Dilshan,Tharanga crush England to set up semis date with NZ

Sri Lanka beat England by ten wickets in the crucial quarter-final match.

Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga hit superb centuries as Sri Lanka humiliated England by 10 wickets in a thoroughly one-sided quarter-final encounter of the World Cup.

Chasing a target of 230,Dilshan (108 not out,115 balls,10×4,2×6) and Tharanga (102 not out,122 balls,12×4,1×6) played with consumate ease as they reached the target in only 37.3 overs to set up a semi-final date with New Zealand,next Tuesday.

The target was never going to be difficult on a Premadasa track for a team that bats deep but one fancied England bowlers to put up a fight. Unlike some of their resilient performances at the group league stages,the English bowlers couldn’t recreate the magic as both Dilshan and Tharanga never looked like getting into any kind of trouble.

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The only time the duo looked troubled was after the match got over when both were in acute pain battling cramps in humid conditions.

Without taking any undue risks,both hit the boundaries with minimum fuss. Their preference for the off-side field was understandable as they repeatedly peppered the region with some thumping drives.

The ploy of opening the bowling with Graeme Swann also didn’t work out as both Tharanga and Dilshan used their feet to good effect whenever the offie tossed it up. If the ball turned,they waited that extra bit to play their shot.

Tharanga made his intentions clear when he stepped out in the very second over bowled by Swann to hit him over long for a six. When the spinner came for his second spell,Dilshan who was well and truly settled swept him over mid-wicket for another six.

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Ditto for second spinner James Tredwell as Lanka reached their 50 in nine overs and subsequently the 100 in 19 overs.

Chris Tremlett looked incisive in his first couple of overs but Strauss certainly lacked someone who would produce telling blows to bring England back in the match. The bowlers were happy bowling length balls which were punished with utter disdain.

Having already set a World Cup record for an opening stand of 282 runs against Kenya,Dilshan-Tharanga duo showed that they are slowly turning into one of the best opening pairs in the limited overs version as they brought up their second double century partnership.

Dilshan completed his second century in the World Cup and 10th in the ODIs when he rocked back to cut Swann past point for a boundary. The milestone was achieved in 107 balls.

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Tharanga who battled cramps and had to take runner completed his ton when he hit a cover drive off Tremlett to finish the proceedings.