Eleven years ago on this day, (24 March, 2011), India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh ended Australia’s hopes of winning a fourth consecutive World Cup title in a heroic manner. The Men in Blue defeated the defending champions by five wickets to reach the semi-final of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup.
This match became special for Indian cricket fans as it was India’s first Cricket World Cup win over Australia after 24 years. During the match, Sachin Tendulkar made a delightful fifty while Yuvraj Singh stole the show by leading India to an exciting semi-final encounter which was to be played against Pakistan.
Australia slipper Ricky Ponting won the toss and decided to bat first on a dry pitch. Ponting played one of his most patient World Cup knocks to notch up a brilliant century helping the defending champions post 260 in their allotted 50 overs.
When India came in to bat, Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag gave India a brisk start. Tendulkar soon brought up his half-century, but was soon dismissed by Shaun Tait. Then it was Gambhir’s gritty half-century that laid the foundation, but his run out was followed by MS Dhoni’s dismissal. Suddenly, India were in a tricky position at 187/5.
However, Yuvraj Singh got together with Suresh Raina to turn it around for India. The duo mixed caution with aggression and in a sense, the 40th over was a game changing one as they took on Brett Lee and scored 14 runs off it. It shifted the momentum. Yuvraj soon reached his fifty as he and Raina motored on. And in the 48th over, with four runs needed, Yuvraj finished it of in style thumping one through covers off Lee to spark wild celebrations. The Yuvraj-Raina pair added 74 unbeaten runs off 61 balls to power India into the semis.
The unbeaten champions of the last two editions were knocked out of the 2011 ODI World Cup while India went on to lift the trophy by beating Pakistan in the semis and Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede Stadium.
Yuvraj Singh picked up two wickets and scored 57 off 65 balls to help India beat Australia at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad and and reach the semis. He was named the Man of the Match.
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