Muralitharan is the motivation for Sri Lanka

Confirming Muralitharan's recovery from a hamstring injury, Sangakkara asserted that the side with the best spinners would win the coveted title next Saturday."Spinners have definitely come to the fore in this World Cup. Even England have two quality spinners in Graeme Swann and James Tredwell," he said. "All the teams now have two or three good spinners, and have found the perfect balance. Even in Twenty20 cricket, teams with the best spinners have enjoyed success.


Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan celebrates the dismissal of New Zealand's
Scott Styris at Wankhede Stadium last Friday. Pic/Atul kamble

"As a captain, I have to use the spinners wisely in the powerplay periods. Attacking spinners have brought in a new dimension to limited-overs cricket. I think the best spinners will win this World Cup," he said.Sangakkara rubbished the reports in the English media, which said that Sri Lanka would face all the pressure, as England had nothing to lose going into the do-or-die contest.

"It depends on how you look at it. If England qualify to the semi-final, will they still not feel any pressure? Both sides will feel the intensity. We are not feeling any additional pressure," he said. "Cricket is always played with a lot of passion in Sri Lanka, we always get packed houses. It doesn't matter if it's a World Cup game, or just another game. The crowds will always turn out to support us."

Sangakkara refused to read too much into statistics, according to which the venue favours teams batting first.
"It's a very flat wicket, I expect plenty of runs. It should be a really good cricket pitch," he said.

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