Date-stamped : 09 Apr95 - 16:48 ASIA CUP 95: Sri Lanka v India Sharjah, 9 April 1995 India crush Sri Lanka - Kuldip Lal Defending champions India crushed Sri Lanka by eight wickets in a one-day international here Sunday to improve their chances of qualifying for the Asia Cup final. Stung by Friday's reverse against arch-rivals Pakistan, the Indians lifted their all-round game to outplay the Sri Lankans in a match they had to win to stay in the competition. They put in a dazzling display in the field to restrict the Sri Lankans to 202 for nine in the 50 overs after Arjuna Ranatunga had won the toss and elected to bat. The Indians then raced to victory in the 34th over, fired by an unbeaten 112 off 105 balls from master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and his 161-run stand for the first wicket with Manoj Prabhakar (60) in 27.4 overs. India finished the round-robin preliminary league, also involv- ing Bangladesh, with two wins and a loss. They must await the result of Tuesday's clash between Pakistan and Sri Lanka to know if they will play the final on April 14 -- they go through if Pakistan win. Tendulkar cracked 15 boundaries and a six while compiling his fifth one-day century, and fittingly scored the winning runs -- a powerful hook off a no ball from Champaka Ramanayake which raced to the fine leg fence. Tendulkar kept one end going after left- arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya removed Prabhakar and Navjot Sidhu. Javagal Srinath, promoted to bolster the run rate, was unbeaten on 14 at close. Earlier, the Indians made two run outs, Ajay Jadeja and Tendulkar took catches and seamer Venkatesh Prasad grabbed three wickets to set Sri Lanka back. Tendulkar century gives India easy Asia Sachin Tendulkar hit a swashbuckling 112 not out off just 105 balls to lead India to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup on Sunday. India, chasing a modest Sri Lankan total of 202 for nine, won with 16.5 overs to spare thanks largely to an opening stand of 161 between Tendulkar and Manoj Prabhakar. Prabhakar scored 60 from 81 balls, including seven fours, before driving a catch straight to Tillakaratne at square leg. Although India lost Navjot Sidhu cheaply, Tendulkar made sure of victory. Driving and pulling with conviction, Tendulkar hit 15 fours and a six and, when he had reached 93, became the eighth Indian to score 3,000 runs in one-day internationals. Sri Lanka had struggled earlier against the accurate India at- tack, Venkatesh Prasad taking three for 37. Hashan Tillekeratne (48) and Kumar Dharmasena (30) lent some respectability to their score, putting on 71 for the seventh wicket after Sri Lanka had slumped to 113 for six. The win almost certainly assured India's passage through to a fi- nal against Pakistan who play Sri Lanka in the last qualifying match. Only a big win by Sri Lanka in that match would earn them a place in the final of the tournament which also included Ban- gladesh, beaten in all three of their matches. Pakistan top the league with a run rate of 5.22, followed by In- dia (4.85) and Sri Lanka (4.35). Source :: Reuter Contributed by vicky (vigneswa@sisko.ecs.umass.edu)