BALAGOLLA, Sri Lanka (CMC) – West Indies bowling coach James Franklin has called for better performance from his bowlers for the remaining two matches of their One Day International (ODI) series against Sri Lanka.

West Indies lost the opening ODI by five wickets on Sunday under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after more than three hours of playing time was lost due to heavy rain.

It means the Windies must win their last two matches – the second of which is Wednesday at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium – if they want to clinch the best-of-three series.

Franklin, the former New Zealand all-rounder, said he believes the West Indies have fallen in the bowling department.

“We got a total that we thought we could defend and we had a great start with the ball. We got three wickets in that power play reduced to eight overs and had Sri Lanka under some pressure but they had a very important partnership with captain Asalanka and debutant Madushka,” Franklin said.

“We probably weren’t that good yesterday (Sunday) with our execution with the ball – I think that will be the overall reflection – and going into the next game I think we can be a lot better with our execution, especially with our heights. .

“Look, we’re down 1-0 in this three-match series. We now have a few days to think and work on where our improvements lie for the next game.”

Franklin said the Windies expected a tough challenge against Sri Lanka, especially with the wickets tailor-made for spinners.

And while he admitted the opening loss was disappointing, he claimed the Windies still had a great chance of winning the series.

“We are on a journey as an ODI team and we have to keep improving, keep trying to move ourselves up the rankings in terms of the ICC table,” he said. “We come here to Sri Lanka – who have always been a good team domestically and are difficult to beat in their own conditions – so we know we have a huge challenge in the next few games…

“Although yesterday was disappointing, we know we are still in this series, we know there is a big game on Wednesday and we just have to execute our skills longer.

“We know what surface we’re going to have – it’s going to be a very similar surface again – so we’re going to prepare well today and tomorrow and make sure we’re a little bit better with our execution or better with our execution with the ball.”