New Zealand bow out of the World Cup

Stephen Fleming's declaration before the semi final that Sri Lanka often struggle in the last 10 overs came back to haunt him in Tuesday's World Cup match.The 1996 champions smashed 102 in the last ten overs. Captain Mahela Jayawardene top scored with an unbeaten 115. 

Excellent pace bowling from Lasith Malinga and quality spin from the wizard Muttiah Muralitharan then wrapped up an 81-run win for Sri Lanka and hastened Fleming's departure as one-day captain. New Zealand, who have never reached a World Cup final have now lost a fifth semi final since the tournament began. 

The Kiwis, with their strong batting depth and varied bowling attack, had come to the World Cup on the back of a 3-0 whitewash over Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee series. New Zealand's famed pace duo of Shane Bond and Jacob Oram failed to impose themselves on Tuesday and allowed Sri Lanka to gain the upper hand and move into a second World Cup final.

However, Captain Fleming was proud of what he had achieved in 218 matches over 10 years as one-day skipper. He said that he will continue to make himself available for limited overs internationals and would like to continue as test captain. "To register the amount of semi-finals we've had is, I would say, a pretty proud record. We're disappointed we've not gone further, but there are a lot of sides that haven't made the semis," Fleming told reporters. "We weren' t as good as we could be. It probably had something to do with the occasion. We are just not good enough. When you get to this stage there are teams that are better than us." A string of injuries to key players had forced the team on the back foot during the tournament.