World Cup 2019: How can England get knocked out of the tournament?

England suffered one of the most unexpected defeats on Friday at Headingley in Leeds. Sri Lanka stunningly managed to defend 232 runs against a famed batting line-up and bowled the World Cup favourites out for just 212 runs to leave the jam-packed crowd shell shocked. With eight points to their name after six matches, England are yet to book their place in the semi-finals and the second loss has put their chances in slight jeopardy.

How will this loss to Sri Lanka affect England’s chances of advancing through? Their next three matches are against Australia, India and New Zealand respectively. These three teams are in the top four at the moment and the Eoin Morgan-led side will have to play out of its skins to beat them. Also, the Brits haven’t defeated any of the aforementioned teams since 1992 in the World Cup.

Here are the possibilities how England can get knocked out of the World Cup:

1. England wins only one out of the next three matches

If England wins only one of their next three matches, they will end up with 10 points. Australia, India and New Zealand who look set to go through to the semis and 10 points might not be enough for the Brits to qualify with. In that case, they will have to pray that none of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Windies win all their remaining matches.

– Sri Lanka have 6 points and will play 3 more matches and go up to a maximum of 12 points.

– Bangladesh have 5 points after 6 matches and can go up to 11 points if they win their remaining three games.

– Pakistan have 3 points and will play 4 more matches and even they have a chance to go up to 11 points.

Even Windies have a chance like Pakistan but they will have to beat India and New Zealand which is a tough ask.

Potentially, two of these four teams have a chance to clearly go past England in terms of points which will knock the home side out of the tournament.

Also read – World Cup 2019: What if the semi-final game ends in a tie?

2. England lose all their remaining matches

If England lose to Australia, New Zealand and India in their next three matches, then there is a realistic chance of their World Cup dream coming to a crashing end. Eoin Morgan and his troops will finish on 8 points then, which opens the door for even South Africa along with the four aforementioned teams. It will also make the tournament interesting bringing the net run-rate into the equation.

– Sri Lanka, in this case, can afford to lose a game and still manage to qualify for the semi-finals with 10 points.

– Pakistan might still need to win all their four matches to make it through. If they lose one game and end up on 9 points, then again, they should pray for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to lose more than one match.

– Bangladesh will have to win two out of their three matches in this situation and maintain a better NRR.

– South Africa have 3 points from six matches and they can dream of getting into the top four then, with nine points provided certain results go their way.

In case England win none of their remaining three games it will simply knock them out of the tournament which leaves them with the only option to win at least two out of the remaining encounters.