1996. World Cup quarterfinal at Bangalore. India met Pakistan for the second time in the World Cup. Both were favorites to win the Cup and when they met, sparks were expected to fly. Wasim Akram withdrew prior to the match due to illness, prompting rumors from their fans. This match was Javed Miandad's last ODI match, closing curtains to a career that had seen him play all World Cups from 1975 to 1996.
Navjot Siddhu once again top-scored in the Indian innings while the other Top four contributed useful scores to keep the score moving. Ajay Jadeja came into his own with a tremendous onslaught over Waqar Younis (22 runs in one of his over). India scored 57 in the last four overs as Kumble and Srinath threw their bat around to take the score to a challenging 287. The duel between Ajay Jadeja and Waqar Younus is the highlight of the match and remembered by all those who witnessed it.
When Pakistan batted, the Indians had the challenge of bowling to their nemesis in many Indo-Pak matches (Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail). True to their record, they put on 84 runs for the first wicket in the initial 10 overs itself. Aamer Sohail's conflict with Venkatesh Prasad is another highlight that is remembered even to this day - Sohail hit Prasad for a boundary and gestured to the bowler that he will hit another boundary the next ball. But, Prasad followed it up with a ball that took Sohail's wicket. There were wild celebrations by the entire team that raised their intensity.
Ijaz and Inzamam were dismissed by Prasad very soon after and the Pakistan team could not cope up with the rising asking run-rate. Anil Kumble came to the scene and started picking wickets while drying up the runs at the same time. Javed Miandad could not cope up with the strike rotation as well as the big hits required for his team - very soon, he was run out. This meant that curtains were drawn on Pakistan's chase.
India went ahead to Kolkata for the semifinal against Sri Lanka while the Pakistan team could not reach home immediately because of violent reaction by their fans. Though India could not reach the final, the quarterfinal against Pakistan was the major highlight for its fans.
Navjot Siddhu once again top-scored in the Indian innings while the other Top four contributed useful scores to keep the score moving. Ajay Jadeja came into his own with a tremendous onslaught over Waqar Younis (22 runs in one of his over). India scored 57 in the last four overs as Kumble and Srinath threw their bat around to take the score to a challenging 287. The duel between Ajay Jadeja and Waqar Younus is the highlight of the match and remembered by all those who witnessed it.
When Pakistan batted, the Indians had the challenge of bowling to their nemesis in many Indo-Pak matches (Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail). True to their record, they put on 84 runs for the first wicket in the initial 10 overs itself. Aamer Sohail's conflict with Venkatesh Prasad is another highlight that is remembered even to this day - Sohail hit Prasad for a boundary and gestured to the bowler that he will hit another boundary the next ball. But, Prasad followed it up with a ball that took Sohail's wicket. There were wild celebrations by the entire team that raised their intensity.
Ijaz and Inzamam were dismissed by Prasad very soon after and the Pakistan team could not cope up with the rising asking run-rate. Anil Kumble came to the scene and started picking wickets while drying up the runs at the same time. Javed Miandad could not cope up with the strike rotation as well as the big hits required for his team - very soon, he was run out. This meant that curtains were drawn on Pakistan's chase.
India went ahead to Kolkata for the semifinal against Sri Lanka while the Pakistan team could not reach home immediately because of violent reaction by their fans. Though India could not reach the final, the quarterfinal against Pakistan was the major highlight for its fans.
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