Sangakkara urges players not to show off

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP):

SRI LANKA captain Kumar Sangakkara is urging his players not to get carried away in the moment and "show off'" in today's World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.

Sri Lanka thrashed England by 10 wickets on the same wicket that will be used for the semi-final at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

"The guys have done that pretty well and tomorrow is not going to be any different, you can't play too much to the crowds, or too much to show off,'' Sangakkara said yesterday. "There's no room for complacency - at all.''

Co-hosts Sri Lanka are favourites to qualify for the final and have a shot for a second World Cup title - having won the 1996 edition at Lahore, Pakistan. The only pre-match concern is over the fitness of injured spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, a survivor of the 1996 winning squad.

The top four Sri Lankan batsmen have so far shared the load of run-scoring, with opening pair Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan both scoring two centuries each.

Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara also racked up centuries in the group matches and have fully utilised their experience of playing on home pitches against all sorts of oppositions.

"It's a question of playing good solid cricket, concentrate on doing the best,'' Sangakkara said. "If we keep our heads and we perform as well as we can, we can turn it into a solid performance.''

The only blemish was spotted in the Sri Lankan ranks when they dropped three catches off Eoin Morgan in the quarter-final. But they didn't hurt Sangakkara's team much after Dilshan and Tharanga both scored centuries and chased down the target of 230 runs with ease.

"It is a new day,'' Sangakkara said of the semi-finals. "What's happened before is gone, we have done well enough to get here but tomorrow is the day that counts.''

Enough breaks

Sri Lanka had enough breaks in-between their group matches before playing their quarter-final and semi-final within four days in intense heat and humidity.

Sangakkara said the scheduling wasn't an issue.

"All the cricketers would like a big break especially from matches in the heat,'' Sangakkara said. "But that's not something that we can control.''

The relaid pitches at the R. Premadasa Stadium have virtually negated the importance of winning the toss as Sri Lanka twice had shown in the tournament.

They fell just 11 runs short of chasing 277 against Pakistan, before their comprehensive quarter-final win.

"These wickets have now evened up very well, I don't think it (toss) will make a huge difference,'' Sangakkara said.

Sangakkara was wary of New Zealand's long batting line-up with captain Daniel Vettori coming in as low as No. 9. Fielding is another area in which the Kiwis have excelled in the tournament - especially against South Africa in the quarter-final.

"They bat very deep,'' Sangakkara said. "They've got quality bowling and they are an excellent fielding side.

"They are not an opposition anyone will take lightly, for us it's the same, we are going to expect stiffest competition tomorrow and we are trying to be as clinical and as good as we can be in tomorrow's game.''