New Zealand have no excuses for their batting horror show against Sri Lanka at the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.

Well, maybe a small one.

The Black Caps were dismissed for a paltry 60 to lose by 59 runs and crash out of the tournament.

Captain Brendon McCullum criticised his team’s attitude and execution during a botched chase for 120, which would have put them into the semi-finals.

However, he also questioned the actions of the ground staff at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium for changing the nature of the surface artificially.

McCullum had elected to bowl first, fully expecting late dew to affect Sri Lanka’s bowlers under lights, as it had for preceding games at the venue.

However, a dew suppressant chemical applied to the surface kept conditions dry throughout, allowing the Sri Lankan spin attack – led by five-wicket hero Rangana Herath – to gain considerable late purchase.

“The wicket was completely different. We anticipated it to skid on as it has done right through every game that has been played here,” McCullum said.

“But it was really dry, it was almost under-prepared a little bit, the way it played at the end. It’s disappointing to see it change so much in one game but we should have been better than that as well.”

McCullum said he may have made a different call at the toss if he was aware of the ground staff’s actions.

However, he didn’t want to let his teammates off lightly, accusing them of failing to adapt quickly enough – apart from opener Kane Williamson, whose 42 provided 70 per cent of their runs.

“There were some soft dismissals, some poor options, myself included,” McCullum said.

“We couldn’t find the right balance between an aggressive start and conserving wickets.

“We should have chased down 120 and only getting halfway is nowhere near good enough.”

McCullum praised his bowlers and the work in the field, which he said was desperate and comfortably their best effort at the tournament.

However, their chasing under pressure let them down, as it did in their other loss to South Africa.

“In the end, the team that won and qualified for the semi-finals was a far better team than us,” he said.