Former England captain Michael Vaughan reckons Jos Buttler's team is going through one of its worst World Cup campaigns in the ODI tournament's 48-year history after another poor show with the bat in Match 25 against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.
England fold for 156 vs SL
The Lankans bowled out England for just 156 in 33.2 overs after Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.
Ben Stokes (43), Jonny Bairstow (30) and Dawid Malan (28) got off to good starts but couldn't convert them into big scores while the rest all failed to fire.
Batting woes and Root's run out
Former captain Joe Root's run out added to England's woes in the powerplay from which they couldn't recover and eventually folded for a well below-par score on a small ground.
Taking to social media, Vaughan expressed his disappointment at England's performances so far.
"This is turning out to be one of the worst World Cup campaigns in English cricket history .. btw .. & we have had some stinkers .. #CWC2023 !!!" Vaughan tweeted on X.
England facing early exit
The defending champions are on the brink of an early exit from the tournament which they won for the first time in 2019 on home soil under Eoin Morgan.
But nothing has gone right for England in this edition barring the one victory against Bangladesh earlier this month.
They suffered crushing defeats against South Africa and New Zealand but the worst show came against Afghanistan, who registered a stunning 69-run win in Delhi to severly dent England's campaign.
Another big defeat looms large as Sri Lanka look on course to chase down 157 in Bengaluru. A defeat tonight will make it nearly impossible for England to qualify for the semi-finals.
