India 229 for 8 (Rohit 87, Suryakumar 49, Willey 3-45) beat England 129 (Livingstone 27, Shami 4-22, Bumrah 3-32) by 100 runs
Mohammed Shami ripped the heart out of England as India defended a modest total in Lucknow to maintain their unbeaten World Cup run and condemn their opponents’ campaign even further.
Shami claimed 2 for 4 from three overs inside the first powerplay in a breathtaking spell and Jasprit Bumrah 2 for 17 from five as England lurched to 40 for 4 after 10 overs chasing 230 for just their second win of the tournament. Shami claimed two more and Bumrah one to ensure that wasn’t to be as none of England’s batters passed Liam Livingstone’s 27 and India romped to a 100-run victory with 15.1 overs to spare.
David Willey’s fierce, wide-eyed celebration upon removing Virat Kohli for a nine-ball duck hinted at the menace England were expected to bring but have sorely missed in this tournament. It was matched by Dawid Malan’s steely gaze which followed the ball over deep midwicket as he clubbed Mohammed Siraj for six to get off the mark after Willey, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid had helped restrict India to 229 for 8, Rohit Sharma’s 87 in tricky batting conditions leading the way for the hosts.
But then Bumrah beat Malan’s outside edge with one that shaped away and, two balls later, got his man via an attempted cut which Malan chopped straight onto his stumps. Bumrah made it two wickets in two balls when he had Joe Root tripping over himself and rapped on the front pad as England stumbled to 30 for 2 after five overs and the batting woes which had plagued them looked set to continue.
Bumrah amd Shami were outstanding through the later half of the first powerplay, the former’s maiden in the seventh over followed immediately by a wicket maiden for Shami, who squared up Ben Stokes with two excellent balls that beat unconvincing attempts to defend and then lured the batter to attack a fuller ball that splattered the stumps.
Jonny Bairstow survived on 13 when Kohli failed to pull down a difficult chance at slip but Shami resumed where he’d left off in his previous over with a second wicket in as many deliveries as Bairstow dragged one on that nipped in from the perfect length just outside off stump.
England needed something big from Jos Buttler, their besieged captain, who had managed just 95 runs from the first five games, including a highest score of 43 in the opening match against New Zealand. But Kuldeep Yadav ensured Buttler’s lean run continued with a gem of a delivery that turned ferociously from outside off and crashed into the top of middle and off to send him on his way for just 10 and leave England reeling at 52 for 5.
Shami returned for a second spell in the 24th over and struck first ball to remove Moeen Ali, inviting the drive and finding an edge which sailed through to KL Rahul behind the stumps. Shami’s dismissal of Adil Rashid, bowled through the gate, left India with just one wicket to get and Bumrah obliged with a superb yorker that struck the base of Mark Wood’s middle stump.
After winning the toss and asking India to bat on a two-paced pitch, England started well, restricting their opponents to 35 for 2 in the opening powerplay.
Willey began with a maiden in the first over of the match but then his second went for 18, including two sixes by Rohit over midwicket and down the ground to put England’s bowlers under pressure early. However, Woakes – back after being dropped for England’s defeat to South Africa in the previous game and with only two wickets from his side’s sole win of the campaign against Bangladesh heading into this match – got one to nip back, beat Shubman Gill’s drive, and clatter into middle and off stumps. That brought Kohli to the crease but his mistimed drive at Willey was comfortably taken by Stokes at mid-off to leave India shellshocked at 27 for 2 in the seventh over.
Woakes, bowling his sixth over on the trot, struck again when he had Shreyas Iyer simply taken by Wood at mid-on to make it 40 for 3 and England thought it was 51 for 4 before Rohit managed to overturn his lbw dismissal at the hands of Wood, when ball tracking suggested it was missing leg stump, and his subsequent four through deep backward point was met by a thunderous roar from the home crowd.
Rohit brought up his fifty, smearing Wood just wide of mid-on and running two, then lifted the next ball effortlessly beyond deep backward square leg for six before dancing down the pitch to Moeen Ali and lofting him over mid-off for four in what shaped up as a crucial innings for India.
But then Willey returned to the attack and immediately broke a 91-run stand for the fourth wicket when Rahul advanced and sent the ball to Bairstow at mid-on. Rohit became over-excited, picking Rashid’s googly and holing out to deep midwicket where Liam Livingstone ran in from the boundary’s edge to take a strong sliding catch, jamming his knee hard into the turf and leaving a massive divot.
England conceded their first extras in the 40th over when Suryakumar Yadav shaped to reverse-sweep Moeen, but the ball evaded the bat as well as Buttler and dribbled away for four byes. Ravindra Jadeja was quick to review his lbw dismissal to Rashid in the next over, but the decision was upheld on umpire’s call when ball-tracking showed the ball clipping the top of leg stump and England could claim the upper hand in the contest.
From there Surayakumar took it upon himself to keep India’s innings afloat. He moved to 48 and took his team past the 200-mark with a sublime flick for six over fine leg off Wood. No sooner had Bumrah driven Wood through the on side for four and he was put down by Moeen at long-off but then Surayakumar picked out Woakes at deep point to give Willey his third wicket and fall one run shy of his half-century.
Only Bumrah – run out for 16 on the last ball of the innings – joined Rohit, Surayakumar and Rahul in double figures as India ended up shy of the total they would have wanted, even with their foes so out of touch. But thanks to his work with Shami through England’s innings, it proved to be plenty.
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