Depleted bowling cost us series: Sangakkara

New Delhi, Dec 26 (PTI) Sri Lankan captain Kumar
Sangakkara Saturday blamed his side's depleted bowling unit
for the team's ODI series defeat against India.
Having already conceded the five-match series to India
who have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead, Sangakkara said his
team fought tooth and nail but the home side's superior
bowling made all the difference in the series which concludes
here Sunday.
"We tried to get over the line but failed at crucial
times. We should have won the first match (when Sri Lanka fell
three runs short of India's 414) at Rajkot," Sangakkara rued.
"There wasn't any huge contrast between the two sides. In
both sides, the batsmen dominated while bowlers were patchy.
"Unfortunately, we didn't have our full-strength bowling
unit while India had their frontline bowlers. That made the
difference," said the Lankan skipper, referring to the
injuries to Thilan Thushara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara
Fernando and Angelo Mathews.
Despite the series defeat, Sangakkara, however, saw a
silver lining in the emergence of youngsters.
"I'm happy with the way they have stepped up (the plate).
They naturally lacked experience but served us well. (Suranga)
Lakmal, Thissara Perera, Suraj Randiv -- three of our best
bowlers were debutants. Their raw enthusiasm will keep the
regulars on their toes," Sangakkara added.
The Lankan skipper said his middle order colleagues could
have done better but was not ready to blame them for the
series defeat. PTI AY
RDM