India were calmness personified in making their way to a third World Cup final as they beat Pakistan by 29 runs at the PCA Stadium here on Wednesday. The hosts now take on fellow tournament holders Sri Lanka for the title at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
Cheered on by a full house that included Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousaf Raza Gilani and a host of dignitaries, including Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi, who watched the final few balls of the match from a golf cart, the match itself had little of the drama and emotion matches between the two neighbours usually throw up.
Batting first, India posted a challenging 260/9 with man of the match Sachin Tendulkar leading the way with a top score of 85. Tendulkar’s was a very lucky innings; he was dropped four times and survived an LBW appeal and a stumping attempt. In reply, Pakistan could not get their act together as they subsided to 231 in 49.5 overs.
On the day, Pakistan had little chance of displaying the flair and dash their cricket is known for by a nerveless Indian fielding unit. Each of the five Indian bowlers used by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni contributed to the result with two wickets apiece.
Dhoni himself was cool personified and led from the front, ringing in changes in the bowling and field settings with authority. Pakistan started briskly, as India had done, but once the ball lost its shine and hardness, Pakistan had to go through the sort of struggle their opponents had earlier
The difference was that they did not have a Tendulkar in the ranks.
Said Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi after the game, “First of all I’d like to congratulate the Indian cricket team and the Indian nation for this great victory, and wish them all the best for the final. They played better than us. We didn’t make partnerships, we played some irresponsible shots, and a partnership was crucial. I want to say sorry to my nation. We tried our level best, and we enjoyed ourselves at this tournament.”
A pleased-as-punch Dhoni added, “We got off to a fantastic start through Sehwag and Sachin. As the game progressed the wicket got slower, and in the middle overs it was difficult to score.”
“I thought 260 was a good score for this pitch. It was turning, we read the wicket wrong and that’s why we went with three seamers, but in the end the seamers bowled really well too. Zaheer did really well, over the years he’s become really smart. We’ve struggled at times in this tournament, but that’s the beauty of this game,” Dhoni said.
For Tendulkar, winning the World Cup is a well-known dream and he could not stop smiling. “We just had to get to a decent, fighting total. When we started I was thinking of 310 to 315, which was the par score for me, but the way the ball started stopping and spinning, something closer to 270 was par. Going back to Mumbai for this event now is going to be a wonderful occasion, we’ve got to be calm and focused.”
For the record, this is the first time that two hosts nations have qualified for the final of the cricket World Cup.