MUMBAI: As India gears up to play the final to claim the ‘Cup that Counts‘, it is the semifinal combat with Pakistan that mattered for many Indians.

The India-Pakistan blockbuster semifinal ratings peaked at a humongous 36.22 TVR in the six metros, according to Tam Sports data (C&S 4+).
 
The match created a curfew like situation on the roads and got an average TVR of 22.07 for over a 484-minute telecast. The match also reached to a 39.15 million population.

The other semifinal that was played between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, meanwhile, got an average TVR of 4.36 and a peak TVR of 12.68 in the six metros.
 
This compares favourably to the previous time the two sides met in an important World Cup fixture. The Twenty20 World Cup final in 2007 got a TVR of 14.43.

However in 2003, the encounter between the two sides, which was a group match in the South Africa edition of the World Cup, got a TVR of 24.48. it is pertinent to note here that the reach in 2003 was much less than what it is in 2011.
 
In fact, the semifinal of the 2003 edition where India played Kenya got a TVR of 19.26 due to the quality of the opposition. In 2007, the two semifinals had managed an average of 2.8. The final in 2007 where Australia beat Sri Lanka got a TVR of 5.43 which was nearly double.