Jos Buttler accepted his future as England captain was out of his hands after another painful defeat sent his side tumbling towards the World Cup exit door.
England knew nothing less than victory over Sri Lanka would be enough to keep alive their fading hopes of reaching the semi-finals and they responded with arguably their worst performance yet in a campaign littered with low points.
After choosing to bat first, they were skittled for a meagre 156 in 33.2 overs, then watched as their opponents cantered home by eight wickets in Bangalore with almost half of the innings unused.
The thrashing, which followed heavy losses to New Zealand, Afghanistan and South Africa, left the reigning champions ninth in the standings with an eye-watering net run-rate.
With four games to go – including table-topping India and bitter rivals Australia – they are being kept off bottom spot by the only associate nation at the competition, the Netherlands.
Remarkably, England are not yet mathematically out with four games to play, but the route is fanciful in the extreme and Buttler acknowledged the game was up.
“It certainly looks that way and that’s incredibly disappointing. It would need a few miracles,” he said, glassy-eyed after another draining day.
“You get on the plane with high hopes and a lot of confidence and belief that we can challenge for the title, so to be sat here now with the three weeks we’ve had is a shock. It’s a shock to everyone.
“I’ll walk back in the dressing room after this, look at the players sat there and think ‘how have we found ourselves in this position with the talent and the skill that’s in the room’?
“But it is the position we’re in, it’s the reality of what’s happened over the last three weeks and that’s a huge low point.”
Pressed on his own status in charge of the side Buttler indicated a desire to continue but a realisation that the verdict may not be his to make.
In reality, England do not have an obvious successor lined up and Buttler is relatively new in the role, having inherited the mantle following Eoin Morgan’s retirement last summer.
He also has a T20 World Cup win in the bank and there has been no indication that managing director of the men’s cricket, Rob Key, has an itchy trigger finger.
“I think you’re always questioning as captain how you can get the best out of players, how you can get the team moving in the right direction,” Buttler admitted.
“I certainly have a lot of confidence and belief in myself as a leader and captain and first and foremost as a player, but if you’re asking if I should still be captaining the team, that’s a question for the guys above me.
“The tournament’s gone nowhere near the way we wanted it to…that much is obvious. As a leader, you want to lead through your own performance and I’ve not been able to do that.”
Head coach Matthew Mott joined Buttler in writing off the chances of sneaking through to the last four, telling BBC Sport: “Yeah, it’s over now, I think.
“I’m not a mathematician, but with our net run-rate and too many teams who are going to take games off each other, we have to come to terms with that. From now we’re playing for a lot of pride.
“We feel like we’ve let our fans down, our families and supporters and everyone in that dressing room, we haven’t put our best foot forward and in professional sport, that’s what you’re judged on.”
Ireland frustrated by lack of discipline as home winning run ended
Ireland captain Caelan Doris believes they were "not good enough" as they suffered a first home defeat in more than three years against New Zealand.
The All Blacks ran out 23-13 winners in Dublin thanks to Damian McKenzie, while Ireland's discipline cost them late on after they had made a bright start to the second half.
McKenzie scored three of his six penalties before the break to give New Zealand a 9-6 lead, but the visitors started the second half a man light after Jordie Barrett's yellow card for a high tackle.
Josh van der Flier scored a try for the hosts, but McKenzie soon added another three penalties before Will Jordan's try secured New Zealand a first win on Irish soil since 2016.
And Doris pointed to Ireland's discipline as the turning point late on in the game.
"It was intense out there. We were quite reactive out there and our discipline wasn't where it needed to be," he told TNT Sports.
"We got momentum at the start of the second half, but they came back. They were quality, we weren't good enough.
"Discipline was a big part. We didn't fire enough shots and part of that was our defence letting them hold onto the ball. I'm not sure exactly what the answers are, but we weren't good enough tonight."
Ireland were seeking a 20th home win in a row, but New Zealand ensured their impressive run came to a halt on Friday.
It is now five wins on the bounce for New Zealand in all competitions, having followed up their dramatic win over England last weekend.
Head coach Scott Robertson was impressed with what he saw from the All Blacks, both individually and as a team.
"It was a hell of a match, we defended extremely well, and it's really pleasing with all the work we have been doing," he said to TNT Sports.
"Discipline and self-control is an area you have to own it, and I think a lot of individuals did."
On Damian McKenzie, he added: "He is so mercurial, and sometimes he doesn't get it right, but when he does! He got enough right tonight, and I'm really pleased with how he controlled the game and kept calm."
“We have capable replacements”- Powell encourages bowlers to step up and be counted in Alzarri Joseph’s absence for first two England T20Is
West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell called the unavailability of pacer Alzarri Joseph a big loss on the eve of the first of five T20 Internationals against England at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Joseph was suspended by Cricket West Indies for two games after abruptly leaving the field during the series-deciding third ODI between the West Indies and England at the same venue on Wednesday which the hosts won by eight wickets to claim a 2-1 series win.
“It’s a definite loss for us,” Powell said in a pre-match press conference on Friday.
“He’s the spearhead of our attack and one of our more experienced bowlers but, having said that, we have capable replacements. When you look on the bench strength, I think guys that are waiting in the wings are good also. It’s an opportunity for somebody to step up and be counted,” he added.
The West Indian T20 side are coming off a disappointing series loss to Sri Lanka and will be looking to bounce back against opponents they have become very familiar with over the years, especially on their home turf.
“Every time England comes to the Caribbean it’s a big rivalry. England is one of the best teams in the world so it definitely brings out the best in us from a T20 perspective,” Powell said.
“I think we’ve been playing some good T20 cricket so this series provides an opportunity for us to continue to do that,” he added.
Another added thought in the mind of players in the format this time of year is the looming IPL player auction.
With the amount of cricket played throughout the year, however, Powell doesn’t see how anyone’s performance in these five games will determine whether or not they are picked up during the auction on November 24 and 25.
Instead, Powell wants his team to focus on the task at hand.
“A lot of scouting has already been done. I don’t think five games would actually change the decisions of where IPL teams will go. It’s just for us from an individual standpoint to focus on what we can contribute to our team and leave the rest to whatever,” he said.
With the ODI team just winning their series, Powell was asked about whether or not there is pressure for the T20 side to do the same.
“There is always pressure, especially playing at home against such a good opponent,” he said.
“Fortunately for us as a T20 team, we’ve been managing that pressure pretty well, so far,” he added.
The first T20I bowls off tomorrow at 3:00pm JA time/4:00pm ECT.
Hamilton hits 96*; Cornwall, Walsh Jr dominate as Hurricanes go top with 84-run win over Volcanoes
Jahmar Hamilton, Rakheem Cornwall and Hayden Walsh Jr all played starring roles to lead the Leeward Islands Hurricanes to a comprehensive 84-run win over the Winward Islands Volcanoes in their CG United Super50 Cup game at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground in St. Augustine on Friday.
The Hurricanes, after winning the toss and batting first, recovered from being 68-6 after 23 overs to post 180 all out off 48.4 overs, a respectable total in the end.
Hamilton, who came to the crease at 23-2 in the ninth over, carried his bat though the innings on the way to a career-best 96* off 128 balls including just five fours and two sixes.
To put into context how crucial Hamilton’s knock was, Jewel Andrew was the next highest scorer for the Hurricanes with 17.
Kavem Hodge starred with the ball for the Volcanoes with 4-26 from his 10 overs while Darel Cyrus was good in support with 2-33 from his 10 overs.
It was then the turn of the Leewards spin twins to take over proceedings as captain Rakheem Cornwall and Hayden Walsh Jr combined to take all ten wickets as the Windwards were bundled out for 96 in just 21 overs.
Cornwall led the way with 6-26 off nine overs while Walsh Jr took 4-20 off six overs as the Hurricanes moved to 38 points from five matches to sit at the top of the points table, one point ahead of the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and six ahead of the Barbados Pride who were doing battle with the Combined Campuses and Colleges at the time of publishing.
Alick Athanaze was the only Volcanoes batting to pass 30 with his 34.
Full Scores:
Leeward Islands Volcanoes 180 off 48.4 overs (Jahmar Hamilton 96*, Kavem Hodge 4-26, Darel Cyrus 2-33)
Windward Islands Volcanoes 96 off 21 overs (Alick Athanaze 33, Rakheem Cornwall 6-26, Hayden Walsh Jr 4-20).
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