Dilshan rues untimely wickets

Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, has rued the loss of wickets at crucial times and some avoidable dismissals during his team's innings which led to a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of India in Bulawayo. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 242, and India made short work of the target, courtesy a second successive ton from Rohit Sharma and his 154-run stand with Virat Kohli.

"To defend a score of 240-odd we had to bowl in the right areas and take half-chances," Dilshan said. "It went wrong with the bat, couple of run-outs and some untimely wickets. Had that not happened, we could have ended up with 280 or 290 and it might have been a different game."

Sri Lanka's batsmen had got starts but needed one to score big, or several to chip in with important contributions, to set a challenging target. Dilshan made 61 before being run out, Angelo Mathews struck a fluent 75 and none of Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedara or Thissara Perera - each got a start - pushed on to reach a half-century. Dilshan, though, lauded the pair of Rohit and Kohli, who, after getting together at 47 for 2, took the game away from Sri Lanka.

"It was a flat wicket without any help for the fast bowlers, and there was no turn for the spinners either," Dilshan said. "So to defend 240, we had to take early wickets. Rohit and Kohli, though, put up a century partnership and batted really well."

The pair was adept at rotating the strike, but the flat wicket, according to Dilshan, meant there was little he or the bowlers could do to contain them. "We tried to bring the fielders up but the wicket was of no help for the bowlers, and they batted really well."

Rohit, however, felt the pitch was slow and required some adjustment to score on. "It was on the slower side, a two-paced wicket with not every ball coming on to the bat. You need to adjust accordingly and play the shots," he said.