Cricket-crazy fans danced on the streets in New Delhi but were plunged into gloom in Islamabad after India beat bitter foes Pakistan in what was billed as the "Clash of the Centurion".

The Indian team cruised to a six-wicket win in a World Cup match between players of the two hostile neighbours at Centurion Park in South Africa that had deep political undertones.

"We won the war without any bloodshed!" said Rahul Rathi, a 28-year-old businessman in India's eastern city of Calcutta.

"It's a really big disappointment for all of us, especially because it was a match against India," said Islamabad resident Fahmina Tariq.

In the heart of the Indian capital, fans erupted with joy, dancing in the streets to throbbing music. Millions elsewhere in India also took to the streets, setting off firecrackers, beating drums and chanting, "Long live India, we're the champs!"

"This is what we wanted to see India playing Pakistan and walloping them. My friends and I screamed ourselves hoarse," New Delhi cricket fan Samir Rai said.

In the southern Indian city of Bangalore, the technology capital, 20 motorcyclists drove in formation through the downtown carrying a huge Indian flag, shouting deliriously.

But across the border in Pakistan, the streets were deserted as the country's cricket lovers went into mourning.

"It was a disgrace, a horrible defeat at the hands of India," said an Islamabad housewife.

Cricket is like a religion in both countries, which have gone to war against each other three times since independence in 1947, twice over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

The last time the countries met on the cricket field was in June 2000 in the Asia Cup in Dhaka when Pakistan triumphed. The Indian government has banned all bilateral cricket with Pakistan since then because of tensions over

Kashmir.

In Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir, where a revolt against New Delhi's rule has raged since 1989, fans with divided loyalties clustered outside television shops showing the match.

"India won the game and taught Pakistan a lesson," said banker Bilkis Mir in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital.

"I was praying Pakistan would win. We should have all prayed for them we're religiously one," said student Tahir Bhat.

While the match was underway, streets and markets on both sides of the border were empty as young and old watched the action and some fans painted their faces in the colours of their national flags. In New Delhi, cinemas abandoned movies and screened the match instead.

But the intense passions have a darker side and authorities on both sides of the border had stepped up security in case the mood of fans turns ugly.

"We could see a 1996 World Cup-like situation when losing to India in Bangalore sparked a wave of agitation against Wasim Akram who was the skipper then," Abdul Mohi Shah, a sports commentator, said in Islamabad.

Just two weeks ago, irate fans in India were berating their country's cricketers after their poor World Cup start.

Captain Saurav Ganguly was given a mock funeral in Calcutta while black paint was hurled at middle-order batsman Mohammad Kaif's house in the northern Indian city of Allahabad.

But India's fans now appeared to have been pacified.

"We don't care any more if we don't win the World Cup," said Saket Malhotra, a 26-year-old doctor, pouring himself a shot of Tequilla. "Beating Pakistan is enough for me!"