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Could it have been fortune that was on the English squad, or the simple inevitability when planning an international cricket competition amid Sri Lanka's rainy period?

Either way, the English team narrowly escaped against Pakistan on 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 standing in their way from going into crunch matches against India and Australia unbeaten.

This should have represented smooth sailing: The English team has historically lost once to Pakistan, in a T20 in 2013, and never in One Day International cricket.

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

The English side was completely dominated for 25 overs prior to the initial rainfall at the Colombo venue, slumping to 79-7 as Pakistan's seamers skillfully exploited a challenging yet manageable pitch, followed by spin bowlers taking over on England's fragile middle order.

Subsequently, precipitation unfairly prevented Pakistan a famous win once the weather improved providing sixty minutes of opportunity with sufficient duration to reach 34-0 in pursuit of 113, England's smiles of relief contrasted with captain Fatima Sana's despondence while the Colombo playing field flooded.

This was England's lucky escape and they have no choice except to absorb its lessons.

Moving forward, it's improbable to get away with another.

Pakistan Expose Obvious Vulnerability

This tournament's fixture list presents challenges. Focusing particularly on England, the squad is competing in their preliminary matches at four separate locations, all providing varying playing conditions demanding essentially adaptation during matches.

Against Sri Lanka merely ninety-six hours earlier, the English played on a distinct pitch that provided spin and lift and very little for fast bowlers. This surface differed, while English batters failed to adjust rapidly to it.

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 against Tammy Beaumont deviated dramatically off the pitch, the opening batter attempting an extravagant leave only to see the ball clatter into her off stump.

Sciver-Brunt's dismissal moved 2.5 degrees from the surface, comparable to the turn you would expect from an off-spinner, and the England skipper's reaction with open arms and a look of disbelief telling the complete story - they probably had not prepared for or anticipated such conditions.

Amy Jones similarly lost her wicket by Fatima, that delivery deviating two degrees off the pitch, while another ball moved one point six degrees resulting in Heather Knight's leg-before decision.

It was the first time in any format where England's top seven batters had all been bowled or lbw since early twentieth century, testament to Pakistan's discipline in targeting the stumps.

Following England's reduced thirty-one over innings, the batting side encountered sixty-one deliveries which would have hit the stumps. They surrendered eight batters to them and scored just 23 runs.

Image source: Cricket Analytics/Broadcast

India and Australia Await Their Turn

England travel to Indore for their next two games to take on their toughest opponents in India, on Sunday, and Australia on 22 October.

Both represent difficult opposition to be facing with batting fragilities to address but the pitches there are expected to be flatter and friendlier to batters.

Heather Knight's determined approach that saved the team against Bangladesh and Nat Sciver-Brunt's quality guaranteed they achieved a winning total against Sri Lanka, yet when both departed quickly against Pakistan, England could not recover.

{"The English captain and vice-captain have scored more runs collectively than their team-mates combined during this competition," Former championship player Alex Hartley commented during match commentary. "That says something within itself, and both were absent during the opening game. That represents a worry."

Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones have faced difficulties versus moving deliveries - stands of six, 24 and 13 after pursuing only seventy runs in their initial match versus South Africa - however the coach's initial decision in charge was to show faith and re-promote Jones, and it feels unlikely she'll separate the combination.

Following the top two batters, 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.

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

Emma Lamb has accumulated eighteen runs in three innings while Dunkley has 29, each of their dismissals to spin, with the former being asked to play an unfamiliar role.

While occupying top-order positions, Lamb maintains a forty-four average in 61 innings including five hundreds. These current three performances represent her initial experience batting sixth professionally in the 50-over format.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge is England's unused batter on the bench, having previously batted in middle positions for a number of years, making it intriguing to see how long the Lamb experiment continues.

The English team might have avoided a humiliating setback here, but will be aware things are not going become less challenging.

India and Australia await. Any stumbles versus these opponents could see England's tournament could quickly fall flat.