MOHALI: Pakistan left-arm pace bowler Wahab Riaz took four wickets, including two off successive balls, to put his side on top in the World Cup semi-final against India on Wednesday.
Riaz, who had earlier dismissed Virender Sehwag lbw after the opener had struck a frenetic 38 with nine boundaries, had Virat Kohli caught for nine then bowled India's form player Yuvraj Singh for a duck with a magnificent inswinging yorker.
He won another lbw appeal against captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (25).
India would have been in more trouble if Pakistan had not dropped Sachin Tendulkar four times, three of them off captain Shahid Afridi. Tendulkar also had an lbw decision reversed on review while a stumping appeal off the next ball was referred to the third umpire.
He was finally out for 85, caught by Afridi, 15 short of becoming the first man to score 100 international centuries.
* Sehwag received a deafening ovation when he drove the third ball of the match to the cover boundary.
He helped himself to a further three fours through an unprotected leg-side and two through the off in Umar Gul's next over followed by a further brace in the hapless paceman's third.
Riaz replaced Abdul Razzaq at the other end and was immediately successful when Sehwag played across his fifth ball and was given out lbw. 49/1 off six overs
* Tendulkar, one short of an unprecedented 100 international centuries, played two exquisite shots off Riaz, turning his wrists late to steer the ball through the leg-side for four then dipping low to carve another boundary through the covers.
With left-hander Gautam Gambhir at the crease, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was introduced to the attack in the ninth over. 73/1 off 10 overs
* Tendulkar survived appeals off consecutive balls from Ajmal which temporarily silenced the crowd. He was given out lbw for 23 by Ian Gould but appealed against the decision and won a reprieve when the television replay showed the ball would have missed the leg-stump.
Pakistan appealed for a stumping off the next ball and Tendulkar was again reprieved when the replay showed his back foot was grounded. Tendulkar's charmed life continued when he was dropped on 27 off Afridi by Misbah-ul-Haq at mid-wicket mistiming a pull. 99/1 off 15 overs
* Pakistan's luck appeared to turn when off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez lured Gautam Gambhir (27) out of his crease and Kamran Akmal completed the stumping. He added had 68 runs from 66 balls with Tendulkar. But Tendulkar was then dropped on 45 by Pakistan's safest catcher Younus Khan in the covers off the unfortunate Afridi. Tendulkar added to the Pakistan captain's chagrin by driving Afridi over cover to bring up his half-century from 67 balls. 141/2 off 25 overs
* Riaz, brought back into the attack, immediately began to reverse swing the old ball and was rewarded with the wickets of Koli, who lobbed a catch into the covers, and Yuvraj who had averaged 113.66 previously in the tournament. 168/4 off 30 overs
* Afridi recalled Gul, whose first four overs had cost 41 runs, to see if he could emulate Riaz and reverse the ball. Tendulkar received two further lives when he was dropped by Kamran Akmal on 70, a difficult chance behind the stumps, again off Afridi. Akram's brother Umal then dropped Tendulkar on 81 off Hafeez at wide mid-wicket. Tendulkar's luck finally ran out when Afridi held a fierce drive at short-cover off Ajmal. 200/5 off 40 overs
* Dhoni struggled to get bat to ball as the Indian run rate slipped further. He tried to clip Riaz off his legs but missed a ball which was heading straight for the stumps. 221/6 off 45 overs
* Dhoni won an important toss on a hot muggy morning and had no hesitation announcing he would bat in a match which has captured the imagination of the sub-continent.
India selected pace bowler Ashish Nehra instead of off-spinner Ravichandran Aswhin while Pakistan named an unchanged team, again omitting fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar who will retire after the tournament.
