They say the higher you rise, the harder you fall – and England’s double world champions have fallen brutally hard. Even after losing two of their first three World Cup games they promised they could yet scale new heights; against South Africa they plumbed fresh depths: a record number of runs conceded and their biggest losing margin.
With a brilliant batting display South Africa exposed all the frailties of their opponents, physical, mental and technical. England have not yet been definitively eliminated, but after this 229-run defeat it is only a matter of time. The grisly picture is already clear: their old-timers thought this could be one last hurrah. Instead it has been a bridge too far.
