India scrapes through to the final

The biggest match of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup totally lived up to the pre-match hype and billing to deliver a classic semi-final. In the end, it was the might of India that got past the fight of Pakistan to set up the first ever fully sub continental World Cup final.

On a warm and sunny day in Mohali, the pitch was expected to seam and swing as always. And with overnight rain, that theory seemed to be the strongest one doing the rounds. As a result, India replaced R Ashwin with Ashish Nehra - a decision that almost no one seemed to like!

India's plan, though, would always have been bat first, put Pakistan's fragile batting under pressure and win. And MS Dhoni did just that. Won the toss, batted first.

A blazing start from Virender Sehwag (38 in 25b) and Sachin Tendulkar (85 in 115b) saw India race to 73 for 1 in 10 overs. Sehwag fell to Pakistan's best bowler of the day Wahab Riaz (5/46) but not before he had demoralized Umar Gul and thumped him into submission. Tendulkar then joined forces with Gautam Gambhir (27 in 32b) who looked scratchy at best and tried to rebuild a partnership. All this while, though, the pitch was getting harder to bat on.

India seemed to be coasting to a 300-plus total at one stage, but Wahab Riaz's return to the attack saw him snare two quick wickets - Virat Kohli (9 in 21b) and Yuvraj Singh (0 in 1b) - to leave India looking shaky at 141/4. But with Tendulkar still at the crease, Indian fans lived on in hope.

Tendulkar led a charmed life in Mohali with as many as four dropped catches, a close stumping chance and an overturned LBW decision. After all this, 85 seemed too less! But then, he did prove to be the highest scorer on either team. Eventually, though, Shahid Afridi hung on to one and Tendulkar's scratchy, although critical innings came to a close. At this stage, India had 187 on the board, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina at the crease and 13 overs to play.

Raina and Dhoni partnered well till Dhoni's extremely defensive tactics saw his demise for just 25 in 42b. Raina, though, shepherded the tail well and saw to it that there was no collapse. His contribution of 36 not out in 39 balls could well have been the difference between the two teams in the end.

Of all India's key games, their batting powerplay performance in this one was the best! A result of 43 for 1 when Suresh Raina had only the tailenders for company is a great outcome indeed. Especially after the horrors of games past!

With 260 on the board, India seemed to have missed a trick and turned up 20 runs short. The pitch was spinning and India had dropped their best spinner of the tournament in favour of an ineffective medium pacer.

Pakistan's chase began in earnest with Kamran Akmal and Mohd Hafeez out of the blocks in no time. They were scoring at almost 5 runs per over when Akmal fell to Zaheer Khan for a useful 19. Hafeez (43 in 59b) joined Asad Shafiq (30 in 39b) to forge a partnership that threatened India, but an inexplicable scoop attempt by Hafeez landed in Dhoni's gloves. And that started the pressure cooker.

Younis Khan (13 in 32b) is mercurial at most times and he crumbled under pressure. And that was soon after Asad had fallen to Yuvraj Singh's guiles. At 4/106, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Pakistan. Umar Akmal then took matters into his own hands as Misbah Ul Haq (56) decided to drop anchor for the day! Akmal's power hitting especially off Yuvraj Singh would have given Pakistan hope, but for every stroke he played, Misbah blocked an over and pushed the required rate right back to where it originally was! Umar finally fell for a fiery 29 and Pakistan was now staring down the barrel.

Shahid Afridi (19) promised to hit his way to victory, but he hasn't had much form with the bat in the last couple of years. And once again, it wasn't to be his night. Abdul Razzaq and Misbah too tried to find their way but the Indian bowlers had the choke on and there was no getting away from it.

While it was heartening to see India use only 5 bowlers to defend their score, it does make one wonder about how wrongly MS Dhoni read the pitch. Yes India won, but R Ashwin should have played and not just for his bowling. On current form, there is no reason compelling enough to include Nehra or drop Ashwin.

Hopefully, India will get it right on Saturday when they play the World Cup final against Sri Lanka at the home of India's cricket - Mumbai.