Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene blamed his batsmen's lack of application for the humiliating 128-run defeat against Australia in the third match of the cricket tri-series in Sydney on Friday.
"Our bowlers did a good job by restricting the Australians to around 250 but the batsmen did not apply themselves on a slow pitch," a dejected Jayawardene said.
"We knew chasing would be hard. We did not have a great start and lost too many wickets too soon playing bad shots," he rued.
The Lankan captain said most of his batsmen did not look to spend time in the middle to have any chance of a successful run chase at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Lamenting the inconsistency of his side, Jayawardene said the players will have to pull up their socks in the coming matches.
"You have to be always playing well against these guys (Australians). If you have a lacklustre performance against them you will have to lose. It was a disappointing loss," he said.
"Some new guys are coming into the side. But our one-day performance has been up and down. We have to be consistent if we are to become a top side," he said.
Jayawardene's opposite number Ricky Ponting felt his side adjusted better to the conditions than their rivals and the win would give a huge psychological boost ahead of their match against India on Sunday.
"I think we adjusted to the conditions better (than the Lankans). Nathan (Bracken) bowled fantastic, we knew his skills on slow pitches.
"250 was a good score and Gilly and Hayden gave a good opening, then Clarke did a great job to make things easy," Ponting said.
"We have started with a big win. This will give us a boost ahead of India match on Sunday in front of 80,000 crowd."
Man of the Match Bracken credited the batsmen for putting up a good total to defend which he said made the bowlers' task easier.
"The boys batted well to give us a good total to defend. It was slow pitch and we had to just bowl in the right areas.
"Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson bowled well. Hogg chipped in and I did my bit. It was a good team effort," he said.
