1996 Wills World Cup
Date: March 9
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Margin: India won by 39 runs
India and Pakistan met each other in a pulsating quarterfinal encounter. On the knock-out stage the stakes were high and so were the passion of the fans. Wasim Akram's pull-out just minutes before the match was greeted harshly as fans across Pakistan smelt a conspiracy in the move. The captain's effigies were burnt in the streets of Karachi and Lahore.
India won the toss and in front of a packed Chinnaswamy started to build a mountain of runs for Pakistan. Navjot Singh Sidhu finished 7 runs short of a century after Sachin went for an uncharacteristic 59-ball-31. India ended with massive 287 runs. The big score largely achieved thanks to some belligerent hitting from Ajay Jadeja, who took Waqar Younis apart in the final overs of the match. Jadeja smashed 45 in 25 balls, which included a 22-run feast off one Younis over. India racked 57 runs in the last four.
Chasing the huge target Pakistani openers Saeed Anwar and stand-in-captain Aamir Sohail launched a solid reply. It seemed as if 287 runs would be overhauled in no time. The breakthrough arrived when Anil Kumble had Anwar caught for 48 by Srinath in the deep. Indians heaved a sigh of relief but the misery did not end there. At the other end Sohail was going all out; with the bat and his tongue.
After smacking Venkatesh Prasad for a boundary he pointed the bat toward the direction of the four to rub in the assault. Prasad though made sure that his reply would be more than just words. And it came in just the next ball. Sohail tried to hit another Prasad-delivery to the fence but only managed to clean bowl himself. The crowd roared as a charged Prasad dished out the four-letter word to Sohail. The opener's wicket was the turning point as the Pakistan line-up crumbled under the pressure of a high run chase.
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