India end Australia's era of dominance, Pakistan and Sri Lanka send CWC warning
Pakistan carried their brilliant Group A form into the knockout stages with a complete demolition of the West Indies in Dhaka.
Umar Gul removed danger man Chris Gayle early in the West Indies innings, but it was Pakistan's spinners who did most of the damage thereafter on a turning track. The outstanding Shahid Afridi finished with the pick of the figures with 4/30, but Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez also shone with the ball. Hafeez conceded just 16 runs off his 10 overs, finishing with 2/16, while Ajmal picked up 2/18 from his eight overs.
Such a paltry target was never likely to trouble Pakistan against an attack not containing the same quality of spin. But the ease with which Kamran Akmal (47*) and Hafeez (61*) knocked it off in just 20.5 overs sent a warning to the rest of the competition.
Yuvraj Singh starred with bat and ball as joint hosts India ended Australia’s era of ODI dominance in Ahmedabad.
Yuvraj's performance with the ball, taking 2/44 off 10 overs, played a key part in restricting Australia to 260, despite 53 from opener Brad Haddin and a superb century from captain Ricky Ponting.
India’s strength in depth in their batting order was on full display in the reply, with Sachin Tendulkar (53) and Gautam Gambhir (50) getting the chase off to a great start. But there was still plenty of work to do for Yuvraj when MS Dhoni fell with the score at 187/5.
The all-rounder kept his cool, stroking a controlled and unbeaten 57 while Suresh Raina rattled along at the other end. And fittingly it was Yuvraj who hit the winning runs, finding the boundary to send the home crowd delirious.
The defeat ended Australia’s bid for a fourth consecutive World Cup crown, and the result set up a meeting between neighbours India and Pakistan in the semi-finals.
South Africa’s wait for World Cup glory continued as they fell apart against New Zealand in Dhaka, with Jacob Oram impressing for the Kiwis.
New Zealand had struggled to get going with the bat, with Jesse Ryder top-scoring with 83 off 121 balls as they registered a less-than-daunting 221/8. And South Africa were absolutely cruising on 108/2 with 26 overs still remaining when a blinding catch from Oram removed Jacques Kallis and turned the game on its head.
A spell that saw the Proteas lose four wickets for just 11 runs was the low point of the collapse, and in total South Africa lost their last eight wickets for just 64 as their campaign ended in disappointment.
England’s luck ran out as Sri Lanka demolished them in Colombo.
Jonathan Trott again top-scored for the English with 86, while Eoin Morgan showed his talent with a quickfire 50 to help England up to 229/6. But throughout the innings it was clear that a combination of England’s inability to build big totals and Sri Lanka’s expert spin bowling was always going to leave a gettable target. Muttiah Muralitharan was again the pick of the bowlers with 2/54, but the whole attack performed well to leave England needing a strong performance with the ball.
But in reply Sri Lanka showed just how far ahead of England they were in ODI cricket, smashing 231 without the loss of a single wicket and with more than 10 overs of the chase still remaining. Both openers scored outstanding centuries, with Tillakaratne Dilshan ending on 108* and Upul Tharanga on 102*.
The victory teed up a semi-final clash between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.