COLOMBO, AUG 28: The SSC ground in Colombo is encircled by trees. The absence of concrete structure makes this venue one of the most colourful in the world. The Indians may not have enjoyed this beautiful sight in the morning, depressed as they were with the news that Sachin Tendulkar's back pain had resurfaced and he had been forced to withdraw from this game. By mid-afternoon they had been stripped of all pretense of being a formidable batting side. And by the time dusk fell, it was time to leave the ground. Indian cricket had sunk to a new low.India will now have to wallop Sri Lanka to go ahead in net run-rate and qualify for the final. On the evidence, forget the massive victory, a simple win for them would be an upset of sorts.If the beginning had ominous signs, the end had shaken even the most optimistic of the Indian supporter. Is this the nadir or is there something worse? The Board of Control for Cricket in India, for whom cricket has become a money-milking cow, should now, wake up andrealise that there will be none left to watch the game and pour millions on television rights. Nobody wants to watch mediocrity.Quite surprisingly it was not so much the failure of the bowlers. For a change, the medium-pace duo of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad bowled well and the Australians were not allowed to build an impregnable score on the foundations that Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds had laid with a second-wicket partnership of 110 runs. At 150 for one (28 overs), the Indians did gain some control. The Australians failed to make profit in the middle and slog overs.The regular fall of wickets made it easier for the Indians to control the flow of runs. The fielding was embarrassing. Tendulkar's absence gave Vinod Kambli yet another chance to re-establish himself. But he had conceded enough runs in the field before his chance to bat came.After a glimmer of hope which India's minor fightback had shown in the morning, came the agonising moments produced by a shocking batting display.Saurav Ganguly gone in the first over. Amay Khurasia, Rahul Dravid and Ajay Jadeja followed him in a space of five balls. Jason Gillispie was pacy and cleaver while Glen McGrath was spot on. Very soon 32 for four became 44 for 5, when Kambli failed.Sadagoppan Ramesh, who got a look in today with wicket-keeper MKS Prasad being dropped and Dravid doing the job, was the lone exception to this spineless batting show. Robin Singh lent him good support but their progress was not rapid enough to threaten the Australian score, it only delayed the inevitable.SCOREBOARDAUSTRALIAM. Waugh c Dravid b Srinath 18Gilchrist c Srinath b Chopra 77Symonds c Dravid b Srinath 45Ponting c sub (Shukla) b Prasad 32Lehmann run out 28S. Waugh c and b Singh 6Bevan b Prasad 7Moody not out 14Warne c Shukla b Kumble 4Gillespie not out 2Extras (b-1, lb-10, w-5, nb-3) 19. Total (for 8 wkts in 50 overs) 252Fall of wickets: 1-40 (M Waugh, 8.4 overs), 2-150(Gilchrist, 28 overs), 3-152 (Symonds, 28.2), 4-200 (Lehmann, 39.3 overs), 5-213 (S. Waugh, 41.5 overs), 6-227 (M. Bevan, 45.1 overs), 7-234 (Ponting, 47.1 overs), 8-244, (Warne, 48.5 overs)Bowling: Srinath 10-1-43-2, Prasad 10-0-29-2, Chopra 10-0-62-1, A. Kumble 9-0-48-1, R Singh 8-0-41-1, Ganguly 3-0-18-0INDIAGanguly c Warne b McGrath 8Ramesh c M Waugh b Symonds 71Khurasia b Gillespie 12Dravid c Gilchrist b Gillespie 0Jadeja lbw McGrath 0Kambli c Gilchrist b Gillespie 3Singh c Symonds b Lehmann 75Chopra run out (Symonds) 5Srinath c Gilchrist b Gillespie 15Kumble b Lehmann 4Prasad not out 0Extras (lb-4, w-10, nb-4) 18 Total (in 48.3 0vers) 211Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Ganguly, 0.4 overs), 2-31 (Khurasia, 5.3), 3-31 (Dravid, 5.5), 4-32 (Jadeja, 6.2), 5-44 (Kambli, 13), 6-167 (Ramesh, 41.2), 7-173 (Chopra, 42.4), 8-198 (Srinath, 46.1), 9-211 (Robin, 48.2)Bowling: McGrath 10-0-55-2, Gillispie 9-1-26-4, Moody 10-4-28-0,Symonds 7-0-32-1, Bevan 5-0-21-0, Warne 7-0-41-0, Lehmann 0.3-0-4-2MAN OF THE MATCH: A. GilchristRESULT: Australia won by 41 runs.
