West Indies defeated India by six wickets in the second semi-final at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Lara scored an unbeaten 60 in his 89-ball vigil at the wicket to steer the Caribbeans past the fighting Indian total of 242 for five in the stipulated 50 overs. Keith Arthurton, the man-of-the-match against Pakistan, played another responsible innings in tandem with his captain to ensure a comfortable victory for the West Indies with three overs to spare. Arthurton hit the winning runs, a delicate boundary through the covers, as West Indies reached 245 with six wickets to spare.
The platform of an West Indian victory against the crowd favourites India was initially set by their two new-ball bowlers -- debutant Reon King and the ever-improving Mervyn Dillon -- followed by explosive batting from the right-left combination of Philo Wallace and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the first 15 overs.
Dillon, the speedster from Trinidad, gave the West Indians a sensational start after the Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin had won the toss and decided to bat. The 24-year-old fast bowler rattled the Indian nerves by removing the phenomenal Sachin Tendulkar and Azhar in successive overs, laurels enough to earn him the man-of-the-match award.
Dillon sparked off a Calypso celebration when he had Tendulkar magnificently taken at slips by an airborne Carl Hooper. The little maestro, who scored a brilliant century in the previous match, was only on four when Hooper, diving full to his right, plucked a beauty in the last ball of the fourth over.
Dillon then had Azhar (1) plumb in front of the wickets in his next over to have India reeling at 21 for two in six overs.
Azhar, who scored a duck in his record 300th one-day appearance on Wednesday, misjudged the line completely and was declared leg before for the second consecutive occasion. Dillon then, returning in his second spell, clean-bowled Nayan Mongia to finish with three for 38 in eight overs.
While Dillon struck, King, the express bowler from Guyana, virtually had the Indians pinned down by bowling a superb line and length. Brought ahead of Nixon McLean, the rookie right-arm paceman bowled his allotted 10 overs at a stretch and returned with fantastic figures of 10-2-26-0.
The Indians never quite settled down after the fall of the two invaluable wickets and, despite a fluent 116-ball 83 from Bengal's Saurav Ganguly, they needed a swashbuckling unbeaten 73 off just 63 balls from Robin Singh to attain respectability.
A silky Saurav hammered eight sweetly-timed fours and a couple of sixes in one prodigal over from slow left-armer Arthurton.
Robin, who virtually set the stadium alight with a barrage of lusty blows, plundered most of the 80 runs in the last nine overs. In his whirlwind innings, he clubbed five fours and three huge sixes, including two in the 47th over of leg spinner Raul Lewis.
Nayan Mongia, who shared 83 runs for the sixth wicket with Robin, chipped in with almost a run-a-ball 25 and, in the process, the chirpy keeper reached his individual 1000 runs in limited overs internationals.
The West Indies began their reply like a flash of lightning. Wallace started from where Robin had left, hitting the first delivery of the innings from Srinath over the long-off for a six, leaving the experienced paceman dumbfounded.
Amidst chants of ``Wallace, Wallace'' from the stands, the Barbados captain smashed the Indian opening bowlers with disdain all around the wicket. With Wallace on a rampage, the perplexed Indian captain removed both the new-ball bowlers from the firing line by only the seventh over. By that time West Indies had raced on to 61 for the loss of Stuart Williams.
But Wallace and number three Chanderpaul, who played like a man possessed, took the score to 108 in 16 overs before the former departed for a 45-ball 39 studded with five fours and a sixer.
Wallace fell in the second ball after the drinks -- a simple return catch to Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar mixed up his deliveries and had the West Indian batsmen guessing. Bowling his 10 overs without a break, Tendulkar, who had cleanbowled Chanderpaul, finished with two for 29.
Chanderpaul scored a classic run-a-ball 74, punctuated with 10 fours and a delightful straight six against leggie Anil Kumble.
When Chanderpaul departed in the 25th over, West Indies were firmly placed on 143 for three.
But pressure mounted a little when in the next over vice-captain Hooper threw away his wicket, skying Kumble into the safe hands of Ajit Agarkar. Hooper was then on only eight and was expected to consolidate the situation with his captain.
Lara was, however, all concentration and in the reliable company of Arthurton. Together they rowed the Caribbean boat to safety without any further damage. The two put on 89 runs for the unbroken and very safely played fifth wicket.
A rusty yet responsible Lara hammered five fours in his disciplined innings while Arthurton, who looked more confident, struck a quartet of fours in his 67-ball 40.