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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRick Ponting’s terrific century went in vain as Australia could not defend 260•Associated Press

An awe-inspiring Ricky Ponting dazzled and Sachin Tendulkar hit a delightful fifty but it was the imperious Yuvraj Singh who stole the show to lead India to an exciting semi-final encounter against Pakistan. On a dry pitch, aiding turn, India couldn’t remove a wonderfully solid Ponting, but found a way around him to hold Australia to a competitive 260. Tendulkar set the base and the middle order threatened to choke, but Yuvraj played a blinder to charge India to a famous win.Sometimes, they say, one four can change things around. That cliché came alive today, in the final ball of the 39th over, with India needing 72 from 67 deliveries, when Yuvraj spanked Shaun Tait for a stunning four over backward point. It oozed of skill, impishness and dare under fire. Until then, in the preceding few overs, India choked and spluttered badly to almost hand the game to Australia. That Yuvraj hit over point sensationally turned the game on its head.The next over proved to be the game-breaker as Brett Lee was looted for 14 runs: Suresh Raina played the most assured pull of his life to crash the first delivery to the boundary and Yuvraj carved the final delivery over point, but it was a shot in between that really reflected the enthralling contest. It was a screaming yorker from Lee, from around the stumps, and Yuvraj crouched, opened the bat-face and stabbed it through to the third man boundary. Lee looked stunned, and you felt that was the moment when India affected the jail break.Until Yuvraj took ownership of the chase, the pressure-cooker situation had got to India and they were beginning to choke. In five mad overs between the 32nd and 37th, just after Virat Kohli had swiped a full toss from David Hussey straight to midwicket in the 29th over, it was absolute pandemonium as India looked hell bent on self-destruction. Gautam Gambhir tried to run himself out three times and was successful on the final attempt. In the 33rd over, he ran for a non-existent run after Yuvraj had played the ball towards midwicket but Ponting missed the sticks. In the next over, he got into a yes-and-no situation with Yuvraj and would have been run out had Brad Haddin, who dashed to the short mid-on region, thrown it at the non-striker’s end. Gambhir was run out next ball, again running mindlessly after Yuvraj stabbed David Hussey wide of the first slip.India required 93 runs from 101 balls at that stage, but they slipped further into the abyss as MS Dhoni got out after looking edgy. He nearly got involved in a run out, had a big swing and a miss against Lee and perished next delivery, cutting to point to leave India needing 74 from 75 balls. It was then that Yuvraj decided to play the World Cup innings of his life.The batting Powerplay was the final hurdle, but Raina, who gave admirable support to Yuvraj after Dhoni’s exit, walloped the first ball from Lee over long-on and Australia’s fight evaporated with that shot.Before Yuvraj, India’s chase revolved almost entirely around Sachin Tendulkar. It was a slow pitch, but Tendulkar played some shots that defied the nature of the track. Tait v Tendulkar in particular lived up to the billing. Tendulkar punched the first delivery he faced, and the first from Tait, through cover point and, upper cut the next legal delivery to the third man boundary. Tait sledged, Tendulkar stared, and the chase was soaked with intensity from then on. Tait was soon out off the attack but returned to silence the crowd. He gave away six runs in his first over on return, which included two wides and also saw Tendulkar getting to his fifty. He struck with the first delivery of his next over, the 19th of the innings, with a delivery released from a slightly round-armish action that held its line outside off stump. Tendulkar tried to steer it to point but edged it to Brad Haddin.Spare a thought for the Australian captain, probably playing his last World Cup match and to Australia, who were last eliminated before the finals of a World Cup way back in 1992. Whenever Zaheer Khan threatened to push India in front, Ponting shoved Australia ahead. The knock was a microcosm of Ponting the man. It had skill, grit, bloody-mindedness, and dare; it Ponting. It will probably be the only knock from him that won’t be remembered for many scintillating shots and it will be cherished for how responsibly he curbed his natural strokeplay.There was tremendous poise in how he dealt with the slow nature of the pitch and a great amount of skill in the way he handled spin. Ponting showed sheer grit in the way he held the Australian innings together, and admirable character to do it when he wasn’t in great form, on such a big stage. When he was fresh, he had to face Harbhajan Singh, his nemesis, bowling from around the stumps.Ponting countered him by shuffling to his right and working the ball with the turn. When he was tired, he had to face the reverse-swing from Zaheer. In the middle, he picked Ashwin’s ball, and mixed caution and aggression against Yuvraj Singh.Australia’s slide and India’s resurgence in the middle overs began with an awful shot from Michael Clarke, who top-edged a slog-sweep against Yuvraj to long-on in the 31st over. Zaheer dismissed Michael Hussey with knuckled slower one to leave Australia wobbling at 140 for 4 in the 34th over. Ponting and David Hussey took the batting Powerplay in the 44th over and added 44 vital runs without losing a wicket. Ponting must have thought he had done all he could to ensure Australia remained in the competition but he was outdone by Yuvraj.

Match Timeline

Hampshire will try for a second time to have Shahid Afridi as an overseas player for the Friends Provident t20 after the deal fell through last season due to him captaining Pakistan.Afridi is expected to be available for the full t20 campaign which begins on June 1 when Hampshire, the defending champions, take on Somerset. He was due to be part of the 2010 tournament but captained against Australia before resigning following the first Test at Lord’s.”I was disappointed not to join Hampshire last season. It would have been fantastic to have been a part of the team that made history by winning the t20 trophy on home soil,” Afridi said. “Having played at The Rose Bowl for Pakistan last year I know that it is fast becoming one of the best places in the country to watch cricket of all levels. I hope very much to play a big part in the club’s success in 2011.”Afridi has a Twenty20 strike-rate of 159.84 and his bowling is also a highly valuable asset in the shortest format bringing him 98 wickets at 19.03 alongside an economy rate of 6.35″Shahid is a wonderful all-round cricketer and will be a real asset to our club over what should be an incredibly exciting summer at The Rose Bowl,” Giles White, the Hampshire manager, said. “This year we’ll see Test match cricket come to the county for the first time, more improvements made to our ground and, of course, Hampshire will be hoping to defend our t20 crown.”

An entirely different proposition awaits Pakistan on Saturday but given how poorly they often start big tournaments, the comprehensive thumping of Kenya is likely to have pleased the team management more than they will let on.The only slip was the stilted start to their innings, on a pitch which did a little more than expected. But four middle-order fifties, a successful implementation of their trademark ODI batting plan (build first, blast later), the captain’s five-fer and some lively fielding made for an unexpectedly smooth start. The selection of Abdur Rehman over Saeed Ajmal, or even Wahab Riaz seemed puzzlingly defensive – Ajmal and Riaz are wicket-takers and they will need them in this campaign – but Pakistan maintained the intensity in the field they had shown in a quite electric practice session on Monday.Then the younger men in particular had thrown themselves into fielding practice, yapping away, diving and leaping around, hitting stumps, taking good catches. Keeping things at that pitch was Waqar Younis, the coach himself, screaming for catches to be taken as if they were off his own bowling, throwing gloves down in disgust at misfields, not putting up with slackers, taking time out for fresh faces and generally making sure things ran precisely to plan.It is what Pakistan’s demanding followers say they always want, even if in defeat: spirit, fight, passion and energy. “The way we practiced, we were very focused and positive and what we do there, we deliver in the games as well,” Shahid Afridi said. “We try to focus on practice sessions and don’t waste our time. The coaches are doing a great job with the fast bowlers and the senior players are helping the young batsmen.”So, despite having 300-plus to defend, Afridi insisted the team go out and defend much less. “We wanted to make a big total and when we went in, I told the team that we are defending 120, we need to fight like we are defending 120, because tough matches lie ahead.”In those tough matches the middle order will not be allowed to rebuild as freely as they did here if the start is squandered. The concern over Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez’s contributions were not so much with the score as the tentative manner in which they came: the former made a single from 18 balls.The pair has been in good form recently, scoring fluently so the sudden, sharp dip and the nature of it concerned Afridi as well. “Whether in batting or bowling you need a positive start always,” he said. “The ball was sticking to the pitch a little, so it wasn’t so easy but we need to stick to our strengths and play positively. The start is always important and I’m confident our openers will not repeat these mistakes. Shehzad and Hafeez are positive players so hopefully they will change their style in the next game.”Good starts guarantee nothing of course and nobody forgets that Pakistan’s two world titles have come when campaigns have stuttered at the beginning. Nevertheless in a week in which several big sides have made statements against associate nations, Pakistan have put in their own. “Definitely it emphasises that we are a dangerous team. It’s a good start but we shouldn’t be 100% satisfied because there is a lot of work ahead of us still.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq batted patiently and put Pakistan ahead•Getty Images

Pakistan retained the advantage in the Hamilton Test with their batsmen edging out a testing battle against the New Zealand bowlers on a placid surface more deserving of a one-sided contest. Middle-order batsmen Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq batted patiently to rebuild Pakistan’s reply to 275, which had lost track in the session before tea against a determined spell from the seamers. The pair provided stability to the innings and set the platform for a lead with an unbeaten 128-run stand that has eased the burden on the inexperienced line-up to follow.The bowling was unthreatening, the conditions even more so with the virtual absence of swing and movement. Such a situation lent itself to a waiting game, one that New Zealand appeared to have an upper hand in after Taufeeq Umar and Younis Khan brought about their own downfall post lunch. Misbah and Shafiq played their own waiting game, assured that the pitch would have little role to play in their dismissals and aware that a bad ball wasn’t too far away with New Zealand rotating their bowlers. Both were opportunistic, Shafiq more so than Misbah, helping offset any extended period of quiet with the occasional boundary and taking their team closer to the first-innings target.Shafiq found the boundaries with ease on a quick outfield, clipping and driving the seamers through midwicket and fine leg and using his feet well against spin. He charged out to Daniel Vettori to loft him over mid-on, rocked on the back foot to punch Kane Williamson through the covers and stepped out to part-timer Martin Guptill to smote him over midwicket. Too often did the seamers bowl on his pads – his fifty was brought up with a tickle to fine leg – but he also scored through off, driving through point and cover.Misbah’s intention was to occupy the crease and he did that well with his solidity in defence and not feeling compelled to force the pace with a fluent partner at the other end. He’s been Pakistan’s in-form batsman in Tests with three half-centuries in four innings against South Africa, and a century in the warm-up match prior to this. His first major expansive shot, quite inexplicably, came towards the end of the day; a slog-sweep for six off Williamson. He then went a notch higher, reverse-sweeping the same bowler successive boundaries to reach his half-century just two overs before stumps. For the bulk, Misbah ceded floor to Shafiq and secured one end for Pakistan.The pair built on the efforts of the Pakistan seamers, who brought about an early conclusion to New Zealand’s innings on the second morning, and Taufeeq. Tim Southee and Williamson had set up frustrated Pakistan with a fighting stand to save New Zealand the embarrassment of being bowled out for under 200 on a track full of runs. But their resistance ended this morning when Pakistan’s seamers made up for the lack of purchase from the pitch by ruffling the batsmen up with short deliveries.When the time came to defend 275, New Zealand’s bowlers were guilty of doling out freebies on the pads, Chris Martin particularly, and Taufeeq duly dispatched them. Martin was struck for three boundaries in an over, through midwicket, square leg and mid-on, while Brent Arnel paid for dropping too short, slashed and pulled to the ropes.Post lunch, however, New Zealand bowled better. Lengths were rethought and both Martin and Arnel targeted the good-length area, and angled the ball in by bowling round the wicket to the left-hander. Taufeeq, who had dealt in boundaries, became more restrained and didn’t help himself when he struggled to middle the ball when opportunities came his way. He lost a solid partner in Azhar Ali not too long after lunch, and that gave New Zealand an opening.Taufeeq fought through his frustration by reaching his first half-century since 2003 by guiding Arnel to the third-man boundary, while at the other end Younis injected some urgency to the innings. Like Taufeeq had done before lunch, Younis went after Martin, opening the face to square-drive him thrice for fours and flicking him to the fine-leg boundary.But just when it seemed Pakistan were emerging out of a difficult phase, they put themselves back into one. Taufeeq played a loose flick straight to midwicket, and Younis closed the face too early to spoon a catch back to the bowler. It was Arnel who dismissed the pair, leaving it to the captain Misbah and Shafiq to rebuild.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
It’s not a surprise that Haryana are in a commanding position at the end of the opening day’s play at Rohtak in the Ranji quarter-final. Tamil Nadu, though a traditionally stronger Ranji team, have not been tested in seamer-friendly conditions this season. They have played most of their games at home, on slow wickets, while Haryana have played on tracks such as the one in Rohtak.Tamil Nadu chose to bowl but Nitin Saini, who has top scored for Haryana this season, added 241 runs with Sunny Singh to push the visitors on the back foot. “Their decision at toss might seem bad but the fact is that they didn’t bowl well,” Haryana’s coach Ashwini Kumar said. “We also would have bowled. They didn’t hit a good line and length and our batsman applied themselves superbly.””The first hour is the most crucial here,” Saini said. “We know these home conditions and I knew if we could get the first hour out of the way, we can score decently here.” The hour did pose problems but Saini was dropped twice, on 11 and 28, and he went on to an unbeaten 137.The next testing phase for the batsmen came around the tea interval. Tamil Nadu were on the defensive and started to operate with a 7-2 field and attacked one side of the wicket. “Ashwin started to bowl a leg stump or outside leg line and the mediumpacer bowled well outside off,” Saini said. “Both had a 7-2 field and we knew it was a test of our patience. But we knew that the very fact that they were operating like this was because they were frustrated and were on the back foot. That motivated us a great deal and considering this was just the first day, we batted out that period with great patience. I padded away a few and left many deliveries and I am really satisfied that we are in this position.”With Hemang Badani, who might have a point to prove to his former Ranji team, and the rest to follow, Haryana are hopeful of reaching 500. Tamil Nadu’s batting has revolved almost entirely on S Badrinath and Abhinav Mukund, and their biggest concern has been the poor batting form of their captain Dinesh Karthik, who incidentally dropped Saini today.”The ball will move in the first hour on all the days here, and I am hopeful that Joginder Singh, Sanjay Budhwar, and Sachin Rana can do the job for us,” Ashwini said. Haryana are desperate to be seen as serious contenders in the Super League and so much would depend on how they play tomorrow. “We want to show that (We want to prove that our elevation to Super League was no fluke effort),” Saini said. “This is a great chance to prove that.”

The Bombay High Court has ruled that the BCCI must extend the deadline for IPL teams to nominate the players they wish to retain for the 2011 tournament from December 6 to December 8. The ruling came after Kings XI Punjab, one of the two franchises that were expelled from the league, accused the board of “deliberately” delaying the arbitration hearings over their expulsion so the original deadline could expire. The decision was confirmed to ESPNcricinfo by Sundar Raman, the IPL’s chief executive.The High Court’s decision is another blow for the BCCI as it seeks to keep the two franchises, the other being Rajasthan Royals, out of the IPL. Both teams were expelled on Oct 10, for what the board asserted were transgressions of shareholding and ownership norms that threatened to “shake the very foundation of the tender process”. The two franchises have since taken the BCCI to court and their cases are now in arbitration.The Punjab hearings were due to begin on Thursday, but the arbitrator, Justice BN Srikrishna, decided to stand down after the BCCI objected to him on the grounds that he represented the Wadia group, which is a part owner of the franchise, in many of their cases in the past. Srikrishna was the board’s original choice for arbitrator.”BCCI kept silent deliberately… They strung us along for one week as the deadline for negotiating with ‘marquee players’ is to expire on December 6,” the PTI news agency quoted Punjab’s lawyer Darius Khambata as saying.Srikrishna is also the arbitrator in the hearings involving Rajasthan. On Tuesday, he issued an interim order staying the team’s expulsion. The stay restored their rights as a franchise for a period of six weeks after he issues his final ruling. These included the right to participate in the upcoming player auction in January. In his interim order, the judge said the BCCI’s argument for expelling the team was “too facile to cut ice”.According to the recently remodelled rules for IPL 4, teams can retain up to four players, only three of whom can be Indians before the new auction. The retained players must have been part of the franchise’s registered squads for the 2010 season, and will not be part of January’s auction, which is meant to begin the countdown to the 2011 season, and a new three-year contract period for the players.