" a repeat of that act appears just around the corner" Have you taken England for granted? Worst article to be published on cricinfo

"They named it the Sri Lankan brand of cricket; it is a blend of aggression of the Australians, efficiency of the South Africans, raw talent of the Pakistanis, passion of the Bangladeshis mixed with a Caribbean flair."

these lines are slick!!!

Nice article but this "Sri Lankan" brand of cricket can't have the passion of the Bangladeshis because the Bangladeshis were not very passionate about the game in 1996. They hadn't even played in a World Cup yet.

Get a life! come out of this colonial mindset.

Nice article Mr.Jayasundara. The history bit was interesting to read. As for England Vs Sri Lanka, this England side wont be beaten as easily as they were in 1996. As I write this, England have set SL a target of 230 to win. Somehow, it appears that SL batsmen are a bit undercooked, except Sangakkara. In fact, none of the other SL batsmen feature in the top 10 run-getters in the world cup. Sri Lanka have not chased a competitive score against a quality opposition in this world cup, and suddenly they are up against a gritty and buoyant England in a knock-out match. Sri Lanka will have to play as a team if they are to win this match. They cant depend on Kumara and Mahela alone to chase the target. Moreover, England always tend to find a way out of nowhere, when they are defending moderate to low scores. The match looks like a thriller.

Wow, what are they doing in the picture? Is that a fight?

Well, as of now, with Dilshan and Tharanga getting fifties and looking solid, it looks to be an even greater victory than that in 1996. Looks like SL have made it to the final: beating NZ will be an easy task.

Guru, Uwais and my other Indian friends here:: hahahaha, whose laughing now? Openers taking it all the way. A nice exhibition of the bowling prowess of SL. NZ, here we come!

Its not gonna be easy. First New Zealand are playing well enough to be able to beat them. Even if they win they will face tougher opponents i.e. India or Pakistan. The Indian batting lineup can tear up their bowling.

cummon guys.... he was really right... srilanka has really outclassed england today especially in batting.... thats is even more than the repeat of 1996....

Now in 33rd over in Sri lanka batting,
what you say now, my friend Guruprasad ?

Hmm...flair, passion and aggression - all the references to Australia, Bangla and WI? let me tell you the real history. The SriLankan cricket developed because their national team used to play 'serious' matches against Chennai's elite club teams. I've watched many of those games. Their 'worldcup' used to be the match against Tamil Nadu's Ranji trophy team.

Still in denial? Just check with Bandula Warnapura, Duleep Mendis and Roy Dias. They'll tell you how they hoaned their skills playing in Tamil Nadu. This country has become arrogant in every possible way. It gets most of its help and yet its writers behave as if India didn't contribute in any way to their progress.

History repeats, Now it's England who will be gluing to TV as they are about to go home and enjoy cricket from the sidelines. Love SLK, English players, media and commentators got nothing else but big mouth. Wait another 4 years to win the cup. Keep your hope alive and check your tough. Humilation completed.

You can all eat humble pie! Its Sri Lanka giving the bashing of the tournament to the "United Nations of England"! Go Lankan Lions go, repeat 1996! Love from all of us in Bangladesh. :-D

wow, what an article. First time I am reading a cricket article with an interest. You have blend cricket with history and they way you are putting it is really nice.Well done and hope to see more of your work here in future.

The article reflects very little of SL cricket today. They have flair & beat the best. And, England... Please check the scoreline.

eat your words Uwais, haahhaha

They named it the Sri Lankan brand of cricket; it is a blend of aggression of the Australians, efficiency of the South Africans, raw talent of the Pakistanis, passion of the Bangladeshis (now) mixed with a Caribbean flair. - Don't they have an identity of themselves?

The act is repeated :) Its better then the previous one!

Even though England is out, they have shown true spirit of Cricket compared to Srilanka whose bowler gave 4 wides to deny Shewag a century but England bowlers did not do that. Hats off to England and a moral lesson for Srilanka.

Hindsight.. Such a pain :-)

Hope NZ beats lanka in Semis. They are the worst team in spirit of cricket and still keeps getting award for the spirit of the game. That no ball when sehwag was on on 99 just to deny him a 100 or Sangakara crying like a little girl every time his unreasonable appeal is turned down are just few examples.

well to all those commenters who said England won't be beaten easily...Sri Lanka has thoroughly whipped England

Yes Mr.Jayasundara, Sri Lankan team has proven every word of your article...

I was amused to see Tharanga getting upset when Dilshan scored a boundary and Tharanga still 2 runs short of his own century. It was n't too long ago that the Sri Lankans, as a collective unit, deliberately bowled a bo ball to strand Sehwag on 99, and give victory to India. Given how un-sportsmanlike gesture that was, would n't it be poetic justice if Tharanga had been denied a century had England bowled a deliberate wide running away to the boundary? But, England was a much nicer unit, and no such thing was done. Hats off to England.

Srilankan team does it again and more comprehensively this time.. Team losing to Bangladesh and Ireland doesnot deserve to be in the WORLD CUP Semis.. so chill on

Guruprasad S

Now where will you go and hide, know the facts before talking. SL will play the finals and if India comes to the finals, they will beat India

sri lanka is at best average team in tournament such as WC. you said it right, they have no spirit of cricket

"guruprasad S" what's up dude..... now what happend.... SL didn't depend on sanga & mahela it's a repeat of 1996 SL vs Eng match....

Passion of Bangladesh???? Raw talent of Pakistan??? Didnt care to mention a word abt India, which has everything u mentioned in tat para.... Is tat bcz of ur ego??? Ne grudge against India??? Should be neutral when u write articles....

wait Indian we paly final in india :D

It is rather bizarre that a few users are bringing up an incident that was effected by a bowler who is not even in the Sri Lankan squad. If you notice the body language of the players, they rarely ever verbally abuse the batsman and Malinga in particular is a breath of fresh air with that beaming smile of his flashing more often than not. This notion that the Lankans are bad sportsmen is simply unfounded and regarding Sangakkara's penchant for appealing - quite simply, he's the wicket keeper and captain; naturally, he would be excitable. I think England played well to reach their total but the Sri Lankan opener's put up an accomplished performance.

To CrappyCricketer - Of course Sri Lanka are grateful for India for their cricket development. When England were against the idea to give Sri Lanka its test status, India fought for us. However, branding Sri Lanka as arrogant based on the musings of one Sri Lankan writer is very far-sighted.

pls dont cries Indian !!!!!!!!!!!!

Great article...

@Uwais - scoreboard.

yes it was a really embarrassing moment in SL cricket. Randiv duly apologized and he was even penalized by SLC. Srilanka has yet to marr their name in a serious unsportsmanship in cricket be it match fixing, ball tampering, rasicm or cheating.

I wonder why ever body cannot remember when jayasuriya was in 189 in sharjah it was ganguly who bowled a wide to stop him from passing saeed anwars 194 by scoring a six.wonder what indians have to say for that. but answer would be simple thats sportsmanship.....even in this same world cup how many times did it happen.U people are taliking all about spirit of cricket and we know hw u all act whn it comes to losses u ppl cannot bear it..........

Dear Indians ... stop worrying about the Lankans. its time to collect the bottles and go watch the Ind-Pak . we all know how Indians reacted in 97 world cup when they got a good spanking in you own back yard . if Im not mistaken Murali got injured when Lankans were showered by bottles thrown by Indians ... Spirit of the game huh !!!

No mention of India in this article....Well this SL team is over reliant on the openers + Jayawardene / Sangakkara.... Middle order has not had a decent bat..... they lost to pakinstan chasing 270 odd.... game against aus was washed out.... The SA is out but it woudl have been nice to see how they have have beaten SA in semis..... i dont think they have a chance here.... maximum they will reach the final beating NZ which is no big deal since even Bangladesh could beat them!!!

hahaa...uwais, do you want to retract that statement, this wasnt a repeat of 1996, this was an even bigger hiding dished out to the english

indians whining as always, simply cannot appreciate a good performance by another team.Think no end of themselves, they couldnt beat this very same English team.
Take a breath all you indians and give credit where its due.
Fantastic performance by Sri Lankans and really proves every word of this article correct

@ Uwais: I think you have received the answer from the Sri Lankan team.

India Vs NewZealand
Final

There should be one team outside the subcontinent to ensure that history dont mention the conditions as all.

now it's very clear that sl will play in the final. Nz didn't win the last match sa gifted it. Pak will defeat big mouth, arrogant india.
So let's meet @ wenkade stadium.

These comments are both frustrating, anger inducing and funny...all at the same time.

Firstly, a big well done to Sri Lanka.

No surprise that as a Pakistani, I would want my team to win the WC. After that, I would be happiest with SL.

The continued and blind arrogance of many Indian supporters is staggering. Do they not know any cricket history and the fact that for the last 2-3 decades they have been a 3rd class team? Have they also been blind during this WC?

India's bowling is the weakest of all of the nations and their batting is massively over-rated. if it wasn't for Yuvraj Singh, they would have lost 3-4 matches in this WC and certainly wouldn't have beaten Aus.

I sincerely hope that Pak puts them back in their box, and if not, I'm sure that SL will.

Good luck Sri Lanka and you would be worthy winners.

@ Uwais: i guess after today's game, this becomes the best article circinfo published! beat that..lmao

Hey,,guys ,,we did it,, with a massive opening partnership,,, this time world cup is ours,,,sri lankans.

Guruprasads hope u got the answer from todays match now there are 3 Sri Lanka batsmen on first 5 of the most run getter. Sri Lanka doesn't have a mixture of any of mentioned above, SL have their own unique brand of Cricket.
Well now it's the time to criticize the Sri lanka team and try to demoralize as everyone knows that Sri Lanka definitely gonna make it to the finals.

Hmm..
Sri Lanka did well. it's a clear victory as a British it's a shame for us however Sri Lanka won with style

what do you say now Mr.Guruprasad S.You might be an indian by the look of it.You need to check your team before commenting on ours.India has the worst bowling lineup in the competion.I hope Pakistan will win against India coz whenever pakistan and India play all srilankans support pakistan.......best of luck pakistan

SL is a good team but i didn't expect England to give up that much easily.Poor cricket from england.Its India Vs SL now in Mumbai , where India will whip SL.And article has a bit overrated SL , as they have always been beaten by India in recent times

Newkid,Newkid and intcamd1, who are probably indians. You got more things to worry about, than sehwags 99. India will be facing Pakistan, and hopefully beat them. Well at least our players dont play for themselfs, like Yuvrajs, Harbhajans and Shreeshants.

hey CrappyCricketer. you really think SL cricket performing with the help of tamil nadu cricket and ranji trophy???? let me tell you some history...sri lanka plays the longest traditional match next to ashes in the world thats 2 leading schools in colombo which plays for more than 100 years....SL schools cricket is in very high standard....they can beat even a good quality club side!!! thats the truth...and the SL team is made of best performers from thier respsted schools....mural, sanga, mahela, mathews just to name a few!!!!!!!

India.....Your going to be out of the world cup.

@intcamd1: you seem to be dreaming, or might be looking at the Sri Lankan team wearing pair of anti Sri Lankan spectacles. I did not notice any frustration in Tharanga at that time. These 2 players have been playing together for long time and know each other very well. Also your wrong spectacle might have not seen the deliberate wide short ball bowled by Swann to Dilshan after the very boundary ball, when Sri Lanka needing 3 runs to win and Tharanaga 2 runs short of century. Dilshan defended the ball (Swann was smiling at that) allowing Tharanga to score the century in next over. You might be having your own explanations for everything, on this democratic world where any body can day dream, but do not generalize them.

GuruPrasad, you got the answer.

Watch Out India !!! Here We Come !!! (Indian fans've become a very worried unit all for the correct reasons !!!)

Those pathetic commentators must be eating their words right now

Struss spoken looks like Eng doesn't believe in their strengths and they depend on thier luck across entire series. Just imaging what kind of article we supposed to read incase of SL lost in today's match.

England is an ordinary 50-overs side (especially in Asia) despite the close matches they have played in this World Cup.The Lankan openers did a fantastic job today but India (if they beat Pakistan and I'm expecting SL to beat NZ) will be a different challenge.So,If Sri Lanka think a repeat of 1996 is assured, they cannot be more mistaken. As far as the spirit of cricket is concerned though, I feel that England show great sportmanship in accepting defeat with a smile whereas SL not too long ago deliberately denied Sehwag a well-deserved century by bowling a no-ball and exploiting a flaw in the rules of ICC.I am happy that the Australians are out of the Cup, and I hope SL also lose against NZ or atleast in the final.

For all the indians who talk about sportmenship...you lot throwed stones and bottles in semi finals in 1996 against sri lanka. before preaching clean your back yards!!!

Well, bowling the no ball when Shewag was on 99 was no good thing at all... but, as i remember i think Sri Lankan team did face a similar situation about a year before, by rhe same indian team... shud chekck on it.... i think it was against Sanath.... but yet, im not saying revenge is a good thing.... but it is normal human nature... So i think india shudnt have done that in the first place.... SL team wouldnt have been driven to have done it... Atleast they appologized for it, and as i remember the indians didnt... Its all human nature... Hats off to England though.... they played with good spirit...
What matters is Sri Lanka put on a good show today.. And mind you it wont be easy as today seemed to be, in the semi s and finals, if they get scelected...

"aggression of the Australians, efficiency of the South Africans, raw talent of the Pakistanis, passion of the Bangladeshis (now) mixed with a Caribbean flair"
Not completely true. "passion of Bangla.."? nothing from English, Indian?

yes We, Sri Lankan can repeat the history... Go go Lions go... you can win the cup...

It seems like lot of Indian writers are not too happy with SL cricket, guess it's ok. We Sri Lankans love our cricket and we enjoy it at our stadia. We sing, dance, and get drunk, but thats our brand. We should behave like Aussies at times, that is still within the spirit of cricket, sledging, banter is still ok. I think all test playing nations have helped us, I also agree, India has helped us probably more than any country.

Yes. SL is good team But it has not been tested yet in the world cup.Time only tells - when this happens..? and will sl come out.?

Of course you can say what ever you wish but as Stauss said the better side won the game.I can understand why you talk about the spirit of the game all of a sudden, because you guys can't talk about cricket any more, can you? I would like to remind what Colingwood did 3 years ago. Ever since he failed miserably.So please don't about the spirit of the game.

Funny to see some indian commenting about the sprit of the game …now…LOL
Looks like they have forgoten how Shewag denied the century for Amla by kicking the ball to the boundry ( and in the process he got punished from the match referee too..) …

And yes, Sri Lanka has done it once again in style..hats off to the Englishmen for being gentlemen in the sport..
Bravo to the Sri Lankan team..we are proud of you and right behind you till the end..We can and will do it this time!!!

England as a country are very hospitable, and that attitude unfortunately tends to extend to their cricket as well, as they are too nice to the opposition teams (except for Matt Prior's constant chirping behind the stumps).They need to show some aggression while not going to the unsportsmanly extent like Australia or Sri Lanka.

For all those speaking about randivs no ball, go throw the history. Shewag once did the same, he deserved it. And Mr guruprasad, yes Sri Lanka did beat England comfortably. Yes it was a easy target. Yes they did not depend on sanga or mahela and there 3 Sri lankans in top 10 run gettars

I believe Sri lanka answered all the critics with a comprehensive 10 wicket win :) GO LIONS!!!! RAAAAWR!

People always see the one bad thing in something that has many good things... eg- the referral system... it has 1 or twolittle flaws, but it is the best thng when it comes to lbw s and stuff... doni and the indian crict bord had to talk against it because they couldnt get a referral their way...
Also for the one who spoke about the spirit of cricket... look at the crowd... SL fans never walk out of the stadium until the match is over, never throw rocks at players houses or burn their posters or do any inhumanly third class things like that... they always stay with the team till the end... The players dont use filth and adress opposition may they be batting or fielding... Like i said, people always wait till a good person does one thing wrong, to blaggard them.... Pointless even explaining to you man...

Congrat! Sri Lanka will be the world champ's On saturday 2nd of April. Good luck

A good win, a win that would boost the lions to repeat 96.
Wish that Murali is Fit enough to play next game.

well well.....what do u say guys did our lions give a good answer to your comments this time???now what you say fellas??was Mr.Jayasundara really dreaming???its 232-0 wow please write another article for the semies Mr.Jayasundara

welldone Sri Lanka
we are proud of you
bring the cup to us

It seems Mr. Jayasundara has irritated lot of Indians. Perhaps the topic itself ("A repeat of 1996?") might be irritating them. They never want to lose from Sri Lanka like they what they did in 1996, and obviously want to behave better in the ground if such thing happened.

@baloch45 - What do you mean? Bangladesh and Ireland won those hard fought victories. It is not like England forfeited those matches. Please do give credit where it is due. England were just totally off colour today, the batting was lazy and tentative and lucky to have ended up with 229. The bowling just expected the wickets to fall into their laps, and it seems like Strauss did not have a plan and was content to just let his bowlers go through the motions.

Kudos to the Lankans today, but please don't take anything away from Bangladesh or Ireland, they really put the 'World' in the World Cup. It looks like the final is going to be an all-Asian affair, though.

@Big Wonder, Newkid: Sour grapes my friends?? Over some no-ball that noone remembers other than you Indians you discredit the SL performance. So Indians are the gentlemen of the game. Remember no other nation burn their own cricketers homes or their own stadiums after each defeat :) How about Sehwag bad mouthing BD ahead od a series infront of press. How about Harbhajan and Sydney, and him and Sreesanth and the slapping? I don't mean to take credit away from the true greats of the game who represent India. But learn to see the cobble in your eye before spotting the speck in the others!

we hats off to england..............Gentlman CriCkET..

my salute .......... for england captain and his team....

Awesome article Nishad. The way you've brought up the reminiscences and the analysis is splendid. At the end, every word of the content was proven by the Lions and it indeed seems to be a re-enactment of the sweet history back in '96. And as for the pathetic individuals trying to defame the spirit of Sri Lankan cricket, I doubt that they lack courage to forget the past and step to the future, and apparently, they're already "feared" what marvel the Lions would produce against their "national heroes".

Good work indeed! Keep writing.

Well done SL. You did it.
ya, lions roar once again!!!!!!!!

They named it the Sri Lankan brand of cricket; it is a blend of aggression of the Australians, efficiency of the South Africans, raw talent of the Pakistanis, passion of the Bangladeshis mixed with a Caribbean flair."

but Without the affluency of Indians !!! they still & will always rely on BCCI to get money ..

Well all those praising England for sportsman ship. as a lankan i remembered that England deliberately bowling wide to stop Sri Lanka winning Murali's match

Someone on one these blogs once predicted that group B was the toughest group and thus semis will be mostly played between the teams that were in group B. How wrong can the self proclaimed gurus be. Three out of four semi teams are from group A.

Most like the most hyped group b team to have made it thus far will be eliminated on Wednesday.

Group A --- a more tougher group.

It was nice to see, we won, At the same time I have seen qulity of English men what they were done in groud. it's gentlmen game. we all respect to qulity which we can't see from many of them today.

Indians can't bare such an empathic win over Eng. They know.. their real challenge, is SL... Guys.. rather than thinking about finals.. think abt semis.. Pakistan will thrash you (part time) bowling attack and spiritless batting lineup.

We are sorry about Shewag 99 incident. We, Sri Lankans, never used to such kind to things... sorry about that!!!

However... Indians.. do you remember 1996 Semis, India vs SL (You won't forget that :D).. Do you remember how you guys throw bottles at our players? Do you remember how Indian fans stopped the match?
Also when your team get defeated in Cricket matches.. Indian fans go and burn players' houses :D.. Did you ever see that in Sri Lanka... ??
We were cheering Indian team in 3rd QtFinal with Aussies.. But think about what you did in SL vs Eng match ?

Learn how to enjoy cricket from Sri Lankans.. regardless of win or lose. (Why you guys, always want to fight with relations?.. Pakistan . and now SL... )

INTCAMD1 - Get over it already. U ppl just keep whining about the past whenever srilanka win emphatically and u cant find anything else to find fault with. I have seen sehwag knock a ball to the boundary with his feet just so that an inform batsman wud not be on strike for the next over. So plz. Spare us the high horse routine. Nice article Mr. Jayasundara. One can dream. Everyone was writing off Srilanka but we keep fighting. May the best team win.

The SriLankans played a played a great game. they are probably the most behaved and decent team currently in the circuit. No scandals . No uncontrolled egoes. They enjoy cricket and treat others with respect. No sledging. No mudslinging. They have done very well in the last few world cups. My Hats off to them. They deserve to be in the Final.

I don't want to be critical about the England Cricket team they deserve the chance that they got today and at the same time Sri Lanka were much better prepared, and finally about the passion of Bangladesh sorry boss I'm not with you for that we don't stone our team or that matter the visiting team we're very hospitable

I feel Englishmen were too nice to SLs. They did not put pressure on Tharanga to deny his 100. I love his scoring a hundred to stand a twin century unbroken partnership; but they should have attempted like many other teams to break them apart, SLs too have done so. Even Sanga has denied 5 wickets for Dilshan and Murali. Englishmen's sportsmanship was great... Kenyans also played that way...

Well Uwais. Time to eat your words. 'granted' is too good a word to be used. My school cricket team could have performed better. Well done SRI LANKA!!!!!!!

Going a bit further, again we have india v pakistan in a knock out situation. exactly as in 1996. If sri lanka defeat NZ in semi final and India beats Pakistan we will have India V Sri Lanka final in Mumbai. Will history repeat itself ? In any case, one of the three Asian teams is expected to pick up the Cup for the second time (since India, Pak and SL have won once each) unless NZ upsets the Asian plans.

well well finally it was even worst to Englishmen this time..96 was way better when compared to this.so SL will be in final easily.cz they have nothing to do with NZ..they look like kids in front of SL specially on their soil.so SL will be in finals..question is who will be the other ??for me itz PAK.nevertheless SL has to improve their fielding..They need a good Eye Specialist to check and treat those ppl who put down those dollies.they have to keep improving.but no doubt,SL are the hottest fav to win the trophy..

THE BETTER TEAM TO RAISE THE CUP.....
TODAY,SL REVEALED THEY ARE ON THE TOP OF THE RACE.....

I agree about no-ball but the player was ban for one match by sri lanka team. But officially is done nothing wrong .Therefore sri lankan cricket is good but there are few like in every country who are dumb.

Indian's watch out Sri Lanka is going to make you cry once more...

hats off to england? don't think they care much about 'sportsmanship' when they have just got battered by 10 wickets. Sri lanka are laughing all the way to semi's with their moral lessons

Poor indians now just stopped talking and find some chairs to burn like u did in 1996 in Eden Garden..!

i have seen some feared comments in here such guys like guruprasad who are feared being there india has to play final with SL..now hu hu huuuuuaaaaaaaahh at them..good article..i think itz carribian fan flavor with papare..

10 wickets win for SL.....!!!! Go fly a kite Ian Bell............!!!

Dear Newkid, Better wait till next world cup to see NZ beat Srilanka

Guruprasad S stated that only Kumar is among the top ten scorers, but after the end of the match, 3 out of 10 are from Sri Lanka.

@Uwais - care to eat those words machang?

IT was better than in 1996:O:D...Well played Sri Lanka!!

Your Last Paragraph Says It All

on a tricky Premadasa track against the quality of Murali and Malinga? Would they be mystified by Mendis? A couple of solid performances from the top order, accurate bowling from Malinga and some late over fireworks from Mathews should be enough to take Sri Lanka through. We all know Sri Lanka can do it.

If it has the efficiency of South Africa, its good for India as they'll just choke!

Guruprasad & Uwais...England win the battle of the singles run hands down - 118 to 76. Massive win for England...lol

"Since independence, if there is anything Sri Lanka has made a significant progress in, it is cricket."

If this is true, it's a sad testament to the country's development.

Will be either Indian Cyclone/Pakistan Tornado in Mumbai..Beware of it..Srilanka doesnt deserve this cup...

@Big Wonder, Newkid & intcamd1, Yeah mates & they didn't kick the ball out of the boundary line like Shewag did against SA as well. HATS OF TO ENGLAND FOR THAT GESTURE TOO.
And now bring that no ball incident to fore as nothing to say after our bashing of England. Most of he Indians last night in a TV show on cricket were very busy to predict a SL lose to England. Now to cover up their embarrassment coming up with old no ball story.
Pathetic guyz !!!!!!!!! Please grow up & move on don't live with the history.
And Indians are very much afraid of SL to meet in da finals. Reason is very simple. Since 2000 so far SL & Ind played in 09 finals in multilateral tournaments which SL won 07 of them, only 2 for Ind.
Therefor they are praying SL to loose before meeting India in the WC. Now please predict NZL would beat SL in the semis.
Their minds & brains (if they have any) say it's SL but inside of their hearts pray not SL. so predicting a SL lose going against their own minds & brains.

Excellent. Even though I'm Pakistani my all-time favourite cricketers are Muralitharan & Dravid, two people with gentlemanly demeanour albeit fighting field traits.

I know that those who have commented against Srilankan victory are surely Arrogant Indian supporters...But who cares..!!!! We keep winning...well played Guys..U really outclassed Queen's Boys...:))

People who are having go at the no ball incident convieniently forget that disciplinary action was taken against the bowler and was given a 1 match ban by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board.
@ intcamd1- It was Dilshan who was upset when he played that shot as he knew he had reduced the runs for his partner. The cameras never switched to Tharangas face at that time so how were you able to see that he was upset?Poetic justice wasn't served is it brother?

If what CrappyCricketer said is true abt SriLankans playing against Tamil Nadu Ranji Teams then he may be correct in saying the author being arrogant about not recognizing Indias contribution . Or it could also mean that India and its Cricketers do not have any special attributes that is worth emulating :) ...quite dissapointing when you consider India has produced some great batsmen from Ranji to Tendulkar and a whole load of world class spinners even in times when it was not considered as wicket taking strategy like fast bowling .....

Hats off to the England team that let Tharanga to reach his century! I'm a Sri Lankan who would like to apologize to the cricketing world for the Shewag incident, and hope Sri Lanka will not repeat that sort of behavior in any sporting event in the future!

Well played Sri Lanka.Both Dilshan and Thranga played excelent innings against England. They proved how SL power is.

Now no worries. SL will meet Pakistan in final

indians always talking too much..they are ofcouse beatable... Pakistan should beat them badly,SL will definitly will beat Newzeland and meet pakistan in final, doesnt matter who wins,pakistan should win the semis.

I have to say that I am surprised by Sri Lanka's strong response, and even more by England's complete inability to make anything happen. Full credit to Sri Lankan players for the comprehensive win. I was hoping for a lot of fight from England, because they have fought well all through the tournament (except for this match). Nevertheless, England provided a lot of excitement to this World Cup. They are mentally and physically tired, and ran out of steam against a strong SL team playing in home conditions.
Sri Lanka will face their WC 2007 semi-finalists now. Looking forward to two very good semi-final matches.

all's well that ends well. I see people trying to mince words here, unable to eat humble pie when they have been out done buy a superior class of cricketers and a Brand of it's own, as for the sportsmen ship and all is fine and true and yes Sri Lanka may have denied the 100 for Sewag its done and finished and Sewag has moved on and scored many more centuries.
Common don't dwell in the past move on enjoy

Guruprasad wake up from dream...

it seem bit of exaggeration when u say SL have a raw talent like Pakistan ... SL have talent and they method of maturing them but still it doesn't match the talent of Pakistan. I personally believe only SA have that class of talent. Unfortunately Pakistan don't utilize that talent as well other sides does.

Leave it to a bunch of sour Indians to whine about something that was *allegedly* done to Sehwag 7 months ago by a bowler who isn't even playing in the team. You're all just worried about what the quarter-finals so far seem to be indicating - that the Group A sides as a unit were far superior to the "battle-tested" Group B teams in this WC. England and WI, having closely fought games against India and South Africa, were demolished handily by the two best bowling sides in the Tournament, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

India hangs their hat so much on batting but at the end of the day this Indian team is far from the lineup that they boasted in the early 2000s. Tendulkar is still a class act, but he and Sehwag are aging. Only Yuvraj is still in his prime, the youngsters are capable but far from unbeatable, and this unit doesn't have the bowlers to dismiss a schoolboy side on a green wicket with blindfolds on, much less a world class Pakistan side. India are in for an ignominous end to their WC

"The Sri Lankan brand of cricket; it is a blend of aggression of the Australians, efficiency of the South Africans, raw talent of the Pakistanis, passion of the Bangladeshis mixed with a Caribbean flair."
You think Indian Team doesnt have anything like aggression, efficiency, passion and, talent... I
you forgot the "emotions for Cricket like Indians.."

What perfection in the art of cricket; well dome Sri Lanka, the world of cricket is proud of you.

Ok, my previous comment was probably too hard hitting and so you didn't publish it. First, congrats to Sri Lanka on the victory; well deserved.

Let me ask my unpublished question in a slightly less harsh manner. What is it in the Sri Lankan mindset that makes you look at Indians as adversaries and not as neighbors. I've seen plenty of my Indian colleagues that appreciate Lankan cricketers yet all Sri Lankans seem to do is hurl cocky remarks (here, on youtube, on wikipedia for god's sake).

I also have a problem with the author's article. Giving Pakistan, Australia and even Bangladesh credit but not your nearest neighbor India? Come on, how many times have India and Sri Lanka played since the early 90's? So India had NO positive impact on Sri Lankan cricket? Why are you in denial? Get real, sir.

Nice article.No doubt Srilanka are the hot favourites to beat NZ and qualify for the final.

As I read most of these comments, it seems that some here are very clouded by the fact England were rightly beaten by a superior team in every regard, the mark of a true fan of the game would pay due credit to the deserving, but it seems such habits are long lost. To the gentleman who disapproves the 'Sri Lankan brand of cricket' as mentioned by the author by referring to assistance given by the Indian board clearly fails to see there is a difference between the style/influence that a team as a whole inherits over time and the fact that they did improve against certain club teams in the past. None which are however a direct result of the other.

It's very interesting tho to see people talk on Sri lanka's spirit of the game, because I can assure you those who did were simply England supporters getting a bit of frustration out to the fact that once again England failed at the biggest stage in world cricket.

It is beyond sad for any Indian cricket fan to bemoan the sportsmanship of Sri Lanka's cricket team. India's cricketers may or may not be a decent bunch, but their fans are the most classless in the world - nobody from a country that produced a scene as ugly as the Indian fans setting fires and throwing bottles at Eden Gardens in 1996 should have the nerve to call anybody's sportsmanship into question - least of all a team that has frequently won ICC sportsmanship awards voted for by players and administrators - not ignorant and baselessly arrogant fans like those in India.

Agree, a team that loses to Banga and Ireland deserve to go home. Go New Zealand. It is going to be hard for you to compete with 3 local teams enjoying local conditions but we know if you click you can beat anyone!

would rather prefer watching a zimbabwe ireland match nywhrre than watching any match involving srilanka in srilanka coz the play the most boring style of cricket , ya thats their brand , their cricket piches define their style of cricket , their unnecessary appeals define style of cricket . actually the srilankan cricket is blend of all these things , nd guys when will u start scoring centuries outside ur country ?

Do we really have to take away the Sri Lankan glory by trying to shine the 'English sportmanship'? The fact is they lost!! period! Go home.

LOL some of these Indian kids are too nervous about their SF match against Pakistan. SL has just walloped a team that was competitive against all the other teams they have played in the tournament.. so please stop whining!

We shouldn't take Kiwis lightly BTW. Seriously the fielding has to be improved.

Congratulations to srilanka team.....Hats off to England...for playing the game with the spirit....even though they lost the game.....england set up an example for srilanka...how to respect the winning team...Hope srilanka will learn how to play a game with the spirit & won't apply those cheap tactics by denying a century to opposition team player....We don't want to hate srilanka....but its their cheap acts takes the credit away from them of a good team

see you in the finals my Indian friends!
Hope you'll leave your crying at home and enjoy the days play! ...and watch and learn from the Sri Lankans the Sri Lankan way!
In the heat of action, we all make mistakes, bad judgements, we take it on the chin, We move on. Remember the WC final 2007? Aus won, SL Lost ....felt like champs though! We don't bowl 'bo balls', we have bowled 'no balls'. Who hasn't? who'll not?

Well written article. It's pathetic to see how scared some Indian fans are to face SL in finals. The Sri Lankan outfit don't have players like Harbajan or Sreesanth who tries to bite the opposition batsman every time they hit a 4 or 6 against you. They either don't have batsman like Shevag who badly undermines other teams in all press conferences. People should learn to be more appreciative of players of other nations for their class.. We all love Sachin because he s a class act and we hate so and so Indian players for their arrogance. You gotta admit that this SL outfit is a much easy going group of players who understands that CRICKET is just a game... We ll always love our players...and will be with them all the way. If they don't get the cup, we ll still love them (Unlike some who ll burn down their house and the stadium).

Well written article. It's pathetic to see how scared some Indian fans are to face SL in finals. The Sri Lankan outfit don't have players like Harbajan or Sreesanth who tries to bite the opposition batsman every time they hit a 4 or 6 against you. They either don't have batsman like Shevag who badly undermines other teams in all press conferences. People should learn to be more appreciative of players of other nations for their class.. We all love Sachin because he s a class act and we hate so and so Indian players for their arrogance. You gotta admit that this SL outfit is a much easy going group of players who understands that CRICKET is just a game... We ll always love our players...and will be with them all the way. If they don't get the cup, we ll still love them (Unlike some who ll burn down their house and the stadium).

Good article Mr J. Did you attend one of the so called elite schools of Sri Lanka? Is'nt it nice to see more of the boys from village schools and the "wide-eyed Murali's and Malinga's watching" from your proverbial fence representing a successful Sri Lankan team? I still maintain it is a nice article apart from one inaccuracy. To quote you, you write "It might be the fact that Sri Lanka, barring New Zealand, haven’t yet beaten a significant opponent this tournament". In fact New Zealand beat Pakistan in the Group stages, a semi finalist and the only team so far to beat Sri Lanka also in the Group stages.One final point, rather than describe SL cricket as a blend of cricket from many different countries, a more appropriate description would be that Sri Lanka has its own unique brand of cricket which many countries would like to emulate. I repeat, a good article Mr J.

96 was gentler than this massacre

I am a Sri Lankan fan who is hoping to see the Final in Mumbai but after seeing these comments I am really worried. Is it safe a Sri Lankan fan to wave the flag at Mumbai. I know there are a lot of decent people in India but these idiots fans are giving the country a bad name. Will they hurt SL fans before throwing stones at Shewags house after the Final/Semifinal.

I will just be repeating wat many ppl have already mentioned.. Seriously, Sri Lankan brand of cricket.. a mix of australia, pakistan, SA and Bangladesh?? If it is a mix of all these teams, it will just result in what happened to all of these teams (pakistan to face it soon)..
And the ethics tht the Sri Lankan team possess - dunno where they get them from, maybe that's their own.. Cheap cricket by purposely bowling a no ball to deny Sehwag a century.. If thats the brand of cricket u r talking about, it will become a cheapsters game and not a gentleman's game very soon...

Why the vitriol by some Indian fans against Sri Lanka when the cricketers themselves seem to get on so well? Do we sense some apprehension here for the 2011 semi vs the unpredictable Pakistanis? Remember the 1996 semi in Kolkota and the disgraceful behaviour! No repeat of that please.

Beating England is fine, but New Zealand is a better knit side, and beating them again is going to difficult. A repeat of the group stage match will not happen. Going in Sri Lanka will be hurting and still nervous, and looking too far ahead.

So, calm down Sri Lanka and focus. The Kiwis will attack the spinners.

@terry
mr.terry just wait and see the srilankans "identity of themselves" it won be like blends, it'll be more powerfull, like going inside to the lion's cave and huntting...........

Sportsmen and fans alike need to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. There are far too many people posting here who are neither. Give credit to Sri Lanka for a strong (though hardly flawless) performance; England put up a good fight for as many hardships as they have faced, and they are a team that any opposition must be wary of now.

Yes can repeat the 1996 great victory. But please be cool & play your natural Cricket.
Our only wish is to bring the world cup to our beautiful island.

Well Uwais. Time to eat your words. 'granted' is too good a word to be used. My school cricket team could have performed better. Well done SRI LANKA!!!!!!!

It's really very rich to see the indian fans commenting on this article going on about sri lanka being badly behaved on the field. please refer the collective records of "bajji" "yuvi" "gauty" and the like. Speak of arrogance...!

GO Lankans GO for victory......

weldone Sri Lanka."cheers"
also we want to be a champion in cricket world again.
india 'll beat by Pakistan in their land. after that they(indian team)need makeup sets again.hi hi hi......

finally we can see who's the best in cri world.
SL or PK...?
Definitely SL

Sehwag & Co got their Centuries in d following matches. Actually Dilshan scord a Centuary & Suraj took Indian Batting apart. Sehwag was Strangld & India LOST. I hope Paks wil kick them @Semi Finals so V dnt hav 2 repeat it Again on 2nd of April

I like the comparison being made with Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies and even Bangladesh. For some reason, one country seems to be conspicuously omitted :)
It's just a mindset.... LOL

@Terry : Huh Huh.. U talking abt Identity of Sri Lankan Cricketers? Hmm.. were you a sleep since 1996 to date? Better check your country cricketers.... Our Lankan Lions are the Greatest , Entertainers of the Game!!!

indian team not gonna happen this......

lanka beware......we are in final with u....

You r very true Mr. Jayasundara. Sri Lankans, Indians and Pakistanies have proved the Power Of Sub continent.. Being a Sri Lankan, very happy to see if one of us win it and retain the cup to Asia.. Remember the helping hand offered by Pak & Ind in 1996 when Ausies n Windies hesitate to Play in SL? Go Lankan Lions! you can win it!

Sunil Gavaskar said that Eng will win easy and make India (Hes Teams)World Cup Final (If India come to Final which i feel will not happen) a easy match than having SL in the Final... I am sorry Sunil you are a great Bat but your thoughts are just pro Indian!!!!!!!

I think this article is mainly on Sri Lankan Cricket and upcoming (then) Eng vs SL WC match by a Sri Lankan fan. I dont see a reason to write about how they played with india nor how Aussie coaches contributed and contribute (which is more relevant than some tamilnadu second grade cricket team).
OK indian fans i think it's time you guys face the fact that you couldn't win the match against Eng but SL beat them, and beat them convincingly.
If Indians think that they are superior to other South Asian nations, its time to be open minded guys. Sri Lankans do not play the brand of cricket that English taught you when they colonised you. Sri Lankan circket now has its own uniqueness. e.g. Malinga, Murali, Dilshan and even Mendis. Sanath and Kalu too in 1996.
Anyway this article was proven very accurate by a real world example

Comment all you want Indians.. We wont be meeting you in the finals. Sri Lanka vs Pakistan All the way! ;)

@crappycrickerer :- Yes mate.It should be corrected in this way.
"it is a blend of aggression of the Australians, efficiency of the South Africans, raw talent of the Pakistanis, passion of the Bangladeshis mixed with a Caribbean flair,and sometimes folly weaknesses of typical indian team".am I right?

yep! though I didn't see d match where shewag was denied of the 100, it shouldn’t have happen, we are much better than this. Hats off to the pomps for allowing thranga to reach triple figures. However it was mother of all humiliation for the Queen's unit when TD apologies and regret for smashing a four. It's a first in world cricket.

For all who mentioned the no ball incident against Shewag....

Wat do u say about very same Shewag kicked da ball out of da boundary to deny Amla from retaining the strike for the next over. Why no mention of that Indians!!!! Do u c it falls within the spirit of the game or sportsmanlike??????
And SL did that to to an opponent batsman at least. & today when Tharanga was nearing his ton Dilshan defensed & allowed him to get it. SL at least do have good team mate-ship which is lacked by Indians.
Remember Harbajan slapping Srishath in IPL. So Indians have no regards for even their Indian team mates . How many times we have seen Aashish Nehra was showing antics over his team mates on the field which was looking UGLY @ times.
At least SL are not slapping their own team mates like Indians.
It's ENOUGH for us... we are proud of our team.. Can u proud of ur team who are slapping each other to give a wonderful dramatic & ridiculous experience for the rest of the world to laugh @ u.

@Indians : Try not throw stones and stuff to your players this time.... Bring it on India sri lanka wating to meet you in finals and beat in your home soil...

Patriotic article I should say. Kind words to everybody, not your nearest neigbhor and donor. I must say Sri Lankans and pakistanis are similar in that they suffer a huge inferiority complex towards their neighbor which comes out as such remarks.

Srilankan team has all the good things that all the other good cricket teams have, writer took examples from them to anybody to understand. Thinking about it,what does india has special than other countries,Affluency..Mmm...Big names in cricket..not bad but nothing special either..that's the reason.

India is a jealousy brother as always...It's the thing with siblings..

Wow, isn't it wonderful to see the patriotism of all the people..fighting each other for their country. Oh....this is so lovely. How lucky are these counties to have such patriots.
Oh you cricket fans..you all amaze me. You spend you time supporting your team, fighting for them..day and nite,in harsh weather.. you never give up...this is so wonderful.
Let's enjoy the gentlemen's game as real Gentlemen and Wish you all the best in doing so Cricket Fans...!

Sri Lanka vs England match was so funny that commentators from Europe were living in a mythical world. They were self-satisfying themself commenting like they can win over mighty Sri Lankans with that small total of 229. Who they trying to fool.. Who in the world with a fair mind think that one can win over Sri Lanka by asking them to chase that small total in their home territory, poor of them..they thought so.. Except for them, all of us new that Lankans going to win it when England were scoring at around 4 runs per over..

Can an Indian please answer these questions if they have some guts??

1. where was your spirit of cricket when you threw bottles and set
up fire in the 96 world cup??
2. where was your spirit of cricket when sehwag kicked the ball to the boundary to deny amla a century?? sehwag of course got his return for the crime.. :P
3. where was the spirit of cricket when harbhajan sledged with the aussies and still the indian board defended him?? (in this case im wit bhajji simply becoz it was aussies :P)
4. When the Indian youngsters have such good role models like sachin, kumble and VVS why are they behaving like rowdies(sreeshanth) ??

Please give a sensible answer..

Okay indians we admit that we srilankans are not well disciplined like Harbhajan or sreeshanth who slappped and cried.. not even as yuvraj who got angry in SL when fans called him waterboy.. hahaha

At last one article for us.great.

This is really bad.It seems just because one individual commented something u Sri Lankans seem to hate Indians so much.I am hurt to see that our neighbour has so much hatred for us.I was so happy when Sri Lanka won in 1996 but after reading these messages filled with hatred I am not sure I would be happy.Even then I would like to apologise for the comments made by my country men but at the same time disappointed and hurt to read the messages written by our Sri Lankan brothers.

Who started it brother Swikar? The Sri Lankans are not punch bags any more. Sorry if there comments hurt you, but like they say - those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

So is the main point about Sri Lanka's bad sportsmanship to do with Randiv's antics? Do people not realise that he isn't even in the ruddy squad? One could easily dig up a whole host of examples of bad sportsmanship by India and turn the tables.

It's patently obvious that Sri Lanka have found a good cricketing friend in India but never should cricketing countries consider themselves good neighbours. Through adversarial mediums does good cricket emerge. Does India go on about how the English helped to develop the game during the British Raj?

Sri Lankan cricket fans on the whole are easy going, laid back and are simply proud of a cricket team that is truly world class. Not many things Sri Lankan are, unfortunately. Cricket is more than a game in the subcontinent. In India, it's a huge source of pride and dominance. For Sri Lankans, it's a model representation of their hopes of what Sri Lanka could be - i.e. united.

HATS OFF FOR STRAUSS'S GENTLEMAN CRICKET AND HATS OFF FOR ENGLAND TEAM WHO PLAYED THE MOST ENTERTAINING CRICKET IN THIS WC!! From Sri Lankan Cricket Fans!!!

This is a great chance for SL to win the WC once again. We are sure Sanga and the team will go for it. The world will enjoy cricket watching SL than any other team. Their unique cricketing talent, skills and the warmth of the players. SL will not have the ground support if Indians come in to finals.

@matsmth79.... what game are u talking about ??.. can u pls give the details.