Sydney: The biggest worry for the Sri Lankan fans is whether the quarter final match between Sri Lanka and South Africa will be also the last time they see legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in action in a One day International match.

The danger of a knockout match is that any cricketer who has announced his retirement can find himself having suddenly played his last match. Both Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have announced that they are quitting after the World Cup.

When Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews was asked about it, he said: “Of course we’ve talked about it quite a lot and we look to try to make this tournament an historical one for them. We can make it a memorable one winning tomorrow and go into the semi-finals again and hopefully go to the finals and win there and make it historical for two legends.”

The match can also be last of a dream that South Africa has been chasing for years to win the World Cup if they lose. “We know exactly what’s coming tomorrow. It’s an important game. It’s exactly what we’ve been working for the last two to three years. It comes down to tomorrow. We’re very prepared for this. Obviously there’s history to be made, and if we do come through this, it’ll be great. But we know it’s important to come out there tomorrow and just to focus on the basics and do a few things right in order for us to win. All our focus will be on that.”

Though Sangakkara has been scoring profusely, a big knock from Jayawardene hasn’t happened. Mathews believes that the quarter final could see a ton from Jayawardene: “Mahela got a brilliant hundred against Afghanistan, and since he hasn’t had the opportunity to have a good knock. Mahela is a big match player and the top four has to score runs for us to be in contention and to get a big one.”

Mathews would love to have runs from both his legends be it his team batting first or second. “The wickets have been extremely good, so we’ve seen teams chasing 300 as well. So if a team bats first and if they get to the 300-mark the game is not yet over. The wickets have been really good.”

Mathews revealed that their ace spinner Rangana Herath who is injured is a still a doubtful starter. “It is 50-50 per cent chance he may play,” he added.