We played bad cricket, did not deserve to be in semis-Brian Lara

A tearful West Indies skipper Brian Lara blamed ''Host Nation phobia'' and ''bad cricket'' for not making it to the semi-finals of the ongoing Cricket World Cup.

''We played bad cricket and we did not deserve to be in the semi-finals,'' Brian Lara said after his side lost to South Africa and was virtually eliminated from the World Cup.

''It was a bad show. We suffered from host Nation Phobia and we could not handle that pressure,'' Lara told media persons here.

''It is all over for us,'' he said when reminded by a journalist that his side had two matches to play and whether he still fancies any chances. ''No, there are no chances, it is over, other teams have better run rates apart from points,'' he said bluntly.

''Yes we have two more matches and we will take them seriously.

We will play for pride,'' he said and added ''There is still lot of cricket left in the team.'' Lara was gracious enough to lavish praise on South Africa and said, ''They played very well. You have to give it to them. They showed class and character and proved why they are one of the top ranked team in the world.'' Asked why he opted to field after winning the toss, the dejected skipper said, ''There was moisture in the wicket in the morning and we were hopeful of getting early wickets but that did not happen and the rest you know.'' ''It was a crucial game for both the teams and they emerged deserving winner,'' the skipper said and added ''we knew we had to win today, but things didn't work out. All credit to South Africa.

They came back from a defeat against Bangladesh and played really well.

Chasing 356 was always going to be tough.'' MORE UNI HSB SAM RK1042

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