A World Cup with Real Meaning:

It doesn't happen often, but this afternoon a cricket match will take place that is both poignant and truly important. Whichever team wins the match is of secondary as both teams have been through far more than life should have thrown at them.

Earlier this year Sri Lanka's cricketers filled the breach caused by India's refusal to tour Pakistan. They were lucky to escape with their lives as terrorists attacked the bus carrying them to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Cricket in Pakistan was immediately suspended.

“I think tomorrow will be good for cricket and the Pakistani nation as well,” said Pakistan's captain Younus Khan at yesterday's press conference. “It will be very helpful for us in future and certainly for future of Pakistani cricket. We are underdog; that’s why we are in the final, because there is no pressure for us. The good ting is there are both Asian teams in the final gain – fantastic. I think it will be a good final and the crowd was very fantastic. We were very close last time, so this time we must do it at the finish.”

The events in Lahore affected both teams deeply. “It was very wrong,” said Khan “It was the first time, especially in Asia, these kind of things happen in sport, so I think it’s really hurting for us at the moment and we are very sad. Both of the teams are sad. All our nation is very sad about that. When this thing happened every call said please protect them, please take care them. I think there are still a lot of memories from that incident.”

His opposite number Kumar Sangakkara agrres, but the Sri Lankans are trying to put that horrific incident behind them. “Hopefully, not much emotion,” Sangakkara says about the feelings his team will experience regarding the atrocity when they take the field at Lords this afternoon. “I think we’ve got to control that part if we want to be mentally strong to do what we have to do, so I think the guys have moved on very well from where we were just after Lahore and I think we’re going to make sure that whatever has come our way, we’re going to control them and use them as a positive to try and win a game.”

The Unifying Power of Cricket:

After the Lahore outrage it is easy to forget that the Sri Lankan team has played their entire career in a war-zone. Last month the 26-year long war that the Sri Lankan government fought with Vellupillai Prabhakraran's Tamil Tigers ended with the military defeat of the Tigers.

Sangakkara and his team have seen themselves and cricket as a unifying force in the midst of a cruel and vicious war. They brought hope to a war-ravaged country. Now they offer hope of further unity.

“Sri Lanka has moved forward greatly and unity has always been in Sri Lanka,” said Sangakkara. “We’ve had a war yes, but as a team – as a country – we’ve always been united in almost everything that we’ve done, so this win is going to be another step forward in that progress and I think when you take our team, as I’ve said before in other press conferences, what we represent we think is the entirety of Sri Lanka.”