India's hero yet again as the host ended Australia's 12-year reign as World Cup champion with a five-wicket quarterfinal victory Thursday. The left-hander's unbeaten 57 — his fourth fifty of a tournament where he is averaging over a hundred — saw his team home after it'd been wobbling at 187 for five. India reached its target of 261 with 14 balls to spare and victory set up a dream semifinal against arch-rival Pakistan in Mohali on March 30. “India vs. Pakistan in semifinal — it doesn't get better. A World Cup hosted by the subcontinental nations and India and Pakistan making it to the semis,” said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. “There will be more pressure on the Indian side and it will be from outside. People will say ‘win the semis, we don't care about the final'.” Australia captain Ricky Ponting scored his first international century in over a year in a total of 260 for six. But it wasn't enough to maintain his team's bid for an unprecedented fourth straight World Cup title and fifth in all. Ponting credited Yuvraj and Suresh Raina for the win. “We needed more wickets in the middle of the innings,” he said. “With 15 overs to go, it was touch and go, but Yuvraj and Raina played really well. It's disappointing to bow out, we are a better team than we have played.” India, aiming for a first World Cup title since 1983, needed 54 to win off the final 10 overs. Yuvraj eased fraying home nerves with a square-driven four off Brett Lee and, with erratic speedster Shaun Tait (one for 52 in seven overs) conceding 13 runs in the 41st over, the target became well under a run-a-ball. Yuvraj struck a brilliant straight six off Tait before ending the match with a four off Lee. He was well-supported in an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 74 by Raina (34 not out). Opener Sachin Tendulkar had earlier looked in sublime touch. But Australia denied him his 100th international hundred when he was caught behind off Tait for a fluent 53 during which he became the first batsman to score 18,000 One-Day International runs. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli batted steadily in a stand of 49 before Kohli (24) slapped a full toss from part-time spinner David Hussey straight to Michael Clarke at short mid-wicket. Now the question was could the remaining batsman avoid panic. Unfortunately for India, left-hander Gambhir couldn't. One ball after surviving a run-out, he set-off for a non-existent single and was well-beaten by Cameron White's throw to David Hussey having made 50. Instead, at 168 for four, the pressure was back on India and that only increased when skipper Dhoni fell for seven after a cut off Lee was well caught by a diving Clarke at point. Earlier, Ponting's 104 was his first hundred since he made 106 against the West Indies in a One-Day International in Brisbane last year. Ponting, who'd managed just 102 runs at 20.4 in five previous innings this tournament, had come into the match amidst reports he could be quitting international cricket completely after the World Cup. Nevertheless the 36-year-old demonstrated his enduring class in a 118-ball innings featuring a six and seven fours. He was out late on when he reverse-swept Ravichandran Ashwin straight to Zaheer Khan at short third man. He was characteristically defiant when asked if he was calling time on his international career. “What did I tell you the other day? Nothing's changed,” said Ponting.
