A chance to make a final and we let it slip out of our hands, or should I say a 'mini-me' version of Sachin Tendulkar stole it out of our grasp.

It was certainly one of the best displays of clean hitting I have seen and, basically, Virender Shewag destoyed all the great work Nathan Astle, Steve Fleming and Lou Vincent did with the bat.

He was ably backed up by two class players in Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid but we always knew they were going to do well, it was the Sachin look alike who suprised everyone even himself probably.

The Sri Lanka-India final will be a very good one, and I think the team that can bat through their middle overs the best will take the final out at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Both teams have class spin bowlers and the wickets have proved slow so it will be a huge test for the batters.

I have enjoyed watching the other spinners on show at this tournament, especially Harbhajan Singh who seems to have all the tricks and also the ability to land the ball in the right spot time after time.

The orthodox spinner is becoming almost extinct in world cricket with Harbhajan, Muralitharan and Saqlain all bowling in an unconventional way which is foreign to all countries outside the sub-continent.

Well, it is back to New Zealand some time in the near future, we are not too sure when as most airlines are staying clear of Colombo International airport for obvious reasons.

We are thinking of maybe travelling back by boat as they did in the old days when they travelled to and from the sub-continent, or just pop across to Pakistan as we are due there in a month for a full tour so we could use that month to aclimatise.

All in all I have been pretty pleased with my own form at the tournament, and the back has come through unscathed which is always a relief. Myself and Dion Nash almost enjoy getting other little injury niggles because it means that our backs are not giving us any grief.

It was David Trist's last time with us and he will be a huge loss to everyone who has been involved with New Zealand cricket.

He was a great coach and a wonderful people person. I really enjoyed him because he let me get out there and do what was right for me. He trusted that I could make decisions that would enable me to be the best I could be on the playing field. It is a shame that he is not continuing onto the World Cup but that was his decision and I know everyone is looking forward to working with Denis Aberhart.

© 2001 CricInfo