Having spanked England in the quarter finals Sri Lanka now host New Zealand at Colombo hoping to make it to their third World Cup final in the last five World Cups.
New Zealand weren’t quite as emphatic in their quarter finals victory over South Africa but showed a great deal of steely determination to reach their second consecutive World Cup semi final.
In fact, this match is now a repeat of the 2007 World Cup semi final that Sri Lanka won by 81 runs before losing out to Australia in the final.
The Sri Lankans showed that they were more than able to cope with the pressure of playing in front of their home crowd against England and home advantage means that they are once again the clear betting favourites.
Bookmaker Paddy Power have the hosts priced at odds of 4/11 to progress to the final while New Zealand are 2/1 to cause another upset.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara is favoured in the top run scorer betting at odds of 3/1 closely followed by opening pair Tillakaratne Dilshan at 7/2 and Upul Tharanga at 4/1.
For the Black Caps it is the in-form Ross Taylor who tops the market at 7/2 along with opener Martin Guptil. Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder are both 4/1 chances.
New Zealand weren’t quite as emphatic in their quarter finals victory over South Africa but showed a great deal of steely determination to reach their second consecutive World Cup semi final.
In fact, this match is now a repeat of the 2007 World Cup semi final that Sri Lanka won by 81 runs before losing out to Australia in the final.
The Sri Lankans showed that they were more than able to cope with the pressure of playing in front of their home crowd against England and home advantage means that they are once again the clear betting favourites.
Bookmaker Paddy Power have the hosts priced at odds of 4/11 to progress to the final while New Zealand are 2/1 to cause another upset.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara is favoured in the top run scorer betting at odds of 3/1 closely followed by opening pair Tillakaratne Dilshan at 7/2 and Upul Tharanga at 4/1.
For the Black Caps it is the in-form Ross Taylor who tops the market at 7/2 along with opener Martin Guptil. Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder are both 4/1 chances.
