Batting let Afghanistan down against Sri Lanka, says Jonathan Trott

Afghanistan lost to Sri Lanka by six wickets to end their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals, with Trott pinpointing the 31 runs scored off the final four overs by his side as a problem area

Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott admitted his side were "definitely a few runs short" against Sri Lanka, pinpointing their poor return at the death as a key failing. 

In a must-win group match in Brisbane, Afghanistan finished the powerplay on 42 without loss before the introduction of Wanindu Hasaranga (3 for 13) and the untimely departure of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (bowled by Lahiru Kumara with the first ball of the seventh over) caused the runs to dry up.

They headed into the final four overs with six wickets in hand but scored just 31 runs and lost four wickets to limp to a sub-par 144 for 8.

Sri Lanka completed their chase with nine balls to spare, crucially ramping up the pressure as the innings progressed and scoring 27 runs off the 2.3 overs of death bowling they faced.

^{Trott believes his side were similarly poor with the bat against England [James Worsfold/Getty Images]}

Afghanistan, who had two matches washed out earlier in the tournament, are no longer in contention to qualify for the semi-finals.

"We were definitely a few runs short," Trott said. "When your last over goes to three runs, you certainly left a few out there. We could have done a lot better with the bat.

"We got into a position to kick on and didn't utilise the short boundary anywhere near enough. Work to be done."

Addressing the death overs, in particular, he continued: "We seem to be able to get ourselves into positions but then not utilise them and actually then kick on with the bat.

"Twice now, against England and this game – I'm not saying against England we would have had a massive score, but we would have certainly been able to put a lot more pressure on England if we'd been a little bit smarter in the last couple overs, and the same here.

"We only got 31 runs [off] 24 balls. Only being four wickets down, that's not good enough. Those sort of areas can take the game away from the opposition or if you don't get it right, bring them back into it.

"The awareness and skill of the players certainly needs to improve."

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