A World Cup defence that faltered from the outset and long since rendered futile has seen the last of its mathematical fingernails prised from the rock face, England falling to a 33-run defeat in soupy Ahmedabad and at the hands of their arch-rivals Australia.
There was no controversy to deflect from the result, no what if moment to console the increasingly beleaguered Jos Buttler as, for the sixth time in this campaign, his England side ended up second best on the day. Their remaining two games still come with the incentive of finishing in the top eight and securing qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy but right now, welded to the foot of the table, you would not bet on it.
Not that this match was all about the English woe encapsulated by Jonny Bairstow’s first-ball duck in the chase or Buttler’s latest disappearing act with the bat. Instead it came down to an Australian side who overcame the absence of two first-team players in Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh, a disadvantage by way of conditions after losing the toss, and yet strung together a characterful performance.
They have now leapfrogged New Zealand to move to third in the table and look all-but assured of a semi-final berth.
Adam Zampa was very much their champion on the day and not just through his figures of three for 21 with the ball. The leg-spinner was also irritant-in-chief at the back end of a first innings that could otherwise have settled this supposed Ashes reunion. Emerging at No 10 and pilfering 29 runs from just 19 balls, Zampa helped turn 247 for eight into 286 all out, enough to squeeze a confidence-bereft England under lights.
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This was a maddening cameo for Buttler’s men, built on streaky edges, cross-batted swipes but plenty of gumption, the value of which became increasingly apparent as the chase unfolded. There was a half-century from Dawid Malan up top and a defiant 64 from Ben Stokes in the middle. But in the end, when Adil Rashid sent a top edge into the night sky to see England 253 all out in 48.1 overs, the difference proved to be a tailender who spends more time on tour brewing artisan coffee than working on his batting in the nets.
Although Marnus Labuschagne would probably like a word here. Not even part of Australia’s World Cup plans initially, before injuries and runs forced a change of tack, Labuschagne provided the ballast for their match-winning total with a calming 83-ball 71 from number four. Not that this will be the thing the 29-year-old bores team-mates with during their journey to Mumbai for Tuesday’s encounter with Afghanistan.
Instead, Australia’s resident chatterbox will probably be reminding Pat Cummins et al about something of a rare success with the review system, having convinced his captain to check a mere whisper of an edge off the bat of Joe Root for 13. It handed Mitchell Starc a second wicket with the new ball thus the ideal start to their defence of an at-best par total, the left-armer having strangled Bairstow down leg with his initial loosener.
This was a moment that highlighted one of the elements that has gone wrong for England in India. Bairstow has appeared unsettled ever since Jason Roy was hooked from the stage before departure, not least at having to face the first ball each time. Not that this is a criticism of Malan, who after a shaky start offered a reminder of the form that won him the plane ticket, making a round 50 and putting on 84 for the third wicket with a watchful Stokes before a top-edge off Cummins was gobbled up in the deep.
Another issue for England is Buttler’s form, or lack of it to be precise. Here he was the first of Zampa’s victims, attempting to shimmy down the track and launch the leg-spinner out of the park only to pick out Cameron Green on the rope. Buttler averages 15.4 so far in this World Cup and, even with a T20 World Cup title to defend, sorry, attack next June, may be running out of road in terms of the captaincy. A bit like a couple of recent Test skippers, England need his runs more than his leadership.
But again this detracts from Zampa, who, after Stokes and Moeen Ali pieced together a 63-run stand, returned to remove both set men. For Stokes, who emerged from his bunker and sent three sixes into the 55,000 strong crowd, it was a reverse lap that flew to short fine leg, while Moeen holed out to end a crisp 42. With Liam Livingstone delivering his latest Abe Simpson impression in between – going before he had barely arrived by slogging Cummins flat to mid-wicket for two – at 187 for seven the game was effectively up.
There was some tailend swish before this was confirmed, Chris Woakes hoping to turn his earlier figures of four for 54 into an all-round show with a defiant 32 and Rashid, two for 38, likewise. But this was Australia’s day, their outfielding, led by the typically tiger-ish David Warner, superb in the late dew and their tournament heading in a very different direction.
