Jesse Ryder pulled off an outstanding one-handed catch at point to dismiss Upul Tharanga, as New Zealand defended their mediocre total of 217 with customary tenacity in the first semi-final in Colombo. However, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara responded with an unhurried stand of 70 in 18 overs, to manoeuvre their team into a formidable position of 116 for 1 at the halfway mark of the chase.
For the second match running at the Premadasa Stadium, there was a certain sense of inevitability to the proceedings - certainly so far as the packed and jubilant home crowd were concerned - and when Tharanga launched their run-chase by advancing down the track to club his third ball, from Nathan McCullum, straight down the ground for six, Sri Lanka were always ahead of the asking-rate.
Nevertheless, Tharanga's departure for 30 from 31 balls changed the tempo of the Sri Lankan innings, not least because the manner of his dismissal was sensational. Up until that point he had smoked four fours in addition to that six, as he continued his form where he had left off with his century against England, and he was sizing up his fifth four when he climbed into a wide one from Tim Southee and smacked a cut to Ryder's left at point.
Ryder is not the most nimble athlete at this tournament, but he saw the shot straight off the bat, flung himself horizontally to cling on his outstretched left hand, and celebrated with a fling of the arms reminiscent of Andrew Flintoff in his final Ashes series. A similar moment of fielding brilliance, from Jacob Oram, had ignited the charge against South Africa last week, and at 40 for 1, New Zealand dared to dream.
Dilshan and Sangakkara had other ideas, however. Though neither man was at his most fluent, the target was such that they did not need to rush. Sangakkara had an early let-off when he edged Oram at a catchable height through the vacant slip cordon, while Dilshan - who had been so combative against England - took 28 deliveries to score the second boundary of his innings, and his 50th of the World Cup to date.
But he went on to pass 400 runs for the tournament, en route to overtaking Jonathan Trott as the leading run-scorer, and New Zealand began to run out of ideas. Sangakkara began to nail his trademark cover-drive, with one fierce blow off Oram eluding the grasp of the fielder Martin Guptill, before Dilshan swiped the same bowler over midwicket for six, shortly after bringing up the 100 in the 24th over.
Scott Styris ground out a responsible 57 from 76 balls on a worn wicket at the Premadasa Stadium, to provide the bed-rock of New Zealand's total of 217 in the first semi-final against Sri Lanka in Colombo. But when he was extracted lbw by the final delivery that Muttiah Muralitharan will ever bowl on home soil, Sri Lanka closed in to claim 4 for 4 from the final 12 balls of the innings to put themselves within touching distance of Saturday's World Cup final in Mumbai.
New Zealand's performance was eerily similar that which England compiled against the same opponents, and on the very same strip of turf, in last week's quarter-final. Then as now, their performance centred around one big partnership in the middle of the innings, a 77-run stand between Styris and Ross Taylor, and though they fared better than England in taking 41 runs from the batting Powerplay, they were also undone by the depth and variety of Sri Lanka's attack, with Lasith Malinga's yorkers scalping three key wickets at critical moments.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, New Zealand set themselves to be positive from the outset, with Martin Guptill flicking Malinga's fifth delivery over midwicket before Brendon McCullum galloped down the track to loft Rangana Herath's second ball down the ground, a shot which he followed with a superbly timed sweep over square leg for six.
But in between the boundary shots, runs proved stiflingly hard to come by, and in the eighth over McCullum's patience ran out. He sized up another slog-sweep against Herath but chose the wrong line to attack. The ball held its line to fizz past his outside edge and clip off stump, and McCullum was on his way for 13 from 21 balls.
Jesse Ryder, the hero of New Zealand's stunning quarter-final victory over South Africa, once again looked in good order as he cracked Ajantha Mendis fiercely past point for his first boundary, before leaning into a fraction of width from Angelo Mathews to ease his second four through the covers.
But Muttiah Muralitharan, who looked barely a quarter fit when he dived over a flick from Guptill to let four easy runs slip through his fingers at short fine leg, responded with a ripper of a delivery straight after the drinks break. Lured into another cut, Ryder was already committed to the shot as the ball gripped and bounced, and Kumar Sangakkara held onto the top edge.
All the while, Guptill was bedding down and building for the big one. But the strength of Sri Lanka's bowling is in its variety, and when Malinga returned for his second spell in the 21st over, he instantly found his range. Ross Taylor dug out a fierce late swinger that zipped through third man for four, but two balls later, Guptill was not so lucky. A brutal late-swinging yorker detonated his middle stump, and New Zealand had slumped to 84 for 3.
Styris, however, responded with bravado, driving a Malinga half-volley through the covers before pinging the shot of the day back past the bowler in the same over. With good running between the wickets, he and Ross Taylor were able to keep the scoreboard from stagnating against the spinners, but it was Malinga's extra pace that really got Styris going, as he pulled a bouncer firmly in front of square, then three balls later, nailed another drive through the covers.
While Styris continued to set New Zealand's tempo, Taylor at the other end found the going much tougher, and on 36 from 55 balls, he leaned back to pull a long-hop from Mendis, only to pick out Upul Tharanga on the deep midwicket boundary. His dismissal brought to an end a hard-worked stand of 77, but with 10 overs remaining, Kane Williamson arrived with an aggressive intent that served his team well in the batting Powerplay.
Though he was extremely fortunate to survive a suicidal piece of running on 4, when his tap to mid-off resulted in a missed shy from Mahela Jayawardene, Williamson's determination to use his feet served him well against pace and spin alike. A swatted four over midwicket put another dent in Malinga's figures, before Muralitharan was picked off for consecutive boundaries in his eighth over. The first of those, through the covers, also featured the worrying sight of Angelo Mathews pulling up lame as he chased the ball to the rope, and he soon left the field for treatment.
Malinga exacted his revenge one over later when another zippy yorker trapped Williamson in front of middle-and-off, although with 22 from 16 balls, he had done his job well. Malinga then followed up with a slower ball to have Nathan McCullum caught behind on the slog - though not before McCullum had drilled Muralitharan over the covers for six.
A poked four through third man from Jacob Oram meant New Zealand managed a respectable 41 runs in the Powerplay, the most conceded by Sri Lanka in the tournament to date, and almost twice as many as England (23) had managed from a similar starting point on Saturday. But then came the collapse, and all that good work unravelled.
These two teams have been in this position plenty times before. New Zealand have reached the semi-finals in six of the ten World Cups to date, a prolific record from a habitually under-rated team, while Sri Lanka have made it this far for the third consecutive tournament, having been knocked out by the eventual winners Australia in 2003, before beating the Kiwis at the same stage four years ago, thanks to a brilliant hundred from Mahela Jayawardene at Sabina Park.
