The Ireland v England match mentioned yesterday could easily have formed part of this section too, as England have a habit of losing matches that look all-but sewn up in these major tournaments.
In 2003 England needed to beat Australia to reach the Super
6 stage having chosen to boycott their fixture in Zimbabwe. Marcus Trescothick
and Nick Knight got them off to a flier, putting on 66 for the first wicket
within the first ten overs, before wickets fell and they limped to 204/8 from
their 50 overs. However this looked like a winning score when Australia were
reduced to 48/4 and then 135/8. Unfortunately this brought Michael Bevan and
Andy Bichel together, and their unbeaten partnership saw Australia home as the
wheels came off for Hussain’s side in the last ten overs.
A topsy-turvy encounter in 2007 saw the three lions defeated
narrowly by Sri Lanka in the Super 8s. Having restricted the sub-continental
side to 235 England set about losing early wickets. But from 11/2, Ian Bell and
Kevin Pietersen took them to 101/2 and well on top in the game, before a
customary collapse. Four wickets fell for just 32 runs and they were suddenly
on the brink of defeat. Paul Nixon and Ravi Bopara swung the momentum back
towards England with an 87-run partnership that took them to within 15 of
victory. Unfortunately they both fell in the last eight balls and Sri Lanka won
by two runs.
Alongside defeat to Ireland, 2011 also saw a high-scoring
tie with India that looked won and lost at different stages, and a humbling by
Bangladesh. Having struggled to 225, England initially struggled with the ball.
But after reducing the Bangladeshi’s from 155/3 to 169/8 it looked like the
favourites were going to scrape through. Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam thought
otherwise though, and their ten-over partnership saw their team home.
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