Sri Lanka insist there will be no complacency

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara says his side will not be affected by complacency as they head into a home World Cup semi-final buoyed by a ten-wicket hammering of England.

Openers Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan required no help to guide their team past England's total of 229 on Saturday, but that will count for nothing as New Zealand provide today's opposition at the R Premadasa Stadium.

The Black Caps have already sprung one surprise in the knock-out stages, dumping out South Africa in the last eight, and Sangakkara said: "There's no room for complacency at all and there's no chance of that happening in anyone's minds.

"The main reason it seemed easier than we expected (against England] was because our openers put on a magnificent performance. Those partnerships don't come round often."

Sri Lanka's build-up has been dominated by anxiety over the fitness of legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who is suffering from knee and thigh problems. Sangakkara said: "Murali and everybody around him are trying to get him as fit as possible and ready to play.

"He knocked his knee in Mumbai and aggravated a quadricep injury in the game before that, so we'll monitor how he goes and hope he's fit enough."

New Zealand were beaten semi-finalists in 1975, 1979, 1992, 1999 and 2007, the latter defeat coming against Sri Lanka. Skipper Daniel Vettori said: "Everyone wants to talk about our record, but this is an amazing achievement for a small country."

The Kiwis have been inconsistent in the current tournament, suffering heavy defeats to Australia and tomorrow's opponents in the group stage despite also recording ten-wicket wins over Kenya and Zimbabwe.