“We didn’t do enough with bat”: Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis after defeat against Afghanistan

Pune (Maharashtra) [India]: After Sri Lanka suffered a 7-wicket loss to Afghanistan in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, captain Kusal Mendis lamented the disappointing effort on the field saying that his batters did not perform well enough with the bat.

Afghanistan produced their third upset win in their ongoing World Cup campaign, outplaying Sri Lanka in all three departments. Half-centuries from Rahmant Shah, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai and a four-wicket haul by Fazalhaq Farooqi helped Afghanistan secure a memorable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their World Cup match at Pune on Monday.

The setback against Afghanistan leaves the Lankans with little room for error, and they will almost certainly need to win all three of their remaining games, including the tough match against tournament hosts India next up, to have any hope of reaching the last four.

“We didn’t do enough with the bat. 300 or maybe 280 would have been sufficient, but not to be. Bowlers have done well in the first 10 overs and the dew has come in a little bit and then it became a little hard to bowl the spinners,” Kusal Mendis said in a post-match presentation.

He also said that in the second innings, the bowlers bowled really well, especially in the first 10 overs, but after that, the dew started forming and it became tougher for them to bowl.

“Actually, there was dew today and the ball came on to the bat nicely in the second innings. He (Madushanka) has done really well, in the first couple of games as well and hope he will continue his form going forward,” he added.

Coming to the match, Afghanistan put Sri Lanka to bat first. The Lankan Lions lost their wickets at regular intervals. Knocks from Pathum Nissanka (46 in 60 balls, with five fours), Kusal Mendis (39 in 50 balls, with three fours) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (36 in 40 balls, with three fours) took SL to 241 in their 49.3 overs.

Fazalhaq Farooqi (4/34) was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan. Mujeeb took two scalps while Rashid and Azmatullah Omarzai took a wicket each.

In the chase of 242 runs, half-centuries from Azmatullah Omarzai (73* in 63 balls, with six fours and three sixes), Rahmat Shah (62 in 74 balls, with seven fours) and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (58* in 74 balls, with two fours and a six) helped Afghanistan seal a win.

Dilshan Madushanka got two wickets while Kasun Rajitha got one wicket. Farooqi won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his knock.