Twenty-four hours is a long time in sport. A weekend that held so much promise for an England team who had won every game they had played on the way to the semi-finals ended with a second consecutive defeat. This one against New Zealand in the bronze medal playoff was a much sorrier performance than the thrilling four-run loss against India.
These third-place games can be hard to play, especially off the back of a defeat such as Saturday’s, but still, England should look back on this, their worst performance of the tournament, as a missed opportunity. There aren’t so very many chances to win medals in this sport that they could afford to throw this one away so lightly.
