Sri Lanka must now win their two remaining games to have a shot at reaching the finals. “We have made if difficult for ourselves,” Sangakkara said after the 24-run loss to Australia in a rain-hit game. “Throughout the tournament, the bowlers have been great but the batting has let the team down badly. We have made oppositions look better than they are.”
Australia made 184 for nine and Sri Lanka replied with 77 for four in 29.3 overs when the rains arrived. “You have to back yourselves to get 180 on any track,” Sangakkara observed. “But again, we did not get a good solid start. Losing wickets early makes it difficult. You are always behind the eight-ball. I am pretty disappointed with the batting effort.”
Asked if he thought Sri Lanka might have reached their target if it hadn’t rained, he replied, “You would like to think that with six wickets in hand, we will always back ourselves. But we probably made it difficult for ourselves by not keeping wickets in hand. Whenever you lose, it is not pleasant. We picked the best side to come here, unfortunately we haven’t done justice to ourselves. We have gone about letting ourselves down.
“As a team, we have had four games to realise where we went wrong. We need to show character now, and there is plenty of that in the dressing room,” said Sangakkara when asked if the team still believed it could win its two remaining games and make the finals. “We need to regroup and re-assess, and try to win the next game in Hobart. For most of the guys, it is a matter of confidence and spending some time in the middle. The belief is high, we have to make sure we display that positive intent now. We need to get some momentum in our batting. We have talked the talk, now it is time to walk the walk.”