All was well that ended well for Sri Lanka. After setting off to a steady march towards a modest New Zealand target, Sri Lanka lost quick wickets and looked in trouble. But a target of 217 was never enough to keep the former world champs down for long and a late spurt from Angelo Mathews and T Samaraweera helped Sri Lanka win the match with the loss of five wickets.
All was well that ended well for Sri Lanka. After setting off to a steady march towards a modest New Zealand target, Sri Lanka lost quick wickets and looked in trouble. But a target of 217 was never enough to keep the former world champs down for long and a late spurt from Angelo Mathews and T Samaraweera helped Sri Lanka win the match with the loss of five wickets.
Chamara Silve became the fifth Lankan wicket to fall after he was clean bowled up by Tim Southee for just 13. The well-set Sangakkara (54) lifted an outside-the-off-stump short ball from McKay and gave a simple catch to the third man.
After making a modest New Zealand target look like a breeze, Sri Lanka lost three quick wickets. The well-set Sangakkara (54) lifted an outside-the-off-stump short ball from McKay and gave a simple catch to the third man.
Sangakkara lost his concentration just when was trying to salvage the Sri Lankan innings after the loss of Jayawardene and Dilshan. Jayawardene was struck in front trying to play a Vettori delivery and was given out for LBW. He added just one run after coming to bat with the exit of Dilshan, who became Southee's second victim of the day. Dilshan's patient knock (73) along with Sangakkara (50) saw Sri Lanka getting comfortably close to their target, when the island-nation met with a sudden jolt.
Tim Southee gave New Zealand the first breakthrough when Daniel Ryder took a stunning catch at point to get rid of Upul Tharanga.
At the filing of this report, Sri Lanka had scored 110 runs for the loss of one wicket at the end of 24 overs. Dilshan (45) and Sangakkara (29) were at the crease leading the Lankan run chase. Dilshan edged passed Jonathan Trott’s record total of 422 runs in the tournament and is now the leading run getter of this World Cup.
Earlier, a clinical display by the bowlers helped Sri Lanka bundle out New Zealand for a modest 217 in 48.5 overs despite Scott Stryis's fighting half-century.
Pace spearhead Lasith Malinga and spinner Ajantha Mendis, with three wickets each, were the wreckers-in-chief, while Muttiah Muralitharan finished with two salps as New Zealand's innings lacked the thurst needed to power them to a challenging total.
Batting first after winning the toss, Styris struck 57 off 77 balls, an innings that was laced with five boundaries, before becoming Muralitharan's final ODI victim.
The match at the Premadasa stadium is the veteran off-spinner's final ODI on home soil.
Apart from Styris, Martin Guptill contributed 39 while Ross Taylor made 36.
New Zealand didn't set the stage ablaze and preferred to play safe at the start. A run-rate of just about 4 by the time the mandatory powerplay ended was an indication of their approach.
But what must have hurt the Kiwis was Brendon McCullum's early departure. Continuing with his awful run with the bat, McCullum fell cheaply to Rangana Herath for 13. As McCullum positioned himself for a slog-sweap, a shot that brought him a six in the left-arm spinner's previous over, Herath slipped in a quicker delivery that disturbed the off-stump.
Jesse Ryder joined Guptill and the two looked at ease until Muralitharan brought to an end the burly left-hander's stay at the crease.
The veteran spinner, who came into this match with 13 wickets from eight matches and is playing in his last ODI on home soil, bowled a perfect off-break that took a thin edge off Ryder's blade.
Returning for his second spell, Malinga then uprooted Guptill's stump with a inswinging yorker to leave the New Zealander's struggling at 84 for three in the 22nd over.
Guptill's wicket was an important from Sri Lanka's perspective as he has the ability to play the sheet anchor's role to perfection. The gutsy right-hander was in his element till the slinger bowled that unplayable delivery to end his knock of 39 that included three hits to the fence.
With Guptill's wicket, the pendulum swung Sri Lanka's way, but the experienced Ross Taylor and Scott Styris forged a solid half-century partnership that paved the way for a competitive total.
Both Taylor and Styris complemented each other well during an association which saw them play some effective shots on a worn pitch, which attracted criticism from Vettori.
While Taylor adopted a cautious approach, relying more on singles and twos to score his runs, Styris looked fluent and also managed to find occasional boundaries.
Styris didn't let Malinga dicate terms by giving the bowler a charge. The half-volleys were driven through the cover region and straight down the ground and the short ones were pulled without much effort.
Even as Styris shone, Taylor went into a shell, and his inabilty to score boundaries, which he normally does, led to his downfall. The batsman's struggle at the crease ended when he failed to clear Mendis' long hop and Upul Tharanga gleefully accepted the offering.
Kane Williamson upped the run rate by scoring a breezy 16-ball 22, but Malinga had him trapped before the batsman could cause any further damage.
The slinger then had Nathan McCullum caught behind while Muralitharan accounted for Strris to open up New Zealand's tail.
Jacob Oram was done in by Tillakaratne Dilshan and while New Zealand raked up 41 runs for the loss of two wickets in the final batting Powerplay, they failed to up the ante towards the end.
New Zealand have made one change to the side that stunned South Africa in the quarter-final, bringing in seamer Andy McKay for Luke Woodcock, while Sri Lanka have retained the line-up that decimated England in the last-eight stage.
The stage is familiar for both sides, with New Zealand making the semi-final for a record sixth time, while Sri Lanka have been qualifying for the last-four stage since the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, where they were beaten by eventual winners Australia.
In the last edition in the West Indies, the 1996 champions rode on Mahela Jayawardene's brilliant century to beat the Kiwis in the same stage.
New Zealand:
Martin Guptill b Malinga 39
Brendon McCullum b Herath 13
Jesse Ryder c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 19
Ross Taylor c Tharanga b Mendis 36
Scott Styris lbw b Muralitharan 57
Kane Williamson lbw b Malinga 22
Nathan McCullum c Sangakkara b Malinga 9
Jacob Oram c Jayawardene b Dilshan 7
Daniel Vettori not out 3
Tim Southee c Sangakkara b Mendis 0
Andy McKay b Mendis 0
Extras (LB-5, W-6, NB-1) 12
Total (all out in 48.5 overs) 217
Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-69, 3-84, 4-161, 5-192, 6-204, 7-213, 8-215, 9-217.
Bowling: L Malinga 9-0-55-3, R Herath 9-1-31-1, A Mathews 6-0-27-0, A Mendis 9.5-0-35-3, M Muralitharan 10-1-42-2, T Dilshan 5-0-22-1.
