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Sri Lanka Vs England




Vs




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Sri Lanka won

Right, the semi-final line-up is done. It will be Sri Lanka versus New Zealand at Colombo on March 29th and then the mother of all battles, India versus Pakistan on the 30th in Mohali. The next few days promises to be the most thrilling time in this World Cup. We will bring you all the action that happens. This is Sid V, saying good bye on behalf of my colleagues Ajith, Pradeep and Srivathsa. Ciao!
Dilshan: I spoke to Sanga and I told him that I could bowl six-seven overs with the new ball. He told me yesterday that I will be opening the bowling. I had the confidence to bowl with the new ball on this wicket. Tharanga was awesome and I decided to take some chances early on. The wicket was getting better and there was nothing for the fast bowlers. We managed to carry on after a good start. We would be wanting to continue with the good form and we will be eager to get to Mumbai for the finals.
Dilshan is the Man of the Match for his unbeaten century and his wicket with the new ball.
Sangakkara: I did not think it would be so easy. Losing the toss, we thought that we should get off to a good start with the ball and Dilshan did just that. We have to brush up on our fielding. The guys did their job in the field and we managed to keep the total down to a manageable one. The crowd are fantastic and we are trying to make them proud. Murali has pulled up a bit stiff and we are sure he will be fit. We have cover in case Murali does not recover. We are not planning too far ahead, we have to keep our feet on the ground. It is a semi-final and every team will be wanting to do well and we are not taking it lightly. The opening partnership gave us inspiration and we look forward to the match.
Strauss: I thought we were 30-50 runs short. We did not get off to a good start and we managed to bat well in the middle overs. We could not accelerate towards the end. Dilshan and Tharanga were awesome. It was a flat wicket and we struggled to get the breakthrough. We lost a couple of early wickets and that forced the batsmen to consolidate. We have not played good cricket and we are going home. We have not played with quality with both bat and ball. We showed a lot of resolve and grit but this was a step too far. SL are a good team. We have to sit down at the end of a World Cup and think of how to go ahead. We are looking forward to some rest.
Tharanga: It was a good show by me and Dilshan. A solid opening partnership is very important in a crucial game like this. I hope that we continue this run in the upcoming semi-finals. The crowd is always behind us and it was a special feeling. Playing at home and with the crowd support, we have a good chance against New Zealand.
It's been a walk in the park for the Lankans. They never let pressure get on top of them, the openers came out and chanced their arms against the swinging delivery and once things settled down, they found boundaries at will. Both Tharanga and Dilshan got to their respective fifties, and ensured that they made the bowlers toil very hard. Dilshan got to his 10th ODI hundred while Tharanga snapped up his 11th ODI ton as SL make a strong statement before cruising their way into the semis. They now meet New Zealand on 29th in Colombo in the first of the semi finals. Don't go away, wait for the presentation ceremony.
39.3	Tremlett to Tharanga, FOUR!!, 11th ODI CENTURY!! for Tharanga, his 2nd in WCs and third against England, Sri Lanka have crushed England by 10 wkts. They have booked a meeting with New Zealand at this very ground on Tuesday, fuller length delivery outside off, Tharanga crashes it past cover and holds his arms aloft in triumph, it has been a wonderful partnership between these two as they gave England no chance, a sad end to England who had the nerves pulsating in this tournament with one close contest after another, if this was a boxing match, SL have given England a knockout punch.