For the first time batting second. The score looked below par, 30 runs too short to post a good challenge. Yet Team India flexed their bowling muscles to demolish England on their way to an exactly hundred-run victory. Mohammed Shami reminded again what a bowler he has been for the men in blue in the ODI format. The Three Lions are in the tenth spot out of ten teams after 6 games. 

Team Lineups

India played with an unchanged eleven from their last game against New Zealand. Hardik Pandya is still out with an ankle injury sustained against Bangladesh. In the absence of a world-class allrounder like Pandya, the Indian batsmen needed to take extra responsibility to fill the gap left by Pandya. 

England also opted for the same eleven that fell victim to a shambolic defeat against Sri Lanka. Questions remained about the form of senior pacers like Chris Woakes and Mark Wood who have been misfiring throughout the tournament. 

India 

1. Rohit Sharma (Cap.) 2. Shubman Gill 3. Virat Kohli 4. Shreyas Iyer 5. KL Rahul (WK) 6. Suryakumar Yadav 7. Ravindra Jadeja 8. Mohammed Shami 9. Jasprit Bumrah 10. Kuldeep Yadav 11. Mohammed Siraj

England

1. Jonny Bairstow 2. Dawid Malan 3. Joe Root 4. Ben Stokes 5. Jos Buttler (Cap.) (WK) 6. Liam Livingstone 7. Moeen Ali 8. Chris Woakes 9. David Willey 10. Adil Rashid 11. Mark Wood

The pitch in Lucknow generally favors the spinners. It is ideal to bowl first for the team winning the toss, 9 of the total matches at this ground have been won by the team batting second. It was a two-paced deck, batting under lights might prove to be a tricky job sometimes. The goal should be put above 250 on the board to put the team under pressure. 

Captaincy & Tactics

The decision by Buttler to bat on a touch surface seemed to be the right one with the English bowlers dominating the early proceedings. David Willey started swinging the Ball off the surface and the Indian top order except Rohit was finding life difficult. Rohit Sharma played with authority though, his magnificent hitting from one end kept the scoreboard ticking. 

The middle overs stalled the Indian progress greatly with the English bowlers squeezing every run out of the innings. Adil Rashid was a constant menace by tossing the ball up. Chris Woakes finally got his mojo back up with those seam-up deliveries of his which were unplayable at times. Suryakumar Yadav’s counterpunching innings made the game entertaining from an Indian point of view. 

Jasprit Bumrah has been menacing with the new ball in hand in this tournament. He also made the batsmen look ordinary at the early spell despite Siraj leaking runs from the other end. And once Mohammed Shami joined Bumrah in the attack, it was all over for the English. The pace, bounce, and guile were too much to handle and the batsmen succumbed quickly.

Kuldeep Yadav opened his box magic and started using his variety of deliveries on the English batters. Ravindra Jadeja’s tight line meant the batters were not allowed any type of loose deliveries. The Indian bowling unit was in their prime form and proved too good for the crumbling English batting order. 

Batting Analysis

Rohit Sharma is in the second position among the list of batters who have scored the highest runs in this tournament. The England skipper has accumulated 393 runs from 6 games so far. This year has been a quite fruitful year for the Indian skipper who has scored 1056 runs at 55.57, striking at an astounding 113.30 rate. 

Sharma was clinical throughout his innings, flicking everything off his pads. The flick brought him 19 runs including a huge six over a fine leg. But Sharma would feel aggrieved missing out on a record World Cup ton by getting out in a cheap fashion. He picked the googly by Rashid perfectly, whacked it, and picked out Liam Livingstone on the deep midwicket boundary.

Shubman Gill has had a relatively quiet World Cup, but he is able to bring his batting form to the World Cup yet. Shreyas Iyer also missed out despite posting a couple of fifties. Virat Kohli did not look comfortable at all during his nine-ball stay. He got out trying to break the shackles. 

Suryakumar Yadav’s inclusion in the team has raised a lot of questions before the World Cup. The flamboyant right-hander might be the best batsman in the shortest form of the game but his ODI form has always been modest compared to the man’s immense talent.

He finally justified his selection with a crucial 49-run innings. Suryakumar Yadav was in his typical destructive mode, especially on the leg side: sweeping and flicking everything that was offered on the pads. He built small partnerships with lower order to give the Indian bowlers something to bowl at. 

Joe Root’s worrisome form at the top of the order continued with the classy right-hander getting dismissed on the first delivery he faced. Ben Stokes did not ball and got out for a duck after facing 10 deliveries.

Captain Buttler could not prevent his team’s downfall as his struggle for runs continued. Liam Livingstone was the only batsman who looked unfazed in the face of an Indian bowling onslaught. He scored 27 runs from 46 balls to help the score past 100. 

Chris Woakes, David Wiley, and Adil Rashid all posted two-digit scores to get England close to the 130 mark. But the result was inevitable after the Shami spell with India grabbing a hundred-run victory. This is the third consecutive time England have been bowled out before reaching the 200 mark. 

Bowling Analysis

The English bowlers were quick in getting out of blocks – hitting the right lengths and swinging the ball early on. David Willey was bringing the ball back into the right-hander. He picked up the important wickets of Kohli, Rahul, and the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav to dent the Indian progress. Chris Woakes was taking the ball away from the right-hander. He got 2 wickets by bowling on the corridor of uncertainty. 

Adil Rashid was excellent once again, conceding just 35 from his 10 overs. The English bowlers were so disciplined that the first extras came on the last delivery of the 40th over. Suryakumar attempted to play a reverse sweep shot from a full delivery by Rashid. He missed the ball, and so did the keeper Buttler, who helplessly saw the ball going towards the boundary for four byes.

Mohammed Shami now has 40 wickets from just 14 games at the World Cup, averaging 14.07. He looked unplayable at times with his deliveries nipping back. After his three-over spell in the powerplay, he picked up 2 for 4 to demolish the English top order. Bumrah’s companionship was more than ideal, his 5-over spell yielded just 17 runs and two scalps. England were reeling at 40 for 4 after ten overs. 

Bumrah got two in two with Root following Malan back to the pavilion. He delivered a maiden over on the 7th over of the innings, and Shami followed that with a wicket maiden. He bamboozled Stokes with two brilliant deliveries, and the English all-rounder chopped on the third.

Buttler had only scored 95 runs from 5 games in this tournament. Kuldeep Yadav made sure the English captain’s search for a big score would continue with an outstanding delivery that turned sharply from the outside off and splattered the middle stump. 

Shami was back for his second spell and induced an edge off Moeen Ali’s bat. Bumrah then finished things off by dismantling Mark Wood’s timbers. Six of the English batters were bowled, the joint-highest record for India. 

Fielding Analysis

India had a good day on the field apart from Virat Kohli dropping a sharp chance to dismiss Bairstow. KL Rahul ended the day with two dismissals: a catch to send Moeen back and a stumping to dismiss Chris Woakes. In an innings of 6 bowled outs, there was little opportunity to catch. Ravindra Jadeja was proving once more why he is hailed as the best fielder in the world with some amazing stops and run saves.

Liam Livingstone took a fantastic catch at midwicket to send Rohit Sharma back. The English all-rounder had to run and dive quickly to grab the ball. He thankfully got out of the situation without getting seriously hurt. The overall fielding performance was good which helped out the bowlers massively. Woods, Buttler, Woakes and Stokes all held on to the bat when they were presented with catching opportunities. 

Key Performances

Rohit Sharma continued his rich vein of form at the World Cup. The Indian skipper was at his scintillating best on his way to scoring 87 from 101 balls. The other Indian batters failed to back Rohit’s brilliance. Suryakumar Yadav agonizingly missed his half-century by one run to give India some momentum during the death overs. But the tail was cleaned up quickly as India was halted before reaching 230. KL Rahul with 39 is the only other batsman who got past the 20 mark. 

David Willey swung the ball early on and dismantled the Indian middle order by picking up 3 wickets for 45 runs. Chris Woakes finally hit form in this tournament and he claimed a couple of scalps for 33 runs. Adil Rashid has been one of the best spinners in the white ball format over the last five years – he gave away just 35 runs from 10 overs, picking up the important wickets of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. Moeen Ali bowled with conviction but remained wicketless.

Turning Point

England had a decent start in pursuit of their target. Dawid Malan looked to be in fine touch and hit 3 boundaries. England cruised to 30 for no loss after just 27 deliveries. Then Jasprit Bumrah took center stage with his genius stroke to change the game. 

He pitched on short of a good length outside off, and Malan attempted a cut shot through the point region. He only managed to chop it on the off stump. India got the breakthrough they craved for. But Bumrah was just getting started. 

He bowled the next one on the good length, nipping it back towards the right-hander. The ball skidded through the turf and kept low. Joe Root could not manage to put the bat on the ball and adjudged LBW on his first delivery. From a promising start,  England was reduced to 30 for 2. This over-started the collapse of the English batting order. 

Match Result

India resoundingly beat the defending champions by a massive margin of 100 runs. 

Player of the Match

Rohit Sharma was chosen as the best player of the match for his power-hitting infused innings of 87 off 101 balls. 

Brief Scorecard

Match Highlights

Match Wrap-Up

India maintained their 100% record at this World Cup with a statement victory over the Englishmen. Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav batted brilliantly on a tough pitch to put a modest score on the board. The Indian skipper may have felt his team being 30 runs short during the interval. But his doubts were quashed by a wonderful bowling performance spearheaded by the dynamic duo of Shami and Bumrah. India will look to make it seven out of seven when they play Sri Lanka on 2nd November. England sank to the bottom of the table once again with their hope of retaining the World Cup trophy disappearing quickly.

More Match Highlights of Indian Cricket Team on CWC 2023

The post India vs England 2023 World Cup: Key Highlights and Match Analysis appeared first on Cricket8.