Seniors did not step up: Mathews

“We bowled well in the first six overs then played loose in the last overs. Day by day were getting better. There were a lot of inexperienced guys. It was a learning curve all of us. The seniors had to step up. Mosts of time we did not,” Mathews said after the match. 

Sri Lanka lost skipper Lasith Malinga due to injury and players such as Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thisara Perera could not put up consistent show. 

For the record, Sri Lanka has won only against UAE and Afghanistan in their last 10 T20 Internationals failing to beat any Test playing nation. 

“I think it has been a disappointing few months for Sri Lankan cricket. We have let down the fans, let down the whole country. We haven’t played good cricket at all,” Mathews said. 

“All we can do is stick to a combination, not try and change the team too much. We should try and pick about 20 players and re-evaluate them, say after 6 months. Give them opportunity to settle down and then try and see what they have come up with, in terms of performances. We need to be patient,” said Mathews. 

He said that missing regular T20 captain Lasith Malinga was a big blow but there is no excuse for such shoddy performance.