Against all odds as India's fate hangs in balance

Port of Spain, Mar 18 (UNI) There is a real chance of the Indian campaign in the Cricket World Cup ending even before real action starts and for that the high-flying former champions have themselves to blame.

India after losing to Bangladesh in their Group B opener at the Queen's Park Oval here are on the edge because even winning both their remaining games -- against Bermuda tomorrow and Sri Lanka thereafter on Friday -- does not ensure a qualification to the Super Eight stage.

After the shock defeat, India's net run rate (NRR) stands at -0.139. In contrast, Sri Lanka have an NRR of +4.86 following their crushing 243-run win over Bermuda on Thursday and Bangladesh are at +0.139.

India now have to big enough win to narrow the gap on the Sri Lankans, who play their next match against Bangladesh.

On paper, Bangladesh are best placed to make history as they play the final league match against Bermuda knowing exactly what to do to send either India or Sri Lanka home on the basis of a better NRR.

The Indians played poor cricket in their opener and turning things around will not be easy. Though the decision to bat first came as a shock to the experts here, who are aware that pitches at the Oval are lively in the first hour or so though even they were taken aback at the pace and bounce of the track.

However, that decision cannot hide the fact about the shocking collapse that saw India finish with less then 200 on the board. At 157/4, they could have reached around 220-230 total, but the fall of the well-set Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh, and the procession behind them effectively finished India off.

And now it boils down to two do-or-die matches for the Indians but even after that their fate hangs in balance.

Here's how teams will go through to the Super Eights, given the likely situation in Group B, according to the tournament's playing coditions: *For teams with equal points and equal wins, the team with the higher net run rate in the group matches will be placed in the higher position.

*If after the NRR calculation there are teams that are still equal, then the team with the higher number of wickets taken per balls bowled in which results were achieved will be placed in the higher position. If still equal, the team winning the head-to-head group match will be placed in the higher position.

*In the highly unlikely event that teams cannot be separated by all these calculations, the qualifiers will be decided by drawing lots.

UNI