World Cup: Sri Lanka ensure all-Asian final

New Zealand’s dream of making a World Cup final remained a dream as hosts Sri Lanka beat them by five wickets in the first semifinal played at the R Premadasa International Stadium on Tuesday.

This will be the second consecutive final for Sri Lanka, who lost out to Australia in 2007.

In the title clash on April 2 in Mumbai, Sri Lanka, will meet the winner of second semifinal between India and Pakistan to be played on Wednesday.

However, it was not an easy win for the Lankans, who survived a scare from the Kiwis after getting a rollicking start from their top order yet again. Opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (73) and skipper Kumar Sangakkara (54) laid the foundation, before a collapse in the middle-order threatened to derail their chase of 218. But gritty batting from lower-order and power-hitting by Angelo Mathews in the latter stages, took them through.

A target of 217 always looked easy with the kind of batting the hosts’ possess and their previous performance here. Opener Upul Tharanga’s six of the third ball off Nathan McCullum only made it look the issue was sealed. Tharanga took over the mantle of big-hitting from Dilshan, who stayed quiet at the other end. Tharaga looked in great touch and struck four boundaries before Jesse Ryder took a stunning one-handed catch diving to his left off Tim Southee to mark the end of the southpaw at 30.

Captialising on the good start, Dilshan and Sangakkara made it look easy. Dilshan was at his usual best, hammering the loose balls while the skipper played the role of an anchor. The duo stitched together 120 runs before all hell broke loose. Dilshan gave a simple catch to Ryder off Southee. Mahela Jayawardene’s entry was just a formality as he got dismissed for one. Sangakkara, too, could not stay longer, and Lanka’s three crucial wickets fell for nine runs.

However, Thilan Samraweera and Mathews held their nerves to help Lanka cruise to a win with 13 balls to spare.

New Zealand’s woes continued with the bat as none of the batsmen, except Scott Styris (57, 77b, 5x4), could convert the starts that saw their team fold out for a mere 217 in 48.5 overs on a slow-turning Premadasa track. However, one cannot take away the credit from Lankan bowlers, who bowled with great discipline.

Ajantha Mendis’s (3/35) mixed his deliveries well. A late burst from Lasith Malinga (3/55) and veteran off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s two wickets helped the Lankans finish off the tail — four wickets— for 25 runs.

The Kiwis started their innings cautiously, after winning the toss and elected to bat, as if to prove a point with great patience and showed no hurry. The openers Brendon McCullum (13) and Martin Guptil (39) played out both Malinga and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath well, till the former lost his patience and went for an ambitious sweep shot in the eight over off Herath. He missed the ball, which hit his off stump.

Guptill, meanwhile, stayed at the wicket taking singles with Jesse Ryder. However, Ryder, who cracked two boundaries, succumbed to Muralitharan while going for a cut. Guptill followed the suit soon when a toe-crushing Yorker from Malinga blew his stumps away.

Later, Styris and Taylor steadied the ship with a responsible partnership of 77 for the fourth wicket. The duo looked to snatch the momentum away from the
Sri Lankans and took the total past 150 before Mendis claimed Taylor.

Kane Williamson showed resistance but didn’t stay long, while Styris was caught plumb in front of the wickets after scoring his 28th ODI half-century.