Title: England’s World Cup Defense in Jeopardy as Sri Lanka Hands Them Another Humiliating Defeat
Date: October 26, 2023
By Pierre Herubel
On Thursday, England faced a crushing defeat against Sri Lanka in their fifth match of the 2023 World Cup at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Jos Buttler, the England captain, won the toss and chose to bat first, but their batting lineup collapsed after a 45-run opening stand. They were only able to scrape together a meager total of 156 runs, with Lahiru Kumara taking 3/35 for Sri Lanka.
In reply, Sri Lanka lost two early wickets but managed to turn the game around with an unbeaten 137-run partnership between Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama. This partnership led Sri Lanka to an easy 8-wicket victory with 24.2 overs to spare.
England’s performance in the World Cup has been disappointing so far. Despite entering the tournament as the defending champions, having won the 2019 World Cup, they suffered humiliating defeats in their first three matches against New Zealand, Afghanistan, and South Africa. The defeat against Sri Lanka adds to their woes, making it just one win out of their first five games.
This poor performance England raises questions about whether it is the worst World Cup defense in history. To gauge their performance against other defending champions, let’s take a look at how previous winners fared:
– 1975: West Indies won the tournament (no defending champions)
– 1979: West Indies won the tournament (defending champions)
– 1983: West Indies reached the final (defending champions), India won
– 1987: India reached the semifinals (defending champions), Australia won
– 1992: Australia were eliminated in the group stage (defending champions), Pakistan won
– 1996: Pakistan reached the quarterfinals (defending champions), Sri Lanka won
– 1999: Sri Lanka were eliminated in the group stage (defending champions), Australia won
– 2003: Australia won the tournament (defending champions)
– 2007: Australia won the tournament (defending champions)
– 2011: Australia reached the quarterfinals (defending champions), India won
– 2015: India reached the semifinals (defending champions), Australia won
– 2019: Australia reached the semifinals (defending champions), England won
– 2023: England won one out of their first five matches (defending champions, current tournament)
It is worth noting that while other defending champions have been eliminated in the group stage before, England is the first defending champion to lose four out of their first five matches.
As England’s chances of defending their title dwindle, speculations about who will win the 2023 World Cup grow. The top five favorites, according to the odds from Dafabet, are India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and England.
Will England manage to turn their performance around and mount a comeback in the tournament? Only time will tell.