Yuvraj sinks Aussies; sets India-Pak final

Durban: An imperious essay from stylish left-hander Yuvraj Singh helped India score a memorable 15-run victory over Australia and set up a title-clash with Pakistan in the ICC Twenty20 World Championship

The big-hitting batsman clobbered the ball at will, much to the delight of a packed house waving hundreds of Indian flags at Kingsmead here on Saturday. Yuvraj has been stroking the ball better than anyone else in this championship and it was no wonder that he was instrumental in helping put up a challenging 189-run target for one-day world champions Australia.

Opener Mathew Hayden (62) and Andrew Symonds (43) kept the Indians on their toes with fighting knocks but India managed to strike crucial blows and also slipped in some vital dot balls as Australia fell short in the dying overs.

In the event, they were left to get 22 off the last over from Joginder Sharma, who had not been impressive till then but managed to pitch the ball up well enough to block out the chances of big hits and also bagged a couple of wickets in the process.

Yuvraj was the difference between the two teams, a point acknowledged by captain Mahendra Dhoni after the match. Coming in at number four, Yuvraj struck a first-ball six off Stuart Clark over long-leg, a harbinger of four more to come that shook the Aussie bowling attack down the middle.

Feared pace bowler Brett Lee was flicked for a huge one over square-leg that went more than 10 rows into the crowd, while Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds, who tried both pace and spin against him, were the others to be clobbered.

The Punjab batsman had five dot balls in his 30-ball knock but smashed 70 off his remaining 25 balls, helping himself to five fours as well. Yuvraj, who raced past 50 in 21 deliveries, continued the form he had shown against England earlier in the week, when he had clobbered young pace-man Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over.

Yuvraj's masterful knock was supported by a cameo from Dhoni, who had earlier elected to bat on a good batting pitch. Dhoni struck 36 off 18 balls with four fours and one six.

Earlier, Yuvraj added 84 runs in a jiffy with Robin Uthappa (34), who was quick to take singles as well as send the ball across the fence. The third-wicket stand came off just 40 balls during which the reputed bowling looked pedestrian.

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