Sydney: Australia went into the semi-finals with their noses slightly in front because of their unbeaten record in the semi-finals of the World Cup and they just about vindicated that documentation by getting the better off the defending champions India by 95 runs at the SCG to book their place in the final of the World Cup against New Zealand who are sitting pretty after defeating South Africa in the first semi-final.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first in a very good Sydney track that gave them more than a chance to get themselves in a position of dominance against India.
India started off brilliantly with the new ball by getting it to move both ways and also picked up the early wicket by removing David Warner (12) cheaply as Umesh Yadav found his length but the celebrations were only momentarily as Steven Smith (105) and Aaron Finch (81) took the Indian attack to the cleaners by putting up a 183-runs partnership that got them in the driver’s seat.
But India struck back by picking up a couple of quick wickets as Yadav did the bulk of the damage by returning with figures of 4 for 72. Shane Watson (28) struggled initially only to find his form back by hitting a few big shots to get the Aussies back on track but Mitchell Johnson (27 off 9) played a brilliant cameo to take the home team to a score of 328 runs by using the long-handle to perfection.
India went off to a sedate start but soon picked up pace as Rohit Sharma (34) and Shikhar Dhawan (45) started to find the boundaries more regularly. Dhawan went against the run off play with the score on 76 and from there on it was only downhill for the defending champions.
Hazlewood struck with the new ball by getting rid of Dhawan and Johnson knocked over Virat Kohli (1) and Rohit in quick succession followed by Raina (7) who was dismissed by Faulkner in a matter of 32 runs.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane tried to stitch together a partnership but it was never going to be enough as the asking reached 12 per over. Rahane departed after adding 70 runs with Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja’s (16) brief stay at the wicket came to an end in the form a run-out.
The final nail in the coffin was Dhoni’s run-out that dashed all hopes for the Indians with 33 balls still to play for as Ashwin (4) soon followed his captain to the pavilion after getting cleaned up by Faulkner.
For Australia Johnson was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2 for 50 but Faulkner was not far behind by picking up a couple of wickets at the end. He ended with figures of 3 for 59.
Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav were cleaned up by Faulkner and Starc as the defending champions at the end succumbed to a 95-run defeat as Australia gear up to face New Zealand in the final on the 29th of March.
