India won by 5 wickets

India won by 5 wickets

Australia v India, World Cup 2011, 2nd quarter-final, Ahmedabad

Tendulkar gives India solid start

Yuvraj revives India's chase of 261

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera

Yuvraj Singh

Sachin Tendulkar threatened to take ownership of the chase with a delightful fifty, but Shaun Tait dismissed him in the 19th over to bring Australia back in the game in Motera. Australia hustled the Indians in the field, with spirited fielding and disciplined bowling, and cracked open the game by getting Tendulkar out. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli ensured that Tendulkar's exit didn't spark a collapse by batting sensibly to push India to 123 for 2 by the half-way stage. The pitch was increasingly aiding big turn - a few times there was a visible puff of dust flying out of the rough - and much will depend not only on the Indian middle order but also on how the Australians, with just one regular spinner in Jason Krejza, exploit the track.

The first half was all about Australia v Tendulkar. It was yet another one of those modern Tendulkar knocks, where he unfurled several quality shots but none seemed risky. It was a slow pitch but Tendulkar played some shots that defied the nature of the track. He pulled, created room where none seemed to exist and jumped at every opportunity to drive. Australia never relented, though, and always continued to hustle. It was Shane Watson who first pegged back the run-rate by dismissing Virender Sehwag, and he reined in the batsmen further with his changes of pace, before Tait delivered the sucker punch by dismissing Tendulkar.

Tait v Tendulkar lived up to the billing. Tendulkar punched the first delivery he faced, and the first from Tait, through cover point. He upper cut the next legal delivery to the third man boundary. Tait sledged, Tendulkar stared, and the chase was soaked with intensity from then on. Tait was soon taken out off the attack but returned to silence the crowd. He gave away six runs in his first over on return that included two wides and also saw Tendulkar getting to his fifty. He struck with the first ball of his next over - a delivery released from a slightly round-armish action that held its line outside off stump. Tendulkar tried to steer it to point but edged it to Brad Haddin.

Until that moment, Tendulkar looked rock solid. He handled Brett Lee with respect, played Watson with caution and looted a few boundaries from Mitchell Johnson. Sehwag, who was relatively circumspect today, fell in the ninth over, top-edging a pull off Watson, and Tendulkar responded to that adversity by caressing a four through the covers in the same over. When Gautam Gambhir looked scratchy at the start, Tendulkar settled the nerves with a few fours. He scored successive boundaries off Johnson in the 12th over: a wristy on-drive to a full-length delivery outside off and a crunched drive through point. Australia kept coming at him at full tilt, and eventually Tait got him out to leave the game fascinatingly poised.

50 overs Australia 260 for 6 (Ponting 104, Haddin 53, Ashwin 2-52, Yuvraj 2-44) v India