Yuvraj’s Heroics Propel India to Semi-final Clash with Pakistan: A Thrilling 2011 World Cup Encounter
Yuvraj Singh’s outstanding effort in a compelling World Cup 2011 matchup propelled India to an exciting semifinal matchup with Pakistan.
Even with Sachin Tendulkar’s outstanding fifty and Ricky Ponting’s magnificent century, Yuvraj’s spectacular performance stole the event.
Australia 260 (Ponting 104, Haddin 53, Ashwin 2-52, Yuvraj 2-44) lost to India 261 for 5 (Yuvraj 57*, Tendulkar 53, Gambhir 50) by 5 wickets.
A breathtaking While Sachin Tendulkar scored a lovely fifty and Ricky Ponting shined, Yuvraj Singh’s imperiousness stole the show and helped India advance to an entertaining semi-final match against Pakistan.
India was unable to get rid of a very reliable Ponting on a dry pitch that was helping turn, but they managed to get past him and restrict Australia to a respectable 260. Tendulkar established the base and the middle order looked about to choke, but Yuvraj came through with a brilliant stroke to lead India to a historic victory.
One four can, as they say, sometimes make all the difference. Today, Yuvraj hit a four-over backward point off Shaun Tait in the last ball of the 39th over, with India requiring 72 from 67 deliveries, bringing the cliché to life. It exuded dare under fire, skill, and impishness. Up until that point, India had coughed and spluttered miserably in the previous few overs, nearly giving the game to Australia. The game was drastically changed by Yuvraj’s over point.
Brett Lee was ravaged for 14 runs in the next over, which turned out to be the game-winning over. Suresh Raina claimed the first delivery with the most confidence of his life, and Yuvraj hammered the last delivery over point, but it was the shot in between that truly captured the thrilling match.
Lee screamed a yorker from near the stumps, and Yuvraj ducked as he opened his bat-face and sliced it through to the boundary of the third man. Lee appeared shocked, and you could sense that India had an impact on the jail break at that precise moment.
The pressure cooker had reached India, and they were starting to choke, until Yuvraj took charge of the chase. After Virat Kohli had taken a full toss from David Hussey straight to midwicket in the 29th over, there was complete chaos as India appeared determined to destroy themselves in five crazy overs between the 32nd and the 37th. After attempting to run himself out three times, Gautam Gambhir succeeded on the fourth try.
After Ponting missed the sticks and Yuvraj played the ball towards midwicket in the 33rd over, he sprinted for a nonexistent run. He was in a yes-or-no situation with Yuvraj in the following over, and if Brad Haddin, who had raced to the short mid-on region, had thrown it at the non-striker’s end, he would have been run out. The next ball saw Gambhir dash out again, this time recklessly after Yuvraj had slashed David Hussey wide of the first slip.
At that point, India needed 93 runs from 101 balls, but they fell deeper into the hole when MS Dhoni was removed for appearing nervous. India needed 74 from 75 balls when he almost got into a run-out, made a strong swing and missed against Lee, and then died on the next delivery, cutting to point. Yuvraj made the decision to play his best World Cup innings at that point.
The last obstacle was the batting Powerplay, but Raina, who stood by Yuvraj admirably after Dhoni was removed, smashed the opening ball from Lee over long-on, and Australia’s resistance vanished with that stroke.
Also Read: Reliving the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final: India’s Triumph Led by Dhoni and Gambhir
Prior to Yuvraj, Sachin Tendulkar was the center of practically all of India’s pursuit. Despite the sluggish pitch, Tendulkar made some shots that went against the course’s characteristics. Especially Tait v Tendulkar came up to the hype. Tendulkar upper sliced the following legitimate delivery to the third man boundary after punching the first pitch he faced—the first from Tait—through the cover point.
Tendulkar glared, Tait sledged, and from that moment on, the chase was intensely intense. Although Tait quickly stopped the onslaught, he later came back to quiet the assembly. On his comeback, he conceded six runs in his opening over (two wides) and Tendulkar reached his fifty. In his subsequent over, the 19th of the innings, he struck first with a delivery that held its line outside off stump after it was delivered with a little round-armish motion. Despite Tendulkar’s best efforts, Brad Haddin managed to get the better of it.
Remember the Australian captain, who is likely playing his final World Cup match, and Australia, who was last eliminated from a World Cup before the finals back in 1992. Ponting pushed Australia ahead whenever Zaheer Khan threatened to push India ahead.
The knock represented Ponting the Man in miniature. It was Ponting; it had daring, bloody-mindedness, talent, and grit. It will be treasured for how properly he restrained his natural strokeplay, and it’s likely the one knock of his that isn’t remembered for many spectacular strokes.
He controlled the slow pitch with incredible elegance and shown a high level of talent when handling spin. Ponting’s ability to keep the Australian innings together on such a huge stage, even in his lackluster form, was a testament to his incredible tenacity and remarkable character. His arch-enemy, Harbhajan Singh, bowled from around the stumps when he was still fresh.
Ponting moved to his right and worked the ball with the turn to counter him. He had to deal with Zaheer’s reverse-swing when he was exhausted. He took Ashwin’s carom ball in the middle and used a combination of aggression and prudence against Yuvraj Singh.
Michael Clarke made a terrible shot in the 31st over, top-edging a slog-sweep against Yuvraj to long-on, which set the stage for Australia’s collapse and India’s comeback in the middle overs. With a knuckled slower blow, Zaheer removed Michael Hussey, leaving Australia reeling at 140 for 4 in the 34th over.
Ponting and David Hussey took the batting Powerplay in the 44th over and added 44 important runs without losing a wicket. Ponting may have thought he had done all he could to ensure Australia remained in the competition but he was outperformed by Yuvraj.
