EAST LONDON (South Africa), March 16: Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak identified Andy Flower’s dismissal for 38 as the turning point in the World Cup Super Six match against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

After Flower was adjudged lbw, Sri Lanka went on to win by 74 runs and qualify for a semifinal place against defending champions Australia. Television replays suggested Flower had got an inside edge.

“It was crucial,” said Streak. “He and (brother) Grant were forming a good partnership. Andy is one of the premier players of spin in world cricket and in the context of today’s game we needed him there.

“If they had managed to bat through that period and get wickets in hand for the end we could have had more of a go.”

After a tournament in which they won just two matches, against non-Test nations Namibia and Holland, Streak conceded his side had not played as well as they could.

“No, I don’t think we played to our full potential,” he said. “We showed sparkles of what we were capable of but we weren’t consistent enough in the end.

“Our batting in the top five bar Andy Flower was inconsistent and we were fortunate that the all rounders came to the party a few times and pulled us out of tricky situations.

“We didn’t play to our full potential but there are a lot of youngsters in the side so hopefuly those guys can take the learning experience with them and in four years time when the next World Cup comes round they can take that experience and put it to good use.”

Streak also confirmed he had no plans to follow Andy Flower and Henry Olonga into retirement.—Reuters