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Wikipedia
India defeated Australia by five wickets at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad in the quarter final of the 2011 World Cup. India was set to the target of 261 runs which they overhauled in just 47.4 overs. Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh scored brilliant half-centuries to give India one of the most famous wins in recent times.
With this win, Indian team has booked its place in the semi-finals. In their next match, they will clash with arch rivals Pakistan.
It was a tough chase on a slow and turning wicket and batting was certainly not at all easy. However, Virender Sehwag is the last person to think of these things. He as usual played an attacking game and hit two boundaries in his 15 runs. However, going for another big shot, he lost his wicket.
However, when Gambhir joined Tendulkar, the scoring rate came down slightly. Gambhir took his time to settle down. But Tendulkar kept the momentum going. He showed the world how batting is to be done on slow and turning pitches. He was batting with great élan for the entire Indian innings and the chase revolved around him.
In the due course of time, he completed his 94th half-century, but lost his wicket when he looked threatening. Virat Kohli an important partnership of 49 runs with Gambhir in about 10 overs. He was unlucky to lose his wicket on a full toss ball. This was when, the savior for India, Yuvraj Singh walked in.
India still needed another 118 runs in 22.2 overs then. He batted with Gambhir fairly well for their 25 runs partnership. But the running between the wickets was horrible. Gambhir could have been run out on three consecutive occasions, out of which, the third attempt was successful for Australia. It was a disastrous running and even school children would have ran better than these two.
Gambhir had to go for a silly run out but not before completing his half-century. Captain M S Dhoni could not last long and scored only 7 runs. India was now in deep trouble with five wickets down and yet 74 runs away from the target which they had to achieve in 12.3 overs.
Things were getting difficult but the pair of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina played the innings of the World Cup and remained unbeaten till the end. Raina, who was given preference over Yusuf Pathan, proved his selection and gave great support to Yuvraj.
Soon the match tilted in India’s favor. Brett Lee conceded 14 runs in one over and Shaun Tait gave away 13. It was only a matter of time before India crossed the finish line. Most fittingly, Yuvraj Singh hit the winning boundary off Brett Lee to end Australia’s hopes for a consecutive fourth World Cup.
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