2011 Cricket World Cup 2nd semi-final

India and Pakistan have been rivals in various fields since the Partition of India in 1947. Since then the countries have fought three wars against each other. Since the first international cricket match between the two countries in 1952, political or diplomatic tensions frequently influenced their cricket relations, including the suspension of cricket tours. Once it became clear that the two teams would play each other in the 2nd semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011 a great deal of hype was generated; the match was even equated to war.[2]

The match was played on 30 March 2011 at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali in India. There were fears that rain would curtail or postpone the match until the Meteorological Department issued assurances that the period of the match would be rain-free.[3] The Indian captain won the toss and elected to bat first. India made 260 runs in their 50 overs, losing 9 wickets. Sachin Tendulkar top scored with 85 runs and was declared the man of the match. Pakistan on the other hand, though getting off to a good start failed to maintain consistency and were restricted to just 231 runs while being bowled out in 49.5 overs. India won the match and confirmed their place in the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final.

[4]

Date	30 March 2011
Day	Wednesday
DayNight	Yes
Time	14:30
Venue	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	Mohali, Chandigarh
Team 1	India	260/9 (50)
Runs	Sachin Tendulkar	85 (115)
Wickets	Wahab Riaz	5/46 (10)
Team 2	Pakistan	231 all out (49.5)
Runs	Misbha_ul_Haq	56 (76)
Wickets	Ashish Nehra	2_33 (10)
Result	India Won by 29 Runs[5]	India
Umpire 1	Ian Gould	England
Umpire 2	Simon Taufel	Australia
TV Umpire	Billy Bowden	New Zealand
Fourth Umpire	Rod Tucker	Australia
Match Referee	Ranjan Madugalle	Sri Lanka

Governments in almost all the states and provinces of both nations declared official holidays on 30 March in view of this match.[6] Thousands of television screens were installed in public places across both nations, and television stores experienced increased sales of sets in order to watch this and other games at the 2011 World Cup. The match was played in front of a huge crowd. This included Victory Venkatesh, Aamir Khan, Priety Zinta, Vivek Oberoi and many other celebrities and diplomats from both nations.[7][8][9] Cricket diplomacy was used to strengthen the relationships between the two nations after the deterioration caused by the 2008 Mumbai attacks: Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh invited his Pakistani counterpart, Yousuf Raza Gilani, to watch the match with him at Mohali; Gilani accepted.[10][11]

After the victory, revelry erupted throughout India and fans across the country celebrated through the night.[12][13] In Pakistan it was reported that three people, including a Pakistani actor, died of shock after Pakistan lost the match.[14][15] Pakistani former cricketers and fans criticised the Pakistani team for their weak fielding and batting after a good showing earlier in the competition. The match drew high television ratings – in India it had an estimated 11.74% TV rating for the whole match,[16][17] although its audience was beaten by the India v Sri Lanka final with 135 million viewers.[18]