India beat the defending Champions Australia in the ICC World Cup Cricket match held at Motera (Moheli, Punjab) stadium by five wickets to get to the semi-finals to be held at on March 30.
India will take on its archrival Pakistan for the fifth time in a World Cup encounter.
Earlier, in an electrifying match held at Motera, India won the match thanks to a brilliant half- centuries by Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar with the former declared Man-of- Match.
Chasing 261 for a win, Tendulkar looked in great touch against Australia. He was good for his 100th international ton, even as Virender Sehwag (15) was dismissed by Shane Watson.
The maestro completed his half-century off 61 balls. Yuvraj Singh, whose place in the Tournament was questionable, played an innings of utmost maturity especially considering the pressure and the build-up before the match.
Aussies thrashed
After the dismissal of Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Aussies appeared to have had a foot on the door.
However, Yuvraj did not disappoint the crowd. He played an innings, which was mixed with caution and aggression. He finally showed his aggression hitting pace bowler Bret Lee for a boundary.
In many ways, the match summoned up the end of the Australian era of dominance in cricket with the possible domination of India.
Earlier, after electing to bat, Ponting paced his innings to perfection and announced his return to form with his first century in over a year after his first five innings in the World Cup yielded just 102 runs.
His 36th One Day Hundred was well supported by wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin (53 off 62 balls) and David Hussey (38 off 26 balls).
Black Caps Win
New Zealand won against one of the strong cup contenders, South Africa in the quarterfinals held at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Bangladesh on March 25.
Chasing New Zealand’s modest 221 for eight from 50 overs, South Africa was on course despite losing openers Hashim Amla and skipper Graeme Smith with just 69 runs on the board.
However, that inexplicable collapse of the past returned to haunt the Proteas and it perfectly lived up to the tag of chokers at crunch situation. New Zealand bowled out South Africa for 172 in 43.2 overs and pulled off an upset in the ICC World Cup quarterfinal.
New Zealand rode its innings on a flamboyant Jesse Ryder who scored a blitzkrieg innings of 83.
The Black Caps will take on Sri Lanka in the semi-finals scheduled in Colombo on March 29. Before that, Sri Lanka beat England comfortably in the quarterfinals held at Colombo on March 26.
In a one-sided encounter against England, Sri Lankan openers Tillakaratne Dilshan (108, 115b, 10×4, 2×6) and Upul Tharanga (102, 122b, 12×4, 1×6) feasted on the English bowlers at the R Premadasa International Stadium.
The 1996 winners and four-time semifinalists defeated England by 10 wickets to set up a semifinal meeting with New Zealand on March 29.
