The semifinal was evenly poised after these
twin strikes by Riaz after Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag had given India
a superb start.
Riaz had Virat Kohli and Yuvraj in two
successive balls in his fourth over to put the brakes on India. The other wickets
to fall was when Mohammad Hafeez had Gautam Gambhir stumped by Kamran Akmal in
their World Cup semifinal clash and Riaz had earlier caught Sehwag plumb for
his first wicket.
Tendulkar was batting on 60. Tendulkar survived two close calls in Saeed
Ajmal's second over. On the fourth delivery, the ball hit Tendulkar on the
pads, the Pakistani players appealed and umpire Ian Gould raised his finger.
Tendulkar opted for the review and the replays showed that the ball was going
down the leg side. The decision was overturned.
On the next delivery, Tendulkar missed the doosra while playing a front foot
shot and Kamran Akmal took off the bails in a flash. Square leg umpire Simon
Taufel went for the third umpire and the replays showed that Tendulkar had
brought his right foot down in the crease just in time.
Sehwag hit 9 fours in his 25-ball 38 and his onslaught started when he hit five
fours off Umar Gul's second over as India got off to a flying start.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat as India made
one change to the side that beat Australia in the quarterfinals, bringing in
pacer Ashish Nehra in place of spinner R Ashwin.
Pakistan have made no change to the team that beat the West Indies in the
quarterfinals, deciding against including mercurial pacer Shoaib Akhtar despite
widespread speculation before the match.
