W2W4 at Cricket World Cup: Why this is a make-or-break week for England

India barely held on after a spirited Afghanistan performance. Sri Lanka was responsible for the upset of the tournament so far, after bowling out England in Headingley. West Indies' Carlos Brathwaite singlehandedly came within a five-run distance of handing New Zealand its first loss of the tournament.

Week 4 of the Cricket World Cup saw some nerve-wracking and world-class action, and it has shaken up the round-robin phase. For a time it had looked like a four-team lockout, with India, New Zealand, Australia and England pulling away from the rest.

Instead, England in particular is suddenly in a tricky situation: Its past three matches are against those three key rivals. Any further losses will give the chasing pack -- Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan -- a real shot at entering the top four and making the semifinals. Here are the top three matches to look out for this week:

England vs. Australia

Tuesday, 5:30 a.m. ET

With two surprising losses in this year's tournament, England is facing pressure, so what better time for its archrivals to put the squeeze on its World Cup hopes? Australia is the underdog in this rivalry for once. The team was thrashed 5-0 on its last visit to England in 2018. But Australia has, by far, the better track record at World Cups, with five wins out of seven matches in their head-to-heads, not to mention five tournament wins to none, and the team has been boosted by the return of David Warner in particular after his yearlong ban for ball-tampering. England's star opener, Jason Roy, is still absent with injury, so Joe Root, the team's leading run-scorer so far, and Eoin Morgan, who cracked a world-record 17 sixes against Afghanistan last week, will be relied upon to get England back to its heavy-scoring best.

ICC win predictor: England, 55 percent | Australia at 45 percent

Sri Lanka vs. South Africa

Friday, 5:30 a.m. ET

Few people would have earmarked this as one of the key contests of the World Cup -- and had they done so, it would probably have been with a view to South Africa maintaining a challenge for the semifinals. Instead, this is suddenly looming as a real opportunity for Sri Lanka, one of the least-fancied sides in the lead-up to the tournament, but one that is now flushed with renewed confidence. South Africa is demoralized and disjointed, out of the tournament after a flat defeat to Pakistan, and ripe for the picking. Sri Lanka -- inspired by Lasith Malinga to that memorable win over England -- looks to propel itself into real contention for the semifinals.

ICC win predictor: Sri Lanka, 29 percent | South Africa, 71 percent

India vs. England

Sunday,  5:30 a.m. ET

England finishes off the week by playing the No. 2 seeds in Edgbaston. Despite the ICC win-predictor giving England the edge, India has the momentum after its unbeaten start to the tournament. Unlike England, India is not under pressure to win the rest of its round-robin matches. On the flip side, has India peaked too early in the tournament? The team did well to overcome its stutter against Afghanistan, but it hasn't yet been put under sustained pressure by any of their major rivals, after comfortable wins over Australia, South Africa and Pakistan, and a washout against New Zealand. After that Pakistan match, this is the most hyped matchup of the event, with ICC predicting more than one billion views. Watch out for Mohammed Shami and Jaspreet Bumrah against the England batting, with Jonny Bairstow a crucial agenda-setter at the top of the order.

ICC win predictor: England, 53 percent | India at 47 percent