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Sri Lanka to host one semi-final

India lands 2011 World Cup final

Sri Lanka will stage one of the semi-finals along with Pakistan while India will host the Cricket World Cup final for the second time in 2011. They were confirmed as co-hosts of the event with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at this week's International Cricket Council conference in London. The opening ceremony will be held in Bangladesh.

Last time the tournament was held in the Indian sub-continent in 1996, Sri Lanka bagged the plum beating Australia in the final at Lahore.

Last time the tournament was held in the Indian sub-continent 1996 Sri Lanka bagged the plum beating Australia in the final at Lahore. However in Sri Lanka only two matches were played with the hosts taking on Kenya and Zimbabwe while Australia and the West Indies skipped their first round matches scheduled to be played in the island and thus forfeiting their points.

Sri Lanka went through the entire tournament unbeaten.

India last hosted the 1987 final.

"It has been decided that all four should evenly play a part in hosting the major events of the tournament," said Pakistan Cricket Board director Abbas Zaidi.

The Asian bid was preferred to a joint application from Australia and New Zealand for the 2011 showpiece.

And officials have already expressed their determination to make it the best World Cup in the tournament's history.

"Traffic will come to a stop in the four countries in 2011. There will be more than a billion (TV) viewers in the sub-continent, and another billion in the rest of the world," India's Inderjit Singh Bindra has said.

India will stage 22 matches, Pakistan 16, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six.