Woeful England Lose Again

England’s disastrous 2023 ICC ODI World Cup defence plummeted to new depths yesterday in Bangalore with any hope of progression realistically now gone after an 8 wicket hammering at the hands of Sri Lanka. The 2019 winners have lost 4 out of 5 and only the Netherlands cricket team sit below them in the standings. Coach Matthew Mott conceded after the game that the slim hope of making the top four that existed before has evaporated after this latest horror show. 

England Elect To Bat First

England again won the toss, this time opting the bat after wilting in the heat of Mumbai against the South Africa national cricket team. Openers Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan making a bright start with the bat finding the boundary on a regular basis in the first six overs. The introduction of Angelo Mathews with the ball put an end to that promising beginning. Malan tickled one to the wicket keeper off the veteran all rounder for 28 with the score on 45 which was shortly followed by a terrible mix up between Bairstow and Joe Root. This saw the former captain run out following some smart work in the field from Mathews. Bairstow then was caught by mid-on from a poor stroke off the bowling of Kasun Rajitha. Captain Jos Buttler’s lean form continued as he again nicked off to the keeper then Liam Livingstone played all around a straight one to fall LBW to the impressive Lahiru Kumara. 45 for 0 had become 85 for 5 with several of England’s key players looking badly out of touch.

England Struggle At The Crease Once Again

Like a lot of times in recent history, the England cricket team looked to Ben Stokes for a rescue act with wickets tumbling around him. Moeen Ali hung around for a little while before becoming the latest batter to fall to an incredibly soft dismissal, then Chris Woakes fell to low catch at point for a duck. Stokes offered some resistance in his 43 but it was nowhere near enough when he holed out on the boundary. Nothing summed up England’s World Cup more than the next wicket. Adil Rashid was dozily run out at the non striker’s end by wicket keeper Kusal Mendis after failing to get back in his ground. The misery with the bat was put to an end when Mark Wood was stumped dancing down the wicket off Maheesh Theekshana, with the England cricket team lasting less than 34 overs posting a desperate 156 all out.

Sri Lanka Batters Too Strong For England

David Willey offered some hope with the new ball looking like a real threat. He got Kusal Perera to guide a leading edge in the hands of Stokes at mid-on then found the edge of Mendis’s bat to reduce the 23 for 2 that the Sri Lanka national cricket team initially mustered. That was to be England’s final success as Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama batted beautifully to guide their team serenely towards England’s paltry total. They won the match with nearly half of allotted overs remaining dealing out the English with another humbling. Nissanka made an unbeaten 77, with Samarawickrama managing 65.

England All But Out Of 2023 World Cup

The inquest now begins for England, with four matches remaining it’s a case of trying to salvage some pride from the tournament. Things don’t get any easier though as they meet the hosts and favourites in the form of the India national cricket team next.

Result

Sri Lanka 160 for 2 (Nissanka 77 not out Samarawickrama 65 not out) beat England 156 all out (Stokes 43, Bairstow 30, Kumara 3 for 35) by 8 wickets.