Mayhem in Mumbai as India crush Lanka, storm into World Cup semifinal

After the English batters, it was the turn of Sri Lankans to bear the brunt of Indian pacers. On Thursday here at the packed Wankhede Stadium, Lanka faced the combined examination of the Indian pace attack and they failed miserably.

Mumbai: There is nothing more exhilarating to watch on a cricket field than a pack of fast bowlers steam in, hurl the sphere at disconcerting pace and leave the batters hopping in their crease and quaking in their boots. 

After the English batters, it was the turn of Sri Lankans to bear the brunt of Indian pacers. Though the Lankans had crashed to 50 all out in the Asia Cup final recently, it was largely due to the brilliance of one bowler - Mohammed Siraj who had claimed his career best 6/21 to demolish Lanka in Colombo. On Thursday here at the packed Wankhede Stadium, Lanka faced the combined examination of the Indian pace attack and they failed miserably.

Jasprit Bumrah (1/8) and Mohammed Siraj (3/16) set the stage for the carnage and Mohammed Shami (5/18) completed the mayhem with another display of hostile, probing fast bowling. Chasing India's intimidating 357/8, Lanka were down four wickets for three runs in only the fourth over as Siraj bounced back with an incisive spell of 4-2-5-3 after a few uninspiring outings.

From this stage onwards, it was just a question of whether Lanka would better their performance in the Asia Cup final. While they did so by a meagre margin -- 55 all out in 19.4 overs, handing India a comprehensive 302-run win -- the defeat was as humbling and humiliating, virtually ending Lankans' semifinal hopes even as India became the first team to make the cut for the knockouts of World Cup.  

On a surface where creating wicket-taking opportunities were rare and even more difficult to stem the flow of runs, converting even half a chance becomes critical for the bowling side. Sri Lanka, after strangely deciding to bowl first, were guilty of squandering two relatively easy chances and paid a heavy price for it.

In an eventful first few overs, during which edges fell tantalisingly short of fielders and catches were dropped even as the ball kept disappearing into the pickets, Sri Lanka had a great chance of shutting India out after the second-ball dismissal of skipper Rohit Sharma. Shubman Gill (92, 92b, 11x4, 2x6) was reprieved on seven at short cover by Charith Asalanka off Dilshan Madushanka and Dushmanth Chameera failed to hold onto a return catch of Virat Kohli (88, 94b, 11x4) when the batter was on eight. The king and the heir apparent then combined to punish Sri Lanka for their largesse with a mammoth 189-run (179 balls) stand for the second wicket that formed the cornerstone of India's huge total.

Utilising the early assistance from the pitch, both Madushanka and Chameera got the new ball to jag around that put some doubts in the minds of Kohli and Gill who found it difficult to time the ball initially. It was during this phase that the Lankan bowlers elicited catches from them, and had they held on to them, India would have been 25/3. But when the two right-handers were separated, India were sitting pretty at 193/2. 

Few sights can be more beautiful on a cricket field than a Kohli-Gill duet. It's where style meets substance, promise turns into potential. Kohli's gorgeous cover drives were matched in their aesthetic quality by Gill's batting manual-defying short-arm square drive. Where Kohli's straight drives inspired awe, Gill's punches down the ground generated oohs and aahs. With centuries beckoning, both Kohli and Gill fell in the space of three runs but the damage was done and the capacity crowd had had their fill.

KL Rahul and Surayakumar Yadav departed soon, but Shreyas Iyer, with his place in the XI on the line, blasted his way to a 56-ball 82 (3x4, 6x6) to not only buy himself more time but put the issue beyond Lanka.