5 worst defeats for England in ODIs

England have come a long way in ODI cricket over the past 2 years and are currently the No.1 ranked side in the world.

However, yesterday’s defeat at the hands of Scotland opened up old memories about some of the ridiculous and embarrassing defeats that the nation has suffered in ODI cricket over the course of the last few decades.

Emerging nations have often played out of their skins to defeat more fancied opponents throughout the history of ODI cricket, but what made Scotland’s victory so brilliant was that they scored big and then defended the total against one of the most explosive batting line-ups in the world.

England had the game in their grasp, but Scotland refused to give up and ended up winning the game, thereby handing their more illustrious neighbors a sobering defeat.

That being said, it is not the first time that England have had such a defeat and here is a look at some of the worst defeats that the English cricket team have had to endure.

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#5. 165 run loss against West Indies at Kingstown, 1994

Now, losing to the West Indies of the early 1990s is not exactly a matter of shame, but the way in which England’s performance unfolded at Kingstown in the 3rd ODI of the 5 match series makes it one of the major lows in their history.

The series was locked at 1-1, when the teams headed to Kingstown and nothing went right for England once they put the visitors in to bat after winning the toss. The entire West Indian top order got runs and thanks to a superb innings from Brian Lara (60 off 41) and Richie Richardson (52 off 34), they made 313.

It was a huge total in those days, but everyone must have expected the finalists of the previous World Cup to put up a fight.

England’s batsmen were completely overwhelmed by West Indies’ 4 man pace attack (Ambrose, Anderson Cummins, Kenny Benjamin and Winston Benjamin) and kept losing wickets from the outset.

Graeme Hick top scored with 32 (85 balls) and the Englishmen finished their innings at a miserably 148/9 in 50 overs. It remains one of England’s most embarrassing defeats in their ODI history.

#4. 10 Wickets loss to Sri Lanka in World Cup final at Colombo, 2011

Jonathan Trott during his innings against Sri Lanka

England had a bit of a topsy-turvy World Cup back in 2011, when they took part in some memorable games and also suffered embarrassing reverses, yet they managed to make it to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

In the knockout game they came up against eventual finalists Sri Lanka, but instead of giving the Asian giants a tough game, they succumbed to stage fright after choosing to bat first.

On an eminently batsman-friendly wicket, the Englishmen failed to get going and top-scorer Jonathan Trott’s 86 off 115 balls (2 fours) did not put much of a dent as he could not accelerate in the slog overs.

They could make only a paltry 229 and that was a bit of a shame, considering the magnitude of the game.

That being said, they had defended 160 odd against South Africa in the group stages and maybe there was some hope.

However, Sri Lanka’s openers T. Dilshan and Upul Tharanga made a mockery of the English bowling attack, as they both made centuries to overall the total in 39.3.

It was laughably easy for Sri Lanka and deserves a special place in the many shocking defeats that England have suffered over the years.

#3. 3 wicket loss to Ireland in World Cup league game at Bengaluru, 2011

Kevin O'Brien in action at Bengaluru

Before Scotland, there was Ireland and in a game that will always be regarded as one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, the Irishmen pulled off a sensational victory against England that will be remembered for a long time.

After having chosen to bat first, Jonathan Trott (92) and Ian Bell (81) helped England post a massive 327 at Bengaluru. It looked like a total that Ireland would not be able to overhaul and the game seemed to have been wrapped after England had reduced Ireland to 106 for 4 in the 23rd over.

That is when Kevin O'Brien walked in and played one of the best innings of the tournament to overwhelm the England bowlers.

He slammed 113 off 63 balls (13 fours, 6 sixes) to launch a stunning attack as England wilted under the pressure and the Irish completed the chase off the first ball of the 49th over to complete the chase.

England had no answers and there is no doubt that it is a game that is going to be a source of embarrassment for them for a long time.

#2. 8 wicket loss to New Zealand in World Cup league game at Wellington, 2015

New Zealand celebrate the fall of another English wicket

England’s World Cup campaign in 2015 got off to a poor start when they went down meekly to co-hosts Australia on the 1st day, but it was their 2nd game against the other co-hosts that would always be remembered for being as one of the darkest days in England’s modern ODI cricket history.

England chose to bat first and although they got off to a poor start, having been reduced to 57 for 3, no one quite saw what was coming. Joe Root and Eoin Morgan steadied the innings as England reached 104 for 3, but then the latter got out to Vettori.

From then on, a shocking batting performance unfolded as one batsman after another went back to the pavilion and within a matter of 7.2 overs, England were shot out for 123.

Tim Southee took 7 wickets in the innings and completed one of the poorest batting performances from England in their history. To add insult to their misery, New Zealand batsmen went on the rampage and blasted 125 in 12.2 overs to win by 8 wickets.

#1. 15 runs loss to Bangladesh in World Cup league game at Adelaide, 2015

A dejected Eoin Morgan walks back

This was England’s lowest point in their recent history in limited overs cricket and led to far-reaching changes that eventually led to the team becoming the limited overs powerhouse they became over the past three years.

It was a game that England had to win to make it to the quarter-finals and after they elected to field first, they reduced Bangladesh to 8 for 2.

However, middle-order batsman Mahmadullah made a steady century (103 off 128) and Mushfiqur Rahim slammed a whirlwind 89 (77 balls, 8 fours, 1 sixes) to help the Tigers reach 275.

In such a crunch game, it was a formidable score but England started well and looked on course for the win when opener Alex Hales departed with the score at 97 for 2.

However, the 27th over to the 30th over, they lost 3 wickets to be reduced from 121 for 2 to 132 for 5. Despite that, the asking rate was manageable and Jos Buttler’s innings (65 off 52) kept them in the hunt.

However, except Chris Woakes, none of the lower order players could stick around and the English innings folded for 260 under dramatic circumstances with 9 balls to spare.

It was the biggest shock of the World Cup as England were knocked out and Bangladesh went through. It remains one of the most traumatic losses in English ODI cricket history.