Sri Lanka Stick to The Tried and True

Colombo: Sri Lanka will stick to the tried and tested formula they employed to defeat New Zealand in their group match when they clash in Colombo on Tuesday for a place in the World Cup final.

The Sri Lankans thumped New Zealand by 112 runs in their last group match as the Kiwi batsmen found the Sri Lankan spinners too hot to handle and were shot out for 153 inside 35 overs.

Seven wickets went to the spinners on that occasion with the wily Muttiah Muralitharan bagging four.

Conditions will be similar on the low and slow pitch at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday and the Sri Lankan bowlers will once again look to prosper as they bid to reach a third World Cup final and second in a row.

In Lasith Malinga, Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis the 1996 champions have probably the best and most varied bowling attack in the tournament.

"We kind of understand that they find the variation in our bowling attack a bit troublesome," Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said after the win against the Kiwis in Mumbai.

So we try and maximise on that fact but at the same time we try and make sure that we put good totals on the board. I think they find Lasith Malinga, Murali and Mendis quite difficult.

Muralitharan, 38, who will retire from international cricket after the tournament, left the field early in the World Cup quarterfinal win over England on Saturday but he is expected to be fit for Tuesday's semifinal.

While the focus has been on the bowlers, the Sri Lankan top-order batting of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga have silently gone about their job.

The three batsmen currently feature at the second, fourth and fifth positions respectively in the tournament's highest run-getters' list. Openers Dilshan and Tharanga have already combined in two double century partnerships and the Kiwi bowlers have to try and send them back quickly to have any hopes of reaching the lower middle order, which is Sri Lanka's only weak link.