England’s title defence is getting worse with every match in the 2023 ODI World Cup as on Thursday they were bundled out for just 156 against Sri Lanka. The defending champions are having a miserably WC campaign as they have already lost three of their four matches and their batting versus Sri Lanka made things even worse for them.
It was a dismal batting show from England as they just failed to get going on a batting-friendly surface at M Chinnasamy Stadium, Bengaluru. It was the lowest all-out total at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in ODIs surpassing 168 by India against Pakistan in 1999.
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Former England captain Paul Collingwood lashed out at the English batters for their approach and said that they lacked confidence as the Sri Lankan bowlers took advantage of it.
“It’s difficult to watch. You can see that there is a lack of confidence among all batters. They tried to be ultra-aggressive and put Sri Lanka under pressure but it didn’t work. Whatever they are trying doesn’t seem to work. All of their shots went to hand. It was a brilliant performance from Sri Lanka. They put England under pressure. They suffocated them,” Collingwood said on Star Sports.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri was also critical of England’s batting performance and said they were directionless in their approach
“This England team, the way I look at it, not only lacks confidence but also lacks direction in the way they are playing. Some of the shots that they are playing are playing the numbers game at times. When Bairstow was looking to play normal shots while batting with Malan, the runs were coming. The moment he tried to force it, cheeky shots, he got out, a couple of more wickets fell and they lost their way. I haven’t seen an England side where the entire top-order is out of form. There is a lack of rhythm, a lack of fluency and that comes from a lack of confidence,” he said.
Ben Stokes top-scored for England with 43 but even he was powerless to perform one of his trademark rescue missions as Sri Lanka ripped through their rivals in just 33.2 overs.
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