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Was it luck favouring England's side, or merely the unavoidable nature of scheduling a cricket tournament amid Sri Lanka's rainy period?

Either way, the English team narrowly escaped against Pakistan this past Wednesday - in a major way.

The squad had been three wins from three, smoothly progressing through their initial pool matches with just a struggling Pakistani side blocking their path from going into crucial encounters against India and Australia unbeaten.

It should have been straightforward progress: The English team has historically lost once to Pakistan, in a T20 back in 2013, and never in the 50-over format.

But instead of carrying forward their winning form toward those crucial matches against the tournament favourites, they have been jolted by a shuddering wake-up call.

England were thoroughly outplayed during twenty-five overs before the first bout of rain fell in Colombo, collapsing to seventy-nine for seven while Pakistani fast bowlers skillfully exploited a helpful but not unplayable surface, before the spinners got to work on England's fragile middle order.

Subsequently, precipitation unfairly prevented Pakistan a famous win once the weather improved to give them an hour of hope and enough time to achieve thirty-four without loss chasing 113 runs, England's smiles of relief juxtaposed by skipper Fatima Sana's disappointment as the Colombo outfield became submerged.

This was England's lucky escape leaving them no option but to learn from it.

From here on, they are unlikely to get away with another.

Pakistan Expose Glaring Weakness

The schedule for this World Cup presents challenges. Looking at England specifically, the squad is competing in their group-stage games at four separate locations, each offering different conditions demanding essentially learning on the job.

Versus the Sri Lankan team merely ninety-six hours earlier, the English played on a distinct pitch that provided spin and lift and very little for the seamers. This one was different, while English batters failed to adjust rapidly to its characteristics.

Pakistan had clear plans and implemented them effectively, consistently testing England's fragile defences through moving the ball sharply toward right-handed batters.

Diana Baig's dismissal against Tammy Beaumont deviated dramatically off the pitch, the opening batter attempting a dramatic non-shot just to witness the ball clatter into her off stump.

Nat Sciver-Brunt's wicket moved 2.5 degrees from the surface, not dissimilar to movement you would expect from an off-spinner, and the England skipper's reaction arms outstretched and astonished expression telling the complete story - the team likely hadn't practiced for nor expected this.

Amy Jones was also bowled to Fatima's bowling, that delivery deviating two degrees off the pitch, and the ball shaped one point six degrees for Heather Knight's lbw.

It was the first time across all cricket formats that an England top seven had all been bowled or lbw since early twentieth century, demonstrating Pakistani bowling accuracy in targeting the stumps.

By the end of England's revised 31 overs, they had faced sixty-one deliveries which would have hit the stumps. They surrendered eight batters to them while managing only twenty-three runs.

Image source: Cricket Analytics/Broadcast

Australian and Indian Teams Await Their Turn

The English squad journeys to Indore for their next two games to face their most challenging rivals in India, on Sunday, and versus Australia October twenty-second.

Both represent difficult opposition to encounter while batting fragilities to address however the local pitches are expected to be more even and favorable for batting.

Heather Knight's determined approach that saved the team versus Bangladesh and Nat Sciver-Brunt's quality ensured they posted a winning total against the Sri Lankan side, but when both fell early facing Pakistan, the English team couldn't rebound.

{"Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight have accumulated greater runs collectively than their team-mates combined at this tournament," World Cup winner Alex Hartley said during match commentary. "This statistic speaks volumes, and neither of them batted in the first match. That is a concern."

Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones have faced difficulties against the swinging ball - stands of six, 24 and 13 following the chase of just 70 in their initial match versus South Africa - but Charlotte Edwards' first move in charge was to show faith and re-promote Jones, and it feels unlikely she'll separate the combination.

Following the top two batters, 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 led scoring with thirty-three against Pakistan.

Occasional signs of potential from Alice Capsey batting seventh but Sophia Dunkley and Emma Lamb face difficulties beginning their batting versus spin bowling in the middle batting positions.

Lamb has 18 runs across three batting attempts while Dunkley has 29, each of their dismissals to spin, with Lamb being required to perform an unaccustomed position.

While occupying top-order positions, Lamb averages 44 in 61 innings with five centuries. These three innings here are the first she has ever played batting sixth professionally in One Day International cricket.

Danielle Wyatt-Hodge represents England's unused batter among substitutes, having previously batted in middle positions over several seasons, so it will be interesting to observe the duration the Lamb trial persists.

England may have dodged a humiliating setback here, but will be aware things are not going to get any easier.

Indian and Australian teams wait. Any wobbles against those two and England's campaign could quickly fall flat.