Spilled catches baffle Flintoff

8220;If we had held our catches we could have won the match,8221; said Flintoff.

8220;It was a bizarre game for that. Nine or 10 chances went down and whatever it was it was catching. You look to find excuses and reasons why we dropped them,8221; the Lancashire all-rounder said.

But he took heart from England8217;s first innings 551 for six declared, their highest Test total against Sri Lanka.

8220;We started well. We batted fantastically in the first innings. The wicket was a good track. Trescothick has been one of our best players for the past three years and getting him back was a bonus.8221; Flintoff explained.

8220;We were chasing the game after the first day. It was a disappointing first innings performance, and we knew we had to show some character, which we did. We8217;re pretty happy with the effort. But there are lot of areas we need to improve,8221; Sri Lanka captain M Jayawardene said.