India advance; Australia (Azh)are eliminated

India made (Srina)three changes to their playing eleven – Rahul Sanghvi, Debasis Mohanty and Harbhajan Singh made way for Sunil Joshi, Javagal and Anil Kumble. Australia made a couple of changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Tom Moody and Shane Warne made way for Brendon Julian and Brad Young.

On winning the toss, Steve Waugh, Australia’s skipper, inserted the Indians. Sourav Ganguly, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored a run. A dozen balls into the match, he was caught by Adam Gilchrist. Needless to say, Michael Kasprowicz was in seventh heaven.

Mohammad Azharuddin, who faced three balls, didn’t get off the mark. Five balls later, Damien Fleming broke the one-run stand. The third-wicket pair put on 140. Rahul Dravid, whose 80-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 48. A hundred and forty balls later, Gilchrist ran him out.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 132. Tendulkar, the player of the match, scored 141. His 128-ball (Sach)innings included 13 boundaries and three sixes. A hundred and fourteen balls later, Kasprowicz ran him out.

The fifth-wicket pair put on half-a-dozen. Ajay Jadeja, whose 65-ball innings included five boundaries and a six, scored 71. Four balls later, Kasprowicz ran him out. Robin Singh, who faced three balls, scored a couple. Five balls later, he was caught by Gilchrist. Kasprowicz broke the six-run stand.

Ajit Agarkar, whose 12-ball innings included a boundary, scored 10. Fourteen balls later, Kasprowicz broke the nine-run stand. The eighth-wicket pair put on four. Joshi had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored three. Five balls later, Julian ran him out.

Srinath, who faced five balls, scored four. He was unbeaten, as was Nayan Mongia, who didn’t face a ball. Australia conceded 25 extras. India scored 307 for the loss of eight wickets off 50 overs.

Steve, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 23. Darren Lehmann, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 30. Mark Waugh, who bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceded 27. Young, who bowled eight wicketless overs, conceded 64.

Julian, who bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceded 39. Fleming bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 45, picking up a wicket. Kasprowicz, who bowled nine overs, conceded 71. He picked up three scalps.

Gilchrist, whose 26-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 25. Fifty-one balls into the chase, Srinath broke the run-a-ball partnership. Ricky Ponting, whose 53-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 41. A hundred and one balls later, Joshi broke the 94-run partnership.

Mark, whose 79-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 74. Fifteen balls later, he was caught by Mongia. Joshi broke the 22-run stand. Julian, whose 16-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 20. Nine balls later, he was caught by Dravid. Srinath broke the five-run stand.

Steve, who faced 13 balls, had no reason to be in seventh heaven – 30 balls later, he was caught by Tendulkar, who broke the 22-run stand. Michael Bevan, who faced 14 balls, scored eight. Twenty-seven balls later, Tendulkar broke the 16-run stand.

Lehmann, whose 37-ball innings included a boundary, scored 27. Seven balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Agarkar, who broke the run-a-ball stand. Damien Martyn, whose 17-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 24. Twenty-seven balls later, he was caught by Jadeja. Tendulkar broke the 30-run stand.

The ninth-wicket pair put on 10. Although Kasprowicz’s eight-ball innings included a six, he had no reason to be in seventh heaven – 10 balls later, Dravid ran him out. Young, whose 24-ball innings included a boundary, scored 18. A dozen balls later, he was caught by Dravid. Tendulkar broke the six-run stand.

Fleming, who faced four balls, scored two. He was unbeaten. India conceded 10 extras. Australia, who were dismissed for 263 off 48.1 overs, lost by 44 runs. Singh, who bowled three overs, conceded 24. He was wicketless, as was Kumble, who bowled nine overs, conceding 44.

Agarkar bowled 10 overs, conceding 61. He picked up a wicket. Joshi bowled eight overs, conceding 57. He picked up two wickets, as did Srinath, who bowled nine overs, conceding 36. Tendulkar bowled 9.1 overs, conceding 38. He picked up four scalps.

India advanced to the semi-finals.