Sri Lanka wants to win at least their last T-20 World Cup match, which will be played today at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St. Lucia, commencing at 6 am (Sri Lanka time). “We did not want to lose any game, but due to our batting failure, we had to finish this World Cup on a dismal note,” said Sri Lanka’s most senior player, Angelo Mathews, yesterday.

“We couldn’t play the first two matches very well, while the third match in Florida against Nepal was unfortunately abandoned due to rain, and we never expected this situation.

We repeated our batting failures and couldn’t score as we expected on these USA pitches, but there are no excuses for that,” said former skipper Mathews after the training session in St. Lucia.

“Our bowlers did really well. We saw young Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara, who played in the IPL, come back strongly. But as a team, we couldn’t click in the game, and we were outplayed, our hopes were dashed, and as a team, we apologise to all Sri Lankans.

We know Sri Lankan spectators are with us everywhere in the world, and they expected more from us. We apologize to all,” said Mathews on behalf of the team. “Now we want to get this final game win against the Netherlands.”

“As a World Cup experienced player, I think this is the most traveled World Cup, and both our team and Netherlands had to play at four different venues in the group matches, but this is not an excuse,” added Mathews.

The Sri Lanka team is expected to make a few changes, while this St. Lucia wicket is more favorable for the batsmen. Yesterday, Australia and Scotland played at the same venue, and both teams scored over 180 runs. Compared to the USA wickets, this wicket seems to be good for the batsmen, which is good news for both teams.

Sri Lanka has not yet finalised the eleven, and most probably, they will include new spinner Dunith Wellalage. If they do that, Maheesh Theekshana could be dropped, while Sadeera Samarawickrama also has a chance to join the team after his first game against Netherlands.

Netherlands has a slight chance to enter the Super Eight. It requires a dominant win against Sri Lanka, as well as Nepal beating Bangladesh in their match also to be played today. However, Nepal gave a good fight against the group top team, South Africa, which the Proteas won by one run. The team that performs well with fewer mistakes can win. Sri Lanka knows they have no chance for the Super Eight, but their aim is to finish this game on a positive note.

For Nethlands team it’s an awesome opportunity to play cricket in different parts of the world. It’s something we thrive on We love playing in different conditions in different parts of the world. Obviously, it’s short breaks between games but that’s just part of how these World Cups go and our guys love that said Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards. Spin-bowling allrounder Saqib Zulfiqar could come into the final eleven should the Netherlands opt for an extra spinner on this St Lucia wicket.

Netherlands beat Sri Lanka in their warm up game in Florida but key Sri Lanka bowlers didn’t bowl at this warm up game. Sri Lanka have a 9-0 win-loss record against the Netherlands in limited-overs cricket and both teams are looking to end the game on a positive note.

Meanwhile Bangladesh already having 4 points in second place and they will take on Nepal at Kingstown St Vincent where they beat Netherlands earlier and their intention is to win and qualify for the Super eight with South Africa who have the highest points 8 points with an unbeaten record.