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Colombo: Fine batting by Tillakaratne Dilshan (73) and Kumar Sangakkara (54) helped Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 5 wickets to enter the final of World Cup 2011 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Sri Lanka, set a modest 218 to win, were cruising at 160 for one but lost four quick wickets before recovering to win by five wickets with 13 balls to spare.
The 1996 champions will play the winners of Wednesday's semifinal between Pakistan and India in Mumbai on Saturday.
New Zealand, who defeated South Africa in a similar situation in the quarterfinals, have now reached the semifinals six times without advancing further.
Earlier, Chamara Silva edged a Tim Southee delivery onto his stumps to leave Sri Lanka at 185/5 in their World Cup semifinal encounter in Colombo on Tuesday.
Andy McKay had Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara caught by Scott Styris at third man to place the hosts at 169/4.
Sri Lanka encountered a minor hiccup in their run chase as they lost Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene in successive overs.
Tim Southee had Tillakaratne Dilshan caught by Jesse Ryder at backward point soon after captain Kumar Sangakkara hit his 62nd half-century.
In the next over, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori trapped Jayawardene plumb in front of the wicket to place the hosts at 161/3. Jayawardene went for the review but the replays showed that he was out indeed.
Sangakkara's 62nd half-century came off 72 balls and was studded with 6 fours and a six.
Dilshan reached his 22nd half-century off 71 balls with the help of 6 fours and a six.
Dilshan and Sangakkara put up a 120-run partnership after Ryder took a superb catch at backward point to dismiss Upul Tharanga off Southee to place Lanka at 40/1.
Tharanga hit a six and four fours in his 31-ball 30 and his knock ensured that the Sri Lankan run chase got off to a good start.
Earlier, a clinical display by the bowlers helped Sri Lanka bundle out New Zealand for a modest 217 in 48.5 overs despite Scott Styris' 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 scalps as New Zealand's innings lacked the thrust 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-sweep, 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 an inswinging yorker to leave the New Zealander's struggling at 84/3 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 dictate 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 inability 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 Styris 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 quarterfinal, 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.
Brief scores
New Zealand 217 (Styris 57, Mendis 3-35, Malinga 3-55)
Sri Lanka 220 for 5 (Dilshan 73, Sangakkara 54, Southee 3-57)
Result : Sri Lanak won by 5 wickets
MOM Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
