Hussain criticises England

Nasser Hussain, the England captain, was critical of his side's approach in their 23-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the NatWest Series one-day match here yesterday.

Having dismissed the tourists for 229, England, already sure of a place in the final against India, slipped to 206 all out in 47.4 of their 50 overs, giving Sri Lanka their first victory of the series.

There was little about England's performance that satisfied Hussain. He thought they let Sri Lanka score too many and was dismayed at a mediocre batting performance.

"I thought we were very clumsy in most things we did today. We shouldn't have let them get 229 and we should have got 230. Our ground fielding was poor and we lost wickets through clumsiness and we have got to get over it," said Hussain, whose own innings was ended by an unnecessary run-out.

But he added: "We've got a few plus-points. Alex Tudor and Jeremy Snape bowled well but we should not have lost today and we've got to put that right."

Sanath Jayasuriya, his opposite number, said his side were determined to perform well after their defeat to India on Saturday, which meant that they could not reach the final. "It was too late but we wanted to win the match and the boys wanted to do well. We bowled well and fielded well today," he said.

Kumar Sangakkara was named man of the match for his innings of 70 runs. He thought Sri Lanka had not gained the return their efforts earlier in the series had deserved. He said: "We've played well throughout the tournament. There was never a time when we were outplayed. It was finally really good to come out and win."