Injured Muralitharan battling to get fit for semi-final

Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan faces a race against time to get fit for Tuesday's World Cup semi-final against New Zealand as he struggles with a bruised knee and a hamstring injury.

"Murali and everyone around him is trying to get him as fit as possible so that he can play," Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara told reporters after a training session at the R Premadasa Stadium on Monday.

"It's two different injuries. He knocked his knee in Mumbai (in the group match against New Zealand on March 18) and he has also aggravated a quadricep muscle in our quarter-final game.

"We will have to just monitor how he goes and hope he is fit enough to play."

The 38-year-old, who is the leading wicket-taker in test and one-day international cricket, will retire from all international cricket after the World Cup.

"It's not we are thinking of saving him for the final. This is the crunch game and if he can play tomorrow, that will be great for us," said Sangakkara.

"But if that doesn't work out for us, we have got enough cover to make sure that we are still a solid winning side."