TANGIERS, Aug 16: South African captain Shaun Pollock was unhappy with the state of the pitch for Thursday’s loss but blamed his batsmen.

“The pitch played its part. It deteriorated and the ball held onto it. It became difficult and difficult to bat on it but I don’t think it was the main reason for our defeat,” Pollock said at the post-match conference.

He added: “Dismissals (of Jacques Kallis and Gary Kirsten) and then the batsmen’s inability to hang in there was the reason. But then when you play on such a pitch knowing that Muttiah Muralitharan will come sooner or later, its definitely plays apart in the back of your mind and in the end we were left chasing 214 to deny them a bonus point.”

Muralitharan conceded 12 runs from his eight overs and allowed Dilhara Fernando, Upul Chandana and Sanath Jayasuriya pick seven wickets between them from the other end.

Pollock didn’t feel his bowlers gave away too many runs and instead praised Aravinda de Silva who scored an unbeaten 73 off 84 balls.

“We didn’t concede too many boundaries. We just failed to stop the single and that’s because Aravinda batted beautifully. He worked the ball into the gaps and kept the scoreboard moving”.

The Warwickshire player believed it was now do-or-die for them in the remaining two matches.

“We have to win both the games. We know if Sri Lanka win one match they go through. But we are fortunate because we play last and will know what to do.”

Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya defended his decision of fielding first in the first game against Pakistan.

“I thought the wicket was damp and the overcast conditions would assist the bowers. I admit we misread the wicket. But today, we all know what we have to do if we win the toss,” he said.

The left-hander said the first 15 to 20 overs will be very crucial because the ball would soften up and the wicket would also lose its bounce and the ball would tend to stay low.

Jayasuriya was not happy with the format of this tournament in which Sri Lanka has to play four matches in six days.

Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore said it would be fair to say that batting first would be the best option after what had happened in the first three games.