Sri Lanka prepare for England

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP):

Sri Lanka could not have asked for a more favourable draw for the World Cup quarter-finals, playing at home against an inconsistent England line-up that just scraped into the knockout stage.

The Sri Lankans won the last World Cup that was staged in Asia - in 1996 - and reached the final in the last edition before losing to Australia.

And the Sri Lankans are determined to send Muttiah Muralitharan, the all-time leading bowler in Test and limited-overs cricket, into retirement with a second World Cup title.

Sri Lanka qualified comfortably, while England went through the most nerve-racking results in the tournament with shocking defeats against Ireland and Bangladesh.

Andrew Strauss' English squad held off the West Indies in a dramatic end to a must-win match last Thursday, then watched on TV in their New Delhi hotel as South Africa quashed the hopes of Bangladesh in the last Group B match, dragging England and India into the next stage with them.

A sensational high-scoring tie against India and victories over South Africa, Netherlands and the West Indies gave England seven points to make the knockout cut.

"It's been pretty incredible, tiring and a little bit frustrating that we haven't quite put it all together,'' batsman Ian Bell said.

Bumpy run

Despite its bumpy run in the World Cup, Strauss and England No. 3 batsman Jonathan Trott are in good form.

Trott (336) has scored four half centuries and is second behind Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara (363) on the chart of leading run-scorers in the tournament.

Strauss is not far behind with 329 runs, including 158 in the tied game against India.

While English's top order has handled the slow subcontinent wickets reasonably well, its fast bowlers - primarily Lancashire's James Anderson - have disappointed.

Anderson's poor form - a combined 4-282 in five matches - forced Strauss to drop the 28-year-old paceman from the last match against the West Indies.

While England have numerous problems, Sri Lanka stuttered only once in the group stage in a narrow, 11-run loss to group winners Pakistan.

Sangakkara along with his deputy Mahela Jayawardene and opening pair of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga are in great batting form and all have scored centuries.

There's a a slight worry over Muralitharan's fitness ahead of Saturday's match after the offspinner pulled a hamstring while batting in the last group match against New Zealand at Mumbai.