l PALLEKELE

Lasith Malinga took five wickets as Sri Lanka knocked Twenty20 World Cup holders England out of the tournament with a 19-run Super Eights victory, yesterday.

England, chasing 170, lost three wickets in Malinga's first over and the fast bowler completed career-best figures of five for 31 to take Sri Lanka into the semifinals along with West Indies (See Page 70).

"We gradually progressed, the processes have been really good and the boys have worked really hard to get there," said Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene.

"We've come under tough situations and everyone has put their hands up and performed.

"It was really good that the middle order got a hit today. They showed we've got the quality and the bowlers to back it up."

Sri Lanka produced a solid all-round batting performance after losing the toss with Jayawardene leading the way, making 42 in a total of 169 for six.

Angelo Mathews (28) and Jeevan Mendis (18) added 52 off 31 balls. Stuart Broad was England's best bowler with three for 32.

Malinga removed Luke Wright, Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales in his first over and England slumped to 93 for seven.

Samit Patel smashed 67 off 48 balls, including eight fours and two sixes, and shared an enterprising eighth-wicket partnership of 51 with Graeme Swann who made 34.

But Malinga returned to bowl Patel and end English hopes of reaching the last four.

Broad said it was Malinga's three-wicket burst that did the damage to his side's innings.

"It was a shame because we would have got a start there, and the way Samit Patel took on the spinners it looked very encouraging. It was a class act," said Broad.

"If we had hung around and stayed with him we know the last four-five overs can go for anything.

"It was really disappointing, we were not quite good enough."

Sri Lanka topped Group One after the Super Eight phase with the West Indies also reaching the semifinals where they will be joined by two from Australia, India, Pakistan and South Africa.

The semifinals are on Thursday and Friday in Colombo.

SUPER EIGHT SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka vs England Sri Lanka innings M. Jayawardene c Morgan b Swann 42 T. Dilshan lbw b Finn 16 K. Sangakkara c Bairstow b Swann 13 A. Mathews b Broad 28 J. Mendis c Bopara b Broad 18 L. Thirimanne b Broad 13 T. Perera not out 26 N. Kulasekara not out 1 Extras (b 4, lb 2, w 6) 12 Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 169 Did not bat: A. Dananjaya, L. Malinga, A. Mendis Fall of wickets: 1-35 2-74 3-74 4-126 5-126 6-162 Bowling: S. Finn 4-0-24-1 (1w), J. Dernbach 4-0-42-0 (2w), S. Broad 4-0-32-3 (1w), G. Swann 4-0-26-2, R. Bopara 2-0-12-0(1w), S. Patel 2-0- 27-0 England innings L. Wright c Dilshan b Malinga 12 A. Hales lbw b Malinga 3 J. Bairstow c Kulasekara b Malinga 2 S. Patel b Malinga 67 E. Morgan lbw b Dananjaya 10 R. Bopara b Mendis 1 J. Buttler c A. Mendis b Malinga 8 S. Broad c Jayawardene b Dananjaya 1 G. Swann b Kulasekara 34 S. Finn not out 1 J. Dernbach not out 2 Extras (lb-1, w-3, lb-4, nb-1) 9 Total (nine wickets; 20 overs) 150 Fall of wickets: 1-16 2-18 3-18 4-73 5-76 6-91 7-93 8-144 9-147 Bowling: A. Mathews 3-0-21-0, N. Kulasekara 4-0-22-1 (1nb), L. Malinga 4-0-31-5 (1w), A. Mendis 4-0-40-0 (1w), A. Dananjaya 4-0-26-2, J. Mendis 1-0-5-1 Sri Lanka beat England by 19 runs