Pakistan vs. India: and the streak continues - ICC World Cup 2011
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 at Mohali in a match that would
decide the fate of who will make it to the finals of ICC World Cup 2011.
However, it was the Indian Team who emerged victorious once again and will now face co-host http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820. For the first in world cup history the hosts of an event will meet each other in the
finals.
Critics tagged http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mahendra-Singh-Dhoni-c73820 after winning the toss opted to bat first. They piled
up a competitive total of 260 runs for the loss of nine wickets.
Their bowlers, however, restricted the opponents to 231 thus winning the match by 29 runs. Little Master Sachin Tendulkar was adjourned the Man of the Match for his hard fought innings of 85 runs from 115 deliveries.
The hosts got off to a flier thanks to some early fireworks by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Gul-c94604 and hammered him all over the park. The opening combination of Sehwag and Tendulkar contributed 48
runs from just 5.5 overs with Viru being the major contributor. He scored 38 of those runs and was eventually dismissed by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wahab-Riaz-c95839.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898 removed Gambhir, but at that stage the Men in Blue were well-placed at 116 for the loss of two wickets.
The Men in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 bounced back by claiming two wickets within 25 runs, but the solid start given to the hosts always kept their run rate high and allowed the incoming batsmen to settle in. Tendulkar played the anchor role while others
played around him.
Once Tendulkar was removed, the 1992 world champions did not allow other batsmen to settle in and restricted the hosts to 260 runs. Wahab Riaz was the pick of the bowlers, as he claimed five wickets and gave away 46 runs from his
allotted overs.
The Indian cause was supported by some very sloppy fielding by the 1992 champions, as they dropped six catches and four of those six catches were of Player of the Match Tendulkar. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kamran-Akmal-c70122 was once again amongst the culprits who
dropped catches along with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595.
In reply to the Indian total, Pakistan started off well themselves. Kamran and Hafeez provided with a good start, but India’s Mr. Reliable http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Asad-Shafiq-c46208 came in next and his partnership
with Hafeez was short lived as the later got out, scoring 43 runs, in an attempt to improvise a shot.
Pakistan started to stutter at this point, as they went from 70 for the loss of two wickets to 150 for six. Younis and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421 failed miserably thus pushing the Men in Green down into the dark. Younis scored 13 while Razzaq scored
three.
When Pakistani captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 got out, Misbah was left with tail-enders and requiring 76 from 8.1 overs was a daunting task for him alone. Thus, Pakistan fell short of the required total and was all dismissed in 49.5-overs.
Misbah was the last man to go, as he scored 56 runs.
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