England has suffered a huge blow to its ambition of defending the World Cup title. Their batting has been woeful in the game which has resulted in another collapse. The performance is confidence-shattering against Sri Lanka.
England cricket team's woes are not looking to end as their nightmarish ODI World Cup 2023 has continued and taken more extreme shape. Many hoped to see the end of England's defeat run when the defending champions were ready to take on Sri Lanka who themselves have had an underwhelming start.
Contrary to popular belief, England's batting lineup has failed against Sri Lanka's bowling lineup that too on the Bengaluru surface which is known to help even the worst batting sides. England captain Jos Buttler won the toss on Thursday and decided to bat first.
Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow gave a fine start to their side after scoring 45 runs for the first wicket partnership. However, the dismissal of Dawid Malan in the 7th over started the infamous collapse of the England cricket team.
Sri Lanka's underwhelming bowling lineup lined up wickets one after the other against England. Joe Root was out for 2 runs while Jos Buttler for 8 runs and Liam Livingstone for 1 run. Chris Worked was dismissed for a duck as Ben Stokes kept going for England at the other end.
His contribution has taken England to a 100+ score which will still not be sufficient on such a batter-friendly track. It looks like the England team is already desperate to pack their bags and leave in order to forget the ODI World Cup 2023 as a tragic dream. Lahiru Kumara went on to pick three wickets while Angelo Mathews announced his comeback in style with two wickets.
Angelo Mathews has looked fresh and on the point with his precise line and length. His bowling has been tight which has kept a lid on the runs and as a result of that provided crucial wickets at the right time. England is all out for just 156 runs in 33.2 overs as Ben Stokes scored 43 runs.