St George’s: Sri Lanka strike bowler Lasith Malinga is expected to be fit for the World Cup semi-final after missing three games because of an ankle injury.

“He’s probably 90 per cent okay, we probably should have played him today (Wednesday), but didn’t want to take the risk,” captain Mahela Jayawardene said after the eight-wicket Super Eight win over Ireland.

Jayawardene told a news conference Malinga had bowled 10 overs in the nets on Wednesday morning.

“We don’t want to take too many risks. He should be ready to go in the semi-finals, definitely,” he said.

Malinga, who took an unprecedented four wickets in four balls in the Super Eight match against South Africa, injured a ligament in his left ankle during training.

Jayawardene said opening bowler Dilhara Fernando had missed Wednesday’s match because he had also sustained an ankle injury.

“Dilhara played against Australia with an ankle problem. He had two injections in it and he needs to prove his fitness before the semi-finals,” he said.

Jayawardene said he was not concerned about the probability of a bouncy pitch at Sabina Park after the low, slow tracks his team had experienced so far in the tournament.

“We like bouncy wickets. Like any other cricketers in the world, our batsmen love to play on bouncy tracks when the ball is coming on to the track,” he said.