David Warner disappointed with Sri Lankan pitches that does not allow run fest

Australian stand-in skipper David Warner has denounced the preparation of Sri Lanka’s pitches after his side won the 4th match of the 5 match series to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series. Warner said that the pitches have restricted the batsman from scoring big.

Warner praised his teammates for their 6 wicket win against Sri Lanka in the 4th ODI at Dambulla as they chased down the target of 213 with relative comfort. Aaron Finch made a flying start to the innings, reaching his fifty in a mere 18 balls. Australia received few jolts after the dismissal of Finch but George Bailey was there to see them through. He remained not out on 90.

But Warner, whose side suffered a humiliating 3-0 whitewash in the Test series said the sluggish pitches were not ideal for ODI cricket.

"It's hard to gain momentum when the wickets prepared are like this," said Warner, who took over the captaincy from Steve Smith after the latter was rested for the remainder of the series. "It's a little bit disappointing from our point of view because it's not the way we like to play. We like to play an aggressive brand of cricket. We like to entertain the crowd."

England registered the highest ODI total few days ago by scoring 444 against Pakistan and here in Sri Lanka, both teams are finding it really difficult to post big scores because of the condition of the pitches.

"When you see games like the England match last night, that's what I love about cricket. I love that kind of atmosphere, and that's why as a youngster I went to watch the game. But if you come here and you play five games like that, on wickets like they have here at the moment, it is going to be very, very tough to draw a big crowd all the time," Warner said.

Australia ranked No.1 in the limited overs format finally seemed to get used to the slow and sluggish pitches in Sri Lanka after barely scraping through in the other two matches.

Finch who achieved his fifty in a mere 18 balls equalled the record for the fastest fifty by an Australian. David Warner was in all praise for his teammate.

"It's always awesome to have one of your players go off like that and for me it is more of a watching tour to be honest," said Warner. I've been up the other end or in the dugout watching the guys go about it. But it's fantastic; I love that Finch comes out and plays his game. That's how we play. That's the Australian way," Warner concluded.