Defending world champions England’s ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 has gone from bad to worse. Coming into this important clash against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru on October 26, they needed a win badly but instead suffered a huge defeat.
Jos Buttler had decided to bat first in Bengaluru after winning the toss. Despite a good 45-run stand for the opening wicket between Dawid Malan (28) and Jonny Bairstow (30) in 6.3 overs, England failed to capitalize on the opportunity.
Ben Stokes made 43, Moeen Ali made 15 and David Willey made 14* as England was bundled out for 156 runs in 33.2 overs. In response, David Willey took two early wickets but Pathum Nissanka (77*) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65*) ensured that Sri Lanka reached home without any further damage.
The duo added 137* runs for the third wicket in around 20 overs and boosted Sri Lanka’s net run rate as well. The Islanders won the match by 8 wickets in just 25.4 overs.
With this win, Sri Lanka has 4 points in 5 matches and is placed 5th in the points table. But England continues to linger at the 9th spot with 4 losses in 5 games and 2 points.
After the match, a despondent Jos Buttler fronted up to the media in the press conference. He was straightaway asked whether England’s semi-final chances had faded away with that loss, and the skipper felt that was indeed the case.
He also admitted that England’s performance in the ICC World Cup 2023 thus far has been a shock for him and the rest of the squad.
“It certainly looks that way (England are out of the tournament) and that’s incredibly disappointing. You get on the plane to come to India and we’re in a really good position as a team. Everything looks like it’s going to plan and it’s just not worked at all. We’re a really good team, done a lot of really good things in the recent past in white ball cricket, and 50-over cricket.
As I said – get on the plane with high hopes and a lot of confidence and belief that we can challenge for the title. So, to be sitting here now with the three weeks that I’ve been is a shock. It’s a shock to everyone,” Buttler said in the post-match presser.
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When asked if the scheduling of matches had played a role in England not being able to perform well, Buttler refused to blame anyone else but the team.
“No, as players, the schedules are the schedules, and we’ve got a lot of things in our favor. We’ve got fantastic support from the coaches within the environment. We get fantastic support from our fans as a country, and we’ve let them all down,” he said.
“It’s been a really tough few weeks, incredibly disappointing, as you say, a shock to perform the way we have with the team that we do have. So, I don’t think there’s any blame elsewhere apart from ourselves,” Jos Buttler concluded.
England has a couple of days off before they clash with table-topper India in Lucknow on Sunday, October 29.
(PTI inputs)
