Monday 06 / January / 2025
LUCKNOW: India’s bowlers blitzed out England in a brilliant display under the Lucknow lights to win by 100 runs and continue the host nation’s perfect record at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 on Sunday.
In a game that was dominated by the ball, England restricted India to 229/9 in their 50 overs to leave the match in the balance at the midway point. But an out-of-form England batting line-up disintegrated under the pressure built by India’s inspired pace attack, as Mohammed Shami took 4/22 and Jasprit Bumrah bagged 3/32 to wrap up a convincing victory as the defending champions were bowled out for 129 in 34.5 overs.
In hindsight, Rohit Sharma’s excellent 87 was the key performance with the bat on the day, holding India’s innings together as wickets fell around him, with the captain going close to a century before being expertly caught in the deep by Liam Livingstone off Adil Rashid.
And KL Rahul (39), Suryakumar Yadav (49) and Jasprit Bumrah (16) ensured the tournament hosts got to a total that gave the bowlers something to work with.
Jasprit Bumrah
The defending champions had a target of 230 to aim for and had the bonus of dew on the outfield to limit the impact of India’s spinners.
But after the first wicket fell it was a collapse for Jos Buttler’s side, with England losing all ten wickets for just 99 runs in a dispiriting display that leaves them rooted to the bottom of the standings.
After being sent into bat, an unchanged India took off at the back of Rohit Sharma's aggressive charge. He hit two sixes and a four as India took 18 off David Willey's second over.
However, England struck back quickly enough, with Chris Woakes getting one to nip back in and beating Shubman Gill's defences in the fourth over.
One brought two, as Virat Kohli went for a big shot early in his innings, couldn't time the ball, and ended up giving a catch to Ben Stokes at mid-off.
Both Woakes and Willey got the best out of the new ball, getting it to jag around and beating the bat on several occasions. The scoring opportunities reduced for the India batters, and England yielded another wicket after building up enough pressure.
A number of fuller deliveries from Chris Woakes troubled Shreyas Iyer (4), and the batter sought a release when he saw one pitched slightly shorter. However, all the Mumbai batter could find was the mid-on fielder.
KL Rahul arrived at the wicket and helped stabilise the innings along with Rohit. After seeing through a tough phase, the duo picked pace between the overs 21-30 and added 58 runs for India.
Rohit, in particular, took charge after reaching his half-century. He hit four fours and a six in his next 20 balls.
Just when India looked like they might take the game away from England, Willey returned to strike for England. Rahul tried to go down the track to a length delivery but could only get it to Bairstow at mid-on.
The arrival of Suryakumar Yadav kept the run-flow intact as the batter unleashed a set of beautiful sweeps and pulls. However, England kept coming back with breakthroughs at the right moment. Rohit fell while going for an expansive stroke against Adil Rashid in the 37th over.
And England kept the pressure up through Rashid and Moeen Ali through the middle overs, before Willey and Wood returned to do damage in the tail.
