2 hours ago
4
Was it luck that was on England's side, or the simple inevitability of scheduling a cricket tournament during monsoon season in Sri Lanka?
Either way, England got away with one against Pakistan on Wednesday - big time.
They were three wins from three, cruising through the group stage and only winless Pakistan were standing in their way from going into crunch matches against India and Australia unbeaten.
It should have been smooth sailing: England have only ever lost once to Pakistan, in a T20 in 2013, and never in the 50-over format.
But instead of taking momentum into those two big games against the tournament favourites, they have been jolted by a shuddering wake-up call.
England were thoroughly outplayed for 25 overs before the first bout of rain fell in Colombo, slumping to 79-7 as Pakistan's seamers expertly utilised a helpful but not unplayable surface, before the spinners got to work on England's fragile middle order.
Then the rain cruelly denied Pakistan a famous win after it cleared to give them an hour of hope and enough time to reach 34-0 in pursuit of 113, England's smiles of relief juxtaposed by captain Fatima Sana's despondence as the Colombo outfield became submerged.
This was England's lucky escape and they have no choice but to learn from it.
From here on, they are unlikely to get away with another.
The schedule for this World Cup is tricky. Looking at England specifically, they are playing their group-stage games across four different venues, each offering different conditions which essentially requires learning on the job.
Against Sri Lanka just four days ago, England were on a different surface but one which offered turn, bounce and very little for the seamers. This one was different, and England's batters did not adapt quickly enough to it.
Pakistan had clear plans and executed them, constantly challenging England's fragile defences by nipping the ball into the right-handers.
Diana Baig's dismissal of Tammy Beaumont jagged back off the seam, the opener playing an extravagent leave only to see the ball clatter into her off stump.
Sciver-Brunt's dismissal moved 2.5 degrees off the pitch, not dissimilar to movement you would expect from an off-spinner, and the England skipper's reaction with open arms and a look of disbelief said it all - they probably had not prepared for nor expected this.
Amy Jones was also bowled by Fatima, that one moving two degrees off the pitch, and the ball shaped 1.6 degrees for Heather Knight's lbw.
It was the first time in any format that an England top seven had all been bowled or lbw since January 1908, testament to Pakistan's discipline in targeting the stumps.
By the end of England's revised 31 overs, they had faced 61 balls which would have hit the stumps. They lost eight wickets to them and scored just 23 runs.
England travel to Indore for their next two games to take on their toughest opponents in India, on Sunday, and Australia on 22 October.
Neither are ideal opponents to be facing with batting fragilities to address but the pitches there are expected to be flatter and friendlier to batters.
It was Knight's gritty determination which rescued them against Bangladesh and Sciver-Brunt's class ensured they posted a winning total against Sri Lanka, but when both fell early against Pakistan, England could not recover.
"Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight have scored more runs between them than their team-mates combined at this tournament," World Cup winner Alex Hartley said on BBC Test Match Special.
"That says something within itself, and neither of them batted in the first match. That is a concern."
Beaumont and Jones have struggled against the swinging ball - stands of six, 24 and 13 following the chase of just 70 in the opener against South Africa - but Charlotte Edwards' first move in charge was to show faith and re-promote Jones, and it feels unlikely she will disrupt the pair.
After Sciver-Brunt and Knight, England's next best batter has been number eight Charlie Dean with a steady 27 not out in a tense chase against Bangladesh, a handy 19 against Sri Lanka and she top-scored with 33 against Pakistan.
There have been glimpses of promise from Alice Capsey at seven but Sophia Dunkley and Emma Lamb are struggling to start their innings against spin in the middle order.
Lamb has 18 runs in three innings while Dunkley has 29, each of their dismissals to spin, with the former being asked to play an unfamiliar role.
When batting in the top three in domestic and international cricket, Lamb averages 44 in 61 innings with five centuries. These three innings here are the first she has ever played at number six professionally in the 50-over format.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge is England's unused batter on the bench, and played in the middle order for a number of years, so it will be interesting to see how long the Lamb experiment continues.
England may have dodged an embarrasing slip-up here, but will be aware things are not going to get any easier.
India and Australia await. Any wobbles against those two and England's campaign could quickly fall flat.
