 Jayawardene is hugged by his senior pro Sanath Jayasuriya |
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene led by example as his century inspired his team to reach the World Cup final. "After losing early wickets I knew I had to bat out the 50 overs and get a score on the board," he said, following the win over New Zealand.
Sri Lanka will now face either South Africa or Australia on Saturday.
"If you're going to win the World Cup you might as well beat the best so whoever comes along I'm sure our guys are confident enough."
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Having lost to Australia in the semi-finals under the Duckworth-Lewis ruling four years ago, Jayawardene was pleased history did not repeat itself.
"We've been playing some really good cricket but the most important thing was for us to turn up for this game and stick to the basics, to bowl in good areas and bat in partnerships," he said.
"Even though it was a big game it was still a game of cricket, and all credit to the guys. We knew all about New Zealand and it was a tough game for us."
| Bowling round the wicket helps me a lot, that's a tactic we use for right-handed batsmen because you can't see which way the ball is going |
Jayawardene, the man-of-the-match, was also pleased his side were able to post a good score despite the loss of Sanath Jayasuriya, who has scored two centuries in the tournament, for only a single.
"We've had a lot of belief in our batting and a lot of guys have chipped in," he said. "It's all about taking responsibility and getting the job done.
"Obviously Sanath missed out here but hopefully he can get a big one in the final."
"The hundred wasn't in my mind, I just wanted to bat the 50 overs and make sure I was still there at the end. A few shots connected, it was a pretty small ground, so everything went very well."
There was a marked contrast in the compilation of his innings, with 48 balls required to score his first boundary but his second fifty taking only 28 deliveries.
"The first fifty I was just just trying to survive, get singles, rotate the strike and build partnerships," he explained.
"[Tillakaratne] Dilshan changed the momentum of the whole set-up, he came in and got quick runs so there was less pressure on me.
"I thought I would wait until the 45th over and then see what I could do."
 Sri Lankan supporters celebrate victory at Sabina Park |
Jayawardene then had an inspired moment in the field as he brought on Dilshan to break the important partnership between Peter Fulton and Scott Styris.
"We can give the ball to a lot of guys, they have a lot of confidence in themselves," he said.
"I was just juggling around, I needed a wicket at that particular moment, I didn't want to use my strike bowlers up that early in the innings and Dilshan chipped in then we realised we could go through their innings.
"That's when Murali came in and obviously he's a great bowler and he got the job done."
The master spinner himself was seen beaming even more vigorously than usual at the start of play.
"I was confident because I thought this would be a turning wicket," he revealed, before paying tribute to his captain's sublime century.
"Mahela's innings was one of the most brilliant I have ever seen," he said.
Murali's four-wicket haul saw him overtake Australian veteran Glenn McGrath as the tournament's leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps.
"Bowling round the wicket helps me a lot, that's a tactic we use for right-handed batsmen because you can't see which way the ball is going."
The 34-year-old used his infamous doosra to good effect on several occasions and added: "People were ready for sweeping so I thought the doosra would get the top-edge."
