Nottingham: Chris Woakes was adamant England’s surprise World Cup defeat by Pakistan was “no car crash” but accepted they would have to raise their fielding standards after a sloppy display contributed to a 14-run loss at Trent Bridge.
England, the world’s top-ranked one-day side, came into the World Cup on the back of a 4-0 series thrashing of Pakistan. But it was a different story in Nottingham on Monday as Pakistan complied a challenging total of 348 for eight. Even though Joe Root and Jos Buttler made hundreds, England could only reach 334 for nine in reply. Warwickshire paceman Woakes, fast bowler Jofra Archer and leg-spinner Adil Rashid were all expensive they were not helped by a poor fielding effort that saw numerous runs given away in mis-fields and over throws Jason Roy’s extraordinary drop that reprieved Mohammad Hafeez on 14 pretty much summed up England’s fielding. The batsman went on to top-score with 84. Woakes, who showed England the way with four catches, was at a loss to explain the decline in England’s performance just days after launching their quest to win the World Cup with a 104-run thrashing of South Africa at the Oval. He accepted England would need to raise their fielding against Bangladesh in Cardiff on Saturday. “By no means was it a car crash but it was the difference in the game,” said Woakes. “We didn’t field as well as we can and probably left 20 runs out there. It was just one of those days where we fumbled a few.” He added. (AFP)
