India maul Bermuda, pile up World Cup record total of 413 for 5

Port of Spain, Mar 19 (UNI) Riding on Virender Sehwag's blazing 87-ball 114 and his 202-run second wicket partnership with Sourav Ganguly, India powered to a World Cup record total of 413 for 5 against Bermuda in their crucial second Group B match at the Queen's Park Oval here today.

India thus erased the 11-year record of 398 for five set by Sri Lanka against Kenya at Kandy in the 1996 World Cup.

A record-equalling 18 sixes flew into the stands all around the park as the Indians posted an astonishing run rate of 8.28 per over, never achieved before in the World Cup history. Of them, Yuvraj Singh struck seven, Sachin Tendulkar four, Sehwag three, Ganguly two and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid one each, with the skipper finishing off the innings with an on-drive shot over mid-on.

This was Sehwag's eighth centutry in one-day internationals and his first in nearly two years.

Needing to pile up a massive score after Bermuda skipper Irving Romaine invited the Indians to bat, Ganguly and Sehwag raced to a 202-run partnership after opener Robin Uthappa fell in the second over with just there runs on the board.

Thereafter, it was left to Yuvraj who blasted his way to a 46-ball 83. En-route, he piled up partnerships of 31 in 3.1 overs for the fourth wicket with Dhoni (29, 25 balls, two fours, one six) and of 122 for the fifth in just 10.2 overs with Tendulkar.

It was a brutal assault by the Indians and little wonder that the Bermudians wilted. In the last 10 overs, a massive 136 runs were scored as the batsmen ran amok. It was also the best possible panacea for India after the lacerating defeat at the hands of Bangladesh here two days ago.

Tendulkar remained unbeaten on 57 from just 29 deliveries and hit two fours in addition to his four sixes.

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