In a decisive victory, the five-time champions clinched a 33-run win after dismissing the struggling defending champions for 253, despite a half-century from Ben Stokes.

It marked a bitter conclusion to England’s slim hopes of advancing to the World Cup semi-finals, suffering their sixth defeat in seven games. The elimination of the defending champions with two matches remaining was doubly painful, as it came at the hands of arch-rivals Australia in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Once again, they fell short in chasing down a challenging total.

A month prior, at the same venue, England faced a resounding defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the tournament opener. It appeared that their formidable lineup would stage a comeback, but fortunes continued to decline.

Chasing a target of 287 against Australia, Jos Buttler and his teammates were dismissed for 253 in 48.1 overs, despite establishing strong positions in the chase.

Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, and skipper Buttler, three of England’s most experienced ODI batsmen, once again failed to make an impact. Bairstow fell to the first ball of the innings, Root became Mitchell Starc’s second victim in the fifth over, and Buttler was caught in the deep after just one run off seven deliveries.

However, England found themselves at 102/2 and then at 169/4 as Ben Stokes first forged an 84-run partnership with Dawid Malan and later added 63 runs with Moeen Ali. Yet, Australia intensified their efforts in the field and consistently broke through, thanks to the formidable Adam Zampa.

The 31-year-old reclaimed the top spot in the list of leading wicket-takers in the World Cup with yet another high-class performance. It marked the fifth consecutive match where the leg-spinner took three or more wickets. Zampa had an exceptional outing, delivering with the ball, bat, and even taking a superb running catch in the outfield to dismiss David Willey.

Earlier, England opted to go in with an unchanged playing XI, while Australia had to make two changes. Glenn Maxwell, who had an unusual golfing accident, and Mitch Marsh, who had to return home for personal reasons, were replaced by Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green.

Choosing to field, England got off to a promising start, with Travis Head, who had delivered a match-winning century upon his return from injury in the last game against New Zealand, dismissed by Chris Woakes in the second over. Australia’s concerns deepened four overs later as the in-form David Warner was also sent back by Woakes.