Mahela Jayawardene's first World Cup century enabled 1996 winners Sri Lanka to become the first finalists of this competition. His sublime 115 not out was the highlight of a semi-final game which saw opponents New Zealand struggling with both their bowling and their batting.

New Zealand had no batsman to rival Jayawardene, Sri Lanka's captain; nor did they have a bowler in the same league as Muttiah Muralitharan, whose three wickets in six balls took out three key Kiwi batsmen at a time when they were threatening a revival in the middle of their innings.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first in the match, which was played at Sabina Park, Jamaica on 24th April, 2007. New Zealand got off to a flying start when James Franklin took Sanath Jayasuriya's wicket for one run in the third over.

But Upui Tharanga's excellent run-a-ball 73 set the platform on which Jayawardene was to build in spectacular style. His mix of delicate shots and brutal power was a batting masterclass and despite some disappointing play by many of his colleagues Sri Lanka secured a final score of 289-5.

New Zealand faced a tough target and as the skies darkened over the ground, the Sri Lanka bowlers, led initially by Lasith Malinga and Chaminda Vaas, set about making life even gloomier for their opponents. 

Kiwi skipper, Stephen Fleming was the first to go, lbw to Malinga, for one run and Ross Taylor went soon afterwards in the same fashion to Vaas, after scoring just nine runs. New Zealand then showed plenty of grit and inched their way back into the match, courtesy of Peter Fulton and Scott Styris.

They were marginally ahead of the rate after 20 overs when Styris, one the star players of the tournament, got lucky when he was caught off a no-ball. Styris then broke loose and blasted three straight sixes before chipping Tillakaratne Dilshan to midwicket where he was caught by Jayawardene for 37.

The loss of Styris's wicket led to a domino effect with Jacob Oram (3) and Brendon McCullum (0) following soon after to successive balls from Muralitharan. The only way for the Kiwis now was in a downward direction and despite some spirited defiance from Craig McMillan (25) and Franklin (30 not out), their final total of 208 left them 81 short of Sri Lanka's total.

It was a disappointing end to the tournament for New Zealand, who once again failed to make the final, following their fifth appearance in the penultimate match. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will go into the final against Australia in Barbados full of confidence.

If their magical bowlers can get to grips with Australia's batting goliaths and if Jayawardene and Jayasuriya, who will have to play with much more bravado than he did against New Zealand, can overcome the assaults of the Aussie bowlers, there is just a chance that the last team to beat Australia in a World Cup final can repeat the dose in Bridgetown.

Article by Julian Armfield, BBC World Service Sport, reporting for Totally Barbados

Article Posted On:
April 27th, 2007

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