England vs Australia LIVE: ICC Cricket World Cup result and reaction as holders finally crash out
England are out of the World Cup as their hopes were finally extinguished by bitter rivals Australia
England’s World Cup nightmare continued as their miniscule mathematical hopes of staying in the competition were finally extinguished by bitter rivals Australia.
After five defeats from their first six games the defending champions had long since given up hope of reaching the semi-finals, but officially bowing out at the hands of their Ashes foes with a 33-run defeat simply poured salt into open wounds.
Once again it was their batting that let them down, failing to get to grips with a manageable target after a spirited showing from the bowling unit left Australia 286 all out in the final over.
England were knocked over for 253 in response, Ben Stokes top-scoring with 64 but unable to pull his side out of the fire.
England 107-4 (26) Stokes 37, Ali 1, Zampa 1-11 (5)
Zampa has been excellent, and he has the key wicket.
Wicket! Buttler out for 1! ct Green b Zampa - England 106-4
The England captain has gone! He came down the wicket and tried to hit Zampa back over his head but picked out Cameron Green.
Buttler has had a poor tournament, and his awful form with the bat continues.
England 106-3 (25) Stokes 37, Buttler 1, Cummins 1-15 (5)
Cummins has not given an inch here, he has bowled exceptionally.
He went through the variations, including a bouncer, at a pace pushing towards 90mph.
A maiden over from the Australian captain.
England 105-3 (24) Stokes 36, Buttler 1, Zampa 0-10 (4)
With the wicket Zampa has just been brought back on as well. Buttler has his first run, just tapping the ball into the off side.
Just three runs from that over.
England 103-3 (23) Stokes 35, Buttler 0, Cummins 1-15 (4)
The partnership had been worth 84 and just as England looked like building something, there is another breakthrough.
Buttler is in, he remains one of England’s best-ever white ball players, but like so many in this team he has been completely out of form in this tournament.
Wicket! Malan out for 50! ct Head b Cummins England 103-3
Malan brings up his 50 from 63 balls, including a six and four fours.
He just dabbed the ball down to third man, and has probably been the pick of the batters so far, he is the only one to have scored a century - against Bangladesh.
Just after bringing up the milestone, Malan has gone big at one and not got hold of it, it was taken by Travis Head at long leg.
Cummins brought himself on to find the breakthrough and he has done it!
England 101-2 (22) Malan 49, Stokes 34, Head 0-17 (3)
Head is being slowed down by Malan here, he is so quick at bowling these overs.
Stokes has come down the ground and hit Head over his head for six, but he is hobbling around slightly after having played it.
The next time he tries the same, but it’s a hack that skews into the field.
England 91-2 (21) Malan 46, Stokes 27, Stoinis 0-14 (2)
Malan flicks on leg side off his pads for four, a bit of width from Stoinis and he has been picked off.
They have looked to attack Stoinis having seen off the dangerous opening seamers, and won’t want to lose touch with the run rate after the steady start.
Malan has another boundary, but he has not got hold of it properly and more like fended it towards fine leg.
England 82-2 (20) Malan 38, Stokes 26, Head 0-8 (2)
Stokes is coming down the wicket and will be hoping some of his powerful shots will find the gaps soon.
Head has rattled through that over, 3 runs from it.
England 79-2 (19) Malan 37, Stokes 24, Stoinis 0-4 (1)
Stoinis has come on to bowl. England might have to start attacking the non-frontline bowlers soon as the run rate has just started to creep up.
But that being said, they cannot afford to take any risks.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies