Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka claimed that dropped catches had cost them the match against New Zealand as they lost by 65 runs their Super 12 match in the T20 Cricket World Cup in Sydney yesterday.
“We dropped a few catches and 160 was always a tough ask with their (New Zealand) bowling attack. Also Trent Boult and Tim Southee bowled well upfront,” said Shanaka.
But Sri Lanka’s batting also let down the team as four batsmen Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva failed to even reach double figures.
“There is a way of chasing down big targets and in the first couple of overs we did not give ourselves a chance. We could not settle in and lost wickets at regular intervals,” said Shanaka.
Sri Lanka will now need to win their last two Super 12 matches against Afghanistan (November 1) and England (November 5) to stand any chance of qualifying for the semi finals as England and Australia also close in for a slot with New Zealand on the verge of qualifying.