India posts 373-6 Defending champs all but out the competition Click here for more on this story Posted: Wednesday July 07, 1999 02:03 PM   Rahul Dravid (left) and Saurav Ganguly led India to the second highest team total in World Cup history. Julian Herbert/Allsport TAUNTON, England (CNN/SI) -- In a record display of batting Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid posted the highest wicket-partnership in any one-day match with a tally of 318 as India comprehensively thrashed Sri Lanka by 157 runs. Ganguly (183) and Dravid (145) combined to lead India to a victory Wednesday that condemned defending champions Sri Lanka to an early exit from the 1999 World Cup. After India scored 373 for six in its allotted 50 overs, Sri Lanka began disastrously, losing both openers -- Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana early. Sri Lanka was subsequently bowled out for 216 in the 43rd over. The crushing victory erased the bitter memories of India's inglorious exit in the 1996 semifinal when Sri Lanka was awarded victory on default after the game was marred by crowd violence. It also lost a high scoring group match as Sri Lanka went onto win the crown remaining unbeaten. A win over England at Edgbaston on Saturday will enable India to qualify for the Super Sixes alongside South Africa and the hosts from Group A. An England win will complicate matters, possibly leaving India and Zimbabwe with two wins each and the team with the best net run-rate will join five other teams in the second phase of the tournament. The defeat here has made it impossible for Sri Lanka to qualify even if it beats Kenya in its final group match at Southampton on Sunday -- the heavy loss to India giving it such a poor run rate compared with its rivals it will be unable to make it up. By contrast, the win Wednesday came as a timely morale-booster to India which had managed just one win from three previous games going into the match. Beaten by South Africa and Zimbabwe before beating Kenya, India showed its awesome batting at the top of the order even with a miserly contribution from Sachin Tendulkar, one of the four wickets to fall after the record partnership. Tendulkar, like Dravid fresh from an unbeaten century against Kenya at Bristol on Sunday, fell for two runs. After losing Sadagopan Ramesh (five) to the fifth ball of the innings bowled by Chaminda Vaas, Ganguly and Dravid repaired the early damage with a 318-run stand for the second wicket as they sent the hapless Sri Lankans on a leatherhunt. The partnership beat the previous stand for any wicket - 275 between skipper Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja - against Zimbabwe at Cuttack in 1997/98. India's record total in one-day cricket and the second highest ever behind Sri Lanka's 398 for five against Kenya at the last World Cup in 1996, came after its 329 for two effort against Kenya at Bristol when Dravid and Tendulkar put on a World Cup record 237 for the third wicket. Ganguly, an introvert from Calcutta, cut loose after playing second fiddle to Dravid, and tore into the neighbors. He was particularly severe on the feared off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. He hammered Muralitharan for four of his seven sixes as the spinner's 10 overs cost 60 runs, including 18 off the last over. He also hit 17 other boundaries in his seventh century and fell a ball short of carrying his bat when he holed out to long off. The left-hander's innings was the highest by an Indian in an international one-day game, surpassing Kapil Dev's unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe in the 1983 tournament in Tunbridge Wells. It also ranked fourth behind Pakistani Saeed Anwar's 194, West Indian Viv Richards' unbeaten 189 and South Africa Gary Kirsten's 188 in the all-time one-day innings. Dravid's chancesless innings ended when he failed to beat a direct hit by Muralitharan from long on in the 45th over. He hit 17 fours and a six in his fifth century in 84 one-dayers. After racing to 71 runs in the first 10 overs, the pair consolidated during the middle overs before shredding the bowling in the final 10. India, 244 for one after 40, hammered 129 runs in the last 10 despite losing five wickets. Ganguly lived a charmed life after reaching his century off 119 balls, dropped four times as Sri Lanka continued to fall apart under pressure. Ganguly survived a run out on 60, Muralitharan dropping the ball as he tried to collect a Mahela Jayawardene return from the deep, reached his century with a flicked two off medium paceman Erik Upashantha. Sri Lanka's run chase got off to an inauspicious start when Jayasuriya, one man who could have turned the game on its head was run out in the third over. Soon followed Kaluwitharana and Sri Lanka was struggling on 23 for two. The innings received a face lift as Aravinda de Silva hit his first half century of the tournament but when he fell leg before wicket at 146 for four, Sri Lanka needed an impossible 228 in 21 overs. Sri Lanka collapsed before and after a 66-run stand between De Silva and skipper Arjuna Ranatunga as it slumped to its third defeat in four matches.   Related information Stories CNN/SI Player Pages: Saurav Ganguly | Rahul Dravid Mongia questionable for Sri Lanka match CNN/SI Team Pages: India | Sri Lanka Tendulkar, Dravid hit centuries as India beats Kenya Sri Lanka beats Zimbabwe by four wickets Multimedia Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid led India to a big win and close to a world record.   • Start(2.45 M .MOV) Click here for the latest audio and video Search our site Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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