India sweep into W/Cup ‘semis’

JOHANNESBURG: India stormed into the Cricket World Cup semi-finals yesterday with a 183-run win over Sri Lanka in their Super Six match at The Wanderers.

Javagal Srinath wrecked the batting with four of the first five wickets as Sri Lanka tumbled to 109 all out from 23 overs. It was India’s biggest win over the 1996 champions and Sri Lanka’s second lowest World Cup score. Srinath, 33, captured two wickets in his first over and finished with four for 35 from nine fierce and disciplined overs. Left-arm fast bowler Ashish Nehra finished with identical figures from seven. Chasing India’s formidable 292 for six, built on Sachin Tendulkar’s commanding 97, Sri Lanka were soon in deep trouble.

Srinath removed his first three victims for ducks, claiming Marvan Atapattu and Jehan Mubarak in his first over before trapping in-form Aravinda De Silva lbw to make it 15 for four in the fourth over.  Left-armer Zaheer Khan dismissed Mahela Jayawardene leg before wicket for a duck and captain Sanath Jayasuriya (12) hit Srinath straight to Mohammad Kaif at cover.  Srinath’s performance followed yet another Tendulkar master class. The Indian maestro agonisingly missed a record fifth World Cup century but helped India amass a daunting total after Jayasuriya put the opposition in to exploit any early life in the pitch after overnight rain.

Tendulkar was out for 97, edging a sweep against de Silva to jubilant wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara after moving past his previous World Cup record aggregate of 523 scored at the 1996 World Cup. He has scored 571 runs so far at the 2003 tournament at an average of 71.38 with a strike rate of 90.3. The India opener, who was dismissed for 98 in a first round match against Pakistan, said he was disappointed to miss a century again. “But I’m very excited to be in the semi-finals,” he said. “It was a good track to bat on and Javagnal and Ashish bowled really well. To be able to extract so much pace and movement was something extraordinary." Tendulkar shared an opening partnership of 153 with Virender Sehwag, who recorded his highest score of the tournament with 66.

Yet another left-arm pace bowler Chaminda Vaas, the tournament’s leading wicket taker, led a bowling fightback with consecutive maidens to Tendulkar before returning to bowl captain Saurav Ganguly (48) and Yuvraj Singh (5) in his final spell. India’s seventh victory ensured them of a semi-final place along with defending champions Australia. Both teams have 16 points. Sri Lanka’s semi-final hopes now depend on a Zimbabwe victory over Kenya tomorrow followed by a win themselves over the Zimbabweans on Saturday.