England vs Sri Lanka, 25th Match at Bengaluru, World Cup 2023, Oct 26 2023 - Match Result

And on that note it's a wrap from us. What a seminal day of cricket at this World Cup, as Sri Lanka revived their flagging semi-final hopes and virtually extinguished England's in the process. And expect more twists and turns tomorrow as Pakistan take on South Africa in Chennai. Till then, on behalf of Andrew and the team, this is Madushka signing out!

Kusal Mendis: "The net run rate going up is great for us. We did really well in the first few overs and then just continued. Everyone did really well today. We have another four games left, I think if we can string more performances together we have a chance of making the semifinals. [Lahiru Kumara] He knows his role, he's our main fast bowling weapon and he bowled really well to control the game today. [Angelo Mathews?] He has so much experience, he helps so much in the middle overs. He can bat and bowl, and he also enjoys the game. He also knows how to handle pressure situations, so it's good having him around. The fielding was also excellent today, we need to do the same thing over the next couple of matches."

Jos Buttler: "It's been an incredibly tough and incredibly disappointing tournament. Disappointed in myself and all the boys that we haven't shown a good account of ourselves. There's no clear answer at the moment [as to why that's the case]. Can't really fault the boys efforts but we're playing a long way short of our best. It starts from the front, as Captain you want to lead from the front and play well and I've been a long way short of my best. [Confidence drained away?] Not really to be honest, there are a lot of experienced cricketers in the room, who've been through a lot - confident people. You don't become a bad player overnight, you don't become a bad team over night. I think that's probably the biggest frustration, that we've been so far short of our best, and for no obvious reason. Just can't put my finger on it at the moment. [uncertainty over strategy?] Selection is something you want to be consistent, build that trust. But selection isn't a problem at the moment, performance is. Whoever has been on the field so far has been short of the standards we set ourselves. The kind of mistakes we're all making, you don't see that usually. We haven't been doing the basic things well. [What to cling to?] The biggest thing is personal pride, whatever happens in the rest of the tournament we want to give a good account of ourselves going forward.."

Time for the skippers...

Afeef: "Well, it was fun while it lasted. The England ODI team made some great memories and I'm glad I got to watch them at their peak."

Andy: "Ouch. The end."

As we wait for the captains to give their thoughts, here's how the points table looks at the moment. Sri Lanka shoot up to fifth, while England are one off last.

Vasanth: "And just like that Pakistan moves down to 6th position in the table! "

Phil: "hmtk: Don't be so harsh on England - they were only 9 down against Bangladesh."

Prakash: "The Curious case of England's world cup campaign. England has been trying hard to go down the table whereas the other teams are trying to push it up. "

hmtk: "Stats of WC 23 .... Only ENG all out in 5 matches "

Lahiru Kumara is named Player of the Match for his figures of 3 for 35: "I'm very happy with my performance, I've worked really hard for it. I didn't do much different from the Australia game, that was an off-day, I just worked hard and it worked out today. As for Angelo, he has a lot of experience, he helped me a lot at mid-off. It was really great to have him back. The plan was to hit the middle overs with discipline, we stuck to the plan and were rewarded with wickets."

7.17pm Well what a dominant performance that was from the Sri Lankans. Sadeera and Nissanka both remain unbeaten, having put on 137 together, as Sri Lanka romped home in the end. There were some brief concerns in the chase when they lost both Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis early on. And at 26 for 2 England might have had a whiff of a potential comeback, but Nissanka and Sadeera swiftly put any such thoughts to rest as they navigated this chase with ease. The win however was setup by the bowlers. It wasn't a minefield by any means, but the combination of Sri Lanka's tight bowling and fielding exploited England's, perhaps overly aggressive approach. On a track where 300 would have been par, England fell well short and then Sri Lanka cantered home.

Potentially the last over of the game...

Raff: "The calculator says England has a 1 in 300 chance of winning. I'd say that's a bit high. Can't recall many teams scoring at 6 RPO losing 8 wickets for single-digit runs." --- An astute observation, Raff

Target now in single digits

Matthew: "Speaking of maths, assuming SL don't suffer one of the biggest collapses in ODI history and end up losing, will England still be in the hunt for the semis?" --- Mathematically speaking yes. Believe we will have a piece up on the permutations shortly.

Rajin: "Probability 0.0062 means still it could happen. Isn't it?" --- Only because we're slaves to maths, Rajin.