Kingston: Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene gave a vote of confidence to his batsmen, claiming every player was capable of coming to the team’s aid when required.

“We have lot of belief in our batting line-up. Everybody is capable of taking responsibility and getting the job done,” he said after the 81-run victory over New Zealand on Tuesday that took them to their second World Cup final.

Sri Lanka lost Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara cheaply but the captain took it upon himself to guide his team to a competitive 289 for five with an unbeaten 115.

“We are ready for the final showdown. We are ready to beat the best. I will be quite happy to play whoever comes up in the final,” he said.

Jayawardene admitted that he had had “butterflies in the stomach”.

“I was pretty nervous before the start of the game. Those who had played at this level asked us to approach it as just another game. It help-ed but still there were butterflies in my stomach,” he confessed.

“We lost a few wickets and after the stand with Dilshan took root, I decided to go after the bowling after the 45-46th over. Fortunately it came off. This being a World Cup semi-final though, I would rate this innings at the very top of all my knocks.”

“We have been playing some good cricket so far. It was vital that we turned up for the game and stuck to the basics. At the end of the day, it is another cricket match,” said Jayawardene, who was adjudged Man of the Match.

About his decision to introduce Tillekeratne Dilshan into the attack when Scott Styris and Peter Fulton were stitching together a threatening partnership, Jayawardene said, “in our team we can throw the ball to so many guys which is a big plus for us.”

Dilshan claimed Styris, turning the match decisively in Sri Lanka’s favour.

Muttiah Muralidharan, who engineered a middle-order collapse claiming four wickets for 31, said a target of 290 was a good score as the pitch gave some help to the spinners.

Asked about his strategy, he said was bowling more around the wicket to use his doosra to confuse the batsmen as “they were not picking it and going for the sweep shot.”

While Muralidharan’s spell turned the game in Sri Lanka’s direction, Lasith Malinga had set the tone with a wicket-maiden in his first over. He claimed the scalp of New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.

Malinga had missed Sri Lanka’s last three Super Eight matches due to an ankle injury, but Jayawardene said he was not at all taken aback by his opening bowler’s return.

“I wasn’t surprised. The guy has been putting in a lot of effort and he was very upset that he wasn’t playing, wasn’t part of the team,” he said.

The vital wicket of Scott Styris, who was looking threatening on 37, came not from one of Sri Lanka’s frontline bowlers but back-up man Dilshan.

Jayawardene claimed that his team’s batting was no longer dependent on Jayasuriya alone.

“That’s the impression everyone has since Sanath provides the thrust at the start of the innings. But in the last 12 months, the rest of the batsmen have tried to ensure that there is no pressure on him. Others have done a pretty good job in the last 12 months.”