Pallekele: The switch of captaincy between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangkarra had nothing to do with the luck of the coin, as stated by Sangakarra after the toss, but was done to save Lanka the blues of losing Mahela  on the count of slow over rate ahead of the semi-finals. Jayawardene has already been fined for slow over rate against the West Indies and one more offence would mean that he will be handed a one-match ban.

Speaking after the match against England in which the hosts defeated England by 19 runs, Sangakarra said that Sri Lanka did not want to take risk with Mahela and Angelo Mathews. "Both Mahela and Angelo were on warning and that is valid for six months. So we did not want to take the risk,” said Sangakarra.

Talking about the match, Sangakarra was in all praise for Lasith Malinga who took five wickets, including three in a single over. "Lasith is unbelievable. He bowled superbly in the Super Over against New Zealand and today here with both the new ball and old ball. Hope he keeps doing that for us. It would be fantastic if we can win it but the focus is to keep our feet on the ground," said Sangakarra.

Meanwhile England skipper Stuart Broad blamed the top-order failure for the defeat. "To win, we need to keep wickets at the top. Our death bowling too wasn’t up to the mark," he said.