Spinner Adam Zampa starred with bat and ball as Australia knocked defending champions England out of the World Cup with a 33-run win on Saturday.
Chasing 287 for victory in Ahmedabad, England folded for 253 in 48.1 overs despite a valiant 64 from Ben Stokes to slump to their sixth defeat in seven matches and stay bottom of the 10-team table.
Five-time champions Australia edged closer to securing a semi-final berth alongside India and South Africa both already qualified for the last four with their fifth straight win.
Zampa returned figures of 3-21 with his leg-spin to puncture England’s hopes that were raised by a couple of partnerships including a 63-run fifth-wicket stand between Stokes and Moeen Ali, who hit 42.
“We put on a really competitive total, but it was going to be tough to defend,” said Zampa.
“The ground felt really dewey, really wet. So length control, attacking the stumps, trying to guess what the batsman was going to do was really important.”
Zampa, who had earlier hit 29 with the bat, dismissed Stokes when the English star mistimed a paddle to be caught at short fine-leg and departed with a shake of his head.
Wickets kept tumbling with Liam Livingstone and Moeen falling in quick succession for a familiar England tale in this tournament where they have also lost to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
Zampa, who leads the World Cup bowling chart with 19 wickets, also took a superb outfield catch to help dismiss David Willey.
“It certainly feels like a low point. I’ve had a few but definitely as a captain,” said England skipper Jos Buttler.
