New Delhi: The story of the Indian innings in the semifinal against Pakistan at Mohali on Wednesday was a story in two parts. The first 25 where India scored 141 runs for the loss of two wickets. And the second where they lost seven wickets for the painful aggregation of 119 runs.
The game was being played on numerous fronts - for a place in the final, for Tendulkar's hundredth hundred, and for cricket diplomacy between India and Pakistan. The only man who probably didn't think of any of these was Virender Sehwag as he despatched Umar Gul with disdain to the fence five times in the third over to set the tone for the first part.
Even though he was trapped lbw by Wahab Riaz for 38, India were already nearing the 10-runs-per-over mark by the sixth over. His departure slowed things down as even Sachin Tendulkar despite playing some handsome looking shots, didn't look like the players he's looked through in the tournament so far. He played and missed and even edged quite a few, while Gautam Gambhir at the other end hardly looked comfortable. He stepped out to the spinner only to defend and then stepped one too many to be stumped with ease.
If Pakistan had done well in pulling back the Indians by the end of the 25th over, they managed to get on top at the very start of the second part of the Indian innings.
On the second ball of the 26th over, Riaz sent back Virat Kohli who played a strange looking shot, jabbing at a delivery that was swinging away and one wondered whether the batsmen had any clue why he even played that shot. With the very next ball, Riaz drove a nail into the Indian innings as he clean bowled Yuvraj Singh with a peach of a delivery that just didn't land on the pitch and just clashed into the stumps.
While wickets fell at one end, Sachin Tendulkar survived as many as four dropped chances and two close calls as the Pakistan bowlers went from strength to strength, bowling a tight line and giving away just one or two runs away in an over.
It was surprising to see that neither Tendulkar nor MS Dhoni were either able to find the gaps or clear the infield. When Tendulkar was finally dismissed for 85, India were 187/5 after 37 overs and there was still hope that despite the pitch assisting the slower bowlers, another 100 runs was in the taking. But it was not to be and with Dhoni's dismissal, Raina was left to battle out the remaining overs with the tail who didn't manage to wag either.
At the end 260/9 is what India managed on a pitch that experts had claimed was good enough to get 300 on. But with the play the pitch played, it seems everyone read the pitch wrong, especially the Indian batsmen. And while it will always be difficult to chase in a crunch game, for Pakistan, at the end of the Indian innings, it looked like a good toss to lose.
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