India v Kenya

At Cape Town, March 7, 2003 (day/night). India won by six wickets. Toss: Kenya.

This was only the second victory chasing under lights, in the tournament's eighth day/nighter, and it was a hard-earned one. Kenya played to their carefully cultivated strengths - good fielding, paceless bowling, and the will to bat 50 overs - and it required a dutiful century from Ganguly to take his team home. India's catching was embarrassing: three regulation chances were dropped in the first hour, all off Nehra, and Otieno benefited from two of them to top-score with a long-drawn-out 79. Committed swing bowling in a nippy evening breeze, and a swooping catch by Tony Suji off Tendulkar's superbly timed flick, reduced India to 24 for three in the tenth over. But Ganguly found partners in Dravid and, more decisively, Yuvraj Singh, whose energetic leg-side attack on the spinners provided a much-needed thrust. Ganguly's 21st hundred in one-day internationals took him past Saeed Anwar to No. 2 on the all-time list headed by Tendulkar on 34. At the post-match press conference, he was asked whether India ever contemplated tanking the game, to improve their chances of meeting Kenya again in the semi-final. However, South Africa's fate showed what happens to teams who attempt higher mathematics and fail.

Man of the Match: S. C. Ganguly. Attendance: 17,866.