Manchester: Miracles do happen in cricket. India nearly achieved one but fell short by a mere 18 runs. Veteran MS Dhoni and supposedly 'bits and pieces' player Ravindra Jadeja nearly pulled it off with a record seventh-wicket century partnership. But in the end it was heart-break for 1.3 billion fans back home as the Mn in Blue crashed out of the World Cup in the semis.

Devastated is too mild a word to describe the emotions of the Indian fans as they saw Team India fall criminally short of making it to their fourth World Cup final. One would expect India to overhaul a target of 240 nine out of 10 times in any conditions and on any pitch, but the one time that did not happen was yesterday, against New Zealand, who bowled impressively. The Kiwis thus made it to their second successive final and now await the winners of the other semi-final between Australia and England at Birmingham today, in the final to be played at Lord's on Sunday.