Watson. A push towards the cover off Brett Lee took Tendulkar past 18,000 runs in One-Day Internationals.
The maestro completed his half-century off 61 balls. The Sardar Patel Stadium, where he scored his maiden double century in Test cricket, looked set for another masterpiece until he was caught behind for 53 off Shaun Tait with India needing 176 runs more.
Gambhir (50 off 64 balls) and Yuvraj Singh survived some anxious moments with some horrendous running between the wickets. Their lack of communication finally bore fruit for the Australians when Gambhir ran for a non-existent single and was run-out soon after reaching the50-run mark.
Earlier, after electing to bat, Ponting paced his innings to perfection and announced his return to form with his first century in over a year after his first five innings in the World Cup yielded just 102 runs. Ponting, 36, was well supported by wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin (53 off 62 balls) and David Hussey (38 off 26 balls).
The toss was always crucial, especially in a pressure game like this and Ponting had the luck on his side to call the coin correctly. The Tasmanian, however, did not get much support from his batsmen, some of whom were out to reckless shots. He crafted his innings brilliantly, holding one end on a two-paced Motera pitch where his teammates found the going tough as India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni marshaled his troops really well – at least till the 44th over of the Australian innings.
It was a reverse hit, which isn’t too common with Ponting, off Ashwin that brought an end to his magnificent knock which was studded with seven fours and a six. But Ponting wasn’t the one to join them in the pavilion so soon and produced a special knock, which was not as authoritative as the one in Johannesburg in the 2003 World Cup final. But it still had brilliance stamped on it. His century fetched him accolades and applause from the spectators, which later called him a “ cheat” for an appeal for a catch.
The Australian captain claimed a catch off Gambhir but replays showed that the ball bounced before he took the catch and the batsman stood his ground. As expected, Dhoni opened the bowling with Ashwin and by the ninth over, it was spin from both the ends with Harbhajan joining in. Shane Watson (25) and Brad Haddin were cautious to start with but Ashwin ended their resistance when he had Watson out bowled in the 10th over.
Haddin’s calculated risks fetched him good results before Yuvraj had him caught by Raina, ending his 70-run stand for the second wicket with Ponting. Michael Clarke (8) didn’t give his captain the support he needed and perished cheaply. Zaheer’s knack of getting wickets with the old ball again came to the fore when he dismissed Michael Hussey (3) and Cameron White (12). David Hussey gave Australia just the kind of impetus they needed at the end of the innings. Zaheer, Yuvraj and Ashwin got two wickets each.
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