Win Projections to be updated soon
The World Cup is an unpredictable tournament. What will happen in the next moment is very difficult to say. There are some favorites but those names can change at any time. One bad performance of any team can affect their whole journey of the tournament. The same thing happened with the England team. England lost their first match of the tournament. They faced a 69-run defeat against Afghanistan in their last match. That was a very disappointing loss for them. After that game, England’s test team coach, Brendon McCullum talked about the loss:
England’s form and their World Cup goals:
England was the defending champion of the World Cup 2019. They defeated New Zealand in a super over and secured their maiden World Cup trophy that year. This year, England met New Zealand in the first match. New Zealand played a dominating cricket against England in that match. New Zealand secured a 9-wicket win in that match. England started the tournament with a low.
In the second match, England beat Bangladesh by 137 runs. But again they faced a disappointing loss against Afghanistan. In that match, England won the toss and opted to bowl first. Afghanistan had a fantastic start. Afghan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 80 runs in 57 balls. He smashed 8 boundaries and 4 over-boundaries. Ikram Khil scored 58 runs in 66 balls. He smashed 3 boundaries and 2 over-boundaries. Afghanistan got all out on 284 runs.
It was not a very difficult target. But England had a disappointing start. Jonny Bairstow scored only 2 runs. Dawid Malan scored 32 runs in 39 balls. Harry Brook tried well. He scored 66 runs in 61 balls. Skipper Jos Buttler was disappointing. He scored only 9 runs. They got all out on 215 runs. They lost the match by 69 runs.
McCullum’s Word:
It was a disappointing match for the England team. They are one of the favorites. They are on low. Their test team coach Brendon McCullum talked about their performance. He said, “ They just need to stay true to their method and their style which has brought them so much success, and not get shaken by the odd bad day at the office. Of course, the boys would have liked to be 3 and 0, but sport doesn’t work like that and sometimes you have to cope with challenges and then show how good you are.”
He added, “ One thing is for sure, there are good reasons why England has won two World Cups recently. They are doing a great job and have done so for a long time and I’m just looking forward to seeing them show their quality over the next few weeks.”
Afghanistan played an amazing game at that match. They just dominated England in that match. McCullum believes in his team. He said, “ It is a World Cup, so there is going to be the odd upset and that is what you want in a tournament like this. Look at what happened to South Africa. That was a strong win from the Dutch and there will be other unexpected results before the tournament is over.”
Lastly, he said, “ Playing cricket in India against the nine other top nations in a World Cup is never going to be a walk in the park, but this is what the boys play the game for. This is what gets them excited and I’m sure that we will see the best of them soon enough.”
Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
