Srilanka March 2 Semis In Its Own Style.....

A curiously conventional innings from Tillakaratne Dilshan and substantial contributions from the experienced pair of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara led Sri Lanka to a challenging total in their knockout game against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. A total of 158 might be about par in the Twenty20 format but Sri Lanka have the best bowling attack in the competition and are likely to stretch the New Zealand batsmen all the way.

Daniel Vettori emphasized the importance of separating Sri Lanka's explosive openers early and he sought to do that by opening the bowling with the offspinner Nathan McCullum. The ploy worked immediately for Sanath Jayasuriya top edged an attempted sweep to short fine leg, leaving Sri Lanka on 3 for 1. New Zealand's start grew better when Chamara Silva, who was promoted to No. 3, was caught at mid-on off a leading edge as he tried to close the face against Kyle Mills.

Sri Lanka, however, did not lose momentum after Dilshan's wicket because Jayawardene continued batting as fluently as he did against Ireland. He played his trademark inside out drives over cover, lofted a free hit from Vettori over the press box, and elegantly raced to 41 off 29 balls. His most unique shot of the day was a reverse paddle of Jacob Oram. What made it special was that Jayawardene hit the ball with the back of the bat and sent it speeding past short third man.