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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

England vow to back misfiring stars for crunch T20 World Cup clash vs Australia

England white ball coach Matthew Mott has insisted his side will not "throw the baby out with the bathwater" after their shock loss to Ireland at the T20 World Cup and has backed his misfiring stars to come good in their crunch clash with rivals Australia on Friday.

England were beaten by five runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after rain forced the game to a premature end during the 15th over of their chase. The defeat leaves England third in the group and level on points with Sri Lanka, Ireland and Australia, essentially meaning they cannot afford to lose another game if they are to qualify for the semi-finals.

But despite their lacklustre display against Ireland, Mott has ruled out making a number of changes for the game against Australia. "You can't reinvent yourself overnight," he told BBC Sport.

"A lot of teams that have won World Cups have lost particularly early. It can be a bit of sting that you need.

"We don't want to lose any games but it is probably going to galvanise the group in terms of our approach. I think we've played really solid cricket over the last month.

"We had a bad day yesterday but we're not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater."

Captain Jos Buttler has also urged England to bounce back from the disappointment and beat the defending champions in a blockbuster game at the MCG.

Ireland beat England by five runs (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

"That's what World Cup cricket is about," Buttler said. "Of course, we wanted to be going into that game having won two games from two.

"But at some point in this tournament, the way it's set up, you're in must-win games the majority of the time.

"Friday's already a big occasion playing Australia at the MCG and it takes on that extra bit now with both teams having lost one game."

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