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Singapore, Paceman Javagal Srinath created early inroads in the Sri Lankan batting but it was left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju who pulled India out of the pit as the former world champions overwhelmed the fighting current champions by 12 runs with 11 balls to spare in a low-scoring but thrilling triangular fixture at The Padang.

The sixth wicket pair of Hashan Tillekeratne and Roshan Mahanama were well on course to steer the ship safely home after they had put on 92 runs for Sri Lanka who had slumped to 53 for five while chasing what appeared to be a modest target of 200 runs in 50 overs on a small ground.

But Raju, brought from the far end for his second spell, first accounted for Tillekeratne and then followed up with the prized wicket of Mahanama as Sri Lanka were reduced from 145 for five in 39.2 overs to 163 for seven in 43.3 overs.

Srinath, who destroyed the Sri Lankan top order with three wickets for 18 runs from six overs, delivered the final punch when he pushed back the stumps of Chaminda Vaas with a perfect yorker to leave the Islanders reeling at 169 for nine.

The last pair of Muttiah Muralitharan and Pramodiya Wickremasinghe held the spectators on tentor hooks till the first ball of the 48th over before Wickremasinghe was left stranded in the centre of the wicket because of a dreadful confusion between him and his partner which allowed Sachin Tendulkar to remove the bails at the bowler's end. The misfield by Raju at coverpoint became a blessing in disguise for the Indians as the ball after deflecting from his toe went to substitute fielder Aashish Kapoor who gently threw the ball to Tendulkar. Before that, Azharuddin had missed a couple of easy chances to run out Muralitharan.

The victory not only ended the disappointing run of the Indians who lost back-to-back matches in the World Cup, it has also made the event more interesting. If Pakistan beat India on Friday, the finalists will be decided on net run-rate. However, if the 1992 champions lose to India, they will catch a return flight, leaving the cup to be decided between India and Sri Lanka.

Srinath later picked Up US $ 2,500 Man-of-the-Match prize for his intelligent, accurate and fiery bowling which saw him picking up the wickets of dangerous Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Marvan Atapattu and Chaminda Vaas. Srinath gave away 35 runs in his allotted 10 overs.

The bowling by Srinath must be a good lesson for the Pakistanis which they have certainly missed to learn as the match is neither being televised live locally nor the dish antennas are allowed here in Singapore. The Pakistanis also preferred to stay back at their hotel for a well deserved rest instead of coming to the ground to watch how India and Sri Lanka battle it out. Srinath kept a nagging line, pitched the ball upto the batsmen and hardly delivered a loose ball. Kaluwitharana and Jayasuriya, who make life difficult for the bowlers, couldn't be wary and paid the price for being aggressive.They played suicidal shots to throw away their wickets. Atapattu may be a little unlucky as the ball kept low but it was well directed. The ball which got rid of Vaas was also an fine example of how to bowl in the final overs.

The bowling by Raju was equally brilliant. After having picked up the wicket of Arjuna Ranatunga in his first spell, he claimed the wickets of Tillekeratne and Mahanama who were looking dangerous. Raju conceded 26 runs from his 10 overs.

Raju was overlooked for the World Cup semi-final because the management thought an off-spinner would be more effective. Well, that was not the case on Wednesday.

Tillekeratne and Mahanama, who have been pushed in the background by Jayasuriya, Kaluwitharana and Aravinda de Silva, batted defiantly and sensibly. The two didn't even show rush of blood when dark clouds covered the sky and it appeared that a thunderstorm will hit the ground very soon. Sri Lanka were quite behind India being 123 for five after 35 overs. India were 136 at the same stage of their innings.

Tillekeratne fell when he tried to hit a six to the longest part of the field at mid-on after scoring 42 from 110 balls. He hit a solitary six.

Mahanama departed when he tried to cut the ball to be caught at short third-man after hitting an elegant 59 from 124 balls with three hits to the fence. Mahanama reached his 50 from 105 balls.

``It was a bowler's day in the end. The wicket is not to be blamed but ourselves as we played some bad shots,'' Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga commented.

``Srinath and Navjot Singh Sidhu played really top class cricket but as we were defending a low total, we had nothing to lose and since there was no pressure on us, we attacked from the very beginning,'' Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Mohammad Azharuddin did not repeat the World Cup semifinal tactics , that was later termed as a blunder, when he opted to bat after winning the toss.

But that decision also backfired as after the departure of Sachin Tendulkar at 33, India lost six more wickets for the addition of only 103 runs.

However at 136 for seven, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Javagal Srinath held the innings together and put on 55 invaluable runs. The partnership ended when Sidhu lost his bails while trying to hit Vaas across the line of the ball.

Sidhu, later taken to hospital for dehydration, was by all means the backbone of the Indian innings scoring a patient 94 from 179 balls and in the meantime watching helplessly as wickets fell all around him.

Sidhu understandably ran out of fuel not only because it was terribly hot and humid, his innings revolved mainly round singles and twos and only included four boundaries. Sidhu had reached his half century from 72 balls with just a hit to the fence.

Srinath hit one of three sixes of the innings to remain unbeaten on 28 from 32 balls to complete an allround show.

Tendulkar was the other batsman to cross the 20 mark. He scored 28 with three boundaries and a six.

For Sri Lanka, Chaminda Vaas was once again the most successful bowler picking up three wickets for 35 runs. Muttiah Muralitharan and Aravinda de Silva shared four wickets between them conceding 25 and 12 runs respectively.

It was a strange day here. After 664 runs were scored on Tuesday with 15 sixes and 23 boundaries, only 386 runs were scored on Wednesday with just three sixes and 21 boundaries. This is an amazing contrast. If it shows that the wicket is losing its bounce and quickness, well, we all will know on Friday when neighbours and traditional rivals India and Pakistan play the final league game here.