India's Sachin Tendulkar led a charmed life to hit a crucial 85 in Wednesday's semi-final win against Pakistan before targetting his first World Cup title in front of his home fans in Mumbai. Tendulkar was dropped four times in his man of the match innings to anchor India to 260-9 against their arch-rivals before his team's bowlers applied the pressure and the brakes to secure a 29-run win in the hotly-anticipated clash.
"The final in Mumbai will be a fantastic occasion. We will focus on the job in hand and try to get the job done," said Tendulkar of Saturday's title match against Sri Lanka. Tendulkar again missed out on making 100 international centuries but has the satisfaction of having played in all five of India's World Cup wins over Pakistan.
Now he hopes to be at the forefront of Saturday's campaign where India will look to capture a second World Cup title, 28 years after their first and only triumph.
"It's always memorable to play against Pakistan and to be on the winning side five times against them is a memory I will always cherish. "But it was a brilliant effort in the field and by the bowlers. When we batted we had to make sure we got a fighting total. I thought 310 or 315 would have been a good par score.
"Then the ball started stopping and spinning and something closer to 270 was par." India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who won the toss and batted, said it was important to treat the slowing PCA Stadium pitch - and the Pakistan attack for whom left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz grabbed five wickets - with respect.
"We got off to a fantastic start through Virender Sehwag and Sachin (48 runs in 5.5 overs) but as the game progressed the wicket got slower, and in the middle overs it was difficult to score," said Dhoni. "It was important to just play the bowling with respect. 260 was a good score for this pitch. It was turning. We read the wicket wrong and that's why we went with three seamers, but in the end the seamers bowled really well too.
"We don't have bowlers who can bowl 140mph plus, overall we rely on deception - change of length, line and pace." Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi admitted his team had missed their chances to dismiss Tendulkar who was dropped on 27, 45, 70 and 81 in a butter-fingered fielding performance.
"I'd like to congratulate the Indian team and the Indian nation for this great victory, and wish them all the best for the final," he said. "We missed some opportunities and they played better than us. We didn't make partnerships and we played some irresponsible shots. "I want to say sorry to my nation - we tried our level best."
India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who took 2-43, said the semi-final would have made a great title match. "This was like a final. Whenever India and Pakistan play the pressure is always double. It was a big match for us and for them," he said. "We bowled and fielded well and I think we deserved to win. We played good overall cricket. I am looking forward to going to Mumbai and playing in the final."
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Scoreboard India:
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V. Sehwag lbw b Riaz 38
S. Tendulkar c Afridi b Ajmal 85
G. Gambhir st K Akmal b Hafeez 27
V. Kohli c U Akmal b Riaz 9
Yuvraj Singh b Riaz 0
MS Dhoni lbw b Riaz 25
Suresh Raina not out 36
Harbhajan Singh st K Akmal b Ajmal 12
Zaheeer Khan c K Akmal b Riaz 9
A. Nehra run out (K Akmal/Riaz) 1
M. Patel not out 0
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Extras: (lb8, w8, nb2) 18
Total: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 260
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Fall of wickets: 1-48 (Sehwag), 2-118 (Gambhir), 3-141 (Kohli), 4-141 (Yuvraj), 5-187 (Tendulkar), 6-205 (Dhoni), 7-236 (Harbhajan), 8-256 (Zaheer), 9-258 (Nehra)
Bowling: Gul 8-0-69-0 (2nb, 1w); Razzaq 2-0-14-0; Riaz 10-0-46-5 (4w); Ajmal 10-0-44-2 (3w); Afridi 10-0-45-0; Hafeez 10-0-34-1.
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Pakistan:
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Kamran Akmal c Yuvraj b Zaheer 19
Mohammad Hafeez c Dhoni b Patel 43
Asad Shafiq b Yuvraj 30
Younus Khan c Raina b Yuvraj 13
Misbah-ul-Haq c Kohli b Zaheer 56
Umar Akmal b Harbhajan 29
Abdul Razzaq b Patel 3
Shahid Afridi c Sehwag b Harbhajan 19
Wahab Riaz c Tendulkar b Nehra 8
Umar Gul lbw b Nehra 2
Saeed Ajmal not out 1
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Extras: (w8) 8
Total: (all out, 49.5 overs) 231
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Fall of wickets: 1-44 (K Akmal), 2-70 (Hafeez), 3-103 (Shafiq), 4-106 (Younus), 5-142 (U Akmal), 6-150 (Razzaq), 7-184 (Afridi), 8-199 (Riaz), 9-208 (Gul), 10-231 (Misbah)
Bowling: Zaheer 9.5-0-58-2 (6w); Nehra 10-0-33-2 (1w); Patel 10-1-40-2 (1w); Harbhajan 10-0-43-2; Yuvraj 10-1-57-2;
Result: India won by 29 runs
Man-of-the-match: Sachin Tendulkar (IND)
Toss: India
Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG)
TV umpire: Billy Bowden (NZL)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).
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