Kumar Sangakkara captain of Sri Lanka spins the coin alongside Daniel Vettori captain of New Zealand and match referee Chris Broad.

Brendon McCullum looks on after he is bowled by Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka.

Martin Guptill drives the ball towards the boundary, as Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka looks on.

Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara (C) celebrates with team-mate Mahela Jayawardene (R) after he takes a catch to dismiss Jessie Ryder.

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara departs, caught off the bowling of Andy McKay, seen celebrating on the big screen.

A group gather in the streets of Colombo to watch the Sri Lanka v New Zealand World Cup cricket semifinal.

The Black Caps celebrate the dismissal of Sri Lankan opener Upul Tharanga after a stunning Jesse Ryder (far left) catch.

Daniel Vettori couldn't halt Sri Lanka's charge into the World Cup final in his last match as New Zealand captain.

Bowling great Muttiah Muralitharan hoisted by teammates after playing his final match for Sri Lanka on home soil.

Thilan Samaraweera (L) hits the World Cup semifinal winning runs for Sri Lanka and celebrates with Mahela Jayawardene. New Zealand bowler Andy McKay can't bear to look.

In his last press interview as captain of the Black Caps, Daniel Vettori praised his team-mates for the fight they displayed during yesterday's semifinal loss to Sri Lanka in Colombo and promptly declared the future of New Zealand cricket was looking bright.

Before the tournament the Black Caps had been written off by the majority of their supporters with few giving them any chance of making it past the World Cup quarterfinals.

But after shocking South Africa in Dhaka last week, the New Zealanders suddenly found themselves in the semifinals for the sixth time in 10 tournaments.

Getty Images BRIGHT FUTURE: Daniel Vettori believes the future of New Zealand cricket is looking bright.

For Vettori's team, who in December last year arrived home from India having lost 11 one-day matches on the trot, it was a massive overachievement and the fact they only narrowly lost to Sri Lanka yesterday, while disappointing, was also promising.

On a wicket at R Premadasa Stadium that made life tough for the batsmen, the Black Caps batted first and were bowled out for 217.

At that point in time the match appeared to be a foregone conclusion before some tight bowling from the New Zealanders and three quick wickets midway through Sri Lanka's run-chase suddenly gave them a sniff at victory.

In the end, the hosts managed to hold on, winning with 13 balls and five wickets in hand. But the margin doesn't accurately reflect how close the Black Caps came to winning. If not for a couple of loose deliveries in the dying overs, they would have been heading to Mumbai and the decider.

"The fight we showed has been there most games and when you see it from fielders and bowlers with that belief there was always a chance," Vettori said.

"When you see guys give up that's the hardest thing as a captain, but I never saw that today.

"Lots of things go against you in a loss. We'll look back and say we fought as hard as we could but we lost too many wickets in those last 10 overs after the top order put up a great platform."

Despite only arriving in Colombo on Sunday morning having been called into the squad to replace the injured Kyle Mills, Wellington quick Andy McKay was surprisingly included in the playing XI against Sri Lanka.

He was a standout performer, ending the match with 1-37 from 9.5 overs to leave many wondering why he hadn't been included in the original 15-man squad.

"Andy bowled really well. He's been bowling exceptionally well and fast at home so we took a gamble," Vettori said.

"He's a good reverse-swing bowler and we felt three spinners wouldn't be right today.

"I twisted on it this morning but my gut feel was to go with Andy and Wrighty (coach John Wright) backed it."

Since taking charge of the Black Caps in the days leading up to Christmas, coach Wright has hardly put a foot wrong. In his first series in charge, the New Zealanders lost three-two to Pakistan, but were already showing signs of improvement compared to their failed India tour in December.

Their World Cup was not without its disappointing performances, however. In pool play they suffered heavy losses to Australia and Sri Lanka.

But having got to the semifinals after such a horrific six months, Vettori said the team finally had something to smile about.

"Deep down, there's always been a belief that the team is this good, probably even better than they showed today," Vettori said.

"That's been the frustrating thing for the public and the frustrating thing for us as well that there are some exceptionally talented players in this side and if we can start proving how good we are on a consistent basis then we have the makings of a very good team.

"If I was part of that along with Wrighty – if we were part of starting that process – then that would be one of my prouder achievements.

"After every World Cup I've played in I've thought the talent was there to continue on. It's just about applying ourselves now.

"Hopefully this coaching staff is able to be around for a long time because I think they've done great things for the unit in the last little while."