Two contrasting performances, two differing tales, one story of unbridled joy, one of melancholy woe and, above all, a partnership that will forever be remembered in the annals of one-day international cricket - those are the underpinnings of an amazing day's play between India and Sri Lanka here at Taunton today. In a contest which will almost certainly have lasting ramifications in this seventh World Cup, India has achieved an emphatic 157 run triumph - a victory that was achieved essentially by just two men: Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

Class, sophistication, style, brillance, grandeur, audacity: there are many words which spring to mind when one sits back after having had the rare privilege to watch the greatest one-day international partnership of all time. Yet paradoxically, there are probably not enough words in the vernacular and certainly not enough superlatives to adequately tell the story of the deeds of Ganguly and Dravid today.

At the so-called 'Carnival of Cricket', this was a show-stopper, a two-man celebration, an extended act of magic on a day on which the extraordinary tally of 373/6 was compiled. Enjoined only five balls into the day's play (after Sadagopan Ramesh had been conquered by an outswinger from Chaminda Vaas), their liaison was outrageous and it verged on the riotous. Made even better when set within the context of the fact that opposing captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, had inserted them after winning the toss at the start of the day, it has placed India firmly on a launching pad to move into the Super Six phase of this World Cup, and to do so with a degree of confidence which has probably not permeated their game since their outstanding triumph in the home Test series against Australia last year.

Records fell by the wayside as the pair went on the rampage and made maximum use of a glorious batting pitch, short boundaries and a blindingly rapid outfield. Among a range of new marks, the two steered India to its highest ever one-day international (ODI) score; the second highest ODI total of all time; Ganguly made the highest ODI score ever by an Indian (and the fourth greatest ever); the two shattered the previous best second wicket partnership (263 between Aamir Sohail and Inzamam-ul-Haq); and then went on to the greatest partnership in history when they surpassed 275 together (thereby ending Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja's reign at the top). In an effort in which the strokeplay had to be seen to be believed and fully appreciated the pair teased and tormented their opponents with audaciously classical batting in the version of the game in which the thought of playing with straight bats is sometimes frowned upon. And such was the utter dominance of their effort that no other player in the top six of the order - Ramesh (5), Tendulkar (2), Jadeja (5) and Singh (0) all dismissed cheaply - even exceeded a score of five! (Interesting, too, that their effort now ensures that Indian batsmen currently hold the record ODI partnerships for each of the first, second, third, fourth and fifth wickets!)

In the end, their partnership of an astounding 318 was, in a sense, only halted by mistake; Dravid (145 off 129 balls) narrowly run out by a frustrated direct hit at the bowler's end from Muralitharan after the spinner had completely misjudged a catch from his position at long off in the forty-seventh over. After himself standing back and delighting in the rapturous reception which accompanied his partner all the way back to the dressing rooms, Ganguly (183 off 158) then continued on, launching a volley of unforgettably powerful shots before he holed out to long off from the bowling of Vaas off the second last ball of the innings.

For sheer weight of runs and his unmistakable power, Ganguly probably emerged from the innings with slightly more of the credit, but this was as effective a double act as one would probably ever want to witness. The lithe left hander played with all the efficiency of an undertaker, his on driving the highlight among a battery of beautifully constructed strokes.

Dravid, too, is a marvellous mixture as a batsman. He is elegant and yet he is combative, he treats bad bowling with complete disdain and is nevertheless highly disciplined, and he has a penchant to attack but can remain dour when the circumstances decree that that is how he should play. Today, he showed all of those qualities, igniting a display of power-laden hitting inside the first fifteen overs before becoming more conservative in the middle stages, and then accelerating his scoring rate again in emphatic style as he neared his extremely well-deserved century.

While one remains all too aware of the fact that English conditions are hardly ever ideally suited to the Sri Lankans' style of play, it is hard - by contrast - to know where to begin or what to say to provide any solace to the reigning champions' fans at the end of this display. Although they made an excellent early break, their bowlers were wickedly outclassed by two players at the very apex of their considerable powers. Moreover, with Upashantha, Mahanama, Wickremasinghe and Muralitharan (twice) all missing catches in the deep as Ganguly and Dravid understandably tired toward the end of their epic vigil, their performance rapidly became as maudlin as India's batting was emphatic.

Similarly, their batsmen were unable to pose any threat to India's victory claims. Even the famous opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana, so integral a feature of the team's 1996 success, was revived today and yet still the conviction of the upper order batting remained as shallow as the waters of the River Tone which run past the back of the ground and flow through this characteristically quaint English city. Although stalwarts Aravinda De Silva (56) and Arjuna Ranatunga (42) defied the inevitable for a time with a typically brave partnership of 68 for the fifth wicket, there was indeed never any real suggestion of a Sri Lankan win - a win which would have made theirs the greatest ODI chase in history - from the moment that the pyrotechnics generated by Ganguly and Dravid commenced.