Eoin Morgan ordered his players to front up against Australia at Lord’s on Tuesday and learn lessons quickly following the shock 20-run defeat by Sri Lanka at Headingley.
A target of 233 was the lowest that Morgan’s trailblazing England side have failed to chase in the past four years and brought back memories of their 2017 Champions Trophy semi-final defeat by Pakistan given their struggle on a low-scoring surface.
Australia come next, fresh from three successive wins that have taken them top of the Cricket World Cup table. But the England captain remains optimistic that, as occurred following the defeat by Pakistan at Trent Bridge in the second game of the tournament, a response from his players will be forthcoming.
Morgan said: “You look at the basics of a run chase. Partnerships are very important and we struggled to get enough going. We had a couple of individual innings but that’s not good enough to win a game.
“When we get beaten, we tend to come back quite strong – we tend to resort to aggressive, smart, positive cricket. It is now about fronting up for the next game.
“We need to learn as much as we can from this match and bounce back well against Australia. We do not see this as a blow to our semi-final chances at all.”
Despite that assertion, England’s fourth consecutive defeat by Sri Lanka in a World Cup has made their passage to the semi-finals trickier.
After Australia come Virat Kohli’s India – the two teams meet at Edgbaston, where away supporters are once again expected to outnumber their own – before facing an impressive New Zealand side at Chester-le-Street.
All three matches will throw up fresh challenges but perhaps none like the low-slung arm of Lasith Malinga. Despite having faced the 35-year-old in 29 previous ODIs (and seven Twenty20 internationals), England continue to struggle with his angle.
Jos Buttler, one of four victims of Malinga after being trapped lbw for 10, said: “He is just different. The stumps are always in play – if it hits you in line it’s generally close.
“We didn’t counter him as well as we could but credit to a fantastic bowler.” On the performance overall England’s vice-captain added: “I think we lacked energy with the bat. That doesn’t just mean hitting fours and sixes. That means showing intensity and trying to put pressure back on the bowlers.
“I think we were a little bit passive as a group, which is what we haven’t been for a long time. That is the most frustrating thing.”
It was the second match that England have been without Jason Roy and his understudy, James Vince, once again frustrated with a couple of eye-catching boundaries that were followed by a thick edge to slip off Malinga on 14.
Roy, who tore a hamstring against West Indies, remains optimistic about a return at Lord’s – he performed 12th man duties here – but is still due for a second scan on the injury this weekend to assess its progress.
Buttler said: “As a group we didn’t have that intensity. Obviously Jason is a guy who naturally does that but we can all do that from one to 11. We have played in a certain way for a long period of time and we went away from that today.”
Asked if Roy’s absence has put England out of kilter, Morgan replied: “I don’t think it has at all.
“Obviously we would love him in the side. He’s a huge strength at the top of the order. But that’s not why we lost the game or why we might have struggled on this wicket.”
