Sri Lanka survived some late wickets to come through their ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Semi Final against New Zealand, to book a place in the Final, by winning by 5 wickets in Colombo RPS on Tuesday 29th March 2011.
New Zealand set a total of 217 All Out from 48.5 Overs, to which Sri Lanka looked on course to respond easily, as Dilshan (73) and Sangakkara (54) batting at 2 and 3 got them off to a good start. However, despite a late run of New Zealand wickets, Sri Lanka held on to reach 220 for 5 in 47.5 overs, with a couple of overs to spare.
New Zealand’s batsmen were curtailed by good spells of bowling from the Sri Lankan bowlers who’s names begin with the letter ‘m’: Malinga and Medis took three wickets each, while the mercurial Muralitharan also took a brace of wickets from his allotment of 10 overs. Only Styris (57) made more than a half century for the Kiwis in a innings where many got a start, but the Sri Lankan attack always seemed to pick off batsmen just as they looked to be getting comfortable.
In response, openers Tharanga (30) and Dilshan (73) did well, and, when Southee took Tharanga, caught Ryder, up stepped Sangakkara (54) to make an important half century.
However, when Dilshan fell, the score went from 160 for 1 to 169 for 4 very quickly, and Sri Lanka fans had to be thankful for a steadying innings from Samaraweera (23 Not Out) and Matthews (14 Not Out) who brought the match home, despite Silva (13) being bowled by Southee, who was New Zealand’s most effective bowler amassing 3 wickets for 57 runs from his 10 overs.
When Southee and Vettori ran out of overs, however, New Zealand looked a little short of options, and so it would prove, as Sri Lanka reached and passed their total with 13 balls remaining.
The result means that New Zealand have now reached six ICC Cricket World Cup semi finals – and won none of them. Sri Lanka will face the winners of tomorrow’s huge semi final between India and Pakistan in the Final on 2nd April, in Mumbai.
New Zealand v Sri Lanka – ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Semi-Final Scorecard
| New Zealand 1st Innings | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | ||
| Guptill | b Malinga | 39 | 65 | 3 | 0 | |
| B McCullum | b Herath | 13 | 21 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryder | c Sangakkara | b Muralitharan | 19 | 34 | 2 | 0 |
| Taylor | c Tharanga | b Mendis | 36 | 55 | 1 | 0 |
| Styris | lbw | b Muralitharan | 57 | 77 | 5 | 0 |
| Williamson | lbw | b Malinga | 22 | 16 | 3 | 0 |
| N McCullum | c Sangakkara | b Malinga | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| Oram | c M Jayawardene | b Dilshan | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Vettori | not out | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Southee | c Sangakkara | b Mendis | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| McKay | b Mendis | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | 1nb 6w 5lb | 12 | ||||
| Total | all out | 217 | (48.5 ovs) | |||
–
| Sri Lanka Bowlers | O | M | R | W |
| Malinga | 9 | 0 | 55 | 3 |
| Herath | 9 | 1 | 31 | 1 |
| Mathews | 6 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| Mendis | 9.5 | 0 | 35 | 3 |
| Muralitharan | 10 | 1 | 42 | 2 |
| Dilshan | 5 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
–
| Sri Lanka 1st Innings | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | ||
| Tharanga | c Ryder | b Southee | 30 | 31 | 4 | 1 |
| Dilshan | c Ryder | b Southee | 73 | 93 | 10 | 1 |
| Sangakkara | c Styris | b McKay | 54 | 79 | 7 | 1 |
| M Jayawardene | lbw | b Vettori | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Samaraweera | not out | 23 | 38 | 3 | 0 | |
| Silva | b Southee | 13 | 25 | 2 | 0 | |
| Mathews | not out | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1 | |
| Extras | 10w 2lb | 12 | ||||
| Total | for 5 | 220 | (47.5 ovs) | |||
–
| New Zealand Bowlers | O | M | R | W |
| N McCullum | 6 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| Southee | 10 | 2 | 57 | 3 |
| Vettori | 10 | 0 | 36 | 1 |
| Oram | 8 | 1 | 29 | 0 |
| McKay | 9.5 | 1 | 37 | 1 |
| Styris | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| Ryder | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
–
Sri Lanka win by 5 wickets.
