Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Bengaluru: Following his side's eight-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in the ICC Cricket World Cup, England skipper Jos Buttler said on Thursday that he cannot point out a reason why his side has had a disappointing tournament so far and admitted that he himself has been far from best in this tournament as a captain and player.
England's title defence sunk to a new low as they registered their fourth loss of the tournament to Sri Lanka on Thursday at Bengaluru. Halfway through the tournament, England has won only one match and looks pretty much out of the competition.
"It has been an incredibly tough and incredibly disappointing tournament. Disappointed in myself and all the boys that we have not shown a good account of ourselves. There is no clear answer at the moment [as to why that's the case]. Cannot really fault the boys' efforts but we are playing a long way short of our best. It starts from the front, as Captain you want to lead from the front and play well and I have been a long way short of my best. [Confidence drained away?] Not really to be honest, there are a lot of experienced cricketers in the room, who have been through a lot - confident people. You don't become a bad player overnight, you don't become a bad team overnight."
"I think that's probably the biggest frustration, that we have been so far short of our best, and for no obvious reason. Just can not put my finger on it at the moment. [uncertainty over strategy?] Selection is something you want to be consistent, build that trust. But selection is not a problem at the moment, performance is. Whoever has been on the field so far has been short of the standards we set ourselves. The kind of mistakes we are all making, you do not see that usually. We have not been doing the basic things well. [What to cling to?] The biggest thing is personal pride, whatever happens in the rest of the tournament we want to give a good account of ourselves going forward," he added.
Coming to the match against Sri Lanka, England opted to bat first and were bundled out for 156 runs in just 33.2 overs. Ben Stokes (43), Jonny Bairstow (30) and Dawid Malan (28) put some decent contributions with the bat.
Lahiru Kumara (3/35), Angelo Matthews (2/14) and Kasun Rajitha (2/36) were the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka.
In the chase of 157, England did lose two quick wickets to David Willey but fifties from Pathum Nissanka (77*) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65*) helped them cruise to an eight-wicket win in just 25.4 overs.
Lahiru Kumara was given the 'Player of the Match' award for his match-winning spell.
With this loss, England has lost its fourth match in five games and are at the second-last spot in the points table. Sri Lanka has its second win in five matches and with four points, are now at fifth spot in the table. England is pretty much out of the tournament, especially with in-form teams like India, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia having more games in hand.
