‘We got outplayed’ by Lanka - Michael Clarke

Tuesday, 2 November 2010 06:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Australia captain Michael Clarke has said his side were outplayed by Sri Lanka in the only Twenty20 game between the two teams before they play three one-day internationals starting on November 3.

Sri Lanka cruised to a seven-wicket win at the WACA, restricting Australia to 133 for 8, their lowest ever total at home.

“They [Sri Lanka] played really well,” Clarke said.

“We were a little bit disappointing with the bat, especially up front losing four wickets early. I think we got outplayed.

No doubt conditions were different to what we just faced in India, but look, we’ve had great preparation here, the nets are very similar to what we faced out in the middle so we have no excuses. Sri Lanka bowled really well.” Kumar Sangakkara made an unbeaten 44 off 43 balls to see Sri Lanka home with 3.3 overs to spare, sharing a 71-run partnership with Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Both batsmen looked at ease at the crease, unlike the Australians, who struggled with the bounce offered by the WACA pitch.

“They played the cross-bat shots really well on a bouncy wicket,” Clarke said.

“I think we can learn from that, I think we tried to bowl a bit too short because there was a bit of pace and carry.” Sangakkara was full of praise for the way his bowlers and fielders performed.

“We played a pretty good game from the start.

We knew them winning the toss was an advantage for them but it just kept getting better for the batsman.

I think the way we played first up with the choice of deliveries and the way we fielded, it was a great achievement to keep them down to around 130.”