Colombo: India on Wednesday night snatched an incredible 10-run victory over South Africa and moved into the final of the Champions Trophy with Virender Sehwag coming up with a brilliant all-round performance.
The victory looked highly improbable for most part of the match and at one stage South Africa was cruising along on 192 for one in reply to India's 261 for nine. But Herschelle Gibbs, who top-scored with 116, retired hurt and Yuvraj Singh took a stunning catch to dismiss Jonty Rhodes off Harbhajan Singh, turning the course of the match. Harbhajan, who bowled a superb second spell, sent back Boeta Dippenaar in the same over before Sehwag came up in an unlikely role of wicket-taking bowler. Having hit a blazing 59 off 58 balls to set up India's total earlier in the day, Sehwag bowled some unbelievable final overs, to seal the fate of the South Africans who was restricted to 251 for six in its stipulated 50 overs. Sehwag finished with three for 25 from his five overs and deservedly won the man-of- the-match-award. South Africa was restricted to 251 for six with Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusener falling in the last over to Sehwag. Kallis, who hit a six off the first ball of the 50th over, missed his century by just three runs. Earlier, India too seemed to have lost its way after it elected to bat on winning the toss. Sehwag once again gave a flying start to the team, and for the first 12 overs the run rate was in excess of seven an over. But once Sehwag was out, as the third wicket, in the 18th over, the going became tough for the Indians.
Allan Donald and Kallis bowled superbly and made up for the hammering that Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini took in the opening overs from Sehwag. India suffered a big jolt when Sachin Tendulkar was run out for 16 at the total of 135 in the 26th over. But Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh steadied the innings with a 72-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Dravid made 49 off 67 balls with two fours while Yuvraj Singh top- scored for the team with a 72-ball 62. Yuvraj was later to transform his brilliance on the field too, taking two stupendous catches to dismiss Graeme Smith and Rhodes and also saved a number of runs. India got an early breakthrough when Smith was dismissed for only four runs by Zaheer Khan who bowled a fiery opening spell and conceded just 11 runs from his first five overs. But his efforts were nullified by Ashish Nehra who was hit for a number of boundaries at the other end. Gibbs, who already had scored a hundred in a league match against Kenya, took control of the South African innings and batted with a lot of solidity. Gibbs and Kallis, who came at number three, played sensibly in the middle overs and avoided the slightest of risks. They still managed to score at a very healthy rate. After reaching his half-century, Gibbs opened up slowly and started going for the big shots.
He completed his century with a boundary but began looking fatigued due to the high humidity. He called for a runner too but found himself unable to continue. He retired at the score of 192 and that proved to be the decisive moment in the South African innings. Just two runs were added when Rhodes, looking to work Harbhajan Singh to the fine leg, was out to a diving one-handed catch by Yuvraj. Two balls later, Dippenaar lobbed Harbhajan Singh straight into the hands of Anil Kumble at deep mid-wicket. A couple of quiet overs saw South African required rate going up to six an over. Thereafter, magic began to unfold as even the big-hitters like Kallis and Klusener found themselves helpless against the gentle spin of the Indians. Sehwag, who had struck a brilliant century in previous match against England, continued with his terrific form and treated the new ball bowlers with utter contempt. He took a liking for Pollock, hitting him for his first six boundaries, two of them in the very first over of the innings. Ganguly, who too had hit a century against England, joined in the party, hitting Makhaya Ntini for two successive fours. The skipper played a nice straight drive off the same bowler in the sixth over that also raced to the boundary but fell on the very next ball. A miscued hook shot went straight to Dippenaar at backward short-leg and a dejected Ganguly walked back to the pavilion after scoring just 13 runs. V V S Laxman made a good-looking 22 before edging an Allan Donald delivery to wicket- keeper Mark Boucher.
Sehwag, who completed his half-century off just 46 balls, fell soon after; lobbing a tame catch to Lance Klusener at mid-on while attempting a big hit off Jacques Kallis. The loss of two quick wickets, coupled with some good bowling by Donald and Kallis, put the brakes on Indian scoring and the batsmen suddenly found the runs very hard to come by. Dravid and Yuvraj were forced to play cautiously after that. They took the score to 207 in 41st over before Dravid was trapped leg before wicket by Klusener. India's latest batting sensation Mohammad Kaif made 19 off 21 balls and put on 47 runs for the sixth wicket with Yuvraj in seven overs before Pollock dismissed both the batsmen off successive balls. India will now take on the winners of the second semi-final between Australia and Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday.
Tags: icc 2002, icc champions trophy, india, new zealand, premadasa, sri lanka, pakistan, australia, england, bangladesh, , zimbabwe, kenya, netherlands, west indies, south africa, semi final, finals, scorecards, statistics, ground.
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