"The host team curse is real" - Fans troll Australia for getting knocked out of the T20 World Cup in group stage
Hosts and defending champions Australia have been knocked out of the T20 World Cup as England beat Sri Lanka in Sydney on Saturday to take the second semifinal spot in Group 1.
Chasing 142 runs to win, England had to work hard but managed to get over the line with two balls to spare, thanks to a responsible 42* from Ben Stokes. Jos Buttler and his men ended up level on points with the hosts, but have qualified due to a better net run rate.
Fans on Twitter trolled Australia for not even qualifying for the knockout stages of the tournament on their home soil. Some also feel that the curse of no host team ever winning a T20 World Cup is real.
Here are some of the reactions:
Imagine winning to knock out the Aussies in their own World Cup lol
If we win this T20 World Cup, Oreo ki lottery lag jaayegi ๐ https://t.co/mYPFrJcetL
ICC MENS T20 WORLD CUP 2022
DEFENDING CHAMPION AUSTRALIA TATA BYE BYE.
Congrats England.
Australia deserves to be out of this tournament. Very poor campaign!
Australia getting knocked out by England of all teams https://t.co/WOyMOTGg1Y
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ ENGLAND WIN ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
That was tense but they've done it! We're into the semi-finals of the World Cup ๐๐๐
Goodbye Australia ๐
#T20WorldCup https://t.co/ALyQSdQgI6
Kisi tarah jeet gye. Chalo acha hai Australia bahar twitter.com/jbairstow21/stโฆ
Defending champions and host out from the T20 World Cup. The host team curse is real ๐
People really said here aus will defend their title ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ twitter.com/NotTheDarkBladโฆ
Today I learned the importance of 'LUCK' in life. https://t.co/LkpFNVQigt
Aussies knocked out of WT20 https://t.co/XmF9uWoGqX
The tradition of host(s) never winning the T20 World Cup continues.
Let the tears commence https://t.co/Ee6eP7wpqi
Defending champions Australia have failed to qualify for Semi Finals in Australia.
In 1987 - Australia won the World Cup in Asia.
In 1992 - Australia out of the Group stage in their home country.
In 2021 - Australia won the World Cup in Asia.
In 2022 - Australia out of the Super 12 in their home country.
History repeats.
๐๐ฆ๐ช๐ฆ๐บ https://t.co/QBym86ZD9t
Australia have only themselves to blame for their poor net run rate
After losing by a massive margin of 89 runs against New Zealand in their opening game, the hosts needed to win their remaining games with good enough margins to ensure their passage into the semifinals.
Although their game against England was washed out, the Aussies beat Ireland, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. But they failed to improve their net run-rate by a massive margin.
In the game against Ireland, the hosts had a great opportunity to win by a big margin, with the opposition reeling at 25-5 at one point. However, a stunning knock from Lorcan Tucker reduced the deficit to 41 runs.
Even in the match against Afghanistan yesterday, Rashid Khan's blitz denied the Aussies a huge win. This meant that they finished about 52 runs behind England in terms of net run rate.
Had Australia won the aforementioned games handsomely, they would have been heading to Sydney to play the semifinals and defend their crown. England's close win over Sri Lanka simply shut out whatever little chance they had.