Hambantota [Sri Lanka], July 11 : Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews has admitted that the unexpected 2-3 home series loss to Zimbabwe is "one of the lowest points" of his career and a "hard one to swallow".
Earlier, all-rounder Sikandar Raza starred with both bat and ball to help Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka by three wickets and clinch a historic series victory in the fifth and final ODI at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota on Monday.
Taking the series 3-2 in Hambantota, 11th-ranked Zimbabwe registered its maiden series win in Sri Lanka, and first overseas triumph in eight years.
"It's one of the lowest points in my career, and a hard one to swallow," ESPNcricinfo quoted Mathews as saying.
"Everything went against us, from the toss to misreading the wicket. But there are no excuses. At the end of the day we were not good enough to beat them. They played better cricket," he added. Under Mathews, Sri Lanka have won an away Test series against England, and a home Test series against Australia.
However, their performance in limited-overs cricket has been dismal since the 2015 World Cup. The Lankan Tigers defeated Ireland and West Indies under Mathews, but lost home series against Pakistan, Australia and now Zimbabwe.
Mathews said he would seek consultation from the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) selectors before making a firm decision on his captaincy future.
"Still haven't thought about stepping down," Mathews said. "There's time. I'll give it a bit more thought and talk to the selectors. I haven't decided anything yet," he insisted. Sri Lanka have very little time to absorb the shocking defeat as the one-off Test against Zimbabwe begins on Friday, and after that their Asian neighbour India will arrive for a full tour which kicks off on July 26.
"We have an India series coming up, but before that, we have the Test against Zimbabwe to talk about. The Indian series will be even tougher. In a small period we have to fix our problems. As a team we did do the training, but nothing is working in the middle," said the Sri Lanka skipper. India's tour of Sri Lanka will begin at Galle on July 26. Virat Kohli's men will be playing three Tests, five ODIs and one T20I during the series..
Source: ANI
