We were 30-50 runs short, says Andrew Strauss

England captain Andrew Strauss said that his team was 30-50 runs short as they suffered a crushing 10-wicket loss to Sri Lanka, finalists in 2007, in the quarter-final of the World Cup here Saturday.

“We thought the total was 30 light and it was more like 50 light. We thought pressure was a factor if we could get early wickets but we couldn’t do it,” he said.

Strauss admitted that England were thoroughly beaten by a better side on Saturday.

“They were able to bowl a lot of dot balls at us to build pressure. We weren’t able to take advantage of the platform. But we have to be honest, we haven’t been good enough during the tournament. This was a step too far,” he said.

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said losing the toss was important, but lauded his new ball bowlers including Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was man of the match.

“We started well with the ball. Dilshan did that, then later came together with Tharanga and reminded us of Headingley (in 2006). The guys fought hard, especially fielding first, and they kept up the pressure.

“It’s been a fantastic crowd, hopefully they’ve enjoyed the cricket. Murali has pulled up a bit stiff but I’m sure he’ll be fit for the next game. We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves, we just have to keep our heads down,” he said.

Dilshan said he told his captain that he would like to bowl with the new ball.

“He told me yesterday but I have done it before. It was a fantastic one-day wicket…it got better and better. We knew if we started well we could build from there. We just need to carry this forward for the next couple of matches,” said Dilshan