From rxpgnews.com
Sri Lanka gearing up for the grand finale
By IANS,
Apr 25, 2007 - 11:34:43 AM
Kingston -, April 25 - Former champions Sri Lanka are gearing up for the upcoming challenge at Saturday's World Cup final.
Winners of the 1996 tournament, Sri Lanka qualified for the final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados with a convincing 81-run victory over New Zealand in the first semi final at Sabina Park Tuesday.
The win was set up by a sparkling century by captain Mahela Jayawardene, whose unbeaten 115 off 109 balls helped Sri Lanka to score 289 for five off 50 overs.
'For us it - is another cricket match. We are sticking to our basics, concentrating on what we've been doing in the last six weeks and even before that, the last 12 months,' Jayawardene told reporters after the match Tuesday.
'We've built up for this final. This was a very big hurdle for us. Getting there was tough.
'We're there now. We've been preparing for that day for quite some time now. We'll be ready for that.'
Sri Lanka will meet either defending champions Australia or South Africa in the final. Australia and South Africa face each other in the second semi-final Wednesday at St Lucia's Beausejour Cricket Ground.
Jayawardene entertained spectators at Sabina Park with his glorious stroke play while marching to his ninth one-day international century.
He described the innings, which included ten fours and three sixes, as his best in the abbreviated version of the game.
'I rate this at the top. This is a World Cup semi-final. For me, it's all about contributing to the team,' he said.
'I don't care how it comes. As long as I can contribute and it's a win, I'm pretty happy with that.'
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