Jos Buttler admitted England were shocked after an eight-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka left the champions on the brink of World Cup elimination
Champions beaten by eight wickets after another collapsein Bengaluru, their fourth dismal failure in five World Cup matches, saying the team’s plans for the tournament had “just not worked at all”.
England were bowled out for just 156, before Sri Lanka romped home with more than 24 overs to spare. Despite the result Buttler said he had no doubts about the quality in his squad, leaving him at a loss to explain their complete lack of form. “We’re a really good team, we’ve done a lot of really good things in the recent past in white-ball cricket and 50-over cricket,” he said.“We got on the plane with high hopes and a lot of confidence and belief that we can challenge for the title.
Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, scored just eight runs to continue his own poor form – he is averaging just 19 in the tournament – and he admitted he has been “a long way short of my best”. “It’s never for a lack of hard work or preparation. It’s not a lack of talent,” he said of his team. “A lot of the team are experienced guys who are fantastic cricketers. It’s a huge frustration. This tournament’s gone nowhere near the way we wanted to. But there’s no secret, I don’t think.
England’s task doesn’t get any easier: they next play unbeaten, in-form, at-home India on Sunday. “Whoever we play next, we want to focus on ourselves as individuals and as a team,” Buttler said. “Absolutely, you keep asking questions to try and find out what the problems are and how we can fix them. And there’s a hell of a lot of pride. There’s a lot of guys who are disappointed with the way they’ve played.
Matthew Mott, England’s coach, said his team had “hit rock bottom”. “We have to use this in a really positive way, I’ve been part of teams that have won and part of teams that have lost, but when you lose like this it has to sting and has to hurt, but something good has to come out of it,” he said.
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