Images: Sri Lanka crush England, set up semis date with Kiwis

Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga hit superb centuries as Sri Lanka humiliated England by 10 wickets in a thoroughly one-sided World Cup quarter-final, on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 230, Dilshan (108 not out, 115 balls, 10x4, 2x6) and Tharanga (102 not out, 122 balls, 12x4, 1x6) played with consummate ease as they reached the target in only 37.3 overs to set up a semi-final date with New Zealand, on Tuesday.

Earlier, Riding on half-centuries by Eion Morgan and Jonathan Trott, England managed to compile 229-6 in Colombo on Saturday.

Trott led an England fightback after a poor start to post 229 for six as Sri Lanka missed a slew of easy catches to let them off the hook in the World Cup quarter-final on Saturday.

Trott (86) added 64 runs for the third wicket with Ravi Bopara (31) and 91 runs for the fourth with Eoin Morgan (50) to anchor England to a fighting total on a slow wicket at the R Premadasa Stadium.

A slow wicket at the Premadasa saw the English come up with another below-par batting display, even as captain Andrew Strauss elected to bat first.

Opening the batting with new partner Ian Bell, Strauss looked lost against the Lankan spinners as England got off to a terrible start and were reduced to 31 for two inside nine overs.

Sangakkara decided to open the bowling with Tillakaratne Dilshan at one and got the desired result in no time.

Strauss struggled against some accurate bowling by part-time off-spinner Dilshan, who bowled the second over of the innings.

Ian Bell (25) became the third batsman to be promoted to open the England innings in the tournament and got off to a confident start but chipped one straight to Thilan Samaraweera off Angelo Mathews.

This left Trott in that familiar territory where he literally opens the innings, and settles for the long grind in Bopara's company.

Sri Lanka went into the match with three frontline spinners -- Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath -- who made it tough for the batsmen to score with their tight line and length.

The English batsmen set about sweeping him for ones and twos, but the breakthrough came off this same ploy of Murali's in the 27th over. Looking to trap Bopara on the sweep, he pitched one too full to sweep, but Bopara didn't see it coming and was already on his knees. The ball hit him on the volley, plumb in front.

This brought Morgan to the crease and he immediately set about rewriting this innings history, and also encouraging Trott that this pitch did not hold any demons.

Morgan was dropped three times -- on 16, 33 and 34 -- while television replays showed he was also lbw to Lasith Malinga, a decision Sri Lanka did not appeal.

Mendis was the unfortunate bowler on the first occasion while an infuriated Muralitharan watched on as the left-handed batsman was spilled twice in the space off three deliveries.

England took the batting Powerplay in the 42nd over in an attempt to finish what Eoin Morgan started.

Malinga came on, and since stumps seldom break these days, took a crack at Morgan's bat, and neatly separated a chunk off the bottom of the bat.

The new bat probably brought ill luck in to the field for Morgan, as it did what Sri Lanka's bowling couldn't make a fielder hold on to a catch.

Morgan skied one too many and Matthews this time kept the catch.

Graeme Swann was promoted to utilize the Powerplay overs. He lasted one ball, as he went for a wild reverse sweep off Mendis and was trapped leg before.

With two wickets in two balls, Sri Lanka came right back into the match that till one over ago Morgan was threatening to take away from them.

The Powerplay overs fetched 23/2, and in the last three overs England lacked the gas to recover one last time.

Dilshan and Tharanga played with a lot of patience and thought. Both batsmem notched up their second centuries in the tournament and with it their second double hundred stand in the showpiece event.

Unlike some of their resilient performances at the group league stages, the English bowlers couldn't recreate the magic as both Dilshan and Tharanga never looked like getting into any kind of trouble.

The only time the duo looked troubled was after the match ended, when both were in acute pain battling cramps in humid conditions.

Without taking any undue risks, both hit the boundaries with minimum fuss.

The ploy of opening the bowling with Graeme Swann also didn't work out as both Tharanga and Dilshan used their feet to good effect whenever the offie tossed it up. If the ball turned, they waited that extra bit to play their shot.

Tharanga made his intentions clear when he stepped out in the very second over bowled by Swann to hit him over long for a six. When the spinner came for his second spell, Dilshan who was well and truly settled swept him over mid-wicket for another six.

Ditto for second spinner James Tredwell as Lanka reached their 50 in nine overs and subsequently the 100 in 19 overs.

Having already set a World Cup record for an opening stand of 282 runs against Kenya, Dilshan-Tharanga duo showed that they are slowly turning into one of the best opening pairs in the limited overs version as they brought up their second double century partnership.

Dilshan completed his second century in the World Cup and 10th in the ODIs when he rocked back to cut Swann past point for a boundary. The milestone was achieved in 107 balls.

Tharanga who battled cramps and had to take runner completed his ton when he hit a cover drive off Tremlett to finish the proceedings.