Mahela blames top order batsmen for Lanka's defeat

CRICKET: Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardena blamed his top order batsmen for their 78 run defeat to South Africa which has almost pushed the former joint champions out of the semifinals of the on going International Cricket Council Champions Trophy Mini World Cup in India.

The Lankans collapsed to 141 runs from 39.1 overs after they were set a victory target of 219 runs by the South Africans in their third and final league match. This heavy defeat meant that Sri Lanka had slumped to the last place in the group 'B' points table with a net run rate of minus 0.195 points.

Skipper Jayawardena said that it was disappointing that none of their top order batsmen were able to get a big score.

"My run out was unfortunate. We lost wickets at regular intervals and never got the momentum needed. Our batsmen did not take that responsibilities. South Africa definitely bowled and fielded well and kept the pressure going throughout the innings."

The Sri Lankan captain also defended his decision to bat first and to leave out that extras batsman and to bring back paceman Dilhara Fernando while replacing Chamara Kapugedera.

Jayawardena said that he felt the spinner would have struggled and found it difficult to get a good grip on the ball with the dew factor coming into effect later in the evening.

However the South Africans managed to put up a decent score on the board and then converted that total into a formidable one with a superlative bowling performance under lights. The other disappointment for Sri Lanka was the ordinary performance of Dilhara Fernando who went wicketless during his spell of five overs which cost him 24 runs.

Mahela Jayawardene also praised the South Africans for their impressive bowling performances where they successfully defended a total of 219 runs. "South Africa bowled really well up front. They got the initial breakthroughs and from there onwards it was an uphill task," he said.

Jayawardena who is one of the nominees for the captain of the year award said that a total of like 219 was reachable but his batsmen threw it away through some indiscipline batting.

"We bowled really well. We would have taken 220 at the beginning of the game. "We managed to restrict them in the first few overs, the spinners bowled well, we probably gave away too much in the last five overs but that happens."

Meanwhile South African captain Graeme Smith felt that there was some extra motivation while going into Tuesday's clash against Sri Lanka and that helped the team to perform even better. "The players were just pumped up and wanted to prove a point. I am happy we played good cricket," Smith said.

Smith was happy that his plans clicked well in this crucial game which helped them to register their first win of the tournament following their shock defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the opening fixture in Mumbai.

"Our game plan was to knock off their top-order early and put the pressure on the middle-order. It paid off. Because of the do-or-die situation there was also some extra motivation among the players to prove things.

"I thought it was a good wicket to chase. A total of 220 was not a good score. We had set the first 15 overs as our target to knock out the Lankans. Once that happened, we managed to keep the pressure on," Smith explained.

Skiiper Graeme Smith also paid tribute to the bowling of Shaun Pollock and his opening partner Makhaya Ntini who excelled under difficult conditions. "We bowled with a lot of aggression, we were very precise and I'm proud of the way the players fought hard."

The South African captain said that it was one of their plans to bowl man-of-the-match Shaun Pollock unchanged through his ten overs. "We had decided to use him before the dew set in. It was good that we managed to make more inroads during that period. Pollock returned outstanding figures of 2 for 21 following his useful contribution of 21 runs with the bat.