Defending champions England faced another dismal defeat in the World Cup 2023 on Thursday, facing an 8-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. With a fourth defeat in five matches, thee side's chances of progressing in the tournament are now in serious jeopardy; England had chosen to bat but could only manage 156 runs – their lowest World Cup total since 2003 and the lowest ODI score ever recorded at the usually batter-friendly M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Sri Lanka, then, had a comfortable victory, reaching 160-2 with 24.2 overs to spare, thanks to aggressive half-centuries from Pathum Nissanka (77*) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65*).
Australia, meanwhile, have experienced contrasting fortunes in the 2023 World Cup to their traditional rivals England. Pat Cummins' men did endure a rocky start to the campaign – losing their initial two matches to India and South Africa – but made an impressive comeback. They secured victories against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the Netherlands and currently hold the fourth spot in the points table. With momentum on their side, Australia face their Trans-Tasman rivals, New Zealand, in a crucial match on Saturday.
Also read: 'If you're asking if I should remain England captain...': Buttler 'shocked, frustrated, disappointed' by World Cup show
It might certainly be a big game for Australia in tournament's context; however, following England's colossal defeat to Sri Lanka, a journalist couldn't resist asking Cummins for his comments on England's downfall in the 2023 World Cup. And even though the Aussie skipper insisted it was sad to see England's loss on Thursday, Cummins hilariously wore a wide grin, seemingly indicating the competitive spirit that exists between the two cricketing giants.
{{/usCountry}}It might certainly be a big game for Australia in tournament's context; however, following England's colossal defeat to Sri Lanka, a journalist couldn't resist asking Cummins for his comments on England's downfall in the 2023 World Cup. And even though the Aussie skipper insisted it was sad to see England's loss on Thursday, Cummins hilariously wore a wide grin, seemingly indicating the competitive spirit that exists between the two cricketing giants.
{{/usCountry}}Watch:
England are yet to face Australia; the two sides meet at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 4. Before the game, however, England will meet the high-flying India in their next match on Sunday; Rohit Sharma's men are yet to concede a defeat in the 2023 edition.
Australia, meanwhile, would want to carry their aggressive batting and bowling from recent games into the clash with old rivals New Zealand in Dharamsala. "Our group's big on talking about the style that we want to play, and I think in the first two games not only did we not win, but I think we didn't really nail the style that we wanted to play," Cummins told reporters in the press conference.
"I think in the last few games, you've seen us be a bit more aggressive - batting and bowling. Bowling - everyone's been really open-minded, tried different things; trying bounces, different fields, one over spells, and it's just been a real buy-in from the whole team, and yeah, it's been fantastic last few games.
"That's a standard we want to keep going with for the rest of tournament."