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Was it luck favouring the English squad, or the simple inevitability of scheduling a cricket tournament amid Sri Lanka's rainy period?

In any case, the English team narrowly escaped against Pakistan this past Wednesday - big time.

The squad had been three wins from three, cruising through their initial pool matches with just a struggling Pakistani side standing in their way from going into crunch matches against India and Australia without a loss.

This should have represented smooth sailing: England have only ever lost once to Pakistan, in a T20 in 2013, and not once in the 50-over format.

However, rather than taking momentum into those two big games against the tournament favourites, they have been jolted through a startling reality check.

England were thoroughly outplayed during twenty-five overs prior to the initial rainfall in Colombo, slumping to 79-7 as Pakistan's seamers skillfully exploited a challenging yet manageable pitch, before the spinners got to work on England's fragile middle order.

Subsequently, precipitation unfairly prevented the Pakistani team a notable victory after it cleared to give them an hour of hope and enough time to reach 34-0 in pursuit of 113, England's smiles of relief contrasted with skipper Fatima Sana's disappointment while the Colombo playing field flooded.

This represented England's fortunate reprieve and they have no choice but to learn from it.

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

Pakistan Expose Glaring Weakness

This tournament's fixture list is tricky. Focusing particularly on England, the squad is competing in their preliminary matches across four different venues, each offering different conditions which essentially requires learning on the job.

Versus the Sri Lankan team just four days ago, England were on a different surface but one which offered turn, bounce and very little for fast bowlers. This one was different, and England's batters did not adapt quickly enough to its characteristics.

The Pakistani side possessed definite strategies and executed them, constantly challenging the English team's vulnerable batting through moving the ball sharply into the right-handers.

Diana Baig's dismissal of Tammy Beaumont jagged back off the seam, the opening batter attempting an extravagant leave only to see the ball clatter into her off stump.

Nat Sciver-Brunt's wicket deviated two and a half degrees off the pitch, comparable to the turn typically seen from an off-spinner, with the English captain's response arms outstretched and a look of disbelief telling the complete story - the team likely hadn't practiced for or anticipated such conditions.

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

This marked the initial occasion in any format where England's top seven batters were all either bowled or leg-before since January 1908, testament to Pakistan's discipline in targeting the stumps.

By the end of England's revised 31 overs, the batting side encountered 61 balls which would have hit the stumps. They surrendered eight batters to these deliveries and scored just 23 runs.

Image source: Cricket Analytics/Broadcast

Australian and Indian Teams Await Their Turn

England travel to Indore for their upcoming two matches to take on their toughest opponents in India, on Sunday, and versus Australia October twenty-second.

Both represent difficult opposition to encounter while batting weaknesses needing correction but the pitches there are anticipated as 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 Sri Lanka, yet when both departed quickly facing Pakistan, the English team couldn't rebound.

{"Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight have scored more runs collectively than their team-mates combined during this competition," Former championship player Alex Hartley commented 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 after pursuing only seventy runs in the opener against South Africa - however the coach's initial decision was to demonstrate confidence and re-promote Jones, making it improbable she will disrupt the pair.

After Sciver-Brunt and Knight, the team's third-most productive player 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 top-scored with 33 versus Pakistan.

There have been glimpses of promise from Alice Capsey batting seventh however Sophia Dunkley and Emma Lamb face difficulties beginning their batting versus spin bowling in the middle order.

Lamb has 18 runs across three batting attempts while Dunkley has 29, both losing their wickets to spin, with the former being asked to play an unfamiliar role.

While occupying top-order positions, Lamb averages 44 in 61 innings with five centuries. These current three performances are the first she has ever played batting sixth professionally in the 50-over format.

Danielle Wyatt-Hodge represents England's unused batting option among substitutes, and played in the middle order over several seasons, making it intriguing to observe the duration the Lamb trial persists.

England may have dodged a humiliating setback in this instance, yet remains conscious things are not going become less challenging.

Indian and Australian teams wait. Any stumbles versus these opponents and England's campaign could quickly fall flat.