<p>Bengaluru: England needed a return to their aggressive ways but they produced a cagey batting effort to get bowled out for a modest 156 against a confident Sri Lanka in their World Cup match here on Thursday.</p>.<p>Having logged just two points from four games, England were expected to show some urgency but the defending champions struggled massively on a pitch that offered spongy bounce after batting by choice.</p>.<p>But more than the surface or the enterprising Sri Lankan bowlers, the English batsmen battled inner demons, save Ben Stokes who made a gritty 43 off 73 balls.</p>.Babar's future as captain depends on WC campaign, hints PCB.<p>Opener Dawid Malan who milked 45 runs with Jonny Bairstow, could be excused though.</p>.<p>Angelo Mathews, an injury replacement for pacer Matheesha Pathirana, put him in two minds with a delivery that bounced from the length just enough to take an edge off his bat to Kusal Mendis behind the stumps.</p>.<p>However, Malan during his 25-ball 28 showed that the pitch is not a hard one to bat on while essaying some gorgeous drives through the off-side.</p>.<p>Unfortunately, the route was not taken by several subsequent batters and they were also culpable of playing some really poor cricket.</p>.<p>Joe Root got run out while taking off for a non-existing single, captain Jos Buttler made an expansive drive outside the off-stump off Lahiru Kumara to get caught behind and Bairstow never timed the pull off Kasun Rajitha to find Dhananjaya de Silva at mid-on.</p>.<p>Liam Livingstone played the wrong line off Kumara to get trapped leg-before. Moeen Ali went for a cut off Mathews when there was no width on offer, and Kusal Perera snaffled the simple offering at point.</p>.<p>These batsmen were expected to lead England's batting charge in a must-win match, and they failed to respond to the situation.</p>.<p>Stokes did try on his own. He had the assistance of fortune as well when Sadeera Samarawickrama floored a tough chance at point off Kumara when the all-rounder was on 12. England were 86 for 5 then.</p>.<p>The left-hander played some archetypal power-packed shots through either side, but the day was not made for a one-man show that Stokes is known to produce.</p>.<p>His dismissal, caught by substitute Dushan Hemantha, at deep of Kumara, effectively ended England's chances of posting a challenging total despite them having an extra-long batting line-up.</p>.<p>Adil Rashid's comical run out while backing up too far could be taken as a symbol of England's drudges with the bat on the day.</p>.<p>But the inept batting display of England should not rob the Lankan bowlers of the just credit.</p>.<p>Kumara (3 for 35) has the tendency to be all over the place but when he hits his lengths correctly, the right-arm pacer is a different beast, who can also crank up some serious speed to hustle the batters.</p>.<p>And hustled England were indeed on the day. They will hope for some more spunk from their bowlers to conjure an unlikely win and remain in the semifinals race.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: England needed a return to their aggressive ways but they produced a cagey batting effort to get bowled out for a modest 156 against a confident Sri Lanka in their World Cup match here on Thursday.</p>.<p>Having logged just two points from four games, England were expected to show some urgency but the defending champions struggled massively on a pitch that offered spongy bounce after batting by choice.</p>.<p>But more than the surface or the enterprising Sri Lankan bowlers, the English batsmen battled inner demons, save Ben Stokes who made a gritty 43 off 73 balls.</p>.Babar's future as captain depends on WC campaign, hints PCB.<p>Opener Dawid Malan who milked 45 runs with Jonny Bairstow, could be excused though.</p>.<p>Angelo Mathews, an injury replacement for pacer Matheesha Pathirana, put him in two minds with a delivery that bounced from the length just enough to take an edge off his bat to Kusal Mendis behind the stumps.</p>.<p>However, Malan during his 25-ball 28 showed that the pitch is not a hard one to bat on while essaying some gorgeous drives through the off-side.</p>.<p>Unfortunately, the route was not taken by several subsequent batters and they were also culpable of playing some really poor cricket.</p>.<p>Joe Root got run out while taking off for a non-existing single, captain Jos Buttler made an expansive drive outside the off-stump off Lahiru Kumara to get caught behind and Bairstow never timed the pull off Kasun Rajitha to find Dhananjaya de Silva at mid-on.</p>.<p>Liam Livingstone played the wrong line off Kumara to get trapped leg-before. Moeen Ali went for a cut off Mathews when there was no width on offer, and Kusal Perera snaffled the simple offering at point.</p>.<p>These batsmen were expected to lead England's batting charge in a must-win match, and they failed to respond to the situation.</p>.<p>Stokes did try on his own. He had the assistance of fortune as well when Sadeera Samarawickrama floored a tough chance at point off Kumara when the all-rounder was on 12. England were 86 for 5 then.</p>.<p>The left-hander played some archetypal power-packed shots through either side, but the day was not made for a one-man show that Stokes is known to produce.</p>.<p>His dismissal, caught by substitute Dushan Hemantha, at deep of Kumara, effectively ended England's chances of posting a challenging total despite them having an extra-long batting line-up.</p>.<p>Adil Rashid's comical run out while backing up too far could be taken as a symbol of England's drudges with the bat on the day.</p>.<p>But the inept batting display of England should not rob the Lankan bowlers of the just credit.</p>.<p>Kumara (3 for 35) has the tendency to be all over the place but when he hits his lengths correctly, the right-arm pacer is a different beast, who can also crank up some serious speed to hustle the batters.</p>.<p>And hustled England were indeed on the day. They will hope for some more spunk from their bowlers to conjure an unlikely win and remain in the semifinals race.</p>