England's Jos Buttler during practice.
Credit: Reuters Photo
This World Cup has so far witnessed a number of upsets, leaving fans and many teams surprised. One such case is that of defending champions England who are currently struggling to even make it to the knock-out stage.
The English team, with three losses and one victory, currently stand almost at the bottom of the points table, just above Bangladesh and the Netherlands. Their two biggest defeats in this year's World Cup were against South Africa (229-run loss) and Afghanistan (69-run rout).
Although England's stats this World Cup look quite poor, they still have some chance to make it to the semifinals.
How can England still reach World Cup 2023 semifinals?
Jos Buttler's team need to win all the remaining matches in order to avoid a group-stage exit. Winning all five matches would give England a total of 12 points. While this would not guarantee the team an entry into the semifinals, they can still have some hope.
After winning all the games in hand, England's chances would then depend on the performance of other teams. Also, they would need to keep their net run rate high in all the matches while securing victories. They currently have a net run rate of -1.248.
England is set to face Sri Lanka on October 26, followed by the match against the Netherlands on November 8 and Pakistan on November 11. However, their toughest challenge is likely to be against India on October 29 and Australia on November 4.