Bruised India hope for miracle tomorrow

Facing the risk of an early exit India will not only have to produce a miracle against Sri Lanka in their last Super Eights match here tomorrow but also hope for a favour from Australia if they aspire to enter the semifinals of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup After slumping to the 49run loss against Australia in their first Group F Super Eight match Indias semifinal hopes received a severe battering yesterday when Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men fell short by 14 runs against the West Indies Despite the two defeats India are mathematically still in the fray for a semifinal place But for that to happen Dhonis men will first have to beat Sri Lanka tomorrow and then hope Australia drub the West Indies by a big margin which will see three teams locked with same points in Group F In such a scenario the net runrate NRR will be brought into action to pick which one of these three teams India Sri Lanka and the West Indies qualify for the semifinals To make matter worse for India they would have to win by a handsome margin against the islanders tomorrow to bolster their net runrate which is a dismal 1578 Despite losing to Australia by 81 runs yesterday Sri Lanka have a NRR of 0600 while the West Indies NRR is 1057 India could have avoided this mathematical dilemma had their batsmen executed better skills or been prudent while handling short balls Cramped for time and space they have injudiciously played the pull shot though not being physically and technically well equipped to challenge such hostile deliveries As the frazzled Indian stars may have realised by now merely throwing the bat around at short balls without getting inside the line or under the ball doesnt fetch runs It needs grit gumption skill and prudence to face such adversity especially on a bouncy and fast track When we step out of the subcontinent and play on bouncy tracks we get into trouble In the other forms of the game we can let the ball go by But you cant afford to let the ball sail past you in the Twenty20 format as the pressure will increase said India skipper Dhoni lamenting his batsmens inability to combat the shortpitched deliveries However India can take heart from the fact that they will be playing the Lankans at the lessboucy Beausejour Cricket Ground here where they recorded both their victories in the first round To top it though Sri Lanka have three quicks in Lasith Malinga Chanaka Welagedara and Angelo Mathews they certainly would not be as devastating as the Australian or the Caribbean pacers Most importantly India will have to get over the two defeats and play positively tomorrow to achieve their goal of comprehensively beating Sri Lanka and then hope the NRR could possibly provide them the leeway to enter the semifinals But considering the way his batting order has performed Dhoni is not too optimistic of India making the last four stage of the tournament Hoping to qualify from this situation two defeats would be asking for too much We will go out and play positive cricket If we can win we will take it as a consolation Dhoni had said reflecting the sodden mood of the camp As statistics reveal only two batsmen Suresh Raina 101 and Rohit Sharma 79 not out have scored in the excess of 50 runs in the event belying Dhonis belief that his batting lineup has the firepower and depth to surpass targets of 160 to 170 However trouncing Sri Lanka is not going to be a lark in the park as Kumar Sangakarras men would come all guns blazing to qualify for the semis especially after slumping to the moraleshattering defeat againstAustralia last night The Lankans would be eyeing nothing less than a victory to avoid any mathematical equation and if they do so the Islanders in all probability will face Engalnd in the first semifinal on May 13