Sangakkara credits opening pair for easy win over England

Sri Lanka cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara praised his openers Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan for their unbroken 231-run stand that helped the co-hosts beat England by 10 wickets in their quarter-final match of the cricket World Cup here today.

Chasing a modest 230, the Sri Lankans got home with 63 balls to spare as Tharanga and Dilshan smashed unbeaten centuries, their second in the tournament.

"It looked easy out there, but you need a special performance to win big games and today Dilshan and Upul Tharanga combined to give us that little spark of inspiration," the Sri Lankan captain told reporters at the post-match press conference.

"They were ruthless and magnificent. It wasn't easy for them, you know the wrapping up of it. They could have thrown it away, but it showed how hungry they were to finish it off," Sangakkara added.

Sri Lanka did well to restrict England to 229 for six in their 50 overs and Sangakkara said losing the toss they were determined to keep the Andrew Strauss-led side below the 250-run mark.

"Losing the toss you want to keep the opposition for a manageable total. We were targeting to keep them below 250 and I thought we did exceptionally well to keep them below that. Maybe an improved performance on the field could have helped us to keep them little lower than that," he said.

The only drawback for the Sri Lankans during the game was dropping three catches, all of Eoin Morgan.

"There were three people who missed catches and that's the way the game goes. We need to brush up our fielding. We can't afford to give one player that many chances," Sangakkara said.

England captain Strauss, meanwhile, admitted that his side was 30 to 40 runs short.

"We thought it was a good toss to win and maybe 260 or 270 was a par score. We wanted to get to a fast start, but we lost a couple of wickets and we wanted to rebuild. You have to give credit to the Sri Lankan bowlers for their variety," he said.

"We didn't score many boundaries. But then when we came onto the field we knew pressure is a big man and if he had taken early wickets we could have turned things around. Unfortunately, Dilshan and Tharanga played really well and it was a flat wicket. They thoroughly outplayed us," Strauss added.

It has been a tough few months for England having played non-stop cricket for five months.

The English team left for Australia for the Ashes campaign in late October last year. The series lasted till February and then England spent just a few days in the UK before returning to the sub-continent for the World Cup.

"I can't fault the energy, commitment and the desire the guys have shown throughout this World Cup. They tried hard today and we were outplayed by a good side. You can point out tiredness, but that would be running out of the issue," the England skipper said.

"We haven't played good cricket in this World Cup. Generally, English teams in the sub-continent haven't played well over here. It's disappointing and we want to do better than that," Strauss added.