World Cup 2011 - Top 10 Moments

1-Kevin O’Brien:- At 111-5 and chasing 328 there are not too many players who will take the attack to the opposition, but that’s exactly what he did against England. Kevin along with Alex Cussack took the power play and tore apart the English attack. If this is not the knock of the World Cup than nothing can be, with Kevin going on to muster the fastest 100 in a World Cup off just 50 balls. The previous best was off 66 balls by Mathew Hayden who in fact went on to say that that he believed that no one could break this record let alone an Irishman. The most important part of Kevin’s knock being that Ireland notching up a historic win against England.


2-Mahendra Singh Dhoni:-He had got only 150 runs till he came up with a magnificent knock of 91 in the finals. Promoting himself up the order ahead of the man in top form: Yuvraj Singh, and that too in a World Cup final is never an easy decision. But he did it and also in the process maintained the right-hand left-hand combination after Virat Kohli was dismissed and along with Gautam Gambhir clobbered the Sri Lankan attack leading India to World Cup glory after 28 long years.He went on to get the man of the match for his outstanding batting and captaincy.


3-Dale Steyn:- India were in a strong position at 267-1 in the 40th over with Tendulkar getting his 6th World Cup century and Gambhir looking solid and fluent at the same time. This is when lightning struck. Dale Steyn was bought back into the attack and gave a totally new dimension to where the game was heading. India were heading for a 350 total if not more crumbled to 296 all out, not even managing to play their quota of 50 overs. Steyn struck and how! Morkel got rid of Tendulkar and after that it was a Steyn show. His 5-50 sealed the match for South Africa who successfully chased 297, and if not for Steyn they would have been chasing something really big.


4-Andrew Strauss:-There were many questions raised whether he is fit to play in the 50 overs version of the game. Strauss answered those questions with his bat. England chasing 339 in front of a hostile Bangalore crowd was always going to be difficult. But the way Strauss batted; it was almost a piece of cake. His 158 off 145 balls, a knock that was filled with lovely strokes, something that a cricket purist would die for, almost won the match for England. The end result was a tie in a match that neither India nor England deserved to lose, but had it not been for Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell, England were definitely out of the contest.


5-Yuvraj Singh:-Chasing 262 against Australia is always difficult, and to add to it that the match being Quarterfinals of a World Cup is even more arduous. At 187-5, India needed someone to put his hand up and guts it out till the end. Yuvraj Singh did. His unbeaten 57 along with an unbeaten 34 by Suresh Raina guided India to an easy victory on a pitch which was dusty and batting was very difficult. This knocked out the defending champions and even Ricky Ponting felt that India would surely go on to win the World Cup from there. They eventually did with Yuvraj galloping away with the man of the tournament trophy.


6-Jacob Oram:-New Zealand did not stand a chance to win against South Africa. Try telling this to Jacob Oram! It was the Quarterfinals and South Africa were red hot favorites to make it to the semi-finals, more so after New Zealand had managed to get 221 on the board. But the Kiwi bowlers had other ideas, and their fielding complimented their bowling like never before. Jacob Oram came up with a dream spell of 4-39 that helped the Kiwis wrap up the South African innings for just 172. But the turning point was the wicket of Jacques Kallis. South Africa was cruising when Jacob Oram took a blinder at the midwicket boundary to send Kallis back to the hut. This set up the win and there was no looking back as New Zealand made it to the semi-finals.

7-Ross Taylor: - New Zealand was 210 for 6 at the end of 46th over with Ross Taylor still at the crease. What followed was absolute mayhem. New Zealand scored 92 runs in the last 4 overs to get to 302.
Unbelievable as it is, Taylor scored his last 66 runs in 16 balls and in the process going on to get his ton and remaining unbeaten on 131. His innings got the Kiwis to around 50 more runs than what they would have expected even on their best of days! And as it turned out, it was too hot for Pakistan to handle as they could muster up only 192. It was the first match played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and the crowd could not have asked for more.


8-Shahid Afridi: - Pakistan had got to 277 riding on the back of excellent batting by Younis Khan and Misbah Ul Haq at the Premadasa. Sri Lanka began their chase with finesse, their openers getting them to 76 in 14 overs. In a match where the pendulum swung from one side to the other and the bowlers sent to all parts of the park, Shahid Afridi stood out. He came up with one of his best bowling performances with 4-34 eventually restricting Sri Lanka to 266. The Sri Lankan middle order in fact finding it very difficult to get the ball off the square against Afridi! Afridi’s effort made sure that the hosts were humbled at the lion’s den and at the same time making sure that the mercurial outsiders were now a force to be recognized.


9-Umar Akmal:- Pakistan bowled beautifully to restrict Australia to 176. Chasing 177, it seemed a bit dicey for Pakistan with 4 down for 98. Umar Akmal came in at No.6 and literally set the stage on fire. He was unbeaten on 44 off 59 balls, a knock that was filled with positivity right from the word GO! This knock came under immense pressure ultimately guiding Pakistan to a win with 4 wickets to spare and ending Australia’s 34 match unbeaten run in the World Cup’s.


10-Virender Sehwag:- India had won the toss and had opted to bat first in the high profile semi-final against Pakistan at Mohali. This was probably the battle between the best batting team and the best bowling team of the World Cup. Umar Gul had been in top form and Pakistan expected him to rattle the Indian top order. But unfortunately for Gul he was left rattled by Virender Sehwag. Sehwag got Indian off to a blazing start. He eventually got out for 38. This came off just 25 balls but it was the manner in which he got those runs. He had dented the confidence of Gul and of Pakistan with this innings. India went on to win the match by 29 runs.

Last Team Standing!

India had never gone passed the semi-finals of a World Cup when played in the sub-continent. No country to have hosted the World Cup had ever managed to lay their hands on the coveted trophy. No country had managed to beat Australia in a World Cup knock-out game since 1999. No team had chased more than 250 runs in a World Cup final. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men chose to rewrite history rather than quote it.

Chasing 275 under lights at the Wankhede is tough. And chasing it when the two most prolific batsman of the Fabulous 7 of the Indian batting lineup are back in the pavilion is even more arduous. Sehwag was out in the first over and then soon Sachin got out leaving India reeling at 31-2. But Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli steadied the ship, and once Kohli was out, to everyone’s surprise Dhoni promoted himself up the order and played the innings of his lifetime along with Gambhir.

Gautam Gambhir was just the anchor India would have wanted in that situation, first with an 83 run stand with Virat Kohli and then with a 109 run stand with MS Dhoni. It was a magnificent knock under pressure; holding on to one end and at the same time making sure India was always up there with the required run rate. MS Dhoni had been anything but convincing in the entire tournament, but Cometh the hour, Cometh the man! He promoted himself ahead of Yuvraj Singh who had won 4 man of the match awards and kept the left-hand right-hand combination going. Gambhir and Dhoni knew what the likes of Malinga and Muralidharan could do, but if there was a ball to be hit, they made sure that they treated it with utter disdain! Gambhir eventually got out on 97, playing a knock that deserved a World Cup final 100.


In the semi-finals against Pakistan, Dhoni chose to play the struggling Ashish Nehra ahead of R.Ashwin who had a fantastic game against Australia in the quarter-finals. In the finals as Ashish Nehra was injured, he chose to play Sreesanth ahead of R.Ashwin. This probably was a really good move, since although Sreesanth struggled, Ashwin could have struggled as well had India been bowling second, since the likes of Muralidharan and Suraj Randiv found it difficult to grip the ball with the dew setting in. One will now surely admit that Dhoni is well and truly the master of his own destiny.

For Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene played an incredible knock of 103 not out to guide Sri Lanka to 274 which on any other day, in a high voltage pressure World Cup final would have been a winning score. He started off cautiously but then cut loose, even Zaheer Khan, the joint highest wicket taker of the tournament taking a beating. Muralidharan was playing in his last match and had announced his retired before the tournament had begun and how he would have loved to end the tournament on a high. But unfortunately he was not at his usual best and could not stop India from galloping to finish line.


The whole nation had waited for this moment for 28 long years. Sachin Tendulkar had been chasing his dream to win a World Cup for India for 21 years. As MS Dhoni hit Kulasekara out of the park for a six to seal it for India, the whole nation that had held its breath till then got one of the best moments of their lifetime. Tears in the eyes of Sachin said it all and neither could Yuvraj Singh or Harbhajan Singh control their emotions. The moment had finally arrived. India had won the World Cup! The young guns carried Sachin on their shoulders for a victory lap. It meant the world to each and every one of them and the same for each and every Indian in any part of the globe.


Behind all this is one of the most low profile coaches that Team India has ever seen: Gary Kirsten. He along with Dhoni that started the process 3 years back, and made sure that their ultimate dream came true. Kirsten had put in his papers and had announced that he had family commitments and hence would not be continuing as the coach after the World Cup. He indeed has left the team on a high. And like Sachin, even he was carried on the shoulders by the young brigade. To be a South African and to be carried on your shoulders in India is indeed a mark of respect for the man who behind the scenes has given it all for Team India, first taking them to the pinnacle of Test Match with the Number 1 ranking, and now with the world cup glory. Almost all the Indian players have gone on record to say how he has been instrumental in their careers, Sachin Tendulkar in fact wanting him to continue as the coach. There can be no greater mark of respect when Sachin says it!

India had played all the Test playing nations except New Zealand in the tournament, but had beaten then too in the warm up match. Yuvraj Singh was clinical in all his performances and went on to get the man of the tournament. India went on to be the Number 1 side in ODI’s. Team India dedicated the win to Sachin Tendulkar. 2nd April 2011 will truly be the day that no Indian can ever forget. Every wish was answered; every prayer was heard, as Team India touched new heights at the Wankhede. It’s now time for celebrations, time to savor the well deserved victory.