Sri Lanka demolish England to storm into semis

COLOMBO: Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga powered Sri Lanka into semi-finals, hitting brilliant hundreds in a comprehensive 10-wicket triumph against hapless England in the last of the World Cup quarter-finals here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Saturday. Sri Lanka will now play the first of two semi-finals here on March 29 against New Zealand who knocked out South Africa in Dhaka on Friday while arch-rivals Pakistan and India meet in the second semi-final in Mohali a day later. Dilshan finished with a 115-ball 108 not out, spiced with 10 boundaries and two sixes, while Tharanga notched an unbeaten 102 off 122 deliveries, studded with 12 fours and one six, as the duo easily reached the 230-run target with 10.3 overs to spare. It was the second 200 plus partnership in the tournament as the pair also scored 282 for the first wicket against Zimbabwe in the group stages at Pallekele. Dilshan was the first to reach his hundred, his 10th in one-day cricket and second in this tournament, cutting Swann to the cover boundary for his ninth boundary. Tharanga completed his 11th century, and also his second in this World Cup, with the winning boundary off Chris Tremlett. Earlier, captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and decided to bat first on a slow, flat pitch. but England made a poor start losing both openers for 31. However, Jonathan Trott (86) rescued them with a cautious innings of 86, adding 64 runs for the third wicket with Ravi Bopara (31) and 91 for the fourth with Eoin Morgan (50) as England made 229 for six in their 50 overs. Trott’s 86 was his 11th fifty in one-day internationals and the fifth half-century in the tournament. But he was unable to lift the innings in the final overs as England managed just 23 in the batting power-play. Trott fell in the 49th over, caught off Muralitharan who finished with 2-54, after a 115-ball innings which featured just two boundaries. It will be Sri Lanka's third successive World Cup semi-final, having finished runners-up to Australia in the last edition held in the Caribbean four years ago.