England’s second T20 World Cup humiliation has elicited unsurprisingly scathing commentary from UK writers, and the country is now preparing for a virtual elimination match against Australia on Friday.
On Thursday, England suffered a shocking defeat to Ireland after a dismal bowling performance and a shaky start with the bat rendered them helpless to save a five-run loss on DLS when the rain started.
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It goes without saying that England, one of the pre-tournament favorites, was the clear favorite to win the match.
However, by dropping one of the two games seen as bankers—the other was against Afghanistan—England now shares Group 1 with Australia in a dangerous situation.
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Many issues for England will be resolved if it defeats its fierce rivals at the MCG on Friday, but for the time being, there is a sense of confusion about how the squad let Ireland down.
Paul Newman of The Daily Mail wrote that a comeback victory for England would have been “unjust” and that the country was “mystifyingly poor.”
Michael Vaughan, a former England captain, remarked that Ireland was “much superior” with the ball in hand and that there were “absolutely no excuses at all” for the defeat.
On Cricbuzz live, Vaughan observed, “England were very pitiful for around 15 overs and got it right towards the finish but the lengths and lines were too erratic.”
“I believe England gave Ireland the opportunity to hit simple strokes because the bowling was so bad.
They ought to have been more competent and able to turn on sooner. At this level, it’s really challenging to get back into competitive mode after that brief absence.
Scyld Berry of The Telegraph also criticized England’s bowling, saying it was regularly too short under favorable conditions for seamers.
Berry claimed that England’s decision to bowl on a short pitch was “outrageous” and that they bowled “terribly” under the circumstances.
Ireland shaped the match by hitting 59 runs from the six-over powerplay and 92 for one from ten overs, according to Berry’s article for The Telegraph. “A fresh, grassy pitch and above cloud did not suggest but aggressively dictate that England should bowl line and length,” Berry wrote.
While everything was going on, Cameron Ponsonby, writing for Wisden, stated that England’s batting should not go unnoticed because the top-order failed to deliver despite knowing that rain was on the way.
“(Jos) Buttler was eliminated in the first over, followed by Alex Hales and Ben Stokes. “Every member of English royalty died tamely one after the other, like a bad episode of The Crown,” he wrote.
Of course, England has encountered situations like this before.
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The Netherlands defeated England twice in the T20 World Cup (in 2009 and 2014), and Ireland defeated England in the ODI World Cup in 2011.
It indicates that England, like Australia, is already at risk of missing out on the semifinals.
Australia lost to Sri Lanka on Tuesday night after losing to New Zealand in its opening match.
Australia and England can no longer afford to lose on Friday night after each team has already suffered one loss (7 pm AEDT).
Two losses will make it extremely improbable that either club will advance to the semifinals given the blows both teams have sustained to their net run rates.
