Following the loss in the fourth One-Day International against Zimbabwe on Saturday (July 8), Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews has urged authorities to use floodlights whenever they are available. Prior to the ongoing series, cricket boards of both the countries had agreed not to use the floodlights in case games are affected by bad light and the hosts had to pay a big price for it in Hambantota.
Zimbabwe were 139 for 3 in 12 overs in pursuit of 301 when rain intervened. When the game resumed the target was revised to 219 in 31 overs and Zimbabwe chased down the total in the 30th over. However, the result could have been much different had Lasith Malinga been allowed to bowl his three-remaining overs but with the umpires not allowing the pacers to operate due to bad light, Mathews was forced to throw the ball to his spinners.
Speaking after the game, Mathews said:
“The boards had decided they were not going to use it. If we had the lights, the full quota might have been bowled and it could have gone either way. If the facility is there, we would like to use it. It’s up to SLC to decide and the players have nothing to do with it.”
Mathews further rued another poor bowling poor performance from his team.
“Bowling was once again was very disappointing. How many times can you lose a game after scoring 300 runs. We had enough runs on the board, unfortunately the rain intervened but we still had the attack to defend it. First ten overs we gave away too many runs and then rain intervened and after the interruption we didn’t bowl well,” Mathews said.
The 30-year old went on to admit that he and the team are under pressure after losing two games to the lower-ranked visitors. Sri Lanka had faced widespread criticism after the group-stage exit in the Champions Trophy last month and a loss in the series-decider on Monday (July 10) is bound to attract more criticism.
“This series is drawn and we are under pressure. I am under pressure as captain. We batted well but bowling has been disappointing in both games we lost. Our fielding too has been disappointing,” the skipper said.
Mathews also defended the decision to bat first in the series where teams batting first had won all the first three games. In the last game only, Sri Lanka had chased down 310 but Mathews said the dryness of the pitch convinced the team to bat first.
“The wicket was dry and we expected the wicket to turn as the day went on. We saw in the last game also that the ball started turning after 20 overs in the second session. So we thought that if we bat first and bat well we could put the opposition under pressure,” he said.