Has the England cricket team lost confidence in its game? The below average score against Sri Lanka in the Super 8 match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 has raised questions.
Under the guidance of head coach Brendon McCullum, the English batsmen mastered an entirely new approach to aggressive batting, known as “baseball”. Against Sri Lanka today (February 22) at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Balagolla, cricket fans were expected to witness a brilliant batting performance by the Harry Brook-led side. Which did not happen in real life.
Poor batting order of England vs Sri Lanka in Super 8 of T20 World Cup 2026
Did the England cricket team start breaking due to the extra pressure on itself? Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin raised the question through his social media post. The former spinner wrote the excerpt of the first innings of match number 42 of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in just two sentences.
Went to bat first; Experienced opener Phil Salt gave a solid start to his team by scoring a half-century. The aggressive opener, who was not at his best during the group stage, scored 62 off 40 against Sri Lanka today. There were six fours and two sixes in his innings. Apart from Phil Salt, there was no other batsman who stepped up to counter the Lankan bowling attack.
Phil Salt scored a half century
Josh Buttler, Jacob Bethel, and Tom Banton – these three key batsmen went for single-digit scores each, while Harry Brook, Sam Curran, and Jamie Overton each failed to score 20 runs on an individual basis. After Salt, Will Jacques was the second highest scorer in the match for England with only 21.
Why did the English batting lineup collapse? Ashwin believed that the batting breakdown was due to a sudden change in his batting approach. Instead of batting fearlessly, which is their original brand of cricket, Brook and his boys tried to be extra cautious, which did not work at all. In 20 overs, Three Lions could score only 146 runs for 9 wickets.
Ashwin briefly explains why the English batting order caused chaos
“England are refusing to play the brand of cricket they are capable of playing. This happens mostly when there is uncertainty around the group. #T20WorldCup,” Ravichandran Ashwin wrote on ‘X’.
England are refusing to play the brand of cricket they are capable of playing.
Mostly this happens when there is uncertainty around the group.#T20WorldCup
– Ashwin (@ashwinravi99) 22 February 2026
For Sri Lanka, Dunith Velalej took 3 wickets, and Mahesh Theekshana and Dilshan Madushanka got 2 wickets each.
Historically, the Three Lions have had the upper hand over Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup. From 2010 to 2026, before today’s Super 8 match, England won 5 out of 7 matches, while Sri Lanka won only once.
Read more: Jamie Overton’s knee almost gets broken by Dushmantha Chameera’s thunderbolt in T20 World Cup 2026
