Bowlers shine in Lucknow as India outclass lacklustre England in a show of force

Despite an initial scare intensifying frowns in the Indian camp after they put up just 229 runs on the board, a masterclass from the bowlers, spearheaded by Mohammed Shami helped India make it six out of six as they blew England away in sensational fashion in the two teams’ World Cup clash. On a surface that had its own bag of shenanigans, England won the toss and opted to bowl first.

India’s early jitters soon turned into a living nightmare after Chris Woakes raged through the defences of Shubman Gill (9) with a menacing inswinger while David Willey got the better of Virat Kohli for a duck as the latter holed out to Ben Stokes.

India kept on losing wickets as Shreyas Iyer (4) fell cheaply too. Tottering at 40/3 with glimpses of a collapse creeping in, the Men in Blue pinned their hopes on a rebellious Rohit Sharma, who had no intentions of going down without a fight.

Seeing the Indian captain at his effusive best, KL Rahul dropped anchor at the other end. Despite a slow building, both Rohit and Rahul started bringing in the heavy cannons in no time whatsoever and the duo added 91 runs for the fourth wicket before Rahul was undone by Willey for 39.

Rohit still had the final stretch of madness left in him as he kept on blitzing the bowlers mercilessly before Adil Rashid finally got the better of him for a staggering 87 from just 101 balls. Ravindra Jadeja had an off day with the bat as Rashid trapped him in front of the stumps for a paltry 8.

Things started looking extremely bleak for the Men in Blue again as they were reduced to 183/7, with Suryakumar Yadav being the last beacon of hope. However, the hosts had a very special surprise in store for them as SKY was joined by Jasprit Bumrah, who proved he is no mug with the bat.

The duo of SKY and Bumrah added 25 runs for the eighth wicket, as the former showcased his class with the willow, hammering 49 before Willey got the better of him.

Despite keeping things on the slower side, Bumrah and Kuldeep ensured that India added 21 important runs for the ninth wicket that propelled them to 229/9 from 50 overs. The final two partnerships of 46 runs proved to be a massive differentiating factor between the two sides. David Willey was the pick of the lot for England with figures of 10-2-45-3.

England did get off to a flyer as Dawid Malan (16) and Jonny Bairstow (14) seemed to be in good touch with the boundaries coming in early. However, India didn’t really allow them to get away with Jasprit Bumrah throwing the spanner in the works. Trying to cut one slightly outside the off-stump, Malan (16) ended up chopping it down onto his own timbre as he failed to adjudge the height of the delivery. Joe Root was gone first ball as another inswinger from Jasprit Bumrah proved to be his unravelling.

England started toppling like dominoes as Shami entered the act and this time the one to depart was Stokes for a duck as he could barely keep away another snaking inswinger that cannoned through his defences to disrupt his timbre.

Bairstow’s brief resilience fizzled away in thin air as Shami managed to laser in another one which sped through the guards of the former to leave his stumps in shambles. Jos Buttler was the next to depart for a paltry 10 as Kuldeep Yadav produced an absolute ripper that turned from outside the off-stump to hit the middle stump.

With half the side back in the hut, Moeen Ali (15) and Liam Livingstone (27) cooked up some resistance, adding 29 runs for the sixth wicket before Shami eked an edge off the southpaw’s bat, and Rahul pouched a comfortable catch.

Chris Woakes’ ambition of trying to launch Jadeja threw England deeper into the meat-grinder as he missed the line completely while Rahul made no mistake in getting the bails off in a flash. Livingstone was next in the long line of English batters to fall with Kuldeep bagging another crucial scalp.

Adil Rashid did try and fend off the Indian invasion for a while with his 13-run knock but Mohammed Shami produced another wicket to make it a four-fer before Jasprit Bumrah eventually cleaned off Mark Wood with a picture-perfect yorker. England were bowled out for 129 as India scripted a historic 100-run victory. Rohit Sharma was awarded the Player of the Match for an incredible knock of 87.