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

Either way, England got away with one versus their Pakistani opponents on Wednesday - in a major way.

They were undefeated in three matches, smoothly progressing through their initial pool matches and only a struggling Pakistani side standing in their way to entering crunch matches against India and Australia unbeaten.

This should have represented straightforward progress: England have only ever lost just one match against Pakistan, in a T20 in 2013, and never in One Day International cricket.

But instead of carrying forward their winning form toward those crucial matches against the tournament favourites, the team received a shock by a shuddering wake-up call.

England were thoroughly outplayed during twenty-five overs before the first bout of rain fell at the Colombo venue, slumping to 79-7 while Pakistani fast bowlers skillfully exploited a helpful but not unplayable surface, before the spinners got to work against the vulnerable English middle batting lineup.

Subsequently, precipitation unfairly prevented the Pakistani team a notable victory after it cleared providing sixty minutes of opportunity and enough time to reach 34-0 in pursuit of 113, England's smiles of relief juxtaposed by skipper Fatima Sana's disappointment while the Colombo playing field flooded.

This represented England's fortunate reprieve leaving them no option except to absorb its lessons.

From here on, they are unlikely they'll escape another such situation.

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.

Against Sri Lanka merely ninety-six hours earlier, the English played on a distinct pitch but one which offered spin and lift and very little for the seamers. This surface differed, and England's batters failed to adjust rapidly to its characteristics.

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

Diana Baig's successful delivery against Tammy Beaumont jagged back off the seam, the opener playing 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 similarly lost her wicket to Fatima's bowling, that one moving two degrees off the pitch, while another ball moved 1.6 degrees resulting in Heather Knight's leg-before decision.

It was the first time across all cricket formats where England's top seven batters had all been bowled or lbw since January 1908, testament to Pakistan's discipline in targeting the stumps.

By the end of England's revised 31 overs, they had faced 61 balls that would have struck the wickets. They lost eight wickets to them while managing only twenty-three runs.

Image source: Cricket Analytics/Broadcast

India and Australia Lie in Wait

England travel to Indore for their upcoming two matches to take on their toughest opponents against India this 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 versus Bangladesh and Sciver-Brunt's class guaranteed they achieved a competitive score 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."

Beaumont and Jones have struggled versus moving deliveries - partnerships of six, twenty-four and thirteen after pursuing only seventy runs in their initial match versus South Africa - however the coach's initial decision was to demonstrate confidence and re-promote Jones, making it improbable she'll separate the combination.

Following the top two batters, the team's third-most productive player has been Charlie Dean at number eight scoring a solid twenty-seven not out during a nervous run-chase versus Bangladesh, a useful nineteen against Sri Lanka and she top-scored with 33 versus Pakistan.

There have been glimpses of promise from Alice Capsey batting seventh but Sophia Dunkley and Emma Lamb are struggling to start their innings against spin in the middle order.

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.

When batting in the top three, Lamb maintains a forty-four average over sixty-one innings with five centuries. These current three performances are the first she has ever played batting sixth professionally in One Day International cricket.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge is England's unused batter on the bench, having previously batted in middle positions for a number of years, 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 become less challenging.

India and Australia await. Any wobbles against those two could see England's tournament could quickly fall flat.