‘Singh is King’ – OTD: Yuvraj Singh routed Australia out of the 2011 World Cup with his sparkling innings of an unbeaten 57
India won the game by 5 wickets.
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Mar 24, 2023 12:33 pm
Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina (Source: Twitter)
After India beat the West Indies and qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup, on this day 12 years ago, they played their next match against Australia. The Kangaroos had won a hattrick of World Cups in 1999, 2003 and 2007 before this. The match was held at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. The Australians got off to a good start, courtesy of Brad Haddin and Shane Watson.
Haddin scored 53 off 62 balls with six fours and one six, before Yuvraj Singh got him out. Shane Watson made 25 off 38 balls with five fours but he was castled by Ravichandran Ashwin. Ricky Ponting held the Australian innings together and crafted wonderful innings of 104 off 118 balls with seven fours and one six. The Australian skipper was caught by Zaheer Khan off Ashwin. After Ponting was dismissed by Ashwin, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey and Cameron White fell quickly.
Suresh Raina scored 34 off 28 balls to help India win the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal against Australia.
David Hussey came to Australia’s rescue and scored an unbeaten 38 off 26 balls with three fours and one six. This vital contribution allowed Australia to get 260-6 in their 50 overs. Yuvraj had the best figures of 2-44 with the ball for India. In the run chase, India suffered an early jolt with the fall of Virender Sehwag’s wicket. He fell to Shane Watson after scoring 15 off 22 balls.
Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir struck half-centuries to keep the Indian total moving along. Tendulkar scored 53 off 68 balls with seven fours. Gambhir made 50 off 64 balls with two fours. Virat Kohli came and went after scoring 24 off 33 balls with one four to David Hussey.
Gambhir was shortly run out because of a mix-up with Yuvraj. MS Dhoni was then caught by Clarke off Brett Lee for just 7. When India were 187-5, the match hung in the balance. Yuvraj then partnered with Suresh Raina to take India out of troubled waters. Yuvraj cut, drove pulled and put the Australian bowling attack out of commission. Raina, on the other hand, played a mature knock of an unbeaten 34 off 28 balls with two fours and one six.
Yuvraj, the hero of the match, was all over the Australians in that match. He had also picked up two wickets with the ball before crafting an unbeaten 57 off 65 balls with 8 fours. Yuvraj hit the winning boundary off a wounded Brett Lee as the Motera stadium roared with happiness when the Aussie juggernaut had been halted by India. The Men in Blue won the game by 5 wickets.
This match is something I celebrate more than finals…no matter how many times you watch highlights…..goosebumps guaranteed…3 cups winning champions out of contest!
