The spirited Indian team defeated the world champion's Australia to reach the grand  finale of the Twenty20 World Cup in Durban on Saturday. Australians needed 21 runs for the win from the last over but lost the match by 15 runs. Once again Yuvraj Singh scoring 70 runs of just 30 balls helping India reach a total of 188. India who won the toss elected to bat first and achieved a big total to put pressure on the Aussies.
Adam Gilchrist and opener Mathew Hayden had tough time in the early 5 overs. Mathew Hayden was consistently beaten by Sreesanth on the off side but it was Sreesanth who bowled Gilchrist off a marvelous delivery for 22. Matthew Hayden sent off warning signs making 62 off only 47 balls with 4 sixes. He was however bowled by Sreesanth in his fourth over, Sreesanth giving India its crucial breakthrough. Andrew Symonds was playing attacking cricket as always and was looking dangerous but Pathan bowled him out for well struck 43 off 26 balls. Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Joginder Sharma bowled beautifully giving only 14 runs in last three overs.
Indian did have a rather slow start with scoreboard showing a total of 10 at the end of three overs. Sehwag who pulled a hamstring in the first over and Gambhir failed to give India a solid start. Both openers struggled a bit and never got the flow going and managed to scram only 41 runs in eight overs. Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa did most of the damage control and accelerated the run rate to almost 9 runs per hour from an earlier 5. Yuvraj first ball was struck for the longest six of the tournament for 119 metres. Uthappa also hit three sixes before he was run out for 34. Yuvraj maintained his golden touch after missing the match against South Africa due to tendonitis in his left elbow.
Teams
India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, MS Dhoni,(capt, wk) Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Joginder Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, RP Singh.
Australia: Adam Gilchrist (capt, wk), Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Mike Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark.
Man of the match: Yuvraj Singh
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and MR Benson (England)
TV umpire: BR Doctrove (West Indies)
Match referee: BC Broad (England)
Reserve umpire: AL Hill (New Zealand)
Didn't find what you are looking for? Search Here!
|
39 
