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<\/p>\n: Virat Kohli of India during a nets session at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium<\/p>\n
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England take on unbeaten India on Sunday in a desperate bid to revitalise their Cricket World Cup hopes after yet another defeat.<\/p>\n
The defending World Cup champions have now lost three matches in a row after a poor performance to fall to Sri Lanka, and now Jos Buttler\u2019s side face elimination. India, meanwhile, have been outstanding, Rohit Sharma\u2019s side have won every game to justify their position as favourites with real quality and depth with the bat and ball. <\/p>\n
The hosts could secure their place in the semi-finals with a win and will look to maintain the form shown in the win against 2019 runners-up New Zealand. Follow all the updates from the match below and the latest tips and betting preview here.<\/p>\n
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Sir Geoffrey Boycott criticised England\u2019s lack of preparation for their continuing World Cup woes but spared captain Jos Buttler of the bulk of the blame.<\/p>\n
Buttler accepted his future was out of his own hands as England crashed to an eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in Bengaluru, which has left the defence of their title hanging by the thinnest of threads.<\/p>\n
Head coach Matthew Mott has written off England\u2019s chances after four defeats in five games, which Boycott argued was the result of turning up in India just over a week before the campaign began.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistory shows that England rarely bat well in India where the ball spins,\u201d Boycott told the Daily Telegraph. \u201cOur guys are okay on flat pitches but if it turns they have a problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best way to try and overcome that would have been for our squad of players to get to India early and play four or five warm-up matches. What did England do? Plan only two warm-up games with one getting rained off. Not smart planning.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Head coach Matthew Mott has written off England\u2019s chances after four defeats in five games in India.<\/p>\n
Despite England\u2019s poor form, head coach Matthew Mott remains certain that he and captain Jos Buttler are the right men to lead England in their latest white-ball reset.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to sit down at the end of this tournament and look ourselves in the eyes and say \u2018what can we do a little bit better?,\u2019 he said after the latest defeat to Sri Lanka earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
\u201cJos and I are incredibly aligned and united. When you lose tournaments like this, everyone\u2019s under scrutiny, everyone\u2019s place will be questioned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI certainly feel like I could have done things a lot better but I\u2019ve been in the job 18 months, we\u2019ve won a World Cup and lost a World Cup. I think I\u2019ve shown the capability that I can coach his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve shown an ability to be able to turn things around so that\u2019ll have to happen pretty quickly, but, yeah, what will be will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Looking ahead to today\u2019s match against India, England head coach Matthew Mott conceded that his side were underdogs and must work hard to avoid another big defeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are probably raging favourites at the moment,\u201d the Australian admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think that\u2019s an opportunity to restore some pride and confidence in the group. Every opportunity we get to play together is vital now to try and find our mojo again. It\u2019s obviously too late for this tournament but we need to do that, we\u2019ve got to find a response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve definitely not performed anywhere near the level that we want to in this tournament, but our first priority at the moment is to make sure we come out and give India a good scrap and hopefully perform a lot better than we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you\u2019re always questioning as captain how you can get the best out of players, how you can get the team moving in the right direction,\u201d the England skipper admitted after his side\u2019s defeat against Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019re asking if I should still be captaining the team, that\u2019s a question for the guys above me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tournament\u2019s gone nowhere near the way we wanted it to\u2026that much is obvious. As a leader, you want to lead through your own performance and I\u2019ve not been able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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England have accepted their chances of defending their World Cup crown are all but over after slumping to a fourth defeat in their first five matches in India.<\/p>\n
The abject run of form has seen the 2019 champions slip to ninth in the table and invited an early inquest into exactly what has gone wrong with a side who were once trailblazers in the 50-over game.<\/p>\n
Here, we look at five reasons for their current plight.<\/p>\n
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An ageing squad, confused selection and individual errors have all contributed to a dismal title defence.<\/p>\n
Former England captain Michael Atherton said the current one-day side could be \u201cat the end of the cycle\u201d after another dismal batting display at the Cricket World Cup.<\/p>\n
Defending champions England won the toss in a must-win group game against Sri Lanka but were bowled out for 156 in just 33.2 overs.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka raced to an eight-wicket win in 25.4 overs as England\u2019s fourth defeat in five games was sealed in the shortest match of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Sky Sports pundit Atherton said: \u201cIt\u2019s all very saying what you want to do when you\u2019re struggling and down on confidence, it\u2019s not always easy to put those fine words and aspirations into practice.<\/p>\n
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Jos Buttler\u2019s side were skittled for 156 in their must-win World Cup clash with Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n
Jos Buttler could only look on from behind the stumps as England\u2019s World Cup dreams lay in tatters around him on the turf in Bangalore following his side\u2019s eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n
All the fighting talk, all the tinkering and changes, the whispers before the tournament of defending the title. Any lingering hope of qualification became all but mathematically impossible after England slid to their fourth defeat from their opening five matches.<\/p>\n
In the future, this may become a World Cup to be forgotten \u2013 as was the case in 2015, which led to the famous \u201cwhite-ball reset\u201d and four years later the title \u2013 but, in the immediate aftermath, there are questions to be answered.<\/p>\n
After the record-breaking defeat at the hands of the Proteas, both Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott spoke passionately, explaining that the side knew what they had to do \u2013 win every group game \u2013 and that\u2019s what they intended to do.<\/p>\n
But against Sri Lanka, in a match many expected would see the team regain some of their lost pride, it became yet another performance to forget from this World Cup.<\/p>\n
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England slumped to an eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in Bangalore, Sonia Twigg outlines why an ageing squad badly needs a reset after a nightmare tournament in India <\/p>\n
England may opt to make more changes with their semi-final hopes all but over. Harry Brooks could return to the side after being dropped for the defeat against Sri Lanka, while Brydon Carse could be in line for his maiden World Cup appearance having been called up into the squad to replace the injured Reece Topley.<\/p>\n
Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya looks set to miss the game against England after he sustained an ankle injury in a game against Bangladesh. Against New Zealand, India brought in Suryakumar Yadav and replaced Shardul Thakur with Mohammed Shami against could well field the same team again.<\/p>\n
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