Sri Lanka: route to the final

Oct 06, 2012

The hosts opened the tournament against Zimbabwe and began strongly with the bat, posting 182•AFP

The second group match against South Africa was a dead rubber with both sides through and rain reduced it to a 7-over match, South Africa made 78•Associated Press

New Zealand posted 174 and Sri Lanka took it to a Super Over after a dramatic final-ball run out. Lasith Malinga kept his cool to win the game for the hosts•AFP

Sri Lanka only needed to avoid a heavy defeat to go through but their middle order played with urgency against England to post 169•ICC/Getty

And Sri Lanka's spinners won the duel as Rangana Herath took three wickets to send the hosts into the final with a 16-run victory •ICC/Getty

And it was no contest in the second inning as Ajantha Mendis recorded best-ever T20I bowling figures as Sri Lanka won by 82 runs•Associated Press

And Sri Lanka got nowhere near, only managing 46, not that the result was anything significant, particularly with it's reduced format•Associated Press

Up against West Indies big hitters in the second Super Eights match, Sri Lanka's spinner took hold and West Indies could only post 129•AFP

After which Lasith Malinga took over with five wickets as Sri Lanka went through with a perfect record •AFP

Sri Lanka's first Super Eights match gave the tournament what it needed, an exciting tight finish. It also saw Akila Dananjaya make his debut aged just 18, he took 2-32•AFP

And the target was nowhere near a score to trouble Sri Lanka's batsman as they won by nine wickets to almost guarantee a semi-final spot•Getty Images

The semi-final was a battle of the spinners against Pakistan and Mahela Jayawardene led the way as Sri Lanka posted 139 on a slow, turning surface•Getty Images