'Bowlers did not take responsibility': Gulbadin Naib after defeat against Sri Lanka

Dubai: Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib has expressed unhappiness over the performance of his bowlers, after they faced a 34-run (DLS method) defeat against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, saying that the bowler did not take the responsibility.

"The wicket was suitable for the seamers, but we did not bowl in the right areas, especially in the start of the innings. I think the bowlers didn't take the responsibility at the start of the day, so maybe we missed something," ICC quoted Naib, as saying.

Sri Lanka, who faced a humiliating 10-wicket defeat during their opening match of the World Cup against New Zealand, refined their batting against Afghanistan as they racked up 92 runs on the board for the opening wicket.

However, Afghanistan made a strong comeback in the middle overs as Sri Lanka were all out on 201 runs. Mohammad Nabi contributed a lot in Afghanistan's lethal bowling attack as he got hold of four Sri Lanka batsmen and conceded just 30 runs in his nine overs.

Rashid Khan's spell also strengthened his side's bowling attack as he took two wickets but more importantly, he conceded just 17 runs in his 7.5 overs.

Whereas, Hamid Hassan sent one batsman back to the pavilion and gave away 53 runs in seven overs.

"We got it right in the middle to bowl them for 200 something, but still they scored a lot for this kind of surface. It [201] was too much. But it's good, especially Nabi and Hamid [Hassan], how they bowled showed what we missed something in the start," he said.

After Sri Lanka posted a target of 202 runs for Afghanistan, the latter only managed to score 152 runs and secured a 34-run victory.

Afghanistan will now face New Zealand on June 8.