WELLINGTON – England lost another Cricket World Cup match by a big margin Sunday, and their odds of making the quarter-finals are fading.
Pakistan did the opposite, winning for the first time in three matches to improve their chances of reaching the final eight.
Nine days after losing to New Zealand by eight wickets, England returned to the same venue at Wellington and lost by nine wickets to Sri Lanka despite posting a challenging total of 309.
At Brisbane, Australia, Mohammad Irfan used his height to full effect to take four wickets as Pakistan defended a low total against Zimbabwe to get their tournament campaign back on track with a 20-run victory.
The only good news for England was Joe Root’s 121 runs. But after embarrassing losses to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka – with a win over second-tier Scotland sprinkled in – the English find themselves sixth of seven teams in Pool A.
They have two more matches to make amends and sneak into the top four of the group – against third-place Bangladesh and first-time World Cup entrants Afghanistan, currently fifth in the group.
For the Sri Lankans, who reached 312-1 in the 48th over of a comfortable chase, Lahiru Thirimanne was 139 not out and veteran Kumar Sangakkara was unbeaten on 117.
Zimbabwe were happy at the halfway mark in Brisbane, too, after restricting Pakistan to 235-7.
Pakistan’s gamble to drop experienced batsman Younis Khan in favour of Rabat Ali to bolster the bowling attack paid off on the fast, bouncy wicket at the Gabba, after coming under question when the 1992 champions slipped to 4-2 after winning the toss and batting.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq went in at that stage and stuck around for 42 overs, scoring 73 runs before he was out trying to lift the run rate. Wahab Riaz was unbeaten on 54 after a late onslaught at the end.
There will be an on off-day from competition on Monday, the first since the tournament began on February 14. Play resumes with one match Tuesday at Canberra, Australia, where Ireland play South Africa. Both teams have four points in Pool B.
Summarised scores:
Pakistan 235-7 in 50 overs (Misbah ul-Haq 73, Wahab Riaz 54 not out, Umar Akmal 33; Tendai Chatara 3-35, Sean Williams 2-48). Zimbabwe 215 all out in 49.4 overs (Brendan Taylor 50, Elton Chigumbura 35 not out; Mohammad Irfan 4-30, Wahab Riaz 4-45). Pakistan won by 20 runs.
England 309-6 in 50 overs (Joe Root 121, Ian Bell 49, Jos Buttler 39 not out). Sri Lanka 312-1 in 50 overs (Lahiru Thirimanne 139 not out, Kumar Sangakkara 117 not out, Tillakaratne Dilshan 44). Sri Lanka won by nine wickets.