Indian domination really started - India vs. Australia(QF)

Before the world cup started, India was hot favorite to win the world cup. But after matches with England & SA the hope suddenly discouraged. Even Indian fans were saying that it's very hard for India to reach in semi stage .

Why they shouldn't talk like this? At one end there was australia who ws opponent to India. Who were holding the record of 33 unbeaten matches. Straight from 1999 super six. & there was India gr8 team, match winner team. very strong team on paper. But chocker i practicals. So It was very hard for India to win the match.
But There was one brighter side. Australia just lost to pakistan . Means Pakistan broke australia's record of unbeaten matches in world
cup.
So can India do it? This question was in every Indian's mind.

India's bowling

Australia won the toss & elected to bat. And.....
India was looking very positive from begining. R aswwin got the chance. & Dhoni gave first over to him. That was a very positive from dhoni.
Balling was the problem for India from the begining. but here it was proving to be strenght. from some players like Suresh Raina it was world class. bowling & fielding were really improved.
1st wicket came at 45. 10 overs were bowled & still 45 runs given. It was due to fantastic fielding by India.
Ricky Pointing takes guard
Ricky Pointing came & took the guard. He was very good that day. Played marvelously & genius. He was not in the form in whole series. But that day he really played captains inning where other wickets were falling very quickly.
In fact Pointing played very wisely that day.He was knowing the weak side of Indian bowling & strong also. That's why he attacked munaf & played carefully against zaheer & yuvraj.
The thing of some of the gr8 players like pointing is ,they are more tough against competition. When some big competition appears, they play class.
Pointing played same. Bowlers were not weak, but Pointing was more strong than them. Pointing scored century after a long break. Because of his efforts only, Australia managed to score 260.
Slog overs

Bowlers bowled very pathetic in slog overs. After Pointing got out in 43rd over, India should have restrict australia to 230-240. But because bowlers bowled pathetic, Australia managed to score 20 more runs & setting the target of 261.
Now to reach in Semis, India had to do 261 runs!!

Opening of India
As usual Sachin, Sehwag opened the innings. Sehwag was rested vs. West Indian match. But he played in this match as it was very important match. But sehwag was still having pain & it was looking like it also. So Sehwag couldn't do much in that match & got out at 15.
But he showed some good mind control. He didn't hit four on 1st ball. her understood the importance of match. But still opening were unsuccessful

Partnership of Sachin -gauti
This time Sachin gauti partnership succeed.Sachin made beautiful half century & got out after fishing outside the of stump. Gambhir also scored nice half century; but how gambhir ran out , It can be said in only one word: SUICIDE . Dhoni also got out on just 7 runs by playing a careless shot which was no need . Now all hopes were on Yuvi - Raina

Rain(a) of boundaries
Indian batting was in worry, but was not in danger. Due to Sachin & Gambhir's half century , India was in comfortable position. Just India should not lose wicket, then it was a easy job. Just what raina done. He played carefully & hit boundries too, when it was needed. He batted superbly & gave a yuvraj much needed support.

Commitment of Brett Lee
Brett Lee really deserve salute. Yuvraj's one drive brett lee stopped , but in this he got himself injured. Blood was coming out of his face. But still he applied band - aid on his face & bowled his remaining 2 overs. This commitment should be learned by every player.

Singh is king & victory moment.
The real hero of that match was yuvraj singh. He batted very brilliant. In his partnership with raina, he was having the largest share & made stunning half century. He was playing in very nice form in this world cup. He hit boundries when needed , but didn't hit careless shot like dhoni.

Because of his effort India won the match by 5 wickets. & Yuvraj posed like above after win.


Domination Ended & India reached Semi Final

After this win of India, Australia thrown out from the world cup . Australian era now ended. King retired from throne. After 33 back to back wins from 1999 w.c. , pakistan blocked there path & finally India thrown them out from the world cup. Australia disqualified from world cup before final of the world cup. It was the first time after 1992 , where Australia was not in final of world cup!
Now India's next match was with there enemy country Pakistan in semis of world cup.

Slight relief for India- India vs. West Indies

After India's first loss with South Africa , everybody were criticizing Dhoni & even more Nehra. Sms bashing dhoni & nehra were flying all across India. These sms were having no limits. Therefore India needed a win & good win here against west indies. This win was more important for this. Also this win was important for w.cup positioning also. Agreed that India was already qualified for Q.F. because Sa defeted bangladesh day before. But still it was important for reaching at 2nd position in group. Because South Africa already confirmed there 1st position.

Batting problem continues

The win over W.I. was necessity as already given. For that it was obvious that India's batting should click & set a big score. But still India's batting was not in the form as it should be. Already Sehwag was not there due to injury . & making it worst , Sachin Tendulkar got killer ball & got out on just 2 runs. And in this small innings also he showed that why he is so great human as well as batsman. When bowler ramadin appealed for sachin's wicket , umpire gave him not out. But still he walked because he was sure that he was out. This fare play done by Sachin also showed his sportsmanship.
After Sachin wicket gambhir also got out in by a very lazy shot. There was no need for such shot. & because this wicket, middle order came under intense pressure.

Sing is King

This was a big opportunity for someone like yuvraj. He was in good touch in this world cup. But it was the time to do something with the bat & he done.
He scored a nice century.His innings ws not blasting. but he played perfect cricket. I mean when there was need of defense he did & attacked when he got opportunity. Virat kohli also give good support to him.Yuvraj again came back in form with these innings.
Problem of batting powerplay

continues here when India was eying on more score, just got out at 268. Match by match India's score was decreasing.

Bowling

Zaheer again done brilliant type of bowling & yuvraj supported him well. But really can't talk much abt this match & India's bowling , because when at a time it seemed that W.I. will surely win, they threw there wickets. It ws not like India bowled well, it was w.indies batted poor.Many cricket fans & cricketers said, w.i. done this purposely lost the match to avoid aus team in Q.F.
Summary
So India won the match, & reached Q.F. & no.2 position in the group. It was a very slight relief, bcz w.i. could win at one time. Just bcz of luck, India won.
India's next match was vs. Australia in q.f. the australia who were having the record of unbeaten wins which just broken by Pakistan. Had Indian's made the same in this q.f. match?

Taste of the 1st defeat - India vs. Sa

After these matches it was really a big game for India. India's so called best batting lineup were going to test. Because earlier teams before this match, were not having that best bowling which sa was having. There fast bowling was greatest in the world.Spin bowling was also good. Dale Steyn was indeed a world class bowler, & after some years his name will be taken with great fast bowlers ever.So,this can be also treated as fight between world's can be best fast bowler ever Vs. World's already greatest batsman ever.

Toss & Opening Batting

This time Dhoni won the toss & elected to bat. Very obvious decision. Because when opposition is having world's best fast bowling lineup with steyn & morkel this will be only foolish to bat second in this pitch. So as usual Sehwag started to bat, & hit a four on very first ball.But it was a very lucky shot. & then dale steyn beat sehwag many times. He was not that comfortable with steyn. So Sachin decided to go on him. And.........

Sachin's one of the best knock

If anybody make a list of Sachin's top ten innings , this inning will surely get a place in it. The way he batted was a simply genius.

He took the role of a guide too from the first ball. When he noticed Sehwag was having trouble to face steyn , he took a strike. Steyn was having tension of Sachin, Sachin was not having the tension of steyn. From the 1st ball, He attacked steyn & morkel. In 10 overs 100 runs were on the board. After the shaky start in first overs, Sehwag also attacked superbly. But Sachin's inning was very different. It was like overflow of boundaries & runs. He played each & every shot from the books of cricket & like books of cricket. His balance , waiting the ball to come on the bat & then hit.... & his drives. May be in cricket pull, hoock may be more thrilling. But drives are classical. In case of Sachin it was like from the god. He was in very peak form in that match.

Due to this Sachin , Sehwag made opening of 144 runs. Then came gambhir. He also gave nice support to Sachin. In middle overs, they didn't go to play big shots. They kept scoreboard moving. But also struck huge sixes in some balls . Due to Sachin- Sehwag & after that Sachin- Gauti Partnership, India made 268-1 in just 38 overs. 350 was easily achievable from 50 overs by looking at this score. Even 400 also. But after that India done something, that will be remembered by Indians.

Batting power play & collapse of India.
India took batting power play to attack more. Sachin played 1 big shot & got out. But no complaints. He done his job.
But after that Gambhir & Yusuf also got out in quick succetion.
In fact Yusuf was not fit to bat at no.4 , he was pinch hiter. But dhoni didn't think abt it.
Then there was just a line of wickets. In fact dhoni was at the crease.He was captain. He should have take the strike , just like sachin did when sehwag was facing trouble. Steyn took 5 wickets. Any batsman couldn't stand in front him.They took extra risk & played big shots.They played for gallery. When Sachin was playing, Steyn seemed like a common bowler. After he got out, suddenly steyn turned into world class bowler. that was not magick. That was difference between class of batting.
Due to careless attitude of batsmen , when India at one time 268-2 & eying 350 got out in just 296 runs. India lost 8 wickets in 5 overs & made just 29 runs.

India's bowling
After such a low score to defend as compare to match against Bangladesh & England , India was in the real need to keep there bowling & fielding tight. There was improvement in both. But can't say we done our job very good. It was just better than other matches, that's all!
But India succeeded in keeping pressure on sa. Zaheer & Yuvraj bowled superbly as usual. Also looking like India will win this match. Last 2 overs were remaining & there was 17 runs needed. Then Zaheer bowled second last over superbly & gave just 4 runs in that. Now there was 13 runs needed in last over & if India could bowl well , they could win the match.
Biggest Blunder Of Dhoni

And in this crucial time, Dhoni did himalain blunder. He gave last over to Aashish Nehra. I don't think this over dhoni & nehra both can forget! There is also a news like dhoni wanted to give last over to bhajji, but be refused to bowl bcz of pressure. I don't know how to react about it, because hw can u reject this & if u don't have tough mind, how will u play?
Anyways, Aashish Nehra bowled three deliveries like this :4,6,2 runs conceded on his 3 deliveries. & needless to say, Sa won the match.
Organizers gave man of the match award to steyn. Somehow I didn't like this.Sachin was really deserving it. He batted brilliantly, also helped in fielding. Is this any rule to give man of match , just to player who is from winning team?