Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews expressed his disappointment at umpire Bruce Oxenford’s decision to rule New Zealander Tim Southee not out, during a crucial stage of the game between the countries during their Champions Trophy clash in Cardiff, on Sunday.

In the 33rd over, with New Zealand still requiring 12 runs with two wickets in hand, Malinga bowled a fast yorker and Southee was plumb in front, but the umpire ruled it not out. To add insult to injury, the ball sped to the third man boundary, taking Kiwis closer to victory.

The Sri Lankans expressed their disappointment immediately, and Mathews, during the media briefing expressed his views on the incident. “Obviously, that decision was very crucial and it was pretty obvious that it was out. You know, the luck streams both ways and it’s just one of those days that we didn’t have the decision coming our way. But it changed the whole complexion of the game. It would have been all over,” Mathews said, addressing the post-match media conference.

However, the New Zealanders too were at the receiving end, due to umpiring errors. Daniel Vettori was ruled leg before wicket to Malinga after he had got an inside edge.

The Sri Lankans also were guilty of throwing their wickets away and Mathews praised the character of the bowlers in making a match out of nothing. “We didn’t have much runs to play with, so we just had to go for the kill. The bowlers responded brilliantly. Shaminda Eranga bowled brilliantly and Malinga once again did a fantastic job, and all the spinners, whoever who bowled today was absolutely brilliant, backed up by fielding. So, it was an encouraging performance and a boosting performance for the whole team.”

Prior to the Sri Lanka–New Zealand clash, eight ODIs had been played in Cardiff and the team batting second had won seven of those games. In that scenario, it was a bit weird to see Sri Lanka opting to bat first. “I kind of misread the wicket. I thought it might get slower and slower as the game progressed, but it kind of dried up a little bit and was a bit easier, slightly easier than during the first session.”

“We were talking about getting wickets early on and trying to push them on the back foot, which is what we did. We just had to take a few more wickets to be in the game, and we did that. So, yeah, they are a very hard team to beat, but I thought we played some really good cricket today,” Mathews further said.

Source: The Islands (Sri Lanka)