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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barney Ronay at the Narendra Modi Stadium

Brittle Bairstow’s duck sums up toxic fever dream of England’s World Cup

Jonny Bairstow England World Cup Mitchell Starc Australia David Willey Mark Wood Narendra Modi
Mitchell Starc celebrates after dismissing England’s Jonny Bairstow for a first-ball duck.
Mitchell Starc celebrates after dismissing England’s Jonny Bairstow for a first-ball duck. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

In the end perhaps it was for the best. An England win at this stage would have gone against the brand. Victory is off-message. Victory is confusing for consumers. The brand is “disaster”. The look is ageing, haunted, rock-bottom. Defeat brings engagement, eyeballs, heat. Push the buttons on lose for now. Reinvent lose.

England duly did so in Ahmedabad by losing slightly better. This was their sixth defeat in seven matches, but a defeat that felt almost like a win at this World Cup because it wasn’t a shellacking.

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