Woeful England suffer another World Cup humiliation to claim unwanted record
The World Cup baton was passed between the defending chumps and the champions elect in yet another thrashing for woeful England.
For the first time ever they have lost four matches in a row at a World Cup, and thanks to the same format they loved four years ago, there is still room for yet more humiliation. Defeat by 100 runs to India - the red hot favourites - is not an unexpected result for this shambles of a side, but after they at last showed some spirit and skill in the field and with the ball, they then collapsed spectacularly again with the bat.
Last year they were skittled for 110 by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami at the Oval in a heavy defeat and the same two were the chief destroyers here with 3-32 and 4-22 respectively. After the Oval, Jos Buttler insisted that batting remained his side’s ‘super strength.’ Well here at the World Cup nothing could be further from the truth as their run scoring failures keep them rooted to the bottom of the table with three games to go.
And if they are still there or in ninth when the tournament is done and dusted, then they will also have failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy for the first time, due to be in Pakistan in 2025. “I’m aware of that,” said Buttler, who couldn't have been told much earlier than the coach Matthew Mott who was told midway through the game. “It goes to prove we still have lots to play for.
“I’m very disappointed. That was as good as we’ve been with the ball. Chasing 230 we fancied ourselves, but it was the same old story. We are a long way short of our best.
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“It felt like today was the day it was all turning round but the way we batted doesn’t back that up. It is a puzzle, answers on a postcard please.”
England have suffered a string of humiliating defeats at the Cricket World Cup (Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)Buttler might not like the answers he gets from the public though who are falling out of love with their white ballers as quickly as they are walking to and from the middle. Far from a super strength, the batting epitomised the weakness of this campaign especially in the middle of a terrific spell of seam bowling that saw England lose four wickets for nine runs including that of Ben Stokes who had a slog across the line to conclude a 10-ball duck.
And to think that their bowlers had stepped up to keep India restricted to a below par 229-9, removing their starman Virat Kohli for a nine ball duck of his own. That was one of three wickets for David Willey who reduced India to 40-3 in the opening exchanges, while Chris Woakes was a man renewed taking 2-33.
The home side fought back through Rohit Sharma’s 87 that earned him the player of the match gong and showed England that there remains a place for solid technical batting when the situation demands. It is a skill that England’s players have either lost or refuse to engage with because it is simply not attacking enough.
They have now lost 57 out of 59 possible wickets in this tournament and the ten that fell in Lucknow allowed a 46,000 strong Indian crowd to find their voice and drown out the sound of English capitulation.
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