..and the misery ends for Lanka...bowled out for 109..India thru to the Semis..
breaking news: india beat srilanka
assalamoalikum 
reports, charlie austen
Superb fast bowling, abject batting and a series of strategic blunders handed India a crushing victory over their Asian neighbours Sri Lanka at The Wanderers on Monday.
Chasing India’s 292 after Sanath Jayasuriya has raised eyebrows by bowling first in the morning, five batsmen failed to score as Sri Lanka were bundled out for an embarrassing 109 in just 23 overs.
India’s second consecutive Super Six win leaves them level with Australia on 16 points, guaranteeing them a place in the semi-finals no matter the result in their final match against New Zealand.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, after two crushing defeats in the space of four days, must win against Zimbabwe on Saturday to have a chance of qualifying.
Veteran pace bowler Srinath was the chief destroyer, taking three wickets in his first 10 deliveries and returning the outstanding figures of four for 35 from nine overs.
But Srinath’s fast bowling colleagues, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, were also outstanding, claiming two and four wickets respectively.
The Sri Lankan innings started in disastrous fashion with Marvan Atapattu, the inform vice-captain, drilling Srinath’s wide third delivery to Mohammad Kaif at cover.
Strangely, Sri Lanka then sent in Jehan Mubarak at number three despite the 22-year-old having not played a single game in the tournament thus far. He lasted just two balls before edging behind.
Even more strangely, the out-of-form Mahela Jayawardene, who has scored just 16 runs in seven games in this tournament, was sent in next ahead of Aravinda de Silva.
He lasted just four balls before shuffling across his stumps and being trapped lbw by a good delivery from Zaheer Khan.
De Silva was also trapped lbw, in Srinath’s second over, as he tried to work a good-length delivery to leg.
Jayasuriya, apparently hampered by his bruised forearm and chipped left thumb, scored 12 from 19 deliveries before mistiming an attempting cut and being caught by Kaif at cover.
Sangakkara fought back, batting freely for his 30 from 33 balls, hitting four boundaries, but was eventually caught at cover point by Yuvraj Singh.
Arnold played one defiant cover drive but finished with just eight as Zaheer Khan returned to the attack and trapped the left-hander lbw.
Ashish Nehra claimed his second wicket of the innings when Chaminda Vaas top edged an attempted pull and Sachin Tendulkar pouched a good diving catch at mid on.
Two balls later Prabath Nissanka offered Kaif his third catch, this time at slip, as he fended off a well-directed short ball from Nehra.
Some comical batting from Muttiah Muralitharan at the death carried Sri Lanka past three figures and past their lowest total against India.
Muralitharan, grinning like a Cheshire cat, swung a quick 16 and helped add 31 for the last wicket for Fernando before Nehra wrapped up the match.
(from a personal point of view, i heard bedi recalling that india had no chance, i think they have every chance after another convincing win)
Ehsan Ji,
I am overjoyed at India beating Sri Lanka but am PHLABURGASHTED at the margin of India's Victory over Sri Lanka.
2bornot2b will confirm that this is the first time I have gone wrong.
Have a Nice Day
With the loss of SL against IND today, a Aus-SL and Ind-NZ(or Ken) semifinal looks as a likelihood.
Super Six: Current standings
P W L NR Pts NRR
1 Aus 3 3 0 0 16 +1.84
2 Ind 4 3 1 0 16 +0.86
3 Ken 3 2 1 0 10 +0.44
4 NZ 3 1 2 0 8 -0.33
5 SL 4 1 3 0 7.5 -1.43
6 Zim 3 0 3 0 3.5 -0.75
india is on fire. damn
tomorrow's match between Aus-NZ is extreely intersting, I think That will decide if Australia is going to win WC or not :)
eh? 
I think it will more be an indicator whether NZ has a chance to move forward or not.
ofcourse it will be. But Australia know NZL is one of the team that can out fox them. So if NZL clicks tomorrow, there is a high chance that they will move forward enough to give Aussies yet another taste of VB series success agaisn thtem last year.
I don't want to see anything but an India vs Australia final, I think the Indians are mentally ready to challenge Australia, unlike thier last meeting where they were still mentally damaged from the tour of New Zealand. Tendulkar is no doubt playing the best cricket of his life and Sehwag played very nicely.
Jayasuriya made a huge mistake by bowling first, it was a flat track.
^ For once I think we are mentally ready and matched by batting depth. I am still concerned about the bowling The key is that atleast two pacers and one spinner have to click in containing and troubling the batsmen. This i sparticularly important against the Aussies where there are hitters right down to McGrath.
Woo hooo. Look what we got here. India beaten Tigers’ again. Well, looks like Indians are going to set a record in the World Cup unbeaten against Tigers’(twice)as they have got against Pakistan.(four times)
India crushed Srilanka. Wonderful performance by Sehwag and Tendulkar(second time unlucky). That sweep shot was the only poor play of display by Tendulkar in his innings. India were 146 under 26 overs and it looked like they are headin’ 300+ target. But thanks for the wonderful bowling of Muttiah and Vass in the end.
Srilankans were pathetic. 5 Batsmen on Ducks, (including De Silva and Attapatu) Sheesh! Srinath(300 wickets in ODIs, good for him), Nehra and Zaheer Khan bowled extremely well but I think Indian side will need one more bowler if they encounter with Australia and coming match against the Kiwis. In the end, 183 runs victory over Srilanka is a great acheievement. Indian side have lost only game in this tournament so far. Both India and Australia are in the Semi-Final.
This defeat of Srilanka is a wake-up call for them. Heavens, why did Jaysuriya chose to field first after winning the toss? Nothing went right for Tigers’.
Well done, India. Hope, we’ll see fire works of Tendulkar against the Aussies.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by bdsurti: *
Ehsan Ji
Sri Lanka 295 for 4 in 43.3 Overs
Have a Nice Day.
[/QUOTE]
Yesterday this time I wouldn't have laughed at this prediction...who'd have thought! 108 allout in 23 overs!
Here is a funny thing - If it had rained when the last SL wicket was playing and stopped play - they will have had to play the whole game again from scratch because 25 overs hadn't transpired! Wasn't 43.3 the overs India took to finish Pakistan target?
This is getting interesting. Here's the current standing and I was kinda wondering who will be playing who in semi.
First of all I am not sure if the teams making progress towards semi will be looked at the Points or RR. For my analsys I am asuming its the point tables.
So the current standing as of now is...
P W L NR Pts NRR
1 Aus 3 3 0 0 16 +1.84
2 Ind 4 3 1 0 16 +0.86
3 Ken 3 2 1 0 10 +0.44
4 NZ 3 1 2 0 8 -0.33
5 SL 4 1 3 0 7.5 -1.43
6 Zim 3 0 3 0 3.5 -0.75
And the upcoming matches...and my asumption of the team that will win the match
Match 5, Australia v New Zealand, Port Elizabeth, March 11 Australia
Match 6, Zimbabwe v Kenya, Bloemfontein, March 12 Zimbabwe
Match 7, India v New Zealand, Centurion,March 14 New Zealand
Match 8, Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka, East London, March 15 Sri Lanka
Match 9, Australia v Kenya, Durban, March 15 D/N *Australia *
Then the standing will be as follow
1 Aus 24
2 Ind 16
3 NZ 12
4 SL 11.5
5 KEN 10
6 Zim 7.5
Here's if you switch the wining team...
Match 5, Australia v New Zealand, Port Elizabeth, March 11 New Zealand
Match 6, Zimbabwe v Kenya, Bloemfontein, March 12 Kenya unlikely
Match 7, India v New Zealand, Centurion,March 14 India
Match 8, Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka, East London, March 15 Zimbabwe unlikely
Match 9, Australia v Kenya, Durban, March 15 D/N *Australia *
Then the standing will be as follow
1 Aus 20
2 Ind 20
3 Ken 14
4 NZ 12
5 SL 7.5
6 Zim 7.5
Australia have secured the first spot and so has India secured the 2nd spot, so its very likely that they won't meet in the semis.
I think Kenya still has a very good chance against Zimbabwe, if they win, they will either meet India (Likely) or Australia in the semis.
Then its going to be a big battle between New Zealand and Sri Lanka for the 4th spot to play Aussies, it doesn't matter who makes it, they will end up losing to Australia anyways.
** Australia V NZ**
NZ won the toss and elected to field.
Australia 48/4 (13.3 ov)
GO KIWIS......
gosh !!! bond on fire Kangaroos 84/7 in 27.0 overs:eek:
Bevan and Bichel have taken the score to 155 now in the 44th over. It is not great, but look how their tail has come up big to at least make the score something Aussies can bowl at. Damn Bichel is hitting like he was a regular bastman. And is Bevan solid as always. That is what I call consistency. (As much as I hate the damn Aussies, I have to admit the truth.)
208/9(50 overs) from 84/7… :k: