2nd Semi Final: Pakistan vs India

India's dream of a World Cup triumph at home is one step closer after their bowlers suffocated Pakistan's batsmen to set up a 29-run victory in the semi-final in Mohali. Saturday's decider will now be a battle of the hosts, and while Sri Lanka might have been surprised by the strength of India's bowling effort, they would also have taken note of a slightly lacklustre batting performance.

In the end, India's 260 for 9 was enough as their bowlers did a fine job, but had Pakistan helped themselves, the target could have been so much more gettable. Sachin Tendulkar was dropped four times in his 85, MS Dhoni was put down once and while Wahab Riaz was extremely impressive in collecting five wickets, Umar Gul had one of his most forgettable days, wilting under the pressure of a World Cup semi-final.

By contrast, India's display in the field was much more professional, and that was the difference in a match that lived up to the extreme pre-match hype. The decision to leave R Ashwin out to make room for Ashish Nehra was an odd choice on a pitch offering plenty of spin, but Nehra and his bowling colleagues built the pressure and gave Pakistan's batsmen little to attack after they made a promising start and reached 70 for 1.

The Indians didn't give away an extra until the 37th over of the innings, and the way they put together strings of dot balls and tight overs was key to their success. Munaf Patel picked up two victims and Yuvraj Singh made up for his golden duck with a pair of wickets, but the most important breakthrough came when Harbhajan Singh bowled Umar Akmal for 29.

Akmal had struck a pair of sixes off Yuvraj, driving him over the sight screen and pulling him over midwicket, and anything was possible while he was at the crease. But Dhoni called on Harbhajan to replace Yuvraj, and with the first ball of his spell he came around the wicket and pushed one across Akmal, taking the off stump when the batsman played for the spin.

Shahid Afridi also fell to Harbhajan when he skied a catch off a full toss, and the obdurate Misbah-ul-Haq was left to steer the chase. He found it difficult to lift his tempo and was the last man out, caught on the boundary for 56 in the final over, but he ate up 76 deliveries and had he shown some more intent earlier, Pakistan might have had a chance.

It was a disappointing end for Pakistan after their top order gave them hope. Mohammad Hafeez made an encouraging 43 before a string of eight dot balls from Munaf brought a brain-fade as Hafeez tried a premeditated paddle sweep from outside off stump and edged behind to Dhoni.

Soon after, the loss of Asad Shafiq brought the Mohali crowd to life, when he tried to cut a Yuvraj delivery that was much too full and straight, and the middle stump was knocked back. Shafiq had made 30 and had displayed a cool temperament until that point, but the required run-rate started to balloon, and Pakistan never recovered.

But while India have booked a place in the final, they must hope they haven't used all their good fortune too soon. Tendulkar might be the finest batsman of his generation, but today he was the luckiest, dropped on 27, 45, 70 and 81. It seemed as though he was going to bring up his 100th international century with one of his least convincing innings.

Misbah at midwicket was the first to put him down, before Younis Khan spilled a regulation chance at cover, both off the bowling of Afridi. The third opportunity came when Kamran Akmal didn't move his hands quickly enough to a thick edge, again off Afridi, and while that was a tough opportunity, a pull to Umar at mid-on from the offspin of Hafeez should have been taken.

Before he had any of those lives, Tendulkar had survived two very tight calls on 23: an lbw decision that was given out by Ian Gould but on review proved to be spinning down leg, and a near-stumping the next delivery when he just got his back foot down in time after losing his balance reaching outside off. When Tendulkar was finally taken at cover by Afridi off the bowling of Ajmal, Pakistan's relief was evident.

Soon after, a scratchy Dhoni, who was also dropped by Kamran, made the mistake of challenging Simon Taufel on an lbw decision. Dhoni had 25 when he missed a Riaz delivery that pitched just in line and was hitting the stumps. It was the second outstanding call by Taufel, who had given Virender Sehwag lbw in a similar fashion earlier, even though the left-armer's angle meant pitching outside leg was a possibility.

Riaz was the man who Afridi had to thank for keeping Pakistan in the contest after India made a strong start and reached 114 for 1 off their first 18 overs. After Gautam Gambhir was stumped wandering down the pitch against Hafeez, Riaz grabbed two wickets in two balls - Virat Kohli caught at backward point and Yuvraj bowled by a low full toss for a golden duck.

Nobody looked as fluent as the crease as Sehwag, who took 21 off Gul (0 for 69) from the third over of the innings. What looked like a 300-plus total in those early overs became 260 when Suresh Raina helped them recover from their middle-order failures.

It was enough, but India's batsmen will need to improve if they want to lift the trophy on Saturday. For now, they can dream of their first World Cup in 28 years.

1st Semi Final: Srilanka vs New Zealand

Sri Lanka overcame a serious bout of the jitters to book their place in Saturday's World Cup final in Mumbai, as New Zealand bowed out in the last four for the sixth time in ten campaigns, though with their pride fully intact after another fabulous never-say-die performance in Colombo.

In a strange amalgam of the one-sided thrashing that Sri Lanka handed out to England in their quarter-final on Saturday, and New Zealand's last-eight fightback against South Africa in Dhaka, the favourites duly progressed, and by a seemingly comfortable five-wicket margin. However, the closing stages were fraught in the extreme as a raucous home crowd was forced to postpone a party that had been in full swing for more than three-quarters of the contest.

Defending a mediocre total of 217 after a spirited batting effort had unravelled in a clatter of late wickets, New Zealand's lust for a scrap kicked in with a vengeance just when it seemed the match was finally out of their reach. At 160 for 1 in the 33rd over, with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara entrenched in a game-breaking partnership of 120, what little attention had been on this, the less glamorous of the two semi-finals, had already begun to drift towards Wednesday's epic match-up in Mohali.

But then Dilshan, cruising on 73 from 93 deliveries and seemingly destined for his second hundred in consecutive matches, slapped loosely at Tim Southee and picked out Jesse Ryder at point, whose second catch of the innings was a far less breathtaking affair than his earlier one-handed pluck off Sri Lanka's pace-setter, Upul Tharanga.

Three balls later, the new man Mahela Jayawardene was beaten in flight by a beautiful dipping delivery from Daniel Vettori and nailed plumb lbw for 1, whereupon Sangakkara's habitually cool head deserted him, as he attempted to steer the lively Andy McKay over the keeper for four, but ended up dollying a simple chance to Scott Styris at third man.

Sri Lanka had lost three wickets for eight runs in 22 deliveries, and just as had been the case in the throttling of South Africa, New Zealand's bowlers ramped up the aggro while maintaining supremely disciplined lines and lengths. On the same worn wicket that had been used for the England quarter-final, runs suddenly became excruciatingly hard to come by as Sri Lanka's untested middle order was fully exposed to the limelight.

Chamara Silva and Thilan Samaraweera scraped together nine runs in six overs as the asking-rate climbed to close to five, and it took a message from the dressing room, delivered with a drink from Dilhara Fernando, to persuade them out of their defensive mindset. Silva responded with two fours in consecutive deliveries as Ryder's seam-up was brought into the attack, but three balls later he tried to get aggressive against the extra pace of Southee and chopped onto his own stumps for 13.

Samaraweera, however, had the experience to see his team home. A short ball from Ryder was fetched over midwicket for four, before a wild throw from Oram gifted him another four as the ball sailed over the keeper's head. Another error lopped five more precious runs off the total as a McKay wide slipped through the keeper's grasp, and though McKay responded with a beauty to Angelo Mathews that was sent to be reviewed for caught-behind, the lack of Hot Spot meant there was no evidence available to reverse the on-field decision.

And with a smoking six off Southee in the next over, the game was finally relieved of its tension - even though it took two winning shots to seal it, after Mathew's initial carve through the covers was called a dead-ball due to a firework exploding right at the moment of delivery. Instead, Samaraweera nudged through third man to wrap up the game with 13 balls to spare.

Such a nerve-jangling finale could not have seemed further from the agenda while Sri Lanka's innings was in full flow. From the moment Tharanga launched his third ball, from Nathan McCullum, straight down the ground for six, Sri Lanka were always ahead of the asking-rate. His departure for 30 from 31 balls did change the tempo of the Sri Lankan innings, but neither Dilshan nor Sangakkara had any reason to rush towards a modest victory target.

Sangakkara had an early let-off when he edged Oram at a catchable height through the vacant slip cordon, while Dilshan - who had been so combative against England - took 28 deliveries to score the second boundary of his innings, and his 50th of the World Cup to date. But he went on to pass 400 runs for the tournament, en route to overtaking Jonathan Trott as the leading run-scorer, and as Sangakkara finally began to nail his trademark cover-drives, New Zealand looked to have run out of ideas.

In hindsight, the Kiwis will look back on the closing stages of their own innings with regret, for a late collapse of 5 for 13, including 4 for 4 in 12 balls, undermined much of the good work they had put into the early part of their innings. The bed-rock was provided by Scott Styris, a centurion against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup, who ground out a responsible 57 from 76 balls. But when he was extracted lbw by the final delivery that Muttiah Muralitharan will ever bowl on home soil, Sri Lanka responded euphorically to scythe through the tail and leave seven precious deliveries unused.

Whether a 240 target would have made any difference will remain a matter for conjecture. Though they fared better than any other team in the tournament so far in taking 41 runs off Sri Lanka's bowlers in the batting Powerplay, they were ultimately undone by the depth and variety of their attack, with Lasith Malinga's yorkers scalping three key wickets at critical moments.

Too many of New Zealand's batsmen made starts without going on. Martin Guptill flicked Malinga's fifth delivery through midwicket in a 65-ball 39, only for Malinga to york him superbly when he returned for his second spell, while Brendon McCullum slog-swept Rangana Herath for six, only to be bowled for 13 playing the exact same stroke. Taylor, whose ferocious hitting could have been so valuable at the death, launched a Mendis long-hop straight to deep midwicket just when he looked ready to build on his 36 from 55 balls.

But as Vettori takes his leave of the New Zealand captaincy, he can reflect on yet another campaign in which his team rose to the challenge of the big event in precisely the manner that too many of their supposed betters - namely England and South Africa - consistently fail to do. Sangakkara and his men, meanwhile, march on to their second final in consecutive World Cups, where Muralitharan - his broken body notwithstanding - will attempt to complete his career on the highest high imaginable.

4th Quarter Final: Srilanka vs England

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga set an emphatic seal on Sri Lanka's place in their home semi-final against New Zealand next Tuesday, as England's chaotic World Cup campaign came to an abrupt and anticlimactic end under the floodlights at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Set a testing total of 230 at a venue where successful run-chases have been notoriously thin on the ground, Sri Lanka's openers set about proving that history is bunk as they sauntered to victory by 10 wickets and with a massive 63 balls to spare. After five months on the road for England's cricketers, and six consecutive nail-biters in the group stages of the tournament, they found they had nothing left to give as the first round of knock-out matches was concluded with an utter walloping.

Though several higher scores have been made in this tournament to date, England's total of 229 for 6 ought to have competitive in the conditions. Only eight times in 49 internationals at the venue had a team batting second chased 230 or more for victory, and the most recent occasion came back in 2004. However, Dilshan and Tharanga battled through a tricky start with a flurry of aggression, before settling back into an effortlessly accumulative tempo. For the second time in the campaign, following on from their crushing of Zimbabwe in Pallekele, both men brought up centuries in a massive and indomitable stand.

Such was Sri Lanka's dominance that the match was able to finish in comically contrived scenes, as Dilshan - who had already reached his landmark with a savage cut for four off Graeme Swann - set about shepherding his partner to his own hundred. With seven runs still needed and Tharanga on 98, Dilshan accidentally carved Swann clean through the covers, and was grimacing his apologies before the ball had crossed the rope. Dilshan responded with two of the most exaggerated forward defences he has ever played, the first to a rank long-hop that even Swann was able to smile about, and with both men rendered virtually immobile with cramp, Tharanga finished the game three balls into Chris Tremlett's subsequent over, with a flat-footed swipe through the off-side.

The statistics told a sorry tale for England. All told they managed 12 fours in the whole of their 50 overs, two of which were scored by Jonathan Trott, whose 86 from 115 balls was his fifth half-century in seven innings, as he became the first batsman to pass 400 runs in the current tournament. Eoin Morgan provided some impetus with a 55-ball 50, but the batting Powerplay once again scuppered their momentum, as they were restricted to 23 runs and two key wickets in their five overs of fielding restrictions. Sri Lanka by contrast clobbered 22 fours and three sixes in less than 40 overs. The final result was every bit as resounding as it had been when these two teams last met in a World Cup quarter-final, at Faisalabad 15 years ago, a match that was lit up by Sanath Jayasuriya's epoch-defining 82 from 44 balls.

The nature of England's campaign meant that everyone, players and spectators alike, was waiting for the inevitable twist in the narrative, a fightback of the sort that the bowlers had produced against South Africa and West Indies earlier in the tournament - two other occasions in which the openers had proven hard to dislodge. However, it simply never materialised.

England's bowling effort started promisingly enough. Tim Bresnan found good swing in a tidy first over, while Swann spun the ball sharply after being armed with the new ball. However, Tharanga quickly decided valour was the better part of discretion, and latched onto a modicum of width to crash his first four in Bresnan's second over, before using his feet expertly to deposit Swann back over his head for six.

Tremlett, retained in the team ahead of the experienced James Anderson, looked set to justify his place in a brilliant first over in which he beat Dilshan three balls in a row, including a massive nip-backer that shaved the leg bail on its way through to Prior. But his line and length became scrambled thereafter, and whereas England had managed just four boundaries in their first 25 overs, Dilshan cashed in with two in four balls, both crashed through the off side, as Sri Lanka reached 57 for 0 at the end of the first Powerplay.

The chances that England were able to create were too marginal to be capitalised upon. Early in his innings, Dilshan survived a miscued pull off Bresnan that looped over the head of short midwicket, while Ravi Bopara came within a whisker of bowling him in his first over, only for the ball to beat everyone and fizz away for four byes. The same fate awaited a beauty of a delivery from Swann, while James Tredwell, the hero of Chennai, was tidy but unthreatening in his first three overs, before Dilshan planted his front foot to drill him into the stands at long-off. Tremlett returned to create two half-chances as the ball was drilled hard back through his fingertips, but the game was as good as over long before then.

At the innings break, the scenario seemed to be very different. England looked nervous and leaden-footed against a Sri Lankan attack loaded with four front-line spinners, including the Man of the Match Dilshan, who took the new ball and scalped Andrew Strauss after a dreadful innings of 5 from 19 balls. But they endured and briefly, while Trott and Eoin Morgan were in harness, they thrived, adding 91 in 16 overs for the fourth wicket.

However, their ambitions of a formidable 240-plus total were scuppered by the dismissal of Morgan in the first over of the Powerplay. Until he drilled Lasith Malinga at deep cover for a 55-ball 50, he had lived a charmed life, with no fewer than four clear-cut chances going his way - three dropped catches, two of them extraordinarily easy, and an lbw appeal on 29 that would have proved stone-dead on review. His luck, however, ran out at an inopportune moment for England, and when Swann missed a switch hit to fall for a first-ball duck, England proved incapable of reaching the boundary while the field was up, with just 23 runs coming in the five overs of fielding restrictions, and 56 in the last 10 all told.

Trott's performance was that of a man who knew that if he batted through the innings, the runs would materialise somehow. He scored his first boundary from his 65th delivery, and eventually fell in pursuit of his third, as he swept Muttiah Muralitharan to deep backward square with nine balls of the innings remaining. Despite inevitable criticism of the tempo of his innings, his sang froid appeared to be well suited to the situation, as he backed himself to work the ones and twos in a boundary-less start to his innings, and at the same time he drew a gutsy response from Ravi Bopara, who was far less comfortable with the tempo, but knuckled down for 31 from 56 balls.

Murali, whose legendary career has now been extended by one more game at least, finished with 2 for 54 in nine overs before limping off with an apparent recurrence of his hamstring strain. However, that tally could have been higher but for an extraordinary sequence of events in his eighth over, when Morgan was dropped twice in consecutive deliveries. He had already survived one dolly of an opportunity on 16, when Thilan Samaraweera shelled a leading edge off Ajantha Mendis at point, but Murali couldn't contain his fury when, first, Angelo Mathews at extra cover fluffed a lofted drive, before Rangana Herath dived forward at point but failed to cling on.

If those moments were evidence that Sri Lanka were feeling the pressure of the big occasion, they were fleeting at best. The insolent ease of this performance means that New Zealand will arrive in Colombo with trepidation ahead of their sixth semi-final appearance in ten World Cups. They have never yet progressed beyond that stage, and four years ago in Jamaica, they were sent on their way by one of the best hundreds of Mahela Jayawardene's career. Today, however, Jayawardene's solitary contribution was a catch at deep square leg. Whereas England have been on their chinstraps all tournament long, Sri Lanka - it is clear -are a team with plenty still in reserve.

3rd Quarter Final: South Africa vs New Zealand

Oh South Africa, what have you done? Earlier this month Graeme Smith tweeted an article titled 'Time to ban the 'C' word'. Hold on to that thought Smith, for clearly that time hasn't come yet. South Africa were cruising at 108 for 2 in the 25th over when Jacques Kallis fell and they crash-landed spectacularly to be shot out for 172. The self-destructive streak, demonically masochistic in nature, will perhaps need shrinks to decode it. Once they realised their opponents were cracking under pressure, New Zealand went for the kill with close-in fielders and disciplined bowling, led by Jacob Oram who took four wickets and a great catch.

Even when Kallis fell - to a blinder of a catch from Jacob Oram, rushing to his left at deep midwicket - there wasn't much to suggest that this could turn into another contender for all-time greatest choke in World Cup history. The pitch was slow but there was no sharp turn; the bowlers were disciplined but there was no sensational game-breaking spell; none of the three spinners got much purchase from the wicket; and the total was below par; but for some reason South Africa were feeling extremely claustrophobic.

Their nerves were best represented by the dismissal of JP Duminy, who played an awful shot to open the choke gates. Nathan McCullum slowed up the pace on a delivery that landed on a length, outside off, and Duminy went so hard into an ugly cut that he made a complete hash of it and lost his stumps. With Duminy's fall, South Africa were in a spot of bother at 121 for 4, in the 28th over, and the first signs of something special loomed over Mirpur.

There was more heartbreak for South Africa fans in the next over. Faf du Plessis hit straight to midwicket and ran like a headless chicken. AB de Villiers should perhaps have refused that call but he responded, only to find himself well short of the crease. It was at this moment that New Zealand really sensed that this could be their night.

The moment was so ripe that even Daniel Vettori, not known for sledging, gave some lip to du Plessis and Kyle Mills, who had carried drinks on to the field at the fall of de Villiers, got into the act. A visibly agitated du Plessis shoved Mills, the departing de Villiers returned to support his partner, and eventually the umpires had to get involved. New Zealand's players swooped in to the crime scene and it was a classic Youtube moment. You could almost feel the pressure-cooker situation out there.

New Zealand crowded the bat with close-in men, ready to sledge and eager to pile on the pressure, and Johan Botha cracked in the 33rd over. It was a lovely legcutter from Oram and Botha played down the wrong line to lose his off stump. Oram, who was the man who started it all with that Kallis catch, wasn't done yet. In the 35th over, he lured Robin Peterson into edging an attempted cut to the keeper and South Africa were swaying away like drunken men at 132 for 7. South Africa's nerves were frayed further when Dale Steyn square drove Nathan McCullum in the air to backward point, where who else but Oram accepted the offering.

If Oram was the man in the forefront of New Zealand's resurgence, du Plessis was the man seeking redemption for making that wrong call that led to the run out of de Villiers. In his brief international career, he has already shown a tenacity to remain relatively calm under pressure. And he wasn't ready to throw in the towel. He was on 14 when Steyn fell, and he took ownership of the chase. He rushed down the track to slam Tim Southee to the straight boundary in the 40th over, on drove Vettori to collect another four in the 41st, and even lifted Oram for a thrilling six over long-off in the 43rd over.

It was in the same over that the game turned for one last time, and it was also an over that captured the entire madness of the evening. du Plessis had crashed the first delivery of the over back at Oram who couldn't hold on to a very difficult chance, and once the six was hit, one had to ask the question: was the night turning for Oram? Was it swinging towards du Plessis? But du Plessis sliced the fifth ball straight to extra cover and South Africa had well and truly sunk into oblivion.

The end was a far cry from the way South Africa started the day. They attacked with spin and seam, shuffled their bowlers regularly like a pack of cards, and hustled on the field to keep a tight leash on New Zealand. Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor were at the forefront of a revival from the depths of 16 for 2; carefully, almost mindful of a potential lower-order collapse on this pitch, Ryder and Taylor battled through. The odd boundary signalled growing comfort, but they never broke away decisively. A nervy equilibrium had been reached by the end of the 30th over with New Zealand reaching 112 for 2 and the game was waiting to be seized. However, both Ryder and Taylor departed in quick succession but Kane Williamson made a vital 38 to push New Zealand to 221.

It shouldn't have been enough, it didn't feel like enough, but it proved enough. It was a crazy crazy night in Mirpur. Ironically, Allan Donald, the man who was involved in the other famous South African choke, was in the other camp tonight.

Major Attributes of Western Civilization

2st Quarter Final: Australia vs India

An awe-inspiring Ricky Ponting dazzled and Sachin Tendulkar hit a delightful fifty but it was the imperious Yuvraj Singh who stole the show to lead India to an exciting semi-final encounter against Pakistan. On a dry pitch, aiding turn, India couldn't remove a wonderfully solid Ponting, but found a way around him to hold Australia to a competitive 260. Tendulkar set the base and the middle order threatened to choke, but Yuvraj played a blinder to charge India to a famous win.

Sometimes, they say, one four can change things around. That cliché came alive today, in the final ball of the 39th over, with India needing 72 from 67 deliveries, when Yuvraj spanked Shaun Tait for a stunning four over backward point. It oozed of skill, impishness and dare under fire. Until then, in the preceding few overs, India choked and spluttered badly to almost hand the game to Australia. That Yuvraj hit over point sensationally turned the game on its head.

The next over proved to be the game-breaker as Brett Lee was looted for 14 runs: Suresh Raina played the most assured pull of his life to crash the first delivery to the boundary and Yuvraj carved the final delivery over point, but it was a shot in between that really reflected the enthralling contest. It was a screaming yorker from Lee, from around the stumps, and Yuvraj crouched, opened the bat-face and stabbed it through to the third man boundary. Lee looked stunned, and you felt that was the moment when India affected the jail break.

Until Yuvraj took ownership of the chase, the pressure-cooker situation had got to India and they were beginning to choke. In five mad overs between the 32nd and 37th, just after Virat Kohli had swiped a full toss from David Hussey straight to midwicket in the 29th over, it was absolute pandemonium as India looked hell bent on self-destruction. Gautam Gambhir tried to run himself out three times and was successful on the final attempt. In the 33rd over, he ran for a non-existent run after Yuvraj had played the ball towards midwicket but Ponting missed the sticks. In the next over, he got into a yes-and-no situation with Yuvraj and would have been run out had Brad Haddin, who dashed to the short mid-on region, thrown it at the non-striker's end. Gambhir was run out next ball, again running mindlessly after Yuvraj stabbed David Hussey wide of the first slip.

India required 93 runs from 101 balls at that stage, but they slipped further into the abyss as MS Dhoni got out after looking edgy. He nearly got involved in a run out, had a big swing and a miss against Lee and perished next delivery, cutting to point to leave India needing 74 from 75 balls. It was then that Yuvraj decided to play the World Cup innings of his life.

The batting Powerplay was the final hurdle, but Raina, who gave admirable support to Yuvraj after Dhoni's exit, walloped the first ball from Lee over long-on and Australia's fight evaporated with that shot.

Before Yuvraj, India's chase revolved almost entirely around Sachin Tendulkar. It was a slow pitch, but Tendulkar played some shots that defied the nature of the track. Tait v Tendulkar in particular lived up to the billing. Tendulkar punched the first delivery he faced, and the first from Tait, through cover point and, 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 out off the attack but returned to silence the crowd. He gave away six runs in his first over on return, which included two wides and also saw Tendulkar getting to his fifty. He struck with the first delivery of his next over, the 19th of the innings, with 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.

Spare a thought for the Australian captain, probably playing his last World Cup match and to Australia, who were last eliminated before the finals of a World Cup way back in 1992. Whenever Zaheer Khan threatened to push India in front, Ponting shoved Australia ahead. The knock was a microcosm of Ponting the man. It had skill, grit, bloody-mindedness, and dare; it was Ponting. It will probably be the only knock from him that won't be remembered for many scintillating shots and it will be cherished for how responsibly he curbed his natural strokeplay.

There was tremendous poise in how he dealt with the slow nature of the pitch and a great amount of skill in the way he handled spin. Ponting showed sheer grit in the way he held the Australian innings together, and admirable character to do it when he wasn't in great form, on such a big stage. When he was fresh, he had to face Harbhajan Singh, his nemesis, bowling from around the stumps.

Ponting countered him by shuffling to his right and working the ball with the turn. When he was tired, he had to face the reverse-swing from Zaheer. In the middle, he picked Ashwin's carom ball, and mixed caution and aggression against Yuvraj Singh.

Australia's slide and India's resurgence in the middle overs began with an awful shot from Michael Clarke, who top-edged a slog-sweep against Yuvraj to long-on in the 31st over. Zaheer dismissed Michael Hussey with that knuckled slower one to leave Australia wobbling at 140 for 4 in the 34th over. Ponting and David Hussey took the batting Powerplay in the 44th over and added 44 vital runs without losing a wicket. Ponting must have thought he had done all he could to ensure Australia remained in the competition but he was outdone by Yuvraj.

Harsha Bhogle on 1st Quarter Final: Pakistan vs West Indies

Cricinfo's Original Video (Raafay Awan's Blog)

1st Quarter Final: Pakistan vs West Indies

Pakistan are two games away from repeating the heroics of Imran Khan's 1992 team after a crushing 10-wicket victory against West Indies in the first quarter-final in Dhaka. Mohammad Hafeez starred with bat and ball, beginning West Indies' decline with two early wickets then ending it with a brisk 61, while Shahid Afridi is proving an inspirational force and led from the front again with four more scalps as the spinners produced a ruthless display to dismantle West Indies for 112.

Between the three of them, Pakistan's slow bowlers had figures of 27.3-5-64-8 and gave another example of how there is a threat from every part of the attack. At no point did Afridi need to fill overs, especially when the weakest link of the bowlers - Hafeez - managed to take 2 for 16 in his full allocation. Hafeez then dominated an unbroken opening stand with Kamran Akmal which wiped off the target with barely an alarm and 29 overs to spare.

The match represented a contest for as long as Chris Gayle was in the middle - the sum total of 2.5 overs. His departure sucked the life and belief from West Indies line-up with the rest remaining rooted to the crease, managing just seven fours and a solitary Shivnarine Chanderpaul six as he nudged his way to a hollow, unbeaten 44.

Some early aggression had proved the falsest of dawns. Devon Smith cut the first ball of the match to the point boundary and Gayle played two thumping shots, but in attempting his third boundary, he picked out Afridi at mid-off who did well to hold on to a stinging drive. With their talisman gone, West Indies became virtually scoreless.

Hafeez, handed the new ball after Abdur Rehman was left out, caused a host of problems for the left handers, mainly with his straighter deliveries, rather than any turn. The major damage came in his third over as he skidded one past Smith's inside edge, and three balls later, a similar delivery removed Darren Bravo as he thrust his pad down the line.

The next six overs brought just six runs as Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chanderpaul were rendered scoreless by the combination of Hafeez and Gul. The shackles were momentarily broken when Sarwan collected two boundaries off Wahab Riaz - the second a flowing cover drive - but they were the rare exception.

Hafeez was allowed to bowl eight overs for 12 runs though he was barely turning the ball and spinners continued to cause problems when Afridi had two close shouts for lbw in his first over. He used up a review with the first one but should have broken through in his second over when Gul didn't accept a chance at long-off when Sarwan, on 14, tried to go over the top.

Runs came at a painful rate, but at least the fourth-wicket pair were trying to set a platform. However, with the pressure building and Pakistan racing through the overs Sarwan felt he had to try some shots, but couldn't clear cover as he cut a delivery which bounced more than expected. Not for the first time, Afridi stood with arms aloft and it was just the start for the Pakistan captain.

Kieron Pollard did nothing to end the argument that he's a bully of weak bowling attacks when he bottom-edged a cut and Kamran Akmal's recent improvements continued with a sharp take. None of the West Indian batsman - barring Chanderpaul - had a clue which way Afridi was turning the ball and that was summed up by Devon Thomas' dismissal as he played back to a quicker ball.

From legspin to offspin it was then the turn of Saeed Ajmal to make more lower-order batsmen look foolish. Darren Sammy, who will struggle to justify his place in the team after this tournament, was turned square by a perfect doosra and the same delivery also removed Devendra Bishoo although this time the batsman helped with an inside edge.

Kemar Roach showed some of his team-mates that batting wasn't impossible as he accompanied Chanderpaul for 15 overs to add 40 but it was like trying to the plug the leak in the Titanic. Roach eventually chipped to midwicket and the innings ended with more than six overs remaining when Ravi Rampaul was bowled round his legs by Afridi.

Pakistan weren't going to ease their way to the target and after two overs had 25 on the board - it had taken West Indies until the 12th over to reach that point. Hafeez rode on the confidence of his bowling display, but some of the bowling served up was as bad as the earlier batting. A couple of tough half chances were spilled without affecting the result.

The victory means their first journey to India since 2007 to face either the co-hosts or defending champions in Mohali. Pakistan won't care who the opposition are, it will take an exceptional performance to stop them.

India vs West Indies

Oh West Indies, they have done it again. For the second match in a row they had a chase all wrapped up but some desperate inspiration from Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh and some mindless cricket from the batsmen who followed Devon Smith ensured that West Indies remained without a win over a Test side other than Bangladesh since June 2009. With Smith playing as well as he has ever played, West Indies almost mocked India for the first 27 overs, getting up to 146 for 2 without a care in the world. Then came a maiden by Harbhajan and a wicked Zaheer slower ball to remove Smith, and West Indies lost the last eight wickets for 34.

That collapse outdid India's own - 7 for 50 - that had threatened to undo Yuvraj Singh's century on a track whose bounce West Indies and Ravi Rampaul exploited, but not to the fullest. Rampaul, the hero of West Indies' last win against a major side, took his first five-for in ODIs on his World Cup debut to hurt the start, the middle and the end of the Indian innings. However, West Indies' insistence on opening the bowling with Sulieman Benn despite the helpful track, and the obvious plan of trying to bounce India out meant they couldn't capitalise on a first over that claimed Sachin Tendulkar. Then there was Yuvraj, with his maiden World Cup century, fighting dehydration, vomiting on the field, and then coming back to take two wickets.

The game might have ended in a whimper, but it began explosively. As they successfully did in the last two World Twenty20s, West Indies came out with bouncers for India. Inside the first 11 overs, two deliveries bounced over the keeper's head for byes, two batsmen got out to deliveries dug in short, one was dropped off another short delivery, but Benn went for 21 off his three overs to ease the pressure. To make matters worse Darren Sammy dropped Yuvraj twice, chances not easy but not impossible, at 9 and 13.

Working with Yuvraj was Virat Kohli, for whom it was almost a homecoming to bat at No. 3 in the absence of the injured Virender Sehwag. In familiar environs of not having to score at a strike-rate of 150, Kohli did just what was required on a tough pitch after a tough start, scoring 59 off 76, letting Yuvraj take the majority of the strike in a 122-run partnership, after the two had come together at 51 for 2.

Even after Yuvraj was reprieved twice, the bouncers still kept coming, the odd ball still misbehaved - especially for the left-hand batsman. He got dehydrated and threw up but nothing seemed to be able to stop the Yuvraj specials in between, shots that kept the scoring rate up in the middle overs. Kohli was smart too: he had played 21 deliveries when Yuvraj came to join him, but so good was the strike manipulation that Yuvraj had played 12 more deliveries than him by the time their partnership ended.

During the partnership, Yuvraj pulled over midwicket, cover-drove for fours along the ground, swept the legspin of Devendra Bishoo, and on-drove Sammy over long-on for a majestic six. It was one of those days when Yuvraj was feeling it, one of those days when he plays one level above the game around him. His mates, though, managed to engineer another collapse from 218 for 3 in the 42nd over.

Buoyed by that good finish with the ball, West Indies came out positive. As Rampaul stood up in the absence of the unwell Kemar Roach, so Smith did in place of the injured Chris Gayle. He cut furiously - almost every bowler got a taste of his trademark shot - he picked singles straight to infielders, doubles straight to those in the deep. However, R Ashwin, who got his World Cup debut at long last, was difficult to hit with the new ball. He used his carrom ball to remove the potentially explosive Kirk Edwards.

Still Smith and Darren Bravo first, and Smith and Ramnaresh Sarwan thereafter kept knocking off the runs calmly. The running between the wickets, and then the odd boundary to break a string of dots, remained a feature. The panic and rush that characterised their effort against England was conspicuous in its absence. With Smith scoring at will, and West Indies needing just 123 in the last 23 overs, only West Indies stood in the way of West Indies.

Turned out they needed a bit of help from India to kickstart the collapse. It came through a maiden from Harbhajan, who came back remarkably after an uninspiring spell of four overs for 23 with the new ball. Harbhajan and Munaf Patel put together a spell of 19 balls for just eight runs before Zaheer was called upon to provide the exclamation mark.

And how he did, with his new knuckle slower ball, where the middle finger doesn't hold the ball tightly, thus taking the pace off without giving any indication to those who are watching from the front. With that slower ball, he removed Smith's off stump after a virtually faultless innings. After that, the procession began. Kieron Pollard holed out to long-on at the first sight of pressure, Sammy was sold down the river by Sarwan, Devon Thomas and Andre Russell fell to the wiles of Yuvraj, and it was all over.

The way West Indies and India collapsed, conspiracy theorists will waste no time in suggesting that both teams wanted to avoid Australia in the quarter-final. As it turned out, West Indies finished fourth in Group B, thus getting Group A leaders Pakistan in Dhaka. And India renew hostilities with Australia in Ahmedabad.

Zimbabwe vs Kenya

Zimbabwe's spinners completed the job started by their batsmen, sharing seven wickets as Kenya crumbled for 147 in pursuit of 308. This match was the last in the tournament for both teams, and with little but pride to play for, Kenya captain Jimmy Kamande had urged his team to give Steve Tikolo, playing his final game for his country, a fitting send off. It was not to be, however, as half-centuries from Tatenda Taibu, Vusi Sibanda and Craig Ervine carried Zimbabwe past 300 and Kenya's chase never got off the ground.

Chris Mpofu, the solitary specialist seamer in Zimbabwe's side, started Kenya's troubles by removing opener David Obuya in the first over, and three overs later Collins Obuya's run-out brought Tikolo to the crease for the final time in internationals. He got going with a couple of firm flicks to the deep-midwicket boundary but then played back to Price and was struck in line with leg stump to be sent on his way. In a touching sign of respect to the retiring Tikolo, the Zimbabweans rushed in to shake his hand and he left the field, clearly emotional, to a standing ovation from both teams and the smattering of spectators around the ground.

Alex Obanda, who appeared to have adjusted to the conditions and had progressed easily into the 20s, lost partner Tanmay Mishra to a top-edged sweep and soon followed him back to the pavilion as an arm ball from Price struck pad before bat as he stretched forward to defend. It was spin that did for Thomas Odoyo too, Greg Lamb ripping one past his defences as he played back in defence, and a successful review by Zimbabwe secued the dismissal.

Kenya were in the dire position of 73 for 6 when Odoyo was removed, and slipped even further when Rakep Patel slog-swept straight to Regis Chakabva at deep midwicket for the seventh wicket. Their rapid slide was briefly halted by Nehemiah Odhiambo, who swung his way merrily to an unbeaten 44, but it was only a matter of time before the tail capitulated completely.

Zimbabwe's innings had been built around two fluent partnerships. Sibanda and Taibu added 110 for the third wicket to help their team recover from a shaky start and lay a solid platform before Ervine and Chigumbura put on a rollicking 105 to boost the score out of Kenya's reach.

The batsmen initially struggled to impose themselves - after Chigumbura's decision to bat -on a cracked, dry surface that got slower and lower as the afternoon wore on. Odhiambo, who impressed with his pace and bounce against Australia in Bangalore, was brought on in the ninth over and with his sixth delivery achieved the breakthrough, a length delivery on a perfect line kissing the edge of Chakabva's bat on the way through to wicketkeeper David Obuya. Taylor followed soon after, playing too early as the ball stopped on the wicket to spoon an easy catch to mid-on as Zimbabwe slipped to 36 for 2.

Taibu and Sibanda were generally cautious as they set about constructing a partnership after the early wickets, but while the batting surface was not conducive to stroke-making the outfield remained very fast and both batsmen were quick to seize on the bad ball. While Sibanda was more orthodox in his shots, Taibu was characteristically innovative, twice reverse-sweeping offspinner James Ngoche to the boundary.

Kenya wasted both their reviews to contested lbw decisions in an effort to break the stand, but both Sibanda and Taibu barely offered a chance to the bowlers in the course of their partnership and Sibanda, in particular, soon began to take the attack to the bowlers. He reached a 54-ball half-century in the 28th over with an elegant loft over long-on but could have been run out immediately afterwards due a late decision from Taibu to turn a quick single down.

There had been several occasions of uncertainty in the running during the partnership, and one over later atrocious running finally cost Sibanda his wicket. Taibu was the man at fault, initially setting off before opting against the run, and with both batsmen at one end Sibanda didn't even bother to attempt to make it back to safety.

Zimbabwe's momentum barely dipped despite the wicket, however, and two overs later Taibu brought up his own fifty - and passed 3,000 runs in one-day internationals - with a scything cut to backward point. He paid the price for one cheeky reverse-sweep too many, trapped leg before for 53, but his dismissal brought Ervine and Chigumbura together for the decisive stand of the innings.

Once both had settled, they began to ping the boundary with ease and Ervine rushed to his fifty from just 46 balls in the midst of a batting Powerplay that yielded 50 runs and the wicket of Chigumbura - caught at long-on for a rapid 38. With 300 in sight, Ervine chopped a drive onto his own stumps but Lamb and Utseya continued the charge in fine style.

Zimbabwe wanted more from their World Cup campaign, but their resounding wins over Canada and Kenya will at least lend credence to their claim that they're too good to be lumped with the Associates as they look forward to a return to Test cricket. The end of Kenya's trip to India also marks something of a new beginning for them, and without Tikolo in their middle order it is now up to a clutch of promising youngsters to rebuild for what is, hopefully, a brighter future.

Decision Points: The Autobiography of President George W. Bush

After two years of silence 43rd President of United States of America, George W. Bush published is biography named "Decision Points". In his book George W. Bush has talked about many things that happened during his 8 year rule over America, or more so all the world. Most of the sensitive details of the book had already been available in the media yet still the book contains many things that the people did not know at the time.

Dick Cheney:

Most important story in this book is perhaps about the vice president of USA during George W. Bush's time, Dick Cheney. George W. Bush writes that he did not want Dick Cheney to be the vice president of USA for the second time running in the elections of 2004 because Bush thought that Dick Cheney influence was increasing day by day and same was the feeling among the International stage. In most of the bills the influence of Dick Cheney was easily more than the President himself so he tried his best to elect the Famous Surgeon and Senator, Dr. William Harrison as the VP but failed to do so. on the other side he also had the thought that Dick Cheney has played an important role in the attack on Iraq and he was an integral figure for this matter.

Middle East Peace Treaty:

On the point of peace in middle east former President George W. Bush writes that in 2007, there was a huge progress between Palestinian President Mehmood Abbas and Israeli President Ayhud Olmert but the progress came to a sudden halt when the Israeli President was removed from his post due to the allegations of corruption. Later he writes that He tried his best and wanted the peace treaty to be signed according to the wishes of the people of both the areas and for that He asked the Israeli President to bring the suggestions on table for him while in the mean time Palestinian President should try to convince the general public of his area that this treaty was for their own benefits. But Palestinian President was against any treaty that was made outside the office of Israeli President.

Iran's Nuclear Crisis:
President George W. Bush showed real anger and non satisfaction over the information provided by the secret agencies and other sources on the Iranian Nuclear crisis. He wrote that National Intelligence Estimate, which is a final report made after loads research and care had written that the Iran has halted its nuclear program since 2003 so after this there was no evidence for USA to attack Iran left therefore many Arab countries and Israel were angry with USA. President George W. Bush writes that he was amazed by such harsh reaction by the Arab countries and Israel over this issue. At one stage during a meeting with Shah Abdullah, President George W. Bush had to himself say that he shares the same anger with Shah Abdullah over the secret agencies.

Hisbullah and Israel:
Talking about the war between Israel and Hissbullah based in Lebanon he writes that Israel was not able to attain the results from the war. Although the Hisbullah leadership was damaged and shocked by the attack and Israel was able to make his territory safe but the poor performance of Israeli army during the war arose many questions at the international level. Israeli bombardment on the locals also raised criticism.

Syria and Israel:
President George W. Bush also wrote that on the pressure of Israel, he had made up his mind to attack the Atomic Reactor of Syria which was being set up with the help of North Korea but later on the did not bring his plans into reality. Writing about the decision of not attacking Syria he said that it would have been unfair to attack an independent country without any reason and would also create international criticism on USA. He also advised Israel not to take any such action but Israel did attack Syria's nuclear reactor because Israeli President knew what was better for their country. He denied that he gave the green signal to Israel for attacking Syria.


Water Boarding:
President George W. Bush also conformed that he had allowed the Secret Agencies and CIA to use the Water Boarding technique (A way of torture with water) on the Al Qaida's important leaders to get important information and secrets. President George W. Bush writes that it was due to the same method that the plans for attack at London Airport were disclosed.

Tony Blair, Iraq and 9/11:
About Tony Blair, President George W. Bush writes that after the attack on Iraq there was strong reaction by the British public over the attack and if was feared that Tony Blair's government might finish before time, and because of the same reason when the British parliament wanted a re vote for the Prime Minister, President George W. Bush had asked Tony Blair to reduce his support in Iraq but he refuse the request saying that he will support USA through thick and thin even if he has to lose the Prime Minister post. President George W. Bush tells the reason for the offer that he gave a lot of importance to Tony Blair and consulted him quite often over the issues of war and it was because of him that the ties between UK and USA reached new heights. In his book he was also written about the situation he had to face before attacking Iraq and the day when World Trade Center was attacked after which he began to see the world in a different way.

Donald Rimsfild:
President George W. Bush's writes about his Secretary for Defense, Donald Rimsfild with utmost stubbornness saying that when the news of torture in Abu Gharib jail broke, Donald Rimsfild gave him his resignation in a private meeting but President George W. Bush refused to accept it and asked him to continue with his post because the thought it will give a negative lesson to the army fighting in Iraq.

Attack on Iraq:
In his book President George W. Bush accepts his mistake that the reports of weapons of Mass destruction were totally wrong and baseless and that he was misguided by all the secret agencies. He also writes that all the secret agencies guaranteed him that the weapons exist and that he should attack Iraq in 2003.

Obama and Pakistan:
Fond of wars President George W. Bush did not attack President Obama in his book and hailed his decision of increasing the armed forces in Afghanistan. Although he did mention his reservations over the Afghan Policy of Obama and called it a failure. He also disclosed that he had decided to send special forces to Pakistan after the attack on World Trade Center and also made a similar decision in 2008 but could not do so because of the strong reaction of the Army Leadership back in Pakistan.

The Catastrophe of Katrina:
President George W. Bush showed great regret on the Katrina Hurricane and also felt sad that the arrangements and help should have been made a little quicker than it originally was. He wrote that he had advised the Governor of New Orleans, Katherine Blanco to take the help of the army but she refused to do so. He writes that he wanted to take action against the governor but if he had he would be blamed that the action was against the other party. He also strictly condemned the charges against him by the USA singer Kane West and called it the worst moment of his eight year reign.


Financial Crisis:
President George W. Bush also tried to prove that the bail out package the had announced during the financial crisis was for the betterment of USA and was the only way USA could have been brought out of the biggest crisis of the history. He calls the moments during which he had to take the decisions in his Oval Office the toughest so far.

Regrets:
President George W. Bush writes that his biggest regret during the eight years of government was that he was not able to bring Usama Bin Ladin to justice. He also writes that he is proud of his decisions and also was happy that he did not let anyone attack USA again.