India (227-8) beat Sri Lanka (181) by 46 runs
Sri Lanka may have made the final of the Coca-Cola Cup with four wins out of six but there is a brittle air to their batting that will give captain Sanath Jayasuriya and coach Dav Whatmore plenty to ponder ahead of Sunday's final.

India's 46-run victory was more comprehensive than even the margin indicates and they now know that a win tomorrow against New Zealand will take them to the final. If they fail, they will regret having started the tournament sleepwalking.

Sent in to bat, India got off to an appalling start, being reduced to 38 for 4 within the first hour. Chaminda Vaas accounted for the openers, Shewag plumb in front and Ganguly caught at point for a 16-ball duck. VVS Laxman played one magnificent pull and then threw it away, lobbing a checked cover drive to Jayasuriya.

Badani then took a wild slash at Dilhara Fernando, which deserves a nomination for horror shot of the month. It was the signal for Yuvraj Singh to come in and play the second significant innings of his career.

There were some glorious shots through the covers and a blistering flat-batted six over midwicket off Vaas, but what was most impressive was the manner in which Yuvraj found the gaps and pressured the fielders with some aggressive running.

Rahul Dravid played his part, accumulating a valuable 47 before a well-flighted Jayasuriya delivery lured him down the track for Kaluwitharana to do the rest.

Sodhi's cameo of 30 at the death was a crucial contribution. Though Muralitharan came back to castle both Sodhi and Harbhajan, 227 for 8 was always going to be competitive.

Sri Lanka's reply stalled from the start as Kaluwitharana was run out by Harbhajan's direct hit and Atapattu was unfortunate to be given out caught behind to Zaheer. Once Jayasuriya went for just 10, superbly caught by Dravid at short midwicket, the odds were always stacked against them.

Jayawardene and Russel Arnold staunched the bleeding somewhat but Ganguly reopened the wounds, first trapping Arnold leg before (sending him on his way with some choice pleasantries) and then bowling Jayawardene off the inner edge.

Kumar Sangakkara had his stumps knocked back by Ashish Nehra and, at 109 for 6, that was effectively that. Suresh Perera blazed away for an attractive 30 and Vaas and Muralitharan put on a brief show of defiance but there was a touch of farce about the whole scenario. Zaheer Khan had Murali caught at deep midwicket by Agarkar and when Vaas hold out to Harbhajan to give Nehra his third wicket of the innings, India were home with time to spare.

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