DURBAN, South Africa, 23 September 2007 — India stunned favorites Australia by 15 runs here yesterday to set up a mouthwatering final against Pakistan in the Twenty20 world championships.
Yuvraj Singh smashed 70 off 30 balls as India, electing to take first strike at the jam-packed Kingsmead, made a challenging 188-5 and then restricted Australia to 173-7 in a rousing semifinal.
Australia, needing 27 off the last 12 balls, were kept down to five runs in the 19th over bowled by left-arm seamer Rudra Pratap Singh and six runs in Joginder Sharma’s last over.
Sharma, who was hammered for 31 runs in his first two overs, was gambled for the final over by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and came good with two wickets at the end. Opener Matthew Hayden hit 62 off 47 balls and Andrew Symonds scored a 26-ball 43 during a rollicking third wicket stand of 66 that came off just 37 deliveries.
Australia, coasting at 134-2 by the 15th over, lost five wickets for 39 runs to hand India a famous win before some 19,000 delirious South African fans waving the Indian flag. Seamer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth shone with the ball taking 2-12 off his four overs. Irfan Pathan and Sharma also claimed two wickets each.
The final at the Wanderers in Johannesburg tomorrow will be the first major title clash between India and Pakistan since the limited-overs world championship of cricket in Melbourne in 1985. “I think there were certain crucial moments in the game that India played better than us and deserved to win,” said Australian captain Adam Gilchrist, standing in for the injured Ricky Ponting.
“This game shows that if you have runs on the board you can put the other team under pressure and India did it very well tonight.” Dhoni said his team was delighted to prove critics wrong.
“I think everyone said Australia were the favorites and I am glad we proved them wrong,” the Indian captain said.
“Once we posted a reasonable total, I knew we could win even when Hayden and Symonds were scoring so heavily.
“I just told Joginder before the final over to bowl as if he was bowling in a domestic match and not a world championship semifinal. “I told him that you have faced such situations in domestic matches and done well, so there was no reason why you can’t do it again. God bless him, it worked out well.” Left-handed Yuvraj, who smashed England fast bowler Stuart Broad for six sixes in a over on Wednesday, hit five sixes and as many boundaries to boost India’s total.
Dhoni chipped in with 36 off 18 balls as India plundered 128 runs in the final 10 overs after a slow start.
Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa (34) hammered 84 for the third wicket off just 40 deliveries after India had plodded to 41-2 by the eighth over.
Yuvraj walked in after openers Virender Sehwag (nine) and Gautam Gambhir (24) had fallen against the tight Australian seam bowling. Yuvraj took charge immediately, slamming the first delivery he faced from Stuart Clark for six over square-leg. Symonds’ first over, the 11th of the innings, produced 19 runs as Yuvraj helped himself to a six and four and Uthappa pulled a short ball for six. Yuvraj brought up his half-century off 20 balls by lofting Clark for his fourth six and Uthappa celebrated his partner’s feat by smashing two consecutive sixes off Mitchell Johnson.
Earlier, In Cape Town, a half-century by Imran Nazir and three wickets from paceman Umar Gul helped Pakistan beat New Zealand by six wickets with seven balls to spare yesterday to reach the final of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup.
Gul was not introduced until the 12th over at Newlands but quickly removed Scott Styris (18), Peter Fulton (10) and Jacob Oram (1) to restrict New Zealand to a modest 143 for eight after electing to bat first. Opener Nazir, batting with a runner after injuring his leg, then lashed three fours and five sixes in his 41-ball innings of 59 to lead Pakistan to victory. Nazir put on 60 for the first wicket with Mohammad Hafeez (32).
Pakistan were never behind the asking rate and remained in control throughout the run chase. Captain Shoaib Malik (26 not out) finished the contest in style by hammering off-spinner Jeetan Patel over mid-wicket for six. “Every captain dreams of taking his team to a World Cup final and I feel the same way,” Malik said. “We will try to win the final and give this gift to the nation in the holy month of Ramadan which is blessed with showers from the Almighty.”
Earlier, Ross Taylor top-scored for New Zealand with an unbeaten 37 from 23 balls. He smashed paceman Mohammed Asif for 17 in the final over. Openers Brendan McCullum (26) and Lou Vincent (28) shared a 50-run opening stand before wickets started to fall on a regular basis. For New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori, it was yet another taste of semifinal defeat. “It’s bitterly disappointing — this is the worst I’ve felt for a long time. It was yet another opportunity to reach the final of a major event and we thought we could win,” he said.
“We were a lot more relaxed than before several other semifinals but we couldn’t get across the line. Unfortunately we’re bound to be labeled with the tag of not being able to reach finals,” Vettori added. Pakistan will play India in tomorrow’s final.
