Set just 129 to win, after tight bowling restricted Sri Lanka — last year’s losing finalists — to 128 for six, England finished on 132 for three as they won with four overs to spare.

Kevin Pietersen, on his return to the side after he attended the birth of his son in London, finished on 42 not out and ended the match in style with a six and a four in successive balls off fast bowler Lasith Malinga.

England, who have never won a major one-day international tournament, are now through to their first final since hosting the 2004 Champions Trophy.

They will face the winners of Friday’s second semi-final here between defending champions Pakistan and Australia in Sunday’s final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Only Angelo Mathews, with 58, offered much resistance against England’s bowlers before he was run out of the penultimate ball.

Sri Lanka’s next best score was 16, achieved by both captain Kumar Sangakkara, who won the toss, and Chamara Kapugedera.

Paceman Stuart Broad led the attack with two wickets for 21 runs off his four permitted overs. Both left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom and Broad took a wicket first ball as Sri Lanka collapsed to 26 for three.

Spinners Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy then ensured runs remained hard to come by with a combined eight overs that cost just 41 runs.

At the start of their run chase, England were confronted by a trio of spinners as Sri Lanka looked to exploit their supposed vulnerability against slow bowling on a pitch offering some turn.

But Craig Kieswetter, driving strongly, and left-hander Michael Lumb settled any lingering nerves with an opening stand of 68.

However, that partnership should have ended on 40 when Kieswetter cut the ball to backward point and Lumb set off for a non-existent single.

Lumb was almost at the other end of the pitch before he was sent back but Ajantha Mendis fumbled the return to the bowler’s end stumps, with Lumb yards out, and the chance had gone.

Two balls later Kieswetter struck unorthodox spinner Mendis straight back over his head for four and ended the over with another boundary, a fine leg-glance.

Kieswetter was eventually yorked by Malinga for 39 and Lumb bowled for 33, walking across his stumps, by seamer Thissara Perera.

But the damage had already been done.

Sri Lanka collapsed to 26 for three against England seamers Tim Bresnan, Sidebottom and Broad.

They were seven for one at the start of the second over when left-arm quick Sidebottom removed Jayasuriya for just one after the veteran fended outside off stump and edged straight to England captain Paul Collingwood at second slip.

New batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan on nine then miscued a hook off Bresnan and was well caught by a diving Luke Wright, running in from deep backward square leg, to leave Sri Lanka 20 for two at the end of the third over.

Sri Lanka’s collapse continued when Broad, as Sidebottom had done, took a wicket first ball.

Mahela Jayawardene, the tournament’s leading scorer with 302 runs, including a century against Zimbabwe, fell for just 10 when he edged a well pitched up ball outside off stump and was caught by wicketkeeper Kieswetter.

Swann and Yardy kept the pressure on and Sri Lanka couldn’t break free.

ICC World Twenty20

The 1st Semi-Final match of T20 World Cup between Australia and Sri Lanka will be played on 13th May 2010 at Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia.

ICC World Twenty20 2010 Live Cricket Scores

The ICC World Twenty20 2010 will be held in West Indies from 30th April 2010 to 16th May 2010, with the very best players in the world representing their countries, showcasing Twenty20 cricket on a global stage. The tournament will take place in four venues across Caribbean  archipelago. There are 12 teams participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 2 associative member counties: Ireland and Afghanistan, who were qualified through ICC world twenty20 qualifier.

Live Cricket Scores

England’s display in the tournament has been a revelation of sorts with Paul Collingwood and his men winning all three Super Eight stage matches with consummate ease.

With their maverick top order batsman Kevin Pietersen returning to the ranks after a brief break to watch the birth of his first child, England’s batting order would have a formidable look about it.

Pietersen has been in sensational form but even without him, England hardly broke a sweat as they upended New Zealand to prove that they don’t rely on an individual or two to see them through.

In Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb, England have an opening pair which scores at a brisk rate and with Pietersen, set to return at Ravi Bopara’s expense, and Collingwood to follow, their batting line-up is quite capable of laying the foundation for a big total.

In the middle order, the exciting Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright and all-rounder Tim Bresnan have the penchant to assert themselves early which suits the team.

Their bowling department also has the necessary variety.

Bresnan and his new-ball colleague Ryan Sidebottom have more often than not given the early breakthrough while Stuart Broad has been among the wickets as well.

In the slow bowling department, Michael Yardy has been parsimony personified while Graeme Swann has struck regularly.

England’s might notwithstanding, it is not going to be a cakewalk against the Sri Lankans who are high on confidence after sneaking through to the last four stage.

Unlike England, consistency has not been Sri Lanka’s strong point in the tournament and even after beating India, they had to wait for an Australian triumph over the West Indies before a semifinal berth could be theirs.

The islanders, however, would take heart from their success against India, especially with Tillakaratne Dilshan returning to form and youngsters like Angelo Matthews and Chamara Kapugedera coming to the party.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara also looked in fine touch against India and he would hope Mahela Jayawardene, who had a brilliant run in the tournament before it was punctuated by two poor outings, to hit form tomorrow.

In Lasith Malinga, Thissara Perera and Angelo Mathews, they have quite a potent attack and Sangakkara would expect them to trouble the English batsmen on Thursday.

ICC World Twenty20 2010 Live Cricket Scores

The ICC World Twenty20 2010 will be held in West Indies from 30th April 2010 to 16th May 2010, with the very best players in the world representing their countries, showcasing Twenty20 cricket on a global stage. The tournament will take place in four venues across Caribbean  archipelago. There are 12 teams participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 2 associative member counties: Ireland and Afghanistan, who were qualified through ICC world twenty20 qualifier.

ICC World Twenty20 2010 Live Cricket Scores

The ICC World Twenty20 2010 will be held in West Indies from 30th April 2010 to 16th May 2010, with the very best players in the world representing their countries, showcasing Twenty20 cricket on a global stage. The tournament will take place in four venues across Caribbean  archipelago. There are 12 teams participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 2 associative member counties: Ireland and Afghanistan, who were qualified through ICC world twenty20 qualifier.

ICC World Twenty20 2010 Live Cricket Scores

The ICC World Twenty20 2010 will be held in West Indies from 30th April 2010 to 16th May 2010, with the very best players in the world representing their countries, showcasing Twenty20 cricket on a global stage. The tournament will take place in four venues across Caribbean  archipelago. There are 12 teams participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 2 associative member counties: Ireland and Afghanistan, who were qualified through ICC world twenty20 qualifier.

Muralitharan sustained the injury during his side’s two-wicket defeat against New Zealand in the tournament opener here on April 30.

Team physiotherapist Tommy Simsek said Muralitharan has sustained a grade one strain on his right adductor muscle and will need up to three weeks’ rest.

No replacement for 38-year-old spin wizard has been named by Sri Lankan team management. He took two wickets for 25 runs against New Zealand.

Muralitharan has more international wickets than any other cricketer with 792 in 132 Tests and 512 in 334 ODIs. He has 13 wickets in 10 Twenty20 Internationals.

Sri Lanka take on Zimbabwe today in a must-win encounter to have any chance of advancing to the Super Eight stage.

ICC World Twenty20

With their campaign derailed by a shock loss to New Zealand, Sri Lanka face a battle of survival against a confident Zimbabwe in their second Group B match of the ICC World Twenty20 here on Monday.

In their opening match, Sri Lanka had done most things right till the last over. The Islanders posted a good score on board and defended it well before Nathan McCullum stole the match with a six off Lasith Malinga in the final over.

That six of the second last ball has placed the Lankans in a do-or-die battle against Zimbabwe, who are coming into tomorrow’s match after beating formidable Australia and defending champions Pakistan in their warm-up games.

Sri Lanka boasts of a very formidable batting line up with Mahela Jayawardene, who scored a 51-ball 81 against New Zealand, rock solid at the top and Dinesh Chandimal giving him good support in the last match.

But skipper Kumar Sangakkara has been battling with his form and it has continued till now in the World Cup. Tillakaratne Dilshan is not the explosive self that he used to be until last year.

Sri Lanka wasted old war-horse Sanath Jayasuriya at number seven in the last match and Angelo Matthews, who performed well at the IPL, also flopped.

On the bowling front, spinners Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Chanaka Welegedara, Jayasuriya — all have done a decent job on the slow wickets here.

Medium pacer Matthews has also chipped in with a wicket but Malinga’s last match performance should be a cause of worry for the Lankans as the pacer went for 33 runs in 3.5 overs without a wicket.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, have been quite phenomenal in their warm-ups and would come into the match high on confidence.

Despite being short of experience, Zimbabwe have beaten two formidable teams, which shows there is hardly any scope of error in this format of the game.

For the African team, Elton Chigumbura have done the bulk of scoring, hitting a 35-ball 76 against Australia and an unbeaten 35-ball 49 against Pakistan.

Craig Ervine, Charles Coventry and opener Hamilton Masakadza have also contributed with the bat.

On the bowling front, Prosper Utseya have been the pick of the bowlers taking six wickets, while Chigumbura have also picked up three wickets against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka rode on Jayawardene’s career-best Twenty20 score, that came off just 51 balls, to post 135 for six. But Jesse Ryder’s 27-ball 42 at the top and Nathan McCullum’s (16 off 6) last over heroics sealed the match in favour of New Zealand in 19.5 overs.

With the equation out of their favour after losing all their top-order batsmen, the younger McCullum came up with a four and a six off Lasith Malinga in the final over to finish off the Kiwi run chase in style.

Earlier opening the attack, Nathan McCullum bowled cleverly to return with figures off one for 17 from his three overs.

Contrary to the result, New Zealand started their run chase on a disastrous note as Angelo Mathews bowled a brilliant wicket maiden first over.

Brendon McCullum’s poor run with the bat continued as he mistimed one straight to Lasith Malinga off Mathews in the fourth ball of opening over.

The other Kiwi opener Jesse Ryder, however, went about his business in style, hitting three fours and two sixes en route his 27-ball innings.

He shared 62 runs with Martin Guptil (19 off 24) before two quick wickets brought Sri Lanka right back into the match.

Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan broke the dangerous second-wicket partnership as he went through Ryder’s defence.

Sanath Jayasuriya then made it double celebrations for the Lankans in the next over with a beautiful yorker that Guptil had no answer.

Muralitharan added another to his kitty when Ross Taylor’s (9) slog-sweep landed on to the palms of Mathews.

However, it was the eventful 17th over from Mendis that threatened to change the course of the match.

Mendis started on a perfect note, cleaning up Scott Styris (17) in the second ball but with the wicket came in Jacob Oram (15 off 6), who clobbered the mystery spinner for consecutive sixes to pick up 15 runs off the over.

There was more drama stored for the match, as needing 20 runs off the last two overs, Kapugedera clean bowled Oram and then a desperate Gareth Hopkins was run out.

With 10 required of the last over, Nathan McCullum pulled off two magical strikes — first a boundary and then a six –from his armour to pocket the nail-bitting match in his side’s favour.

Earlier, Jayawardene steered Sri Lanka to the modest score with his breezy 81.

While his team-mates struggled to score runs in the slow Providence Stadium wicket, experienced Jayawardene’s innings was a classic example of effortless sensible hitting.

He shared a crucial 59-run fourth wicket stand with debutant Dinesh Chandimal (29 off 23) to lay the foundation for the Sri Lanka score.

Shane Bond turned out to be the pick of the Kiwi bowlers as he accounted for two Lankan batsmen by giving away 35 runs.

Opting to bat in the sluggish pitch, the Lankan openers found runs hard to score initially.

Out-of-form Tillakaratne Dilshan’s (3 of 19) stay at the crease was a struggle which finally ended with Jacob Oram castling the opener’s stumps in his first and innings sixth over.

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara too found runs hard to come by in the slow wicket as he took 11 deliveries to score his four runs before Scott Styris castled his stumps.

Jayawardene, however, showed his team-mates how to build an innings on the wicket and in the effort brought up his third Twenty20 half century in just 33 balls.

Young Chandimal also blossomed in Jayawardene’s company as he hit a four and a six during his 23-ball innings before he was brilliantly caught at the boundary by Ross Taylor off Nathan McCullum.

Jayawardene single-handedly shouldered the Sri Lankan innings and hit as many as eight boundaries and two sixes before he was holed up at deep mid-wicket by Nathan McCullum off Tim Southee.

Bond picked up his two wickets in identical fashion in the final over of the Lankan innings.

The Kiwi pacer had both Chamara Kapugedera (11) and Angelo Mathews caught by Nathan McCullum at long off boundary in a span of three balls as the batsmen went for big shots.

The Black Caps open the competition against Sri Lanka here on Friday and, with warm-up matches suggesting pitches will take spin, off-break bowler Nathan is set for some key overs in an attack where New Zealand captain and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori has been the mainstay for several years now.

McCullum was given the new ball in New Zealand’s 40-run warm-up win over Ireland here on Tuesday, reviving memories of Martin Crowe’s ploy of using off-spinner Dipak Patel at the start of the innings at the 1992 World Cup – a tactic that helped the Black Caps get to the last four of that event.

Against Ireland, McCullum took three wickets for 25 runs and Vettori, who went wicketless, said: “Nathan McCullum was outstanding with the ball. On a wicket like that you’ve got to be inch perfect because it’s so slow.”

The Black Caps’ pace attack is led by fast bowler Shane Bond and it won’t just be Kiwi fans who will be hoping the former policeman, whose career has been blighted by injuries, can come through this tournament unscathed.

New Zealand headed to the Caribbean with fitness doubts over several senior players but batsman Jesse Ryder suggested he was over the groin strain that forced his withdrawal from the Indian Premier League with a brisk 64 against the Irish.

Together with Brendon McCullum he forms an explosive opening partnership with McCullum posting an unbeaten 116, one short of Chris Gayle’s world record, when New Zealand beat Australia in a Twenty20 match in February.

McCullum is one of the most dangerous batsmen around in this format and Vettori was in no doubt of his value to New Zealand.

“McCullum at the top of the order is the real key. If he has a good tournament I think the team will fire.”

Sri Lanka, last year’s losing finalists, appear to have one of the best balanced squads for this form of cricket with the pace of Lasith Malinga to the spin of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis posing problems for most batsmen.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, player of the tournament in England in 2009 and veteran Sanath Jayasuriya are just two of the island nation’s batsmen capable of fast scoring.

The Sri Lankans lost by five wickets to South Africa in a warm-up match on Wednesday but did not have their strongest side out in a clash that, in any event, went to the last over.

Whether the fact that most of the squad have been taking part in the lucrative Indian Premier League will catch up with Sri Lanka, remains to be seen but conditions, at least, should hold no fears for a side who reached the final of the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

At it was in Guyana where the unorthodox Malinga made history in 2007, taking four wickets in four balls against South Africa.

But former captain Mahela Jayawardene knows Sri Lanka, now led by the experienced and talented Kumar Sangakkara, could have had an easier opening fixture.

“New Zealand has got a really good all-round team which can be totally devastating,” he said.

To back him up, New Zealand beat West Indies by seven runs in their second warm-up on Wednesday.