Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne criticises teammates after New Zealand humbling

The skipper carried his bat for an 84-ball half century but lack support as the 1996 winners were skittled for just 136 in Cardiff

Dimuth Karunaratne, the Sri Lanka captain, has slammed his teammates after the 10-wicket humiliation by New Zealand in their World Cup opener in Cardiff.

Asked to bat first on a green pitch, the 1996 winners toiled for long periods and made just 136 in less than 30 overs as the Kiwi seamers made the most of conditions.

Karunaratne top scored with an unbeaten 52, becoming just the second player in the tournament's history to carry their bat, but lacked support from his teammates many of whom gave their wickets away with lazy shots.

"You can't go there and hit every ball, so you have to stay calm, sometimes give them a chance, give us a chance to settle down," said the 31-year-old, who was appointed captain in April four years after his last one-day appearance.

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"Once you get set you can score in these conditions. I think they bowled really well. I think all their players bowled really well, so we have to give them credit. 

"And I think if we stay couple of overs in the middle, I think definitely this game would have been better really well, yeah."

Sri Lanka face Afghanistan in their second group game back in Cardiff on Tuesday.

And Karunaratne is under no illusion which aspect of their game must improve if their campaign is not to become a damp squib.

"I think batting is the main concern," he added. "You know, if you are losing wickets you can't score 200, 250 runs. So we have to get some partnerships in the middle part.

^{Mathews was one of three Sri Lankans to make a duck}

"I think once Thiri was lost, I think Kusal did very well. But after that, we keep losing wickets, you know -- we can't get a partnership on that wicket, so we keep losing wickets.

"I think that's the main reason we can't score, because of these conditions.

"I think we have another eight games to go. We need to chin up and play very well. We need to see what we have. 

"We lose, you know, and on the back end part we need to get some partnerships, the middle part. Those are the key areas. We're looking forward to doing it."

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