It was initially looking positive after they blew Afghanistan’s batting line-up away in their opening match, bowling them out for just 112, with Sam Curran becoming the first England player to take five wickets in a T20I match, thus setting England’s in-form batsmen up to comprehensively chase down a below-par target set by their opponents.
Buttler’s side will have to perform a similar miracle
Early wickets fell though and England were made to work frustratingly hard to get over the line; eventually doing so in a far from convincing fashion, winning by five wickets. Despite the win, England’s lack of intent and quality with the bat acted as an early cause for concern; a concern latched onto by Ireland in what proved to be one of the biggest shocks in Cricket World Cup history.
Against Ireland, England were lacklustre in the field and allowed their opponents to set them 158 to win. This energy transferred to their batting, with captain, Jos Buttler, being removed just two balls into the innings, whilst England’s main men with the bat, Alex Hales, Ben Stokes and Harry Brook scored just two boundaries between them.
England were arguably justified in protesting that, with seven overs to bowl and fifty-three runs required, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone would be capable of pulling off such a chase. However, the umpires were left with no choice but to hand Ireland the win in the pouring Australian rain, with the Duckworth Lewis method deeming England five runs short of the required total needed at that stage of their innings.
This controversial manner of victory should take nothing away from Ireland’s performance in the thirty-four overs that were played today. Jos Buttler conceded in his post-match interview that his side were outclassed with the bat, ball and in the field by Ireland and that they were fully deserving of the two points.
Ireland’s Andrew Balbirnie played a crucial captain’s knock as he scored what turned out to be a match defining 62 runs off 47 balls, meaning that his country sat level on points with England, Sri Lanka, and Australia in what was a very tight Group A. With New Zealand having led the way on three points, England's rained-off affair against Australia was truly dampening, as neither side had produced anything close to their best cricket against the other seemingly weaker sides.
their world class players cannot be kept down for long
England have been here before though. Their unforgettable 2019 World Cup triumph saw them lose group games to Pakistan, Australia, and Sri Lanka and, on the verge of being knocked out, picked up crucial victories against India and New Zealand. The rest, as we know, is history.
Buttler’s side will have to perform a similar miracle this time round, with a victory against Sri Lanka now required in order to qualify. This is far from guaranteed and given how England have performed so far, qualification to the semi-finals seems a tall order.
What England will both hope and believe, though, is that their world class players cannot be kept down for long, and it is possible that this early frustration may be channelled against their big rivals and England fans may witness a five-star performance that would get their World Cup hopes back on track.