(CNN) England suffered a shock defeat against Ireland at the T20 World Cup as rain in Melbourne thwarted the team's run chase.
Pursuing Ireland's total of 157, England had Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone at the crease and needed 53 runs from 33 balls to win when rain arrived at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
At that point, the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, which calculates a team's target score when rain stops a match, intervened to hand Ireland a five-run victory.
The result means England, one of the favorites to win the tournament, will likely have to defeat reigning champion Australia on Friday in order to reach the semifinals.
Andrew Balbirnie led the scoring for Ireland with a superb 62 from 47 balls, while Lorcan Tucker added 34 as England's bowlers failed to gain an advantage in Wednesday's match.