India posts 260 for nine in Mohali

NEW DELHI: Wahab Riaz bowled superbly for a five-wicket haul to put the brakes on the vaunted India’s batting, but a late order sedate batting by Suresh Raina, unbeaten on 36 took India to 260 for nine in their 50 overs in their World Cup semifinal clash at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Wednesday.Earlier, India got off to a blistering start with Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar picking runs at will. But once Riaz trapped Sehwag leg before for 38, the Indian innings sputtered and stuttered.But the key blow was delivered by Saeed Ajmal who had Sachin Tendulkar caught by Shahid Afridi in the covers to place India at 187 for 5 in 37 overs. Tendulkar was dropped four times before Afridi grabbed the catch. Tendulkar scored 85 runs off 115 balls with the help of 11 fours.Earlier, Riaz dismissed Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh off successive balls to place India at 141 for 4 in 25.3 overs. Riaz first had Virat caught by Umar Akmal at backward point and on the next delivery, clean bowled the in-from Yuvraj with a superb reverse swinging yorker.Tendulkar made Pakistan pay by hitting his 95th ODI half-century. Tendulkar was first dropped by Misbah-ul-Haq at mid-wicket when he was on 27 and a few overs later Younis Khan dropped a simple catch at mid-off when Tendulkar was at 45. The unlucky bowler at both times was Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi.India lost their second wicket when Mohammad Hafeez had Gautam Gambhir stumped by Kamran Akmal. Sachin Tendulkar and Gambhir brought up the Indian 100 in the 16th over. Tendulkar took India to 73/1 in 10 overs after the dismissal of Virender Sehwag.He survived two close calls in Saeed Ajmal’s second over. On the fourth delivery, the ball hit Tendulkar on the pads, the Pakistani players appealed and umpire Ian Gould raised his finger. Tendulkar opted for the review and the replays showed that the ball was going down the leg side. The decision was overturned.On the next delivery, Tendulkar missed the doosra while playing a front foot shot and Kamran Akmal took off the bails in a flash. Square leg umpire Simon Taufel went for the third umpire and the replays showed that Tendulkar had brought his right foot down in the crease just in time.Riaz trapped Sehwag plumb in front of the wicket after India got off to a fiery start. Sehwag hit 9 fours in his 25-ball 38 and his onslaught started when he hit five fours off Umar Gul’s second over as India got off to a flying start.Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat as India made one change to the side that beat Australia in the quarterfinals, bringing in pacer Ashish Nehra in place of spinner R Ashwin.Pakistan have made no change to the team that beat the West Indies in the quarterfinals, deciding against including mercurial pacer Shoaib Akhtar despite widespread speculation before the match.