Defending world champions England's hope of clearing the group stage of the ongoing World Cup was all but dashed when Sri Lanka claimed a dominating eight-wicket victory at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru yesterday.

England skipper Jos Buttler described his team's thumping World Cup loss to Sri Lanka on Thursday as a "huge low point" with the team's title defence in tatters and their hopes of reaching the semi-finals all but over.

England won the toss and decided to bowl first in the World Cup match against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday where star batsman Ben Stokes was again absent.

England captain Jos Buttler praised his side’s attacking style of play as the defending World Cup champions stormed back into the tournament by handing Bangladesh a 137-run defeat in their second match in Dharamshala on Tuesday.

The poor outfield of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala was the focal point of both Bangladesh and England's pre-match press conferences on Monday ahead of their crucial World Cup clash today.

"It's poor in my own opinion," Buttler told reporters on Monday ahead of the match against Bangladesh.

A nine-wicket thumping is tough to digest but England captain Jos Buttler does not want to see his team mates wallow in self-pity after a horrible start to their World Cup title defence against New Zealand on Thursday.

England star Ben Stokes could miss the World Cup opener against New Zealand due to a hip injury with captain Jos Buttler admitting Wednesday "it's not the time to take risks".

Vice-captain at an unhappy 2015 World Cup, Buttler played a starring role in the final four years later -- making 59 off 60 balls in a vital stand with Ben Stokes, before adding crucial runs in the Super Over and sealing victory by completing the run-out of Martin Guptill

As recently as 2015, England suffered a humiliating group-stage exit but they are now the reigning world champions in both men's one-day international and Twenty20 cricket

Jos Buttler’s record as a captain in ICC limited overs tournaments is unblemished, having led England to ICC Men’s T20 World Cup glory in 2022.

Jos Buttler's team scored 311-9 from their 50 overs before dismissing the Black Caps for 211 at Lord's to win the four-match series 3-1

Stokes, who last month reversed his retirement from ODI cricket, hammered a 124-ball 182 to record England's highest individual score in the 50-overs format, bettering Jason Roy's previous record of 180.

Jofra Archer attended England's training session at The Oval on Tuesday to spark hopes he could yet feature at next month's World Cup in India.

"It's always my favourite shot. I'll try and play it as much as I can," the 32-year-old told team mate Yuzvendra Chahal in a post-match video after their 72-run victory

Buttler's 22-ball 54 led the team's batting onslaught as they posted 203-5, and then their bowlers restricted hosts Hyderabad to 131-8 in the first match of the day

England's 3-0 defeat in their Twenty20 series in Bangladesh was a real "eye-opener" for the world champions, white-ball coach Matthew Mott said.

England’s World Cup-winning skipper Jos Buttler admitted that his side were ‘outplayed’ in the three-match T20I series, in which the visitors were whitewashed by hosts Bangladesh.   

The last time the current world champions suffered a series whitewash in this format were in 2014 when they lost 3-0 against Australia. Bangladesh, on the other hand, enjoyed a first three-match series sweep in this format for the first time since doing the same against Ireland in 2012. 

Mustafizur joined the 100-wicket club in his 81st match, eclipsing Shakib Al Hasan who reached the milestone in his 84th match. Malan had scored 53 off 47 deliveries.