Defending champions England made a disastrous World Cup 2023 campaign continued to take another low as they were bowled out for 156 against Sri Lanka who are a depleted side with multiple players, including their captain, already ruled out of the tournament due to injuries.
It was the 36-year-old Angelo Mathews, who last took an international wicket in March 2020, who started the collapse of the defending after the openers had put up a 45-run opening stand. Angelo Mathews dismissed Dawid Malan before he affected the run-out of Joe Root.
From thereon, the Sri Lankan bowlers put a tight leash on the scoring rate by picking regular dismissals. England went from 45/0 in the 7th over to 85/5 and eventually were bowled out for 156 in 33.2 overs.
Kasun Rajitha, who is coming off a 4-wicket haul against the Netherlands, took the wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes. Mathews dismissed Malan and Moeen Ali, while Lahiru Kumara struck with a three-wicket haul that comprised wickets of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Liam Livingstone. Stokes top-scored with 43 for England.
Heading into this encounter, both defending champion and Sri Lanka had won only one match in their 4 games. If the England bowlers fail to defend this small total of 156 runs at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, they will be effectively knocked out of the semi-final race and will indeed need a miracle to revive their campaign.
Meanwhile, fans trolled the defending champion mercilessly for their horrible, disappointing batting show against England, which is likely to lead to a group-stage exit.
Cricket World Cup 2023: Fans troll England team with funny memes after poor performance against Sri Lanka:
Teams:
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka
England (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
