India continued their unbeaten march in the 2023 World Cup with a commanding 100-run victory over England, rock-bottom in the ten-team table, in Lucknow. Rohit Sharma (87 runs) and Suryakumar Yadav (49) starred with the bat for India, before outstanding spells from Mohammed Shami (4-22), Jasprit Bumrah (3-32) and Kuldeep Yadav (2-24) saw England skittled for just 129 in a mere 34.5 overs. With this loss, the defending champions have all but made an embarrassing exit from the tournament. All England can do from here is play for pride and win a few consolation games.
The foundation for India’s victory was laid by Rohit. On a track offering more than enough turn and also spongy bounce, he played with conviction. India had begun on the wrong note as Shubman Gill was cleaned up by the nip-backer from Chris Woakes. Virat Kohli then jumped down the track to David Willey but could only spoon a catch to the fielder at mid-off. It soon became three down as Shreyas Iyer played an ugly-looking hoick off Woakes, with Mark Wood pouching the catch.
It could have been 51 for 4 when Wood won an LBW appeal against Rohit, but the India captain took the review and got it reversed. The ball-tracker showed that the ball would have missed the leg stump. At that stage, Rohit decided to shift gears slightly, with KL Rahul (39) giving him support. The way Rohit charged down the deck to Woakes in the 14th over was an indicator of things to come.
He also expertly manoeuvred England’s spinners by playing late and bisecting the gaps with drives, sweeps and even a reverse lap. The highlight of Rohit’s innings was how he nonchalantly flicked Wood over fine leg for six. Rahul also employed the sweep to good effect to put the pressure back on the England bowlers.
England did make the breakthrough against the run of play as Rahul chipped one straight into the hands of the fielder stationed at mid-on. Once he fell, Suryakumar showcased his pyrotechnics in a vital innings. The essence of his batting was finding gaps square on both sides of the wicket. That subscribed to the old cricketing theory that batters who target the square boundaries tend to do better on a turning wicket.
Eventually, Rohit’s masterclass was ended by Adil Rashid in the 37th over. After smacking Wood for a six, Suryakumar also was dismissed in the 47th over by Willey. However, by then, India had crossed the 200-run mark. Bumrah then added useful runs lower down the order to take India to 229.
At the break, there seemed to be enough dew on the field. For a while, it even seemed like England had a slight advantage as Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow shared a quickfire stand of 26. But the ball didn’t just skid through under lights, there was also enough nip on offer. In the fifth over, Malan edged one on to the stumps and that started a procession of wickets. Joe Root was dismissed for a golden duck, trapped in front by Bumrah’s inswinger. Bairstow also inside-edged a delivery on to the stumps, while Ben Stokes played a rash shot that left his stumps splayed.
Kuldeep then took over by cleaning up Buttler with a jaffa that turned considerably. Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone and the rest of the lower order added some useful runs. But once Buttler was dislodged, it was just a matter of time before England slipped to another loss. Bumrah provided the finishing touches by rattling the timber to send Wood back to the hut.
England once again seemed confused in their approach. They neither played aggressively nor played good percentage cricket. On the other hand, Bumrah and Shami bowled with a lot of intensity and regularly hit the seam to share seven wickets between them.