MOHALI, India (Reuters) – India beat Pakistan by 29 runs in the second World Cup semi-final Wednesday and will take on Sri Lanka in Saturday’s final in Mumbai.
The 1983 champions posted 260-9 and then returned to bowl out their neighbours for 231 in 49.5 overs to spark jubilant celebrations at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
Opting to bat first, India got off to a rollicking start and Sachin Tendulkar (85) got a series of let-offs as well but Wahab Riaz’s (5-46) five-wicket haul restricted the co-hosts to a rather modest total.
Pakistan got off to a decent start too but losing wickets at regular intervals denied them any significant partnerships and batsmen such as Mohammad Hafeez (43) and Asad Shafiq (30) were guilty of throwing away their wickets at the most inopportune time.
Misbah-ul-Haq (56) offered some late resistance but it was not enough in the end.
For India, Yuvraj Singh (2-57) made amends for his batting failure, while Harbhajan Singh (2-43), Ashish Nehra (2-33), Zaheer Khan (2-58) and Munaf Patel (2-40) also shone with the ball.
