COLOMBO: India finished group matches of the ICC under-19 cricket World Cup with an unbeaten record when it beat host Sri Lanka in its final first round game at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday.

Excellent week

The victory helped tournament favourite to top Group C of the championship and now it will play the West Indies, the runner-up of Group `B' in Saturday's quarterfinal clash at the same venue.

India, which had resounding victories against minnows Scotland and Namibia, finished off an excellent first week with a four-wicket win over the host nation in the crucial game for both teams where they were trying to avoid a quarterfinal clash against Australia. Sri Lanka now has the tough task of playing former champion Australia on a seamer-friendly SSC wicket.

Sri Lanka elected to bat and was comfortably placed at 117 for four but the silly run out of its best batsman Sachitrha Serasinghe triggered a sensational collapse. The hard-hitting right-hander, who had batted well for his 38 with seven fours and a huge six, was dismissed when he responded to a suicidal single.

Sri Lanka's wobbly middle order struggled under pressure yet again as it lost four wickets and collapsed to 189 for eight, with India's fielders backing the bowling quite well.

The host needed a special effort from captain Angelo Matthews to get past the 200-mark. Matthews scored the only half-century by a Sri Lankan and was the last man out after making 52 off 69 balls (4x4, 2x6). He brought up his fifty with a six over long-off.

India's top order that hadn't been really tested in the previous two games struggled as Sri Lanka picked up three quick wickets defending the moderate score. It lost openers Gaurav Dhiman, Cheteshwar Pujara and captain Ravikant Shukla, who had starred in previous two wins, cheaply and was reeling at 28 for three.

Sloppy fielding

But some sloppy fielding by Sri Lanka helped India get back into the game and seal victory with 14 balls to spare.

Fielding has been an area of concern for Sri Lanka even before the tournament commenced and that eventually proved to be its Achilles' heel. India's top scorer and Man of the Match Rohit Sharma was dropped thrice, two of them at first slip. In the end, the fielding made the difference between the two teams.

Sharma made most of the reprieves making 78 in 105 balls with six boundaries and two sixes and added a match-winning 132 for the fourth wicket with Super Sub Mayank Tehlan who made 64 off 114 deliveries.

After left-arm spinner Sachitra Pathriana had Sharma caught behind India lost a couple of quick wickets but managed to keep the run-rate under control and got through with further damage.

The scores: Sri Lanka: D. Karunaratne b Sharma 41, S. de Zoysa c Shah b Yo. Mahesh 0, S. Serasinghe (run out) 38, H. Fernando c Shah b Bandekar 31, A. Mathews c Jadeja b Yo. Mahesh 52, S. Karunanayake c Shukla b Chawla 7, A. Priyanjan (run out) 0, P. Perera lbw b Jadeja 20, N.. Perera b Chawla 5, S. Pathirana c Shah b Yo. Mahesh 1, M. Pushpakumara (not out) 3. Extras (w-8, nb-1): 9; Total (in 48.3 overs): 207.

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-27, 3-117, 4-117, 5-130, 6-134, 7-176, 8-189, 9-194.

India bowling: Yo. Mahesh 8.3-1-33-3, Ahmed 10-0-47-0, Bandekar 9-1-51-1, Chawla 10-2-35-2, Jadeja 9-0-38-1, Sharma 2-0-3-1.

India: G. Dhiman c Priyanjan b N. Perera 10, C. Pujara c de Zoysa b N. Perera 10, R. Sharma c de Zoysa b Pathirana 78, R. Shukla c Fernando b N. Perera 1, M. Tehlan c Serasinghe b Weerasinghe 64, P. Chawla c Pathirana b Weerasinghe 10, D. Das (not out) 15, R. Jadeja (not out) 4. Extras (lb-1, w-14, nb-2): 17; Total (for six wkts. in 47.4 overs): 209.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-25, 3-28, 4-160, 5-176, 6-203.

Sri Lanka bowling: Mathews 2.2-0-10-0, N. Perera 8-0-35-3, Serasinghe 6.2-0-25-0, Karunanayake 3-0-24-0, Pushpakumara 10-0-37-0, Weerasinghe 10-1-32-2, Pathirana 8-0-45-1.

Other results: New Zealand 77 in 24 overs (Anwar Ali five for 34, J. Ahmed three for 14) lost to Pakistan 78 for two in nine overs.

South Africa 213 for eight in 50 overs (P. Daneel 90) lost to West Indies 218 for three in 43.1 overs (LR Johnson 83, J Mohammed 76 n.o.).

England 172 in 49.5 overs (R. Hamilton-Brown 47; G. Balance three for 21, Williams three for 35) lost to Zimbabwe 175 for eight in 47.1 overs (G. Balance 47).

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