England skipper Jos Buttler has admitted his team is facing tough fate as they look destined for an early exit from the ODI World Cup. Buttler and Co lost by eight wickets on Thursday (Oct 26), which has seen them condemned to their fourth defeat of the ODI World Cup. With two points and four matches to go, they look out of sight to make the last four. They next take on India in the ODI World Cup on Sunday, with the Men in Blue now able to put the knockout punch on the defending champions.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Buttler admits fate
“It’s incredibly tough. As a captain, you feel that a lot – disappointed with myself and the boys that we’ve not shown our best. We’re playing a long way short of our best. There’s a lot of really experienced cricketers in the room. You don’t become a bad team overnight. That’s the frustration. We’ve been so far short of our best, and there’s no particular reason. Can’t put my finger on it. Selection is something you want to be consistent with,” Buttler said.
Buttler’s army was tasked to defend 157 after another embarrassing show with the bat in Bengaluru. Derailed by the returning Angelo Matthews and the lethal bowling of Lahiru Kumara, England lost early wickets in their innings to hand Sri Lanka an early advantage.
Matthews, along with Kasun Rajitha, picked up two wickets each, with Maheesh Theekshana getting one.
Ben Stokes was the top run-getter for England with 43, while openers Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow put in 45 runs for the opening wicket.
With no herculean run chase on offer, Sri Lanka chased the target in 25.4 overs as Pathum Nissanka (unbeaten 77) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65) stitched an unbeaten 137-run stand to win the match.
David Willey scalped two wickets during his spell but other senior bowlers did not give competition to hand Sri Lanka an easy win.
This also helped them boost their NRR with close competition for the semifinals expected.
Buttler also spoke on the team’s selection parameter and admitted it was not a big issue considering the majority of the players have won either the T20 World Cup or the ODI World Cup.
“Selection hasn’t been our problem. We’ve been short of our standards. Lots of the dismissals – Root’s run out – you don’t see that kind of mistakes from us. Haven’t been building partnerships. Not doing the basic things well with both bat and ball. The biggest thing is personal pride. The standards we set for ourselves. Rest of the matches we want to get back to playing good cricket,” he said.
With chances of making the semis very slim, England will look to get the best possible result from their remaining four matches.
They will play hosts India on Sunday in Lucknow while Australia and Pakistan also await them in their remaining matches.
Their clash against the Netherlands on November 8 could be a dead rubber counting they lose either of India or Australia clash.
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