It was a fitting climax to what will go down as one of the most entertaining Cricket World Cups in history and there was no better place to watch it than in Mumbai itself.

You didn’t have to be at a stadium to find a vibe, you didn’t have to be an Indian supporter to know how much this meant to India and you certainly didn’t need any clichés talking about scripts and fairytale endings to dictate how Saturday was going to pan out.

From the second India beat Australia in the second quarterfinal and ensured that they would face Pakistan in the semi-final at Mohali, the entire cricketing world was abuzz. Immediately the game gained a number of monikers – “the greatest match ever”, “the mother of all games”, “the final before the final”. There was intense discussion across social media as fans from both sides plotted on how to get tickets for the game and how to get to Mohali for the match. Face paint and body paint was prepared and war cries sounded out all over the internet.

Sri Lanka (220-5, Dilshan 73, Southee 3-57) beat New Zealand (217, Styris 57, Mendis 3-35) by 5 wickets, with 13 balls to spare.

New Zealand 221-8 (Ryder 83, Morkel 3-46) beat South Africa 172 (Kallis 45, Oram 4-39) by 49 runs.

On paper it looked to be the most mismatched of all four quarter finals. The best balanced side in the tournament, with what was unmistakeably the best bowling line up, against a team who had confident wins against Pakistan and Zimbabwe but failed against Sri Lanka and Australia. Ross Taylor’s blazing century against Pakistan aside, there was little to suggest that this Black Caps side was poised to set the tournament alight.

The Proteas treated their supporters to yet another clinical performance as they crushed Bangladesh by 206 runs to send the co-hosts crashing out of the World Cup while South Africa rocketed to the top of Group B.

South Africa decided to rest Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and AB de Villiers, which might have given Bangladesh some hope.

Saturday 12 March was exactly five years to the day since South Africa completed that run chase against Australia. The ghost of 438-9 past came to visit the India and Proteas clash in Nagpur as the World Cup continued to entertain while supporters continued to age about 10 year. Omens all-round.

India won the toss and chose to bat. No surprises, really. And, as expected, it was the Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar show as the two combined for a first-wicket partnership of 142. Tendulkar notched up his 99th international hundred (that’s in both Tests and ODIs).