ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: How can England still qualify for semi-final after loss to Sri Lanka

Defending champions England have lost four out of five matches played in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

England had a dismal title defence campaign so far in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. England’s batting has been in really poor throughout the competition so far. After losing to Afghanistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka in back-to-back games, England’s chances to qualify for the semifinal and remain in the top 4 have faded. There’s an outside chance for the defending champions to still make it into the top 4 depending on other results. 

Lot of equations to follow for England

A lot of permutations and combinations will come into play in calculating England’s chances for the top 4 in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. England need to win their remaining four games to add 8 points to the tally. England are currently 9th in the table, below Afghanistan and Bangladesh with 2 points. They are left to play with India, Australia, Netherlands and Pakistan in the remaining four matches. England will be at 10 points if they manage to win all these games. 

For England to qualify, they will need their new arch-rivals New Zealand to lose their remaining league games and be stuck at 8 points in 9 games. South Africa and India win their three games out of four, India losing to England and South Africa losing to India. This will make India finish top of the table with 16 points and South Africa end with 14 points. They will finish in the top 2 positions of the points table and secure their places in the semifinal round. 

Along with this, England will also need Australia to lose all their remaining matches including Afghanistan one. Sri Lanka to win against New Zealand and Afghanistan, also Pakistan winning against Bangladesh and New Zealand to make every other team in the race to finish at 8 points. England with 10 points will be at 3rd position in the points table and they will be playing in the semifinal round to defend their World Cup title. 

Sri Lanka decimated England at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in a low-scoring match. Sri Lanka restricted England to 156 runs. England batters had a poor show against Sri Lanka pace bowlers. Lahiru Kumara 3/35 bowled magnificently and helped his team win their big clash against England. Pathum Nissanka (77*) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65*) stitched a match-winning partnership of 137 runs for the 3rd wicket to guide Sri Lanka to a victory.