Malinga's day out at Kandy

Slinging bowler Lasith Malinga took a career-best five wickets as Sri Lanka beat England by 19 runs to reach the World Twenty20 semifinals and send the defending champions crashing out yesterday. Malinga took 5-31 as England, chasing a daunting 170-run target, were restricted to 150-9 in the Super Eights match at Pallekele stadium before a packed and rowdy 30,000 crowd. The victory meant Sri Lanka and the West Indies reach the semifinals after the hosts won all their three matches in the Super Eights. West Indies earlier enjoyed a dramatic Super Over win against New Zealand, shutting the doors on hapless Kiwis. England batsman Samit Patel fought a lonely battle with a career-high 67 but Malinga and spinner Akila Dananjaya (2-26) ensured Sri Lanka did not lose control after scoring 169-6 when they were sent to bat first. England's chase did not get the desired start as they were rocked by Malinga in the third over when they lost Luke Wright (12), caught off the third ball, Jonny Bairstow (two) off the fifth and Alex Hales off the sixth for three. It needed a fourth-wicket stand of 55 between Patel and Eoin Morgan (10) to repair the early damage but England then lost Morgan and Ravi Bopara in the space of three runs. Malinga then returned for his second over to dismiss Jos Buttler, caught in the deep for one, while captain Stuart Broad gave a simple catch off Dananjaya for one to leave England in disarray. Patel and Graeme Swann (34) then added a brisk 51 for the eight wicket to raise hopes of an unlikely win. But Malinga bowled Patel in the penultimate over. When Sri Lankan batted Mahela Jayawardene top-scored with 42 off 38 balls, while Angelo Mathews hit 28 and Thisara Perera made 26 not out with two sixes. Earlier West Indies and New Zealand were locked at 139 after 40 overs at Pallekele stadium, sending the match to the tense Super Over decider. Kiwis scored a challenging 17 off their six balls , but West Indies reached the target with a ball to spare as Samuels smashed the winning six off Southee. "Samuels is my go-to man in pressure situations, he's suffering from a bad shoulder so that's why he doesn't bowl more,- said West Indies captain Darren Sammy of the all-rounder. "It was a great fight-back and I am very happy at that.- A disappointed Taylor rued New Zealand's missed opportunity -” but admitted that the West Indies' Super Over was "pretty awesome-. The breathless finish came after Southee (3-21) and Doug Bracewell (3-31) restricted the West Indian innings to 139 in 19.3 overs, before Taylor's unbeaten 62 kept New Zealand in with a chance for an upset win. Pakistan play Australia while India meet South Africa in Colombo today to decide the two semifinalists from group two. The final will be played on October 7.