Mahela Jayawardene produced an innings of pure class, a rare gem, when it was most needed as Sri Lanka claimed their rightful place in the final of the 2007 World Cup, brushing aside New Zealand, who have reached the semifinals five times and never gone
Plays of the Day
He started out slowly and switched to all-out attack, and played not a graceless shot throughout
Match home for New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 1st semi-final, Jamaica, April 24, 2007
An analysis of Mahela Jayawardene's perfectly paced hundred, and Muralitharan nabs 50 World Cup wickets
Dileep Premachandran on Mahela Jayawardene's Sabina Park epic
Martin Crowe has questioned the current side's preparation after Stephen Fleming's team crashed out of the World Cup in Jamaica
Few will write off Sri Lanka's chances of emulating the heroes of a decade ago
Shane Bond, New Zealand's fast bowler, has announced his intention to target Sanath Jayasuriya, the hard-hitting Sri Lankan opening batsman, in their semi-final clash in Jamaica
Mahela Jayawardene has the opportunity to emulate Arjuna Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to a final and victory at Lahore in 1996
On four previous occasions New Zealand have reached the semi-finals but never once have they been able to go on
In the past six weeks, Stephen Fleming has reaffirmed his reputation as the thinking man's leader
| Super Eights | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| AUS | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 2.4 |
| SL | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 1.483 |
| NZ | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 0.253 |
| SA | 7 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 0.313 |
| ENG | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -0.394 |
| WI | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | -0.566 |
| BDESH | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | -1.514 |
| IRE | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | -1.73 |
| Group A | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| AUS | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3.433 |
| SA | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2.403 |
| NL | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2.527 |
| SCOT | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -3.793 |
| Group B | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| SL | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3.493 |
| BDESH | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -1.523 |
| INDIA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1.206 |
| BMUDA | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -4.345 |
| Group C | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| NZ | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2.138 |
| ENG | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.418 |
| KENYA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1.194 |
| CAN | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -1.389 |
| Group D | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| WI | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0.764 |
| IRE | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -0.092 |
| PAK | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.089 |
| ZIM | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -0.886 |
