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Defeat for India deepens Azharuddin's troubles

An angry crowd, who had earlier squeezed into a Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium that was still being renovated a few hours before the start, jeered the home side while lathi-wielding police tried to maintain order. A routine home response to an Indian defeat, perhaps, but the pressure on Mohammad Azharuddin is building.

These are troubled times for the Indian captain. His marital problems, well publicised here, have not gone down well while his modes of dismissal in the World Cup have attracted intense criticism. The last thing Azharuddin needed, then, was a severe thrashing at the hands of Sri Lanka's exuberant stroke-makers in New Delhi on Saturday.

That Sri Lanka were able to reach 272 for the loss of only four wickets and with eight balls to spare was down to their attacking brilliance and the short boundaries. It was also, however, a reflection of India's mistake in omitting spinners Venkatapathy Raju and Aashish Kapoor on a slow pitch.

When Sachin Tendulkar resorted to reasonable off-spin India were clearly struggling. By that time Sri Lanka had made mincemeat of the seamers and were well on their way to a victory that confirms their place on top of Group A and a quarter-final in Faisalabad on Saturday. England will underestimate them at their peril.

The most forlorn Indian figure in the unseasonal Delhi gloom at the end was Manoj Prabhaker who, on his home ground, was booed after conceding 33 runs from his first two overs of off-spin.

India's second straight defeat means that they will almost certainly head south to Bangalore for Saturday's second quarter-final seemingly destined to join the other unsuccessful World Cup hosts.

Man of the match: ST Jayasuriya