Our bowlers let us down, says Mithali

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India skipper Mithali Raj blamed the “off-colour” bowlers for India’s early exit in the ICC Women’s World Cup. The hosts failed to qualify for the Super Six stage after a humiliating 138-run loss to Sri Lanka in the last league game at Brabourne Stadium here on Tuesday.

“I think honestly 280 was something I didn’t expect Sri Lanka to score against us, the kind of (depth in) bowling attack we had,” Raj said at the post match press conference on Tuesday.
“The Sri Lankan batters scored most of their runs square of the wicket. It shows as a bowler where you are bowling. All the bowlers were off colour today. We can expect one or two bowlers of colour a day but not all of them,” she rued.
Losing three wickets quickly in the chase didn’t help India’s cause either.
“When you chase a big total, it is very important to have a good start. We lost a quick wicket and as we tried to build a little bit of partnership between me and Thirush Kamini, it didn’t become big and after me when we lost Harmanpreet Kaur,
“I think the top three falling for below 50 runs, that is where I thought the match is going to be tight,” Raj pointed out.
The hosts needed 251 runs to qualify but were bundled out for 144. “Everyone was aware that if we had to qualify, we needed to score 251. All the girls were aware of it,” Raj said.
India will now meet Pakistan on Thursday to battle for seventh position. “Honestly I don’t know... It is the seventh and eighth position. It is disappointing to be out of the World Cup as hosts.”