Colombo, March 26: Sri Lankan openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga smashed superb centuries as the Asian giants registered a thumping 10-wicket win over England in the fourth quarter-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 on Saturday.

Batting first, England were restricted to 229 for six in their allotted 50 overs. The hosts were hardly stretched as they piled up 231 for no loss in 39.3 overs to romp home with 63 balls to spare. Dilshan (108 not out of 115 balls) and Tharanga (102 not out of 122 balls) saw Sri Lanka through to set up a semi-final date with New Zealand on March 29.

The duo batted comfortably without showing any sign of pressure and the only time they looked troubled was after the match was won - they were both battling cramps. Such was Sri Lanka’s domination over the game that even the bold move of opening the bowling with Graeme Swann was neutralised by some good use of the feet by both openers.

"It looked easy out there, but you need a special performance to win big games and today Dilshan and Upul Tharanga combined to give us that little spark of inspiration," Kumar Sangakkara said after leading the team to semi-finals.

"They were ruthless and magnificent. It wasn't easy for them, you know the wrapping up of it. They could have thrown it away, but it showed how hungry they were to finish it off," Sangakkara added.

England were never really in the game, losing both openers, Andrew Strauss (5) and Bell (25), in the first nine overs with just 31 on the board.

Jonathan Trott, who scored 86 and was the mainstay of their innings, tried to take his side to a respectable total, putting on 64 for the third wicket with Ravi Bopara (31) and then 91 for the fourth wicket in the company of Eoin Morgan, who compiled 50.

Muthaiah Muralitharan took two for 54, while Lasith Malinga, Dilshan, Angelo Mathews and Ajantha Mendis shared the other four England wickets between them.

This was the fifth occasion when England suffered a ten-wicket loss in ODIs and the third at the hands of Sri Lanka. This was also the highest total chased by a team without losing any wicket in a World Cup match, improving on the 221 made by the West Indies against Pakistan in 1992.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 231/0 in 39.3 overs (Upal Tharanga 102, TM Dilshan108) beat England 229/6 in 50 overs(J Trott 86, E Morgon 50, M Muralitharan 2/54) by 10 wickets.

Man of the Match:Tillakaratne Dilshan for scoring 108 runs off 115 balls and snapping up a wicket while giving away just 25 runs.