Port of Spain:
Severely chiding his bowlers for the defeat against Sri Lanka, West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard said their performance was "unacceptable" as they let Sri Lanka score heavily despite dominating the early part of their innings.
West Indies had reduced Sri Lanka to 60-3 in 19 overs on Sunday, but allowed the visitors to score 159 in 22 overs last night in the rain-curtailed 41-over-a-side game.
"We undid the (good) work we did yesterday. It wasn't right on our part. When you set plans, you have to bowl the plans. We were all over the shop. You can't set fields for bad bowling. If we are honest with ourselves, our bowling was not up to the mark. Thirty-one extras is totally unacceptable," he said after 39-run defeat.
Set a revised target of 230, West Indies slumped to 31 for four in 8.4 overs before Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons tried to lift the innings and Pollard said batsmen too were responsible for their misery.
"Bravo and Simmons brought us back, but if we are totally honest with ourselves, myself included, we haven't batted well. We always put ourselves in these situations. As cricketers, we need to find a way out. It should not have come down to this," he said.
Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews, who scalped four batsmen, was glad that his team could put enough runs on the board in the rain-affected match.
"Very pleased with the boys. They showed a lot of character. Especially on the first day. I thought Sangakkara batted brilliantly, he held the innings together," he said.
"We had a team talk, and we needed to get runs. Especially with D/L, batting first is a disadvantage. It is tough to play around rain delays batting first. We had to get the runs, and I am glad that we got the runs," he added.
Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his 95-ball 90, said he just had to hang in there as he knew run will come in the end if they had wickets in hand.
"I think the wicket was quite spongy. There was a slow high bounce. It needed patience at the start and slogging at the end. If you hang in there, with the new rules, and the wicket getting better, you can get the runs," he said.
"The real decision is, when the going is tough, are you going to absorb the pressure or are you going to attack? Batting first, you can absorb the pressure and then catch up in the end. If you have wickets in hand, the advantage is with you. On tough wickets like this, being there in the end
helps."
Sri Lanka will next take on India in the last league match on Tuesday.
