England lose to India by 100 runs, with Ben Stokes making a critical error in the heavy defeat which adds to a horrendous World Cup, as the holders face an imminent exit

• England fell to a 100 runs defeat to India to continue their humiliating World Cup
• Astonishingly, they remain in the tournament, but their exit is imminent 
• They must finish in the group’s top 8 to qualify for the 2025 Presidents Trophy

Ben Stokes arrived in India hoping to boost England’s title defence, but ended up playing the shot that defined their fall from grace.

With England 30 for two in pursuit of the 230 they needed to stun India and maintain a mathematical interest in the World Cup, Stokes flailed for nine balls, then missed an ugly hack at Mohammed Shami.

As a partisan crowd approaching 50,000 went berserk, England’s talisman sheepishly trudged off. He had just played possibly the worst stroke of the tournament – a tired act of surrender that spoke on behalf of a demoralised team.

This was not so much a sporting performance as a definition of madness, as England repeated familiar mistakes while somehow expecting a different outcome. Well, guess what? They lost. Again, this time by 100 runs after being dismissed for 129 – their lowest total yet.

Astonishingly, they are not yet out of the World Cup, though their departure is only a matter of time, and Australia would love to apply the coup de grace in Ahmedabad on Saturday. It’s hard to see another outcome.

Ben Stokes made a critical error when he was bowled out in England’s heavy defeat to India

India had chased in each of their five games, and won despite an eventual total of 229 for nine 

England’s fifth defeat marked their worst World Cup ever, and there’s still three games left

England’s latest horror show with the bat condemned them to their fifth defeat, making this their worst World Cup. And there are three games still to come.

To add to the schadenfreude others have felt at their demise, it emerged on Saturday that those games will be about more than playing for pride, with the ICC belatedly pointing out that the eight spots for the 2025 Champions Trophy will be determined by the group placings here.

Hosts Pakistan are guaranteed qualification, leaving seven other spots up for grabs. England, currently propping up the 10-team table, will need to beat at least two of Australia, the Netherlands and Pakistan to avoid the humiliation of missing out.

The ICC have messed up badly by failing to clarify the regulations at the start of the tournament, which would have lent context to some of the apparently dead matches towards the end of the marathon group stage.

A claim on their website that qualification would be determined by rankings nearer the time was said to be ‘out of date’.

Equally, it stretched incredulity to learn England had no idea a place in the bottom two would cost them anything other than their title. Then again, perhaps nothing was stretched at all: their haplessness keeps plumbing new depths.

Even their former captain Eoin Morgan has had to admit defeat, telling Sky Sports before this match: ‘I’ve never come across a sports team that has underperformed like this England team, given the level of expectation that is on their shoulders.’

And Morgan ridiculed claims from within the camp that England had simply suffered a collective loss of form.

‘Given how strong the team is, that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever,’ he said. ‘I think there’s something else going on – there has to be. England have gone away from what has worked for them for a long time – and in the space of three weeks.

Predictably, England bottled the chance to give their three 20-somethings a go, leaving Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse on the sidelines, and sticking with the side that were embarrassed by Sri Lanka in Bangalore.

The bowlers, in fairness, had their best game yet, with Chris Woakes finally finding rhythm, and David Willey working over Virat Kohli so skilfully that he ended up slogging to mid-off for a nine-ball duck.

Adil Rashid claimed the big scalp of Rohit Sharma, superbly caught for 87 at deep midwicket by Liam Livingstone, and Moeen Ali bowled tidily too.

India had chased in each of their five games, and their eventual total of 229 for nine did not quell fears among their supporters that they are a less ferocious proposition batting first.

At 30 without loss in the fifth over, England had actually made a decent start, as they did against Sri Lanka.

But in the time it took to say the ground’s full name – the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium – Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah bowled Dawid Malan off the edge, before trapping Joe Root first ball with a full-length delivery that defeated his attempted work to leg.

Root asked for a review, then gesticulated angrily with his bat after third umpire Ahsan Raza decided that a small tremor on Snicko was something other than ball on bat – possibly boot on turf.

Joe Root scored two early World Cup half-centuries, but just 16 runs in the last four innings

Liam Livingstone’s 27 was England’s top score, as they crawled past 100, but not much further

Since starting with a couple of lively half-centuries against New Zealand and Bangladesh, Root has now scored 16 runs in four innings from 34 balls, mirroring England’s decline.

With the run-rate not an issue, and the dew likely to favour the batting side, Stokes might have given himself an extended look at the bowling. Instead, he was all over the place. Three innings here have brought him 48 runs from 91 balls, and none of the expected menace.

Jonny Bairstow was bowled by Shami for 14 via inside edge and pad, before Jos Buttler’s nightmare tournament continued when he was flummoxed by left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav for 10. When Moeen Ali drove limply at Shami and edged behind for 15, England were 81 for six.

Livingstone’s 27 was the top score, and it felt like a small mercy when they crawled past 100, though not much further. England, soon to be ex-world champions, are now living on scraps.

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