'We've let our nation down': Angelo Mathews apologises to Sri Lankans

Veteran Sri Lankan cricketer Angelo Mathews has apologised for the squad's poor performance at the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, acknowledging the team's regret for disappointing the hopes of both the nation and the team.

Speaking to the media, Mathews laid blame on the batters that let the team down in both of their matches of the tournament.

We are very sorry that our hopes as a team and the hopes of the country were dashed. We are very sorry. We apologise. We could not achieve what we set out to accomplish as a team," the Lankan all-rounder said.

"In both matches we played, it was our batsmen who failed. The bowlers and fielders performed very well and, despite the low scores, they put up a strong fight in both games. But unfortunately, we could not secure a win", he expressed.

"Losing even one match in a tournament like this makes it very difficult to advance. After losing the first two matches, our chances diminished significantly. Additionally, the match against Nepal was interrupted by rain. We have one game left, and we hope to play well and secure a win."

"Our audience supports us immensely, and we deeply regret that we could not deliver something for them. We have only one thing to say: we are sorry. None of us ever expect to lose a match, we always aim to win. Unfortunately, we couldn't achieve that in this tournament", Mathews added.