'You have to take what God gives you'
"Obviously it would have been nice to get that one run but you have to take what God gives you," Mathews said.
Sri Lanka's senior batter Angelo Mathews as expected was disappointed at not getting his second double century but he hoped that his big innings will eventually turn out to be the match-winning knock in the first Test against Bangladesh.
Mathews missed the double century by one run as he slogged a delivery of Nayeem Hasan nervously to square-leg where Shakib Al Hasan completed the catch.
He became the 12th batter out on 199 in Test cricket's history and was the 14th batter to finish on 199. Zimbabwe's Andy Flower and Mathews's compatriot Kumar Sangakkara were the two batters who remained not out on 199.
"Obviously it would have been nice to get that one run but you have to take what God gives you," Mathews said.
"I am thankful that I was able to play a good knock. Hopefully, it will help us win the game."
Mathews admitted that the shot he played was premeditated and rued for not connecting well.
"I just premeditated the shot. I didn't connect it. It was one of those unfortunate incidents," he added.
He was indeed philosophical about his dismissal, saying that he couldn't control all the things all the time.
"These things happen in cricket. But on the day, you get lucky. On other days, you get unlucky. You have to take it as it comes. Cricket is such that you bowl badly, you get wickets; you bowl well, you don't get wickets. Likewise for the batters: you play well and you still get out. You have to take what cricket offers you," he remarked.
"Getting that one run off the last ball with the last man, I wanted to get to the double-hundred. I miscalculated it, and unfortunately, Shakib caught it. It would have been nice to get that one run but again, cricket."
