Sri Lanka's batters could have taken better options, according to Vikram Rathour, after the hosts crashed to 95 all out against England, chasing 147. Rathour has been the side's batting consultant since January, but Sri Lanka have been a modest T20 batting side for years now, falling short of the Super Eight in the last T20 World Cup, and having had to qualify for the two previous iterations.
And still, in front of a full house in Pallekele, and with a relatively low total to chase, Sri Lanka lost five wickets in the powerplay. Rathour said the pitch had been tricky.
"The batters could have taken some better options," he said. "But I think the surface was still tacky. We expected that. The wicket has been under covers for a long time in the past few days. So we knew it was going to be a tacky wicket. Even when they batted, the ball was stopping a bit.
"We expected it to get better but I don't think it really improved. It was still slow. Better options could have been taken, but I don't think we went too hard."
Two key batters were caught-and-bowled off spin when they had merely been seeking singles - Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis offering return catches. The pitch was conducive to that kind of dismissal, Rathour said.
"I thought on a wicket where the ball is stopping, pushing is not a great idea. A couple of our wickets [were] lost on guys pushing for a single. I don't think that was a great option in these conditions. Either you play a hard shot or you defend maybe."
Sri Lanka have looked a better batting unit when Pathum Nissanka scores runs. Since the start of 2025, he has easily been Sri Lanka's best batter in the format, hitting 925 runs at a strike rate of 149. But Sri Lanka are not over-reliant on Nissanka, Rathour said. Nissanka was out for nine runs off eight balls in this match.
"I think every team has that kind of situation - when your best batter gets out, you do feel the pressure a bit. But that's how this game is. So we are hoping he will come good in next two and win us a couple of games."