England vs Sri Lanka LIVE: Cricket World Cup score and updates as Dawid Malan and Joe Root out early

England might have come into the Cricket World Cup as defending champions but they have suffered three defeats from their opening four matches and stand on the brink of elimination.

Jos Buttler’s side were hammered by New Zealand in the opening match of the tournament and although they briefly looked like they had rebounded against Bangladesh, two successive defeats against Afghanistan and high-flying South Africa have all but sealed their fate.

More concerningly for England was how shell-shocked the side looked following their 229-run defeat against the Proteas. They were short in every aspect of the game and routinely punished for it, with the match becoming their highest-ever ODI defeat.

England now face a situation where in order to have any hope of qualifying for the semi-finals they have to win all of their remaining group games, starting with Sri Lanka, who will fancy their chances following Buttler’s side’s latest results.

Follow all the live action here:

England vs Sri Lanka LIVE: Cricket World Cup score and updates

England face Sri Lanka in must-win Cricket World Cup clash

Wicket! Wood out for 5! st Mendis – England 156 all out

Wicket! Rashid out for 2! run out Mendis – England 147-9

Wicket! Stokes out for 43! ct sub b Kumara – England 137-8

Wicket! Woakes out for 0! ct Samarawickrama b Rajitha – England 123-7

Wicket! Ali out for 15! ct Perera b Mathews – England 122-6

Wicket! Livingstone out for 1! lbw Kumara – England 85-5

Wicket! Buttler out for 8! ct Mendis b Kumara – England 77-4

Wicket! Bairstow out for 30! ct de Silva b Rajitha – England 68-3

Wicket! Root run out for 3! – England 57-2

Wicket! Malan out for 28! ct Mendis b Mathews – England 45-1

England all out for 156 in woeful batting performance

England all out for 156

12:30 , Sonia Twigg

Well the hopes were not high ahead of the start of play, but few could imagine just how far England would fall against Sri Lanka in a must-win clash.

The score was well below-par, the wickets just seemed to tumble. Other than Stokes’ 43 there was not much to note with the bat.

Sri Lanka were good but England were woeful, and showed none of the fight you would want to see from a side with their backs against the wall following three defeats in their opening four matches going into the game.

Wicket! Wood out for 5 st Mendis b Theekshana – England all out for 156

12:23 , Sonia Twigg

That one almost snuck through Wood’s defence, it spun past the outside edge, a great delivery from Theekshana.

The next ball Wood comes down the track and misses, with Mendis taking off the bails.

That was a brilliant performance by Sri Lanka and just utterly woeful from England.

England 156-9 (33) Willey 14, Wood 5, Kumara 3-35 (7)

12:21 , Sonia Twigg

Wood has hit a four already., that was a big carve into the off side to bring up the 150 from England.

I think that has to be the plan now. Kumara bowls a full toss next ball but that went to the fielder in the deep and will just be a single.

Willey has picked up where Wood left off, lifting the ball over the infield and into the off side.

England 147-9 (32) Willey 10, Wood 0, Theekshana 0-21 (8)

12:17 , Sonia Twigg

Mark Wood has come to the crease, he scored more than 40 in a record-breaking ninth-wicket partnership with Atkinson during a failed run chase against South Africa, and England will be hoping for something similar here.

Wicket! Rashid out for 2! run out Mendis – England 147-9

12:15 , Sonia Twigg

That one has gone through Willey, who can only stand there leaning on his bat, but it misses the stumps.

There is a big appeal and Rashid is run out at the non-strikers end! He was a bit lazy getting back in there, a brilliant piece of fielding from the Sri Lanka captain and they have another!

England 144-8 (31) Willey 10, Rashid 1, Kumara 3-26 (6)

12:11 , Sonia Twigg

Kumara has been exceptional today, assessed conditions well and bowled to them expertly.

Willey has smashed Kumara for six! I can’t remember another one so that might well be the first of the innings so far.

It was well-hit. England might just be looking to pile on the runs as quickly as they can now with just two wickets left.

Wicket! Stokes out for 43! ct sub b Kumara – England 137-8

12:07 , Sonia Twigg

Stokes has mis-hit that straight to the fielder in the deep and is furious with himself!

With that wicket he takes England’s hopes with him. Just as he was starting to offer some resistance.

Sri Lanka have turned the screw and England are floundering.

England134-7 (30) Stokes 42, Willey 4, Theekshana 0-17 (7)

12:05 , Sonia Twigg

Stokes has another couple, Willey moves on to 4. They will both need to bat out most of the remaining 20 overs if England are to have any hope of setting a respectable total here.

Four runs from that over.

England 133-7 (29) Stokes 40, Willey 3, Kumara 2-19 (5)

12:01 , Sonia Twigg

Kumara who has bowled excellently so far will come back on for Mathews.

Willey flashes at the first ball of the over, it flies wide of the fielder and to the boundary for a single.

Three runs from the over.

England 130-7 (28) Stokes 39, Willey 1, Rajitha 2-36 (7)

11:53 , Sonia Twigg

A ball from Rajitha jumped up at Willey and caught the shoulder of the bat but looped wide of the fielder at point who was running round.

Stokes has smashed one for four, it isn’t quite yet time for him to farm the strike and keep this going as long as possible but not too far away.

England 124-7 (27) Stokes 34, Willey 0, Mathews 2-14 (5)

11:49 , Sonia Twigg

Mathews to continue, his medium-pacers have caused all sorts of problems for England so far, and they will want to take the remaining wickets as quickly as possible.

But he has bowled well and caused problems. They have taken enough wickets and this is the last recognised batter that England have.

Willey can only fend at the first three balls. No wickets and just one from the over.

England 123-7 (26) Stokes 34, Willey 0, Rajitha 2-30 (6)

11:45 , Sonia Twigg

It’s hard to see where England go from here, they will want to show some fight with the future of their World Cup in the balance, but it’s yet another poor batting performance almost all round.

Wicket! Woakes out for 0! ct Samarawickrama b Rajitha – England 123-7

11:42 , Sonia Twigg

Sri Lanka celebrate the wicket of Chris Woakes! the ball is thrown in the air but there is a debate about whether the ball carried.

The umpires have reviewed…Woakes pushed at it outside the off stump.

The angles shown to the third umpire are far from clear but he is out!

England 122-6 (25) Stokes 33, Woakes 0, Mathews 2-14 (4)

11:35 , Sonia Twigg

Woakes has a point to prove after being left out of the last game against South Africa at Mumbai, but he might not have been expecting to have to prove it with the bat – and definitely not so soon.

England are on the back foot. Stokes is at the crease but he is rapidly running out of partners.

Wicket! Ali out for 15! ct Perera b Mathews – England 122-6

11:33 , Sonia Twigg

Sri Lanka have kept tinkering with their attack, and this over will be bowled by Mathews.

The first three balls have just been played around for singles.

And then he strikes! Ali makes a mistake there and plays it to the fielder and has to go for 15.

Just as England started to look like building something another wicket falls and they are into the bowlers.

England 119-5 (24) Stokes 31, Ali 14, Rajitha 1-29 (5)

11:29 , Sonia Twigg

de Silva does not get a second over, and Sri Lanka turn back to Rajitha here.

He starts with a wide. Ali drives and can’t quite find the gap and it’s a good stop to keep it to a single.

That was a tighter over, just three runs from it.

England 116-5 (23) Stokes 30, Ali 13, Madushanka 0-37 (5)

11:25 , Sonia Twigg

Stokes has another four, he is taking the attack back to Sri Lanka here, capitalising on the bowling changes.

England lost to Sri Lanka in 2019, 2011 and 2015. The last four 50-over World Cups it is the side from the subcontinent who have come out on top against England.

Another boundary for Stokes and he is starting to find his groove.

England 108-5 (22) Stokes 22, Ali 13, de Silva 0-10 (1)

11:20 , Sonia Twigg

Two fours from de Silva’s first over! And finally some runs for England to take them over 100.

10 runs from that over.

England 98-5 (21) Stokes 17, Ali 8, Madushanka 0-29 (4)

11:17 , Sonia Twigg

The opening bowler Madushanka has come back on. His first three overs went for 20, but this is a completely different stage of the game, and England are five wickets down.

There is a misfield first ball and Ali will pick up two runs.

More misfields and England will take any run they can now. In overs 11-20 England lost 3-30 – we will see just how costly that will prove to be but it could cost them the game.

Stokes hits over the top for four last ball of the over.

England 89-5 (20) Stokes 13, Ali 3, Theekshana 0-14 (6)

11:12 , Sonia Twigg

Stokes has been given out just as it looked like there might be a brief respite in the tumble of wickets!

It was a massive appeal from Theekshana. Stokes was well forward as he tried to sweep the ball.

England have reviewed that, as they sort of have to now. There is a long delay in the wait for ultra edge…and a cheer goes up when it shows the ball has hit the back.

That is a lifeline for the defending champions and they have to make it count.

England 88-5 (19) Stokes 13, Ali 2, Kumara 2-16 (4)

11:06 , Sonia Twigg

None of England’s poor decision-making or woes should take away from Sri Lanka’s ability with the ball.

Kumara has bowled beautifully here, and there’s one that just carves up Stokes.

Stokes is dropped next ball! A leading edge to backward-point, the fielder dived to his right but it just spills out.

England 85-5 (18) Stokes 12, Moeen 0, Theekshana 0-13 (5)

11:03 , Sonia Twigg

England need to absorb pressure here, they cannot afford any more wickets.

Wicket! Livingstone out for 5! lbw Kumara – England 85-5

10:58 , Sonia Twigg

Stokes has a boundary – from a streaky edge – but England may not mind where they come from here.

The next ball is driven to the sweeper in the covers. Livingstone throws his bat at a wide one and fortunately edges it into the ground.

Livingstone is struck on the pads…Sri Lanka appeal and the finger goes up.

England have reviewed the decision…and that is out!

Hitting the wickets on umpires call and England are in trouble!

England 80-4 (16) Stokes 7, Livingstone 1, Theekshana 0-13 (4)

10:53 , Sonia Twigg

Buttler has averaged just 19 at the tournament in the opening five matches and has been out of nick, a rare run of form for him, and it has definitely had an impact on where England find themselves.

Another quiet over with just the three runs from it.

England 77-4 (15) Stokes 5, Livingstone 0, Kumara 1-8 (2)

10:49 , Sonia Twigg

Livingstone has come back in for this match and he will have a hell of a job to do here.

Stokes has only had one match in the tournament before this one, having missed the first three matches with a hip injury, so it might take him a while to find the form that saw him score over 180 against New Zealand in a pre-tournament series match at the Oval.

Wicket! Buttler out for 8! ct Mendis b Kumara – England 77-4

10:47 , Sonia Twigg

Buttler had scored a boundary first ball of the over, but makes a crucial mistake!

The England captain goes at one that was outside off stump, the ball catches the edge and flies to the wicketkeeper!

It’s a good diving catch for a ball that went hard and quite wide, but another wicket falls for England.

England 71-3 (14) Stokes 4, Buttler 3, Rajitha 1-26 (4)

10:42 , Sonia Twigg

Buttler will come out to join Stokes at the crease, it is a bit earlier than he would have wanted to come in, at 68 for three.

But it’s just 14 overs in and there are still 36 remaining in this innings for England to make a score.

He is off the mark second ball with a two, and it cannot be understated how much these two need to perform.

Wicket! Bairstow out for 30! ct de Silva b Rajitha – England 68-3

10:38 , Sonia Twigg

That is out! Bairstow will have really wanted a big score after surviving the first ball of the match when he was struck on the pad, but instead will have to settle for 30 and England have lost their third wicket.

The pressure had been building slightly without a wicket in a number of overs, and he went for a big drive down the ground but played it straight to mid on.

England have a rebuilding job to do here and there are lots of overs left.

England 68-2 (13) Bairstow 30, Stokes 4, Kumara 0-2 (1)

10:36 , Sonia Twigg

Kumara comes into the attack for the first time today, and almost has a wicket! Stokes goes for a lofted drive but it didn’t quite carry to cover. Another small let off for England.

And he was nearly run out the next ball, coming down the wicket after a hit to backward point and he was rightly sent back by Bairstow.

Just two runs from the over.

England 66-2 (12) Bairstow 30, Stokes 2, Rajitha 0-23 (3)

10:32 , Sonia Twigg

Rajitha has been brought back into the attack, he was expensive early on, but Malan and Root are out.

Just another look at the Root wicket, he absolutely skewered himself, came for a run and was sent back by Bairstow but couldn’t make his ground.

These two are just knocking it around for singles, there hasn’t been a boundary for a while, but there is plenty of time to accelerate later if England can keep wickets in hand.

The last ball of the over there was a heart-in-mouth moment as Bairstow inside-edged the ball – but it was onto his own foot rather than the stumps.

England 62-2 (11) Bairstow 27, Stokes 1, Mathews 1-11 (3)

10:27 , Sonia Twigg

Sri Lanka review for an lbw against Stokes! But DRS shows the ball pitching outside leg and England can breathe another sigh of relief, that was a bad review, and they could not afford to lose another.

The next ball Stokes is off the mark with a single into the off side.

England 59-2 (10) Bairstow 25, Stokes 0, Theekshana 0-10 (3)

10:23 , Sonia Twigg

The run out came at the worst time for England and they need a partnership now.

We know from the Australia vs Pakistan match that this is a high scoring ground and they cannot afford another poor score.

Wicket! Joe Root run out for 3! England 57-2

10:21 , Sonia Twigg

That was a horror show of communication!

That was an awful decision to run, Root dives but was far out of hs crease. That was unusual, the two have played so much cricket together, but that was a huge mix up and it is the number three batter and England who pay the price.

Stokes is in and will have a huge amount of work to do.

England 55-1 (9) Bairstow 24, Root 3, Mathews 1-8 (2)

10:16 , Sonia Twigg

Mathews has bowled well here to restrict England and force them to take quick singles, which almost led to a run out fourth ball of the over, with Bairstow struggling to make his ground, but fortunately for England, the throw from the fielder was wide of the stumps.

Just singles from Mathews’ second over.

England 52-1 (8) Bairstow 22, Root 2, Theekshana 0-8 (2)

10:12 , Sonia Twigg

Root and Bairstow are just rotating the strike. The runs are not flowing as freely as they were in the opening handful of overs but wickets are more important at this stage, and England cannot afford to lose any more.

Just the three runs from the eighth over.

England 49-1 (7) Bairstow 20, Root 1, Mathews 1-5 (1)

10:07 , Sonia Twigg

Root is immediately off the mark with a single, something he does so well in all formats, just keeps the strike rotating.

Mathews is not quick but he is experienced, and used all of his skill to claim the wicket of Malan, who had been going well for England for his 28 from 25 deliveries.

Wicket! Malan out for 28 ct Mendis b Mathews England 45-1

10:05 , Sonia Twigg

Sri Lanka’s decision not to review the first ball of the day when Bairstow was struck on the pad, as he motors on to 16 from 13 after the first six overs.

They hadn’t had another chance before a caught behind appeal second ball of the over! Malan had looked comfortable on 28, the on-field umpire did not raise his finger, but Mathews was convinced.

It all came down to ultra-edge, with a spike shown and Malan will have to go.

England 44-0 (6), Bairstow 16, Malan 28, Theekshana 0-5 (1)

10:00 , Sonia Twigg

Sri Lanka have made a bowling change following Rajitha’s expensive second over, and after three dot balls, he drags one down and wide and Bairstow does what he has done for so many years and rightly sends it to the boundary.

A much better over that caused some problems with the flat spin going through Bairstow and through Malan at times.

England 39-0 (5) Bairstow 11, Malan 28, Madushanka 0-20 (3)

09:58 , Sonia Twigg

England are finding their groove here and this could be a very high-scoring match. Malan hits a four the first ball of this over following the three boundaries in the previous one.

Australia scored 367 against Pakistan at Bengaluru in the only other match of the tournament so far played there, and England will want to put something similar on the board today.

The thermometer showed it is hot, around 31 degrees, so definitely better to be the batting side, although it might not faze Sri Lanka as much as the heat in Mumbai affected England against South Africa.

England 27-0 (4), Bairstow 11, Malan 16, Rajitha 0-19 (2)

09:50 , Sonia Twigg

Malan kept the strike with a single last ball of the over, and has another two here with a flick off middle stump towards deep backwards square.

He has another four second ball of the over with a bit of width on offer, a big drive past point to the cover boundary. The next ball is also sent almost to the same area.

Bairstow also finds the boundary, that was a great over from England.

England 12-0 (3), Bairstow 7, Malan 5, Madushanka 0-8 (2)

09:46 , Sonia Twigg

Malan is off the mark with a sweet cover drive to the boundary. That is his shot and he plays it so well.

The slip has come out, and interestingly the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper is wearing pale blue gloves, not a colour you see too often.

Malan is then almost caught poking around outside the off stump.

The boundaries are smaller than some here, with the shortest boundary 55m and the longest 79m.

After a couple of balls the slip comes back in.

England 7-0 (2), Bairstow 7, Malan 0, Rajitha 0-4 (1)

09:41 , Sonia Twigg

England just need to settle down and take their time. It’s something they haven’t been able to do for the majority of their four matches so far.

And they keep trying to be positive, Bairstow goes for a big swing across the line and misses the ball. Might be too early for that kind of batting.

He drives a more conventional shot next ball, but straight at the fielder.

The first bit of width…Bairstow throws the hands at it and does get four for that as it flies over the fielder at point.

The first boundary of the match.

England 3-0 (1) Bairstow 3, Malan 0, Madushanka 0-3 (1)

09:36 , Sonia Twigg

Dilshan Madushanka will open up for Sri Lanka with Bairstow to face and there is a bit of swing around and England have got away with one there!

He is struck on the pad and it goes down the ground for three. Sri Lanka thought about a review briefly but were timed out and that’s very lucky for England because it would have been out.

There might be sighs of relief in the changing room.

England vs Sri Lanka

09:28 , Sonia Twigg

Ahead of the start of the match, here are some photos from the warm-ups in Bengaluru:

Ben Stokes uses an inhaler ahead of the must-win game (AFP via Getty Images)

England warm up ahead of the match (AFP via Getty Images)

England warm up ahead of a must-win clash against Sri Lanka (AFP via Getty Images)

England vs Sri Lanka

09:23 , Sonia Twigg

It cannot be understated just how key this match is for England.

They went into the tournament as double world champions following their win in 2019, plus their 2022 Twenty20 World Cup success, but are only off the foot of this year’s competition on net run rate.

It has been a poor showing from the side which has not changed a huge amount in the last four years, and questions have been raised over the captaincy of Jos Buttler and the ability of head coach Matthew Mott.

England vs Sri Lanka

09:16 , Sonia Twigg

England’s batters have not found their footing in this tournament.

Only Dawid Malan has scored a century – against Bangladesh – while Root has two half centuries, but the others have yet to find their footing.

They have almost gone too hard from the outset even if you take the disastrous collapse against South Africa aside.

Ben Stokes will be in the side and will hope to bring a new dimension to the batting, but it is more than just one player and the entire top and middle order will have to stand up.

England vs Sri Lanka

09:13 , Sonia Twigg

It will be a big test for Chris Woakes. He did not find his feet in the opening two matches.

It was a poor start when his first over of the tournament went for 12, but he will have to step up following the injury to Topley as England cannot let Sri Lanka get away from them at the start of the batting.

However, first it will be time for England to show what they can do with the bat.

England win the toss and choose to bat

09:06 , Sonia Twigg

Jos Buttler has won the toss and decided to bat first.

“It looks a good wicket, a little bit drier than sometimes here, so we’ll hope to put a good score on the board.

“It’s just about putting in a performance today.

“We’ve stayed very level as a group, there’s some frustration about not playing as we’d like to, but we’ve got the quality there.”

England have made three changes and it’s a return to the all-rounders Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone come in with Gus Atkinson and Harry Brook dropped from the last match along with the injured Reece Topley.

England vs Sri Lanka

08:54 , Sonia Twigg

Australia’s Glenn Maxwell is irked with the nightclub-style light shows that happen in the middle of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 matches.

Maxwell on Wednesday registered the fastest Cricket World Cup century by taking just 40 balls to reach the 100-run mark as Australia thrashed Netherlands by 309 runs, a tournament-record victory.

This was also the second-largest victory in terms of runs in the history of the 50-over format.

Glenn Maxwell hits out at Cricket World Cup organisers over light show

England vs Sri Lanka

08:46 , Sonia Twigg

England will hope conditions will be better in Bengaluru than they were in Mumbai for the defeat to South Africa:

Joe Root has revealed that his teammates were struggling to breathe properly during their recent ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against South Africa in Mumbai.

The comments from Root came after air quality in India’s financial capital slipped to “very unhealthy”, leaving players gasping for clean air. It was also hot during Saturday’s match with temperatures reaching 35C in Mumbai during the game.

South Africa defeated England by 229 runs at the city’s Wankhede Stadium on 21 October, marking the world champions’ biggest loss in the 50-over World Cup history.

Joe Root on poor air quality at Cricket World Cup match: ‘It was like eating air’

England vs Sri Lanka

08:38 , Jamie Braidwood

Moeen Ali is planning to bring the fun factor back to England’s World Cup campaign after realising the defending champions have “lost the enjoyment” in India.

Moeen is set to return to the side for Thursday’s must-win match against Sri Lanka after being confined to drinks duties for the past three games, during which time things have gone from bad to worse for the 2019 winners.

“When you sit out sometimes, you can see things that you don’t see when you’re playing,” he said.

“You can see from the outside that we’ve probably lost the enjoyment. We haven’t enjoyed it as a team as much, because we’ve been losing and we’re not playing that well.

“That spark is missing, that thing where they’re enjoying taking bowlers down, enjoying going out to bat.

“I think we’re probably taking it too seriously in certain ways. I think sometimes we can probably get a bit anxious. It’s almost having that carefree kind of attitude – ‘Who cares? It’s a game of cricket’.

“You’re going to make mistakes, you might as well make them doing what you’re good at. We’re making mistakes anyway, so let’s do it with a smile on your face.

“If I get my chance, I’m going to use all that intent that I have. Take it on. I’m going to take the situation out a lot of the time and just enjoy it as much as I can.”

Moeen Ali is set to return to the England team against Sri Lanka (AP)

England vs Sri Lanka

08:28 , Jamie Braidwood

Rob Key says Ben Stokes remains entirely focused on representing England for years to come – despite only choosing to sign a one-year deal rather than a multi-season option.

The Test captain had the opportunity to be one of the initial group of players to land a new multiple-season contract, which have been handed out for the first time.

But he has turned it down partially in favour of putting himself in a stronger negotiating position a year from now, when a new round of broadcast rights begins and central contracts could be worth more accordingly.

Managing director Key insisted it was primarily this, rather than any feeling from Stokes that he may not continue to represent England, which was behind the decision.

England sure Stokes remains ‘completely committed’ after short-term deal

England vs Sri Lanka

08:18 , Jamie Braidwood

Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews knows exactly what it takes to beat England at a World Cup and the veteran batter is promising to “fight fire with fire” when the sides meet in Bengaluru.

Mathews has only been an official part of the squad for 24 hours, called up as an injury replacement for Matheesha Pathirana after being left out of the original line-up, but goes straight into the side on Thursday.

The 35-year-old brings bundles of hard-bitten experience with him, including a few memorable tussles with England over the years.

There have been Test centuries at Lord’s, Headingley and Galle, as well as a brilliant knock in a losing cause in the T20 World Cup of 2016.

But most relevant to the task at hand was the dogged 85 not out in Leeds four years ago, a match-winning effort that threatened to derail what became a triumphant tournament for Eoin Morgan’s men.

Neither team can afford to lose at the Chinnaswamy Stadium this time, leaving Mathews ready for a high-octane affair.

Sri Lanka will fight fire with fire against England – Angelo Mathews

England vs Sri Lanka

08:07 , Jamie Braidwood

Moeen Ali believes former England coach Chris Silverwood will be keen to “prove a point” with his Sri Lanka side in Thursday’s World Cup clash in Bengaluru.

Silverwood was England’s fast bowling coach they won the tournament in 2019 and expected to be the man in charge of the title defence when he was chosen to succeed Trevor Bayliss in the top job.

But his reign came to an ignominious end when he was sacked after the 2021/22 Ashes debacle, with England subsequently opting to split the job between red and white-ball specialists.

Silverwood made a quick return to international cricket with Sri Lanka and faces his old charges in a game that both nations need to win to maintain any realistic chance of reaching the knockout stages.

England have already been bested by one of their own in India, with former batter Jonathan Trott guiding Afghanistan to a shock win in Delhi, and are aware of the extra layer of intrigue created by Silverwood’s appearance in the opposition dugout.

Moeen Ali: Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood will be fired up to face England

England vs Sri Lanka

07:56 , Jamie Braidwood

England’s star batter Joe Root has revealed that his teammates were struggling to breathe properly during their recent ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against South Africa in Mumbai.

The comments from Root came after air quality in India’s financial capital slipped to “very unhealthy”, leaving players gasping for clean air. It was also hot during Saturday’s match with temperatures reaching 35C in Mumbai during the game.

South Africa defeated England by 229 runs at the city’s Wankhede Stadium on 21 October, marking the world champions’ biggest loss in the 50-over World Cup history.

Root later talked to reporters at a press conference in Bengaluru city about the air quality in Mumbai and said the experience was akin to “eating air”.

Joe Root on poor air quality at Cricket World Cup match: ‘It was like eating air’

England vs Sri Lanka

07:49 , Jamie Braidwood

Are there issues over England’s leadership?

The captain-coach relationship between Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott got off to a roaring start when they won the T20 World Cup together last year just a few months into their time together. But with so much emphasis on the ‘Bazball’ revolution in the Test arena, their job has got trickier. With fewer matches, longer gaps and less availability of big names they have been left to pull things together at the last minute and it simply hasn’t worked.

The decision making has been wanting – from the chopping and changing on the team-sheet to the baffling logic of bowling first in stifling conditions in Mumbai – but the real issues may run deeper and wider than the dressing room alone. Eoin Morgan proved his mettle in the immediate aftermath of the botched 2015 campaign when he led with a strong voice and demanded the players and resources to succeed. If Buttler and Mott are to succeed in the long run they may need assert themselves in similar style.

Jos Buttler regretted fielding first against South Africa (PA Wire)

England vs Sri Lanka

07:44 , Jamie Braidwood

Do England still have a chance?

With the elongated group format, England still have another five games to play between now and November 11 whatever happens. Mathematically speaking there are a few shades of grey in terms of what they need to do, but realistically things are already black and white. England need wins and lots of them. They may well require a perfect run to retain their crown and, with games against the table-topping hosts, rivals Australia and an unpredictable Pakistan, that looks a tough ask.

England vs Sri Lanka

07:38 , Jamie Braidwood

England’s World Cup defence is hanging by a thread after losing three of the first four games in India.

Jos Buttler’s side have come up short against New Zealand, Afghanistan and South Africa and have a mountain to climb to salvage the campaign.

Here, Rory Dollard looks at what has gone wrong and what comes next.

Five reasons behind England’s disastrous Cricket World Cup campaign

England vs Sri Lanka

07:33 , Jamie Braidwood

England are staring down the possibility of a premature exit from the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in their clash with Sri Lanka.

England still have a minor chance of reaching the last four with odds of 4/1 available from UK betting sites, but it requires victories in their remaining matches, starting against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka enter the game with the same record as Buttler’s team after getting off the mark with a win over Netherlands last time out.

It is a huge game for both sides and here are our predictions made using the latest Cricket World Cup odds.

Cricket World Cup betting tips: England vs Sri Lanka predictions & odds

England vs Sri Lanka

07:32 , Jamie Braidwood

Team news

England suffered another blow in addition to the defeat against South Africa with the injury to Reece Topley. The fast bowler went to field a ball which caught the end of his finger, fracturing it and ruling him out of the remainder of the tournament.

Brydon Carse has been called up into the squad with Jofra Archer returning to the UK and deemed not ready to be drafted into the competition. It remains to be seen whether Carse will be considered match-fit enough to play.

Predicted line up:

England XI: Bairstow, Malan, Root, Stokes, Buttler, Brook, Ali, Curran, Wood, Rashid, Atkinson

England vs Sri Lanka

07:31 , Jamie Braidwood

When is England vs Sri Lanka?

The Cricket World Cup match is on Thursday 26 October with the game starting at 9.30 am BST (2pm local time).

How can I watch it?

The match will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.

For those in India, Star Sports will be showing the match in five different languages on TV.

The game can also be streamed online on the Disney+Hotstar app or website.

If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events then you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN roundup is here to help: get great deals on the best VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider.

England vs Sri Lanka

07:30 , Jamie Braidwood

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live blog of England’s crucial match against South Africa.

We will have all the build up and talking points leading into the match as well as all the action from Bengaluru.

England have lost three of their four World Cup matches going into the match against Sri Lanka, who were looking challenging at times in the tournament, including a high-scoring defeat to Pakistan.

They will fancy their chances against England, who were beaten in their last two matches, including a surprise defeat to Afghanistan.