Will England bow out of the Cricket World Cup before the semi-final stage?

[Ntgthegamer]

Oh England. Where did it all go wrong?

The usual portents of an imminent demise for the hosts were nowhere to be seen in the build-up to this tournament. England was number one in the world and brimming with the confidence that is the clear favourite's wont. That confidence came from the form of a stellar batting line-up so powerful that it was likened to New York Yankees' famed Murderers Row teams of the 1920s by Offsiders columnist Richard Hinds. The inclusion of three bowlers who can constantly push 144kph, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, alongside spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali simply added credence to the feeling that this England team was the one to beat. Even the format appeared to be in England's favour, designed as it is to remove any remote likelihood of a smaller team upsetting the apple cart while simultaneously removing the Irish-shaped banana skins that have tripped the English up in the past. Sadly, those predictions did not take into account England's shocking history of desperately underperforming in major tournaments — tournaments not just limited to cricket. After Stuart Lancaster's England team departed its own Rugby Union World Cup in ignominious fashion in the group stages back in 2015, battle-worn English sports fans must have prayed that the cricket team would restore pride in this, the next major tournament the country has hosted. Instead, after suffering a surprise early defeat to Pakistan, England has been plunged into the mire following consecutive defeats to Sri Lanka and Australia. As such, England has resurrected the terrifying prospect of an early exit from the World Cup, just like the last time the nation played hosts in 1999. On that occasion, England failed to make the Super-6 phase of the competition, embarrassingly crashing out the tournament the day after the official song had been released. Now, the hosts likely face a four-way battle with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for that final spot in the semi-finals.