On This Day: March 30, 2011 - India beats Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup semi-final at Mohali

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India's dream of a World Cup triumph at home is one step closer after their bowlers suffocated Pakistan's batsmen to set up a 29-run victory in the semi-final in Mohali. Saturday's decider will now be a battle of the hosts, and while Sri Lanka might have been surprised by the strength of India's bowling effort, they would also have taken note of a slightly lacklustre batting performance.

In the end, India's 260 for 9 was enough as their bowlers did a fine job, but had Pakistan helped themselves, the target could have been so much more gettable. Sachin Tendulkar was dropped four times in his 85, MS Dhoni was put down once and while Wahab Riaz was extremely impressive in collecting five wickets, Umar Gul had one of his most forgettable days, wilting under the pressure of a World Cup semi-final.

By contrast, India's display in the field was much more professional, and that was the difference in a match that lived up to the extreme pre-match hype. The decision to leave R Ashwin out to make room for Ashish Nehra was an odd choice on a pitch offering plenty of spin, but Nehra and his bowling colleagues built the pressure and gave Pakistan's batsmen little to attack after they made a promising start and reached 70 for 1.

The Indians didn't give away an extra until the 37th over of the innings, and the way they put together strings of dot balls and tight overs was key to their success. Munaf Patel picked up two victims and Yuvraj Singh made up for his golden duck with a pair of wickets, but the most important breakthrough came when Harbhajan Singh bowled Umar Akmal for 29.

Akmal had struck a pair of sixes off Yuvraj, driving him over the sight screen and pulling him over midwicket, and anything was possible while he was at the crease. But Dhoni called on Harbhajan to replace Yuvraj, and with the first ball of his spell he came around the wicket and pushed one across Akmal, taking the off stump when the batsman played for the spin.

Shahid Afridi also fell to Harbhajan when he skied a catch off a full toss, and the obdurate Misbah-ul-Haq was left to steer the chase. He found it difficult to lift his tempo and was the last man out, caught on the boundary for 56 in the final over, but he ate up 76 deliveries and had he shown some more intent earlier, Pakistan might have had a chance.

It was a disappointing end for Pakistan after their top order gave them hope. Mohammad Hafeez made an encouraging 43 before a string of eight dot balls from Munaf brought a brain-fade as Hafeez tried a premeditated paddle sweep from outside off stump and edged behind to Dhoni.

Soon after, the loss of Asad Shafiq brought the Mohali crowd to life, when he tried to cut a Yuvraj delivery that was much too full and straight, and the middle stump was knocked back. Shafiq had made 30 and had displayed a cool temperament until that point, but the required run-rate started to balloon, and Pakistan never recovered.

But while India have booked a place in the final, they must hope they haven't used all their good fortune too soon. Tendulkar might be the finest batsman of his generation, but today he was the luckiest, dropped on 27, 45, 70 and 81. It seemed as though he was going to bring up his 100th international century with one of his least convincing innings.

Misbah at midwicket was the first to put him down, before Younis Khan spilled a regulation chance at cover, both off the bowling of Afridi. The third opportunity came when Kamran Akmal didn't move his hands quickly enough to a thick edge, again off Afridi, and while that was a tough opportunity, a pull to Umar at mid-on from the offspin of Hafeez should have been taken.

Before he had any of those lives, Tendulkar had survived two very tight calls on 23: an lbw decision that was given out by Ian Gould but on review proved to be spinning down leg, and a near-stumping the next delivery when he just got his back foot down in time after losing his balance reaching outside off. When Tendulkar was finally taken at cover by Afridi off the bowling of Ajmal, Pakistan's relief was evident.

Soon after, a scratchy Dhoni, who was also dropped by Kamran, made the mistake of challenging Simon Taufel on an lbw decision. Dhoni had 25 when he missed a Riaz delivery that pitched just in line and was hitting the stumps. It was the second outstanding call by Taufel, who had given Virender Sehwag lbw in a similar fashion earlier, even though the left-armer's angle meant pitching outside leg was a possibility.

Riaz was the man who Afridi had to thank for keeping Pakistan in the contest after India made a strong start and reached 114 for 1 off their first 18 overs. After Gautam Gambhir was stumped wandering down the pitch against Hafeez, Riaz grabbed two wickets in two balls - Virat Kohli caught at backward point and Yuvraj bowled by a low full toss for a golden duck.

Nobody looked as fluent as the crease as Sehwag, who took 21 off Gul (0 for 69) from the third over of the innings. What looked like a 300-plus total in those early overs became 260 when Suresh Raina helped them recover from their middle-order failures.

It was enough, but India's batsmen will need to improve if they want to lift the trophy on Saturday. For now, they can dream of their first World Cup in 28 years.


Match In Discussion:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/engine/current/match/433605.html
 
Can't believe it's been two years already.

Just feels like yesterday that I was pulling an all-nighter for the 4am toss.
 
Re: On This Day 30th March 2011: India Beats Pakistan in the WC semi final at Mohali

Misbah ul Haq singlehandedly contributed majorly to this loss among countless others
 
i was in the stadium...on the most hyped match of all time..the entire stretch from delhi to chandigarh, which is more than 200 kms, you could feel that it was much more than a match...
 
What a depressing day that was! i couldn't stop thinking about it for so many days.
 
Can't believe it's been two years already.

Just feels like yesterday that I was pulling an all-nighter for the 4am toss.

I thought it had been a year, until I saw your post. Where has time gone?

I remember at the half way stage, even Nick Knight was on Pak's side and we were all celebrating saying that if Nick was on our side, we must be in a damn good position :)). Little did we know that Younus and Misbah had a special planned for us.

Also shows how bad our selectors are - two years later Younus is still failing at odis yet he keeps getting selected. No concept of learning from your mistakes.
 
This still hurts now. Just like Bangalore 1996 and Lord's 1999. The match was ours and we let it go with terrible dropped catches and using the powerplay too late.

India were more efficient on the day.
 
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It was the most amazing cricketing week. From Aus-India QF to India-Pak SF, the build up was unbelievable! Mohali had turned into a glamorous war zone. Security forces all around, celebs flying in. People sold 500 Rs tickets for as much as 25, 000Rs. The ticket itself was the most prices possession for a week. People were willing to give just about any amount demanded to get their hands on them and be int he stadium to witness probably the most hyped up and high stakes ODI of all time. Then an amazing match, Tendulkar finally making use of our prayers by surviving again and again and again and again. India wins, India erupts. All roads blocked. People dancing on the roads, doing bhangra, waving Indian flags, partying. All united. Amazing!
 
This match was way bigger than the final itself lol, too glad to have ended on the winning side. :D
 
Most controversial game in WC history.................

Pak vs Aus WC 99 Final says Hi.

I had been waiting for Mohali for ages; I had had the big screen tv moved into my room, and had called a dozen of my friends over, who had brought their friends over, and it was just really hyped up. Wahab Riaz's yorker to Yuvi was definitely the peak of the game; but by the end of the game all of us were cursing Misbah quite openly. The guy wasted ball after ball, as the run rate climbed up and up.

I wonder how the guy can sleep at night; being involved as the catalyst in every major defeat to India recently.
 
Pak vs Aus WC 99 Final says Hi.

I had been waiting for Mohali for ages; I had had the big screen tv moved into my room, and had called a dozen of my friends over, who had brought their friends over, and it was just really hyped up. Wahab Riaz's yorker to Yuvi was definitely the peak of the game; but by the end of the game all of us were cursing Misbah quite openly. The guy wasted ball after ball, as the run rate climbed up and up.

I wonder how the guy can sleep at night; being involved as the catalyst in every major defeat to India recently.
I can still feel the anger in your post even 2 years later :)
 
As an indian I couldn't believe how pak lost that game,the wicket played better and afridi as he usually does got out to a wide fulltoss...just the other day to his 88 he got out the same way against Sa
 
As a neutral it wasn't a great game of cricket at all, it had too many blunders which took away from the spectacle.
 
What a day it was . Most anticipated match of century ...we crushed our neighbours ...misbah u r our hero:misbah_old
 
The Pakistan lineup hasn't changed much in these years.

Only Shafiq, Razzaq and Umar Akmal have been chucked out. :yk
 
Pak vs Aus WC 99 Final says Hi.

I had been waiting for Mohali for ages; I had had the big screen tv moved into my room, and had called a dozen of my friends over, who had brought their friends over, and it was just really hyped up. Wahab Riaz's yorker to Yuvi was definitely the peak of the game; but by the end of the game all of us were cursing Misbah quite openly. The guy wasted ball after ball, as the run rate climbed up and up.

I wonder how the guy can sleep at night; being involved as the catalyst in every major defeat to India recently.

I hear you buddy.... me and my 5 friends got together for the match with a carton of coke and chips and pizza,s .... when riaz took yuvi out it was the most awsome moment out their but kamran,misbah,younis all of these block heads made us soo made... You drop a tail ender four times and he will make 83 too and then misbah tuk tuk batting making the run rate climb higher and higher. By the end of the match we were clearly swearing to the top of pur voice... Even afridi,s out pissed us off as who gets out to full tosses.
 
The Pakistan lineup hasn't changed much in these years.

Only Shafiq, Razzaq and Umar Akmal have been chucked out

Which makes little sense as shafiq made a good 30 from 30 balls where as mister 5 runs from 34 balls is still their at number 3.
 
its strange that people only blame misbah,,,,but the fact is younis started tat 'tuk tuk' wen shafiq was batting well,,,
 
its strange that people only blame misbah,,,,but the fact is younis started tat 'tuk tuk' wen shafiq was batting well,,,

and the drop catches if they were caught small total and less pressure

here we don't like blaming our favorite players :nasir
 
Re: On This Day 30th March 2011: India Beats Pakistan in the WC semi final at Mohali

Kya yaad kara diya hai yaar :mad:
 
what about Asli Pathan King Afridi getting out to a fulltoss

He has immunity for everything. No one remembers him being wicketless or his 0 (1) in the T20 '07 final, but Misbah's scoop :facepalm:

Seems like only yesterday. Saw this match with friends and at the end it was just heart-breaking. If only we had let Sachin get a 100 :(
 
The build up was immense. It helped that I was at home during the WC as well so all I had to do all day was listen to the build up the experts arguing back and forth etc.

I truly believe some day soon we will witness a Pakistan vs Ind WC final.
 
The build up was immense. It helped that I was at home during the WC as well so all I had to do all day was listen to the build up the experts arguing back and forth etc.

I truly believe some day soon we will witness a Pakistan vs Ind WC final.

I feel that it will happen too. It will be absolutely off the chart. The past World Cup deserved an India v Pakistan final
 
I feel that it will happen too. It will be absolutely off the chart. The past World Cup deserved an India v Pakistan final

I don't think I could take losing that kinda match though. Lol. We owe them one I'm the WC and I guess a victory in the final would be a great way to give one back :)
 
Umar Akmals wicket was turning point of that match, he was dismissed exactly at the stage where he had started to look very dangerous.
 
Pak vs India final would be awesome but I want 2015 final to be Pak vs Eng again at MCG
 
I don't think I could take losing that kinda match though. Lol. We owe them one I'm the WC and I guess a victory in the final would be a great way to give one back :)

Law of average; Pakistan is eventually going to win against Ind in WC. But both teams making to final is not very likely scenario.
 
I hear you buddy.... me and my 5 friends got together for the match with a carton of coke and chips and pizza,s .... when riaz took yuvi out it was the most awsome moment out their but kamran,misbah,younis all of these block heads made us soo made... You drop a tail ender four times and he will make 83 too and then misbah tuk tuk batting making the run rate climb higher and higher. By the end of the match we were clearly swearing to the top of pur voice... Even afridi,s out pissed us off as who gets out to full tosses.

I watched it at a friend's basement together with 25 other friends. Even though it's only a game but this one made me cry. I couldn't believe how we lost the game from the position of strength till Younis and Misbah decided to go in their shell.......
 
On This Day 30th March 2011: India Beats Pakistan in the WC semi final at Mohali

What a depressing day that was! i couldn't stop thinking about it for so many days.

We felt the same when we crashed out of 87 World Cup in front of home crowd at the hands of inexperienced Australians, so this was not the first occasion
 
Umar Akmals wicket was turning point of that match, he was dismissed exactly at the stage where he had started to look very dangerous.

exactly ...when he hit those 4s and 6s I thought this match is gone ..but thanks to Bhajji we got our main man at that point of time.
 
exactly ...when he hit those 4s and 6s I thought this match is gone ..but thanks to Bhajji we got our main man at that point of time.

Huge wicket... If I recall correctly it was the first ball after drinks. I remember telling everyone during the drinks break that if umar akmal batted another 8-9 overs we would win. He was playing with no fear, it was exactly what was required in that situation.
 
Umar Akmals wicket was turning point of that match, he was dismissed exactly at the stage where he had started to look very dangerous.

I blame Misbah for his dismissal, every time Umar Akmal started an over with a 4 or a 6 and then took a single, Misbah blocked and ensured that the last 3-4 deliveries of the over were Dot Balls thus putting more and more pressure on young Akmal.

This is Misbah ul Haq for you. Dont be fooled by his SA performance that is just one off
 
That ball from Bhajji was a beauty, came out of nowhere. I knew that was the turning point.

LOL, Akmal was trying to cut the ball which was straight on stumps. He played a wrong shot. There wasn't anything special with that ball.
 
Well it looked like a great ball

Well, for an impact, it was a great ball for sure. But frankly, I have never seen two experienced batsmen playing like YK & Misbah in my whole life for such an important match.

YK is normally a bad player in ODI and Misbah is very selfish player. Misbah can hit but he does that when game is already lost and there is hardly any expectations. That translates to no pressure and opposition in relaxed mood. Then he will play few shots to collect cheap but useless runs to inflate his average.

Both of them just had to take 3-4 runs an over and if they were not able to do so then they could have taken chances like Sachin did and try to score. Tendulkar gets lot of criticism at PP for not taking his team home but I don't recall many instances, out of hundreds of ODI, where he made life difficult for his team. May be unfair to compare these two with greatest ODI batsman but at least they could have tried. It's better to try and lose rather than ensuring with their batting that team can't win.
 
Match was lost the moment Sachin couldn't hit 100, rest was just formalities.
 
YK and misbah fluffed it. With their batting and also both of them dropped the catch of tendulkar.

But misbah is pakistan crickets saviour. Along with his faithful companion YK.
 
Nehra and Munaf bowled very good spell while Umar was changing the momentum. Umar had two good overs against Yuvi, but it was very balanced out by Munaf and Nehra.
 
Great hype but poor quality of cricket at the end of the day.
 
Quality is not needed whenever there is India vs Pakistan, emotions of players take over skill.

Actually scratch that, Ajmal, Riaz, and Indian bowlers had a great quality game. Rest were just tied with pressure.
 
Great hype but poor quality of cricket at the end of the day.
How?
Quality is not needed whenever there is India vs Pakistan, emotions of players take over skill.

Actually scratch that, Ajmal, Riaz, and Indian bowlers had a great quality game. Rest were just tied with pressure.
I agree with you there. Although there is indeed an element of hype involved during a Pakistan vs India contest, players often step up to the mark I believe. I agree with you that their emotions take over their skill but even otherwise mediocre players sometimes play brilliantly. Srinath's 6 wickets (yes, an Indian fast bowler actually performing!) springs to my mind.
 
It was a bizarre chase. Strange batting from two senior men
The game hinged on Umar Akmal: had he carried on, Pakistan would've chased down the total. But he got a decent ball and played all around it

The situation cried out for Razzaq to slam a quick 50 but he played a pathetic shot to a slower ball
 
How?

I agree with you there. Although there is indeed an element of hype involved during a Pakistan vs India contest, players often step up to the mark I believe. I agree with you that their emotions take over their skill but even otherwise mediocre players sometimes play brilliantly. Srinath's 6 wickets (yes, an Indian fast bowler actually performing!) springs to my mind.

Riaz was def. charged up, looked very determined, so was Ajmal, well he was on peak in those days anyway. From Indian side, I think our bowlers and fielders were charged up a lot. Munaf was a mamba! Was cutting ball both ways. Also, Nehra barely missed a mark while bowling on a good line and length. Made a huge difference I think.

Munaf.jpg

Nehra.jpg

Riaz.jpg

Ajmal.jpg
 
On This Day 30th March 2011: India Beats Pakistan in the WC semi final at Mohali

I woke up at 4 am to watch this match. At halfway, I thought we had screwed it up. And then the quick start by Kami and Hafeez made me more nervous. It was only when Razaq got out, I felt that we could the Pakistanis would wilt under pressure and we were going to win this.

Although I couldn't celebrate the win right away. We were watching the match at my place - a bunch of Indians and Pakistanis - and our Pathan friend is known for an irrational temper. When he is mad, you wouldn't trust him with the TV screen. And he kept saying "itna ghussa aa raha hai ke screen phor doon". I waited for all of us to leave the home, and right outside I started doing Bhangra in his face.
 
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I was very pissed when we scored only 260. I could already see us losing with the bowling we had. But I believe those 2 wickets taken by Yuvi were the turning points of the match as then Pakistan started feeling the pressure. They were going nicely at around 90/2 with lot of batting to come before that.
 
100-2 chasing 260 with dangerous middle order players. A case of match lost b Pakistan rather than India winning...although I credit them for being much more professional.
 
I woke up at 4 am to watch this match. At halfway, I thought we had screwed it up. And then the quick start by Kami and Hafeez made me more nervous. It was only when Razaq got out, I felt that we could the Pakistanis would wilt under pressure and we were going to win this.

Although I couldn't celebrate the win right away. We were watching the match at my place - a bunch of Indians and Pakistanis - and our Pathan friend is known for an irrational temper. When he is mad, you wouldn't trust him with the TV screen. And he kept saying "itna ghussa aa raha hai ke screen phor doon". I waited for all of us to leave the home, and right outside I started doing Bhangra in his face.


:D Clever.


I think Munaf did a good job the entire tournament. His spell was very crafty and pp-ers keep gloating about pace, unless you have skill.. no amount of pace will help. Munaf bowled really well and the wicket of Razzaq was really special.


And some arguements given wrt the DRS decision were a nice read during coffee time :D


Btw,
... nvm ...
 
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:D Clever.


I think Munaf did a good job the entire tournament. His spell was very crafty and pp-ers keep gloating about pace, unless you have skill.. no amount of pace will help. Munaf bowled really well and the wicket of Razzaq was really special.


And some arguements given wrt the DRS decision were a nice read during coffee time :D


Btw, Sachin did said to Raina "Aaj Raina tu hi jitwayega India ko.."
And Raina went all pumped up with those words and carved out an important innings.

You are right but he said that during the quarters against Australia where UV and Raina finished the match.

Raina said that in the interview after INDIA won against AUSTRALIA just before the presentation ceremony.
 
When Pakistan were opening their chase and raced to 70 for 1 in no time, the feeling of sinking was deep. I thought finally the law of averages might catch up and Pakistan might score of a win but that Hafeez shot really brought back India in the game.

Credit to the bowlers who made it so tight for Younis (who is generally a bad ODI player) and built up pressure. India was actually quite poor during the tournament defending totals. They allowed Bangladesh to score 290-300 defending 370 and then tied with England defending 339 and lost SA defending 296 iirc. So this was a really special match in that regard.

2 of India's most trolled bowlers :nehra and Munaf outshone Zak that day. That was pleasing as well
 
I woke up at 4 am to watch this match. At halfway, I thought we had screwed it up. And then the quick start by Kami and Hafeez made me more nervous. It was only when Razaq got out, I felt that we could the Pakistanis would wilt under pressure and we were going to win this.

Although I couldn't celebrate the win right away. We were watching the match at my place - a bunch of Indians and Pakistanis - and our Pathan friend is known for an irrational temper. When he is mad, you wouldn't trust him with the TV screen. And he kept saying "itna ghussa aa raha hai ke screen phor doon". I waited for all of us to leave the home, and right outside I started doing Bhangra in his face.

So you were afraid the guy would bash your TV open, but you weren't afraid he would bash your face open when you did the bhangra in his face?

Something doesn't click in this story.
 
On This Day 30th March 2011: India Beats Pakistan in the WC semi final at Mohali

So you were afraid the guy would bash your TV open, but you weren't afraid he would bash your face open when you did the bhangra in his face?

Something doesn't click in this story.

I can take a dent or two in my face, but a broken screen in a $1400 computer. Hell NO.

Besides, I was sure he wouldn't do that. We're best friends.
 
I can take a dent or two in my face, but a broken screen in a $1400 computer. Hell NO.

Besides, I was sure he wouldn't do that. We're best friends.

So he wouldn't hit you because you were best friends yet he would break your $1400 screen because thats just what friends do?
 
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