Tendulkar displays star quality again

So much for this being a dead match. The fact that there was no place in tomorrow's final riding on this confrontation mattered not a jot to either side. Pride and, it seemed, a duty to hold the noisy crowd in thrall throughout were the priorities.

There was drama, with the non-appearance of Sachin Tendulkar for the second half of the contest ­ he was receiving treatment on a strained left hamstring and was rested for the Sri Lanka innings as a precaution in the run-up to tomorrow's NatWest Series final, but there is little doubt that he will play.

There was plenty of entertaining batting, headed by an imperious century from the aforementioned Tendulkar, his second of this tournament, as well as an exhilarating contribution from Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara, who hit a brilliant 66 off just 47 balls.

Indeed, that and a solid half century from Marvan Atapattu laid the foundations for an exciting climax, but India kept nibbling away and tightened their grip on the scoring rate and gradually Sri Lanka fell behind. The off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's telling burst of three wickets in eight balls to earn him a career best at this level of 4 for 46 brought matters to a swift conclusion.

There had been also some outstanding fielding by both sides. Yuvraj Singh's stunning throw from 25 yards caught Atapattu well out of his ground with a breathtaking direct hit. But the Sri Lankans had their moments, Chamara Silva took a superlative catch in the deep to dismiss Mohammad Kaif, as well as having a hand in the first of the three Indian run-outs with a fabulous flat throw to the wicketkeeper.

The match had flared into life when Tendulkar strode out into the middle. Virender Sehwag had smacked a brisk 39 but the roar that greeted his dismissal told anyone not in the know that Tendulkar was on his way.

He was as well, with a drive through extra cover to get off the mark and he proceeded to a string of other marks for the next two hours. He cruised to his half-century off just 46 balls with the help of half a dozen fours, bringing it up with a single in the over before he and Dinesh Mongia were parted, having added 99 in 99 balls for the third wicket.

There then followed a couple of blips as Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj perished cheaply before Kaif joined Tendulkar and saw him to his hundred ­ the 33rd in his one-day international career, made at better than a run a ball.

His innings was measured, relaxed even. He was never remotely under threat from the Sri Lankan attack, which had to contend with a near perfect pitch. His solitary six came in the 90s and before he went, slicing a ball to Upul Chandana off Chaminda Vaas, he had added a further 74 runs with Kaif.

Thereafter the Sri Lankans put their act together and whipped out the Indian tail, although they could not prevent India from becoming the first side to pass 300 in this year's tournament. The stage was then set for some thrilling stuff from the Sri Lankans, who showed a few glimpses of the sort of panache that won them the 1996 World Cup.

Bristol scoreboard

India won toss

INDIA

*S C Ganguly run out 9

V Sehwag run out 39

D Mongia b Samaraweera 48

S R Tendulkar c Chandana b Vaas 113

ÝR Dravid lbw b Chandana 13

Yuvraj Singh lbw b Samaraweera 8

M Kaif c Silva b Zoysa 41

Harbhajan Singh run out 0

Zaheer Khan b Fernando 0

A Nehra b Fernando 3

T Yohannan not out 5

Extras (lb6 w12 nb7) 25

Total (50 overs) 304

Fall: 1-32 2-73 3-172 4-199 5-210 6-284 7-286 8-288 9-296.

Bowling: Vaas 10-0-64-1; Zoysa 10-0-66-1; Fernando 10-1-55-2; Chandana 8-0-44-1; Jayasuriya 2-0-14-0; Jayawardene 2-0-16-0; Samaraweera 8-0-39-2.

Umpires: D L Orchard and D R Shepherd.