England’s World Cup Dreams Dwindle After Crushing Eight-Wicket Loss to Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. While they haven’t been officially eliminated yet, the defending champions now find themselves in a tough spot. They need to win all their remaining games, including a match against the undefeated host team, India, this Sunday. On top of that, they’re also relying on a few other unlikely outcomes to go in their favor.
England’s World Cup campaign took a major hit as they were bowled out for a mere 156 runs. They started off well, reaching 45-0, but the dismissal of Dawid Malan, who was caught behind off Angelo Mathews for 28, marked the beginning of a downward spiral.
Joe Root was run out after scoring just three runs, Jonny Bairstow was caught at mid-on for 30, and captain Jos Buttler was caught behind for eight while attempting an aggressive drive. Ben Stokes tried to hold the innings together but was dismissed for 43 from 73 balls as his teammates continued to lose their wickets. England’s innings ended in just 33.2 overs.
David Willey managed to dismiss Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis early on, reducing Sri Lanka to 23-2 within six overs. However, Sri Lanka bounced back and comfortably won the match with 24.2 overs to spare. Pathum Nissanka scored an unbeaten 77, while Sadeera Samarawickrama also remained not out on 65.
With this victory, Sri Lanka, who had only beaten the Netherlands in this year’s tournament until now, has moved up to fifth place in the standings. On the other hand, England finds itself in a tough spot, sitting at ninth place. The only thing keeping them from hitting rock bottom is their net run-rate.
England’s performance in this match was reminiscent of their shocking defeat to Ireland on the same ground during the 2011 World Cup, a game that went down in history due to Kevin O’Brien’s remarkable performance.
However, this match will be remembered as one of England’s poorest showings in the tournament’s history, particularly disappointing given that they had deemed it a must-win game.
The team’s dismal performance was epitomized by the dismissal of Adil Rashid, who was run out at the non-striker’s end after carelessly straying from his crease while watching a wide delivery to his partner, Willey.
This result puts a damper on an era that saw England dominate in white-ball cricket, becoming champions in both 50 and 20-over formats. Their title defense has gotten off to a rocky start, with four losses in their first five matches.
Even if England manages to pull off a victory against the formidable Indian team in Lucknow, they still have challenging matches ahead against Australia and Pakistan. In addition, their match against the Netherlands, which previously seemed straightforward, now appears more daunting given their current form.
England’s captain, Jos Buttler, expressed his disappointment, saying, “This tournament has been incredibly tough and disappointing. As the captain, I feel that deeply.
“We’ve fallen far short of our best. I’m disappointed that we haven’t been able to show what we’re truly capable of.
“I can’t fault the team’s effort, but we’re just not performing at our best. As a captain, I aim to lead by example and perform well. However, I’ve been far from my best, and that seems to have affected the rest of the team.”
Sri Lanka’s captain, Kusal Mendis, expressed optimism about his team’s performance, saying, “Our net run-rate improving is a positive sign for our team. We’ve performed really well, especially our bowlers.
We still have four games left to play. I believe if we can secure victories in three of those games, we have a good chance of making it to the semi-finals. I’m confident we can achieve that.”