Fleming stands down as Blackcaps ousted

One of the finest innings of Mahela Jayawardene's career carried Sri Lanka into a World Cup final - and left Stephen Fleming to announce his resignation as New Zealand's one-day captain.

While Jayawardene reflected on Tuesday night on his first World Cup hundred, in Sri Lanka's 81-run semi-final win over the Kiwis at Sabina Park, Fleming revealed he had played his final limited-overs match as his country's captain at the age of 34 and after 10 years in charge.

Fleming said: "I want to keep playing. But I'm standing down as captain of the one-day side. I still want to captain the Test side and am available to do that. I'm only just turned 34 so have some good batting years ahead of me. I want to put a lot of energy into our Test cricket - but in one-day cricket that is my last as captain."

Fleming's team had no answer to a supreme innings from Jayawardene, who paced his runs to perfection in a 104-ball hundred which contained nine fours and two sixes.

He helped to plunder 102 of Sri Lanka's 289 for five in the last 10 overs - before the bowling of Lasith Malinga, Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan (four for 31) proved too much for the Kiwis.

Fleming said: "We didn't play well enough, and I think we were outclassed at key moments - and that is reflected in the wide margin of the defeat."

Jayawardene, meanwhile, was able to recall his innings with pride - and Fleming as a one-day captain with admiration.

On his opposite number, he said: "Stephen has been a great leader for New Zealand for quite some time. You can learn a lot from him. He's a very attacking captain - and with the resources he had, he's built up a very decent team. He's been one of the top captains that we've had for the last 10 years."

Jayawardene had good reason to rate his own unbeaten 115 highly too - having played the innings which did most to earn Sri Lanka a place in Saturday's final against either South Africa or Australia.

"Probably it's right at the top," he said of his hundred. "It's a World Cup semi-final. For me, it's all about contributing to the team - I don't care how it comes. So long as I contribute to the team and it's a win, I don't care."