Sri Lanka banking on ‘home’ support and Sangakkara ton

Wednesday, 18 March 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka’s wicket keeper Kumar Sangakkara (R) laughs with team mates as they leave the field following their Cricket World Cup win over Scotland in Hobart, March 11, 2015. REUTERS Reuters: Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews is looking to overwhelming support from the crowd and a fifth successive century from Kumar Sangakkara to keep his side on track for a third consecutive World Cup final. Sri Lanka supporters remarkably made up 70% of the crowd, and were responsible for most of the noise, when the islanders took on co-hosts Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in a pool match two weeks ago. Mathews is looking for more of the same when they face South Africa in Wednesday’s quarter-final at the same ground. “If you play at the SCG it’s like playing at home,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “Most of the Sri Lankans across Australia or across the world, they fly into Sydney with immense support for us, and we really enjoy playing in Sydney. “It’s going to be a tough game for both teams. As we all know, we’ve come to the business end of the tournament, and whoever makes less mistakes will obviously go on to win.” Sangakkara has made few mistakes in his last four innings, becoming the first batsman to score four successive one-day international centuries. Like fellow top order batsman MahelaJayawardene, Sangakkara is playing in his final tournament before retiring from the 50-over format. Both were losing finalists in 2007 against Australia and against India four years later, and Mathews said the squad were determined to send them off as winners on March 29. “We’ve seen Kumar Sangakkara hitting four centuries in a row, and I hope and pray he gets the fifth one tomorrow,” he said.