Wahab Riaz was unlucky not to be named the Man of the Match, an award that went to Sachin Tendulkar for an innings of 85 that included four dropped chances. But the 5 for 46 collected by Riaz kept Pakistan in the contest. It was a fine effort from a man who was in danger of being dropped; had Shoaib Akhtar been called in, Riaz was the one most likely to lose his position.
Riaz picked up the first wicket, and it was a major one - Virender Sehwag lbw for 38. Sehwag gave India a blazing start and immediately reviewed the lbw decision, but Simon Taufel had judged it correctly - Riaz pitched the ball just in line with leg stump and the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps.
It was almost a carbon copy of his later dismissal of MS Dhoni, who also asked for a referral, thinking that perhaps Taufel had missed the fact the ball had pitched outside leg. Wrong. Once again, it had pitched in line, and Riaz was rewarded for his accuracy.
But the pair of wickets that really hurt India came from consecutive balls in the 26th over. Riaz got one to move away off the seam and Virat Kohli punched a catch to point, and with the next delivery he sent a low full toss to Yuvraj Singh, who missed and was clean bowled.
By the time Riaz returned for the 50th over of the innings, he was searching for his maiden five-wicket haul in an ODI, and he achieved the goal by having Zaheer Khan caught behind. It was a fine performance from Riaz, but he needed some help; Umar Gul took 0 for 69 from eight overs, and India's 260 was enough for them to progress to the final.
Of all the Pakistan players, Riaz was the man who could hold his head the highest after the 29-run defeat.