England's Batting Woes Exposed, Defending Champions Sink to Unthinkable Low

Jos Buttler called it right at the toss on Thursday, as was the case in the previous two ODI World Cup games but opted to bat first this time around against Sri Lanka on a hot afternoon in Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Early signs were promising in a must-win game as Dawid Malan negated the moving new ball with a flurry of boundaries on the off-side. England’s downfall, though, was not far away and the dismissals reflected the confidence in the camp had dipped to a new low after their biggest ODI loss to South Africa.

On a flat surface, England would have wanted anchorman Joe Root to settle in for the longer haul, but a misunderstanding with fellow Yorkshireman Jonny Bairstow led to his downfall for 3.

From 45/0, suddenly there were alarm bells ringing as England were 57/2, and then Jonny Bairstow departed and the scoreboard read 68/3.

ICC World Cup: Schedule | Results | Points Table | Most Runs | Most Wickets

Buttler walked in to rebuild the England innings but fell for 8, he was caught behind by Kusal Mendis, the third time he has fallen to that mode of dismissal in this tournament. Moeen Ali, recalled for the fixture, fell to a soft dismissal to Angelo Mathews to put the side further in the mire in the Bengaluru sun.

That one word which gets spoken so often, essential to building an innings -‘application’ – was just lacking in abundance from England. It meant that the innings just could not get going, at any point.

Ben Stokes, who had a forgettable return to the ODI World Cup against South Africa, was doing the best that he could at his end, but it was equivalent to clapping with one hand. The lack of support at the other end meant the defending champions had yet another forgettable outing with the bat.

England vs Sri Lanka Live Score

There was nothing spellbinding in Sri Lanka’s bowling to suggest, it was a hard pitch to bat on. England’s shot selection was again under the spotlight and left a lot to be desired on a pitch that was neither a green seamer nor a raging bunsen.

At the pre-match press conference, Ali eluded to the fact this was not any swansong for the current group of England players. But the batting performance felt more of the opposite and at the halfway mark of the innings, the reigning champions were staring at a fourth defeat in five matches in this tournament.

Brief scores: England 156 all out in 33.2 overs (Ben Stokes 43 in 73 balls, Jonny Bairstow 30 in 31 balls; Lahiru Kumara 3/35).