England in a spot of bother

02 March 2015 - 02:04 By unknown
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WOUND UP: Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara hits out against an England bowler during their 2015 Cricket World Cup Group A match in Wellington.
WOUND UP: Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara hits out against an England bowler during their 2015 Cricket World Cup Group A match in Wellington.
Image: AFP/WILLIAM WEST

England's hopes of reaching the quarterfinals were left hanging by a thread as Sri Lanka inflicted their third crushing defeat of the Cricket World Cup yesterday, while Pakistan began a salvage operation with a tense 20-run win over Zimbabwe.

Sri Lanka cruised to a target of 310 for the loss of one wicket with 16 balls to spare as Lahiru Thirimanne (139 not out), and Kumar Sangakkara (117 not out) shared an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 212 in Wellington.

England opened this World Cup with a 111-run loss to Australia before suffering an even more humiliating eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand, the other tournament co-hosts, before defeating non-Test nation Scotland.

What made yesterday's loss all the worse was that they posted a total of 309/6, with the 24-year-old Joe Root becoming the youngest England batsman to score a World Cup century on his way to 121.

The English bowlers were unable to gain much movement on a ground where New Zealand's Tim Southee took 7/33 when they were bowled out for just 123 last week, although Root, distracted by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, dropped Thirimanne on three in the slips.

Stuart Broad and James Anderson, England's senior bowlers, saw their combined 18 overs without a wicket cost 115 runs.

In Brisbane, Pakistan just got the better of Zimbabwe.

Pakistan came into this match bottom of Pool B and without a win after defeats by arch-rivals India and the West Indies.

Zimbabwe, whose only win has come against the amateurs of the UAE, restricted Pakistan to 235/7.

Mohammad Irfan rocked Zimbabwe early on his way to an ODI best 4/30.

Brendan Taylor (50) and Sean Williams (33) batted well but couldn't finish the job.

Zimbabwe's target of 24 off the last over proved too steep as they were dismissed for 215 with two balls to spare.

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