The youthful exuberance of Vinod Kambli and the sensible, stabilising influence of Azharuddin shone through on a colour- ful day on which India recorded one of its better limited-overs triumphs. In his determination to ensure that his team would not lose another opportunity to better its one-day record, Azhar saw the chase through to the very end, displaying the range and majes- ty of his repertoire only when he was certain that the opening match of the Hero Cup was very much in the bag........ Slendid display by Srinath: There was great deal of success for the ``man of the match'' Javagal Srinath who earned only his second bag of five wickets but did it in such a way as to stress that he is the strike bowler for the future. He bowled a yard quicker than his pace colleagues and hurried bats- men even on the pitch.

His early strike of two wickets and his handling of the end overs ensured that India had to meet a tar- get that was one run less than that of the infamously inade- quate chase at the Khettarama Stadium which...... It was upto Kambli to bring out the joy of the game in his stylish strokeplay, the best of which came in those instinctive drives on the rise through the covers and then there were two ondrives off Liyanage the first played ear- ly and wide of long on and the second late and more straight between the bowler and long on, which was otherwise some- what routine but one made with the kind of maturity that Azhar wants his side to display though to his credit Azhar lit up the early winter even- ing with bright shots.....

Thanks to: ksrao (ksrao@*ee.ndsu.nodak.edu)

Azharuddin and Kambli make it easy for India Belligerent knocks by captain Mohammad Azharuddin and Vinod Kambli helped India to a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the opening match of a five-nation one-day tournament on Sunday. The left-handed Kambli(21) hammered 78 off 100 balls while Azhar carried on where he left off in the recent tour of Sri Lanka, scoring 75 not out -- his fourth consecutive half-century against the islanders in one-day games. Medium pacer Pramodya Wickram- singhe had Workeri Raman leg before wicket with just one run on the board. He struck again at 46 to remove Manoj Prabhakar. But Kambli and Azharuddin, a thankful survivor of two sharp chan- ces, elegantly accelerated the pace and went on to post a century partnership. Boundaries were interspersed with well run ones and twos as Sri Lanka used seven bowlers to little avail. Azharuddin's 75 came off 105 balls while Sachin Tendulkar, who partnered his captain after Kambli's dismisal, scored the winning runs with his fourth boundary in 30 balls. He hit 26 not India had only a modest total to chase, the Sri Lankans faltering after a bright start in the opening match of a tournament celebrating the diamond jubilee of the Cricket Association of Bengal.

South Africa, Zimbabwe and West Indies are also battling for the trophy. Pakistan declined to take part, citing fears for its Moslem players in largely Hindu India where religious tensions are high. The Sri Lankans passed 100 with only two wickets down but then quick bowler Javagal Srinath returned to record career-best one- day figures of 5-24. They earned him the man- of-the-match award. He took two early wickets before runs came at a brisk pace from opener Roshan Mahanama and Arvinda de Silva, who struck four boundaries and a six before being run out on 33. His departure checked the run rate and when Mahanama was fifth out for 73 the Sri Lankans had little left.

Thanks to: Vicky on r.s.c.