West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said his side lacked ‘cricket smarts’ and was below par after they went down to a 20-run defeat to Sri Lanka and subsequently bounced out of the ICC T20 World Cup on Thursday.

Sent in to bat by the West Indies, Sri Lanka, led by intelligent batting from Charith Asalanka and Pathum Nissanka, who scored 68 and 51, respectively, raced to 189-3 in their 20 overs.

Asalanka and Nissanka put on 91 for the second wicket following the dismissal of Kusal Perera for 29 by Andre Russell with Sri Lankan score at 42.

Dwayne Bravo broke the partnership when he dismissed Nissanka for 51.

Russell eventually dismissed the prolific Asalanka in the 19th over but by then Sri Lanka was already well on their way to 189-3.

In reply, Shimron Hetmyer had his best outing of the tournament with a masterful 81 while Nicholas Pooran scored 46 in the West Indies’ total of 169-8. No other batsman scored in double figures in what otherwise a hapless display from the two-time champions, who folded to the bowling of Wanindu Hasaranga 2-19, Binura Fernando 2-24 and Chamika Karunaratne 2-43.

“I think we were below par. In a crucial match like this, you don’t want to see those things,” Pollard said while referring to how poorly his team was in the field when Sri Lanka batted.

“Our bowlers did okay; they got 189 but it was a very good batting track. The way Sri Lanka played, they didn’t bat us out of the game but played very smartly. Only three sixes but 17 fours, so they didn’t give us chances. Ran a lot of twos.”

He offered his praise for Hetmyer and Pooran, whose otherwise brilliant efforts were in vain.

“Hetmyer batted brilliantly at the end, that’s what we know he can do as an individual. Come in early, knock the ball around and explode at the end. That’s what we want to see from him, a bit more consistency,” Pollard said.

“Him and Pooran, we know we have these guys.”

The captain’s most revealing admission highlighted an issue that pundits have spoken about for years but denied by stakeholders.

 “I think cricket smarts is something that has plagued us. We have spoken time and time again, especially from a batting perspective, what we need to do as individuals and we have not done well,” Pollard said.

“A couple of young guys are putting up their hands but the experienced guys, myself included, have not done well. We are not going to hide from the fact that it’s been disappointing for us. I’m sure all the guys are hurting in that dressing room. It’s something we didn’t see coming but we have to face reality.”