Lahore: Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott on Wednesday criticised the match officials after his side suffered a heart-breaking defeat against Sri Lanka in a must-win match of the Asia Cup, here.
In their last group match, Afghanistan needed to chase down the target of 292 in 37.1 overs to qualify for the Super 4 stage.
Afghanistan were in the hunt as all-rounder Mohammad Nabi scored the fastest ODI half-century for his country off a mere 24 deliveries.
However, Afghanistan found themselves at 289/8 at the end of the 37th over, needing three runs off a delivery. Mujeeb Ur Rahman got out off Dhananjaya de Silva's bowling and the equation changed to 293 in 37.2 overs. Non-striker Rashid Khan seemed to be unaware of the scenario.
They might have passed Sri Lanka on Net Run Rate (NRR) by reaching 293 after 37.2 overs, 294 after 37.3, 295 after 37.5, 296 after 38 overs, or 297 after 38.1 overs.
Trott admitted straight away that they were not aware or told by any of the match officials about the situation.
"We were never communicated those calculations," he told reporters after the match. "All we were communicated was we needed to win in 37.1 overs. We weren't told what the overs in which we could get 295 or 297. (That they could win even after) 38.1 overs was never communicated to us.
"I don't think there's one reason we lost the game. There are areas of the game we could have done better and that goes for today's game and the one against Bangladesh. We got some things horribly wrong in a few areas and it's cost us. It'd be nice if we'd bowled them out a bit cheaper. But it wasn't to be."
