Adelaide: A disappointed Australian captain Michael Clarke bemoaned the lack of a challenging total as they were outplayed in the second final by Sri Lanka at Adelaide Oval, on Tuesday.
Australia set Sri Lanka 272 to win the match and the hosts overhauled the target comfortably with 34 balls to spare with eight wickets in hand.
"We were probably 40 runs short of a good total. We tried to score as fast as we could but couldn`t manage," said Clarke who is battling to be fit for the third finals on Thursday.
"We couldn`t get the momentum and it`s credit to the Lankans?they changed their pace very well and bowled Yorkers well too. We have to be at our best to beat them which we are not doing at the moment," he said.
Even though the Australians fell short of the desired total, the worry for them continues to be the bowling which is being literally toyed with by the Lankans.
"We are giving too much width. We were managing a little swing but you can`t afford the width on good wickets. We didn`t have enough score and our fielding let us down?the bowling was poor too," he said.
There was a feeling that the ball came on to the bat a lot better than it did during the first half of the day.
"When the sun goes down, the ball does skid. But we have no excuses."
Clarke, who battled with right hamstring earlier in the series, now appears to have done in his left hamstring and wasn`t sure if he would be available for Thursday, as well as for the tour to the West Indies.
"I am not sure to what extent (I have injured the hamstring). I would have a scan but definitely I`m not feeling good. But I would rather not pass the judgement and wait (for the scan report. "
PTI
