| ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, Bengaluru: |
| England 156 (33.2 overs): Stokes 43 (73); Kumara 3-35 |
| Sri Lanka 160-2 (25.4 overs): Nissanka 77* (83), Samarawickrama 65* (54) |
| Sri Lanka won by eight wickets |
| Scorecard. Table. |
England’s World Cup is all but over after a shambolic eight-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.
The defending champions are not mathematically out but now must win all of their remaining games, including against unbeaten hosts India on Sunday, and hope an unlikely set of results go their way.
Attempting to respond to a record defeat by South Africa, England’s campaign slumped into complete disarray as they were bowled out for 156.
They reached 45-0 before the wicket of Dawid Malan, caught behind off 36-year-old Angelo Mathews for 28, began a miserable slide.
Joe Root ran himself out for a nervy three, Jonny Bairstow swiped to mid-on for 30 and captain Jos Buttler was caught behind for eight playing a flashing drive.
Ben Stokes dug in but holed out for 43 from 73 balls as wickets tumbled around him. England’s innings subsided in 33.2 overs.
David Willey dismissed Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis to reduce Sri Lanka to 23-2 inside six overs, but they still eased to victory with 24.2 to spare – Pathum Nissanka ending 77 not out and Sadeera Samarawickrama unbeaten on 65.
Sri Lanka, whose only previous win in this year’s tournament came against the Netherlands, jump to fifth in the standings while England are ninth, with only net run-rate keeping them off the bottom of the table.
England approaching the end of the road
England were famously stunned by Ireland on this ground in the 2011 World Cup.
That was a World Cup shock for the ages, fuelled by a stunning Kevin O’Brien onslaught.
This was one of England’s worst performances in the history of this tournament, saved for a match they had billed as must-win.
The performance was summed up by the comical dismissal of Adil Rashid, who was run out at the non-striker’s end, having carelessly wandered out of his crease after watching a wide bowled to partner Willey.
The result is an era of dominance in white-ball cricket – one in which England have become 50 and 20-over world champions – facing a sorry end after four defeats in five matches to start the title defence.
Even if England can somehow beat all-conquering India in Lucknow, matches against Australia and Pakistan follow, either side of a meeting with the Netherlands which does not look straightforward on this form.
The maths may not say it yet, but England’s spell as champions of the world is over.
Another dismal batting day
This marked the first time England have been bowled out in consecutive World Cup matches, although against South Africa they at least had the excuse of having to chase 400.
As they had against the Proteas, England made three changes – Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone all recalled – but it had little impact.
Bairstow would have been out to the first ball of the match had Sri Lanka reviewed an lbw shout following an inswinger from left-armer Dilshan Madushanka. Failure to do so only delayed England’s misery.
Mathews was the first to strike with his trundling medium pace – Malan out caught behind on review to hand the veteran his first ODI wicket since 2020 two balls into his spell. The all-rounder was only called into the Sri Lanka squad as an injury replacement and it was his throw that also ran out Root to end an edgy 10-ball knock.
That put England’s slide in full swing as Bairstow played an ugly shot and Livingstone was pinned in front by Kumara for one.
Moeen then tamely cut to backward point on 15 to hand Mathews another wicket, before Woakes was judged to have been caught in the same position off seamer Kasun Rajitha after lengthy checks by the TV umpire to see if the ball carried.
Stokes was dropped on 12 and had to overturn an lbw decision on 13 but was just starting to open his arms when he was caught at deep mid-wicket to give Kumara a third scalp.
After that the final two departed within three overs, leaving the bowlers no hope of defending such a low total.
Willey gave England fans something to cheer with his new-ball spell before Nissanka, who put on a classy unbeaten partnership of 137 with Samarawickrama, sealed the win with a towering six over long-on.
‘We’ve been short of our best by a very long way’ – what they said
England captain Jos Buttler: “It’s incredibly tough, an incredibly disappointing tournament. As captain, you feel that a lot.
“We’ve been short of our best by a very long way. I’m disappointed for myself and the boys that we’ve not shown a good account of ourselves.
“I can’t fault the guys’ efforts, we’re just a long way short of our best. As captain, you want to lead from the front and play well. I’ve been a long way short of my best and that’s filtered through the rest.”
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis: “Net run-rate going up is good for our team. We’ve done really well, the bowling team did a really good job.
“We have another four games left, I think if we win three games we can make the semi-finals. We can do that.”
Former England bowler Steven Finn on BBC Test Match Special: “England have had a less than ideal period of four years. Other forces in world cricket have meant their focus has been elsewhere.
“Especially in the final year prior to the tournament, you want to know what your positions are. In the 2015 World Cup, which I played in, we didn’t play the right style of cricket, but we didn’t chop and change our line-up.
“England don’t seem to have known their best XI.”
