On This Day 2015 | Steven Smith scored a century in semi-final to end India's WC dream
Exactly five years ago, defending Champions India received a hammering at the hands of Australia in the semi-final of the 2015 CWC held in Australia. After displaying immense discipline to reach the knockout stages of the tournament under the leadership of MS Dhoni, India crumbled under pressure. The hosts went on to win their fifth WC under the captaincy of Michael Clarke.
Right-hand batsman Steven Smith and Aaron Finch stitched together a prolific 182-run second-wicket partnership to help the Aussies put up a massive 328 on board. Winning the toss, Australia got off to a disastrous start as they lost the all-important wicket of David Warner to Umesh Yadav in the fourth over of the match.
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However, both Smith and Finch batted with calculated comfort to put India under pressure. Although the Indian bowlers didn't allow any other Australian batsman to reach a score of fifty, the home team posted a mammoth target for India to overhaul.
The Indian openers started cautiously and added 76 runs for the first wicket. Both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan looked in good nick, but the latter lost his cool to gift his wicket while batting at a score of 45 runs. Virat Kohli looked horribly out of touch as he scored only one run in his first 12 balls. He soon lost his wicket to left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson as India looked down the barrel. Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane added 70 runs for the fifth wicket to give India hope of a late miracle. But two quick run-outs of the Indian captain and Ravindra Jadeja removed any hopes of reaching their second successive final.
Smith, who started the tournament as a key batsman to his country's hopes of securing a title at home, scored a total of 402 runs in seven innings at an average of 67. His only ton was scored against India in the semi-finals.