Steven Smith drives Australia home with a splendid 105 innings - The 2nd Semi-final of the World Cup was well scripted one two of the arch rivals came face to face in Sydney. Indian took the challenge from Australia. It had all the contents of being an epic match and the only surprise element was the pitch. It was a flat pitch and Australia after winning the toss decided to bat first.
Indian bowlers had taken 70 wickets in their previous 7 matches and they had a dream start to the semi-final as well. David Warner was out cheaply in the semi-final thus giving Indians a bit of hope. Aaron Finch on the other hand was looking rusty but Steven Smith the man in form came to bat at number 3 and with his batting he kept the scoreboard ticking. He along with Aaron finch took the score to 197 when Smith after scoring 105 runs lost his wicket. Glenn Maxwell was promoted up the order but he too didn’t last long as he lost the wicket after scoring only 23 runs. Finch was next to going after scoring 81 runs for the team in the all-important match. The Australians were falling apart and it seemed that the Indian bowlers will be able to restrict Australians under 300 but then came Mitchell Johnson as he scored 27 runs off 9 balls to take the team total to 328 in 50 overs. Umesh Yadav took 4 wickets in the game.
Indians needed to chase a mammoth score of 329 in the semi-finals and the openers gave them a perfect start. Shikhar Dhawan looked dangerous as he was scoring runs at will. But the required run rate pressured on him and lost his wicket after scoring 45 runs. The first wicket fell for team Indian in the 13th over at a score of 76/1. Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina were the biggest disappointments as they lost their wickets in a rush and put Indian under pressure after a good start. The team was struggling at 108/4. Ajinkya Rahane and Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried move the scoreboard but the Australians bowled beautifully to keep the pressure on Indians. Rahane scored 44 runs while Dhoni managed to score 65 runs. Indians failed to win the match as they were bowled out at 233 runs. With this Australians booked their seats for the finals and the defending champions India couldn’t make it to the finals. Steven Smith was named as the man of the match.