ODI World Cup 2023

‘One of the worst batting performances’- Fans react as England get bowled out for 156 against Sri Lanka in ODI World Cup 2023

Jos Buttler had won the toss and elected to bat, but England's innings collapsed after a promising start.

Oct 26, 2023 7:12 pm

Defending champions England have been bowled out for just 156 in the first innings of their ongoing World Cup game against Sri Lanka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Jos Buttler had won the toss and elected to bat, but England’s innings collapsed after a promising start.

Openers Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan started well, notching up a stand worth 46 but things went wrong for the Englishmen after the latter was dismissed in the 7th over. After that, it was a procession as Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone were all back in the pavilion by the end of the 17th over. Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali tried to stabilize the innings but the partnership couldn’t stand the test of time. The same can be said about the alliance between Stokes and David Willey.

England’s shambolic show was down to some poor decisions and shot-making. There were two unfathomable run-outs in the innings with one of them being of veteran Joe Root. Bairstow who made 30 runs ended as the 2nd highest scorer but his innings were extremely scratchy. Jos Buttler found himself edging the ball to the keeper for the third time in the World Cup and Livingstone and Ali played a couple of needless shots when they were least required.

Kasun Rajitha gets the big fish

For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Kumara was the pick of the bowlers as he returned figures of 3-35 which included the huge wickets of Buttler, Livingstone and Stokes. Kasun Rajitha and Angelo Mathews chipped in with two wickets each while Maheesh Theekshana picked up one.

England’s batting performance sums up their campaign thus far as they have been found wanting in all three departments over the last 20 days or so. England’s batters have made it an extremely difficult job for the bowlers as the track is still a very conducive one for batting and the boundaries are not too big either. If England are to win this, their bowlers will have to be on the money right from ball one and if that happens, the fans are in for an exciting second essay.

Here’s how Twitter Verse reacted to England’s below-par performance in the first innings:

one of the worst batting performances. What is the point of having batting depth when they can’t even score 300 in Chinnaswamy

— yang goi (@GongR1ght) October 26, 2023